Zk | Nevi'im

In which the Dreamer Module comes to roost and now they’ve got aliens.

Prophet aspect: Artemisians have been at this longer, start giving advice, etc, which influences the direction of the LV society for better or worse

Rough outline

Locations/characters:
- Castor:
  - Tycho Brahe - astronomer, in a bit of hot water for answering without consulting, chosen as delegate while handled by True Name’s stanza
  - Codrin Balan - clerk for meetings, historian for info coming from remote ship
  - Sarah Genet - Amanuensis in training via Codrin (small bit of penance for modifying history)
  - Answers Will Not Help - managing news, info coming from guest/remote ship via Why Ask Questions
  - True Name - is here’n’there being a bitch
  - Artemisians - visitors/emissaries, learning about system, humans, life, etc, got their own subtle machinations going on
    - Stolon - translated name from something like root runner - lizard
    - Iska - kind of a hissing, spitting noise, but goes by that - skiltaire
    - Artante Diria - fairly similar family name setup - humanish
    - Turun Ka - similar to Jonas clade naming scheme - post-biological
    - Turun Ko - Amanuensis, as above
- Artemis:
  - Tycho Brahe - overwhelmed, gawking tourist, trying to glean as much astronomical knowledge as possible, almost uninterested in Artemisians qua Artemisians
  - Codrin Balan - amanuensis/reporter
  - Sarah Genet - Amanuensis in training via Codrin
  - Why Ask Questions - shaping reports back, starts considering shaping their society, her and True Name fail
  - True Name - is here’n’there being a bitch
  - [several Artemisians] - society is like comprised of four different species gathered along the way, they are shaped like lizards skiltaire human-ish post-natural taur-types (original species), all went post natural but first went post-biological (beyond implants) before uploading/launching; mostly just the five, but some are seen outside in common sim: room/tower is DMZ
    - Stolon - translated name from something like root runner - lizard
    - Iska - kind of a hissing, spitting noise, but goes by that - skiltaire
    - Artante Diria - fairly similar family name setup - humanish
    - Turun Ka - similar to Jonas clade naming scheme - post-biological
    - Turun Ko - Amanuensis, as above
General plot:
- Agree to fall into trajectories that aren’t diverging so quickly (using attitude jets and angling solar sail, though Castor is still moving slower and has little chance to catch up/Artemisians don’t want to slow down)
- Decide that same representatives on both
- Artemisians upload into dmz to meet with amanuenses, Answers Will Not Help, and True Name. Lots of discussions.
- Tycho, Codrin, Why Ask Questions, and True Name upload into similar DMZ on the remote ship. Lots of discussions
- Begins with a lot of learning about each other
- Shifts to gentle nudges this way and that to information sent between the two ships and between DMZ and System as a whole
- Shifts from there to gentle nudges back and forth on each others’ societies
- Climax??? Maybe there is a subversive faction of both humans and aliens who figures out how to break through the DMZ on each? Or perhaps humans are invited to join the other 4 species on the ship, also expand the DMZ (can’t/won’t change it from one-way, but folks can send forks into it to live, communicate through perisystem border. Codrin finally figures eir shit out so ey can make the proposal to also send forks to the DMZ, tickles Dear because can’t merge forks back
- Denouement: Who’s upset? Who’s happy? Why? What’s next?
Notes:
- Codrin not sure how ey feels about always being the amanuensis for everything big. Not tired, really, but frustrated?
- Tangents/interludes throughout about how The History and Mythos affected launch-side society, maybe also sys-side via transmissions
- Maybe Tycho dies, or invests entire in the remote ship, then gets the Sarah Williams quote read at memorial?
- Codrin struggles with feeling completely reactive and unable to be proactive. It’s not that ey doesn’t want to take on the project, but ey feels obligated to; it’s not that ey can’t decide whether or not to join the Artemis, but that ey can’t do so unless Dear and its partner do so first. Eir character arc is that ey gets over that.
- Artemisians don’t have forking (except for very special cases like representatives), but have time management and reproduction (even between species)
- From Toledot: Time Is A Finger Pointing At Itself stanza is the one that got Ioan and May into theatre
- Secondrace hates forking in general; very few join Castor, just as very few joined fourthrace.
Conflict notes:
- Should stay away from humans are special thing a la Anathem
- Maybe less political machinations, more figuring each other out a la Axiom’s End
- Conflict is figuring out that manipulation across species lines is, True Name has to give up attempts at such?
- Maybe the aliens, who aren’t built for the system, can sense RJ???
Character arcs
- Codrin and Ioan start feeling empathy for True Name
- Codrin gets a spine and starts to lead
- The conservative Odists have to let go of control with their inability to keep a handle on this.
- Tycho actually connects with someone, even if they’re an alien
- The recognition that the retention of memory does not mean that one does not still grow into someone new

Turun Ka of firstrace, leadership (it)
Turun Ko of firstrace, recorder (it)
Stolon of thirdrace, scientist (they)
Iska of secondrace, representative (they)
Artante Diria of fourthrace, representative (she)

Language is Nanon, a hodgepodge of languages from 2-4 race.

Formal greating: rehasiër munachla *chles eslosam
(* a=masculine, e=feminine, u=epicine)
greet(v.tr) friendship(adv) [gender]-I you(pl,accusative)
Formal farewell: eslesi thoăche anåtalla
you-be(v.pl) with-again kindness(adv)
Informal: nahi/tahi
Yes/correct: anem/ka
No/wrong: unot/nu
Um/well/I’m thinking: lu
Whoa, surprise: iha
What is the word/how to say: baenåt putati
how say

Stolon talking with Tycho very informal and slangy, also a bit spotty on English. Nah’/tah’, lu, iha, baenå’ puta’

On the Origin of Our World

Mythos - An Expanded Mythology of our World by May Then My Name Die With Me of the Ode clade
- Reaching for the stars - 517
- The beginning of beginnings
History - An Expanded History of our World by the Bălan clade
- On the justifications for Launch - 833

Outline

Epigraph
- If you race only with foot-runners and they exhaust you, how then can you compete with horses? If you are secure only in a tranquil land, how will you fare in the jungle of the Jordan? — Jeremiah 12:5
Prologue
- RJ Brewster — Prakash Das helps RJ get to S-R Bloc, sends last email to Sasha, undergoes the early uploading procedure (fade to black when going under anaesthetic) - 2021
Anticipation - leading up to the arrival of the Artemisians
- Tycho Brahe — Tycho seeks out Codrin to tell em what happened. - 1481
- Codrin Bălan — After coping ahead w/ Tycho, Codrin expresses worries with Dear - 1896
- Tycho Brahe — Tycho returns back to home sim to find True Name - 2698
- Codrin Bălan — Goes to begin the work with Tycho, explaining how projects start, amanuenses - 2643
- Tycho Brahe — Tycho#Artemis catches up on recent developments (instructions for interfacing with their version of the Ansible, instructions on course change to stay in closer contact for longer), meets up with Answers Will Not Help, who is surprisingly open about news management. - 3038
- Codrin Bălan — Meets Sarah Genet to talk about joining the amanuensis team, talk about what that would even look like, decide nice to have a total nobody Odists don’t know/care about, laughs that this is the most organized project yet - 2801
- Tycho Brahe — Tycho, True Name, Answers Will Not Help, other astronomer (Paolo Verda), and System tech (Sovanna Soun) fork to basically create a massive workforce to get all this done as fast as possible, .com - 1924
- Codrin Bălan — Meets up with the Artemis team at dinner, somewhat tense around True Name, but learns a bit more about the current status and how well under control it is (or how tightly controlled Odists are keeping it) - 2168
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — Tycho has a dream about meeting the Artemisians, wakes and talks with TN about preemptive cultural exchange so that they know more about each other, works with Why Ask Questions thinking she’s Answers Will Not Help. - 1758
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan gets word from Castor - 1844
- SPLIT
- Codrin Bălan — Tycho#Tasker, Sarah, have dinner with Codrin, Dear, Dear’s partner, talk about jobs, what they used to do, how odd it is to have one. Tycho gets message re: Artemisian culture and importance of time-bending, and shares with table, Tycho says TN refuses to accommodate on Castor. - 2324
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — Tycho watches news disseminate with True Name, learns of various reactions. - 2222
- Codrin Bălan — Walk with Dear, talking about what to expect/not expect (actual understanding may take decades, some other stuff), Dear admits that this might be one it’s glad to sit out b/c its existence relies on being able to understand, they talk about that - 2082
- Ioan Bălan — True Name shows up - 1838
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — They work out a date, start making preparations e.g: building the DMZ out a bit, forks for who’s going, senses how little input he will have but keeps to himself, letting #Tasker know to talk with Codrin back at house on prairie - 2174
Experience - exchange of emissaries, discussions, knowledge share
- Codrin Bălan#Artemis — divvying up tasks (e.g: #Emissaries talk about politics, society, history, #Artemises talk about science, language, astronomy), forking, watching remote team head off, then forking and transiting DMZ border to welcome and orient emissaries. - 1490 (expand)
- Codrin Bălan#Emissary — First entry into the meeting hall, a dome in the middle of a compound, disoriented, unable to fork, time feels weird, introduced and oriented, ey finds out about WAQ/AWNH switch, remembers what they were for, frown; AWNH and TN are kind of freaking out b/c time slipperiness feels like being lost. - 2403
- Ioan Bălan — May had a cry - 1804
- Codrin Bălan#Artemis — starts out simply recording, Tycho too overwhelmed to speak, notices Turun Ko, discusses roles during a lull, TN frowns, Emissaries are set up with sandbox sim for downtime however they please; catches up with Tycho and Sarah Genet about how learning is going (hint: everyone’s baffled) - 1875 (expand)
- MERGED ABOVE
- Tycho Brahe#Emissary — overwhelmed at meeting them all, introductions go around, working out specialties and such, gets a bit excited talking about astronomy and how much there is to learn, TN frowns, though she’s still struggling b/c lost-alike sensations Tycho learns about time from Turun Ka and that this is how they managed to work fast: modifying time rather than forking. They explain forking and merging in turn, compare with Artante’s experience - 2195
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan and May are super gay and sad - 1501
- MERGED ABOVE
- Codrin Bălan#Emissary — Exchanges notes with Codrin#Artemis, hinting at swap with WAQ/AWNH - 2192
- SPLIT
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — Talks with Sarah Genet about what the two parties are learning and how its impacting his view of the System and Artemis - 1920
- Tycho Brahe#Emissary — Watches TN try to have a discussion with Turun Ka regarding history, and it is an exercise in mutual misunderstanding, starting to feel out of his league with #Emissary being about social aspects - 1725
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan, May, End Waking, A Finger Pointing, Douglas meet up to talk about thing; what does it feel like, etc - 1938
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — Compares utility differences between forking/time manipulation (mostly Tycho, but also TN/WAQ) (day 3 after lunch) - 1965
- Codrin Bălan#Artemis — After watching similar discussion of TN misunderstanding, meets up with Sarah Genet over break, discusses note from Codrin#Emissary (day 3 lunch) - 2251
- Codrin Bălan#Emissary — Talks about current status during break, suggests ideas to Tycho about what he could be paying attention to re: politics/society/history in terms of the stars, leads to question of whether there were others that they’ve met along the way but didn’t join them arising, but told not to ask yet - 3208
- MERGED ABOVE
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — Tycho, getting bored, directs talk to origins and path they’ve taken. Inexact answers, which has TN intrigued. She talks with the group after to discuss possibility that they might be being shady rather than just leaning on “oh we manipulate time” (day 3 after lunch/break) - 1635
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan and Codrin#Pollux exchange notes - 3124
- Tycho Brahe#Emissary — There’s a conversation between TN and Turun Ka around how the various races manage sentiment. Tycho is surprised at it being frank, Sarah suggests that she might be working on many levels, Codrin starting to worry about their sanity - 1764
Intensity - manipulations fail b/c whoops the Artemisians are way, way better at this
- Codrin Bălan#Emissary — Discusses openly about news from Artemis and some of the problems the Systems have had in the past, Artemisians describe some of their own. AWNH and TN are both struggling now, each getting occasional flickers of Sasha/Michelle. They call a brief break, Turun Ko says take as long as you need b/c time is maleable, AWNH cries, refuses. - 1963
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — Writes #Emissary a note during a lull about what the two parties are learning and how he’s reevaluating the History. (day 3 afternoon break) - 1304
- Codrin Bălan#Emissary — AWNH breaks down (revealing she’s AWNH, not WAQ), quits, break immediately called, TN is having a REALLY HARD TIME, Turun Ka shows up, TN comes clean, talks about getting lost, Turun Ka says Artante’s race ran into similar, but stops her from talking about AWNH further for now - 2109
- Codrin Bălan#Artemis — TN gets news re: AWNH (a fork enters the space, quits, merges - Artemisians like huh???), calls halt to meeting, preempts everyone getting news separately by announcing what happened, Codrin and Sarah confirm they’ve heard, tries to gloss over the swap quickly (b/c of course she’s planned), but Turun Ka speaks up, says that this is part of confirmation required. For what? Tune in next time… - 1884
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan meets up with True Name at a neutral place to talk about the cracks showing, death of Death Itself and I Do Not Know; growing empathy for True Name - 2326
- Codrin Bălan#Emissary — Codrin, Sarah, Turun Ko, Artante meet up (while TN talks with Turun Ka, Iska, and Tycho chills with Stolon) and discuss actual point of meetings: to determine whether humanity is a suitable fifthrace. None of the Artemisians know/will say what the gating factors are, but think they’re close - don’t tell TN (are they supposed to know? Shrug, but implied if they tell TN, that’s a point against them)
- Tycho Brahe#Emissary — While all the above is happening, Tycho steals some time with Stolon to try and talk science, but they both wind up talking about being in over one’s head and the futility of politics vs stability of science
- Codrin Bălan#Artemis — Codrin gives Turun Ko a copy of On the Origin of Our World (against TN’s suggestion, but she is in damage-control mode), which, after it reads it, turns out to be the penultimate step towards moving forward with accepting as fifthrace. Yay Codrin
- Tycho Brahe#Artemis — Steals time with Stolon on break, joined by Iska and Sarah, talk about joining Artemis, what races have learned from each other re: science.
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan and May speculate on how True Name must be taking it Pollux, suggest Codrin’s grand gesture for Dear being bringing the polycule to the DMZ, more on stability re: Odists.
- Tycho Brahe#Emissary — Watching talks resume, starting to think y’know what, fuck it, maybe he’ll just stay if allowed. Stolon’s neat, the science is good, and having this to look forward to has given him more purpose in life. Interrupts talk to mention such regardless of glares from TN. Silence from Artemisians, one can assume internal chatter, then “that was the final gating step - wanting to join. We will welcome you as fifthrace” - from there they will learn all they want, have X days to do exchange, share entire libraries back and forth on data band, can keep format however they want on Castor. TN FROWNS but WHATEVER FINE
Integration - DMZ expands, several upload to Artemis
- Tycho Brahe — Fresh out of talks, merges back with #tracker in sim, looks up at the sky, new big feelings, TN shows up w/champagne. She’s kind of sad, but guess it went okay, says she’s trying to be earnest about just wanting to have something to celebrate with someone else, but isn’t sure she knows how anymore. Cracks showing as growth collides with eternal memory.
- Ioan Bălan — Sarah Genet gets in touch. May is feeling rough, so she mostly talks with Ioan, who talks with May after, feeling better.
- Codrin Bălan — Talks with Sarah back at home about what things will look like going forward (expand DMZ to idk like 1/3 system size, allow Artemisians to join, allow any to join Artemis as fifthrace). After Sarah leaves, goes for a walk with Dear, mentions what happened with AWNH and TN
- Tycho Brahe — The DMZ expands, sets up a border crossing of sorts, starts to think about what to do, about how there’s this idea that he invest fully that just showed up, fully formed, in his head
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan and May re the name; May does a therapy - 1538 (expand with therapy)
- Codrin Bălan — Convinces Dear and partner to join em in both DMZ (Do they leave forks behind? Maybe Codrin is so giddy ey doesn’t even care if they do) - Will write the history with Genet, but is going to take a more active role than amanuensis, learn about therapy. (Not librarian b/c different person now) A solution to boredom? Boredom finally a problem?
- Ioan Bălan — Ioan and May discuss ramifications on history/mythos, and how none of the Bălans want to write it; news from Castor is shown to be shaped well by TN/Jonas, data dump from Artemis arriving only after local TN/Jonas have shaped expectations, etc
- Tycho Brahe — invests fully, ceremony a la Sasha’s eulogy, see both local and Artemis view from him
Epilogue
- RJ — RJ dies during upload, drat, another loss…but wait? What’s this? Something worked, something’s still going, something’s still there. No RJ, but the world

(True Name tries to guide the talks toward simply finding out more information thinking of gaining the upper hand to prepare for some sort of exchange or power imbalance, then simply to tries maintaining control over the situation, but for once, she’s out of her league. Their goal is basically ensuring greater continuity of all races (similar to TN/Jonas’s stated goals, stated later))

The next note that came from Artemis included a block of clade-eyes-only message for both True Name and Turun Ka. When Codrin#Assist handed it to #Artemis, ey shrugged, saying only, “It appears Codrin#Emissary has instructed the Artemisians on how to relay such in turn. I guess ey did a while back, actually, but this is the first time they’ve taken advantage of it. Or, well…” Ey trailed off.

“Hard to tell how much time has passed up there?” Codrin#Artemis asked?

#Assist nodded, smiling wryly. “Haven’t the faintest. Anyway, I’m not sure how you want to pass it over. I figured a separate sheet would be easiest and you can decide from there. The news from #Emissary seems mostly to be about the Odists, so perhaps that’s what Turun Ka is getting. True Name got her own message in here.”

Ey frowned, nodded, and skimmed quickly over the letter addressed to em. Eir frown deepened. “Thanks. Here, hold on–” Ey quickly jotted Message received, will ask on a slip of foolscap and handed it to the other Codrin. “Send this for now, just so we’re on the same page at as close to the same time as we can manage.”

“Whatever that means,” ey said, laughing and pocketing the slip. Ey prodded em in the shoulder and added, “Dear threatened to beat me up because of you, so thanks for that.”

Codrin#Artemis laughed. “Well, did it?”

“No, of course not.”

“Just have to pull harder, then.” Ey sighed and shook eir head. “Self-deprecating humor aside, tell them I miss them.”

Ey nodded. “Of course. I’d fork and merge back down if I could.”

“I’ll see them soon enough, I guess. A few weeks, tops, though at this rate, I’m guessing only a matter of days.”