update from sparkleup
This commit is contained in:
Madison Scott-Clary
parent
9fe673fd77
commit
853961c3cd
|
|
@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
|
|||
<p>All five of the delegates took notes as quickly as they could while the firstracer spoke. Tycho made a note to himself to ask what sorts of things they tended to learn when passing close to a star, as well as a note to ask Tycho#Emissary to bring up similar on Artemis, focusing instead on the history of their course.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Leader Turun Ka,” True Name said with a hint of a bow. “Would you be amenable to a short break?”</p>
|
||||
<p>The firstracer lifted its chin in assent and the table stood, exchanging bows before making their way each to their own rest area.</p>
|
||||
<p>Once they’d made it around the corner into the common area, the skunk grinned toothily at Tycho. “Good catch, Mr. Brahe.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Once they’d made it around the corner into the common area, the skunk grinned toothily at Tycho. “Good catch, Dr. Brahe.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I was a little surprised, myself. That gives us a good idea of their speed and perhaps their traj–“</p>
|
||||
<p>“Shut up, Tycho,” Why Ask Questions said, laughing. “We will get to all the delicious science you could ask for soon enough. Your question went more than a little beyond that.”</p>
|
||||
<p>He frowned. “What? How?”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -56,13 +56,13 @@
|
|||
<p>“Even that could be them trying to figure out how best to tell us what they did, though,” he retorted, though even he could tell his heart wasn’t in it.</p>
|
||||
<p>“All of these facts are interesting,” Why Ask Questions said. “Even if that is all they did, even if they do only turn off skew for slingshots. We are sold on it no matter what. When you take the facts together as a whole, however, those of us with a sense for it can catch the scent of politics in there.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Sneaky pieces of shit, you mean?”</p>
|
||||
<p>True Name laughed. “Yes, those. You lack the sense, Mr. Brahe. Codrin has seen it, Ms. Genet can sense it second-hand. We need someone like you to play the role of earnest seeker-after-knowledge.”</p>
|
||||
<p>True Name laughed. “Yes, those. You lack the sense, Dr. Brahe. Codrin has seen it, Ms. Genet can sense it second-hand. We need someone like you to play the role of earnest seeker-after-knowledge.”</p>
|
||||
<p>He rolled his eyes. “Or gullible dupe.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“A very smart gullible dupe,” Why Ask Questions said. “It is no shame to be a gullible dupe, Tycho. You ask the things we never think to because we are too busy being sneaky pieces of shit.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Well, I’ll leave the politics to you all,” he said, grinning and shaking his head. “I’m going to write my own note while we have a bit of time.”</p>
|
||||
</article>
|
||||
<footer>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2021-12-08</p>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-01-11</p>
|
||||
</footer>
|
||||
</main>
|
||||
<script type="text/javascript">
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
|
|||
<p>“This is going to sound weird,” she said after a moment’s thought. “But it’s way more normal than I expected. It’s a strange situation, to be sure, but it’s still just a meeting between people who are trying to figure each other out. They’re alien, but not so far as to be completely unintelligible.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Think it’s going well?” Codrin asked.</p>
|
||||
<p>“As well as it can be, all things considered. We’ve not wound up in any thorny patches or anything.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Tycho nodded. “Agreed, though I have to admit that I’m getting kind of bored. Codrin told me I should steal some time with Stolon, but they keep racing off during our breaks, and there just hasn’t been much of a chance. I want to be able to engage, but it’s just all over my head, and when I do start feeling like I’m getting a hold on it, Turun Ka or True Name will nudge us back ‘on topic’.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Tycho nodded. “Agreed, though I have to admit that I’m getting kind of bored. Codrin told me I should steal some time with Stolon, but, after the first day, they keep racing off during our breaks, and there just hasn’t been much of a chance. I want to be able to engage, but it’s just all over my head, and when I do start feeling like I’m getting a hold on it, Turun Ka or True Name will nudge us back ‘on topic’.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“‘On topic’ meaning politics and history and the like?”</p>
|
||||
<p>He nodded. “I knew that going into this that #Artemis would be having much more fun than I would.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Well, lets see if we can find you something to focus on,” Sarah said.</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
|
|||
<p>“You can probably keep track of the math involved with the time scale better than any of us, too,” Codrin added. “So you can see where there might have been inflection points in history and if that might’ve had to do with any of their travel. If there were bit societal changes, then maybe–“</p>
|
||||
<p>Tycho held up his hand, and Codrin watched as his eyes lost focus, staring into nothing for a long few seconds.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey looked to Sarah, who shrugged.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Sorry, maybe should have gone faster,” he mumbled. “You just reminded me of something, is all. There’s a lot beneath the plane of the ecliptic relative to us, but only a little bit of it is close for them to have plausibly passed by it. A few of those systems are kind of interesting.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Sorry, maybe should have skewed faster,” he mumbled. “You just reminded me of something, is all. There’s a lot beneath the plane of the ecliptic relative to us, but only a little bit of it is close for them to have plausibly passed by it. A few of those systems are kind of interesting.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Interesting?” ey asked.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Like, stuff we’ve been keeping an eye on for possibly having life, that sort of thing.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Maybe Artante’s system?”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -58,13 +58,12 @@
|
|||
<p>“It’s a very big ‘might’,” he said. “They could just have been using the stars for slingshots, after all.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“But it’s a possibility.”</p>
|
||||
<p>He nodded.</p>
|
||||
<p>Sarah shook her head. “To make sure I’m following, you think they may have spotted some other possible societies and not had them join them as a race?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Right. Could be they just hadn’t started uploading, of course.” He hesitated, then added, “Or that they had, but didn’t want to or didn’t make the cut.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Sarah shook her head. “To make sure I’m following, you think they may have spotted life elsewhere? Or perhaps some other possible societies and not had them join them as a race?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Right. Could be they just hadn’t started uploading, of course.” He hesitated, then added, “Or that they had, but didn’t want to join or didn’t make the cut.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Codrin rubbed eir hands over eir face, willing away the tiredness that kept threatening to come back. Every time ey felt like ey was getting a hold on the situation ey was stuck in, some other bit of info would be brought to light and eir grasp would slip once more.</p>
|
||||
<p>Now here this was. Perhaps the Artemisians had run across more than just races two through four on their journey. Perhaps there had been failed convergences, not counted among the existing three and the fourth they were living through.</p>
|
||||
<p>Tycho’s comment about ‘not making the cut’ carried with it additional consequences, as well. It implied that there was a barrier to entry that one could make or not. This, in turn, implied that there were a set of requirements for getting to join as a race.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ones that had never been mentioned.</p>
|
||||
<p>There may very well be steps to take that had never been provided to them.</p>
|
||||
<p>Tycho’s comment about ‘not making the cut’ carried with it additional consequences, as well. It implied that there was a barrier to entry that one had to pass. This, in turn, implied that there were a set of requirements for getting to join as a race. Ones that had never been mentioned.</p>
|
||||
<p>There may very well be specific steps they had to take that had never been provided to them.</p>
|
||||
<p>When ey shook away the rumination, ey found both Tycho and Sarah looking at em. “Sorry if I was mumbling. Tycho, hold off on actually asking about this for now, but keep thinking about it, alright? At least let me run it past True Name first.”</p>
|
||||
<p>The astronomer nodded.</p>
|
||||
<p>“On that note, we should probably start getting ready again,” Sarah said.</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -89,7 +88,7 @@
|
|||
<p>Both Iska and True Name sat up straighter.</p>
|
||||
<p>“This is broad-large-all-encompassing topic, recorder Codrin Bălan.” Turun Ko angled its head down and to the side, a move that appeared either confused or perhaps condescending. “Please restrict-refine.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Well, okay.” Ey tapped the end of eir pen against eir lower lip, considering. “Perhaps we can begin with how common working with skew is among everyday individuals. We have our concept of dissolution strategies, based on how one approaches forking, after all.”</p>
|
||||
<p>There was a blurred conference between the Artemisians, then Iska said, “There is a spectrum of approaches to skew. Some rarely utilize it, some utilize only fast-time to complete tasks or slow-time to pass long stretches of time out of boredom or to wait for a specific event. Some, such as myself, utilize skew for fun.”</p>
|
||||
<p>There was a blurred conference between the Artemisians, then Iska said, “There is a spectrum of approaches to skew. Some rarely utilize it, some utilize only fast-time to complete tasks or slow-time to pass long stretches of time out of boredom or to wait for a specific event. Some, such as myself, utilize skew for enjoyment.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“These map loosely to your concept of taskers, trackers, and dispersionistas,” Artante added. “We noticed similar during the third convergence, though the concept remained only within fourthrace, and died out within a century of the convergence. I was reminded of the topic by one of your early letters.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I remember you a mention that fourthrace had forking,” True Name said, voice tightly controlled. “Was the transition from that to skew difficult for those members of fourthrace that joined?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“For some, yes. There was one recorded instant of a member of fourthrace becoming so despondent about the lack of forking that they exited the system.”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -100,23 +99,23 @@
|
|||
<p>Iska was practically purring at this turn in the conversation. “Had one of us asked that question, I would have said ‘no’, but hearing it from you has made me think about it in a new way. I would have said that one simply would not think to take up that activity, but now that you say such, I think that this is the case. I am uncomfortable with not utilizing skew, yes, but for activities that are pinned to common time such as cooking and storytelling, there is an expectation that I would not be a good cook or storyteller, yes. Were I to pick up an interest in cooking, I would be looked on with a small amount of concern. One would say about me: “I hope that they do not burn the food by shifting to slow-time” or “I expect that their food will be very rushed”.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Codrin grinned as ey took down notes of the answer. “One of my romantic partners, as an instance artist, has stated that it can’t understand what a life without profligate forking would look like, but has never said that it feels as though it is not able to take part in another profession. That said, there are several interests or professions that one would not expect taskers or even trackers to go into. Many would sneer at a tasker trying to go into instance artistry. Does the same apply here? Are there more interests or profession that are out of reach for those who do not use skew than for those who use skew often?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Another, longer blurred conference followed this question, during which True Name gave em a tired smile. “Excellent questions, Mx. Bălan.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We have decided that there has not been much thought put into this topic, but that our instinct would be to say yes, the interests which belong to those heavy users of skew are more specific and thus more likely to carry some level of prestige that might be out of reach for those who remain in common time.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We have decided that there has not been much thought put into this topic, but that our instinct would be to say yes, the interests which belong to those heavy users of skew are more specific and thus more likely to carry some level of prestige that might be out of reach for those who prefer to remain in common time.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Sarah sat forward, leaning on her elbows on the table. “Can you expand on ‘prestige’, here? Are there interests that are considered less prestigious? Do some interests reflect poorly on the individual?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Please confirm: do you mean social-stratification-caste?” Turun Ko said, and both Codrin and True Name rushed to write a note.</p>
|
||||
<p>“I’d also like to know about that, yeah, so let’s come back to that later. In this instance, I was wondering there are interests that are seen as distasteful or silly.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I’d also like to know about that, yes, but let’s come back to that later. In this instance, I was wondering there are interests that are seen as distasteful or silly.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We have decided that there are not any that are seen as distasteful,” Turun Ka said after another conferral with its delegates. “But there are many that are seen as frivolous. Some view contemplative or spiritual life as frivolous, particularly among secondrace, which is very old.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Codrin frowned, making a note to ask about that later. They had the concept of spirituality, and even the concept of a life lived in in contemplation. It raised several other questions besides, such as why it was that the second oldest race bore the brunt of that assumption, and why it had been implied that firstrace was immune. Were religions shared between the races? Were religions time-bound? In eir hundred and twenty-eight years of life, the world had yet to end, despite countless predictions.</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey shook the rumination from eir eyes in time to hear True Name asking, “What is the view of the Council of Eight?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Ey shook the rumination from eir eyes in time to hear True Name asking, “What is the population’s the view of the Council of Eight?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Turun Ka rocked its head from side to side. Amusement, Codrin#Artemis had written. “We are seen as almost vestigial except during convergences. What guidance we provide we do so through through advisory not–“</p>
|
||||
<p>It was interrupted by a bang as Answers Will Not Help, who had been nearly in a stupor up until this point, slammed her fists down on the table. “I must keep no veil between me and my words. I must set no stones between me and my actions.”</p>
|
||||
<p>There was a tense moment of silence.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Apologies,” she said, rubbing her hands over her face and then yelping as a wave of skunk washed beneath them. “I cannot stop myself from speaking.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Artante nodded slowly. “Would you like to take a break, representative Why Ask Questions?”</p>
|
||||
<p>Artante nodded slowly. “Would you like to take a brief break, representative Why Ask Questions?”</p>
|
||||
<p>“I…yes.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“We shall reconvene in five minutes common time,” Turun Ka said. “We wish you the best, representative Why Ask Questions.”</p>
|
||||
<p>Sarah helped her to her feet and walked her down the hall to her room.</p>
|
||||
<p>True Name slouched down in her seat with a wave of Michelle rolling across her form.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Are you alright?” ey asked, patting her hand.</p>
|
||||
<p>“Are you alright?” ey asked, patting her paw/hand.</p>
|
||||
<p>She jolted to the side with a quiet grunt, pulling her hand back as though burned. She rolled her head to the side against the back of the chair looking steadily at em. “I will be okay, Mx. Bălan. Thank you for your concern. Please refrain from touching me when my form is shifting, though. It is quite uncomfortable.”</p>
|
||||
<p>“Apologies.” Ey bowed her head. Something about the skunk’s voice brooked no further questioning.</p>
|
||||
<p>“You asked some very good questions today. I am quite happy that you decided to come along.”</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -128,7 +127,7 @@
|
|||
<p>“No,” ey said. “They wish us well.”</p>
|
||||
</article>
|
||||
<footer>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2021-12-06</p>
|
||||
<p>Page generated on 2022-01-11</p>
|
||||
</footer>
|
||||
</main>
|
||||
<script type="text/javascript">
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Reference in New Issue