update from sparkleup
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Madison Scott-Clary
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<p>She looked over to True Name, who gave a small nod of acknowledgement.</p>
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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>“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>“<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 </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>“Our race lived at the level of planetary system,” it replied. “We appear the way we due in order to survive in a variety of environments beyond those of our world-of-origin.”</p>
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<p>“<em>Lo,</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>“Yes. By what means do you collect the materials needed for your civilization, whether for the embodied world or this one?”</p>
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<p>“Mining on our planet and our planet’s moon,” the skunk said after a moment’s thought. “As well as limited mining of asteroids at stationary points of orbit.”</p>
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<p>“You call Legrange point, <em>ka?</em>” Stolon asked.</p>
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<p>She nodded. “Correct.”</p>
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<p>“We saw, <em>lo…</em>” They chattered their teeth for a moment, then looked to Iska. “<em>Baenå’ puta’ esbrodåtufath?</em>“</p>
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<p>“Space-construct,” they said, filling in. “We saw constructs of various size at your Legrange 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 its head. “<em>Za putatier, za, za,</em>” it 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>“Scientist Stolon, please answer 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, then photon sails and gravity assists on our way out of the system.”</p>
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<p>“<em>Ka,</em> not so fast. 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>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>“Codrin Bălan, do your bodies-physical-forms continue to live after embedding 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>“Yes,” Artante Diria said. “We have not discovered a means of removing such after embedding. I will ask next. I infer that you have not either. What treatments do you have for mental illness?”</p>
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<p>“Talk therapy, mostly. If one is careful, one can reduce the effects by forking with intent to change, though this can have complex effects on other parts of the personality. It’s come up in the past with the–“</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 slowly 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>“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.”</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>Ey nodded.</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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</article>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-11-26</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-11-26</p>
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