84 lines
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84 lines
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<h1>Zk | Ioan Bălan --- 2305</h1>
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<p><span class="tag">writing</span> <span class="tag">novel</span> <span class="tag">chapter</span> <span class="tag">fiction</span> <span class="tag">scifi</span> <span class="tag">post-self</span> <span class="tag">qoheleth</span></p>
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<p>The first message was not long in coming, arriving about an hour after Ioan#c1494bf arrived home. At least it wasn't high priority; ey had the choice to accept then or experience later. Half duplex, though. Would be an actual conversation.</p>
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<p>Ey sighed, closed eir eyes, accepted. The things ey did for work.</p>
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<p><em>"Hi Ioan,"</em> came Dear's voice. It was still seated on the couch. <em>"Long time no see, hmm?"</em></p>
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<p>Ioan nodded, subvocalized, "Yeah, took you ages. Have something for me?"</p>
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<p><em>"Maybe. We've got a file from someone down-tree. Or, well, hmm."</em> It appeared to think for a moment before continuing, <em>"Someone down-tree from me found a file, and she thinks it might be a file from the clade, maybe one of the original ten."</em></p>
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<p>Ioan waited until the fox was done before responding, "Alright, send it over."</p>
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<p>The file arrived promptly. Eir shoulders sagged. It began with <code>-----BEGIN AES BLOCK-----</code> followed by thousands of apparently random letters, numbers, and punctuation.</p>
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<p>"What's an AES block?"</p>
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<p><em>"An old encryption algorithm. And I mean </em><em>old</em><em>."</em> Dear looked a little embarrassed. <em>"We like old things. That's why she figured it's probably from one of us."</em></p>
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<p>"You don't sound convinced, yourself."</p>
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<p><em>"I'm not. You must understand that this isn't something any of the clade wants known. It's just a name, yes, but it is important to us in a way that is hard to overstate."</em> Dear sighed. <em>"Much of the clade is of the opinion that, if we could simply wipe the Name from our minds, we would."</em></p>
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<p>"You're right in that I probably can't understand the importance here." Ioan frowned. "I'm trying to square your use of the poet's work in your very names with your desire to forget the Name itself."</p>
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<p><em>"Names bear power."</em></p>
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<p>"A memorial, then?" Ey hastened to add, "Sorry. It's probably not my place to understand. We can drop it for now."</p>
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<p><em>"Yes. A memorial."</em> The fox's shoulders slumped. <em>"Let's come back to it later. I don't want to get too distracted now. Still, we will have to speak more on this soon. It would be good for you to have a more complete picture."</em></p>
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<p>Ioan nodded. "So do you want me--"</p>
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<p><em>"You don't need to worry about the file itself. That's why I didn't just forward it to you automatically."</em> Dear paused, then added, <em>"Though I probably should have. Amanuenses form an</em> Umwelt, <em>so this is part of yours, now. We'll talk about it at the end. Something to keep in mind, I guess. When we find the key, we'll let you know and send over the contents."</em></p>
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<p>"Good. I gave AES a check, and you're right, that's ridiculously old. Can't you just crack it?"</p>
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<p><em>"We could. Some of us probably already have. I want the key, though. It's probably a word or something, and may prove interesting in its own right."</em></p>
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<p>"Interesting?" Ioan asked.</p>
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<p><em>"Interesting in that the act of finding the key may turn up further clues."</em></p>
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<p>"Ah. Good point. I'll do some digging on old cryptography, too, and see what all's out there. Keep in touch, yeah?"</p>
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<p><em>"Good fucking luck. Cryptonerds were --- are --- very wordy. There's going to be a boatload to sort through."</em></p>
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<p>Ey grinned, "I'll fork and research, then."</p>
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<p><em>"Good plan. Gonna get back to the hunt, and hey, Ioan?"</em> The fox gave an earnest smile. <em>"Thanks. Even if I'm just running ideas past you, it's good to put in words."</em></p>
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<p>"Of course, Dear." Ioan waved. Ey always felt silly interacting with sensorium messages. Would #tracker think em crazy? "Thanks for the project."</p>
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<p>Dear bowed, signed off.</p>
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<p>#tracker was, indeed, giving #c1494bf a bemused grin.</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2020-04-15</p>
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