update from sparkleup
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Madison Scott-Clary
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<p>It was a startling sound coming from her. Ioan had seen her laugh, grin, and smile, but they were all tightly controlled. They were all laser-focused cues to guide her interlocutor. The giggle held amusement, yes, but also nervousness. It seemed to be covering a much larger, less grounded emotional outburst. Ey had been considering just how much of this interaction up until this point was a carefully constructed act, how much of her visit could be dismissed with a wink and a grin, but there was something far too real about that giggle.</p>
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<p>It was a startling sound coming from her. Ioan had seen her laugh, grin, and smile, but they were all tightly controlled. They were all laser-focused cues to guide her interlocutor. The giggle held amusement, yes, but also nervousness. It seemed to be covering a much larger, less grounded emotional outburst. Ey had been considering just how much of this interaction up until this point was a carefully constructed act, how much of her visit could be dismissed with a wink and a grin, but there was something far too real about that giggle.</p>
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<p>Ioan and May looked to each other and laughed.</p>
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<p>Ioan and May looked to each other and laughed.</p>
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<p>“I’m sorry, True Name,” ey said. “I mean this in all compassion, but you sound like you’re about to lose it.”</p>
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<p>“I’m sorry, True Name,” ey said. “I mean this in all compassion, but you sound like you’re about to lose it.”</p>
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<p>The skunk giggled again, sounding even less grounded, then rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her paws, grinding the heels of her pads against her eyes before straightening the longer fur atop her head. “I am, yes, at least in a way. There are many threads happening at once and, as May Then My Name put it, I have painted myself into a corner with this one.”</p>
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<p>The skunk giggled again, sounding even less grounded, then rested her elbows on the table and buried her face in her paws, grinding the heels of her palms against her eyes before straightening the longer fur atop her head. “I am, yes, at least in a way. There are many threads happening at once and, as May Then My Name put it, I have painted myself into a corner with this one.”</p>
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<p>“Make your pitch, then,” May said, voice softer still.</p>
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<p>“Make your pitch, then,” May said, voice softer still.</p>
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<p>“It is a small ask, I hope,” The skunk said, folding her hands on the tabletop once more. “Do not publish any of this information in the feeds or in some new book, and do not put it anywhere in the perisystem architecture. Not yet. I ask that you keep it between yourselves, Jonas, me, and other Odists. You may, of course, keep communicating with Castor, but I would ask that you not pass this on to Pollux yet. Codrin and True Name are working together, per the message I received, so I imagine our messages will contain similar content, but should anything interesting come up, I would be much obliged if you shared with me. Are you open to that?”</p>
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<p>“It is a small ask, I hope,” The skunk said, folding her hands on the tabletop once more. “Do not publish any of this information in the feeds or in some new book, and do not put it anywhere in the perisystem architecture. Not yet. I ask that you keep it between yourselves, Jonas, me, and other Odists. You may, of course, keep communicating with Castor, but I would ask that you not pass this on to Pollux yet. Codrin and True Name are working together, per the message I received, so I imagine our messages will contain similar content, but should anything interesting come up, I would be much obliged if you shared with me. Are you open to that?”</p>
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<p>“Sure,” Ioan said.</p>
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<p>“Sure,” Ioan said.</p>
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<p>May shrugged. “I may talk to A Finger Pointing and End Waking about it, but I think you will have the rest of the clade under control before I wind up speaking to them again. The only other that I plan on sharing this with is Douglas.”</p>
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<p>May shrugged. “I may talk to A Finger Pointing and End Waking about it, but I think you will have the rest of the clade under control before I wind up speaking to any of them again. The only other that I plan on sharing this with is Douglas.”</p>
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<p>The skunk stiffened in her seat and sat silent for a moment. “May I be there when you do? I would like to impress upon him the gravity of the situation.”</p>
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<p>The skunk stiffened in her seat and sat silent for a moment. “May I be there when you do? I would like to impress upon him the gravity of the situation.”</p>
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<p>“Absolutely not.”</p>
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<p>“Absolutely not.”</p>
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<p>True Name winced, wilted, nodded. “I see. Well, if you would pass on my request for information security, I would be very grateful.”</p>
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<p>True Name winced, wilted, nodded. “I see. Well, if you would pass on my request for information security, I would be very grateful.”</p>
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<p>“I will,” May said.</p>
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<p>“I will,” May said.</p>
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<p>Standing and once more brushing her blouse flat, True name bowed. “Thank you both and apologies for the intrusion.”</p>
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<p>Standing and once more brushing her blouse flat, True Name bowed. “Thank you both and apologies for the intrusion.”</p>
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<p>May stood as well and stepped around the table, taking the other skunk’s paws in her own. It was strange to see the gesture of affection after so tense a discussion, but the expression on May’s face as she looked at her down-tree instance showed none of the friendship implied.</p>
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<p>May stood as well and stepped around the table, taking the other skunk’s paws in her own. It was strange to see the gesture of affection after so tense a discussion, but the expression on May’s face as she looked at her down-tree instance showed none of the friendship implied.</p>
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<p>Ioan marveled. If the sight of two skunks that shared so much in common and yet differed in such fundamental ways was uncanny, seeing them touch in like this after so much acrimonious history bordered on distressing.</p>
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<p>Ioan marveled. If the sight of two skunks that shared so much in common and yet differed in such fundamental ways was uncanny, seeing them touch in like this after so much acrimonious history bordered on distressing.</p>
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<p>“You wrote to me in back in 197. You pointed me toward Ioan and you told me, “You are, in many ways, a better version of me, and the completeness that you bring to our stanza ensures that we add up to something that is greater than the sum of its parts”. You told me that you still love me in your own way. Do you remember that?”</p>
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<p>“You wrote to me in back in 197,” May said. “You pointed me toward Ioan and you told me, “You are, in many ways, a better version of me, and the completeness that you bring to our stanza ensures that we add up to something that is greater than the sum of its parts”. You told me that you still love me in your own way. Do you remember that?”</p>
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<p>The skunk canted her ears back and nodded.</p>
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<p>The skunk canted her ears back and nodded.</p>
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<p>May let go of her paws and then hugged her arms up around her cocladist’s shoulders. “I still believe that.”</p>
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<p>May let go of her paws and then hugged her arms up around her cocladist’s shoulders. “I still believe that.”</p>
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<p>True Name leaned into the hug. Ey couldn’t see her face from where ey sat, but ey could still hear the sharp intake of breath and see the shaking of her shoulders.</p>
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<p>True Name leaned into the hug. Ey couldn’t see her face from where ey sat, but ey could still hear the sharp intake of breath and see the shaking of her shoulders.</p>
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@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
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</header>
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</header>
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<article class="content">
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<article class="content">
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<h1 id="tycho-braheartemis-2346">Tycho Brahe#Artemis — 2346</h1>
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<h1 id="tycho-braheartemis-2346">Tycho Brahe#Artemis — 2346</h1>
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<div class="codehilite"><pre><span></span><code><span class="err">Convergence T-4 days, 1 hour, 2 minutes</span>
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</code></pre></div>
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<p>“Alright, are you ready?” True Name said.</p>
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<p>“Alright, are you ready?” True Name said.</p>
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<p>Tycho nodded, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”</p>
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<p>Tycho nodded, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”</p>
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<p>The transition from System proper to DMZ was as seamless as any, though when he checked systime, he found that nearly twenty seconds had passed. That would be an unimaginably long transit time within the system, where the transit between sims would take place faster than he would have been able to perceive.</p>
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<p>The transition from System proper to DMZ was as seamless as any, though when he checked systime, he found that nearly twenty seconds had passed. That would be an unimaginably long transit time within the system, where the transit between sims would take place faster than he would have been able to perceive.</p>
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<p>“Really? Isn’t that kind of fundamental to our existence here?”</p>
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<p>“Really? Isn’t that kind of fundamental to our existence here?”</p>
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<p>“Allowing them to fork might prove dangerous, Tycho. We do not know how large their consciousnesses are.”</p>
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<p>“Allowing them to fork might prove dangerous, Tycho. We do not know how large their consciousnesses are.”</p>
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<p>He shrugged. “Well, sure, but if our goal is to provide an accurate representation of ourselves…”</p>
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<p>He shrugged. “Well, sure, but if our goal is to provide an accurate representation of ourselves…”</p>
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<p>The two Odists frowned at each other before True Name said, “You make a good point. We will take it under consideration.</p>
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<p>The two Odists frowned at each other before True Name said, “You do make a good point. We will take it under consideration.</p>
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<p>He nodded and began prowling through the courtyard. It consisted of a large, square area, a fountain in the center, and a large table beside it — “I will have full ACLs to modify this if need be,” True Name explained — all surrounded by a ring of trees, and that with a ring of covered walkway.</p>
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<p>He nodded and began prowling through the courtyard. It consisted of a large, square area, a fountain in the center, and a large table beside it — “I will have full ACLs to modify this if need be,” True Name explained — all surrounded by a ring of trees, and that with a ring of covered walkway.</p>
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<p>He paced around the perimeter, watching the way the sunlight shone through the trees and cast dancing shadows on the ground. They had been his idea, a lingering remnant from his dream. At two opposite corners, hallways led off to rest and sleeping areas. He walked down the one that led to the humans’ quarters, turned around, and looked back toward the courtyard. The view was much the same as in his dreams, though here, the columns from the covered walk offered regularly spaced shadows along the wall.</p>
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<p>He paced around the perimeter, watching the way the sunlight shone through the trees and cast dancing shadows on the ground. They had been his idea, a lingering remnant from his dream. At two opposite corners, hallways led off to rest and sleeping areas. He walked down the one that led to the humans’ quarters, turned around, and looked back toward the courtyard. The view was much the same as in his dreams, though here, the columns from the covered walk offered regularly spaced shadows along the wall.</p>
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<p>He nodded approvingly and made his way back out to the central meeting area.</p>
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<p>He nodded approvingly and made his way back out to the central meeting area.</p>
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<p>“How do you figure?” Tycho asked. He prowled through his memories of the language that he’d learned in the interim. “It feels mostly…uh, normal, to me, if that’s the right word. They’ve got all the same concepts for what we have. Bunch of words about fur, seems like.”</p>
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<p>“How do you figure?” Tycho asked. He prowled through his memories of the language that he’d learned in the interim. “It feels mostly…uh, normal, to me, if that’s the right word. They’ve got all the same concepts for what we have. Bunch of words about fur, seems like.”</p>
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<p>True Name grinned all the wider. “Which automatically makes them better.”</p>
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<p>True Name grinned all the wider. “Which automatically makes them better.”</p>
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<p>“That’s mostly the point, though,” Answers Will Not Help said. “They do not have a superfluity of words for war, weapons, fighting, of course, but they also do not have words for discussion that are so fine-grained that we will be out of our depth. They will talk much like us, which makes them easier to predict.”</p>
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<p>“That’s mostly the point, though,” Answers Will Not Help said. “They do not have a superfluity of words for war, weapons, fighting, of course, but they also do not have words for discussion that are so fine-grained that we will be out of our depth. They will talk much like us, which makes them easier to predict.”</p>
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<p>“Besides,” the skunk continued. “You have read all of the messages we have received. They sound excited to meet us. They keep talking about how long it has been since they have had one of these ‘convergences’. I <em>am</em> picking up the sense of an ulterior motive behind all that they say. Or, well, perhaps not an ulterior motive such as a deeper version of their explicitly stated motives of having these talks. I think that they might want something out of it that they are not stating outright.”</p>
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<p>“Besides,” the skunk continued. “You have read all of the messages we have received. They sound excited to meet us. They keep talking about how long it has been since they have had one of these ‘convergences’. I <em>am</em> picking up the sense of an ulterior motive behind all that they say. Or, well, perhaps not an ulterior motive so much as a deeper version of their explicitly stated motives of having these talks. I think that they might want something out of it that they are not stating outright.”</p>
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<p>Tycho pulled out one of the chairs at the conference table and sat down, the others following suit shortly after.</p>
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<p>Tycho pulled out one of the chairs at the conference table and sat down, the others following suit shortly after.</p>
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<p>“Isn’t that kind of shady, though?” he asked.</p>
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<p>“Isn’t that kind of shady, though?” he asked.</p>
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<p>Both Jonas and True Name shook their heads.</p>
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<p>Both Jonas and True Name shook their heads.</p>
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<p>“Anyway, uh…thanks, me. I hope you’re sleeping better than I am.”</p>
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<p>“Anyway, uh…thanks, me. I hope you’re sleeping better than I am.”</p>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-01-11</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2022-01-16</p>
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