Marsh

marsh/content/011.tex

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 The next two days passed in relative peace.
 
-There were a few more meetings with phys-side, usually with just Günay, but sometimes Jakub or another administrator peeked in. They all seemed to be rather cowed by the sys-side administration, such as it was. I chalked this up to the fact --- later confirmed by Dry Grass --- that there had been other talks beside between the latent Temporary Administrative Council and the System Consortium. Talks which had been far more tense.
+There were a few more meetings with phys-side, usually with just Günay, but sometimes Jakub or another administrator peeked in. They all seemed to be rather cowed by the sys-side administration, such as it was. I chalked this up to the fact—later confirmed by Dry Grass—that there had been other talks beside between the latent Temporary Administrative Council and the System Consortium. Talks which had been far more tense.
 
 Although phys-side remained in control of a few aspects, they had quickly ceded the rest to us once more, including ungating communications between Lagrange and Earth.
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ On hearing this news, she disappeared for nearly twelve hours, all of her instan
 
 She and I also started spending more time together, with the next two lunches being just the two of us together. While I had memories of learning all about her through Tule, she was keen on learning about me in turn. She wanted to know what my take was on why Marsh had uploaded, explaining that both Cress and Tule had differing thoughts on the matter. She wanted to know why it was that I had slipped back into that transmasculine identity. She wanted to know how it was that Hanne and I had found each other, had fallen in love.
 
-I mostly wanted to know --- though I never asked --- how it was that I --- that part of me from before the merge --- was falling so rapidly for her in turn. I turned that question over and over in my head, leaning on it for comfort whenever thoughts of Marsh struggled to overwhelm me.
+I mostly wanted to know—though I never asked—how it was that I—that part of me from before the merge—was falling so rapidly for her in turn. I turned that question over and over in my head, leaning on it for comfort whenever thoughts of Marsh struggled to overwhelm me.
 
 When at last the group of representative clades met up again, we were joined by yet another Odist, I Cannot Stop Myself From Speaking, a bobcat furry who moved silently on soft-padded paws, whose voice was quiet and yet demanding of attention.
 
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ Smile unwavering, en4 said, ``We have no comment on that decision at this time.'
 
 Nods around the table.
 
-``2.3 trillion lives, then. 2.3 trillion lives that were taken from us here on Earth. 2.3 trillion minds in almost 40 billion uploads that might have lived full lives here among us phys-side. We resent that they were, and yet our only recourse is --- \emph{must be} --- to keep them alive, to ensure that they at least remain among the living in some form or another.'' Their gaze drifted to the three present Odists. ``We, too, desire nothing but the stability and continuity of the System, just for different reasons. This instance of us is an ISO specifically to live up to our own principles.''
+``2.3 trillion lives, then. 2.3 trillion lives that were taken from us here on Earth. 2.3 trillion minds in almost 40 billion uploads that might have lived full lives here among us phys-side. We resent that they were, and yet our only recourse is—\emph{must be}—to keep them alive, to ensure that they at least remain among the living in some form or another.'' Their gaze drifted to the three present Odists. ``We, too, desire nothing but the stability and continuity of the System, just for different reasons. This instance of us is an ISO specifically to live up to our own principles.''
 
 All three of the Odists nodded, expressions varying from serious to vaguely disgusted.
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ All three of the Odists nodded, expressions varying from serious to vaguely disg
 
 They shrugged eloquently.
 
-``Despite these lies,'' Speaking continued, ``I was able to glean plenty through apophasis and aposiopesis. All I needed to do was assume that every statement was false. ISO en4 confirmed much of this from the LCNZ's view. They --- the OBLC --- differ from the LCNZ in the sense that they believe each of those lives is a life lost, rather than a life preserved. They believe that the lives here on the System are, and I quote,''shadows and negations of souls''. They believe that clades are negations and that up-tree instances are shadows.''
+``Despite these lies,'' Speaking continued, ``I was able to glean plenty through apophasis and aposiopesis. All I needed to do was assume that every statement was false. ISO en4 confirmed much of this from the LCNZ's view. They—the OBLC—differ from the LCNZ in the sense that they believe each of those lives is a life lost, rather than a life preserved. They believe that the lives here on the System are, and I quote, ``shadows and negations of souls''. They believe that clades are negations and that up-tree instances are shadows.''
 
 ``Yes,'' en4 said. ``They believe that each of these negations negates a life phys-side, and thus the only way they could even bring into balance, much less overcome, the negation offered by the System is to destroy it. They hoped that by destroying you, they would give those who remained phys-side a chance at heaven.''
 
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ They shook their head. ``Not at all. Many of them struggled with the effects tha
 
 ``Yes, but hasn't much of that changed thanks to the Artemis data dump?'' Boiling Maw dos Riãos, another of the furries sitting at the table asked. She was some sort of mustelid, though larger and far more thickly-furred than Debarre. A fisher cat, the System informed me through a whiff of distraction. I pushed it down in an attempt to focus. ``Most of that effort took place sys-side as well.''
 
-``I will answer, but after this, we should return to the topic of the Century Attack,'' en4 replied. ``Many of these collectives --- of which the LCNZ is one --- believe that this is a side effect of the Artemisians' convergence, rather than any effort from those who uploaded in order to help. We would say,''Are we to rely on aliens to solve every problem? Ought we not also work ourselves?{}``\,''
+``I will answer, but after this, we should return to the topic of the Century Attack,'' en4 replied. ``Many of these collectives—of which the LCNZ is one—believe that this is a side effect of the Artemisians' convergence, rather than any effort from those who uploaded in order to help. We would say, ``Are we to rely on aliens to solve every problem? Ought we not also work ourselves?''\hspace{1pt}''
 
 ``That's not--'' Boiling Maw started, anger painting her face. She paused, took a deep breath, and settled back into her seat, sulking. ``Right. Moving on.''