Codrin Bălan#Emissary — 2346
++Codrin#Emissary
+I am finding myself started by the strangeness of the goings on during this whole venture. I know that you have it worse, such as it is, given the fact that you are having to deal with meeting four alien races as well as experiencing an entirely new system, complete with an entirely new take on reality.
+Still, this is very strange. I’m curious to hear what sort of information you are getting from the social and political side of the talks, as I think it will help me form a more coherent picture of the Artemisians so that I may ask better questions when I’m so very, very out of my league, here on the science side. I asked True Name about this, and she just shrugged, saying, “So long as you do not forget what we are here for in the DMZ, I see no reason to prevent knowledge sharing.
+First, here is what we are finding, seen through the eyes of the scientifically inept:
++
+- Iska is quite upset about the lack of “time skew”, as they call it, and has stated that they refuse the single fork they’re permitted in their rest area. They have not elaborated on this, but I find it interesting that some scientific feat that they have accomplished is so thoroughly engrained in their society (remember, secondrace has been on Artemis for nigh on four millennia by now). I know that forking is integral to our society, but it does make me wonder if it has reached that point yet. Dear would be furious without it, of course, but would that sentiment be universal after only 231 years? Are you missing it? Are the other Odists?
+- Stolon and Tycho are so happy to meet each other that both parties have had to shush them on several occasions. I would prefer to let them have at it, but I do also understand the desire to talk about sciences other than astronomy and spaceflight. Why Ask Questions is our biologist and linguist here, and she has been the other primary participant, speaking mostly with Iska and Turun Ka.
+- Artante and Sarah are almost as perfectly aligned as Tycho and Stolon; they are both psychologists, though it sounds like the Artemisians’ approach to such bears some striking differences. Notably, there are some time-related disorders that have largely gone over my head (something about “lacking a feel for common time” and “unison rooms”? Perhaps you can enlighten me), and there are some approaches that Sarah has found interesting, including forms of proactive therapy using, you guessed it, time. Something about practicing.
+- It is almost impossible to get a read on the firstracers. It’s not just that they do not have facial expressions, so much as their penchant for absolute stillness unless a gesture is required (I’ve begun cataloguing those:
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Exchanges notes with Codrin#Artemis, hinting at swap with WAQ/AWNH