update from sparkleup
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Madison Scott-Clary
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<p>Codrin was pleased to see that some magic wrought by the Ansible engineers both here on Castor and their counterparts over on Artemis allowed the Artemisians to assume what must be their natural forms and that they weren’t greeted by a gaggle of Douglases. Ey’d never seen Douglas, but it would have been unnerving and difficult to differentiate them. They’d even come wearing clothes — those who wore them, at least, this Iska and Artante Diria — which ey supposed they would appreciate. One of those benefits of System-to-System Ansibles that they’d enjoyed on their transit from L<sub>5</sub> to LVs, as well.</p>
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<p>So it was that they found themselves lined up opposite their counterparts across the table from each other, exchanging their formal greetings.</p>
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<p>“<em>Rehasiër munachla achles eslosam. Tapotevier les unachadev The-Only-Time-I-Know-My-True-Name-Is-When-I-Dream-am, ite True-Name.</em>” The skunk bowed formally, deep and at the waist.</p>
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<p>The firstracer before her raised its head up, exposing its long neck to the delegates in turn. “Greetings, and thank you for letting us join you. I am the leader, and my name is Turun Ka.”</p>
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<p>The firstracer before her bowed its head, a movement that took place solely in the neck rather than the waist. “Greetings, and thank you for letting us join you. I am the leader, and my name is Turun Ka.”</p>
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<p>Ey watched the exchange of greetings curiously, making note of what gestures were made, before bowing emself and saying, “<em>Rehasiër munachla echles eslosam. Tapotevier les unechrenum Codrin-Bălanam.</em>“</p>
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<p>Turun Ko, opposite em, responded with a similar motion of raised head. “Greetings-hello, thank-you-and-gratitude for allowing our delegation-emissaries. I act as observer-recorder and am called-named Turun Ko.”</p>
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<p>Ey tilted eir head, noting the confusion on eir side of the table at the choppy, synonym-ridden greeting, filing away a question to ask of the recorder later.</p>
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<p>The greetings continued down the line. Tycho and Stolon greeted each other as scientists. Iska, who startled em in their resemblance to Debarre, and Sarah greeted each other, followed last of all by Artante Diria and Why Ask Questions.</p>
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<p>The greetings continued down the line. Tycho and Stolon greeted each other as scientists. Iska, who startled em in their resemblance to Debarre, and Why Ask Questions greeted each other, followed last of all by Artante Diria and Sarah.</p>
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<p>There was a small shuffle as the delegates from both craft sat at the table, Iska politely requesting that their chair be raised and the surface area made smaller so that they could more effectively reach the table, which True Name accomplished with a gesture. Both of Turun Ka and Turun Ko set their chairs aside and squatted down on their haunches before the table instead.</p>
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<p>“Thank you once again, and welcome to this convergence,” Turun Ka said. Its voice was almost musical, far from the synthetic sound that ey had initially assumed. “It is a pleasure to meet those who are new and different from us, and we are always grateful when luck and chance allow us to do so.”</p>
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<p>True Name nodded, a hint of a bow from where she sat. “Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Launch Vehicle Castor. We are honored to have you aboard. If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask me, as I bear full ACLs for the sim. You will find your rest area down there—” She gestured with a paw toward one of the hallways. “—where you will have limited ACLs that will allow you to modify many of the objects there and will allow you to fork once.”</p>
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@ -31,9 +31,9 @@
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<p>She looked over to True Name, who gave a small nod of acknowledgement.</p>
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<p>“Some of us here on the System do not feel comfortable with unbounded time,” she said. “We will discuss more as the meeting continues.”</p>
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<p>“<em>Aet,</em>” it said. <em>Okay.</em></p>
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<p>After a moment’s silence, the skunk continued. “Per our agreement, this meeting here on Castor will be focused on knowledge-share surrounding the topics of linguistics and science, with particular attention astronomy and spaceflight, while those aboard Artemis will focus on society, politics, and psychology. I would like to open with a round of free questioning, if you are amenable, in order to find a few examples for which directions to take the meeting in moving forward. Do you agree.”</p>
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<p>After a moment’s silence, the skunk continued. “Per our agreement, this meeting here on Castor will be focused on knowledge-share surrounding the topics of linguistics and science, with particular attention astronomy and spaceflight, while those aboard Artemis will focus on society, politics, and psychology. I would like to open with a round of free questioning, if you are amenable, in order to find a few examples for which directions to take the meeting in moving forward. Do you agree?”</p>
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<p>“Yes,” Turun Ka said. “One question per delegate should be an appropriate way to begin. I invite you to begin, leader True Name.”</p>
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<p>The response was quick in coming. “We, as a race, have divided civilizations up into a range of classes depending on their energy usage: planet scale, planetary system scale, and galaxy scale. At what stage were each of your races, and, if you have ran across any additional races, at what scale did they work?”</p>
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<p>The response was quick in coming. “We have divided civilizations up into a range of classes depending on their energy usage: planet scale, planetary system scale, and galaxy scale. At what stage were each of your races, and, if you have ran across any additional races, at what scale did they work?”</p>
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<p>“Our race lived at the scale of planetary system,” it replied. “We appear the way we do in our post-biological state in order to survive in a variety of environments beyond those of our world-of-origin.”</p>
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<p>“<em>Lu,</em>” Stolon said, speaking slowly. “Planetary scale for us. For other three races.”</p>
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<p>True Name glance to Codrin, ensuring that ey was taking notes. “Thank you. Would you like to go next, leader Turun Ka?”</p>
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<p>“Space-constructs,” they said, filling in. “We saw constructs of various size at your planet-moon and planet-star Legrange points.”</p>
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<p>True Name stiffened, but any response she might have had was preempted by Tycho. The astronomer, who had appeared largely overwhelmed by the meeting to date had steadily grown more excited during the questioning phase. “You did? How? Radio? When did you see them? During gravity assist? How–“</p>
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<p>“Tycho, hold up,” Sarah said, laughing. “There will be time.”</p>
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<p>Stolon, meanwhile, was clacking claw-tipped fingers against the table and bobbing their head. “<em>Za putatier, za, za,</em>” they said quickly. “Will say, will say. Excited also, scientist Tycho.”</p>
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<p>Codrin grinned, scribbling further notes on in eir notebook. Ey was pleased to see that there was excitement around the table, rather than simply anxiety.</p>
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<p>Stolon, meanwhile, was clacking claw-tipped fingers against the table and bobbing their head. “<em>Za putatier! Za, za,</em>” they said quickly. “Will say, will say. Excited also, scientist Tycho.”</p>
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<p>Codrin grinned, scribbling further notes on in eir notebook. Ey was pleased to see that there was also excitement around the table, rather than simply anxiety.</p>
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<p>“Scientist Stolon, please answer scientist Tycho’s question regarding how,” Turun Ka said, voice bouncing through tones.</p>
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<p><em>Amusement, perhaps?</em> Codrin thought. The atmosphere certainly seemed to have lightened.</p>
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<p>“Radio emanations, <em>anem.</em> To far for visible light, useless light.”</p>
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<p>Tycho grinned, nodded. “Apologies, that will be my question, then.”</p>
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<p>“I ask,” Stolon said. “How launched vehicle? We see also another.”</p>
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<p>“A station — a construct, as you say — rotating with the Castor and Pollux LVs at the end of long launch arms, launched using tangential velocity, then photon sails, Hall Effect engines, and gravity assists on our way out of the system.”</p>
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<p>“A station — a construct, as you say — rotating with the Castor and Pollux LVs at the end of long launch arms, released us using tangential velocity, then photon sails, Hall Effect engines, and gravity assists on our way out of the system.”</p>
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<p>“You move not so fast, <em>ka?</em> Conserve fuel?” They chattered their teeth again. “Sorry sorry, will ask again soon.”</p>
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<p>“I am pleased to see scientists excited,” Turun Ka said. “Recorder Codrin? Recorder Turun Ko?”</p>
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<p>“I am pleased to see scientists excited,” Turun Ka said. “Recorder Codrin Bălan? Recorder Turun Ko?”</p>
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<p>When Turun Ko did not speak, Codrin asked, “Does your system allow you to forget?”</p>
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<p>“Memories degrade-rot,” the other recorder said. “Saves-preserves storage. Garbage collection process trims-prunes old-unaccessed memories.”</p>
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<p>Both True Name and Sarah reached for their pens to make note of the answer.</p>
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<p>Codrin smiled and nodded eir thanks.</p>
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<p>“Recorder Codrin Bălan, do your bodies-physical-forms continue to live after embedding of consciousness?”</p>
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<p>“Recorder Codrin Bălan, do your bodies-physical-forms continue to live after embedding-uploading of consciousness?”</p>
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<p>Ey shook eir head. Realizing that the gesture may not translate, ey said, “No, they are destroyed in the process of uploading. Or embedding, as you say.”</p>
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<p>Both Iska and Artante Diria took notes of this answer.</p>
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<p>“I have a question,” Sarah said, when the silence drew out. “Do you have the concept of mental illness? Depression, disordered thinking, disconnect from reality?”</p>
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<p>Why Ask Questions rested a hand gently on Sarah’s forearm. Both she and True Name were frowning.</p>
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<p>“We will discuss later, perhaps.”</p>
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<p>“Yes, in time,” the Odist said. “For my question, I would like to know how you manage linguistic drift.”</p>
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<p>Iska straightened up. “Our common tongue began primarily that of secondrace, of my race, but has incorporated aspects of other languages. Languages within each race, including for pure secondrace, are uncontrolled, but common tongue is managed via central authority.”</p>
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<p>Iska straightened up. “Our common tongue began primarily that of secondrace, of my race, but has incorporated many aspects of other languages. Languages within each race, including for pure <em>Nanon</em>, the basis of secondrace, are uncontrolled, but common tongue is managed via central authority.”</p>
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<p>“Thank you, representative Iska.”</p>
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<p>“I will ask the final question,” they said. “You say that we will have the ability to fork. Is there not risk of divergence?”</p>
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<p>True Name answered, “There is. Why Ask Questions is a fork from me, and I am in turn a fork from the root instance, Michelle Hadje. We have individuated in the last two hundred twenty years.”</p>
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<p>That unnerved, anxious expression returned to the secondracer’s face, but they bowed their head all the same. “<em>Aet.</em> Thank you.”</p>
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<p>Standing, True Name bowed deeply once more. “Thank you once again for joining us. Let us retire to our rest areas to compare notes and reconvene in one hour’s time to begin in earnest.”</p>
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<p>Standing, True Name bowed deeply once more. “Thank you once again for joining us. Let us retire to our rest areas to compare notes and strategize, then reconvene in one hour’s time to begin in earnest.”</p>
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<p>Both delegations stood and returned their acknowledging gestures, whatever they might be, and each walked toward their respective rest areas.</p>
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<p>Codrin let True Name and Why Ask Questions pass em, catching Sarah’s eye to walk slower. Once the Odists were several paces ahead, heads together and talking quietly, ey asked, “What do you make of it?”</p>
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<p>She shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. The questions were all reasonable, but I wasn’t really able to figure out if there was a direction to them. The question about mental health seemed to be earnest, as though they were looking for an actual solution to the problem, while Stolon’s question about launching was very to the point. Hard facts, that sort of thing.”</p>
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<p>“Weird that they’d ask about our bodies living on after uploading, though,” Tycho said, catching up with them. “What could they possibly do with that knowledge.”</p>
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<p>“Not sure,” she said. “Maybe trying to figure out incentives for uploading? I really don’t know.”</p>
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<p>“I’m feeling kind of lost after all that.” Codrin sighed, hunting down the partitioned ‘room’ ey’d claimed as eir own and stopping outside the door. “It’s overwhelming. I have no idea what avenues to go down from here. I want to ask why Turun Ko speaks the way it does, I want to ask about their opinions on forking, I want to ask all these questions, but I’m not sure how welcome that’ll be in my role.”</p>
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<p>“I don’t know about that either, as representative. I hope I get to ask more. Though, well…” Sarah glanced over to where True Name and Why Ask Questions had sat at a table, still talking earnestly. “I don’t know what’s more confusing. The emissaries or the Odists.”</p>
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<p>“I don’t know about that either, as representative. I hope I get to ask more. Though, well…” Sarah glanced over to where True Name and Why Ask Questions had sat at a table, still talking earnestly. “I don’t know what’s more confusing. The emissaries or the Odists.” <!-- More action to justify this remark? --></p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-12-19</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-01-11</p>
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</footer>
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