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Madison Scott-Clary
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<h1 id="codrin-balan-2346">Codrin Bălan — 2346</h1>
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<p>It was in no way surprising that dinner at home was far less stressful than the dinner with the Odists out in Tycho’s observatory. While the conversation throughout the meal had been nothing but pleasant, the food delightful, and the location and single candle a stunning place for a dinner, nonetheless a tension hung above the table at all times. While Sarah had seemed relaxed and True Name and Answers Will Not Help seemed to earnestly enjoy the evening, Tycho had seemed ceaselessly on guard, Dear had seemed to have put on a mask of pleasantness that involved choosing its words most carefully, and Codrin had felt hypervigilant throughout.</p>
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<p>It was in no way surprising that dinner at home was far less stressful than the dinner with the Odists out in Tycho’s observatory. While the conversation throughout the meal had been nothing but pleasant, the food delightful, and the location and single candle a stunning place for a dinner, nonetheless a tension hung above the table at all times. While Sarah had appeared relaxed and True Name and Answers Will Not Help seemed to earnestly enjoy the evening, Tycho had been ceaselessly on guard, Dear had seemed to have put on a mask of pleasantness that involved choosing its words most carefully, and Codrin had felt hypervigilant throughout.</p>
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<p>This was confirmed when they returned home and the instance of Dear which had accompanied em to the dinner sagged as though exhausted, and then quit. The instance of Dear which had remained behind, when confronted with the onslaught of memories, sighed and simply shook its head. None of the triad seemed at all interested in discussing the dinner.</p>
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<p>It was Dear’s partner who had suggested the dinner party for the next night. While they hadn’t explicitly mentioned that it would be a counter to the party the night previous, it was certainly implied. Something to cleanse their palates, as well as have further time for Codrin, Tycho, and Sarah to interact before they were to go on their journey. All three — four, including Dear — had immediately agreed.</p>
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<p>So it was that they sat around the table, there in the modern house on the prairie, sharing coffee and desserts and pleasant, easy conversation.</p>
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<p>“You bitch plenty, Dear,” its partner said.</p>
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<p><em>“Yes, but how often do I bitch about my age?”</em></p>
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<p>Codrin shrugged. “You bitch about immortality a lot. Does that count?”</p>
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<p>The fox grinned. <em>“It does not, my love.”</em></p>
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<p>The fox smiled primly. <em>“It does not, my love.”</em></p>
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<p>Still laughing, Tycho spoke up next. “It’s probably no surprise that I was an astronomer on Earth as well.”</p>
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<p>“How’d that even work?” Sarah asked. “When I was there, we could barely see any stars.”</p>
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<p>“All space-based stuff. Besides, radio telescopes don’t need quite so dark of skies. Amateur astronomers were the hardest hit. They often had to drive way the hell up into the mountains, and even then, wait for winter when logging season was over. I taught a few classes out there and volunteered at a dark-sky site.”</p>
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<p>He nodded proudly. “The landscape is based off one of those dark-sky sites.”</p>
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<p>Eyes turned to Codrin, who shrugged. “I went to school, then a year of a history degree at university before I uploaded to help my little brother out after my parents died. I never really had a job, just interests that got all the stronger once I got here.”</p>
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<p><em>“Had you needed to get a job while down there, what would it have been?”</em> Dear asked. <em>“I have a guess, but I want to see how close I am.”</em></p>
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<p>Codrin picked up eir coffee mug and leaned back against eir chair, thinking. “I wanted to be a librarian quite badly. History was a secondary interest. I planned on getting a bachelor’s in something like history or English and then a master’s degree in library science.”</p>
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<p>Codrin picked up eir coffee mug and leaned back against eir chair, thinking. “I wanted to be a librarian quite badly. History was a secondary interest. I planned on getting a bachelor’s in something like history or literature and then a master’s degree in library science.”</p>
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<p>Dear tilted its head. <em>“I was close on the bachelor’s but was not expecting the master’s. What drew you to that?”</em></p>
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<p>“Books.”</p>
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<p>Eir partners both laughed.</p>
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<p>Ey rolled eir eyes. “Domestic abuse, I say. Let me turn it back on you, though, what did you do?”</p>
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<p>They heaved a deep sigh. “Line cook at a diner.”</p>
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<p>“Is that why you’re so into cooking?”</p>
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<p>“Basically. I wanted to be a cook, but you kind of need to start at the bottom and work your way up. I just gave up on actually doing that and uploaded instead.”</p>
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<p>“Basically. I wanted to be a chef, but you kind of need to start at the bottom and work your way up. I just gave up on actually doing that and uploaded instead.”</p>
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<p>“I had a similar job in school, actually.” Tycho said. “Nothing fancy but I–“</p>
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<p>He trailed off, staring up into space with a blank expression, then shook his head. “Uh, how willing are you all to talk about the Artemisians?”</p>
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<p>Shrugs all around.</p>
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<p>“Uh, sorry,” he said, pausing a moment longer, and then sitting up straighter when a few folded sheets of notebook paper slid down to the table in front of him, neatly missing both coffee and half-eaten tiramisu. “Tycho#Artemis sent a list of questions to the Artemisians today. I think they weren’t expecting the reply to come for a day or two, but it showed up after only five minutes, minus transit.”</p>
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<p>“Uh, sorry,” he said, pausing a moment longer, and then sitting up straighter when a few folded sheets of notebook paper slid down to the table in front of him, neatly missing both coffee and half-eaten tiramisu. “Tycho#Artemis sent a list of questions to the Artemisians today. I think they weren’t expecting the reply to come for a day or two, but it showed up after only five minutes, minus transit. Weird…”</p>
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<p><em>“What sort of questions are we talking about?”</em></p>
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<p>“Social and cultural, it looks like. Nothing really scientific. Want me to go through them?”</p>
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<p>They all nodded.</p>
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<p>There were a few blips of other foxes behind Dear, startling Tycho.</p>
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<p><em>“Apologies, Tycho,”</em> it said, grinning widely, tail whipping about behind it. <em>“I may not be joining directly in the endeavor, but I am intensely curious to hear about this.”</em></p>
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<p>“Well, alright. I hate to disappoint, but it sounds like the only times they fork are in an emergency or during a contact like this. They have to petition some sort of central leadership called, of all things, the Council of Eight to create any long-running forks.”</p>
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<p>The fox flinched back as though slapped, its ears canted back and its brow furrowed.</p>
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<p>The fox flinched back as though slapped, its ears laid flat and its brow furrowed.</p>
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<p>“They provided additional information, though. They say that fourthrace had the same concept of forking that we appear to, so they understand our questions around dissolution strategies and clade structures. #Artemis also asked about their naming system, and apparently Turun Ka and Turun Ko are from something akin to a clade that existed before the voyage began. Something from when they were electronic but not on their system. Instead, they seem to have individual, fine-grained control over time. This is how they responded so quickly, apparently, they slowed time way down so that they had as much as they wanted to write their response. They ask if this will be accommodated during the talks and there’s a note from True Name here saying that, even if it were possible, she’s going to answer no. Tycho said she looked upset.”</p>
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<p><em>“Unpleasant business,”</em> Dear muttered darkly. <em>“Unpleasant to an extreme.”</em></p>
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<p>“Well, what’s the next question, then?” Codrin asked. Whether it was the mention of the Council of Eight or the news about forking, ey couldn’t guess, but the fox was clearly upset as well. “Perhaps we can move away from this one.”</p>
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<p>Tycho nodded eagerly in agreement.</p>
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<p>“That makes sense,” Codrin said. “I had a dream about them last night, too. It was just this vague idea that I knew they were coming and that I needed to be observant.”</p>
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<p>“That makes sense, given your role,” she said. “I haven’t been remembering my dreams since we got the news. I don’t think I’ve been sleeping very well.”</p>
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<p>After their guests had left and the trio sat down on the couch for a bit before bed, Dear dotted its nose against Codrin’s cheek. <em>“My dear, I do not want to talk about it now, but I have some thing to tell you about this business with time modulation that may prove useful to you.”</em></p>
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<p>After their guests had left and the trio sat down on the couch for a bit before bed, Dear dotted its nose against Codrin’s cheek. <em>“My dear, I do not want to talk about it now, but I have something to tell you about this business with time modulation that may prove useful to you.”</em></p>
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<p>Ey nodded, feeling the fox’s nose tip still lingering near eir cheek. “I’ll look forward to it, Dear. At your own pace.”</p>
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<p><em>“It is nothing bad. Just stressful, and I do not yet know how to put it into words. I will say that this will impact all Odists in approximately the same way, though, which is why you should know if there are to be two of them joining you.”</em></p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-10-27</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-12-19</p>
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