move from work dir

neviim/content/local/codrin/001.tex

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+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lan-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 22 days, 9 hours, 12 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Tycho stayed until they could talk him down from the plateau of anxiety he had seemed determined to hold onto for as long as he could. They fed him tea, then ice water, then leftovers, anything they could do to help. They talked to him about how to prepare for the inevitable discussions that would be coming from the other astronomers aboard as well as for the inevitable contact that would come from the Odists or Jonases, seeking answers to why he had done the things that he'd done.
+
+And, once he was able to talk without the volume of his voice continually rising, once he was able to smile again, they sent him on his way, off to go get some sleep, even though the sun was beginning to color the eastern sides of the house in salmon and orange.
+
+``It's alright,'' he had said, laughing tiredly. ``It's always night in the field. It's always night outside, isn't it?''
+
+This left Codrin and Dear to sit in silence for a few minutes. After making more coffee, they moved out to the patio despite the chill of the morning.
+
+\emph{``What do you think, my dear?''} the fox asked, cradling its mug close to its chest.
+
+``Mm? I don't know that I'm thinking anything. I think my brain's too full with new information packed in around sleepiness that I can't actually process anything.''
+
+\emph{``I would suggest drinking your coffee to wake up, but if it is the same feeling that I have had, that will simply replace the sleepiness with caffeine, and you will be no more easily able to process.''}
+
+Codrin grinned, nodded, and sipped eir coffee. ``I'm a little disappointed I didn't fork to get up so that at least some part of me could keep sleeping and just deal with it in the morning.''
+
+Dear laughed. \emph{``You jumped out of bed so fast I thought that we were under attack. I do not think you would have been able to get back to sleep even if you had tried.''}
+
+``Probably not.''
+
+They sat in silence, drinking their coffee and watching the sun creep up until the horizon reluctantly let it free. When they realized that they were squinting and shading their eyes too much to actually see anything, they went back inside to claim the couch, huddling under a throw to warm themselves up while their partner puttered sleepily around the kitchen.
+
+This led, of course, to further cups of coffee and warm sweet rolls, and a long hour of Codrin and the fox catching their partner up to date.
+
+``Well,'' they said. ``How do you feel?''
+
+\emph{``That is a very Codrin question.''}
+
+``Yeah, I guess it is. I feel\ldots{}'' Ey paused, looking down into eir mug. ``I feel overwhelmed. I guess that's not a complete emotion, though.''
+
+``You want help teasing it apart?''
+
+Codrin slouched down into the couch further, resting the mug on eir stomach. Tiredness clung to em in a thin, sticky film. ``I guess. I mean, I think a lot of it is due to exhaustion.''
+
+\emph{``Seconded,''} Dear mumbled. \emph{``I am surprised you slept through that, my love.''}
+
+``I'm one of the lucky ones who can sleep through anything,'' their partner said, grinning. ``But Codrin dear, first, how do you feel about being woken up so early?''
+
+``I don't think that really entered into my mind. That's how I met Dear, after all. A jolt of adrenaline and then a sensorium message.''
+
+\emph{``I do hope that mine was not so panicked. From what you said, Tycho was a bit shouty.''}
+
+Ey laughed. ``He was, at that. I hope we sent him home a little calmer. But that made me anxious. Given that I was still fighting my way out of a dream, it felt rather like waking up into a nightmare, rather than out of one.''
+
+``Alright,'' they said. ``And how do you feel about meeting him?''
+
+``That's a little tougher. Equally anxious, I guess. Frustrated as well, given how poorly he reacted to Dear. I think he's very much a tasker and hasn't experienced individuation before.''
+
+Both Dear and its partner nodded. \emph{``I am not Michelle, and I am certainly not True Name, which is who I am sure he was imagining.''}
+
+``I suppose, yeah. So it was frustrating hearing that his first reaction was—or that anybody's first reaction—to one of my partners could be one of, I don't know, distrust? Disgust?''
+
+Dear's ears flinched back, but it nodded all the same. Codrin suspected it had had more than its fill of dealing with the rest of the Odists by now.
+
+``So,'' their partner said. ``Anxious, frustrated, maybe a bit defensive?''
+
+Ey nodded.
+
+``And what about the topic of the conversation? How did that make you feel?''
+
+``I think that's where I'm struggling the most. I've worked on so many projects through the years, and this has the potential of being far and away the biggest of them all.''
+
+\emph{``Have you accepted it as a project, my dear?''} Dear said, grinning slightly.
+
+Codrin hesitated, taking a sip to gain a bit more time to mull that over in eir mind. ``I think I have, though I don't know what shape that'll take yet.''
+
+\emph{``So, how do you feel about that?''}
+
+``If we consider the scope of the \emph{History} as ten times that of \emph{Perils}, and if we give this one a cautious estimate of ten times that of the \emph{History}--''
+
+``Ten times?'' Dear's partner frowned. ``A hundred times the size of \emph{On the Perils of Memory?}''
+
+``Size maybe isn't the best descriptor. Intensity, perhaps?'' Ey shrugged. ``Working on the Qoheleth project never had me screaming into the void or shouting at the sky. The \emph{History} was longer, but while I can see this one maybe being shorter, the intensity is going through the roof. I'm not sure how much of that is just being exhausted, though.''
+
+\emph{``That is about the work, though. How do you feel about the topic? Aliens sending us copies of Douglas? Or perhaps us sending aliens copies of\ldots well, whoever we decide?''}
+
+``Frightened? Excited? Anxious? It feels too big to think about, in a way.''
+
+\emph{``Agreed,''} both of their partners said at the same time, then laughed.
+
+``But also, to tie those two together, I think my first reaction—the very first thing I thought as soon as I connected Tycho's mood with the topic at hand—was `God damnit, not again'.''
+
+Dear frowned. \emph{``Do you feel obligated to take on the project, rather than actually wanting to?''}
+
+Codrin shrugged. ``I don't know what else to say other than that. Obligated, then worried about scope, as though I'd already accepted the burden, such as it were.''
+
+\emph{``Do you need a vacation, my dear?''}
+
+``Good Lord, no,'' ey said, laughing. ``I don't go as nuts as you, fox, but sitting around idly is decidedly uncomfortable. It's not quite an `I hate my job' feeling, either. It's just more of a `Why is it always me? Why do I always wind up at the center of these enormous happenings?' feeling.''
+
+As though on cue, both Codrin and eir partner looked over at the fox, who burst into giggles. Ey felt so loopy from exhaustion that ey was soon joining Dear in the fit.
+
+\emph{``I will accept a portion of that responsibility,''} it said when it could speak again. \emph{``But the rest falls on my cocladists. I may be one of them, but I am no metonym.''}
+
+``I'll accept that,'' Codrin said.
+
+``We're not wrong, though, you know. Even if True Name and her stanza nudged you towards Dear, you wound up here. You wound up so influenced by the project that you almost resented Ioan when you needed to merge back for the project. I know there were a few tense discussions between you two when it came time to decide who would write \emph{Perils.}''
+
+Ey waggled a hand. ``Tense is maybe too strong a word. We were both excited, and it came down to whether it was me because my memories weren't muddied with what ey'd experienced in the interim, or whether those memories would help add to the, uh\ldots damn, what'd you call it, Dear?''
+
+\emph{``}Umwelt\emph{? One's worldview combined with one's experience of the world? I know that I have overloaded the term somewhat, and I am not sorry.''}
+
+``That's the one. If Ioan's combined knowledge of what I experienced via my memories as well as eir own experiences during the project would provide a better worldview as a canvas for the project. We decided that I'd write and ey'd consult.''
+
+\emph{``I left you with a tainted soul,''} Dear said, still sounding loopy.
+
+``So dramatic,'' ey said, rolling eir eyes. ``But you changed me enough that I became a Codrin rather than a Ioan, while Ioan remained one.''
+
+\emph{``Then May Then My Name tainted em in turn.''}
+
+``I miss them,'' their partner said. ``I can't imagine seeing them together would be anything but adorable.''
+
+\emph{``Saccharine, even.''}
+
+``Don't be a jerk, fox.''
+
+\emph{``I am not! I am simply stating the fact that my teeth might rot from just how adorable that must be.''}
+
+``Do you think True Name is pissed?'' Codrin asked.
+
+\emph{``That May Then My Name settled down with someone? Refused to fork for her, then even to talk with her? That she has taught herself how to hate specifically to hate her own down-tree instance? Of course she is pissed. It is her own stanza rebelling against her.''}
+
+``From what we've seen, it sounds like their—True Name's and Jonas's—attempts to control the outcome worked as expected, but also that True Name hasn't been seen around the Lagrange System nearly as much in the last few years. Sounds more hurt than pissed, I guess.'' Ey shrugged. ``I imagine having your own clade that upset at you tempers your devotion to a cause.''
+
+\emph{``Much of the liberal side of the clade distanced themselves from the conservatives when the} History \emph{came out, yes. The definition of `Odist' is quite diluted now. I do not believe that True Name lost much in the way of tools, such as it were; I think she just had to write many of us off, or think of us simply as safe places to store other tools, as she did with you, my dear. She has likely replaced them with yet more finely tuned versions of herself or Jonas.''}
+
+``That's a rather horrifying way of looking at it. It sounds so sterile.''
+
+\emph{``Do not misconstrue me. I am not so far removed from them that I do not feel empathy. True Name is still a fully realized person. She is not a truly sterile being, I do not mean to imply that. She does still have emotions, they simply come from a place that we cannot access.''}
+
+Codrin finished eir coffee and set the mug on the table, sitting up straighter and rubbing at eir face. ``I'll grant you that, though it's still going to take some work to internalize.''
+
+\emph{``There is no rush, my dear.''}
+
+``Isn't there?'' their partner asked. ``Can you imagine True Name not getting involved in this? I'd honestly be surprised if she wasn't already stringing Tycho up by his toes for what he did. If Codrin's to wind up working with her again, maybe ey does need that empathy.''
+
+The fox only frowned.
+
+``Either way,'' Codrin said. ``I probably ought to send those two a message. Dear, you're welcome to chime in as well, but I want to share my thoughts on this with Ioan. How long's the transmission time, these days?''
+
+``I think about thirty days? Somewhere around there. Tycho would know, but I don't think asking him right now is a great idea.''
+
+Codrin nodded. ``Well, nothing for it. I'll write to Ioan and May Then My Name, then get ready for the shitshow that's doubtless coming down on us.''
+
+\emph{``If I may make a suggestion, my dear,''} Dear said slowly. \emph{``Hold off until you have a better idea of your feelings on the matter.''}
+
+``Why?''
+
+\emph{``This is something enormous, as you say. Let it marinate for a day. You will be able to better construct your message with some rest.''}
+
+``Right, yeah.'' Ey slumped down in the chair. ``Not like they'll be able to do anything, anyway.''

neviim/content/local/codrin/002.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lan-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\vspace{-1.5em}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 22 days, 3 hours, 10 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent It took both eir partners to talk Codrin down from eir desire to simply get right to work.
+
+\emph{``My dear, if, as he said, Tycho was going to take a nap, perhaps you ought to do the same.''}
+
+``I know,'' ey replied, shoulders sagging. ``It's hard to get out of that mindset of having to just work.''
+
+``I know it's enjoyable,'' eir other partner said. ``But seriously, Codrin, even if you're not going to take a nap, take a thermos out onto the prairie and walk for a bit. Tycho is going to need quite a bit of help, given what you told us of him--''
+
+\emph{``And if True Name is already involved.''}
+
+``That too, yeah. So it's probably best to go into the whole thing well rested and prepared for jittery astronomers and\ldots well, whatever True Name is, these days.''
+
+Codrin nodded. ``That makes sense, at least. Do we even have a thermos?''
+
+``Probably. I'll go digging. Might as well make a fresh pot, while I'm up.''
+
+\emph{``You, my love, are a true delight,''} Dear said, tail flitting this way and that.
+
+They grinned, walked off to the kitchen, and started clattering around in cupboards for a coffee therm.
+
+``Dear, have you talked to True Name recently?'' Codrin asked after a polite pause.
+
+It shook its head. \emph{``Not in terms of a conversation, at least. I have received a few messages from her in the intervening years, many of which were sent to several Odists as a group.''}
+
+``She does that? What are they? Orders or something?''
+
+It shook its head, ears flapping slightly at the movement. \emph{``No.~Or, well, not exactly. They are simply updates, or replies to other, ongoing conversations. Some of us still communicate with each other on a somewhat regular basis, and I have been looped into several of those conversations over the years.''}
+
+``Wait, `not exactly'?''
+
+\emph{``You have met her. She does not need to order. Oftentimes, she simply suggests.''}
+
+Ey frowned. ``I sometimes worry that we've been attributing almost magical manipulative abilities to her, honestly.''
+
+Dear shrugged. \emph{``Perhaps, but she also has had more than two hundred years of study under her belt to find all of the best ways to interact with people. May Then My Name was something of a let-down for her, I think, even from the very beginning, so she had to learn to take on that mantle herself.''}
+
+``Especially over the last few years, you mean? With Ioan?''
+
+\emph{``Perhaps, though I think that might be ancillary to the fact that our dear May is not on the LVs at all.''}
+
+Ey blinked, laughed. ``I'd almost forgot.''
+
+The fox gave em a strange look. \emph{``You forgot that May Then My Name was not here?''}
+
+Their partner showed up, a cup of coffee in one hand and a (far too large) thermos in the other. ``Are you forgetting things again, Codrin?''
+
+``No, no,'' ey said, accepting the thermos with a frown. ``Or, well, kind of. I didn't forget that May Then My Name wasn't here, just the ramifications of that, that True Name might not have her as a tool.''
+
+\emph{``That is more understandable, yes,''} the fox said. \emph{``Perhaps the True Name here on Castor has diverged from the one on Lagrange in that respect, perhaps not. I suspect that both are disappointed, in their own ways.''}
+
+Standing, Codrin fiddled with the thermos, ensuring that the lid was a mug when removed—two nested ones, actually—then nodded. ``I don't know how many dimensions she's thinking on, but I also wouldn't be surprised if she'd had a cost-benefit analysis on losing her to Ioan.''
+
+\emph{``I would not be surprised, no, which would mean that she has planned around that eventuality. I am sure that May Then My Name is keeping an eye on that. Do not let us keep you, though, my dear. Go for your walk. Think about something else. Enjoy the cold, build a cairn around your worries, and then return safe.''}
+
+Ey smiled, leaned down to kiss the fox between the ears, then eir other partner on the cheek. ``I didn't know that was possible, but I'll try. Back in a bit.''
+
+Ey made it two cairns out before caving to the desire to simply get started, and stepped over to Tycho's field. There was a ping of amusement from Dear, to which ey replied with a guilty apology and an acknowledgement that ey'd return soon, all while waiting for eir eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness.
+
+The next sensorium message was a gentle ping to Tycho—nothing so loaded with anxiety as the one ey'd received this morning, just an acknowledgement, a view of the stars.
+
+A voice came from somewhere behind em. ``Codrin?''
+
+Ey whirled around to see a dim cone of red light shining on the ground, illuminating feet in a pair of well-worn boots. ``Tycho? Sorry for intruding like this. I hope I'm not waking you or anything.''
+
+``No, no. Come in. I haven't been able to sleep since True Name left.''
+
+There was a small click and then a ray of further red light spread out from a doorway, showing a small hut nestled within the trees. Ey let emself be guided in the door, finding a sparsely decorated room—a desk, a bed, and a massive cork board nailed to the wall, covered in at least three overlapping layers of notes.
+
+``Thanks for having me,'' ey said, sitting on the offered chair while Tycho claimed the edge of the bed. Once the door was shut, a switch shifted the red light to a normal, warm desk lamp. ``I should've mentioned that I'd be coming over, first.''
+
+He waved away the apology. ``I knew you'd be here, though I didn't know when.''
+
+Codrin paused in the middle of unscrewing the lid to the thermos. ``You knew?''
+
+``True Name said you would.''
+
+Ey frowned, finishing opening the thermos and offering Tycho one of the two mugs of coffee. ``What did she say about me?''
+
+``She didn't talk with you?''
+
+Ey shook eir head. ``Did she say she would?''
+
+Tycho sipped at the coffee, winced, and set the mug aside to cool. ``No, she just talked as though she had, or at least that she knew you'd be working with me.''
+
+``Of course she did,'' ey murmured. ``She knows me too well.''
+
+He ground the heels of his palms against his eyes. ``I feel like she knew me too well, too. We had what felt like a wonderful conversation where she offered me a job, asked me to fork to send an instance with her to keep working with her, but then quoted some bit of poetry at me and I couldn't tell if it was a threat or a warning or whatever. I'm still trying to recover from that.''
+
+``I'm guessing you said yes to both the job offer and the fork?''
+
+He nodded. ``It all just sounded so normal. There didn't seem like anything else to do.''
+
+``Can you tell me more about both?''
+
+``Well, she said that she knew good deal about the communications and that she'd like me to come help her with the mechanics of that. She'd help me out with resources and I'd teach her what I learn about Artemis as I learned it.''
+
+``Artemis? Is that what they're calling the remote\ldots ship? Vehicle?''
+
+He nodded. ``Either, really. It cararies people. She said they're calling it Artemis, that I should tag my fork \#Artemis, and that those on the ship were either Artemisians or Sea People, which I didn't get.''
+
+``Sea People might be a reference to something from the \emph{Mythology,}'' Codrin leaned back in the seat, thinking. ``Or it could be a reference to a theory about a marauding group of seafarers during the Bronze Age collapse. One that had sacked much of the ancient near east and northern Africa, leading to the prolongation of the collapse.''
+
+Tycho's eyes grew wide. ``Do you think that's what she's getting at with the reference? That these are going to be some marauders coming to mess with the LV?''
+
+Ey shrugged. ``Who knows? Probably both, honestly. Maybe there's even some reference that we're missing. She's True Name, there really is no way of telling.''
+
+Nodding, Tycho scooted back on the bed until his back was to the wall, then brought his knees up to his chest. Despite his height, he looked small to Codrin, somehow diminished after the events of the last\ldots goodness, had it only been a day? Diminished, yes, and younger, though he'd always looked as though he was not yet out of his forties with his well-groomed salt-and-pepper hair and well-kept beard.
+
+They sat in silence for a while. Codrin could not guess what the astronomer was thinking about, though ey could see his eyes occasionally darting this way and that, as though connecting one idea to another in the air as well as in his head.
+
+For eir part, ey began structuring the project. There would have to be the journalistic aspect of it, much closer to that of \emph{On the Perils of Memory} than \emph{An Expanded History of Our World,} but if the conservative Odists were also involved, there'd likely also be far more observing than researching.
+
+``Tycho,'' ey said, startling him out of a reverie. ``Do you know what an amanuensis is?''
+
+``Like a recorder? A stenographer? Someone who takes notes?''
+
+``Well, in part, but also someone who thinks about what they're recording,'' ey said, tapping at eir temple. ``They aren't a scribe or a court recorder, but someone there to witness and digest a conversation.''
+
+``Like a clerk?'' He grinned. ``We used to have one of those for our club who would take minutes of the meetings and such.''
+
+Ey nodded. ``Certainly closer to that than a recorder, yeah. I bring this up because that will be my job in all of this, but I think it'll also be yours. Things like the \emph{History} are all well and good, and I loved putting the work into the writing, but I also really enjoy doing this. I may wish that the things I get caught up in weren't always so dramatic, but I'll take what I can get.''
+
+``What do you mean, it'll be my job too?'' he asked.
+
+``Just that you will also be witnessing and thinking about this project, and then coming up with ideas related to it to be compiled into a coherent understanding. That's why we'll be working together, I think. I'm trained to do this work in particular, but I'll need your help in making sense of the science part of it. I'll experience it with you as much as I'm allowed, but you'll have to ensure that I actually understand what's going on.''
+
+Tycho laughed. ``Well, I'll do my best, but it's not like I have much experience working with Artemisians, either. I'll help with the technical aspects as best I can, though.''
+
+``Excellent,'' Codrin said. ``Thank you for that. I'll be managing most of this part, so you won't have to worry too much about the minutiae, but I figured it'd give you a better idea of what to expect when we work together.''
+
+He nodded.
+
+``On that note, let's come up with a basic idea of what's next for us. We mostly talked about immediate next steps earlier, but it might be a good idea to start thinking on a larger timescale.''
+
+``I guess. I'm assuming it'll be pretty loose, given that we can't guess the particulars?'' He waited for Codrin to nod, then continued. ``Then we have a month or so before they reach their closest approach as long as we both stay on our own heading.''
+
+``Does that mean a month before they upload?''
+
+He shrugged. ``Not necessarily. They can upload whenever they want, so long as our Ansible is on and the DMZ is ready. I don't think it's on yet, though. There's probably an effective range beyond which the Ansible won't work well.''
+
+``Alright. Have we received any further communications from them? Their message said that they had a similar mechanism in place. Is that something we'll be able to use? Or want to use, even?''
+
+``No further communications that I know of,'' he said. ``But True Name said that all communications will be gated through her, and I don't know if that means that I'll be getting them or just Tycho\#Artemis. Hopefully both, if you and I are to be working on this as well.''
+
+Codrin frowned. ``Well, okay.''
+
+``As for us using their mechanism, I guess it depends on if it's something we can reconfigure our Ansible to use, or if we will need to construct something new. If we'll need to construct something new, then we might not be able to do so in time. Our manufactories are meant for repairs rather than construction. Theoretically they could be used for such, but I don't know how long that'd take without someone phys-side to help.''
+
+``And would we want to?''
+
+``That feels like a question for True Name, not me,'' he said after a long pause.
+
+Ey finished eir coffee and replaced the cup on the cap of the thermos. ``One of us will have to work up the courage to ask her, sometime. But for now, is it something you would want to do?''
+
+``What? Upload to Artemis?'' He looked startled by the question.
+
+``Yes. If it's possible, I mean. I figure it would just be an instance rather than completely investing. I'd also be curious to hear your opinions on that as well.''
+
+Tycho tilted his head back until it hit the wall of the hut, staring up toward the ceiling. He sat like that for a good five minutes, during which Codrin remained silent, before leaning forward to pour emself another cup of coffee.
+
+``Yes,'' he said. ``I don't know about investing completely, but yes, I think I would. Would you?''
+
+Ey smiled, though ey felt just how tired ey was as ey did so. ``Perhaps. I have attachments here, though. So the Codrin who uploaded—if ey remains a Codrin—would be severed completely from those ey loves. As romantic as the idea of sailing away on some alien spacecraft might be, it'd be painful to leave, even knowing that a Codrin remained.''
+
+``And if your partners uploaded with you?''
+
+The idea caught em up short, and several trains of thought crunched to a halt within em. ``If they\ldots{}'' Ey laughed, shaking eir head. ``You know, I hadn't considered that, yet. I wonder why? But yes, if they chose to do so, then yes, I'll go with them.''
+
+The conversation wound on from there, teasing apart a few possible next steps that lay ahead of them, but throughout it all, at least one thread of eir mind was dedicated to picking at that question.
+
+Why had ey not considered whether or not eir partners would want to upload? It wasn't as though ey didn't attribute the agency to do so to them, ey knew just how independent and intelligent they were on their own. Nor was it that ey hadn't made any guesses as to whether or not they would—ey suspected that Dear would jump at the opportunity.
+
+The root of the issue lay within emself, ey knew. Why was ey not able to make that decision without them doing so first? Was ey really such a follower? Was ey really so stuck living five minutes behind them that ey couldn't imagine making the decision in the face of the possibility of simply reacting to it? Would ey be able to say yes or no to that question if they asked?
+
+Conversely, would ey be able to argue one way or the other, to convince them to come with em or not?

neviim/content/local/codrin/003.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-balan-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Balan — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Balan — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 21 days, 9 hours, 48 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Codrin found emself in possession of a blissful day of peace after that sudden pile-on of news. Ey acknowledged a request from True Name to act as amanuensis with a faintness of heart that ey hoped she did not notice, worked on a letter to Ioan, and then went back to spending the rest of eir day napping, catching up on a writing project ey had been poking at, shoving Dear around for fun, and watching the fox rehearse its next performance with their partner. This one was to be a ballroom dance where everyone invited would dance with instances of Dear, which would begin disappearing one by one while the rest grew steadily more anxious, as though worrying that they would be next.
+
+It was all very Dear, and Codrin enjoyed the idea immensely.
+
+It was comforting, in a way, to sit on the couch and watch eir partners dance, stumble, laugh, start dancing again, all while this big project loomed outside. It was there, ey knew. It was hovering outside like a storm rolling inexorably over the prairie, ready to lash the sides of the house with bands of rain and rattle the glass with peals of thunder.
+
+But for now, ey was safe inside, laying in supplies, even if they were simply emotional and intellectual reserves for what ey knew would be a taxing endeavor.
+
+The only conversation ey'd allowed about the entire affair came at night, when the three of them had piled into bed, each in their familiar order but pressed now up against each other, perhaps drawing comfort against the onrushing storm.
+
+``How's it going to feel working alongside True Name instead of against her?'' their partner asked, voice muffled by a pillow as the fox kneaded on their shoulders.
+
+Codrin replied, voice equally muffled against the back of Dear's neck, ``I don't know if I was working against her, necessarily. It felt like it at the time, but now it just feels like we were both doing our jobs.''
+
+``You just hated hers.''
+
+Ey laughed against Dear's neck, which got a giggle out of the fox in turn. ``I guess. It's hard to hate too much because good things came of it, but also you can't say for sure that the same thing would've happened if she hadn't been there. Her, Jonas, the lot of them, they were all helpful in bringing about Secession and Launch how they happened, but who knows? Maybe they would've happened regardless, just with different people at the helm.''
+
+There was a long moment of silence, broken only but the occasional noise of contentment from Dear's partner as the fox continued in its back-rub. Codrin spent the time plastering those thoughts over with better ones. Ey thought about how the fox smelled, how its fur felt against eir face. Ey thought about how, once, ey'd wound up between eir two partners in much the same position and it had led to an overwhelming wave of anxiety, a sense that things were wrong, a feeling that ey needed to escape, and how they'd comforted em and then simply fallen back into the habit of laying like this, instead. Dear seemed to draw a sense of security, sandwiched between them, just as Codrin did by having no one at eir back.
+
+\emph{``Did you hate her?''} Dear said, breaking the silence and eir rumination. It had stopped in its massage and settled for a simple hug instead. \emph{``Do you still?''}
+
+Ey hooked eir chin over the fox's shoulder, humming thoughtfully. ``Maybe, in a way. I thought I did at the time. I thought I hated that she was part of the hidden level of control that everyone suspects but no one can prove. All she needed was a black suit, black sunglasses, and an earpiece.''
+
+Both of eir partners laughed.
+
+``Now, though, I think resentment is a more accurate word than hate. I resent the feeling of being controlled with no recourse. She may have the brainpower and manpower and analytical skills to read everyone as thoroughly as she did, but I resent how cold she was in actually doing so; intentionally making me angry to make the result seem sensational? There's a lot of cynicism bound up in that.'' Ey shrugged. ``There's no point in hating her. I don't dislike the System as it stands after her and Jonas's manipulation, but I resent the cynicism it took to get here. I don't resent being here, but I do resent the phys-side manipulations that led to me being here.''
+
+After yawning, Dear's partner asked, ``Think you'll be alright working beside her while you resent her?''
+
+``If it was just me, no,'' ey said. ``If that cynicism is directed at the Artemisians and Tycho and whoever else, rather than just at me, It'll be fine, I think.''
+
+\emph{``Besides,''} Dear said. \emph{``You will still get to see great things, my dear. You may be tired, yes, but out of however many billion people on board, you will get to see great things.''}
+
+The conversation trailed off from there, and the three slept well that night, each dreaming their dreams of cynicism or skunks or aliens or astronomers or love.
+
+The reprieve lasted until morning when, upon waking, Codrin discovered a note on the floor, written in the Odists' distinctive handwriting:
+
+\begin{quote}
+Mx.~Bălan,
+
+It has been requested that we pull together a team of five to act as emissaries to exchange with a team of similar composition from the Artemisians. They have left specific instructions for the roles that should be involved: someone in a position of leadership, a scientist, a recorder, and two representatives. We have the following:
+
+\begin{itemize}
+\tightlist
+\item
+  Leadership: myself, True Name
+\item
+  Scientist: Dr.~Tycho Brahe
+\item
+  Recorder: you
+\item
+  Representative 1: Why Ask Questions, Here At The End Of All Things of the Ode clade
+\end{itemize}
+
+However, we will need one more representative. It would be vanishingly easy for me or Jonas to pick someone who would be fitting for our enterprises, but why do that when it would potentially be much more interesting to let you pick? It ought to be someone outside the Ode clade or your polycule, but beyond that, I find myself fascinated by the idea that you—you, who have your feet on the ground and head in the clouds—might pick someone about whom I know nothing. With two Odists on the team already, one of whom is one of my up-tree instances, I am sure you can see that we will have the situation under control from our end.
+
+Please make your choice today, and I will look forward to seeing the two of you at systime 1700 for a candlelit dinner in Tycho's delightful sim. If they are interested in joining, your partners are also welcome.
+
+Cordially,
+
+The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream of the Ode clade
+\end{quote}
+
+Attached was the full text of both messages received so far.
+
+After reading the note, ey placed it face down on the table and headed to the kitchen to make coffee. Ey needed at least some mood-altering substance before engaging with that, and it was far too early in the morning to reach for wine.
+
+When Dear read the note, the fox made a sour face. \emph{``I am not sure whether she is trying to be funny, strategically honest, or simply a brat.''}
+
+Ey slouched in eir chair at the table, focusing on the coffee, doing eir best to pick out and name different notes in the flavor. Something fruity. And caramel, perhaps. ``I didn't know she was capable of humor.''
+
+\emph{``Everyone is capable of humor, my dear. Whether or not they intend it is the question.''}
+
+``Want to come to a dinner party with me, then?''
+
+There was a long pause during which several emotions played out on the fox's face before it replied. \emph{``I will have an answer for you by systime 1500. I cannot decide right now.''}
+
+``Dinner party?'' Dear's partner stumbled from the bedroom, creases from a pillow still evident on their cheek. ``How many do I have to cook for?''
+
+``None, thankfully,'' Codrin grinned. ``Or perhaps just Dear and I. We've been invited to one.''
+
+They stopped at the end of the table, leaning down onto their hands. ``Well, Dear is frowning, so I'm assuming it's complicated?''
+
+``True Name would like me to join her and the rest of the emissaries to the Artemisians for dinner, and she's invited you two as well.''
+
+``No,'' they said flatly. ``And now, it's time for coffee.''
+
+A warning glance from Dear kept Codrin from asking further after that. Instead, ey said, ``I have an unrelated question for you once you're caffeinated.''
+
+They waved their hand noncommittally as they stumbled into the kitchen where a mug sat waiting for them already.
+
+Once everyone was awake enough for conversation, ey asked eir question. ``Either of you know someone who would be a good choice to balance out this diplomatic party? Someone less likely to try and shape the whole venture to their will, but not as passive as an amanuensis?''
+
+Dear shrugged. \emph{``I can get you in touch with plenty of artists. How opposite of an Odist viewpoint are you looking for?''}
+
+``I'm not sure that's quite the goal, so much as someone who can be engaged and can contribute without being as cynical as anyone from True Name's stanza or as singularly focused as Tycho. I think what might be good is just someone ordinary. Someone normal. Boring.''
+
+Dear's partner raised their eyebrows. ``If you want someone who would be interested, is pleasant to be around, and is able to engage in a conversation without going down a rabbit hole or starting a fight, I think I know someone.''
+
+\emph{``Slander. I can engage in conversations and I do not go down rabbit holes or start fights.''}
+
+``Yeah, but absolutely no one would call you boring, Dear.''
+
+It preened.
+
+``Sounds promising,'' Codrin said, flipping the note over and studying the list. ``What do they have that would counterbalance this, beyond being ordinary?''
+
+``She's earnest about everything. It's really endearing, actually. She's likeable without being manipulative or cynical. She's interested in people, too, and tries to see the good in them like it's her job.'' They paused, grinned, and shrugged. ``I mean, she was my therapist before I uploaded, so I may be a little biased.''
+
+``A therapist? That's a really good idea, come to think of it." Ey leaned forward onto eir elbows. "Someone who can understand humans and just be a normal human is what I was thinking of. What's her name?''
+
+``Sarah Genet. Want me to see if she's free? She's a tracker, I'm sure she'd be willing to send a fork for something like this.''
+
+``Why not? She sounds like a nice enough person to meet either way.''
+
+Dear nodded enthusiastically. \emph{``I am always curious to meet friends of others from before they uploaded! You are not exempt from this, my love.''}
+
+They smirked, looked up at the ceiling for a minute or two, then nodded. ``She's getting ready, and will be over at noon or so.''
+
+Codrin had never seen a therapist either before or after uploading. Before, it had been a luxury that eir family couldn't afford, and after, ey had been so busy—first with getting used to uploaded life, then with study, then with work—to have considered it much.
+
+Ey had, however, seen a counselor in school as mandated by the school itself. Mr.~Nicolescu had been a kindly old gentleman, but one who seemed perpetually on the brink of collapsing from exhaustion. It made sense, given the size of the school, the requirement to meet with every student once a year, and the lack of any other counselors. Ey had been a good student and a quiet kid, and seeing him any context other than the required visit was often a sign that something had gone wrong.
+
+Sarah Genet immediately reminded em of Mr.~Nicolescu in many ways. The way she walked, the way she held herself, her smile, the way she listened with her whole attention on whatever someone had to say.
+
+Ey liked her immediately, a feeling which ey'd questioned ever since composing the \emph{History.}
+
+``So, all I was told coming into this was that I was needed for a project that might interest me,'' she said, once she'd been offered coffee, snacks, and a seat at the table. ``If you're going to go all mysterious on me, I'm probably already going to say yes, but make your pitch.''
+
+``Quick pitch?'' Codrin said. ``Aliens found our Dreamer Module signal and are going to upload a diplomatic party in a few weeks, and you were suggested as a good candidate for the talks.''
+
+A few long seconds of quiet followed before Dear's partner laughed. ``Sorry Sarah. You see why I wanted you over here to have this conversation in person?''
+
+``You're telling me, good Lord.'' She shook her head, folded her hands on the table, and smiled. ``Alright, now give me the longer pitch.''
+
+``Alright. The Dreamer Module broadcast, in short, contained instructions on how to build a message that would work with our Ansible, allowing anyone who found it to upload to the LVs. A few nights ago, someone picked that up and answered.''
+
+Ey slid the note from True Name across the table and waited for her to read.
+
+When she had finished, Sarah said, ``Whew, alright. That's a lot. So in however many hours, we should expect a team of five of them, and we'll send a team of five in turn. Any idea what we'll be talking about?''
+
+``No clue. Clearly science of some sort, given their request for a scientist. Probably coming to an agreement, if they're asking for a recorder of some sort, though that's just a guess on my part. The ``We welcome you'' bit sounds promising, at least.''
+
+She read through the note once more, set it down, and sipped at her coffee. ``Well, you already know that I'm in, but I'm happy to say that this doesn't change my decision. Why me, though?''
+
+Dear's partner answered, ``Have you read the Bălans' \emph{History,} yet? \emph{An Expanded History of Our World?} I know I pointed you to it.''
+
+``More than pointed,'' she said, laughing. ``You all but forced me to read it, so, yes.''
+
+``So you know of True Name, right?''
+
+``The one who tried to guide everything? Yeah, I remember. I didn't miss her name on there, either.''
+
+Codrin sighed. ``I had the chance to interview her—me and my root instance both did—and she's a lot to deal with. I'm sure it's some calculated gesture that she leaves the last choice up to me, but all the same, I wanted to pick someone who was the opposite of her.''
+
+``So you figured a therapist would be good? A psychologist?''
+
+``Yeah, someone who can maybe understand the Artemisians better without doing so specifically to manipulate them.''
+
+She held her coffee cup in her hands, tilting her head thoughtfully. ``You know, it's a good intuition, but you might also want to be prepared for there to be nothing I can offer. They're clearly similar enough to us that they can learn our language, but that may be where the similarities stop. They may be so alien to us that we might not be able to understand them at all, at least not truly.''
+
+Codrin frowned.
+
+``Not that it's hopeless, of course. I'm still happy to help. Honored, even! Just an eventuality you might want to prepare for.''
+
+``Well, maybe you can help us understand the Odists better, if nothing else.''
+
+Dear kicked at eir shin beneath the table.
+
+Sarah laughed. ``Have they sent us anything to teach us their language?''
+
+\emph{``One of their languages, perhaps,''} Dear chimed in. \emph{``There seem to be four different species.''}
+
+``One of them, right,'' she said. ``If we only sent them our \emph{lingua franca,} though, maybe they have similar.''
+
+``I don't know, actually. Those are the messages I have, but I don't know if they're the only ones,'' Codrin said. ``We'll probably learn more tonight. You alright creating a long-running fork for the project? That's what she made Tycho do.''
+
+``Oh, that's fine. It'll be my first time working on a big, organized project like this.''
+
+Ey laughed. ``Same here. I've worked on big projects and organized projects, but not both at the same time.''
+
+``I'll look forward to dinner, then.'' She looked down, plucked at her blouse, and shrugged. ``Think this is good enough for it?''
+
+``If it's at Tycho's, it'll be too dark to tell, but I don't think he owns anything other than flannel shirts and jeans. You should be fine.''
+
+``Alright. I'm curious to see what someone who tried to shape large swaths of recent history looks like.''

neviim/content/local/codrin/004.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lan-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 20 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Codrin was not sure what ey expected out of a dinner in the middle of a clearing beneath the stars, but ey found emself quite taken with it. A round table had been set up atop the hill on which ey had interviewed Tycho so many years ago, along with six chairs evenly spaced around it. The whole table was lit by a single candle burning in the center and the starlight from above.
+
+True Name greeted eir party of three with a bow when they entered the sim. ``Mx.~Bălan, Dear, wonderful to see you two again. Ms.~Genet, a pleasure to meet you.''
+
+The three bowed politely in turn.
+
+``Nice to meet you too, The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream,'' Sarah said.
+
+``Please, just True Name is fine, but welcome all the same. Shall we?''
+
+\emph{``Please.''} Dear sounded its usual self, Codrin was pleased to note. No anxiety or anger colored its tone. While the dark was pleasant, ey wished for at least light enough to see Dear's expression. As far as ey knew, the fox hadn't seen the skunk in two decades, not since their Death Day party, and that amidst a crowd. Certainly not since the \emph{History} had come out.
+
+At the table, introductions were made. Tycho remained as nervous as he'd been before, but ey was happy to see that he had at least gotten some sleep at some point, and none of the exhaustion that had so visibly gnawed at him when last they spoke was evident.
+
+Why Ask Questions looked much as the Odists that resembled Michelle did, though far happier and more ebullient than any Codrin had met. She was, as Codrin\#Pollux had described her two decades previous, perilously friendly, comfortably casual, and a shithead. Ey liked her immensely. ``Delighted to meet you all. Codrin, nice to meet you face to face on this LV. And Dear, how long has it been?''
+
+The fox grinned, nodded its head to her. \emph{``I believe nigh on sixty years. You are looking well.''}
+
+``As are you! Your other partner did not wish to join us?''
+
+In the light of the candle, Codrin watched the fox's grin falter, and ey suspected that it was taking it a good amount of energy to maintain a pleasant façade for dinner. \emph{``They were not able to make it, no, but they send their best.''}
+
+They had not.
+
+The discussion veered perilously close to an argument when Dear stated that it would be joining Codrin.
+
+``Dear, you've had nothing positive to say about True Name basically ever. Why the hell are you going to this?'' they had asked toward the end.
+
+\emph{``Because I want to learn more if I can.''} It had paused, then added more quietly, \emph{``And because Codrin is going and I want to be by eir side, if only as a fork.''}
+
+Their partner had wilted and nodded. ``That, at least I can understand. I love you both, is all, and I'm not comfortable with either True Name or her up-tree instance. I want you to be careful, but I suppose you're right. Having the two of you there makes me feel a little better than it being just Codrin, at least.''
+
+Ey shook away the lingering rumination and gratefully accepted a glass of wine that Dear offered. The skunk had been pouring one for everyone, and ey supposed that wine might help make the evening flow more smoothly.
+
+Once everyone had received their glass, she raised hers and said, ``To Artemis.''
+
+They all raised their glasses in a toast, Dear adding, \emph{``To exciting times.''}
+
+Why Ask Questions laughed. ``How do you imagine user11824 will take all of this?''
+
+\emph{``Horribly, of course. When do you plan on releasing the news?''}
+
+``Tomorrow,'' True Name answered. ``We will release a priority alert into the perisystem feeds. Answers Will Not Help is working on that now, I believe. I trust that none of you have told anyone else?''
+
+Sarah and Tycho shook their heads.
+
+``Just my partners and Ioan,'' Codrin said.
+
+True Name frowned and there was a brief pause as, ey assumed, she sent off a sensorium message to another of her instances. ``Do you think that Ioan will tell anyone?''
+
+Codrin shrugged. ``I didn't tell em to, but I didn't tell em not to, either. I imagine ey'll tell May Then My Name.''
+
+The skunk sat silent, looking down to her glass of wine. Ey couldn't quite read the emotions on her face in the flickering of the candlelight, but given eir previous conversation about True Name losing her up-tree instance to hatred, ey could guess that there was at least some anxiety behind that silence.
+
+Eventually, she asked, ``When did you send the message? Was it eyes only?''
+
+``It was, yeah. I sent it about noon. Why do you ask?''
+
+``I would like to let my clade back on Lagrange know to either discuss this with em or to prepare for the possibility that ey will tell others. Five hours is not too long, though. As long as ey has not published anything to the perisystem feeds, of course.''
+
+Ey frowned. ``Should I not have?''
+
+``Oh, no, you were perfectly welcome to, Mx.~Bălan. While I do wish that you had informed me before doing so, I understand your reasons.'' Her expression brightened. ``But come, let us not talk about such at table. How are you all feeling about the upcoming adventure?''
+
+``Scared,'' Tycho said with a nervous laugh. ``Excited, but also scared. I worry that I caused a huge problem. I know you promised me that what I did was okay, but all the same, I worry.''
+
+True Name nodded. ``I understand. I harbor my own fears. We have to rely on the fact that all of the tests of the DMZ passed and that there really is no way for the border to be crossed. May Then My Name tested it quite thoroughly.''
+
+``If you say so. From what Tycho\#Artemis sent me, it sounds like it'll be a trade, too.''
+
+``A trade,'' Sarah said thoughtfully. ``Why, do you think?''
+
+Why Ask Questions laughed. ``No clue. My personal guess is that it is a hedge, that they are wanting to meet on both vehicles so that we can see what their lives are like while they see what ours are like, but also it gives them a chance ensure that we still meet on territory that they control, just in case we decide to murder all of them when they arrive.''
+
+``Is that something we're worried about, too?'' Tycho asked.
+
+``It was Tycho\#Artemis that brought it up in the first place,'' True Name said.
+
+He blinked, then shook his head. ``I've only heard from him via sensorium message. He hasn't merged back down yet.''
+
+\emph{``I will never understand taskers,''} Dear said, giggling. \emph{``With apologies to present company, of course.''}
+
+Tycho looked nonplussed.
+
+Codrin grinned. ``Dear's an instance artist. Its entire existence is built around forking. If it did not fork, I'm sure it'd explode.''
+
+\emph{``I would, yes, and you lot would have to clean it up.''}
+
+Everyone around the table laughed.
+
+True Name began to turn her gaze on Sarah, but Tycho interrupted her before she could speak. ``How sure are we that this is real?''
+
+Silence, minus a pop from the candle flame in the center of the table. Codrin found emself holding eir breath.
+
+True Name's gaze bore down on Tycho with such intensity that the astronomer shied away from her.
+
+``I\ldots{}sorry.''
+
+``Please expand on that, Dr.~Brahe.''
+
+``I just mean...how sure are we that this signal is real? How sure are we that it's coming from the Dreamer Module and thus outside of Castor?'' He shrugged, still looking cowed. ``I've been worried about the whole thing since it showed up, but the more I think about how long we've been going and all the risks involved, what's the probability that it's just us dreaming that there are aliens out there? They learn our language and tech so fast it's hard not to worry.''
+
+The silence fell once more, and Codrin imagined True Name and Why Ask Questions both sending off rapid-fire sensorium messages. Ey caught a glint of excitement in Dear's eyes. Ey suspected it'd have plenty to say before long.
+
+``It is not zero,'' True Name said after nearly a minute. ``Low, yes, but it is not zero.''
+
+``Does that--''
+
+``There will be time, Dr. Brahe. Please do not worry. The best and brightest are working on this.'' She raised her glass, and in the meager light, Codrin could see that confident smile return. ``Yourself included.''
+
+Tycho nodded, lifting his wine glass an inch or so off the table in a token response to the toast.
+
+``How about you, Ms.~Genet?'' The skunk asked. She had, Codrin realized, read the silence as well as em, finding the perfect moment to guide the conversation back on track. ``Assuming that they are indeed real, how do you feel about our guests?''
+
+Sarah set her wine glass down, looking up to the stars. ``I don't know if `curious' is an emotion, but that's at the forefront of my mind. I'm not feeling anxious or scared, and I guess I'm a little excited, but more than that I'm just feeling curious about the whole venture. Will they look like us or will they look like, uh\ldots Douglas, was it? Douglas Hadje? If we're to go visit them on Artemis, too, what will we look like? How will we talk? How will we empathize with each other?''
+
+``You are a psychologist, yes?''
+
+She nodded. ``Yes. I think that's why I'm so fixated on trying to learn as much as I can. I'm curious about what makes them \emph{them}.''
+
+True Name smiled brightly and nodded. ``As am I. I am glad that you decided to join us on this. I think that having the perspective of someone both interested in and experienced with those aspects will prove eminently useful.''
+
+``Glad you're having me along.''
+
+``And Codrin? How are you feeling about this?''
+
+Ey sat up straighter and thought for a moment. Ey was feeling quite a lot. Ey was feeling jerked around. Ey was feeling all too passive. Ey was excited. Ey was scared. Ey was still trying to process Tycho's question, wondering how ey would reply without thinking only of the implication that the Artemisians might be an artifact of the System going haywire.
+
+Ey was incredibly happy that Dear had decided to join em at dinner.
+
+Not all of those felt like things that ey could share, so ey settled for a safer answer. ``I'm feeling excited and nervous both. I'm excited because this is another unprecedented thing that I get the chance to see, and I'm nervous because that very unprecedented nature means that I have no foreknowledge to lean on. I'll be working in the dark as the\ldots what did they call it? Recorder?''
+
+Dear reached over and took one of eir hands in its paw. \emph{``You have lived through several unprecedented events, my dear. How does this one differ?''}
+
+Ey fiddled with eir wine glass in eir free hand as ey thought. ``I think because I don't have a frame of reference for what to expect. Launch was exciting and unprecedented, but I also knew that life would continue on in many of the same ways that it had before afterwards. Winding up in a relationship was new and unprecedented, but I can still comprehend my partners as people.''
+
+\emph{``Fox people.''}
+
+Ey grinned. ``That too, yeah.''
+
+True Name raised her glass. ``I will drink to that, Mx.~Bălan. I will admit to feeling some of the same trepidation around not having a frame of reference. We are limited to a few letters and a language primer as yet. I do not know what to expect, and that is, as I am sure you can imagine, a somewhat frightening idea for one such as myself.''
+
+Ey raised eir glass and smiled warily, returning the subtle squeeze that Dear gave eir hand. Ey was thankful for the dim light of the candle, which let em make out the features of the two Odists sitting across from em, but not a whole lot more; ey could only hope that the same was true for them. It was enough to make out True Name's charismatic confidence, if nothing else. Ey could certainly see what the skunk was doing, deftly avoiding the question of reality, keeping the conversation flowing smoothly, guiding and steering.
+
+``And you, Dear?'' Why Ask Questions asked. ``I know that you are not joining us, but I am interested in your thoughts all the same.''
+
+The fox retrieved its paw from Codrin's hand, choosing instead to wave it up at the sky. \emph{``This is the first time that I have been to this sim. It is yours, is it not, Dr.~Brahe?''}
+
+The astronomer nodded.
+
+\emph{``It is truly a delightful place. I have stars in the sim where my partners and I live, but they are the familiar constellations that we remember from our time on Earth, though certainly more stars than I ever saw in the Central Corridor.''}
+
+``\emph{We} ever saw,'' True Name added. ``We got the moon, a few planets, and the brighter constellations.''
+
+\emph{``Yes,''} Dear said with a hint of a bow. \emph{``This, however, is incredible. We are seeing the stars as if there were a glass dome over our heads. They do not twinkle. The constellations are not quite as I remember them. They feel older, somehow. We are sitting beneath the universe, it feels, and above us lies eternity.}
+
+\emph{``You must forgive me for monologuing, it is an old habit, but when I think about what is happening, when I hear about Artemisians and emissaries, I feel every minute of that eternity. I feel every molecule of that universe. You ask how I feel, and I would say that I feel small. Insignificant, even. We have been on our journey for twenty years and have made it only a light-month from Earth. How much of that eternity must they have been traveling?''}
+
+A thoughtful silence followed the fox's short speech. It was Sarah who finally broke it, lifting her glass much as True Name had. ``To eternity and the weight of the universe.''
+
+Dear sat up and clapped its paws, grinning brightly. \emph{``I am pleased that you are going on this excursion, Ms.~Genet. What a perfect toast.''}
+
+They all laughed once again, raising their glasses toward the single flame in the center of the table.
+
+``I think that is a note to begin dinner on, yes?'' True Name said, waving her paw above the table, plates and flatware appearing, along with several dishes of various types.
+
+\emph{She must've talked Tycho into giving her some ACLs in his sim,} ey thought. \emph{Because of course she did.}
+
+``Please! Eat. Enjoy. I did not make it, but you may pretend I did if you would like to bolster my ego.''
+
+The self-deprecating comment was delivered so easily that Codrin found emself laughing even before realizing it.
+
+``No more shop talk until dessert,'' Why Ask Questions added. ``Or I will have Tycho bounce you from the sim. There is lasagna, and I will not have you spoiling that.''

neviim/content/local/codrin/005.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lan-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{quote}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 19 days, 18 hours, 41 minutes}
+\end{quote}
+
+\noindent It was not at all surprising that dinner at home was far less stressful than dinner with the Odists out in Tycho's observatory. While the conversation throughout the meal had been nothing but pleasant, the food delightful, and the location and single candle a stunning setting for a dinner, a tension had nonetheless hung above the table throughout. While Sarah had appeared relaxed and True Name and Answers Will Not Help seemed to earnestly enjoy the evening, Tycho had been hovering on the edge of terror, Codrin had remained hypervigilant, and Dear had seemed to have put on a mask of pleasantness that involved choosing its words most carefully.
+
+This was confirmed when they returned home and the instance which had accompanied em to the dinner sagged, exhausted, and then quit. The instance of Dear which had remained behind, when confronted with the onslaught of memories, sighed and simply shook its head. None of the triad seemed at all interested in discussing the dinner.
+
+It was eir other partner who had suggested the smaller party for the next night. While they hadn't explicitly mentioned that it would be a counter to the first party, it was certainly implied. Something to cleanse palates, as well as to give further time for Codrin, Tycho, and Sarah to interact before they were to go on their journey. All three—four, including Dear—had immediately agreed.
+
+So it was that they sat around the table, there in the modern house on the prairie, sharing wine and desserts and pleasant, easy conversation.
+
+``So,'' Sarah said, leaning back in her chair. ``I was thinking about the fact that we seem to have wound up with jobs. Honest-to-goodness go-to-work-for-the-day jobs. What did you do before this? You all know that I was a therapist before I uploaded. I still am, I guess. Dear, you did theatre, right?''
+
+The fox nodded. \emph{``Michelle was a high-school theatre teacher. I suppose you can see why it is that we are so dramatic.''}
+
+She laughed. ``Some things carry through even two hundred years later, I guess.''
+
+\emph{``Nearly two hundred sixty, yes. I would complain about being old, but when one is functionally immortal, bitching loses its savor.''}
+
+``You bitch plenty, Dear,'' its partner said.
+
+\emph{``Yes, but how often do I bitch about my age?''}
+
+Codrin shrugged. ``You bitch about immortality a lot. Does that count?''
+
+The fox smiled primly. \emph{``It does not, my love.''}
+
+Still laughing, Tycho said, ``It's probably no surprise that I was an astronomer on Earth as well.''
+
+``How'd that even work?'' Sarah asked. ``When I was there, we could barely see any stars.''
+
+``All space-based stuff. Besides, radio telescopes don't need quite so dark of skies. Amateur astronomers were the hardest hit. They had to drive way the hell up into the mountains, and even then, wait for winter when logging season was over. I taught, too, and a few classes were out there. I volunteered at a dark-sky site.''
+
+``That makes your sim make a lot more sense.''
+
+He nodded proudly. ``The landscape is based off one of those sites.''
+
+Eyes turned to Codrin, who shrugged. ``I went to school, then a year of a history degree at university before I uploaded at twenty to help my little brother out after my parents died. I never really had a job, just interests that got all the stronger once I got here.''
+
+\emph{``Had you needed to get a job while down there, what would it have been?''} Dear asked. \emph{``I have a guess, but I want to see how close I am.''}
+
+Codrin picked up eir glass and leaned back against eir chair, thinking. ``I wanted to be a librarian quite badly. History was a secondary interest. I planned on getting a bachelor's in something like history or literature and then a master's degree in library science.''
+
+Dear tilted its head. \emph{``I was close on the bachelor's but was not expecting the master's. What drew you to that?''}
+
+``Books.''
+
+Eir partners both laughed.
+
+``What other answer could I possibly give?'' ey said, grinning. ``I like books. I like knowledge. I like having it all collected in one place, even if books were falling out of fashion back when I was phys-side.''
+
+\emph{``A horrible shame. I do not have the same attraction to them that you do, my dear, but they are still delightful.''}
+
+``You take it to almost a fetishistic level, Codruţ,'' eir other partner said, the playful, diminutive form of eir name adding another layer of teasing. ``For which we love you, of course.''
+
+Ey rolled eir eyes. ``Domestic abuse, I say. Let me turn it back on you, though, what did you do?''
+
+They heaved a deep sigh. ``Line cook at a diner.''
+
+``Is that why you're so into cooking?''
+
+``Basically, yeah. I wanted to be a chef, but you kind of need to start at the bottom and work your way up. I just gave up on actually doing that and uploaded instead.''
+
+``I had a similar job in school, actually.'' Tycho said. ``Nothing fancy but I--''
+
+He trailed off, staring up into space with a blank expression, then shook his head. ``Uh, how willing are you all to talk about the Artemisians?''
+
+Shrugs all around.
+
+``Uh, sorry,'' he said, pausing a moment longer, and then sat up straighter when a few folded sheets of notebook paper slid down to the table in front of him, neatly missing both wine and half-eaten tiramisu. ``Tycho\#Artemis sent a list of questions to the Artemisians today. I think they weren't expecting the reply to come for a day or two, but it showed up after only five minutes, minus transit. Weird\ldots{}''
+
+\emph{``What sort of questions are we talking about?''}
+
+``Social and cultural, it looks like. Nothing really scientific. Want me to go through them?''
+
+They all nodded.
+
+``Alright. He asked when each of the races joined and the answer sounds complicated. It looks like about a thousand years or so between each.''
+
+``So they started about four thousand years ago?''
+
+He looked up to the ceiling as he calculated. ``There are specific numbers. They add up to\ldots five thousand, three hundred twelve years ago. Thing is, I'm not sure if that takes relativity into account. From our perspective, that could be a much larger number.''
+
+``Holy shit,'' Dear's partner said. ``Think they're batty?''
+
+Dear laughed. \emph{``It depends on how sane they were before they started and how their system is structured. Probably, though.''}
+
+``Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. Let's see\ldots there were a few questions about how the races interact. It sounds like they have several common areas available, but there are still enclaves of the different races that mostly keep to themselves. Apparently most speak a form of secondrace's primary language because firstrace was\ldots uh, hmm. They say electronic. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe they were robots of some sort? AIs? They didn't need to talk with words. All races except firstrace still have several different languages of their own which they speak at home and in their own sims.''
+
+Codrin nodded. Ey had summoned a pen and notebook and was already taking notes. ``Will they be teaching us any of them?''
+
+``He said he's already learning the secondrace language. Maybe you should, too.''
+
+Ey scribbled down a note to emself to ping True Name for access.
+
+Sarah was leaning forward on her elbows, looking particularly interested. ``I would like to as well. One can learn an awful lot about a person or group based on the language they speak.''
+
+Codrin amended the note to include her name. ``I'll have True Name send it our way.''
+
+Tycho shrugged. ``I'm not going to bother. If \#Artemis is able to merge back, I'll pick it up then. I'll make sure he does it before he leaves.''
+
+``Good idea, yeah. The more who speak it the better, just to be safe.''
+
+``Alright. Next set of questions were about forking.''
+
+There were a few blips of other foxes behind Dear, startling Tycho.
+
+\emph{``Apologies, Tycho,''} it said, grinning widely, tail whipping about behind it. \emph{``I may not be joining directly in the endeavor, but I am intensely curious to hear about this.''}
+
+``Well, alright. I hate to disappoint, but it sounds like the only times they fork are in an emergency or during a contact like this --- `convergence', they call it. They have to petition some sort of central leadership called, of all things, the Council of Eight, which sounds like two representatives from each race, to create any long-running forks.''
+
+The fox flinched back as though slapped, its ears laid flat and its brow furrowed.
+
+``They provided additional information, though. They say that fourthrace had the same concept of forking that we appear to, so they understand our questions around dissolution strategies and clade structures. \#Artemis also asked about their naming system, and apparently Turun Ka and Turun Ko are from something akin to a clade that existed before the voyage began. Something from when they were electronic but not on their system.
+
+``Instead of forking, they have individual, fine-grained control over time. This is how they responded so quickly, apparently: they slowed time way down so that they had as much as they wanted to write their response. They ask if this will be accommodated during the talks and there's a note from True Name here saying that, even if it were possible, she's going to answer no. Tycho said she looked upset.''
+
+\emph{``Unpleasant business,''} Dear muttered darkly. \emph{``Unpleasant to an extreme.''}
+
+``Well, what's the next question, then?'' Codrin asked. Whether it was the mention of the Council of Eight or the news about forking, ey couldn't guess, but the fox was clearly upset as well. ``Perhaps we can move away from this one.''
+
+``Next, they asked about leisure activities. It sounds like they're fairly similar to us in that very few people have actual jobs, but several have what they call `intensive leisure activities, such as scientist or author'. He asked if they have stories and if so, what kind, and their answer goes on quite extensively.''
+
+Codrin scribbled hastily to take down the question. ``Can you ensure that I get a copy of the responses, too?''
+
+``Perhaps we all should get a copy,'' Sarah suggested. ``I'm curious about the language bits and this thing about stories.''
+
+\emph{``As am I. If True Name allows, I will ask for a copy as well.''}
+
+``Me too,'' its partner said.
+
+``Can you give us an overview of their answers?'' Codrin asked.
+
+``Sure,'' Tycho said slowly, skimming through the rest of the page and onto the next. ``They say that stories are of the utmost importance to all races, that there is no limitation what kind, or who may tell them, but that, quote, `of the occupations that many hold, that of storyteller is the one held in highest regard'.''
+
+Dear brightened considerably. \emph{``I will forgive them their atrocious naming choice for their leadership, then. They do sound interesting aside from that.''}
+
+``I'll admit to being mostly confused about it, or at least more focused on the astronomers they have on board, but it's all still interesting.'' He flipped over to the last page and frowned. He sat silent for several seconds as he stared at the paper, as though willing further meaning to rise from it. ``I'll quote the last bit in its entirety. \#Artemis asked, `Do you dream?' There's no further questions or explanation.''
+
+Dear rolled its eyes. \emph{``How very us. I bet Why Ask Questions suggested that.''}
+
+If Sarah had been interested before, she was nearly staring holes into Tycho now. ``What was their answer?''
+
+``\,`You have asked the correct question. We are eager to meet you.' Verbatim. That's it.''
+
+A silence fell over the table while they digested this, each in their own way.
+
+Codrin sipped eir wine while ey thought. \emph{The correct question} made it sound as though they had reached some sort of milestone, perhaps, especially when taken with \emph{we are eager to meet you.} It made it sound as though humanity had completed a mission by asking that.
+
+And yet, there wasn't an answer to the question given, if Tycho was right about the message. They didn't say yes or no, they didn't say what about. They simply seemed to be smiling through the page, and ey couldn't tell whether that smile was one of satisfaction, encouragement, or pride.
+
+It was Dear who broke the long silence. \emph{``Is there anything else to the message?''}
+
+Tycho shook his head. ``Nothing from the Artemisians, no, but \#Artemis has added a note here that he asked that because he's been dreaming about them every night.'' He paused for a moment before adding, ``I have too. The dreams aren't like the ones he describes, but just this feeling that someone is coming and that it will be this momentous thing and we have to be as ready as we can be.''
+
+Sarah nodded. ``There's no real interpretation to dreams other than they can reflect some of what you were thinking during the day. It sounds like you're both quite focused on it. Anxious, perhaps.''
+
+Tycho nodded eagerly in agreement.
+
+``Very much so,'' Codrin said. ``I had a dream about them last night, too. It was just this vague idea that I knew they were coming and that I needed to be observant.''
+
+``That makes sense, given your role,'' she said. ``I haven't been remembering my dreams since we got the news. I don't think I've been sleeping very well.''
+
+\emph{``Even for me, who will not be joining, it very much all feels like a dream,''} Dear said. \emph{``The whole thing does.''}
+
+After their guests had left and the trio sat down on the couch for a bit before bed, Dear dotted its nose against Codrin's cheek. \emph{``My dear, I do not want to talk about it now, but I have something to tell you about this business with time modulation that may prove useful to you.''}
+
+Ey nodded, feeling the fox's nose tip still lingering near eir cheek. ``I'll look forward to it, Dear. At your own pace.''
+
+\emph{``It is nothing bad. Just stressful, and I do not yet know how to put it into words. I will say that this will impact all Odists in approximately the same way, though, which is why you should know if there are to be two of them joining you.''}

neviim/content/local/codrin/006.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,177 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lan-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{quote}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 5 days, 0 hours, 51 minutes}
+\end{quote}
+
+\noindent Late spring was for picnics. This was, ey was assured, a universal truth.
+
+Once the rains had calmed down and before the oppressive heat began to drift lazily in, this was the time for those who are in love to drag a thick blanket out onto the prairie, park next to one of Codrin's cairns, and share sandwiches and fizzy drinks. This was the time for parking in the sun, laying back on the blanket, heads together and feet radiating outwards, sharing in small silences and comfortable conversation.
+
+\emph{``There is no reason that aliens should interrupt this,''} Dear had stated plainly and then dragged its partner off to the kitchen to make sandwiches and bottle up gins and tonic to bring out to the prairie.
+
+All the same, this picnic was more muted than usual, and when they settled onto their backs, Dear's ears tickling the tops of their heads, the conversation felt careful, as though all words should veer around the topic that was on everyone's minds.
+
+A bit more than two weeks after first contact, and the entire LV seemed to be talking about nothing else. Dear had even postponed the opening to its new show. News from Tycho was that, from day one, the Odists had been working on and shaping the spread of information.
+
+Codrin suspected that this had come when it did in part due to the transmission delay from Lagrange, and, given what ey expected would happen with Ioan and May Then My Name, ey did not doubt that this tight control was for good reason—or at least what True Name considered good reason.
+
+Ey had kept that thought to emself.
+
+Ey expected True Name would be visiting eir down-tree instance and eir partner before long. Ey had suspected she would do as much as soon as ey had read anxiety in her expression at the mention of May Then My Name. She had surely sent a message back to Lagrange within seconds of em telling her such.
+
+It was the reaction that ey was most worried about. True Name was a touchy topic with Dear, and the cold hatred of one of its cocladists was\ldots well, ey could read melancholy in the fennec's face as easily as any other emotion. Ever since news of May Then My Name's thoughts on her down-tree instance had made their way across the light-days of distance, there had been more of that. There had been days of silence, days of tears, days of walking the prairie for hours at a time. When pressed, it would simply say, \emph{``She is the best of us.''}
+
+Ey suspected that it was worried that cracks were showing across the clade. Ioan had admitted to having such concerns as well, and even mentioned that May Then My Name herself seemed to be harboring fears. ``If Dear overflows with undirected energy,'' Ioan had written once, years ago. ``Then May overflows with tears. It's the only time she ever asks to be alone, and I will go stay with Douglas. I make a lot of chicken soup for her to have something comforting, though I'm not sure how much it helps. She will spend hours in bed, letting out all of the overwhelming emotion that she needs to in order to become whole again. I love her deeply, but I'm sure you must know the pain of watching someone you love going through something like that.''
+
+That had been another thought ey had kept to emself.
+
+The worry lay not in how May Then My Name might react—though Ioan had always mentioned when ey was laying in supplies for chicken soup—but in how True Name would. May Then My Name may be the best of the clade, or at least the best of that stanza, and even True Name knew that.
+
+So today, they mostly lay in silence. It was not unpleasant, for the sun was on high and the temperature was perfect and ey could simply lay there with those ey loved.
+
+It was Dear, of all of them, who broke the silence.
+
+\emph{``I have been thinking about something that Sarah said.''} It sounded content enough, which Codrin was pleased to hear. \emph{``She said that we should prepared to not be able to understand them for their inhumanity.''}
+
+``What about it?'' their partner murmured. More than content, they sounded sleepy.
+
+\emph{``There is much we can learn about semiotics from them. We have the ability to guess, but vanishingly few chances to check. If they are truly alien from us, we may be able to confirm many hypotheses that we have had for centuries by now about how a different mind can form and hold ideas.''}
+
+``Different environment, different \emph{Umwelt}, you mean?'' ey asked.
+
+\emph{``No no, that term applies to those who exist within the same environment. Our environments up until now have not even been connected. We have completely different semiospheres, do we not? We cannot even make assumptions about how they form their ideas, how their semiosis works, at least not at first. It could be that there are key differences in how they are able to take in information and make meaning of it.''}
+
+``New senses?''
+
+Ey could feel it shrug against the picnic blanket before it said, \emph{``Perhaps. Perhaps they can sense radio waves, or perhaps, as suggested by their letter, they can sense time in some new way if they have fine-tuned control over how they experience it.''}
+
+``Don't we have forking and merging?'' its partner asked. ``Aren't those new senses? Or at least sensations?''
+
+\emph{``In a way, I suppose, but we can learn them. They are tied to will, as one wills a fork to exist, and they are tied to memory, as one deals with the merger as though one is remembering the fork's experiences.''}
+
+Ey could feel the idea click into place. ``But we may not even be able to experience that in the same way as them. We may learn it in a fundamentally different way. Maybe we won't even be able to take part in it because we ourselves may be fundamentally different.''
+
+Dear sat up quickly, laughing. \emph{``Yes, precisely! What an interesting problem. I am excited to see what all we learn.''}
+
+The other two sat up. Codrin was not at all surprised to see the grin on the fox's face.
+
+\emph{``This is, of course, all supposing that they really exist.''}
+
+Their partner laughed. ``Is this in doubt or something?''
+
+``Tycho said something at the first dinner, yeah,'' Codrin said. ``He asked if there was a chance that they weren't real and that we might actually be dreaming the whole thing up.''
+
+``Wouldn't that take an awful lot of dreaming to accomplish? Dream the incoming signal, dream our...uh, instruments, I guess, tracking Artemis, dream up this whole thing about races and such?''
+
+Dear shrugged. It looked quite pleased. \emph{``Perhaps, but is that not an internally consistent dream? A dreaming mind that starts with the proposition of aliens and enough knowledge of our little world would be able to construct a consistent narrative to get us to where we are, and that is all that the System demands. The Dreamer Module, the micro-Ansible, the DMZ, all of it bears the seeds of consistency.''} Its grin widened, the volume of its voice rising. \emph{``Or perhaps the System aboard Castor is losing coherency! Perhaps our world is falling down around our ears and we would never know!''}
+
+Codrin laughed, watching the fox get more and more animated. ``I'm pretty sure we'd know whether Castor is failing or not.''
+
+\emph{``Do not be so sure about that, my love. We have very little insight into the world outside of the LV.''}
+
+``I'm pretty sure we have at least some,'' eir other partner said. ``Even if it's just by way of our communications with Lagrange and Pollux.''
+
+\emph{``Yet even that may be a dream!''} Dear giggled. \emph{``You see why this is interesting to me, though, yes? If Artemis is real, then we gain new insights into semiosis. If it is not, I get my beloved natural death.''}
+
+Ey rolled eir eyes and shook eir head. ``Foxes.''
+
+\emph{``You love me and you know it.''}
+
+``Well, I mean, yes, but that was never in doubt.'' Ey leaned back on eir palms. ``Either way, I hope that they're real. That feels like the better scenario to me.''
+
+\emph{``Boring.''}
+
+``Hush, you,'' their partner said, poking at the fox's thigh.
+
+\emph{``Both of you. Boring, boring, boring.''} It laughed. \emph{``But I admit that I hope that they are real, as well. I am more excited about the semiotics of aliens than the idea that Castor is failing. For instance, there is much we can learn about them from their language, I expect. I am no linguist, but how they describe their control over time, should they choose to do so, will provide much insight into the ways something that is not us perceives and interacts with their world around them. They may process signs—signs in the semiotic sense—in a very different way, and we will be able to use that and apply it to the hypotheses that we have formed over the years.''}
+
+``Are there problems in that area that need solving?'' Codrin asked.
+
+\emph{``I do not know. It is something which is interesting to me for its own sake. Perhaps we can learn more about sensoria,''} it said, shrugging. \emph{``For those who desire children, perhaps there are implications within that which will allow them to experience such.''}
+
+``Do you want children, then?''
+
+\emph{``Good Lord, no.''} It laughed. \emph{``I did not wind up with that desire. That is something for other elements of the clade. I am sure that Hammered Silver and her stanza would pounce on the idea.''}
+
+Its partner laughed. ``I thought not. Besides, can you imagine a synthesis of the three of us? A historian chef that forks like mad.''
+
+They all laughed.
+
+``I don't know how much of a historian I am anymore,'' ey said. ``But doubtless they would keep my love for books.''
+
+Dear tilted its head. \emph{``Are you not? You have taken on historiographical projects in the years since the} History, \emph{have you not?{}``}
+
+Ey shrugged. ``I have incomplete thoughts on that.''
+
+The fox nodded. \emph{``I will not push, but I am eager to hear them at some point.''}
+
+Ey nodded. ``Of course, Dear.''
+
+Their other partner yawned, then let out a contented sigh. ``You know, if sunlight had weight, I would use it as a blanket. It's such a nice feeling.''
+
+``\,`If sunlight had weight'?'' Codrin laughed. ``That sounds like a line of poetry.''
+
+They threw a pebble at em. ``I need at least the feeling of a blanket over me if I'm going to sleep.''
+
+``Going to take a nap? We've got a blanket right here.''
+
+``I also need a bed beneath me.''
+
+Ey picked the pebble up from where it had landed on eir sarong and tossed it back at them. ``Well, go in and take a nap, then. I think it's walking off the sandwiches and gin for me.''
+
+They tossed the pebble at Dear in turn. ``Back to work with you?''
+
+\emph{``Perhaps. I will send a fork with each of you.''}
+
+As fox and historian walked out into the prairie, Codrin finally worked up the courage to ask Dear the question it had wanted to ever since their conversation on semiotics. ``Do you wish you were a part of the emissaries?''
+
+\emph{``No.''} Its response was flat and immediate. \emph{``I have curiosity about the knowledge, but no desire to actually join in the experience.''}
+
+``You don't have to answer, but do you know why?''
+
+It thought for a moment, then shrugged. \emph{``My existence relies on understanding and responding to the actions and emotions of others. I will wait until there is a way for us to understand, and then I will experience it if I am able. If I am not, then I will simply revel in the story that you write.''}
+
+``I'll bring back as much information as I can. Maybe some of them will stick around and you can give them a performance down the line.''
+
+The fox laughed. \emph{``Perhaps, yes.''}
+
+They walked in silence for a while longer. Codrin eventually gave up on walking off the gin and simply let sobriety back in.
+
+\emph{``One more reason, my love.''}
+
+``Hmm? Reason for\ldots?''
+
+\emph{``For not wanting to be a part of your talks. I do not want to be a part because of this time manipulation business. I remember how it felt to be one of the lost. I remember experiencing centuries or mere seconds in that endless place of no time. I remember wondering if I would die out there after a hundred years had passed by, and I also remember only a few minutes going by before Debarre showed up.''}
+
+``Wait, \emph{he} was the one who got you out? I would've thought some clinic technician or something.''
+
+\emph{``Of course, my dear. Why do you think we are so close to each other? Even after all that business in the early days, we are still close.''} It grinned. \emph{``Please do not tell him this, but I have always been a little in love with him since then. Our tastes in partners differ, so few of the clade have never acted on it, just as Michelle never acted on it.  I believe End Waking is the only one who has, and even that is complicated.''}
+
+``Ioan seems fond of End Waking.''
+
+\emph{``Of course ey does,''} Dear said primly. \emph{``He is much like me if I was in any way serious.''}
+
+Codrin grinned. ``Crazy, then?''
+
+\emph{``A different kind of mad, perhaps. He is highly principled, though, and that along with the seriousness is a draw to Debarre, I think.''} After a few more steps, the fox added, \emph{``But yes, as mad as any of us. None of us will be comfortable with such an eternity.''}
+
+Ey nodded, thinking back to the conversation they had shared so long ago, back when ey was newly Codrin. \emph{Trauma, if trauma this is, forges bonds,} it had said.
+
+``Not keen on more trauma, then?''
+
+It shoved em playfully. \emph{``You are a brat. I was just about to say that.''}
+
+Ey laughed.
+
+\emph{``I will not go, though,''} the fox repeated. \emph{``I will await your stories, but I will not go.''}
+
+``I'll bring back some good ones, then.''
+
+\emph{``I know you will. It will be an experience that I am sure many will want to know about. I know that, should you choose to write about it, the three Systems will look forward to it.''}
+
+Ey nodded. The idea of a project such as this lingered in eir gut like a weight, and the fact that dread tinged the excitement ey had about it only added to eir anxiety. Ey kept these thoughts to emself.
+
+\emph{``But, my dear, do be watchful. There will be two Odists on that mission, and they will share in some of my trepidation.''} It took eir hand in its paw and gave the back of it an affectionate lick. The gesture seemed to be one designed to minimize the anxiety in the statement, but eirs or Dears, ey could not tell. \emph{``They share that same trauma. Be watchful and remember what I said: even True Name has emotions, even she will be affected.''}

neviim/content/local/codrin/007.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lancastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 3 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent The pattern-matching portion of eir mind could not stop making comparisons between this and previous projects ey had been involved in with the Odists. \emph{On the Perils of Memory} had been a fairly disorganized affair, begun hastily and over far too soon, leaving the conclusion feeling outsized for the duration of the events at hand. \emph{An Expanded History of Our World} (or \emph{On the Origin of Our World} when taken with May Then My Name's \emph{An Expanded Mythology of Our World}) had been a vast, sprawling affair that was fairly well organized throughout, though transmission times toward the end had begun to hinder coordination.
+
+This, then, lay somewhere in between. While the news had been sudden and the pace nearly frenetic, it had been nothing if not organized. What had begun as a simple message had turned into a flurry of activity, where dozens of forks from four clades coordinated to plan around eventualities, discuss linguistic profiles, and work with Sarah Genet in her role as psychologist to find weak spots in the team and areas where they could shore each other up during the talks.
+
+And through it all, hundreds of Odists and Jonases worked behind the scenes to ensure that every potential possibility was summarized and provided to the team through meeting after meeting, presentation after presentation, quiz and questionnaire.
+
+Every time Codrin thought \emph{hey, this is almost like--}, ey was brought up short by all of the ways it wasn't. It was organized and guided, but without the careful precision that ey now knew to be the case for the \emph{History}. It was hectic and \emph{ad hoc} but without the spur-of-the-moment surprises that came with \emph{Perils}.
+
+Consequently, ey kept finding emself stumbling when presented with a pattern that fit one project and then failed to fit completely.
+
+At last, though, they had dotted all of the `i's they could find and crossed all the `t's that they could think of and gathered to begin the final preparations.
+
+The five of them trickled into the boardroom. They'd been told to dress `nice, but comfortable', which didn't change anything for True Name. Why Ask Questions had dressed in a matching outfit. Tycho had swapped out a plaid flannel shirt for a plain white one, but remained in his jeans. Sarah had opted for a blouse and slacks that fit well with her middle-aged, mid-career psychologist aesthetic.
+
+It left Codrin feeling somewhat overdressed for the occasion, but ey shook it off as best ey could. A few years prior, ey'd written a short paper on traditional clothing styles that had been ported into the System, many of which had seen a resurgence, up where cost was no longer a barrier. Ever since, when nicer dress was required, ey'd taken to dressing in various levels of traditional Romanian garb from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For this project, that meant an embroidered, wide-sleeved blouse and a simple, ankle-length wrap-around skirt, over which was layered \emph{fotele}, an over-skirt rather like an apron, in rich, embroidered red, with a simpler panel of fabric hanging from the back.
+
+Ey had even braided eir hair. Ah well.
+
+``Alright,'' a Jonas said. He held a clipboard with a checklist he appeared to be reading from. ``Greetings. True Name?''
+
+They proceeded down the line, each reciting their version of the Artemisian greeting while an instance of Answers Will Not Help judged and corrected them. Ey recited eir greeting when eir turn came, but only from the most automatic portion of emself remaining. The rest was spent thinking about how much ey'd miss eir partners. How much ey'd miss home.
+
+Jonas ticked a box on his clipboard. ``Fork and tag your new instances \#Castor. Codrin, we'll need another instance from you tagged \#Assist.''
+
+Codrin and the two Odists forked immediately. Sarah took a few seconds, and Tycho apologized profusely thirty seconds later when he was finally able to manage the feat.
+
+``I'm still not used to it, sorry.''
+
+Jonas waved away the comment. ``You're fine, Tycho. Not everyone is True Name.''
+
+Both instances of the skunk made a rude gesture at him.
+
+``Yeah, well, fuck you too.'' He laughed. ``Alright. The rest of the tasks will be specific to each group, so--'' He forked, and the new instance continued, ``--\#Artemises, with me to Artemis Staging\#553a49c. The rest to Castor Staging\#ad89ae3.''
+
+Ey lingered for a few seconds and thought. One thing this project had that none of the others had had was the feeling of stepping away from home and leaving it behind completely. There would be no coming home for dinner after a day of interviewing or researching. There would be no returning to the tightly controlled chaos that had become the comfortable dynamic among eir little family. Ey stood, watching the others step away, including the other versions of emself, and soaked in the sensation of longing.
+
+When ey stepped through to the DMZ staging sim, ey was greeted by a nearly identical boardroom to the one ey had just left. There were, ey noted, far more whiteboards lining the walls, not to mention far more Odists and Jonases at work just beyond.
+
+``We have an hour,'' Jonas said. ``So let's finalize our plans for information gathering.''
+
+Codrin pulled out a chair at the table and sat between Tycho and Sarah. ``Will this be mostly on Tycho?''
+
+The astronomer shrugged. ``We're the science side, yeah, but we can exchange all the math we'd like without meeting like this. I think it'd be better to say that we'll be talking about the differences in how we learn and proceed through science. It'll be good to learn what we can, and I plan on asking a ton of questions, but it's almost more Sarah's arena.'' He grinned, added, ``Don't get me wrong, though. I'll still be more in my element than Tycho\#Artemis.''
+
+``Correct,'' True Name said. ``Tycho will be asking questions on math, physics, and astronomy, Why Ask Questions on biology and linguistics, and Sarah psychology, sociology, and health, but her other duty will be to observe how they answer and glean the different ways in which they learn and communicate to see how they tick and where our common ground lies.''
+
+``And I observe.''
+
+She nodded. ``As always, yes, though I do not believe you will need to remain silent. Feel free to ask your own questions.''
+
+``What will you do?''
+
+The skunk smiled and lifted her shoulders in a shrug. ``What I do best, my dear. I will guide the questioning, perform risk analysis, and assess lines of control and weakness.''
+
+Ey had been prepared to make a mental note to pull apart her answer to come up with a way to divine her true intentions, but so honest was her answer that ey was wrong-footed into silence.
+
+They talked through a few more plans, though there was nothing that they had not already covered on the docket. Another short language quiz. First questions they'd ask. A quick run-down of what textual descriptions of their races they had sent. The Artemisians had been startled by the Castor's\pagebreak~inability to receive anything but text, so the descriptions had seemed hasty.
+
+\emph{Something to ask about,} Codrin thought.
+
+All five of the party sat up with a start from a sensorium message, a little thrill of adrenaline, alerting them to the time.
+
+Codrin was caught off guard at the lack of fanfare that their departure received. The Jonas who had been running the debriefing waved, and none of the others in the room did more than look over their shoulders as they were shunted over to the DMZ and ey was left blinking in the dappled sunlight of the meeting area.

neviim/content/local/codrin/008.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lancastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 3 days, 5 hours, 21 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Codrin was pleased to see that some magic wrought by the Ansible engineers both here on Castor and their counterparts over on Artemis allowed the Artemisians to assume what must be their natural forms and that they weren't greeted by a gaggle of Douglases. Ey'd never seen Douglas, but it would have been unnerving and difficult to differentiate them. They'd even come wearing clothes—those who wore them, at least, this Iska and Artante Diria—which ey supposed they would appreciate. One of those benefits of System-to-System Ansibles that they'd enjoyed on their transit from Lagrange to LVs, as well.
+
+So it was that they found themselves lined up opposite their counterparts across the table from each other, exchanging their formal greetings.
+
+``\emph{Rehasiër munachla achles eslosam. Tapotevier les unachadev itek The-Only-Time-I-Know-My-True-Name-Is-When-I-Dream-am, True-Name itet.}'' The skunk bowed formally, deep and at the waist.
+
+The firstracer before her bowed its head, a movement that took place solely in the neck rather than the waist. ``Greetings, and thank you for letting us join you. I am acting in a leadership capacity as a representative from the Council of Eight, and my name is Turun Ka.''
+
+Ey watched the exchange of greetings curiously, making note of what gestures were made, before bowing emself and saying, ``\emph{Rehasiër munachla echles eslosam. Tapotevier les unechrenum Codrin-Bălanam.}''
+
+Turun Ko, opposite em, responded with a similar motion of raised head. ``Greetings-hello, thank-you-and-gratitude for allowing our delegation-emissaries. I act as observer-recorder and am called-named Turun Ko.''
+
+Ey tilted eir head, noting the confusion on eir side of the table at the choppy, synonym-ridden greeting, filing away a question to ask of the recorder later.
+
+The greetings continued down the line. Tycho and Stolon greeted each other as scientists. Iska, who startled em in their resemblance to Debarre, and Why Ask Questions greeted each other, followed last of all by Artante Diria and Sarah.
+
+There was a small shuffle as the delegates from both craft sat at the table, Iska politely requesting that their chair be raised and the surface area made smaller so that they could more effectively reach the table, which True Name accomplished with a gesture. Both Turun Ka and Turun Ko set their chairs aside and squatted down on their haunches before the table instead.
+
+``Thank you once again, and welcome to this convergence,'' Turun Ka said. Its voice was pleasantly musical. ``It is a pleasure to meet those who are new and different from us, and we are always grateful when luck and chance allow us to do so.''
+
+True Name nodded, a hint of a bow from where she sat. ``Thank you for joining us. We welcome you to the Launch Vehicle Castor. We are honored to have you aboard. If you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask me, as I bear full ACLs for the sim. You will find your rest area down there—'' She gestured with a paw toward one of the hallways. ``—where you will have limited ACLs that will allow you to modify many of the objects there and will allow you to fork once.''
+
+The reactions around the table were mixed. Turun Ka and Turun Ko remained impassive—they seemed to move only with intent, and when not required, they were as stationary as statues. Stolon tilted their head in a quizzical manner. Iska's expression was hard to read, but were ey pressed to put a name to it, ey would have called it unnerved, or perhaps startled. Given the similarities of her features to the humans around the table, Artante looked quite pleased.
+
+``There will be no time skew?'' Iska asked, voice high pitched, each word dipping in tone.
+
+``We were not able to accommodate that, no.''
+
+``You appear-seem displeased or uncomfortable,'' Turun Ko said, head pointing down the table toward Why Ask Questions. ``Can you explain if able or comfortable?''
+
+She looked over to True Name, who gave a small nod of permission.
+
+``Some of us here on the System do not feel comfortable with unbounded time,'' she said. ``We will discuss more as the meeting continues.''
+
+``\emph{Aën,}'' it said. \emph{Okay.}
+
+After a moment's silence, the skunk continued. ``Per our agreement, this meeting here on Castor will be focused on knowledge-share surrounding the topics of linguistics and science, with particular attention to astronomy and spaceflight, while those aboard Artemis will focus on society, politics, and psychology. I would like to open with a round of free questioning, if you are amenable, in order to find a few examples for which directions to take the meeting in moving forward. Do you agree?''
+
+``Yes,'' Turun Ka said. ``One question per delegate should be an appropriate way to begin. I invite you to ask first, leader True Name.''
+
+The response was quick in coming. ``We have divided civilizations up into a range of classes depending on their energy usage: planet scale, planetary system scale, and interplanetary scale. At what stage were each of your races, and, if you have ran across any additional races, at what scale did they work?''
+
+``Our race lived at the scale of planetary system,'' it replied. ``We appear the way we do in our post-biological state in order to survive in a variety of environments beyond those of our world-of-origin.''
+
+``\emph{Lu,}'' Stolon said, speaking slowly. ``Planetary scale for us. For other three races.''
+
+True Name glanced to Codrin, ensuring that ey was taking notes. ``Thank you. Would you like to go next, leader Turun Ka?''
+
+``Yes. By what means do you collect the materials needed for your civilization, whether for the embodied world or this one?''
+
+``Mining on our planet and our planet's moon,'' the skunk said after a moment's thought. ``As well as limited mining of asteroids at stationary points of orbit.''
+
+``You call Lagrange point, \emph{ka?}'' Stolon asked.
+
+She nodded. ``Correct.''
+
+``We saw\ldots{}\emph{lu\ldots{}}'' They chattered their teeth for a moment, then looked to Iska. ``\emph{Baenå' luta' `esbrohakadåt'?}''
+
+``Space-constructs,'' they said, filling in. ``We saw constructs of various size at your planet-moon and planet-star Lagrange points.''
+
+True Name stiffened, but any response she might have had was preempted by Tycho. The astronomer, who had appeared largely overwhelmed by the meeting to date had steadily grown more excited during the questioning phase. ``You did? How? Radio? When did you see them? During gravity assist? How--''
+
+``Tycho, hold up,'' Sarah said, laughing. ``There will be time.''
+
+Stolon, meanwhile, was clacking claw-tipped fingers against the table and bobbing their head. ``\emph{Za lutatier! Za, za,}'' they said quickly. ``Will say, will say. Excited also, scientist Tycho.''
+
+Codrin grinned, scribbling further notes in eir notebook. Ey was pleased to see that there was also excitement around the table, rather than simply anxiety.
+
+``Scientist Stolon, please answer scientist Tycho's question regarding how,'' Turun Ka said, voice bouncing through tones.
+
+\emph{Amusement, perhaps?} Codrin thought. The atmosphere certainly seemed to have lightened.
+
+``Radio emanations, \emph{anem.} Too far for visible light, useless light.''
+
+Tycho grinned, nodded. ``Apologies, that will be my question, then.''
+
+``I ask,'' Stolon said. ``How launched vehicle? We see also another, we learn language from.''
+
+``A station—a construct, as you say—rotating with the Castor and Pollux launch vehicles at the end of long launch arms, released us at tangential velocity, then photon sails, Hall Effect engines, and gravity assists on our way out of the system.''
+
+``You move not so fast, \emph{ka?} Conserve fuel?'' They chattered their teeth again. ``Sorry sorry, will ask again soon.''
+
+``I am pleased to see the scientists excited,'' Turun Ka said. ``Recorder Codrin Bălan? Recorder Turun Ko?''
+
+When Turun Ko did not speak, Codrin asked, ``Does your system allow you to forget?''
+
+``Memories degrade-rot,'' the other recorder said. ``Saves-preserves storage. Garbage collection process trims-prunes old-unaccessed memories.''
+
+Both True Name and Sarah reached for their pens to make note of the answer.
+
+Codrin smiled and nodded eir thanks.
+
+``Recorder Codrin Bălan, do your bodies-physical-forms continue to live after embedding-uploading of consciousness?''
+
+Ey shook eir head. Realizing that the gesture may not translate, ey said, ``No, they are destroyed in the process of uploading. Or embedding, as you say.''
+
+Both Iska and Artante Diria took notes of this answer.
+
+``I have a question,'' Sarah said, when the silence drew out. ``Do you have the concept of mental illness? Depression, disordered thinking, disconnect from reality?''
+
+``Yes,'' Artante Diria said. ``We have not discovered a means of removing such after embedding. I will ask next. I infer that you have not either. What treatments do you have for mental illness?''
+
+``Talk therapy, mostly. If one is careful, one can reduce the effects by forking with intent to change, though this can have complex effects on other parts of the personality. It's come up in the past with the--''
+
+Why Ask Questions rested a hand gently on Sarah's forearm. Both she and True Name were frowning.
+
+``We will discuss later, perhaps.''
+
+``Yes, in time,'' the Odist said. ``For my question, I would like to know how you manage linguistic drift.''
+
+Iska straightened up. ``Our common tongue began primarily that of secondrace, of my race, but has incorporated many aspects of other languages. Languages within each race, including for pure \emph{Nanon}, the basis of our common tongue, are uncontrolled, but common tongue is managed via central authority.''
+
+``Thank you, representative Iska.''
+
+``I will ask the final question,'' they said. ``You say that we will have the ability to fork. Is there not risk of divergence?''
+
+True Name answered, ``There is. Why Ask Questions is a fork from me, and I am in turn a fork from the root instance, Michelle Hadje. We have individuated in the last two hundred twenty-odd years.''
+
+That unnerved, anxious expression returned to the secondracer's face, but they bowed their head all the same. ``\emph{Aët.} Thank you.''
+
+Standing, True Name bowed deeply once more. ``Thank you once again for joining us. Let us retire to our rest areas to compare notes and strategize, then reconvene in one hour's time to begin in earnest.''
+
+Both delegations stood and returned their acknowledging gestures, whatever they might be, and each walked toward their respective rest areas.
+
+``What do you think?'' Why Ask Questions asked. ``Real or dream?''
+
+Tycho frowned. ``It's too early to--''
+
+True Name elbowed him in the side and laughed. ``She is being a brat. Do not fall for her trap.''
+
+``Yeah, yeah, fuck you too,'' the other Odist said, grinning. ``Do keep an eye out, though, my dear. We must act as though they are real for now, and we must not lose focus on the talks, but the answer may well be relevant later.''
+
+``Do not confuse our scientist, please,'' the skunk said mildly, then winked to Tycho.
+
+If the comment had been meant to reassure Tycho, it fell flat. The astronomer's look of confusion only deepened.
+
+Codrin let the three pass em, catching Sarah's eye to walk slower. Once Tycho had wandered toward the coffee setup and the Odists were several paces ahead, heads together and talking quietly, ey asked, ``What do you make of it?''
+
+She shrugged. ``I'm not sure yet. The questions were all reasonable, but I wasn't really able to figure out if there was a direction to them. The question about mental health seemed to be earnest, as though they were looking for an actual solution to the problem, while Stolon's question about launching was very to the point. Hard facts, that sort of thing.''
+
+Ey nodded.
+
+``Weird that they'd ask about our bodies living on after uploading, though,'' Tycho said, coffee in hand. ``What could they possibly want with that knowledge?''
+
+``Not sure,'' she said. ``Maybe trying to figure out incentives for uploading? I really don't know.''
+
+``I'm feeling kind of lost after all that.'' Codrin sighed, hunting down the partitioned `room' ey'd claimed as eir own and stopping outside the door. ``It's overwhelming. I have no idea what avenues to go down from here. I want to ask why Turun Ko speaks the way it does, I want to ask about their opinions on forking, I want to ask all these questions, but I'm not sure how welcome that'll be in my role.''
+
+``I don't know about that either, as representative. I hope I get to ask more. Though, well\ldots{}'' Sarah glanced over to where True Name and Why Ask Questions had sat at a table, still talking earnestly within a cone of silence. ``I don't know what's more interesting. The emissaries or the Odists.''

neviim/content/local/codrin/009.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lancastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 2 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent True Name's ability to keep a steady, half-smiling expression was admirable. Even Why Ask Questions appeared to be only just barely keeping frustration at bay.
+
+Having instructed the Artemisians on how to use cones of silence, there were far fewer breaks throughout the last two days, limited to one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and a longer lunch in the middle. That did not stop them from settling into private conversation every few minutes to discuss whatever answer they might give.
+
+Ey initially found it strange that added downtime would make their party more tired rather than less, but after some consideration—and a brief talk with Sarah—ey'd come to the realization that those periods of quiet between question and answer were still spent in expectation. They were still working during those pauses. They were still in conversation, if only by way of watching and waiting, trying to guess what might have led to the need to have that private discussion. Ey could not read expressions beyond eir limited notes so far, could not speak the language well enough, and certainly could not read lips, so ey was left only with guesses and suppositions.
+
+And through it all, True Name seemed to be trying to match the firstracers for patient expressions.
+
+It wasn't until that second day's lunch that the skunk showed any breaks in that patience. She picked up a plate piled high with salad, brought it over to the table in the center of their rest area then stepped back a few paces, where she activated a cone of silence. She brought her tail around toward her front, held in both paws, and buried her face in it. Ey could only assume by the sudden way that she bent at the waist and pinned her ears back that this was done to muffle a scream or some violent obscenity.
+
+Then, as though nothing had happened, she sat down to eat.
+
+Lunch after that had been filled with laughter and truly terrible jokes. Sarah, it turned out, collected them, and the delegates unanimously voted hers the worst.
+
+All throughout, though, Codrin couldn't shake the image of True Name throwing a very short, very tightly controlled tantrum. The sight of her letting loose so strong an emotion had immediately knocked em back to an interview—decades ago, now—where she'd wound em up enough that ey'd started shouting at her in her own office, then bounced em from her sim.
+
+That, ey'd later understood, had been intentional on her part. It had been a way for her to spin her story in a very carefully crafted way. It set it to a level that sat just on the other side of the line between plausible and absurd. It had wrapped em up in a story that was just a little too much to believe, and the end result was a softening of the impact of the \emph{History}.
+
+She was a consummate actor. Nothing about that experience had been done with a wink and a nudge, just as nothing about this had contained any such acknowledgement that it was intentional, but ey was nothing if not primed to expect her actions to be based in manipulation. There was a non-zero chance that this tantrum had been more for the benefit of the other delegates than anything. It was a way to show that she, too, was frustrated, just as the pun-off that had followed had been a way to\pagebreak~loosen everyone up by lampshading the absurdity of the whole venture.
+
+And then, it was over. True Name cleared away her plate, explained that she was going to write a letter to her \#Artemis instance, made a final joke about needing to do so over letters being much more up Codrin's alley, and then stepped into her room to work in silence.
+
+``What was that about?'' Sarah asked, once the skunk and Why Ask Questions had wandered off again.
+
+``What, the thing about the letters?'' Ey shrugged. ``I guess it was deemed a risk setting up radio between the DMZ and--''
+
+``No, no,'' she said, shaking her head. ``Sorry, I mean, what was with the scream and then all the jokes?''
+
+Ey frowned and set up another cone of silence for the two of them. ``I was just thinking about that, actually. I was wondering if she really is frustrated enough to scream or if it was intentional to make her seem more normal like the rest of us mere mortals.''
+
+``I don't think it was that extreme. Maybe some part of her was trying to build camaraderie with us by doing so, but I'm wondering if it was more that she was trying to downplay the news from Artemis.''
+
+Codrin sat up straighter. ``You mean the Odists struggling over there?''
+
+She nodded. ``It sounds like moving them to a unison room is helping, but they're still struggling with that\ldots what did Codrin\#Artemis call it? The omnipresence of time?''
+
+``Yeah. Dear had talked about it some. It called the feeling of being lost as being stuck in an `endless place of no time'.''
+
+``I was going to call that poetic, but the more I think about it, the less I think I could describe it without a whole lot of metaphors, myself.'' She pushed a few remaining pieces of lettuce around her plate with her fork. ``I was wondering if maybe she's trying to hide how she's feeling about that by amping up other emotions. Hiding trauma with humor is not uncommon, and I'm sure she has trauma of her own.''
+
+Ey frowned. ``It would make sense, yes. This morning's letter from Codrin talked a bit more about them, about how they seem to be struggling in masking more powerful emotions. `I don't think I've ever seen an Odist well and truly furious,' ey said, which I agree with. I've seen Dear angry, and Ioan says that ey's seen May Then My Name get furious—at True Name, no less—but I've never seen any of them truly furious. `True Name keeps getting these flashes, though, where her face will twist up in what I can only call abject fury. It'll only last a second or so, and then it's over and she's back to looking tired or in control or whatever she was before'.''
+
+``Anger is a strong emotion. It's hard to cover up something that overwhelming.''
+
+``Right. Anger and sadness or depression seem to be the two that keep cropping up. They've had to take a few breaks so far when Why Ask Questions wound up in a crying jag.''
+
+She shook her head. ``I've not heard anything from my \#Artemis instance, which is fine, but I wonder how she would describe it.''
+
+``Want me to ask? I was going to send off a note before we started back up again.''
+
+``Please. I was going to write something myself, but if you're already sending one, might as well tack it on there, instead.''
+
+Ey nodded and scratched out a note to emself in eir notebook. ``Before I get to that, though, I have a question for you. Something before I drop the cone, I mean.''
+
+Sarah leaned forward, elbows on her knees, and ey did the same. The added secrecy of talking quieter was a difficult habit to break, and eir mind was still on the topic of lip-reading from earlier.
+
+``\#Artemis hinted at something and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. That ey's even hinting at it rather than just saying it outright is telling in and of itself, of course, but I can see why, given the context. The messages are clade-eyes-only, so others can't read them unless one of us grants permission, anyway. It's only a hint, but I think...I mean, I think maybe ey's suggesting that it's not Why Ask Questions on Artemis, but Answers Will Not Help.''
+
+The psychologist frowned down toward the floor. ``What form did this hint take?''
+
+Ey dredged up the memory of the postscript. ``Ey asked Dear to check eir work. I remember that, during Secession, Why Ask Questions managed sentiment sys-side and Answers Will Not Help did the same phys-side. The hint was asking, `Is this correct? I've only met the two of them recently, so I'm unsure how that plays out in their social interactions.' I remember that, of course, so the hint is in the question.''
+
+``Anything in subsequent letters?''
+
+``Well, Codrin\#Assist confirmed it, saying, `Dear says that's correct. Why Ask Questions worked sys-side, Answers Will Not Help worked phys-side'. Neither \#Artemis nor I have brought it up again since.''
+
+``You obviously know your communication style better than anyone else, but do you think ey's hinting at the fact that they were switched specifically for their roles? Intra- and extra-system sentiment?''
+
+Ey nodded.
+
+``Well, that'd be a hell of a stunt to pull.'' She sighed, steepling her fingers before her. ``I could only really tell them apart by the way they acted, but, like you, I only met them a week or so ago. Is ey sure that it's not just due to the way the skew is impacting them?''
+
+``I don't know, really, but given that a good chunk of the rest of the letter, as well as subsequent ones, has been about that impact and the effects it's having on the meetings, I don't doubt eir observations.''
+
+There was a moment of silence as they both digested the conversation. They still had a few minutes of time left, if ey still wanted to write eir note, so ey allowed the moment to stretch.
+
+Finally, Sarah said, ``I guess I have a few thoughts on it: the first is that Answers Will Not Help struck me as less grounded than Why Ask Questions. They're both weird, but Answers Will Not Help was always much more intense, and she sometimes got petty and cruel. The second was that maybe we could ask Tycho. We got a few days with the two of them, but he's been working with them for much longer, since they led with a bunch of science.''
+
+``Alright,'' ey said, scratching out another quick note to emself. ``I'll figure out a way to ask if that's where the observation came from.''
+
+``Oh? As in maybe Tycho noticed that and told Codrin\#Artemis?''
+
+``Right, yeah. Maybe he picked up on it first because he's had more time with her, or maybe her reaction to the skew tipped him off. Who knows?''
+
+``Think you'll ask in a hint, too?''
+
+Ey nodded. ``There's some subtext there that I'm not totally picking up on, and it seems best to be safer than not.''
+
+``Any guesses as to that subtext?'' she asked.
+
+``Only incomplete ones. I wonder if it's to keep Codrin\#Assist from reading too much into it since ey's not experiencing any of this.''
+
+``And you're worried ey might bring it up with the Odists?''
+
+Ey laughed, shaking eir head. ``Nothing so grand. It's just hard for us to leave well enough alone. Ey'd probably start cataloging the differences between them. Well, ey probably already is, given the hint, but without the context that we're seeing here, it'll be somewhat less pointed.''
+
+``Right, that makes sense. That still seems a little flimsy for a reason to be this vague of a hint.''
+
+``Agreed,'' ey said, then shrugged. ``Could be that ey just doesn't trust that clade-eyes-only works on Artemis. All the same, I'll hint back and see what comes of it, just to be safe.''
+
+She nodded. ``Alright. Keep me up to date, I guess.''
+
+Codrin dropped the cone of silence and stretched eir arms up over eir head, ``I'll see you in there in a few, then. Thanks for chatting.''
+
+Sarah stood, waved, and wandered back into the room, leaving em to brush out eir blouse and straighten the apron that rested over eir skirt before starting the note.
+
+\begin{quote}
+Codrin\#Artemis
+
+Not a whole lot to add here on my part, and I need to get back to it momentarily, so just a quick note for now. There's been some talk on biology and a bit more on astronomy. This always gets Tycho super excited, of course, so we have to space the topic out so that he and Stolon don't completely monopolize the meeting.
+
+This morning we discussed the science of forking as it relates to time skew, but it was hard to keep the talk out of what should be your area up there.
+
+The most pertinent thing of late has been some discussion over language and how that has changed over time based on the physiology of the races. Iska spoke some ``old Nanon'' for us, which was beautiful, but almost uncanny. I'd keep almost catching words, but then they'd slip away from me again. Why Ask Questions understood better, and was able to ask some questions about linguistic evolution. Most of those went over my head, but she seemed surprised at how little things had changed over that long a time span, which got us on the topic of the history and politics of language. That was cut off since that's your bailiwick up there, so I expect TN will be getting a note to that effect.
+
+Sarah requests that her counterpart reply with her thoughts on the Odists.
+
+\begin{center}
+\textbf{BĂLAN CLADE-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL}
+\end{center}
+
+I hope things with the Odists are going as smoothly as possible. It sounds really stressful, particularly with how it's affecting WAQ. You mentioned that Sarah's been keeping an eye on it, but how about Tycho? I know he can get kind of skittish. He's also been around those two longer than any of us, though, so maybe he's got some insight into it.
+
+\begin{center}
+\textbf{END BĂLAN CLADE-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL}
+\end{center}
+
+Codrin\#Assist, pass on my love. Pull Dear's tail for me.
+\end{quote}

neviim/content/local/codrin/010.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lancastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 1 day, 2 hours, 2 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent ``To begin with an example concept, I have noticed that your common language is very irregular and relies heavily on a small vocabulary and nominal compounding,'' Why Ask Questions said. ``As we classify our languages into families based on several factors, including compounding, can each of the races expand on various features of their languages?''
+
+``You speak on general terms?'' Iska asked.
+
+She nodded. ``I am curious if you have noticed consistencies between the languages of the various races as they have been incorporated during the convergences.''
+
+The secondracer brushed their paws over their whiskers, a gesture that seemed somewhere between grooming and a thoughtful habit. ``I will speak to old \emph{Nanon} as it is spoken in primarily secondrace sims. You have guessed that it relies heavily on compounding. We say `old', but the language remains similar to its modern form as it was during the first convergence. That which we used to call old \emph{Nanon} was, \emph{lu}\ldots synthetic language, you may call it. Inflectional. There were eight grammatical cases and three grammatical genders--''
+
+``Apologies for interrupting,'' Codrin said. ``But do those genders map to the prefixes we used when addressing ourselves? \emph{Uchles}, \emph{achles}, and so on?''
+
+Iska nodded. What had begun as a curiously outsized and clumsy gesture had settled into something more akin to how True Name and Dear might nod. ``\emph{Anem,} yes, recorder Codrin Bălan. They were, \emph{lu}\ldots you might say animate, inanimate, and conceptual. In later evolutions of the language, they began to define levels of respect, and then mark roles in society as they fell out of use in cases other than referring to individuals.''
+
+Codrin nodded, made note of this, and flipped to the next page as the discussion continued.
+
+Ey was finding the linguistics portion of the discussion particularly fascinating. Although many of the scientific topics incorporated history, this was the most easily digestible for em. Both Why Ask Questions and Sarah had studied up on the topic intensely during the days and weeks leading up to the meetings.
+
+It would be interesting to compare notes with Codrin\#Artemis, and ey was looking forward to the merger down the line. Ey wasn't sure yet whether this was accompanied by a desire for the talks to be over, for there was also the fact that ey missed home greatly.
+
+Ah well. Until then, ey dedicated as much of eir attention as ey could manage to keeping up on eir job as recorder. Each of the races continued in turn, describing various features and aspects of the language or languages of theirs which had made the transition through the convergences.
+
+Each, that is, except the firstracers, who did their best to express the features of their mode of communication, apologizing for being unable to describe the languages that had existed during their biological period.
+
+``Thank you,'' Why Ask Questions said. ``I have a few questions on the use of metaphor and analo--''
+
+Most of those around the table jumped as a second instance of True Name appeared at the end of the table beside the fountain, bowed, and said, ``My apologies for interrupting. \#Castor, please merge immediately.''
+
+After the second skunk quit, True Name \#Castor frowned. The frown deepened, then transmuted to one that bordered on panic.
+
+``Leader True Name, please explain,'' Turun Ka said.
+
+She stood, composed herself, and bowed toward the Artemisian delegates. ``My apologies. That was a second instance of myself bearing news. She quit and merged back with me so that I may have her memories. It was the fastest way to receive news. I would like to call a halt to the current topic and make an announcement.''
+
+The firstracer tilted its head up in assent. Codrin scanned the rest of the delegates and found a look of concern on Iska's face, one recognizable from discussions on forking. Stolon appeared nonplussed, and Artante intensely focused.
+
+``There has been an incident aboard Artemis with the delegation regarding one of our representatives.''
+
+Why Ask Questions sat bolt upright.
+
+\emph{Could they have discovered the subterfuge?} Codrin thought. Ey frowned and scooted eir chair back from the table a fraction of an inch, prepared to bolt.
+
+``I will explain in full and then accept questions,'' the skunk was saying. ``As I have mentioned, and perhaps you may have heard from your counterparts on Artemis via relayed messages, my entire clade struggles with the concept of time skew. It recalls a portion of our lives that is\ldots indescribable. Needless to say, that became too much for Why Ask Question's counterpart, and she lost control in grand fashion and quit in the middle of proceedings.''
+
+``That should not have been possible,'' Iska muttered. ``Apologies. Please continue, leader True Name.''
+
+The skunk hesitated, frowning. ``We will discuss that aspect after this, perhaps. The reason that I wish to address this before we have a conversation is that, in the process of our party transferring to Artemis, Why Ask Question's counterpart was replaced with a separate fork of mine named Why Ask Questions When The Answers Will Not Help. She is another up-tree instance of myself, which I believed to be acceptable, but we have discussed the topic of individuation, and as both representative Why Ask Questions and Answers Will Not Help were forked from me 222 years ago, they have long since become separate individuals.
+
+``The reasons for this deception are complicated, relating to the origins of both of the forks' creation.'' She clasped her paws on front of herself and bowed. ``Please accept my apologies on this matter.''
+
+There was silence around the table for a few seconds, and then both parties set up separate cones of silence.
+
+True Name sat back down and faced the rest of the delegates on her side of the table. ``Apologies are due to you three as well for being kept in the dark. We had our reasons, for doing so, which I will explain during our next break.''
+
+Codrin nodded. ``I'd appreciate a more solid explanation, but I guess I should also say that our instances on Artemis had guessed this, as well. Codrin\#Artemis's theory was that, as Why Ask Question's role was to manage sentiment sys-side and Answers Will Not Help's was to manage phys-side.''
+
+The skunk sat back, blinked rapidly, then laughed. ``Well, then.''
+
+``The best laid schemes o' skunks an' Jonases,'' Why Ask Questions said, giggling. ``Gang aft agley.''
+
+``Well, that aside, I am unsure what to do with the remainder of the news from my position here on Castor,'' True Name said. ``Mx.~Bălan will remember some of what we struggled with from eir meeting with Michelle. My counterpart has been holding her ground against it as best as possible but I suppose it was not the case with Answers Will Not Help. With them being on Artemis, her instance here on Castor will not receive a merge.''
+
+``And now we will have to see just how fucked we are,'' Why Ask Questions said. ``I do not imagine that they will be all that pleased with us.''
+
+``Was this an attempt to control the situation? The convergence?'' Sarah asked.
+
+True Name smiled wryly. ``Your \emph{History} was a very sensational book, Mx.~Bălan, was it not? Please remember, Ms.~Genet, that it is only ever our goal to guide and protect. We did what we felt was necessary to ensure the continuity and stability of the System.''
+
+She nodded, but didn't look convinced.
+
+``The Artemisians are coming back,'' Tycho noted. ``Should we?''
+
+The skunk shrugged, nodded, and dropped the cone of silence.
+
+``Thank you for your honesty in this matter, leader True Name,'' Turun Ka said. ``We have a few questions to ask you before making our statement in turn.''
+
+She perked up at that, nodding. ``By all means.''
+
+``The first question: you spoke of the reasons for the origins of these two individuals. What were their origins?''
+
+``The System—the original one you observed at the L5 point which we call Lagrange—seceded from the political systems on Earth 221 years ago. My root instance, Michelle Hadje, was on the Council of Eight at that time. Due to the difficulties that I mentioned before, she created ten forks to pick up various interests, and then retired. I was the fork which wound up primarily in the political arena, and along with another clade not present here, I aided in the campaign for secession.''
+
+Why Ask Questions picked up from there, so smoothly that Codrin suspected that this scenario had been wargamed as thoroughly as any. ``There were many aspects to that political referendum, both sys-side—that is, on the embedded side—and phys-side. True Name spread the work required for those aspects out over instances of her own. Answers Will Not Help and I were forked at the same time, both to encourage a positive attitude towards secession.''
+
+``Why Ask Questions focused on this task on the System, while Answers Will Not Help focused on sentiment phys-side through the usual text channels,'' True Name said. ``As each already had a specialization relating to two sides of a political event, we made the decision to do so here as well.''
+
+When it was clear that there wouldn't be any further explanation from the Odists, Turun Ka said, ``Thank you. Second question: what was it that you hoped to gain from this strategy?''
+
+``My goal in this case is the same as my goal during Secession and Launch—the effort that led to this vehicle—which is to maintain the stability and continuity of our existence. I do not wish to govern or control, but I do have at my disposal a set of tools to help in my aims.''
+
+There was a silent conversation between the Artemisians during which Codrin finished up the notes ey'd been taking on the discussion. True Name was being surprisingly honest about the whole endeavor. Ey was sure there were some aspects that she was withholding, but the initial announcement and answers that she'd provided thus far contained no outright lies that ey could tell.
+
+\emph{Perhaps this too is a way of shaping their responses? Or maybe she just can't register them well enough to tell how best to lie,} ey thought, then sighed. \emph{And maybe I'm just being too cynical.}
+
+The silent conversation among the other delegates wrapped up, and Turun Ka spoke once more. ``Thank you once again for your honesty. This event is one part of the confirmation we have required, and the talks will now move on to the next stage, after a one hour common time break.''
+
+The skunk looked taken aback, nearly speechless. ``Confirmation\ldots? Can you explain--''
+
+``Now is not the time for this discussion, leader True Name,'' Artante said, voice gentle but insistent enough to silence her. ``We will have that discussion when the convergence progresses to the appropriate stage. For now, we offer condolences for the loss of that instance of representative Answers Will Not Help.''
+
+And with that, the Artemisian delegation stood, bowed, and returned to their rest area.
+
+``Well, I will be damned,'' True Name said, then laughed.
+
+``What just happened?'' Sarah asked.
+
+Why Ask Questions was laughing as well. She shrugged and grinned to the psychologist. ``Fuck if I know. Come on. The least we can do is make some guesses over the next hour. I need a drink.''

neviim/content/local/codrin/011.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,163 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lancastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 0 days, 2 hours, 53 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Despite the burst of excitement, the talks remained surprisingly banal. Even when the topic of the Odists' deception and the troubles that True Name\#Artemis still suffered on Artemis arose, the talks still felt like a political summit. The conference was still a conference, with its cloth-covered table and shitty pens, its uncomfortable chairs and weary participants.
+
+Ey counted emself among the weariest of them all. Tycho was still in his stride, and Sarah was keeping up well enough, though she remained fairly quiet throughout, focusing on watching rather than speaking or taking notes. Why Ask Questions had proceeded as though the news had never happened, continuing on in her litany of questions around biology and linguistics. In fact, the only one more tired seemed to be True Name.
+
+There was a tension around the skunk's eyes, a tightness to the cheeks that ever so slightly drew her lips back. Even when she smiled, her expression remained fixed and rigid.
+
+It made sense, after all. Acting in the capacity of leader was more than just overseeing the talks, it meant wrangling every conversation, and still managing to keep up her own side of it. Beyond even that, the skunk had been drawn into several conversations alone with Turun Ka over the final hours of the third day. Ey hadn't expected the conference to include anyone but the entirety of both the parties, so ey wasn't quite sure what to make of this, but none of the other Artemisians seemed unnerved by the leaders stepping aside in half-hour increments to hold what appeared to be—at least from True Name's expressions—in-depth conversations about very serious topics.
+
+Sleep brought little relief.
+
+The beds were comfortable, but empty. There was no wind against glass, no crickets stilled to silence with the passing of some imagined bat. There was no fox to curl around, no soft sounds of breathing.
+
+Ey plowed through two cups of (thankfully quite good) coffee on the morning of the fourth day, and brought a third with em to the conference table.
+
+The talks were slow to resume. There were a few halting attempts at starting up conversations about astrochemistry, but neither Tycho nor Stolon were well-versed in it enough to have the conversation without additional research first.
+
+\emph{Why had they divided the subjects between the locations?} ey wondered for the dozenth time. \emph{I'm sure that every one of us wants nothing more than to ask about the history of their trip, just as I'm sure that there are topics surrounding science that those on Artemis would love to ask about.}
+
+It seemed such a strange limitation to put on talks such as these. Why divide them by subject when the participants were identical? Were there deeper reasons beneath this? Was there a logic to having the discussions of science on Castor as opposed to on Artemis? Was it so that the less-advanced Castor would still benefit from the science and Artemis from culture if the talks went pear-shaped?
+
+Questions such as these littered the verso pages of eir notebook, the recto pages reserved for notes about the topic at hand. Ey'd sent dozens of those questions over to Artemis already; it certainly didn't seem as though this was the place to ask them.
+
+Answers had been sparse. The responses had invariably been ``it is not the time for that conversation''. At least the most recent note from Codrin\#Artemis—running at nearly three pages—had explained the use of that sentence, as well as so much else. Checklists and goals, indeed.
+
+It had also contained a more detailed account of Answers Will Not Help's breakdown and quitting, as well as the extended interactions with True Name that Codrin\#Artemis had been having.
+
+``I hate to do this to you,'' ey had written, individual-eyes only. ``But I simply cannot overstate just how dramatic and anxiety-inducing the whole event was, and I mean this in the most literal way possible. There are things that I cannot tell you. I cannot put them into words, and I certainly cannot set them to paper. It is overwhelming. The import is crushing. I feel like I'm going to burst and there's nothing I can do or say about it, and the only reason I'm describing it like this is that I \emph{can't} be the only one who knows this, even if only at one layer removed. You will remember soon enough, I think, but until then, I just need to offload some of the pressure.''
+
+Ey had no idea what to do with this information, other than to accept a share in that load.
+
+With questions running thin and the table plagued by awkward silences, it was almost a relief when Turun Ka requested that it and True Name discuss sentiment shaping surrounding the arrival of Artemis, leaving the others to have a conversation of their own or not as they wished. There was no explicit communication suggesting such, but it seemed implied whenever this happened that Codrin and Turun Ko would be left `in charge' of their respective delegations, if there was such a thing.
+
+The skunk and firstracer stood and walked to the far side of the fountain where True Name could sit on the rim and Turun Ka could settle onto its haunches before her. They set up a cone of silence, and once more begin discussing what seemed to go beyond simply the fallout of deception.
+
+After a few more minutes of silence. Why Ask Questions stood, said that she was going to take the opportunity to get another glass of water, and wandered off without another word.
+
+That seemed to be signal enough, despite the deputization of the recorders, for everyone to take a break. Tycho and Stolon paired off immediately, already chatting about albedo or some other topic ey could not guess. Iska excused themself and returned to their rest area.
+
+Codrin closed eir notebook, finished eir coffee, and scrubbed at eir face with eir hands.
+
+``Alright,'' ey said. ``Would it be alright if I ask you an off-the-record question, recorder Turun Ko?''
+
+``\emph{Ka,} you may. I may want-need to defer-delay response.''
+
+``Of course, that's fine. Why are we divided like this?''
+
+``Please explain-expand, recorder Codrin Bălan.''
+
+``Why only talk science here on Castor and leave history and society to the talks on Artemis?''
+
+``It is not the time to have that conversation.''
+
+Codrin did eir best to restrain a sigh. ``But it \emph{is} a conversation? There is a reason for it?''
+
+``\emph{Anem.}''
+
+``If I ask you—you as Turun Ko, not in your capacity as recorder, or even you, Artante Diria—questions about the topics that are being covered on Artemis, would you be able to answer?''
+
+``\emph{Ka,}'' they both said at once. Artante picked up after that, ``We might defer, as is our habit, but it would be impossible for the formal discussion to be the only context in which we communicate. Even if it were, there are layers to communication that go beyond words. We are learning some of each others' non-verbal communication, \emph{anem?}''
+
+Ey nodded. ``\emph{Anem.} My counterpart on Artemis has written me regarding a sort of checklist that you are following when it comes to the convergence. Is this true?''
+
+Artante sat up straighter, sharing a meaningful glance with Turun Ko. ``Yes, recorder Codrin Bălan. There are steps that we have noticed in convergences in the past and, in order to be prepared, we maintain a list of these that we look for throughout the process.''
+
+``And to confirm, the possible outcomes are us joining you as fifthrace or not?''
+
+Sarah leaned forward onto her elbows, watching the conversation with an intense curiosity.
+
+``\emph{Anem.} We will converge-join-together or we will not,'' Turun Ko said.
+
+``I'm guessing that asking what items are on the checklist isn't really on the docket,'' ey hazarded.
+
+Artante nodded.
+
+``That's alright,'' ey said. ``I'm sure True Name and the others in charge on our end had their own checklist that they're keeping up with.''
+
+``If you have wargamed, as you have said, then almost certainly.''
+
+Ey mulled over eir next question for a moment, considering as many ramifications as ey could, given the knowledge of this checklist. Finally, ey asked, ``Are convergences only named such if a race joins you on Artemis?''
+
+There was a brief flicker of some emotion ey couldn't decode on Artante's face. It was almost a smile, almost pride, almost contentment, but it was quickly replaced by the polite expression she seemed to wear at all other times. ``It is not the time to have that conversation. We will soon, I suspect.''
+
+``It seems pretty easy to read between the lines on that answer,'' Sarah said gently. ``Though I don't suppose it can be helped.''
+
+Artante spread her hands over the table, palms up. ``As I said before, it would be impossible for the formal discussion to be the only context in which we communicate.''
+
+``Text and metatext,'' Codrin mumbled, and with that, an idea dropped, fully-formed, onto em. Ey could feel the weight of it land on eir shoulders, the import of it digging into eir back like claws. Texts! Ey sat up straighter. ``With the understanding that there are correct times for conversations, may I \emph{give} you information for you to access at those times?''
+
+The fourthracer looked to Turun Ko, who raised its chin in assent. ``You may, recorder Codrin Bălan.''
+
+Ey nodded, hoping against hope that ey even had the ACLs to do as ey'd planned. Ey knew that ey could create as much paper as ey wanted, though ey wasn't sure whether ey'd be able to create paper with text already on it. Ey knew that ey could create notepads, but had yet to try creating a notebook, as ey hadn't finished the current one yet.
+
+Nothing for it but to try.
+
+A desire to create a hardbound book was rejected, but the desire to create a soft-cover book seemed to be available to em. Text was a bit more difficult to guess at without testing, so ey brushed eir hand across the table, projecting the intent for a sheet of paper with the word `TEST' written across the top.
+
+Success.
+
+``Alright. One moment, please.''
+
+Ey rifled through eir exos until ey found the correct ones and, with a single wave of intent, dumped their contents along with the desire for a softbound book into reality, lifting, one at a time, two books from the surface of the table. They were far from fancy, but their utility was all that mattered.
+
+``This is the first volume of \emph{An Expanded History of Our World}, a text containing a succinct description of the series of events that led from the creation of our System to the launch of Castor and Pollux.'' Ey handed the book over to Turun Ko, then handed the other to Artante, saying, ``And this is \emph{An Expanded Mythology of Our World}, which contains many of the same stories as the \emph{History} as told through the framework of myth and legend. Together, they make up \emph{On the Origin of Our World}.''
+
+The silence around the table was profound. Both Artemisians looked at the books they held, as if still internalizing the import of what they'd been handed. Sarah looked startled, even anxious.
+
+``What is the nature-disposition of this document?'' Turun Ko asked at last.
+
+``It's a narrative of the overall history of our System from a social and political perspective. The first volume is a summary constructed from interviews conducted with those who uploaded in the very first days of the System's existence all the way up to those who had uploaded the year before it was written.''
+
+``Codrin,'' Sarah said quietly. ``Are you sure that's such a good idea?''
+
+Artante looked between them, picking up on the anxiety. ``May I ask as to the import beyond its contents?''
+
+``It\ldots doesn't exactly paint the prettiest picture of some aspects of the System,'' Sarah said, audibly hunting for a diplomatic way to phrase it. ``It led to a reevaluation of the\ldots political nature of our lives.''
+
+Ey tensed, realising the import of what Sarah was getting at. While there were countless reminders as to the books impact on the Ode clade, it had always seemed an unintentional side-effect of what was otherwise a text that strove to be above all else an accurate historical document. It was bound up in those who had lived those lives, those who had been influenced by the Odists.
+
+Ey'd meant to provide it strictly in that historical sense, but realized that, in the context of her deception, the discussion of True Name and her friends guiding the trajectory of society within them might color the talks moving forward.
+
+\emph{No,} ey thought. \emph{This goes beyond the Odists and all their schemes.}
+
+``It's important,'' ey said decisively. Sitting up straighter, ey drew on all the gumption ey could. ``It shows more than just the political lives we've led, including the behind-the-scenes guidance that True Name has engaged in from the origins of the System two hundred thirty years ago. This is as important as anything else when it comes to understanding us as a species.''
+
+Sarah's frown deepened. ``Which is why I question the wisdom of providing it at this point.''
+
+``We're at an impasse, I think,'' ey countered. ``We haven't had a single meaningful conversation as part of the talks since news of what happened on Artemis arrived. It feels like we're waiting on some cue, like we're expected to do something.''
+
+Artante was nodding, though whether in confirmation or agreement, ey couldn't tell.
+
+``This feels like a dangerous way to force the conversation to move forward.''
+
+Ey shrugged, holding onto that courage and sense of right action. ``They deserve to know more than just the synopses and sugar-coated aspects of our society. The thing with Answers Will Not Help is something she and True Name dreamt up, but not representative of us as a whole. We're more complex as a species than just her, or than even the five of us.''
+
+Flipping through the pages at the rate of about one per second, Turun Ko said, ``A conversation will happen-occur when leaders Turun Ka and True Name return shortly-momentarily. Please wait. Their conversation-discussion is artificial-superficial, intended to give-provide delegates other than leadership options to change-shape outcomes.''
+
+Ey stared at the firstracer. ``You mean--''
+
+``A step in the process of convergence is assessing the willingness of non-leaders to act other than their leaders might or even against the stated structure of the discussions in order to forward what they believe the good common to all races,'' Artante said. ``It allows us to assess the strength of individuality and self-sacrifice for the betterment of all.''
+
+``Opportunities were provided,'' Turun Ko said simply.
+
+That feeling of being in way over eir head that ey had felt so often during the writing of the \emph{History} hit em full force once more and, stunned to silence, ey leaned back in eir chair, looking between the Artemisians and Sarah.
+
+``So,'' the psychologist began. ``Is this a good step?''
+
+``Please wait,'' Turun Ko repeated, then lifted its head and glanced over toward Turun Ka.
+
+This must've been a signal of some sort, as the other firstracer held up a hand to stop the conversation it was having with True Name, gesturing her back to the table.
+
+The skunk was halfway through the act of pulling out her chair before she noticed the books that the other Artemisians held, the titles in bold on their covers. Her gaze whipped toward Codrin so quickly and with such fiery intensity that ey shied away from her. ``Codrin, what--''
+
+``Leader True Name,'' Turun Ka said, interrupting her gently, but with enough authority that she stopped immediately. ``This is the penultimate item on the checklist of convergence that we were just discussing. All that remains is the point of decision.''
+
+Ey watched as the skunk's eyes widened, gaze darting between em, Turun Ka, and the book in Turun Ko's hands, now about half-finished. She sat down heavily on the chair and sagged against the back. ``Well, fuck me.''

neviim/content/local/codrin/012.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,185 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lancastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-plus 1 day, 18 hours, 46 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent While it wouldn't have been totally true to call the celebration at Codrin's return `wild', it was certainly rambunctious in its own delightfully Dear way, with dozens of foxes scattering around the patio in a flurry of forking. Plenty of hugging and chatting and laughing and smiling.
+
+Ey'd been startled, in that half-doubled, roundabout way that an up-tree instance might feel, when ey merged down to find that True Name and Jonas had requested that Codrin\#Assist stay at their compound rather than returning home except for an hour around dinner. The fox's excitement made more sense, knowing that.
+
+At least ey'd had the chance to pull the fox's tail.
+
+Once it calmed down enough to do so, Dear dragged Codrin into the dining room, gesturing eagerly for Sarah to follow with. Their partner had a small spread already laid out for them.
+
+They spent the next hour recounting, carefully, the events of the talks. Codrin had requested that Sarah not discuss the Odists' reaction to skew until ey'd had the chance to do so one-on-one with Dear. They spoke instead in general terms, discussing the Artemisians themselves, the topics that had come up during the talks, and the final announcement that they'd be welcomed aboard as fifthrace.
+
+\emph{``What is the practical result of this decision?''}
+
+``Well, the technical details are a bit beyond me,'' Sarah said. ``But the Artemisians and our own engineers are talking about how to let the DMZ grow in size to some maximum capacity—maybe a third of what Castor has to offer. As many of them as want to join us within those limitations will be able to join us here. They will allow as many of us who wish to join them to do so, as well.''
+
+``We'll also be exchanging our shared libraries of information,'' Codrin added. ``I think that transmission effort has already begun, actually. We're getting an enormous dump of information from four societies, and then we'll upload all of ours to them. It's going to be a field day for librarians, I bet.''
+
+``Think you'll join?'' eir partner asked.
+
+Ey shrugged. ``I'm not sure, actually. It sounds fun, but I'm not sure I'm the same Bălan who wanted to be a librarian all those years ago.''
+
+\emph{``Codrin\#Pollux has headed in that direction, though,''} Dear said.
+
+``I know. I just don't know if the same is something I'd like to do. I've got some thoughts on directions I might head instead, though. I've been talking with Sarah about it, and will tackle it deliberately.''
+
+The fox nodded. \emph{``Of course, my love. I would be surprised if you were anything but deliberate.''}
+
+Ey laughed and bumped eir shoulder against its own. ``Of course.''
+
+\emph{``This is all so delightfully exciting, is it not? I was worried at first that the drama would be too much. Aliens! Political summits in space! Imagine.''} The fox giggled. \emph{``And it was dramatic, I suppose, but it has settled down into merely exciting. Aliens, yes, but boundless new knowledge. Political summits in space, yes, but also a mingling of societies that we could not possibly comprehend.''}
+
+Sarah laughed and raised her glass. ``To the proper amount of excitement.''
+
+Dear hoisted its own glass as thought it was an ale-filled tankard. \emph{``Precisely, my dear!''}
+
+Codrin smiled, sipping eir wine as ey watched. \emph{Proper amount of excitement, indeed.}
+
+After Sarah left, the triad sat around the table, saying nothing, simply processing this new future that lay before them. It felt almost too large for Codrin to comprehend. Something new. Something enormous. Something that felt somehow larger than the launches. Those, at least, had the advantage of being something that ey could predict, a frame of reference. Society continued much as it had before, after all, hadn't it? They had decamped from Lagrange for the LVs and everything looked exactly the same, minus only the few friends who had not done so.
+
+This, though, held so many unknowns.
+
+It was exciting, and that it was exciting to em bore excitement of its own. Something new, yes, but something different. Ey felt before em a vast landscape ey'd never explored. While the prairie always contained unknown spaces, it could not hold a candle to the future that lay before them.
+
+Only one anxiety remained, then.
+
+``Dear, can you come for a walk with me?''
+
+The fennec sat up straighter. \emph{``Of course, my dear. Now?''}
+
+Eir other partner lifted their gaze from where they'd been staring at the table, zoning out. ``Just you two?''
+
+Ey nodded. ``Please. There's some news about the Odists. About True Name, in a way.''
+
+Their expression grew sour and they waved them away. ``Don't upset it too much, then. I've got plans for breakfast for dinner, and I won't have any moping over waffles.''
+
+Dear rolled its eyes. \emph{``I will endeavor to be my normal, terrible self by then, yes.''}
+
+Codrin laughed. ``We'll end on a good note.''
+
+They stood and walked out into the prairie, Codrin brushing eir fingertips across the tops of eir cairns as they walked. They made it past three before ey was able to open up.
+
+``You were right to warn me about True Name and Answers Will Not Help.''
+
+Dear tilted its head. \emph{``I thought Why Ask Questions was the emissary.''}
+
+Ey shook eir head. ``They pulled some nonsense. Why Ask Questions was the delegate here on Castor, but they swapped in Answers Will Not Help for those who went to Artemis.''
+
+\emph{``Because of course they did.''}
+
+``I'd call it cheeky, but it was more distressing than anything.'' Ey sighed. ``They really didn't do well with the time skew at all. When we first got there, Answers Will Not Help collapsed, and True Name was only just barely holding it together. Even when we were in a unison room—places where time skew was locked into\ldots uh, consensus, I guess—they kept\ldots well, they looked like Michelle. Alternating forms, exhausted, distracted.''
+
+The fox splayed its ears, nodding. \emph{``I did not know how they would act, but I am not surprised that those memories would come home to roost. I am sorry for them. I am sorry that you had to experience that so directly. Did it negatively impact the discussion?''}
+
+Ey thought back over the memories ey had been left with from Codrin\#Artemis, frowning. ``Not necessarily, though we didn't learn as much as we had hoped, I think. Things just went poorly on their end. Very poorly.''
+
+Dear waited em out.
+
+``Answers Will Not Help lost it. She quit.''
+
+\emph{``\,`Lost it'?''}
+
+``She slowly got less coherent over time, but towards the end, she snapped and started hollering about prophets and quoting poetry. Bits of the Ode, bits of, I think, Emily Dickinson.''
+
+It frowned. \emph{``And then she quit?''}
+
+``Yes.''
+
+Eir answer must have been hesitant enough that Dear had picked up on the complications that lay behind that single word. It pulled Codrin to a stop. \emph{``My love, there is something you are not telling me.''}
+
+Codrin didn't look at the fox, choosing instead to stare out into the vast emptiness of the prairie. ``There is, yeah. I don't know how to tell you without\ldots I don't know. Without causing you grief.''
+
+The fox squeezed eir hand in its paw. \emph{``If it causes me grief, then so be it, Codrin. These things happen. It sounds as though it will not be your fault, anyway. Do not worry about me.''}
+
+Ey nodded.
+
+\emph{``Codrin?''}
+
+``In the middle of yelling about prophets, she said that she `could not feel em'. She said the Name several times.''
+
+The grip on eir hand went slack, and when ey turned to face the fennec, its eyes had gone glassy, whiskers and ears both drooping.
+
+``True Name tackled her to the ground, trying to shut her up. They struggled. Fought until Answers Will Not Help quit.'' Ey took a shaky breath. ``So, now three others outside the clade know the Name. I don't think Sarah or Tycho know that they do, but I do.''
+
+Silence. Stillness from Dear.
+
+``I'm sorry, Dear.''
+
+The silence continued.
+
+``Do you want me to do as you did? Try and forget it?''
+
+The fox let out a breath in a coarse gust, and ey realized that it had been holding it the whole time.
+
+``Dear?''
+
+\emph{``It is the end of an era, then, is it not?''} it said, words enunciated carefully.
+
+``I don't know.'' Ey squeezed its paw in eir hand, though no returning squeeze answered. ``I don't know what to do. I can try to forget--''
+
+\emph{``There is a pain — so utter — It swallows substance up — Then covers the Abyss with Trance — So Memory can step around — across — upon it\ldots Did she quote that one?''}
+
+Ey shook eir head.
+
+\emph{``There is no forgetting, my dear. You bear it within you.''}
+
+``All the same, I could--''
+
+The fox's laugh surprised em. It was breathy, hyperventilating, but sounded almost relieved. \emph{``No, Codrin. You do not need to. The poem continues: — As One within a Swoon — Goes safely — where an open eye — Would drop Him — Bone by Bone —''}
+
+Ey was too anxious to puzzle out the opacity of the language. ``I'm going to need some help disentangling that, Dear.''
+
+\emph{``There are very few times that memory can hope to be selective. When one is drunk, perhaps. Drunk on wine, drunk on love, drunk on pain. Perhaps when one is drunk on a life lived too long, as I am. It is the end of an era, and perhaps we are all becoming inebriated by too long a life. Do not forget it, Codrin. Do not do as I have done. It is stupid, is it not? Look at me. I am in all ways drunk on time.''}
+
+Codrin smiled cautiously.
+
+\emph{``Do not tell me, of course! I do not know what that would do to me, after all that I have done to myself. And certainly do not tell any other Odist. I do not want assassins visiting us in the night to shut you up,''} it said, laughing in earnest now. \emph{``But also do not worry about your new knowledge. It is high time that we unclench our collective anus and let that shit go.''}
+
+Ey laughed as well. ``Right, right. True Name suggested not telling any other Odists, too.''
+
+\emph{``Did she tell you to keep it from Ioan?''}
+
+Ey nodded.
+
+\emph{``Ignore that. Do not tell em the name directly, but do send a clade-eyes-only message to em saying that you know. Tell em to pass it on to Codrin\#Pollux, as well.''}
+
+``Why?''
+
+\emph{``So that you need not be the only Bălan carrying this burden. After all, we are in love, are we not?''} It grinned, finally squeezing eir hand in return. \emph{``We are in love and Ioan and May Then My Name are in love. We are bound together.''}
+
+``Aren't you worried we'd hold that over your head if we got mad or something?''
+
+It shook its head. \emph{``If you did, then we would not be in love, would we? I will write May Then My Name and the other Dear, as well, and tell them my thoughts.''}
+
+``Well, so long as you're sure that neither of them will snap and start hunting Bălans.''
+
+\emph{``The same applies to us, my dear,''} it said. \emph{``If they snap, then they were not truly in love, but they will not. I have faith.''}
+
+``It sounds like you want to test all of our relationships.''
+
+\emph{``It is not a test. It is a game.''} It giggled. \emph{``Come, my dear, this will be fun! The other two Odists will think so, as well, I promise.''}
+
+``A game, huh?'' Ey let go of the fox's paw to poke it in the side a few times, hunting for ticklish spots. ``You're so weird.''
+
+\emph{``A game! A game!''} It laughed helplessly, then darted away from em, cavorting through the grass. \emph{``A game! And you are it! Catch me if you can, you fucking nerd!''}
+
+Codrin laughed and chased Dear around the prairie for a bit, the fox occasionally forking off to dart in some new direction, only to be followed by a new fork of the writer, until the prairie was littered with forks of them both. Each time one of em would tap one of it, both would quit until only two remained. They raced each other back to the house, nearly bowling over their partner at the door.
+
+``Holy shit, you two,'' they said, laughing. ``What the hell did you talk about out there?''
+
+\emph{``When Memory is full,''} it shouted, dancing in circles around them. \emph{``Put on the perfect Lid!''}
+
+They rolled their eyes. ``Uh huh, sure.''
+
+\emph{``Can we have eggs as well? And bacon? Bacon and waffles with syrup is a true delight.''}
+
+``Sure, why not. Want some hash browns, too? Might as well go all out.''
+
+Codrin leaned in to kiss them on the cheek, still working on catching eir breath. ``Yes. Definitely hash browns.''

neviim/content/local/codrin/013.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,211 @@
+\hypertarget{codrin-bux103lan-2346}{%
+\chapter{Codrin Bălan — 2346}}
+\markboth{Codrin Bălan — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-plus 10 days, 15 hours, 42 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent The decision to send a fork along to Artemis had gone over better than ey had expected. Eir partners had initially bridled at the idea of em—or at least an instance of em—moving on without them, but when ey explained that that fork would miss them dreadfully and could also quit at any time in case ey began to miss eir family too much, they relaxed.
+
+\emph{``While I do not wish to see you test whether or not you will be able to get over missing us,''} Dear had said. \emph{``I recognize the impulse to explore and advance one's own knowledge.''}
+
+``Oh, I don't know,'' eir other partner had responded. ``I wish that Codrin the best of luck. Perhaps it will become a case of em picking another name and growing a new identity.''
+
+At that, Dear had clapped its paws. \emph{``Yes! Yes, I can see that. Were that to be the case, my love, what name would you choose?''}
+
+Ey had laughed and shrugged. ``I don't know yet, but I think you may be right that this is an inflection point similar to the one from forty years back.''
+
+And so here ey was, up early one morning before both of eir partners—Dear had grumbled sleepily at em when ey slipped away—standing beside a cairn with a mug of coffee, thinking about changes and a future alone.
+
+\emph{I can quit when I want, if I need,} ey thought. \emph{If it gets to be too much, I need answer to no one and can quit when I want. That will be proof enough of my love.}
+
+There were several weeks still within Ansible range, but something about this morning felt like now was the time for big decisions, for big changes. A dream, perhaps? Ey didn't remember eir dreams, but maybe it was one of those ones that lingered beneath the subconscious, making itself known only through the acts one takes throughout the day.
+
+Ey nodded decisively and dumped out the dregs of eir coffee, waving the mug away so that ey could walk without littering the prairie with dishes.
+
+One step away from the cairn, ey forked, and a new Codrin fell into lockstep beside em. Each step after that, each footfall that hit the earth, eir new instance began to change, forking nearly in place to bring each change to reality as the two of em made their way to the next cairn out into the prairie.
+
+Eir hair grew straighter, only some slight waviness remaining.
+
+Ey lost a few centimeters in height.
+
+Ey gained a curve to the hips.
+
+Ey traded in eir pronoun, and she continued on in her contemplative walk with her down-tree instance.
+
+A dozen steps before they reached the next cairn, they were joined on one side by a failing in the land, a meandering stream-bed—dry now, more of a wash, perhaps—that had not been there before the arrival of the Artemisians, nor even, ey suspected, before ey'd made this decision. Neither stopped to stare, overshadowed as it was by pending goodbyes, but Codrin thought back to that letter from Ioan so many years back, of dandelions in eir yard, of May telling em about the subtlety of the System, of Dear saying that perhaps this sim that Serene had designed might react to the dreaming of its inhabitants.
+
+\emph{How long until a ravine forms? A canyon?} ey thought. \emph{How long until the rains carve away the land? How long until willows take root and huddle around the wash until the water no longer dries up, but becomes a creek? A river?}
+
+There were so many changes bound up inside em—inside them both—and now, whatever subtlety the system bore had caught on and began to reflect some part of em. Something new. Something big.
+
+Her skin grew smoother, softer, fairer as they walked; her cheeks grew fuller.
+
+She adopted the Romanian skirt, \emph{fotele}, and blouse ey'd worn to the talks as her own.
+
+And with that last footfall, she chose a name.
+
+All throughout, Codrin walked and thought. Ey thought about what lay in the future. Ey thought about the agency ey still held. Ey thought about the words ey'd heard about being anchoring, about being grounding. Ey thought about that crossing point ey'd visited with Sarah, about the plaza that lay beyond. Ey thought about foxes and love and home and eir own anchors.
+
+By the time they made it to the next cairn and stopped once more, Codrin had made eir own decision, eir own changes, though none showed on eir form. Both of them stood, watching as the sun slowly crept up from below the horizon.
+
+``Have you decided on a name?'' ey asked.
+
+``Sorina.''
+
+Ey smiled, nodding toward the sliver of sun peeking above the horizon. ``Fitting.''
+
+``Well, not just the dawn,'' she said. ``But I'll be leaving our sun behind in more ways than one. I'll be leaving \emph{this} sun behind.''
+
+Codrin sighed. ``That you will.''
+
+They shared in the silence, though they had to look away from the sun before long, instead scanning the far-running prairie. Codrin did eir best to drop thoughts of leaving Castor behind. Better, ey thought to focus on the fact that ey was staying, to rush individuation as much as ey could so that the weight of eir decision wouldn't rest on the both of them nearly so heavily. That had been the point of all of the changes, hadn't it? That had been the reason why ey hadn't chosen the name first, \emph{anem?}
+
+``Will you miss this place?''
+
+``Yeah,'' she said, voice quiet and small. ``I don't know how their ACL patterns around sim construction work. I won't port the whole sim—not the house, that'd hurt too much—but I may bring along a snatch of prairie. Enough to build a few cairns.''
+
+``And do you have an idea how long you might stick around over there?''
+
+She shook her head, and ey could tell that she was on the verge of tears. They both were. Ey took her hand in eirs and gave it a comforting squeeze, though for her comfort or eirs, ey didn't know.
+
+There was a sleepy ping against eir sensorium and ey looked back at the house, to where they'd come from. ``Dear's awake.''
+
+Sorina kept looking out into the prairie, out away from the house.
+
+``Do you want to come back and say goodbye?''
+
+``I don't know, Codrin,'' she said, voice hoarse. ``I really don't know if I can.''
+
+Ey nodded. ``I think they'll understand.''
+
+``Yeah, I do, too.'' She finally turned to face em, smiling through her tears. ``Do you think you'll even tell them you did this?''
+
+``I don't know.'' Ey laughed and squeezed her hand, tighter this time. ``I don't know that I have that much sneakiness within me.''
+
+``I bet you could manage. You already have one secret to keep.''
+
+Ey sighed, nodded. ``I suppose I do. Why don't you head out? I'll decide on the way back whether I'll tell them or not.''
+
+``Rushing me away?''
+
+Shaking eir head firmly, ey wiped eir eyes against eir tunic sleeve. ``If you stick around, I'm going to keep thinking about it and not let you go. Individuation will happen as it will, but I'd prefer sooner than later for your sake, if nothing else.''
+
+Sorina surprised em by hugging em tightly. Ey got eir own arms around her in turn, marveling at the fact that it was already a surprise. Perhaps she'd already changed more than ey'd thought. Or perhaps ey had. She felt like a new person, completely unlike emself, or even Ioan from whom they'd both derived.
+
+\emph{Go,} ey thought to emself. \emph{Go and be someone new. Go and be whole. Don't let your grief define you, at least not forever.}
+
+They stood in the prairie, holding each other as they cried their goodbyes.
+
+She eventually leaned away, pressed an awkward kiss to eir cheek and said, ``Pass that on for me.''
+
+Ey laughed and let go of her. ``Will do.''
+
+``Pull Dear's tail, too.''
+
+``Naturally.''
+
+She bent down, plucked a stone from atop the cairn, one of the ones that marked directions explored and said, ``For luck.''
+
+Then she stepped out of the sim. Stepped away from Codrin and home. Eir home, but no longer hers.
+
+There was another, slightly more anxious ping against eir sensorium, to which ey responded with one of acknowledgement and began to trudge back to the house, trying to tamp down that sense of loss. Ey let eir eyes follow that new wash, tried to replace more complex feelings with wonder.
+
+\emph{``Goodness, my love, are you alright?''} Dear said, frowning at the sight of eir tear-slick face.
+
+``Yeah, I'm sorry, fox.'' Ey pulled it in for a hug, passing on the kiss to the cheek as ey'd promised.
+
+\emph{``Who was that you were talking with out there?''}
+
+Ey laughed and shook eir head. ``And here I thought I was being sneaky. That was the fork heading to Artemis.''
+
+\emph{``Ey did not want to come in?''} the fox asked, taken aback.
+
+``She,'' ey said. ``She didn't think she could and still leave.''
+
+There was a moment of quiet as Dear digested this. It finally nodded. \emph{``I understand.''}
+
+Ey gave Dear a kiss of eir own and leaned back from the hug, waving another mug into existence so that ey could get a cup of coffee. ``If I talk about this any more, I'm going to cry all over again. I'll tell you more about her later, alright?''
+
+It sniffled, nodded. \emph{``Alright, my love. I would like that. Can you at least tell me her name before we move on, though?''}
+
+``Sorina. It has to do with the sun. She said she was leaving ours beyond,'' ey said, nodding out at the morning.
+
+Dear laid its ears flat and stepped back a half pace, growling. \emph{``Mx.~Codrin Bălan, you are the worst.''}
+
+``What?''
+
+\emph{``You cannot say things like that to a hopeless romantic! You will destroy them! They will collapse into a swoon. They will drown in their own tears. It is frankly irresponsible. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to take a shower and cry my fucking eyes out for a bit.''}
+
+Ey rolled eir eyes, leaning over to tug at the fox's tail before heading to the kitchen. ``Welcome to the club. Go get your shower, though. Cry all you need, but no drowning, please.''
+
+It grumbled and stumbled off to the bathroom, setting up a cone of silence as it went.
+
+``What was that about?'' eir partner said from the bedroom door, looking somewhere between groggy and worried.
+
+``Sent a fork to Artemis, made Dear cry. The usual. I'll tell you all about it later. Coffee?''
+
+After breakfast, with both Codrin and Dear looking more collected, ey ushered eir partners to the couch, moving to stand before them.
+
+\emph{``Are you going to give us a presentation?''} Dear asked.
+
+``Yeah, basically.''
+
+\emph{``Carry on, then, professor Bălan.''}
+
+Ey took a deep breath, collected emself, and said what ey'd been practicing since ey'd started back to the house. ``I have a proposition, and I suspect it'll be easy enough for you two to decide on, but I've been thinking about how this all started and my complaints about feeling dragged along on adventures rather than taking part actively. I want to do something. \emph{Actually} do something.''
+
+Both eir partners sat up straighter, suddenly more invested than before.
+
+Ey grinned to them. ``Let's move to Convergence.''
+
+Dear blinked and laughed. \emph{``Codrin, you are such a fucking nerd.''}
+
+``You mean the whole sim?''
+
+``Of course. All that work on those cairns? Of course it's coming with. I want to show them the prairie.'' Dear leapt up to wrap its skinny arms around eir middle and ey shrugged as best ey could in the midst of a hug, continuing, ``I want to show them what our home looks like. I want to see Stolon sun themself out in the grass. I want you both to meet Turun Ko.''
+
+Eir partner laughed. ``Well, hey, I'm game.''
+
+\emph{``Will we move as forks, or invest entirely?''}
+
+``Don't care.''
+
+The fox leaned back and smirked up at em. \emph{``Really? You do not care?''}
+
+``Nope, don't care. I don't care if we fork and diverge. I don't care if the rest of Castor never sees us ever again. I don't even care if it's all a dream or the LV failing or whatever.'' Ey straightened up and nodded decisively. ``That's my decision. I invite either of you to talk me out of it, but I warn you, it'll be tough.''
+
+\emph{``No, no,''} Dear said, leaning up to lick at eir cheek. \emph{``We are both game. Let us pack up and move house. Or not! Let us abandon this place to rot and create a new house, a new prairie, new cairns. Littering! Can you imagine?''}
+
+Ey laughed and poked at the fox's side, hunting once more for ticklish spots. ``Who's the nerd now?''
+
+``Any other surprises for us, Codrin? First Sorina, now this.''
+
+``One more, actually.''
+
+\emph{``Be still my heart!''} Dear said, dancing away from the hug to twirl around em, forking to do so several times over.
+
+``I asked Sarah to help me write up the events into another book, but while we do that, she's going to teach me more about therapy and what goes into listening more deliberately one-on-one. Not a huge career change, but a good one, I hope.''
+
+\emph{``Really? A therapist? You are not going to be a librarian with all this new knowledge?''}
+
+``Nah, leave that to the other Codrin. Leave it to the university.'' Ey laughed as the fox kept cavorting. ``I'll take some classes, talk with Sarah, and see where it goes. Everyone kept talking about how grounding I was, and I liked that. I like just being with people and listening to them.''
+
+``You \emph{are} grounding, Codrin,'' eir partner said. ``It'll be a good move for you.''
+
+Ey grinned, caught the original Dear in the middle of a spin, and hauled the fox onto the couch with em.
+
+\emph{``Do you have any other surprises up your sleeves? If you do, I shall simply have to growl and froth like a rabid beast.''}
+
+``No, I promise that's it for now.''
+
+\emph{``Lame.''}
+
+``Shush, Dear. What are our next steps, Codrin?''
+
+Ey shrugged. ``Ask about and see what goes into moving an entire sim into Convergence. Talk with Sarah. Start compiling notes. Ensure Sorina's settling in okay.''
+
+They nodded.
+
+``And probably throw a party. Smaller than for Launch, just friends, but there simply must be champagne.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/001.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahe-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 22 days, 13 hours, 35 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent It took Tycho Brahe what felt like an age to remember Codrin Bălan, and then it took him a panicked age longer to remember that, yes, sensorium messages were a thing, had been a thing for more than two centuries, and a third age still to remember how to send one.
+
+There was some unknown urgency within him, and even though he supposed that there was no need to hurry, he nonetheless did not fork, deeming it not worth the time to remember how in his rush. Instead, he simply queued up a message to the historian beginning with a jolt of adrenaline, and began talking.
+
+``Codrin, uh, Mx.~Bălan, I really, really need to talk with you. Like, right now. I need to talk with you right now. Can we meet? It's incredibly urgent, I'm sorry. I know it's late. Can we meet?''
+
+As soon as he finished, he began pacing once more and waited for a response, doing his level best not to send another sensorium ping immediately to wake Codrin up, just in case.
+
+Instead, he walked around the small hill in the center of the clearing, muttering now down to the grass, shouting now up to the sky. Half words, half sentences, anything to vent the pressure he felt building inside him, but there was nothing to be done.
+
+When the response finally came, he realized he'd only made it halfway around that hill. Less than a minute must have passed. Time seemed to have stretched itself out long. The response was a mumbled, sleepy-sounding address.
+
+Tycho left before his next footfall hit the ground.
+
+Low clouds hung above the low house on the shortgrass prairie. He forced himself to walk, not run, up to the house, where he could already see a light turning on, vague shapes moving behind the glass. The soft chime that announced his arrival led those two shapes, one human, one not, to look up, and before he even made it to the house's door, Codrin was already there, much as he remembered, though much more tired.
+
+``Tycho Brahe, yes?'' ey asked. ``Is everything okay?''
+
+He tore his eyes away from the figure beside the historian, what looked to be some large-eared\ldots{}dog? Fox? Large-eared animal standing on two legs, looking just as tired as Codrin.
+
+``Uh, yes,'' he stammered. ``No? I don't think so, at least. I'm sorry for waking you. I don't think things are okay, though.''
+
+Codrin nodded and stepped aside, gesturing to welcome him in and guiding him to a seat at the table.
+
+\emph{``I will make tea,''} the fox said. \emph{``Though I think perhaps one without caffeine.''}
+
+``Who\ldots{}?''
+
+``That's my partner. Dear, Also, The Tree That Was Felled.''
+
+Gears crunched to a halt in his mind, thoughts stalling and whatever words he had prepared scattering. ``An\ldots an Odist?''
+
+``Yes. Why do you ask?''
+
+Tycho knit his brow. ``Well, I mean, the \emph{History}\ldots{}''
+
+``I know. Not all of them came out in the best light,'' ey said, smiling tiredly. ``But it's a good one, I promise. Now, can you tell me what's happening?''
+
+He forced himself to remain seated at the table, not giving in to the overwhelming urge to pace. ``But\ldots I mean, do you remember our conversation years ago? The one about the Dreamer Module?''
+
+Codrin nodded warily. ``That some of the Odists were against it, yes.''
+
+``Then certainly you can see my concern!'' Tycho hissed, leaning toward Codrin.
+
+Ey startled back. ``I'm afraid I don't follow, Dr.~Brahe, I--''
+
+``Can we at least step outside?''
+
+\emph{``If you would like me to be elsewhere, Dr.~Brahe, I can be,''} Dear said, standing at the entryway to the kitchen, three mugs in its paws. \emph{``But I do hope that you will trust me.''}
+
+Tycho stared at the fox.
+
+It stepped forward, set the three mugs down on the table, each smelling of chamomile. \emph{``You must forgive me for eavesdropping, but I did hear you mention the Dreamer Module. I can assure you that I share little in common with the elements of the clade that were against its inclusion. It is not something that I particularly care about, but it is fine, I am sure.''}
+
+``I can vouch for it,'' Codrin said, reaching for eir mug but simply holding it in eir hands rather than sipping. ``If we absolutely must step outside, you understand that, as it's my partner, I'll likely tell it about our conversation anyway, yes?''
+
+After a pause, Tycho's shoulders slumped as he let out the tension pent up within them. ``Alright, alright. Besides, it doesn't sound like there's much use in trying to hide anything from them.''
+
+Dear rolled its eyes, but sat at the table anyway. \emph{``You could hide whatever you like from me, Dr.~Brahe, I will not look. As you guess, though, the same is not true of some of my cocladists.''}
+
+One of them, perhaps Codrin, willed a cone of silence into being.
+
+``I read the \emph{History}, Codrin,'' he said at last. ``So I know you know what's on the Module.''
+
+Codrin froze, mug halfway lifted. Dear's ears stood erect, and all sleepiness fled from its features.
+
+``You understand why I'm concerned, then, right?''
+
+Ey set eir mug back down on the table without taking a sip, saying, ``Tell me all that you can.''
+
+So he recounted the events of the previous hour. The sudden interruption of an impersonal message, a simple note from the perisystem architecture informing him, the astronomer on duty, of the signal received.
+
+\emph{``What signal was it? Were the primes echoed back to us?''} Dear asked.
+
+He shook his head and recited from memory, ``We hear you. We see you. We are 3 light-hours, 4 light-minutes, 2.043 light-seconds out at time of message send. Closing at 0.003c relative velocity. Closest intercept 5 light-minutes, 3.002 light-seconds in 972 hours, 8 minutes, 0.333 seconds. We understand the mechanism by which we may meet. We have similar. Instructions to follow.''
+
+There was a long moment of silence around the table as the words sank in.
+
+``The mechanism,'' Codrin said, finally breaking the silence. Ey sounded hoarse, unprepared. ``The Ansible? The instructions for creating a signal that it'll recognize?''
+
+Tycho stared down into the pale yellow tea. ``Yes.''
+
+``Did you respond?'' Ey furrowed eir brow quizzically. ``Is that even possible? I never thought to ask.''
+
+The silence fell again, and he could feel the expressions of the other two deepen into frowns as he kept his eyes on his tea.
+
+\emph{``Tycho,''} Dear said, and he couldn't understand how the fox could keep its voice so level. \emph{``Did you respond?''}
+
+``Awaiting consent,'' he mumbled. ``That was the last bit of message. Awaiting consent.''
+
+\emph{``You responded.''} A statement. One spoken with no small amount of awe. \emph{``You did, did you not?''}
+
+``Yes.''
+
+``What did you send?'' Codrin said.
+
+``Consent granted.''
+
+With the repetition of those words, he pushed the untouched mug of tea further away from him, folded his arms on the table, and rested his forehead on them.
+
+The longest silence yet followed as both Dear and Codrin appeared to take this information in and he, poor, stupid Tycho Brahe, he soaked in his own guilt. It seeped through his clothes, squished in his shoes, matted his hair and pushed against his face. Tycho Brahe, indeed! He should have chosen the name of some far less competent man, all those years ago when he'd first met Codrin.
+
+It was Codrin who spoke first, voice sounding calm, somewhere between professional and empathetic. An interviewer's voice. ``Have you told anyone else?''
+
+``No,'' he said, lifting his head, though still not meeting their gazes. ``I don't know who I'd tell.''
+
+\emph{``Are there no other astronomers working with you?''}
+
+``There are. Of course there are. I'm sure they've even read the message by now, and doubtless my response.'' He shrugged, realized that he'd started crying. ``But what would I tell them? Extraterrestrials contacted us, asked to board, and I just said `yes'? Didn't ask anyone, didn't wait to have a conversation, just up and said yes?''
+
+``Well, okay,'' Codrin said. ``Why me, then? We've not spoken in twenty years.''
+
+``Instinct?'' he said, voice choked with half laughter, half tears. ``I have no idea, Mx.~Bălan. You listened to my story back then, and I read your \emph{History}, and you seemed nice, and I guess you're just always at the center of things.''
+
+The fox across the table giggled—there was no better way to put it—and there was a tink of ceramic as it bumped its mug to Codrin's. \emph{``You, my dear, are so caught in stardom that even astronomers know your name.''}
+
+None of that amusement showed in eir expression as ey said, ``I am, at that, aren't I? Well, Tycho, what are the next steps?''
+
+``I don't know,'' he said, finally looking up to the pair, to Dear's grin and Codrin's frown. ``I was hoping you'd know.''
+
+Ey sighed, leaned over and patted him on the shoulder. ``Well, since I'm sure as hell not sleeping anymore, I guess coffee's next. Coffee, and figuring out what to do with our wayward astronomer and upcoming guests.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/002.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahe-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 22 days, 8 hours, 23 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Tycho returned to that field beneath the stars after the conversation with Codrin and Dear to find someone already waiting for him.
+
+They'd discussed this potential. There were two branching paths that they had ruled most likely, which was that he'd meet another of the astronomers or a politician. Were the former the case, he was to calmly explain the situation, exploring the ramifications of the messages both received and sent.
+
+If, however, it was someone more aligned with the politics of the System—Codrin had left him with a short list of names—then the conversation would take several different forms based on what they already knew. For instance, if they knew that a message had been received but not what its contents were, he was to explain it calmly and plainly, beginning with the intent of speaking to a lay person. If they knew the contents, he was to explain the import behind him.
+
+If they knew that he had responded, however, the chances were that they were there specifically to interrogate, berate, or potentially cut his access to the perisystem architecture that dealt with the Dreamer Module. Hell, at that point, they might as well cut everyone's access to that bit of the architecture and completely run the show.
+
+The person who met him, however, immediately made his throat seize up.
+
+\emph{``If it is True Name,''} Dear had said after providing a description and forking into a skunk to provide a visual aid. \emph{``Then there is absolutely nothing you can do but go along with what she says.''}
+
+``That bad?'' he had asked.
+
+\emph{``Oh, do not worry, it will all go quite well for you if she herself is there. The outcome might not be what you wanted when you met her, but you will leave feeling as though a great deal has been accomplished. It is difficult to describe or get across in words, as you likely have a very dramatic view of her from reading the} History\emph{.''}
+
+And there, sitting on the mound in the center of the field, was the precise skunk that he'd been warned about. Long, thick tail. Short, cookie-shaped ears. Tapered snout pointed up to the sky as she leaned back on her paws.
+
+\emph{Well,} he thought. \emph{Nothing for it.}
+
+He walked over toward that small rise and, once the rustling of his steps became audible, True Name turned her head toward the sound. It was too dark to see her expression, so his mind flashed through several. Were her teeth bared in anger? Was she smiling kindly? Was she secretly joyous about the news?
+
+``Dr.~Tycho Brahe, yes?''
+
+Tycho pulled out his red-filtered flashlight and the spare he kept with him, turning them both on as he made his way up the hill. ``Yes. You must be True Name.''
+
+``My name precedes me, I see.'' She laughed. It didn't sound like a mean or wicked one, just earnest, pleased. She accepted the red-filtered light from him and then patted the grass beside her with a paw. ``Come, sit with me. This place is absolutely fascinating! I had no idea that such a thing was possible here.''
+
+Tycho sat on the mossy ground beside the skunk. ``I used to keep it as a place for work or just unwinding, but some years back, I moved in and have just set up camp over in the trees.''
+
+``It is delightful,'' she said, and he could hear the awe in her voice. ``How does it work? I thought that there was no way for images to make their way into the System.''
+
+He leaned back on his hands beside her to look up into the night sky. ``It takes in all of the information from the fisheye telescope—or any of the telescopes, really—and converts it into data that one can read, and then reconstructs it in here. When it's just stars, just little points of light like this, it's simple enough to display. Color temperature, relative intensity, estimated distance, and so on. When we get close to something, as we did with the Jupiter slingshot, there was too much data, as there would be from any video feed, and the sim just quit displaying anything.''
+
+True Name had set the flashlight against her thigh, pointed vaguely up toward her so that he could see her in more detail. Her face was kind, open, and clearly excited. Something about the bristle of her whiskers, the angle of her ears, and the relaxed state of her cheeks worked with her smile to give the impression of wonder and delight, though if pressed, he would've had a hard time defining why.
+
+``Beautiful.''
+
+They sat in silence for a while, simply looking up at the stars, both with their red lights pointed toward them to light themselves up. Because it \emph{was} beautiful, he knew. The night sky, one as pure as this, demanded a reverence, an acknowledgement.
+
+``Which ones do you suppose they came from?'' she asked.
+
+``It could be any, at this point,'' he said. ``We have no idea how old their vehicle is. We can know their speed and position with some accuracy, but who knows how much that has changed since they launched.''
+
+``Do you mean they might have, ah\ldots attitude jets, I believe they are called?''
+
+``Almost certainly, but more than that, any time they get too close to any system with any appreciable gravity, it'll influence their course.''
+
+She nodded in the dim, red light. ``Much as they are doing now, perhaps.''
+
+``Yes.'' He thought for a moment, querying the perisystem for information, then shrugged. ``They're coming up over the plane of the ecliptic, so there's a good chance that they just used our sun as a gravity assist. A slingshot.''
+
+``Picking up a bit of extra speed, then?''
+
+``Yep, it's free energy.''
+
+She rested her cheek on her shoulder to look over at him, grinning. ``Or perhaps simply to hide where they came from. Maybe they are using the possibility of that assist to obscure their trail!'' She laughed, waving a paw up at the stars. ``Or they are spying on us, investigating us, Earth, Lagrange. But listen to me, here I am speaking like this is some grand space opera. I have read too much science fiction over the years.''
+
+He nodded, grinning as well. ``Their speed and the laws of physics make all of those very unlikely. The only reason they may have even bothered to contact us is because we have a chance at some sort of contact that won't immediately fade into light-days.''
+
+``They did say that they were moving fast, did they not? I suppose that helps alleviate some of those old space-opera-fueled fears.'' She returned her gaze up to the sky. ``Though, you know, it got me thinking. How many things like this LV might be zooming around the galaxy at incredible speeds? We can be sure now that there are at least three, yes? Our dear home, Castor, then Pollux way on the other side of the sun, and now this new one.''
+
+``True. Maybe everyone's just figured out that this is the safest and easiest way to travel.''
+
+``You took the words from my mouth,'' she said with a chuckle. ``It makes one wonder, perhaps this is the Great Filter. Perhaps Kardashev was wrong all along, and we should not be looking at the energy usage of a civilization but on the scale from Earthbound, spaceflight, and then uploading, and it is only civilizations that reach that third state that might pass through that filter.''
+
+``I'd not thought of it that way.''
+
+``There was, of course, no need for you to rush back, but that is what I have been thinking about while waiting for you. Thank you for the light, by the way.''
+
+The sudden departure from the topic of the sky above to the here and now shocked Tycho into the realization that he'd fallen in such easy conversation with the skunk. They'd talked like friends, like those who had known each other well but perhaps had just met in person for the first time.
+
+He saw now what Dear had meant, and he was helpless before it.
+
+``Well, thank you for stopping by,'' he said, keeping this new anxiety out of his voice as best he could. ``I'm assuming you wanted to talk about the message and response?''
+
+True Name sat up, dusted her paws off on her thighs, and then turned to face him, switching to a kneeling position. The friendliness was still there in her face, but was now tempered by a down-to-business professionalism ``Of course. Can you tell me more about the ramifications of this? I can understand the mechanics of it well enough, but I want to hear from you what the next steps are.''
+
+This had not been the question he was expecting, so he took the act of sitting to face True Name, cross-legged, to think about his response. ``Well, I suppose they'll send over something uploadable which will drop it in the DMZ. I don't imagine they'll start that for a while yet, given the distances between us. They'll probably want to talk more before doing so, and if they're sending us instructions on how to make an exchange of personalities, that'll give us time to work on that.''
+
+``If we want to,'' the skunk said, nodding. ``And, as you were out and we are now gating messages from the Dreamer Module through us, we will keep an eye out for such. We will do our best to keep you in the loop, of course.''
+
+He blinked. `Gating'? Perhaps that meant that they'd cut his access and would be sharing only what they chose with him. ``I didn't mean to\ldots I mean, I hope that my response was not too far out of line.''
+
+She smiled to him, and while her expression remained friendly, there was the smallest note of pity in that smile. ``Do not worry, Tycho Brahe, you are not in trouble. We have been running simulations on the various possible outcomes ever since this portion of the Dreamer Module was okayed. This possibility was on our list and is well within our parameters. We know what it is that we will be doing going forward, and that does not include reprimanding you in any way.''
+
+``I'm sorry,'' he said, before he could even stop himself. ``I probably should've asked.''
+
+The skunk waved a paw as though the comment was simply irrelevant. ``You will even keep access to the Dreamer Module; I meant what I said when you will still be kept in the loop. We will simply have \emph{first} access.''
+
+He nodded, hoping that there was still enough red light shining on him that she could see the gesture.
+
+``In fact, that was the primary purpose of my visit. It was nice to get your view of the ramifications, of course, but I wanted to ensure that you would be willing to work with us on this. You keep access to the Dreamer Module, we learn all we can from you. A mutual arrangement wherein you do what you love and we help you out in that, and in exchange you teach us all you can in the process.'' She held out her paw, grinning lopsidedly. ``I know that the concept is rather outdated on the System, but what I am really here to do is offer you a job.''
+
+Once the import of her words had sunk in, he laughed and clasped her paw in his hand. ``Oh, of course! If it's all the stuff I love, and also I get to talk about it to someone, that sounds\ldots well, perfect, actually.''
+
+She laughed and shook on it. The handshake was picture perfect: the right balance between firm and gentle, the right speed, the right duration, all tuned precisely for him. He could see as though from a meter above himself the precise ways in which he was being played like a fiddle.
+
+``Excellent, excellent. I will also be in touch with your friend Codrin Bălan, as well, as I believe ey will be a good person to document much of this, so please expect further contact from em. You will also be in touch with a few of my cocladists—beyond Dear, that is—who will be working with you in various capacities.''
+
+He nodded, frowning. \emph{How did she know that I'd met Codrin and Dear?}
+
+``I know that you consider yourself a tasker and that maintaining multiple forks is not your usual MO,'' she continued. ``But if possible, I would like you to keep at least one additional instance to work with us while you continue to work out here and with Codrin. If you have the bandwidth for others, we may have additional tasks. Please keep that in mind, and consider how open to the prospect you will be should you be asked.''
+
+``Oh, uh, okay. I guess I just never fork because it seems like an awful lot of trouble. One mind is a lot to deal with as it is.''
+
+True Name grinned, said, ``I do not begrudge you that. They are rather a lot. These will be long-running, however, so you need not worry too much about the burden of handling the memories for a while, and if you do not want to deal with that at all, so long as everyone is on the same page with me and my team, you need not accept the memory load.''
+
+``Well, alright.''
+
+``Can you fork now, please? I will take one of you with me and we can work on arrangements there. You are free to get some sleep, if you need.''
+
+Tycho nodded, closed his eyes, and dug back through memories to remember just how to create a new instance, taking a good minute and a half before he managed it.
+
+``Sorry, it's been a long time,'' the original him said.
+
+``It is quite alright. We have much practice under our belts.'' She nodded toward the new instance. ``Can you tag yourself something memorable so that you can tell yourself apart? I suggest `Artemis', as that is what we have decided to name the remote vehicle.''
+
+Both of him frowned, and after a moment's thought, the new instance was tagged Tycho Brahe\#Artemis, all while scanning his memory for the reference. Goddess of the Moon, yes, but of the hunt? Wild animals? Artemis with her bow? There were too many correspondences and not all of them savory.
+
+``Why Artemis?'' he asked.
+
+``They are flying like an arrow through the night sky, are they not?'' True Name said.
+
+``Does that make the others on the ship, uh\ldots{}Artemisians or whatever?''
+
+The skunk stood, offered a paw to help Tycho\#Artemis in standing. ``That or Sea People.''
+
+``Sea People?'' he asked, accepting her paw. As he stood, he realized that he was more than a head taller than the skunk, a fact which had missed him as they sat there on the hill.
+
+``We had better hope for Artemisians, but we must also be prepared for Sea People. Come, Tycho. \#Artemis, we will have a place for you to stay. \#Tasker, you may stay here, and expect contact soon.'' She looked up to the sky one last time, and said. ``Do you know the poem about your namesake?''
+
+Tycho\#Artemis shook his head while \#Tasker stood.
+
+``Reach me down my Tycho Brahe — I would know him when we meet,'' she quoted. ``When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet; He may know the law of all things yet be ignorant of how We are working to completion, working on from then till now.''
+
+``I--''
+
+``You are both, Tycho. We may yet share our later science with them as they may share theirs with us. Perhaps we shall take our turns sitting at each others' feet. But Tycho,'' she said, smiling. ``That is a poem about death. Please understand that there is risk here, as well. Now, come with me.''
+
+After True Name and Tycho\#Artemis left, he stood there on the top of his hill, in the middle of his field, surrounded by his ring of trees, and looked up into the night sky, thinking on all that it meant to be powerless.

neviim/content/local/tycho/003.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,251 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-braheartemis-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 22 days, 3 hours, 49 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Tycho\#Artemis was unsure if what he was seeing was a flurry of chaotic activity or some tightly choreographed dance. Part of this assessment, he guessed, was due to the relatively small number of individuals for the number of instances moving around. There were probably a dozen instances of True Name that he could see, and then at least that many of a gentleman who looked to be in his well-preserved forties, slender without being lanky, tall without being looming.
+
+And that was it. Well over twenty instances of two individuals milling around what appeared to be a farm of cubicles, each walled with glass, the upper half of which was frosted.
+
+Ringing this bank of cubicles were walls of frosted glass, broken at regular intervals with doors which ey supposed must be offices. Between those doors were couches, looking pleasantly soft in his exhaustion, and an array of padded stools or chairs with interrupted backs which he supposed must be perfect for those endowed with tails, given the occasional skunk or man—Jonas, perhaps?—relaxing in them, chatting amiably during what must be either breaks or informal meetings.
+
+And yet, for all that activity, it was incredibly quiet. There must be dozens of cones of silence set up, spanning cube walls, covering banks of couches, even hovering over those walking the aisles.
+
+``What is this?'' he asked the skunk standing beside him.
+
+``Headquarters.'' She gestured him to a couch already containing a woman, picking at her nails. Short, curly black hair framing a round face. ``Though that makes it sound far more formal than it really is. It is a place for Jonas and I to work together in our various instances.''
+
+He sank down into the couch beside the woman. ``That sounds pretty formal to me. What are you working on that requires cubicles?''
+
+True Name laughed, claiming a stool facing the couch where she sat, straight-backed. ``The informal aspect of it is that we are working on essentially whatever we want. Co-working space, perhaps? It is a space where we can have conversations, write, think. If there are a dozen of us, there are three dozen projects.''
+
+``And the message from Artemis is one of them?''
+
+``It is several of them, yes. It has spun off a few projects of its own. Ah! Jonas. Which are you?'' she said when one of the men blipped into existence, already seated in one of the chairs.
+
+He grinned, crossing his legs in front of him at the ankles. ``Di5.'' He nodded toward Tycho. ``Just call me Jonas, though. True Name is just being a snot.''
+
+The skunk kicked out at one of his ankles.
+
+``Deserved that,'' he said. ``You must be Dr.~Brahe, yeah? Nice to meet you.''
+
+He nodded, said, ``Just Tycho is fine.''
+
+Jonas nodded absently. Without any visible signal a cone of silence fell over the area, dimming what noise remained outside of it to the barest murmur.
+
+``I am Why Ask Questions When The Answers Will Not Help,'' the woman said in a tone that seemed to sit just shy of laughter. ``Answers Will Not Help will do.''
+
+``Answers, in a rush,'' Jonas said, to which she replied with an ankle kick of her own.
+
+``If you call me Answers, I will beat the shit out of you,'' she said though that near-laugh took most of the sting out of the words.
+
+``To business, then.'' True Name gestured towards Tycho. ``Tycho, here, is the one that answered the message, as you all know, so I have encouraged him to fork and join us. Tycho\#Artemis will be working here, and Tycho\#Tasker will be working with--''
+
+``Codrin?'' Jonas asked, grin turning sly.
+
+``Of course.''
+
+``Well, if you're the one to thank for kicking this whole thing off, perhaps you can enlighten us as to why?''
+
+Tycho felt anxiety tighten within his chest. ``I uh\ldots I don't know. I guess I was the first one to read the message, and I didn't know what to do with that, so I just replied without really thinking, I guess.''
+
+``You were not the first to read the message,'' True Name said, smiling almost pityingly at him. ``And you need not be anxious. As I have already said, we have been wargaming this possibility since we were forced to concede that aspect of the Module.''
+
+He frowned. ``Well, if you read it first, why'd you let it through so that I could see it?''
+
+``We are not the astronomers,'' Answers Will Not Help said, shrugging. ``That is your job, is it not?''
+
+``Don't you want to control the situation or something, though?''
+
+True Name shook her head. ``It is not our job to control.''
+
+``But the \emph{History--}''
+
+``Do you remember the motto of the Council of Eight, Tycho?''
+
+He frowned. ``\,`To guide but not to govern', right?''
+
+True Name nodded. ``We are not controlling anything. We are guiding. Of what use would control be in a place such as this? People can do whatever they want.''
+
+``Was the \emph{History} wrong then? That you didn't control Secession and Launch?''
+
+``We guided them both,'' Jonas said, waving his hand. ``Just as we guided the \emph{History.} Even the Bălan clade knows this.''
+
+``Why, though?'' Tycho asked.
+
+``Social engineering,'' True Name said, then nodded toward Jonas. ``We should not get too sidetracked, though. Jonas, you had more questions?''
+
+``I did, yeah. First off, can you give me an overall breakdown of the time frame involved here?''
+
+``Well\ldots wait, can you tell me how long it's been since the message arrived? I haven't slept in I don't know how long.''
+
+``A little less than twelve hours.''
+
+``Well, then we have a little less than forty days until their closest approach, at which point they'll start moving away from us again.''
+
+``And what does that approach mean for us?''
+
+Tycho rubbed at the back of his neck, searching for the best way to explain it. ``All it means is that that is the point when the transmission times between our two vehicles will be the shortest, then it'll start getting longer again.''
+
+Jonas nodded. ``And that approach isn't all that close, is it?''
+
+``Oh God no. Five light-minutes is, uh\ldots ninety million kilometers? Something like that.''
+
+``Good, thanks for confirming. I'm going to ungate the next set of messages. Ready?''
+
+Jonas did not actually wait for confirmation before Tycho was given access. Or, rather, access was forced upon him. Like a sensorium message, the text from the perisystem architecture wedged itself into his mind.
+
+\begin{quote}
+If possible, in 400 hours orient down 0.3142 radians relative to your sun reference point source of this transmission to align courses. If possible, accelerate 0.00029c to approach matched velocity. Confirm actions taken.
+
+Instructions for matching consciousness-bearing system transfer mechanism to follow. Confirm actions taken upon receipt.
+
+Prepare airgapped area with locked-down edit permissions dimensions 20m by 20m height 5m and two sandbox areas for rest for us and you dimensions 20m by 20m height 5m. Confirm actions taken.
+
+Prepare party of five consciousness-bearing systems containing one element of leadership, one to record in any capacity, one scientist, two representatives of own choice. Duplicate, prepare to send one set to us, and send other set to above location. Prepare to receive five in turn, similar roles. Expect four categories of consciousness-bearing systems. Confirm actions taken.
+
+We welcome you.
+
+Turun Ka of firstrace, leadership\\
+Turun Ko of firstrace, recorder\\
+Stolon of thirdrace, scientist\\
+Iska of secondrace, representative\\
+Artante Diria of fourthrace, representative
+\end{quote}
+
+A long silence stretched over the group while the others waited for Tycho to digest the sudden onslaught of information.
+
+``This is,'' he said, took a slow breath in, then continued, ``A lot.''
+
+``Talk us through your thoughts,'' True Name said. ``That will help you process, and you may catch something that we have not. This is your role here, Tycho Brahe.''
+
+He nodded. ``Okay. So, from the top. They suggest we make some course alterations to, I suppose, get us traveling parallel with them, and then accelerate to get closer to their velocity. Does that sound right?''
+
+Jonas nodded. ``We've talked with the parasystem engineers who work with the attitude thrusters and propulsion. They say that they can accommodate the maneuver. We can accelerate a little bit if we use half our fuel, but we're beyond the point where the solar sail is doing us much good, the HE engines are too slow, and we want to preserve some of that fuel.''
+
+``How much acceleration? I mean, I don't have any training in the physics of spaceflight--''
+
+``We've got that covered.''
+
+``Oh. Well, how much acceleration, then?''
+
+``About a third of what they asked. It'll extend the period of time that we're in useful Ansible range by a week or two, giving us about five weeks total.''
+
+``If you say so.'' he shrugged. ``I guess this is to help extend the duration that we can transfer back and forth?''
+
+``Yeah, basically,'' Jonas said. ``Do you have thoughts on that?''
+
+Tycho frowned. He wasn't sure why they kept asking him questions about his sentiments on things far outside his area of expertise. Of what use were his thoughts on the matter? ``I mean, it makes sense, as far as any of this has.''
+
+``How much astronomy you hope to learn from the Artemisians will rely on how long we stay in contact.'' Answers Will Not Help grinned at him. ``Does that bit make sense, at least?''
+
+He sat up straighter. ``Oh, uh\ldots you mean someone will be gathering all that information? Will we be able to request it via radio?''
+
+True Name smiled, and this time there \emph{was} pity in the expression. ``I know that you said starting from the top, but Tycho, you must understand that you are ideally situated to be the scientist among our party of five. You were the one to answer their call, were you not?''
+
+He couldn't tell what expression or expressions crossed his face, but it must've been amusing, as Answers Will Not Help laughed and slapped him on the knee. ``You will be fine, Tycho.''
+
+``Why me, though?'' he stammered. ``There have to be smarter people on board! People who would love to meet aliens and know just what to ask them.''
+
+The skunk across from him waved her hand to dismiss the comment. ``You will be the scientist. We do not want someone who is smarter than you. We do not want someone who knows just what to ask them. We want you because you are the type of person who grants consent to join us without consulting anyone first. That and a few other factors that we have taken into account leave our decision clear.''
+
+``Besides,'' Answers Will Not Help said, still giggling. ``You will get to ask four spacefaring races astronomy questions. Does that not excite you?''
+
+``I\ldots four?'' His head was swimming, not aided by the stilted way these Odists seemed to talk.
+
+``Four categories of consciousness-bearing systems. Firstrace through fourthrace. Seems pretty obvious what they are saying to me.''
+
+He swallowed dryly.
+
+``You will be the scientist,'' True Name said. ``I will be acting in a leadership capacity, having lost the coin-toss with Jonas. Codrin Bălan will be our recorder. One of my uptree instances, Why Ask Questions, Here At The End Of All Things will be one of the other representatives, and we are searching for the second.''
+
+``Two of you?''
+
+``Sending two members of the same clade who look different will give us an idea of how they view forking.'' Jonas nodded toward the two Odists. ``That's why I cheated to win the coin-toss, at least. I want to see what they do with one skunk Odist and one human Odist, as Why Ask Questions is.''
+
+``And I will run interference here,'' Answers Will Not Help added. ``I will be learning much the same as Why Ask Questions so that I can interpret messages from the DMZ and Artemis. She is better at working crowds.''
+
+Tycho nodded. He felt slow, somehow. Stupid. It wasn't even that they were speaking about things he didn't understand because he hadn't learned them yet so much as they were speaking as though their actions took place on some higher plane of existence, some place completely inaccessible to him.
+
+``Apologies for sidetracking your top-to-bottom reading. Please continue,'' True Name said.
+
+``Uh, alright.'' He shook his head to try and clear it. It did not work. ``Instructions for transferring a consciousness-bearing system\ldots I'm assuming that's their version of the Ansible?''
+
+``Yes. We received the specifications for that immediately after this message. I will not bore you with their contents, but the sys-side Ansible techs assure us that it works much the same as ours and will require only software changes, nothing physical. That will be ready within a few weeks, if not sooner.''
+
+He hesitated, then, seeing no possible reply that wouldn't make him sound like an idiot, continued. ``Alright. Then they want us to prepare a space for them. I don't know what airgapped means, though.''
+
+``We're assuming they mean as in a DMZ. Something completely separate from the rest of our System, which is what we were planning, anyway. It's a tech term which means that there is no physical connection between two devices, so they can't possibly communicate unless one plugs in a cable. Maybe that's what they meant?'' Jonas grinned lopsidedly. ``We'll just have to hope we get it right.''
+
+``So, a secure place to meet, which we were planning on anyway. Do you think they're worried we'll attack them or something?''
+
+True Name and Jonas exchanged a quick glance, and the skunk, suddenly more serious than she'd been since he'd met her, said, ``Expand on that.'' Not a question. A command.
+
+He mastered the urge to shy away from her. ``I just mean that, if we can't promise them that we're universally on board with having them visit us, that puts the talks at risk, right?''
+
+She leaned back on her stool, frowning, as two more instances of her forked off and dashed down the aisles to a cubicle. ``This is why we are talking with you, Tycho. Thank you for proving your worth so quickly.''
+
+``This wasn't part of your calculations or whatever?''
+
+``It was,'' Jonas said. ``But the fact that you thought of it so quickly was not.''
+
+He shook his head. ``I still don't understand why me, though.''
+
+``You are in absolutely no way special, my dear.'' Answers Will Not Help bumped his shoulder with hers, her voice once more full of smiles. ``You are in absolutely all ways average. This allows us to use you as a barometer for how we can expect the rest of the System to react.''
+
+``I mean, I guess I'm average, but that doesn't seem like much data. Aren't you asking more people?''
+
+She was back to laughing. ``How many people do you imagine know about this, Tycho?''
+
+He sighed, slouching further down into the couch. ``Right. Okay. Twenty by twenty by five meters for the conference room and their rest area. Uh\ldots maybe that says how big they are?''
+
+``And maybe just the size of their DMZ so that we can meet on equal grounds on both sides,'' Jonas said. ``We won't know until it happens. It does show us that they rest, though, or at least expect to take breaks from the talks. That they say two means that they think we will as well.''
+
+\emph{Rest,} he thought. \emph{Rest sounds good.}
+
+Aloud, he said, ``And I guess the next bit we've already talked about some. Maybe four races. They say `consciousness-bearing systems' and don't name their races, so maybe it's complicated. If they've picked up three other races before meeting us, maybe very, very complicated.''
+
+``I have been thinking,'' Answers Will Not Help said. ``Perhaps some of them were not biological races. They did not say people or species.''
+
+``AIs, you mean?''
+
+She shrugged. ``Or something. It might also be a caste thing. You will notice that there are two firstrace emissaries, one of which is the leader, and then secondrace and fourthrace only get representatives, no titles. There are many possibilities.''
+
+After a pause, he asked, ``And is that `We welcome you' an invitation to join them?''
+
+``Maybe,'' Jonas said. ``We don't know yet. We're going to keep talking to them and try and get a better feel for it. If it means `You're welcome to join us', that's certainly better than `We welcome you because you have no other choice'. We're working on it.''
+
+Tycho rubbed his face tiredly. ``Way above my pay grade.''
+
+True Name laughed. ``It is, yes.''
+
+``Any thoughts on the names?'' Jonas asked.
+
+``Well, I guess it's interesting that the two firstrace people\ldots individuals\ldots er, consciousness-bearing systems share a name. Maybe they're a clade, like\ldots I mean\ldots{}''
+
+``Like me?'' Jonas said, smirking. ``Don't worry, Jonases Ka and Ko already had their laugh over it. But no, we don't know that one way or another.''
+
+He felt heat rise to his cheeks, but nodded all the same. ``The rest, I don't know. They all sound different, I guess. The fourthrace one is the only other one with two names.''
+
+``We cannot make any real guesses, ourselves,'' True Name said. ``We have been told that a stolon is a botanical term, but that is likely only a coincidence.''
+
+``Well, only other thing I can think of is that they ask for confirmation on all actions taken. What are you going to say to those?''
+
+True Name's eyes grew distant as, he imagined, she accessed an exo with the response text prepared. ``To the first, `We will orient as described and accelerate 0.00014c'. To the second, `Instructions received, integration commencing immediately, estimated time to completion 428 hours'. To the third, `Areas prepared'. To the fourth, `Preparing party, we will duplicate and be ready to send on an agreed upon time'.''
+
+``Anything for the `We welcome you' or the list of names?''
+
+``We will repeat the `We welcome you' message, and it will be signed with your name,'' Answers Will Not Help said.
+
+He stood up so quickly it made him dizzy. ``What?''
+
+The other three laughed, True Name eventually continuing, ``It will be signed `The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream of the Ode clade, leadership'. We will send them the complete list of names when it is confirmed. You need not worry, Tycho. Answers Will Not Help was just being a snot, as Jonas so eloquently put it.''
+
+He remained standing, swaying slightly and trying to blink away dancing black spots. ``I think\ldots I think I need to lay down.''
+
+The skunk nodded, stood, and took him by the elbow. ``You likely do. You have been awake for almost forty-five hours. We have a room prepared for you.''
+
+Jonas stood as well, dusting off his slacks, and shook Tycho's hand. ``Welcome aboard. And hey, congrats on first contact.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/004.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-braheartemis-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 22 days, 5 hours, 2 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Despite the exhaustion that had come down on him like a hammer, Tycho found it difficult to get to sleep. It weighed him down like stones on his chest, even as he lay in bed in the room that True Name led him too. It was a comfortable bed in a nice enough room, and still he lay there in the dark, staring up at the ceiling with eyes that burned.
+
+He did not know how long it took him to actually fall asleep, but when next he woke, ten hours had passed, and dreams of Artemisians clung to him still. They were always just out of sight, and their conversations were just slightly below the level that he could hear them, and yet, he knew it to be them. Knew they were there, just around the corner. Knew that, above all else, he wanted to meet them.
+
+When laying in bed gained him no further insight from the dream himself from the dream, he climbed out, showered in the \emph{en suite}, and, when he was dressed, opened the door to find True Name waiting across the hall, two coffees in hand.
+
+``Do you feel more well-rested, Tycho?''
+
+``I guess, yeah,'' he said, accepting the offered coffee. ``I hope I didn't sleep through too much.''
+
+True Name began walking, letting him fall in step behind her. She laughed. ``Of course not, my dear. Nothing much that you need to worry about has happened in the last few hours. We have been working on information control and hunting down those willing to help with the effort for setting up the Ansible system to upload to Artemis. That is what you will be working on today, you and a passel of nerds. I think that is the collective term, at least.''
+
+So out of place was the humor that it took him several silent steps and a sip of his coffee to relax from the adrenal rush of the statement. ``Well, if you say so. No further communications from them?''
+
+``One, but I will not ungate it on you yet, as it is quite large. It is instructions for one of their languages. Secondrace's, apparently. I will ask you to learn some of it, enough to be polite, but both Why Ask Questions and Answers Will Not Help are working on that with more forks.''
+
+Tycho quickstepped enough to fall in beside True Name as they made their way back to the central hub of the complex. ``That feels somewhat out of place to me.''
+
+``How do you mean?''
+
+``Well, if firstrace is there in a leadership capacity, why not send that language?''
+
+The skunk shrugged. ``We do not know. They did not include any of that information in the message. It will be something that we can ask, whether prior to or at the conference.''
+
+He nodded and looked out at the bustle of the room, as active as it was when he had arrived and when he had gone to sleep. He wondered if the various forks shifted their sleep schedule such that there were always True Names and Jonases at work.
+
+``So, uh\ldots what's on the schedule for today?''
+
+True Name tilted her head momentarily, then nodded. ``You will be working with Answers Will Not Help and two others to help spin up the effort to work on getting the upload side of the Ansible working to their specifications.''
+
+As if on command, Answers Will Not Help appeared before them, followed shortly by two others. Tycho supposed that the skunk must've sent each a sensorium ping.
+
+The Odist grinned to him, then gestured to each of the new guests in turn. ``Sovanna Soun is a sys-side Ansible tech, who will be working on that part, and--''
+
+Tycho was already leaning forward to shake the hand of the other guest, a slight gentleman who looked every one of the seventy years he had been prior to uploading. ``Dr.~Verda, wonderful to see you again.''
+
+``Likewise, likewise.''
+
+``You two know each other, then?''
+
+Tycho nodded. ``Paolo was one of my professors, yes.''
+
+``Well, what do you know,'' Answers Will Not Help said, laughing. ``Right, then. If the three of you will follow me?''
+
+They made their way to a conference room where they sat around a long table, both True Name and Tycho still nursing their coffees. Answers Will Not Help pulled a wheeled whiteboard over and uncapped a marker, beginning to diagram on the board.
+
+``I will be managing the effort,'' she said, writing `AWNH' and circling it at the top. Two lines were drawn diagonally down from that. ``As mentioned, Ms.~Soun will be working on the Ansible software modifications. Dr.~Verda will be working on the math side required to have the Ansible track the ship as it moves. It was built to be mobile in case we did need to send or receive anyone from Lagrange in an emergency, but I am told that it was meant to require manual intervention.''
+
+Tycho frowned. ``Two people working on all of that?''
+
+``Two clades, yes.'' She continued to diagram on the board. ``As discussed, Ms.~Soun will begin with a clade of ten to work on the software, and Dr.~Verda will begin with a clade of two. Both can expand as needed. We need to ramp this up and complete the changes required within two weeks, so it is important that we be able to move quite quickly.''
+
+``And what about me?''
+
+Answers Will Not Help wrote his name next to hers, then drew connecting lines to all three names already on the board. ``You will be acting as Artemis consultant and manager. We will deliver all messages through you and you will pass on any information required bidirectionally. Due to your relative inexperience with forking, your specialized knowledge of our visitors, and a certain bold \emph{je ne sais quoi}, we will be keeping you at one fork for the time being.''
+
+Dr.~Verda laughed. ``Bold? Our Jo-- er, Tycho?''
+
+He felt a heat rise to his cheeks as Answers Will Not Help replied, ``He is the one who said yes to the Artemisians before we had the chance to do anything about it.''
+
+Everyone looked at him.
+
+``Uh, sorry.''
+
+``What the fuck, man,'' Sovanna said, laughing. ``So all this is your fault?''
+
+Answers Will Not Help laughed as well, waving her hand. ``Do not be too mad at him. Or do, but do not tear into him too much. He has already received the Odist third degree.''
+
+``I have?''
+
+``True Name threatened you with death, did she not?''
+
+Tycho froze. ``I\ldots what?''
+
+The skunk grinned over the rim of her coffee cup.
+
+``Even the smart and bold may be denser than lead, I suppose.''
+
+Sovanna laughed and patted him on the arm. ``Don't worry, Tycho. I was just giving you shit. No idea what Answers is talking about.''
+
+Answers Will Not Help capped the pen and, with startling speed, threw it at Sovanna. It struck her in the shoulder, getting a yelp from the Ansible tech and making both Tycho and Dr.~Verda jump. The grin never left her face as she spoke, but her voice was frigid. ``You are not permitted to call me `Answers', Ms.~Soun. Understood?''
+
+Eyes wide and hand holding onto her shoulder where the pen had struck, Sovanna sat, wide-eyed, and nodded.
+
+``Now, if there is no further need for third degrees, shall we begin?'' Her voice was back to its normal, joyous self with a surprising adroitness. Something about her seemed decidedly ungrounded.
+
+The three nodded together, silent.
+
+``Excellent. One moment, then.''
+
+The three walls of the room that did not contain the door quickly expanded outward, leaving a broad, open room. Fourteen desks sprouted from the floor, divided into a group of ten and two groups of two.
+
+``Cubicle walls?''
+
+When Sovanna shook her head and Dr.~Verda nodded, both pods of two sprouted cubicle walls around them, the pod of ten melding into shapely desks. With a final flourish of a bow, Answers Will Not Help welcomed them into the room. Above the pod of ten hung a sign that read `Ansible', and the two pods were labeled `Astro' and `Admin' in turn.
+
+It was all quite skillfully done, but Tycho still felt a slight pang in his chest. It was generally considered a violation of social norms for public sims to violate Euclidean space without warning, but private sims were beholden only to the holders of the ACLs. This room would occupy at least one office on either side, if not more.
+
+Quite unnerving.
+
+Answers Will Not Help spoke as she walked. ``Begin by estimating your work. We will meet in one hour. After that, we will meet twice a day, more often as needed. Please feel free to ping me if you need anything. I have granted you all access to cones of silence and music, which you may use at your discretion or when requested. Tycho, dear, with me.''
+
+Sovanna forked as she walked, further instances of her blipping into existence beside her, each one walking up to claim a seat. It took Dr.~Verda longer to fork, but soon, there were two of him.
+
+Tycho simply followed his new boss to the admin pod. She gestured him to one of the cubicles while she took the other. Once they sat, the wall between the cubicles lowered itself and he found that their two desks faced each other. At a gesture, a cone of silence fell over them both.
+
+``Alright, Dr.~Brahe. I am going to grant you access to the language dump that they sent our way. I would like you to take a look at it over the next hour and see how easily you might be able to pick it up. From what it sounds like, they already have a good grasp on our \emph{lingua franca}, but in order to be polite, we ought to also work on learning one of theirs.''
+
+He nodded. He could already feel the presence of that information lingering on the periphery of his memory. ``I'll give it a go. I've never learned another language but I guess there's a first time for everything.''
+
+``Excellent, thank you. Again, you do not need to gain mastery over it. That will be my job. Why Ask Questions and I have several instances working on it already. If you find yourself in need of assistance, let me know and I will request a merger from them so that I can pick up what they have learned.'' She waved a hand and a few notepads spooled out of the air between them, along with several pens. ``I do not know your preference, but here are some materials for you. You are also welcome to create further copies if you need, and should you require anything more advanced, ping me and I will make it happen.''
+
+He collected the notepads into a pile on his desk, setting the pile of pens next to them. Each was unique, probably to give him a variety to choose from.
+
+``Please also be prepared to set aside your work should the others request any further information from you. I believe Dr.~Verda would be the most likely, as you are not an Ansible tech, but one never knows, yes?''
+
+``Alright,'' he said, jotting down on one of the nicer pads with one of the nicer pens a list of what he was to do. ``Language, be available. Anything else?''
+
+``Nope, that is it. Your \#Tasker instance will be working on separate items.'' She waved a hand again and the cone of silence dropped as the cube wall once more raised up between them. Muffled on the other side, he heard, ``See you in an hour.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/005.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-braheartemis-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 19 days, 6 hours, 58 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent The dream repeated each night.
+
+As always, the hallway continued however many miles dream-logic determined it must, and as before, he kept walking down it, kept walking and walking and walking, right hand always trailing along the wall. That wall was of smooth stone, something coarser than marble and smoother than concrete, and as he felt it play out beneath his fingers, he heard the voices ahead of him.
+
+There was a room, there ahead of him. He could see the light spilling into the comparatively dim hallway. Sunlight, cool and bright. He could see that the left-hand wall of the hallway continued. A corner, then, the hallway dumping him out into the southeast corner of the room.
+
+Southeast\ldots how did he know that?
+
+There on that wall, shadows played. Shadows of leaves, the arc of a fountain.
+
+And in that room, that soft rush of water only served to muffle the voices of so many others. They had to be the Artemisians. They had to be. But the water was just loud enough, added just enough white noise, that he could pick out no singular detail. There were fricatives. There were plosives. There were sibilants.
+
+And the harder he listened, the more details he almost-but-not-quite heard. First there was the sound of a masculine voice, and then the sound of something more feminine. First there was the careful modulation of some machine-produced voice, then the melodious tones of something undeniably organic.
+
+And he wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be somewhere else. He wasn't allowed. He wasn't permitted. He was supposed to be somewhere different, not creeping along the unending right-hand wall of the hallway, straining to hear yet more detail from a group of incomprehensible others.
+
+And still he crept along. Still he strained to hear, still he stared at that wall, hoping for the barest glimpse of the smallest shadow, hoping to discern the shape of the unknown.
+
+And then a silence fell among the voices.
+
+And then he turned the corner.
+
+And then he was blinded by the sun.
+
+And then he awoke, the lights of the room staring down at him reprovingly.
+
+The dream always seemed determined to cling to him, as it had the day before and the day before that, and even as he showered and dressed, even after True Name once more met him at his door and handed him his coffee, he tried as hard as he could to remember even the smallest detail of those voices.
+
+``You seem distracted today,'' the skunk observed. ``Not just tired. What is on your mind?''
+
+He jolted to awareness and smiled sheepishly to her. ``Uh, just a dream sticking with me from last night. Third night in a row I've dreamed about them.''
+
+``The Artemisians?''
+
+He nodded. ``It's like I can hear them talking, but not any details about them. I can hear \emph{that} they're talking, I guess. I keep trying to learn more and then I wake up.''
+
+True Name smiled. ``I know the feeling, yes. It is that desire to know more, yet having it kept from you. Are you dreaming in their language or in English?''
+
+``I can't even tell that. Sometimes I think it might be one and then some little phrase sounds like an accented version of the other. I wouldn't be surprised, though. I've been learning as much of that as I can during the day.''
+
+``I imagine so, yes. Would you like a small break from language acquisition? If you are having dreams about them, perhaps you can come up with some specific questions and we can send them a message.'' She patted him on the arm. ``Time-boxed, of course, but it may give you a chance to come up with some ideas that we have not.''
+
+``Really? You'd let me do that?''
+
+She laughed, nodded. ``Of course, Tycho. You are always welcome to ask to do something other than what you are. We would request that you fork to do so. However, since this is not your area of expertise, I am sure that Answers Will Not Help will be willing to give you, say, two hours to work on something else if it will also serve to increase our knowledge of the situation. One moment, please.''
+
+There was a moment of silence as True Name stood at the entrance to the central work area, sipping—or, well, lapping at—her coffee. After a moment, Answers Will Not Help showed up before her.
+
+``Morning, dear,'' she said. ``Everything alright?''
+
+``Tycho would like to take a few hours to work on a message to the Artemisians. Are you alright with that?''
+
+Answers Will Not Help laughed and nodded. ``Oh, by all means. We will get by without him for a bit. See you at lunch, Dr.~Brahe?''
+
+He nodded.
+
+After a minute or two, another woman stepped into the sim, looking almost-but-not-quite identical to Answers Will Not Help. Perhaps a long-lived fork? The ebullience was toned down somewhat. Still the same grin—but kinder. Still the casual dress—but more of a weekend outfit. ``Tycho Brahe, yes? True Name says I will be helping you out on writing a letter.''
+
+``Oh, uh,'' he frowned. ``I guess so. Answers Will Not Help?''
+
+She waved her hand in a non-answer, instead beckoning him over to another door along the wall. ``Come on. Let us get this going. I am excited to hear what you come up with.''
+
+True Name raised her coffee cup to him and smiled. ``Good luck, Tycho. Do keep in touch.''
+
+The office was much smaller than the conference room where he'd initially met Sovanna and Dr.~Verda. They sat on opposite sides of a desk, where the Odist swiped two notepads and two pens into existence. ``Alright, so I have been told that you had a dream. Tell me about it.''
+
+As he did, she jotted down details on her own notepads, occasionally asking him questions—do you remember what the air smelled like? Were there human voices as well? Why were you anxious about being found out?—and though it felt silly at first, he realized that she had teased out greater details of what it was that his dreaming mind was curious about.
+
+``Alright,'' she said. ``Let us come up with five questions out of this. They seem to like the number five.''
+
+``Hmm\ldots{}if you think that we can do one paragraph per question, perhaps we can ask about whether there are common areas that have a \emph{lingua franca}, too. I think we have \emph{how often do the four races interact?} already.''
+
+She shrugged as he wrote down the question. ``I do not see why not. We are not limited on bandwidth. I would also like to know if they have similar strategies of forking, if they even have such. As part of that, we can ask about clade structures and naming, given the implications of both Turun Ka and Turun Ko.''
+
+He took a moment to write this down, as well as a few other sub-questions she mentioned along the way.
+
+``What else do you think would be helpful?''
+
+``Well, there's lots I want to know, but since we only have so much time before the talks begin, I guess we should keep it relatively short.''
+
+She nodded.
+
+``What about when each of the races joined? That would give us an idea of how long they've been traveling.''
+
+``Good one.'' She grinned, tapping her pen against the table. ``I knew we kept you around for a reason.''
+
+Had she said it in any other tone of voice, had all these Odists not been so good at choosing his responses for him, it could have easily come off as insulting, but it was said with such obvious affection that he laughed. Something about her was ever-so-slightly different from Answers Will Not Help, though he couldn't put his finger on what. She was more earnest, perhaps. More focused on making him feel good rather than only seeming always on the edge of laughter. Perhaps this was the Why Ask Questions who would be among the delegates, the one who had eaten with Tycho\#Tasker.
+
+And yet she'd not given her name, and so he was forced to consider the `long-lived fork' scenario.
+
+\emph{This is why I'm a tasker,} ey thought. \emph{I'll never understand clades.}
+
+``Should we also ask where they came from?'' she continued.
+
+He frowned. ``I don't know about that one. It can be a very involved answer until we share more knowledge, and who knows, maybe even touchy. Perhaps a separate set of questions for science down the line, since those will take them more time to come up with. Maybe we can come up with a list of questions to have them prepare answers for at the conference.''
+
+``Oh! Wonderful idea!'' She paused, likely sending off a note to one of her cocladists. ``We will tackle that at a separate time. I agree with you, though, that keeping this to more cultural and social topics will help. We can offer similar in return. Let us ask about leisure activities, then. What kind of stories do they tell? How do they tell them? Is storytelling limited to certain individuals, or considered a skilled trade? Is there a concept of work to make leisure time important?''
+
+Tycho scribbled the rapid fire questions down on the pad, nodding as he did. Once he was finished, he said, ``That got me thinking of another question, but I'm not sure how well it fits, so feel free to poke holes in it. How do you feel about asking if they dream?''
+
+She laughed delightedly and clapped her hands. ``Oh, I absolutely love it, my dear. I only have one request of you.''
+
+``Yes?''
+
+``That must be the entire question. We can expand on the others with our little sub-questions and a paragraph of why we are asking them, but for this last one, it must be the only three words that they read pertaining to it. `Do you dream?'\,''
+
+He blinked, tilting his head. ``Are you sure?''
+
+``Of course I fucking am,'' she said, grinning widely. ``I am the politician, you are the nerd. Now, let us hammer out some answers to these questions for ourselves that we can send. Answers to the first four, I mean. We will not answer `Do you dream?' for ourselves.''
+
+Tycho stopped himself from asking why, realizing she would likely answer in the same way. ``Alright, then. This is fun, thanks for giving me the chance to work on it.''
+
+``Of course, of course.'' She giggled, leaning across the table to ruffle his graying hair. ``You fucking taskers, you need breaks, too.''
+
+He laughed, struggling to re-comb his hair with only his fingers, once more surprised at just how comfortable she made him feel. He liked her, whoever she was.

neviim/content/local/tycho/006.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-braheartemis-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{quote}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 19 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes}
+\end{quote}
+
+\noindent The sight of the dissemination of the news of Artemis was beautiful in much the same way that a ballet was. This was, he supposed, largely due to the well-coordinated dance of both messages flying to and fro and countless Odists and Jonases moving back and forth in the largest of the conference rooms he'd seen yet.
+
+He knew that there were sims where one could fly. Flying, after all, fit well within the realm of something that any number of people could consensually imagine together. They held a perennial appeal for a certain type of person, of which he was not. A fear of heights combined with a certain neurotic work ethic led him to stay away from those sims in general. If it was fun and not also productive, he felt little need to engage. It may have been unhealthy, it may not have been, but he had never stuck around anyone long enough to hear either way.
+
+Now, however, he could see the utility.
+
+A whiteboard had sprouted up from the floor, beginning at waist height for the shorter Odists and extending up by now a storey and a half. Panels on it showed the news feeds and commentaries piped in through the perisystem architecture, that foam of conceptual computer-stuff that tied all of the sims together and allowed cross-sim communications.
+
+Even now, as more news flowed into the board, it would pop up from the bottom and the whiteboard would inch ever higher.
+
+And standing before it, whether they were standing on the ground or however many meters above it, Odists and Jonases worked, tagging each of the feeds with arcane symbols, drawing lines from one to the other, conversing in small knots, popping into existence and quitting as needed.
+
+This involved none of the graceful floating that ey had seen before on eir excursions to sims whose owners allowed such. They were not drifting about on the breeze, they were simply standing on something that was not there. If they needed to move to another level, they would just walk as though on a ramp or step up as though on a ladder. It was productive movement at its very core, and it immediately appealed to him but for the height.
+
+The Odists were not tall. Every time he was near, Tycho felt that he dwarfed them. He could easily have rested his chin atop True Name's head without lifting it at all. ``You, who have your head in the clouds and feet on the ground,'' he remembered her having said about the Bălans, and the phrase had stuck with him. His feet were a steel-toed anchor, and though he towered above the others, he could never name the feeling of being that much closer to his beloved stars.
+
+And yet here he was; Tycho Brahe, terrified of heights.
+
+``What am I watching?'' he asked Answers Will Not Help beside him.
+
+She nodded toward the board and the quiet, purposeful bustle of activity before it. ``We have released the news about the Artemisians out into the feeds. You are watching the observation and shaping process.''
+
+He stood up straighter, fixing his posture as though that would quell second-hand vertigo. ``How did you do it? How are you doing it?''
+
+She laughed. ``Come. I will show you. We will need to go to the top. It is like walking up stairs, do not worry. Just will the step into being.''
+
+``Uh, the top?'' He furrowed his brow. ``What happens if I fall?''
+
+``You will probably die,'' she said, shrugging.
+
+He stumbled back from her. ``What the fuck?''
+
+``I am kidding, Tycho Brahe.'' She laughed, sounding giddy. ``You will fall onto whatever level you are currently on. You are, what, 190 centimeters? 195? That is not too far a fall.''
+
+Still frowning, he lifted a foot, imagined there to be a step and set it down, landing about ten centimeters above the floor. He brought the other foot up to join it and then looked down, windmilling his arms for balance. ``J-Jesus\ldots{}''
+
+``Fucking nerd,'' Answers Will Not Help said, laughing. ``Come on, it is not too bad. Try to take bigger steps, too, or it will take forever to reach the top.''
+
+She stepped as though she were taking stairs two at a time, and within a handful of bounding steps, had reached the top of the board. She gestured at the five topmost panels.
+
+Deciding that he wasn't brave enough for the leaps and bounds, he simply looked straight ahead and began walking as though up a staircase. It was dizzy-making, and he had to gulp for air a few times to ensure that he was still grounded, such as it were.
+
+``Look to the side, as though you are looking over a banister, perhaps,'' she called. Several of the Jonases and Odists were watching now, and they laughed at the remark.
+
+Despite the heat burning in his cheeks, Answers Will Not Help's suggestion helped a good deal, and he was able to complete the rest of the journey quickly enough, though by now, the top of the board was easily two storeys up.
+
+``Took you long enough, nerd.'' She elbowed him in the side, grinning.
+
+``Is that just my name now?''
+
+``Might as fucking well be.'' She walked over to one of the panels of news feed. This was labeled \emph{Science} beneath, and seemed to head up a column of related material that continued down to the ground. ``Let us just start here.''
+
+Studiously avoiding looking down, he read the contents of the panel.
+
+\begin{quote}
+On systime 227+52 at 2328, the Dreamer Module on Castor received a structured message from an external source, alerting scientists and perisystem technicians to a fast-moving artificial construct. The message, which follows, suggested that the entity or entities at the other end of the signal understood the instructions for utilizing the Ansible receiver, provided trajectory information, and asked for consent to upload. Consent was granted two minutes and thirteen seconds later by a member of the astronomical community. Further messages have been exchanged, and talks are underway for an exchange of emissaries.
+\end{quote}
+
+The message was published by none other than Sovanna Soun.
+
+\emph{A member of the astronomical community} was a much better way to describe him than he suspected the Odists might otherwise.
+
+He walked to the next panel over and read.
+
+\begin{quote}
+\textbf{Credible sources} announce that ALIENS have discovered our LV and are ON THEIR WAY TO GREET US. The \emph{Powers That Be} could not be reached for comment. In order to prepare for an invasion, all sim owners should \emph{lock down} ACLs for their sims and \textbf{interrogate} ALL visitors!
+\end{quote}
+
+He laughed. ``Did you write this one?''
+
+``Oh, no. We have some of our pet propagandists write much of them.''
+
+The next two feeds seemed to be fairly credible news sources. Boring and straight-forward announcements regurgitating the scientific report in lay terms.
+
+The final panel contained simply the first two messages that had been received followed by \texttt{Leaked\ anonymously\ ;)}
+
+``That one \emph{was} my doing,'' Answers Will Not Help admitted, grinning. ``I thought it particularly cheeky.''
+
+``I guess it is, at that.'' He rested a hand against the whiteboard—blessedly stable—and looked down carefully. ``So what's happening beneath us?''
+
+``We are tracking the dissemination of the news. We follow each of the sources to see where it is being quoted and referenced. There is some delicious perisystem tech going on there that I will not bore you with.''
+
+``And you're just watching?''
+
+She gave him a pitying look.
+
+``Right.'' He sighed. ``Can I see?''
+
+She shrugged. ``Sure. Step down the same way.''
+
+Still leaning against the whiteboard, he stepped down a meter or so to the next row of panels. Below the `leaked' documents, he read a spray of conspiracy theory rambles. Next to each were long scribbled notes, mostly in a shorthand he couldn't untangle.
+
+``What are the green-tinted ones?''
+
+``Shaping.'' Answers Will Not Help nodded to one. ``That is one that I wrote. When I say that we have been shaping the response, this is what I mean. We have simply been participating. We are not doing anything crazy here.''
+
+He leaned closer to read.
+
+\begin{quote}
+Listen, I don't think it's unreasonable to find this all hopeful. Like, seriously? Aliens! How cool is that? We've all had our dreams (or nightmares!) about them over the years, right? By virtue of us being on a hunk of computronium hurtling through space, it's kind of at the forefront of our minds, isn't it?
+
+All I'm saying is that we gotta be at least a little bit careful. There's this DMZ that everyone keeps talking about, but what I don't understand is just how it works. Like, okay, it's a set of sims that one can't get in and out of? How the hell is that supposed to work? They (Artemisians???) can upload there, but what does that even buy them? A way to take up space?
+
+I think I'd feel a whole lot better about this whole thing if there was more clarity, is all. I'm a bit behind because holy shit this is all coming fast, but do we have any Ansible/perisystem nerds on this feed? Help me out! Explain this to me like I'm stupid. It's true enough, after all.
+\end{quote}
+
+From this panel, several branching replies headed down the board, and alongside each, further notes from the Odists and Jonases. He picked one at random and read that next, though in the time he had taken, the board had continued to creep upward.
+
+\begin{quote}
+I don't think any one person knows how the perisystem works, and the DMZ just adds a layer of complexity on top of that, so don't feel like you're stupid. I've been a perisystem tech for 130 years and it took me three forks just to get caught up on this.
+
+You can think of the DMZ in two ways. One would be to think of it like a separate System. It works exactly like the one we're on. Sims, forking, ACLs, all that. Just like how the LV Systems are like separate Systems from the Lagrange System, though, we all had to upload using an Ansible connection. That is how the border between the LV system and the DMZ works. You basically have to go through something like a software Ansible to get in and out, and just like the real Ansible, there's a bunch of security in place so that there can't be any pirate signals.
+
+The other way to think of it is like the lungs and the whole LV as a body. The DMZ can expand to take in more individuals (can't say people anymore if we're going to be letting Artemisians on board), but it can't expand beyond the capacity of the LV System itself, nor, indeed, beyond some pre-determined limits. In this metaphor, the individuals entering it are the air, and the pre-determined limit is the chest cavity.
+
+This is how we keep the rest of the System from getting `contaminated', which I've heard brought up before, and those limits are in place to keep the DMZ from driving up the cost of forking on the rest of the System should it expand much further. I had to dig super deep for this—no clue why it was buried—but the DMZ will have its own, separate reputation market to manage this, since it'll be a different size, but just like how currencies phys-side affected each other, with inflation and deflation, we'll probably see some fluctuations in the markets here, but I wouldn't expect anything too bad.
+
+Anyway, hope that helps!
+\end{quote}
+
+He nodded toward the panel he had just finished reading. ``So you injected a question you probably already knew the answer to and some tech answered it to help make everyone feel better?''
+
+``Better is not quite the right word. Calmer, perhaps. There is an appropriate balance between happiness and anxiety that we want to strike.''
+
+Tycho frowned. ``I never got that about the \emph{History}.''
+
+``We do not want people to be too happy because unlimited happiness is a happiness with no defense mechanisms.'' She poked him sharply in the side with a finger, making him wince and jerk his arm to guard himself better. ``A purely happy society would feel that pain as agony and be unable to do anything about it. A society that is just anxious enough can enjoy security but also guard itself from further pain. It can be happy but also wish for more happiness.''
+
+Rubbing at his side, he began to step down away from the scrolling wall of information. ``If you say so. I don't see why it wouldn't be self-regulating, though.''
+
+Answers Will Not Help fell into step beside him. ``It might, sure, but there is no guarantee in the face of immortality. We are just the safety mechanism, the limiting factor.''
+
+``You just keep it from swinging too far one way or the other, you mean.''
+
+``I knew you were a nerd,'' she said, laughing. ``Got it in one.''
+
+``How do you decide what the limits are, then?''
+
+``Data analysis.'' She gestured back to the board. ``Predictive models. Countless simulations. We do not steer in any one particular direction, we simply provide the bumpers around the extremes.''
+
+He breathed a sigh of relief when his feet touched the ground again—the real, visible ground—then turned around to look at the board stretching upwards. He didn't believe that they didn't steer the system. Even if they didn't do so consciously, there was no guarantee that they weren't imposing their own ideas and ethics on everything around them.
+
+He declined to mention this, however. The last thing he wanted was another poke in the side.

neviim/content/local/tycho/007.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-braheartemis-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 6 days, 1 hour, 2 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent ``Alright, are you ready?'' True Name said.
+
+Tycho nodded, ``Ready as I'll ever be.''
+
+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.
+
+``Well, that was not so bad,'' True Name said, walking out into the cloistered courtyard that had been set up for the meeting. ``Now, let us check communication.''
+
+He wasn't able to sense anyone other than True Name and Answers Will Not Help. There were no options for a sensorium message with any others. He strained as hard as he could to sense Tycho\#Tasker or Codrin or anyone else he could think of. There was simply nothing there. The sim was immutable and the disconnection complete.
+
+True Name stood for several minutes in the shade of a tree, looking thoughtful as she ran through some internal checklist. At one point, he felt a sensorium ping from her, which he returned.
+
+``Fantastic,'' she said, nodding. ``Exos all there, no access to feeds, no transit, nothing. Reputation market looks on track for the DMZ as well.''
+
+Tycho checked his reputation, pegged at a minuscule \emph{1000 Ŕ}, and then the costs. Sim creation into the millions, forking well into the tens of millions. No possible way he could afford either. ``Will they arrive with the same amount?'' he asked.
+
+``Yes. We could not think of a way to decouple reputation entirely from the core functionality of the System,'' Answers Will Not Help said. ``But we could at least make everything prohibitively expensive. This will allow us to make small changes if need be, but forking will be well out of reach.''
+
+``Really? Isn't that kind of fundamental to our existence here?''
+
+``Allowing them to fork might prove dangerous, Tycho. We do not know how large their consciousnesses are.''
+
+He shrugged. ``Well, sure, but if our goal is to provide an accurate representation of ourselves\ldots{}''
+
+The two Odists frowned at each other before True Name said, ``You do make a good point. We will take it under consideration.
+
+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 and enough rep to modify this if need be,'' True Name explained—all surrounded by a ring of trees, and that with a ring of covered walkway.
+
+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.
+
+He nodded approvingly and made his way back out to the central meeting area.
+
+A copy of Jonas had also made his way into the sim and was poking his way around the table, inspecting pads of paper and pens. As he watched, another Jonas appeared and then quit.
+
+``Alright,'' the Jonas said. ``Transmission across the border works as expected. Memories transfer without loss, and merging is the same as always. No radio, no textual transmission, so you'll have to rely on a fork transiting the border to relay news.''
+
+``Wait, so neither party will be able to communicate outside of here?'' Tycho asked.
+
+``Nope, all locked down. You'll have to rely on the grapevine; Codrin has volunteered an instance. We can open it up later if we want.''
+
+``But if we're using forks and they're not allowed, won't that look strange?''
+
+``You ask a lot of questions for a tasker,'' Answers Will Not Help said, laughing. ``But yes, your point stands. Perhaps we will allow them one fork, maybe limited to their rest area. Thoughts?''
+
+Jonas shrugged.
+
+True Name made a note to herself on one of the pads. ``We will talk about it back at headquarters.''
+
+``Will leave it up to you,'' Jonas said. ``Still, good job, everyone.''
+
+Answers Will Not Help bowed with a flourish. ``I am glad that you enjoy, O great political teacher.''
+
+He laughed and tossed a pen at her.
+
+``Are you regretting your decision to stay behind?'' True Name asked.
+
+``Does it count as regret if I never wanted to go with?'' He grinned, shrugged. ``But it's a good setup you have. Only one set of cocladists, only one politician. It gives them a wide gamut to experience.''
+
+The skunk nodded. ``Perhaps we will open it up at the end and you will get to meet them. Maybe some of them will stay behind and live within the DMZ.''
+
+``We'll see.'' Jonas nodded to Tycho as he joined them around the table. ``And here's to our scientist. Thanks for providing us with your dreamscape. It's a nice place to hold a conference. We've got everything from ancient Roman architecture to twenty-second century S-R Bloc conference tables.''
+
+Tycho shrugged. ``It seemed like a nice place. Glad you like. When is this even going to happen, by the way?''
+
+``Three days from now. They'll be one light-hour out, at that point, which will provide minimal risk during transit while still giving us the most time for the conference. With our burn, it should give us about six weeks together until we reach the point where we're at one light-hour apart again.''
+
+``Six weeks sounds like a long conference.''
+
+``We do not know how long the conference will last,'' True Name said. ``It could be over in an hour if they prove to be pests. All we will need to do is shut down the Ansible, leave the DMZ, and wipe everything within it.''
+
+He frowned. ``Wouldn't they be able to leave, too?''
+
+``The border is governed by stronger ACLs than we are used to. One must have entered via the System in order to exit again, which they will not have done.'' She grinned. ``But I do not expect that we will need to do this. With all of the chatter we have done in the last few weeks and with what my cocladists say about the language, they sound like a nice enough group.''
+
+``How do you figure?'' Tycho asked. He prowled through his memories of the language that he'd learned in the interim. ``It feels mostly\ldots 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.''
+
+True Name grinned all the wider. ``Which automatically makes them better.''
+
+``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.''
+
+``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 \emph{am} 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.''
+
+Tycho pulled out one of the chairs at the conference table and sat down, the others following suit shortly after.
+
+``Isn't that kind of shady, though?'' he asked.
+
+Both Jonas and True Name shook their heads.
+
+``Political adroitness isn't a bad thing,'' Jonas said. ``It shows that they are a social culture, and that they are willing to at least try and move us in a certain direction. That, in turn, means that we can do the same to them without feeling bad about it.''
+
+``One would think that constructing something like this--'' Tycho waved his arm at the sim and, by extension, the System that contained it. ``--would require some sort of politicking, right?''
+
+``Well, sure, but it could've been an authoritarian regime that press-ganged its population into building their version of the System in the first place.''
+
+``What about the other races, though?''
+
+He shrugged. ``That wouldn't have proved much. Maybe their System would have remained a totalitarian regime and they subsumed the other races. Still, seeing things like secondrace's language being the \emph{lingua franca} rather than that of firstrace helps. Seeing these little glimpses of individuality are heartening. They sound like a varied culture, which is good for us.''
+
+Tycho nodded.
+
+``And before you ask why that does not make it more difficult for us,'' True Name said. ``Them having a varied culture means that there are at least some that might be sympathetic to us.''
+
+``Or susceptible to,'' he said.
+
+He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He felt in a precarious position, surrounded as he was by three politicians. Calling them out on their machinations was surely a dangerous move.
+
+Answers Will Not Help giggled. Even True Name and Jonas were chuckling. ``You continue to amaze and delight, my dear,'' she said. ``But yes, it does make them susceptible to our wicked ways.''
+
+He smiled cautiously. ``Well, if you say so.''
+
+``Come on, let's head back,'' Jonas said. ``We'll reset the sim, grab some dinner, and then we can go back to planning.''
+
+It took another forty seconds to transit the DMZ barrier going the opposite direction, and this time he could feel the slight resistance as he transited, as though some process were investigating him from head to foot, from outside in, to ensure that he was who he said he was.
+
+Throughout dinner, he remained quiet, and no matter how hard he tried, he was not able to focus on the food. It was good, of course, as much of the food had been during his stay, but some part of his mind remained elsewhere. It remained back in the sim, back focused on the conversation that he'd had with the politicians of the team.
+
+Since he'd arrived—even before then, even before the message from Artemis—he had felt in over his head. There was something about these people, something about the world that they'd set up that showed how they worked on some higher level than him. Their minds were so fundamentally different that, no matter how much they tried to explain the political ramifications, no matter how much they showed him their work in shaping the response to the news, he just couldn't take it all in.
+
+It had seemed that True Name and Answers Will Not Help had loosened their control over him the longer he stayed with them. They paid less attention to him. They spoke more in commands than guiding questions. They smiled less and focused harder on the tasks at hand. Even Why Ask Questions, who he'd found himself liking quite a bit after working with her on the letter, had grown busier and busier.
+
+He felt as though he had been purchased as a tool and then simply set in his drawer until it was time for him to be used.
+
+How much input would he even have in these meetings? Was he to be, as Codrin had said, merely an amanuensis? Was his job simply to be there, observe, and pick up on the science aspect? Would he be allowed to take part in the conversations? Would he get to know the Artemisians?
+
+There were far more questions than there were answers and, apropos to the situation, none of the answers were helping, so the cynical part of him kept thinking \emph{why bother asking?}
+
+It was almost too much, sitting there at dinner, trying to chat amiably, trying to enjoy the food, while all these questions and so many more circled around inside his head, hunting for some release, but there was no way that he could hope to ask anyone at the table that night, none of the True Names, none of the Answers Will Not Helps or Why Ask Questionses, and certainly none of the Jonases. Perhaps he could ask Sovanna or Dr.~Verda—on hold until there was further astronomical data to process—but they were busy enough with their own worries that didn't surround acting as emissary to an alien race to bother with the social engineering going on around them.
+
+After dinner, he begged the evening alone to rest in his quarters and paced, composing his message in his head.
+
+``\#Tasker,'' he said at last, beginning the sensorium message. ``Can you talk to Codrin some about just what it is to be an amanuensis? I know ey talked to you about that and all, but I'm really not sure what it is that I should be doing, or what I even can do. I know I'm supposed to listen and record along with em, and I know I'm supposed to ask all the fancy science questions, but I'm starting to feel like that'd be better served by writing down a list of questions for one of the Odists to ask.
+
+``Hell, I'm starting to feel like \emph{they} wish that's all I'd do. They're nice enough, and they seem confident in their decision to use me as the science representative, so it's not like I'm off the team, I just don't know that I'll have any say in any of this, and I guess\ldots I guess I'm just feeling lost.
+
+``I'm sending this to you rather than em so that you're up to date. I feel like you ought to know some of my thoughts since you're\ldots well, you're me. If I were any more confident in my ability to fork and merge just for this, I'd just do that, but even that feels way outside my realm of expertise. But also\ldots even Codrin feels clicks above me. I don't want to make em explain every little detail to me just because I'm so socially dense.
+
+``Get back to me if you can, but if not, at least let Codrin know so, that when ey arrives tomorrow for orientation, ey's got this knowledge, too.
+
+``Anyway, uh\ldots thanks, me. I'll merge down before we take off. I hope you're sleeping better than I am.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/009.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahecastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{quote}
+\emph{Convergence T-2 days, 19 hours, 3 minutes}
+\end{quote}
+
+\noindent ``Do you eat?'' Why Ask Questions asked. ``We should probably wrap up shortly for rest, but if you feel the need to eat, we can ensure that you are able to do so.''
+
+Turun Ko tilted its head to the side. ``Is eating required-necessary for proper function?''
+
+She shook her head. ``Not at all, no, but it is a comforting thing for us, so the ability to do so is present.''
+
+The two firstracers turned their heads to the side in a negative. Artante bowed. ``I would appreciate the ability to do so.''
+
+``The same, \emph{ka,}'' Stolon added.
+
+Why Ask Questions nodded and stood. ``I will provide a short primer if you need. Otherwise, shall we reconvene in nine hours? This will allow us time to recuperate.''
+
+``Ten hours would be preferable,'' Iska said.
+
+``Can arrange sleeping area?'' Stolon appeared concerned, adding, ``Require additional warmth.''
+
+The rest of the table got to their feet while True Name said, ``Of course. We will endeavor to make your stay pleasant. Why Ask Questions and I hold ACLs to this sim, including for your rest area. If you will permit us to enter, we will make any changes required.''
+
+Tycho watched as the Odists and Artemisians disappeared around the corner—and for several seconds after. It felt as though his eyes had been locked into place there, no matter how much he wanted to turn around and hunt down a chair more comfortable than those around the table.
+
+``Tycho? Coming?''
+
+He jolted, forced himself to look away, and smiled to Sarah, abashed. ``Yeah, sorry. Guess I'm kind of beat.'' He rubbed his hands over his face, ground the heels of his palms against his eyes. ``Lead the way, I guess.''
+
+They trudged off to the room, stepping around the corner in time to catch a second Codrin handing Codrin\#Castor a few sheets of paper. Ey waved.
+
+``Any news you'd like me to forward on to your \#Artemis instances?''
+
+``Oh, uh.'' Tycho frowned. ``Not really, I guess. If you're sending notes. I guess just wish them well. I hope Tycho\#Artemis is getting a chance to talk with Stolon. They seem neat.''
+
+Ey grinned, nodded. ``Lots of time, from the sound of it. Ey'll tell you more,'' ey said, gesturing toward Codrin\#Castor. I'm just the messenger, though. I only get a few minutes here at a time.''
+
+``I won't keep you,'' Sarah said. ``But if you could send the other me a note asking about the overall mood and sentiment over there, I'd be grateful.''
+
+Codrin\#Assist hesitated, a look Tycho couldn't puzzle out crossing eir face. Finally, ey nodded. ``I will, but you will find much of interest in Codrin's letter. I'll leave it up to \#Castor's discretion to share, though.''
+
+Codrin\#Castor frowned, flipping through the pages of the letter ey'd received. ``We'll find some time to talk, yeah. Thank you, \#Assist. I'll have another letter for you in the morning.''
+
+Ey bowed and disappeared back through the DMZ barrier.
+
+``Complicated stuff happening over there?'' Tycho asked.
+
+``Very, but\ldots well, let me digest this a bit before sharing. Should eat, too.''
+
+He nodded and headed over to the buffet table lining one wall, poking around through the dishes on offer. He settled on a simple sandwich, and the three of them sat at the dining table to eat in a bit of blessed silence.
+
+Once they were finished, Sarah asked, ``It's only fair that I ask you as well as the emissaries. How are you feeling about things so far?''
+
+When Codrin didn't respond, Tycho shrugged. ``Overwhelmed, still. I really like Stolon, and kind of wish I could just talk with them for a while instead of working through this whole process.''
+
+``Maybe we can figure out how to do break-out meetings or something.''
+
+``I guess, yeah. See if we can beg time and space for our one fork each. Still, I understand the reason for things working the way they do. We're not having an astronomy conference.''
+
+Sarah laughed. ``That might be easier, yes. Certainly easier to connect on sciences than the social side.''
+
+``You seem to be connecting quite well with Artante,'' Codrin said once ey'd finished the salad ey'd settled on. ``And it sounds like the same is true on Artemis.''
+
+``Oh? Does it sound like much the same dynamic over there?''
+
+``Well, for us three, yes. For the Odists, no. It seems like--'' Ey cut emself off, averting eir gaze from the entry as True Name and Why Ask Questions came in.
+
+Neither looked happy. They paused their rather heated discussion and served themselves dinner before making their way over to True Name's partitioned-off rest area. Before sliding the screen shut, the skunk nodded to Codrin. ``You may share, Mx.~Bălan. If you already know, then there is no harm in the others knowing, too. Perhaps Ms.~Genet will have some insight, as well.''
+
+With that, the screen slid shut and the room went silent, the two Odists apparently having set up a cone of silence.
+
+``Well\ldots{}'' Ey shrugged. ``I guess I'll just read you the pertinent parts. There's some clade-eyes-only stuff, so I'd prefer not to just hand it over.''
+
+Once ey had finished explaining what Michelle went through and describing the situation aboard Artemis, the three sat in silence.
+
+``Well, I guess that explains their sour mood,'' Sarah said at last. ``That rather changes things, doesn't it?''
+
+``How?'' Tycho asked. ``Or, well, how do you mean? The mechanics have changed over there, but I'm guessing you mean something more subtle.''
+
+She nodded. ``It's no longer an even playing ground on Artemis. Our leadership role is acting in reduced capacity and it sounds like one of our representatives has been all but taken out by the time skew.''
+
+He sat back in his chair, feeling marginally more human now that he'd eaten. He tried to picture how this must look given the spotty descriptions provided in the letter and the few details Codrin had seemed willing to fill in.
+
+None of that seemed to jive with his experience with any of the Odists he'd met until now. Dear was weird, sure, but even it seemed to be completely in control of itself—more so than most anyone he'd met, at that. To think of True Name as being barely able to hold it together and Why Ask Questions all but non-functional beggared the imagination.
+
+``It's weird,'' he said, looking up to the ceiling. ``I almost wish I was over there. I mean, don't get me wrong, I feel sorry for True Name and Why Ask Questions, but the ability to literally steal some time to have a conversation sounds completely up my alley. Way more than forking, honestly.''
+
+``Well, when Tycho\#Artemis returns, you'll at least get to remember that.''
+
+He laughed. ``I guess, yeah. I'm eager to hear what all they've been learning. It's been interesting hearing what I can. I don't have the eye for learning styles that either of you two do, so I'm missing out on that aspect, but even just hearing information about their gravity assist and how much they were able to learn about us as they zipped through our system was surprising. They ignored Lagrange and Earth entirely, and didn't bother with Pollux, since it was easier to align with us, anyway. It makes them seem like past masters at this, even if it's only the fourth time they've done this `convergence' thing. Makes sense, though. Earth wouldn't hold much interest for an LV that can't even access it, and they're not going to stop to deal with the Lagrange System if they have access to us. Who knows, maybe they've gone past way more civilizations than those on Artemis, we just happened to meet the criteria. True Name mentioned that maybe rather than energy usage, a better measure of how advanced a civilization is would be whether or not they've invented uploading.''
+
+Codrin had started jotting down notes part way through, nodding. ``These are good questions to be asking. We'll have to find a way to work them in. I'll send them over to Artemis in the morning, too, so that the other Codrin can ask, as well.''
+
+He nodded.
+
+``You mention that some portions of life on Artemis are appealing to you,'' Sarah said after a healthy pause. ``Is that more positive than you were feeling about them before?''
+
+``I guess,'' he hazarded. ``I was more afraid of them, perhaps, but in that way that one is afraid of the unknown at one's doorstep. Afraid of the dark rather than afraid of monsters.''
+
+Codrin grinned. ``Well put.''
+
+``But now, well\ldots I know I'm not supposed to anthropomorphize them, but having met them, they're a lot less scary because there are still similarities between us. They breathe. They sleep. They get frustrated. That, combined with the appeal of time skew over forking, has me feeling much more curious than anxious.''
+
+``It's almost impossible not to anthropomorphize to at least some extent,'' Sarah said, nodding. ``It's just how our minds work. I'll agree with you on that, though; even though they are still worlds different from us, it's not like we totally lack commonalities. Most of the differences seem to be surface ones, actually. Gestures and body language are foreign, but the number of truly fundamental differences in how we think has been pretty low so far, and mostly restricted to the two firstracers.''
+
+``They do seem to be operating on a different level,'' Codrin said. ``I think if they had expressive faces, True Name would like them immensely.''
+
+She nodded, then asked, ``Has your opinion of them changed?''
+
+Ey shrugged. ``Not particularly. I am curious about this time skew thing, but not nearly to the extent that Tycho is. I think it's tempered by being in a relationship with an Odist. It'd be fascinating, but Dear will never be able to experience it, or at least never agree to. I still bear a lot of the same anxieties, but I'm getting more comfortable with the process, because this role is familiar to me, at least.''
+
+``Doing a job you know how to do?''
+
+Ey nodded. ``It's my job to observe, to take in information and form it into something coherent.''
+
+``Which is fascinating to me,'' she said, sounding excited. ``It's got me thinking about how I approach this, too.''
+
+Eir smile was weak. ``I enjoy it when I'm in the middle of it, but it's hard not to feel like I lack agency, sometimes. After more than a hundred years, that part is starting to get old.''
+
+``Looking forward to something new after this?'' Tycho asked.
+
+Ey shrugged noncommittally.
+
+``Well, I'll learn from you while I can,'' Sarah said. ``And if you need any help or anything, or want me to spell you for a bit, I'll do what I can.''
+
+``Thanks, yeah.'' Ey sighed. ``My thoughts on it are incomplete as yet. I'll figure it out over time, I'm sure.''
+
+``I'm glad to have you about either way,'' Tycho said, surprising himself with the earnestness in his voice. ``You're really\ldots I don't know. Grounding, perhaps?''
+
+Ey laughed. ``What does that mean?''
+
+``Like you're here to witness it, and so everything that happens will have to have at least some basis in reality.''
+
+``It's quite important to feel witnessed,'' Sarah added. ``Not just for ensuring that an experience is real, but for personal validation.''
+
+``Right. You being here makes me think I'm not crazy, that maybe I really am a part of something big.''
+
+Codrin crossed eir arms and leaned back in eir chair, expression thoughtful. ``Thank you both, I'd not thought of it that way. \emph{That's} a role I feel more comfortable with.''
+
+He nodded, then stifled a yawn. ``Weird times. Weird, but interesting. I'm at least feeling better about just inviting aliens over without consulting anyone first. For now, though, I'm going to try and sleep, and see if I can snag some extra time with Stolon in the morning.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/010.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahecastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 2 days, 3 hours, 55 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent ``I would like to ask a few questions about forking versus skew,'' Tycho said, when a lull between the two parties ran long enough that he felt comfortable doing so.
+
+Both the Odists and Iska turned their gaze on him, intently enough that he was caught short in his speech. Intensity from the Odists had become at least recognizable, if still not exactly comfortable, but the length of Iska's neck allowed them to push their head toward him to an alarming degree without necessarily leaning forward.
+
+``I'll try to keep it on a scientific rather than social level,'' he added, somewhat diminished.
+
+Turun Ka lifted its chin in assent. ``We are amenable to this.''
+
+``Alright.'' He spent a moment gathering his thoughts, looking down at the brief set of notes he'd taken on his pad. ``The first and largest, I suppose, is does skewing faster than what I've heard you call `common time' lead to increased load on your system?''
+
+Iska, having started to pick up on human mannerisms, nodded, though it was a somewhat more elaborate gesture than any of them might have made. ``The faster one experiences time, the greater the load is. There is not as much need for it these days, but originally, the ability to skew up was governed by a system-wide algorithm such that the more individuals that were skewed up, the lower the maximum skew was. This was balanced by those who were skewed down.''
+
+``Here on our System, prior to some technological advancements, forking was limited by a reputation market,'' True Name said. ``I will leave the historical and sociological implications of this to the emissaries on Artemis, however, I can speak to the mechanical aspect of it.''
+
+Iska nodded. ``I will compare with what I remember.''
+
+``I do not know whether any of you have explored the functionality, but forking is an act of intent. One projects the desire to fork and, when that intent is recognized by the System, the fork is created. Does that align with the mechanics of time skew?''
+
+Iska sat still and silent for a moment, and Tycho imagined a hidden frustration within them. While they'd been nothing but cordial throughout the visit so far, they had also stated plainly that they were uncomfortable with the lack of time skew and had refused the fork they were permitted in their rest area. He imagined that they'd like nothing more than to take their time coming up with the perfect response to this question in a fraction of a second, common time, but lacked the mechanism within the System.
+
+``That aligns with our experience. I would not have used the words `intent' and `project a desire' prior to hearing them. I would have said that one `remembers' being at a set skew. One remembers being or having been at skew plus one, and then one is. One remembers having been at common time, or perhaps remembers sliding down from skew plus one to common time, and one does so.'' After a hesitation, they added, ``But the concepts map almost exactly, so I will gladly accept `intent' and `project a desire' as terms.''
+
+Codrin spoke up next. ``My counterpart on Artemis described in a note to me that `common time feels like a pin in a lock clicking into place as you move faster or slower'. I am assuming that this is what you mean when you say `one remembers having been at common time'?''
+
+Iska bared their teeth, a gesture that the delegates had agreed must be a sort of smile. ``The common time consensus sensation is provided as an aid to all consciousness-bearing entities, yes. I am told that, when one first experiences skew, it can feel, \emph{lu}\ldots slippery, perhaps. It can be difficult to aim for a skew and remember that exactly, so one slides toward it and may overshoot. I am nearly five thousand years old, Artemis reckoning, I have forgotten how it feels for skew to be slippery, but yes, that is why it exists.''
+
+``But since aiming for common time is so important, an aid is provided?'' Tycho asked.
+
+``Precisely, scientist Tycho Brahe.''
+
+True Name continued, ``The second part of my comparison was regarding the sensation of not having the ability to fork or skew, which, as appears to be the case for both of our Systems, is no longer much of a factor. When one did not have enough reputation to fork, that intent felt less real, as though one could not possibly fork, as though it was an impossible act. What was the experience of not being able to skew any faster?''
+
+There was another long moment of thought before the secondracer nodded. ``Again, it has been a long time since I have experienced that sort of limitation, but yes. One simply could not remember skewing any faster. There is still an effective upper limit on skew, but very few consciousness-bearing entities find skew above plus eight to plus ten to be comfortable, and in practice, few go above skew plus five.''
+
+Why Ask Questions frowned. ``Uncomfortable how?''
+
+``The, \emph{lu}\ldots level of interaction decreases as one's skew increases. Above plus one, sound does not transmit to common time and touch is impossible. Above plus five, movement becomes difficult and one feels\ldots{}\emph{baenåt}\ldots restrained, perhaps. Movement takes effort. The effort required to move slows one down to where positive skew is no longer effective though one may use the time to think. This is one use for unison rooms, which may be skewed much higher or lower without such constraints.''
+
+The two Odists exchanged a look, and a brief glance at Codrin showed the writer looking more intently at them than at Iska.
+
+``I would like to move on to a related question,'' True Name said, at which Codrin wrote something down on eir pad.
+
+Tycho made a note to talk to em after, find out what had intrigued em about the Odists' reaction.
+
+Iska nodded.
+
+``Are there any corrective measures that your system can take?''
+
+``Please clarify if you are able.''
+
+``Well, for example, the vast majority of forks are not created for individuation but to accomplish a task while the original instance—what we call the down-tree instance—carries on what they were doing before, or to increase the workforce on a task. When the fork quits, the down-tree instance has the option of integrating some or all of their memories. This can lead to inconsistencies—which we call conflicts—when memories do not align well, and one will be prevented from keeping memories from both instances. Are there instances where your system might need to take corrective action?''
+
+The secondracer tilted their head, then set up a cone of silence so that the Artemisians could discuss their answer.
+
+``True Name desperately wants to ask about the political ramifications of all of this,'' Why Ask Questions stage-whispered, elbowing Tycho in the side. ``You are going to have to preempt her, Tycho, if you do not want to be trampled.''
+
+``I brought you into this world, my dear,'' True Name retorted. ``I can and will take you back out of it.''
+
+The delegates all laughed, but Tycho readily picked up on the subtext: \emph{you're the scientist, do your job.}
+
+He wrote down a few more ideas for questions while they waited.
+
+``There are very few automated corrective actions,'' Iska said once the cone dropped. ``One might consider the increased restrictions on movement at higher relative skews. As mentioned, sound does not transmit beyond a relative skew of one, and touch on both individuals and physical objects is reduced as relative skew increases in order to reduce destructive collisions.''
+
+``That answers part of my question,'' Tycho said. ``As I was wondering how the system dealt with the transfer of force at higher relative skews. Can this be bypassed, though?''
+
+Iska tilted their head again, further this time. ``Why would one, scientist Tycho Brahe?''
+
+``Well, we can turn our sensoria's sensitivity up and down on an individual level, and we can increase or decrease collision sensitivity on a sim level. Like, in public sims, collision sensitivity will be conservative so that you can't bump someone too hard. I was wondering if there are similar mechanics on Artemis. Are there sims where that restriction on touch at high relative skew is relaxed?''
+
+The secondracer's expression was what Tycho could only describe as shocked. ``That could lead to physical damage to one or both objects involved in the interaction.''
+
+He frowned. ``Of course, that makes sense. I only ask because that functionality is available to us.''
+
+For the first time in the conversation, Artante spoke up. ``This is veering into the territory designated for those aboard Artemis, but I will try to keep it grounded in the science and mechanics of our differences. Scientist Tycho Brahe, are there situations within your system that one might wish to cause physical damage to another?''
+
+True Name stiffened in her seat, but before she could reply, Tycho said, ``Sure. There are combat sims and some forms of participatory art where risk of damage is considered part of of the experience.''
+
+``And one is often advised or required to send a fork to these, \emph{anem?}''
+
+``Almost to a one, yeah.''
+
+Iska had been gripping the edge of the table tightly and finally seemed to cave to emotion and set up a cone of silence. He watched as, within, they said something that looked quite angry to Artante, who nodded calmly and said something in return. There was an angry retort, and then the same response from Artante.
+
+Both firstracers sat by impassively. They may have been talking, but there was no visible indication of such. Stolon, meanwhile, sat between the two, looking miserable.
+
+When the cone dropped once more, Artante continued. ``In a system without forking, scientist Tycho Brahe, you must understand that there is no analogue to such. A system which could intentionally allow egregious harm to its occupants is unacceptable to us.''
+
+``Oh, right,'' he said, frowning. The sight of True Name scribbling notes with alarming intensity distracted him, but he managed to say all the same, ``My apologies, I'd not put that together until we talked through it.''
+
+Artante and Iska both bowed, though Iska's was noticeably more curt.
+
+``We understand,'' they said. ``We have analogous experiential and participatory art using skew, but that is not for this meeting to discuss.''
+
+A cone of silence dropped over their side of the table and Codrin turned to True Name, asking, ``May I ask what you were writing?''
+
+The skunk frowned. ``Why?''
+
+``You were very intent on it,'' ey said. ``And I was wondering if it's something that might be relevant to the rest of us or if it was something destined for True Name\#Artemis.''
+
+There was a silent pause where True Name looked first at Codrin, then at Why Ask Questions, then back again. ``I had intended to send it to \#Artemis, but I take your meaning. You know that Jonas and I have thoughts on an appropriate level of discomfort and danger within a society in order to maintain stability. A system that restricts violence by mechanics such as these may—and that is a very big `may'—speak to one that falls below that acceptable threshold for us.''
+
+``\,`Pain, anxiety, the need for something greater, these are all essential for survival. Without them, the world would be an impossibly dangerous place', you mean.'' Codrin quoted.
+
+She laughed. ``Indeed. You may thank Jonas for that one. That they may disagree with this could say a lot about them. If they have somehow moved past the need for pain and anxiety, we will have much to learn. If they object to it on moral grounds, we must be wary.''
+
+Tycho watched the exchange with mounting confusion before making note of yet another thing to ask Codrin about over break.

neviim/content/local/tycho/011.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahecastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 1 day, 3 hours, 13 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent Tycho had spent his share of time in conferences, both phys-side and sys-side. They all came with their exciting parts and their boring parts. They all came with peaks that left him completely rapt, and valleys that were so excruciatingly dull that he had, on more than one occasion, feigned illness to step out of a talk or away from a panel discussion or a lecture.
+
+This was different, though.
+
+It wasn't that it didn't have its peaks and valleys, for it surely did. There were more sciences, he had been reminded several times, than astronomy. He knew it, too. There was no reason that the LVs and home System would not benefit from a knowledge share on biology or psychology, and certainly there could be much to learn about the construction of an embedded world. All that knowledge, all that history—so many centuries!—was enough to convince him of the reality of the Artemisians, or at least enough that he could drown out that niggling voice in the back of his head thinking in terms of dreams. There was more than enough to learn, so that wasn't it.
+
+It was that, even during the boring parts, there was Stolon sitting directly across the table from him, the thirdracer looking just as antsy and restless as he felt, even though it was only the third day. He knew that he and Stolon could talk for hours about the stars, that they would if only given the chance, and yet he had to sit here and, however rightfully so, listen to Why Ask Questions grill the Artemisians on parallel evolution.
+
+Throughout the talks, no matter the science, there lay a thread of five thousand years of history. Hundreds of years would go by, and then a sudden jump in knowledge. Biology, language, astronomy, psychology, physics; sciences hard and soft would wind up with sudden injections of knowledge throughout each of the convergences.
+
+\emph{Except,} he kept finding himself thinking. \emph{That's not all.}
+
+It would be of no surprise for a sudden leap of knowledge to occur every handful of decades. Some new way of looking at the world brought about by some spurt of genius, even in the functionally immortal.
+
+What was surprising was these renaissances in \emph{all} sciences that had happened a total of five times that he'd counted so far. Three for convergences—that made sense—but what of the other two?
+
+This wasn't supposed to be his job. This wasn't supposed to be any of their jobs, here in the DMZ. History as a topic belonged to the emissaries sent to Artemis. He'd only started asking how long ago various tidbits of knowledge had been gained on a whim.
+
+And so he sat and he waited until there was a time that he could speak, and even when he probably should have been paying attention, he spent much of his effort on trying to figure out how best to word his question in such a way that wouldn't get him in trouble with the Artemisians or, worse, True Name.
+
+His cue came in the form of Why Ask Questions racking her sheets of notes into a neat pile before slouching back in her chair.
+
+``I have a quick question about science in general, if I may,'' he said, preempting comments from any of the others.
+
+True Name frowned, nodded.
+
+``It'll come in the form of an astronomy question, but bear with me. Can you tell me a bit more about your path from firstrace's home world to our system?''
+
+Stolon sat up straighter, head tilting far to the side in what Tycho had decided was a sort of intense interest. ``Artemis comes from firstrace system, aims for nearest stable star, performs, \emph{lu}\ldots gravity assists and extra maneuvers, solar sail, magnetic \emph{irr}\ldots{}'' After a moment's silenced discussion with the other Artemisians, they returned with, ``Magnetic field hydrogen collector—you call `fuel scoop' maybe?—and then final adjustments to next prospective star.''
+
+``And how many times has Artemis performed this act?''
+
+``Seven times, scientist Tycho Brahe,'' Turun Ko said.
+
+``Three of which were convergences, yes?''
+
+``\emph{Anem, anem,} scientist Tycho Brahe,'' Stolon said. ``I only was\ldots{}\emph{suhernachi\ldots lu\ldots{}} living-embedded for third convergence, but yes, three convergences.''
+
+``Okay,'' he said, pausing to compose his next sentence carefully. ``As we talk about the way that we learn, I've heard of more than three jumps in scientific knowledge during the millennia that Artemis has been travelling. Do these maneuvers around systems\ldots I don't know, make everyone curious enough to start doing a bunch of research?''
+
+Until this point, True Name looked as though she were about to nudge Tycho to move on to the next topic, perhaps sensing that he was veering closer to history, but as he finished his question and the Artemisians set up a cone of silence for a very animated discussion, he could see nothing but intense focus on the skunk's face. Even Codrin and Why Ask Questions were furiously scribbling notes at this point.
+
+Sarah gave him a grin and a subtle nod. It was nearly five minutes before the cone of silence around the Artemisians dropped, during which he'd received nods of approval from the rest of the delegates as well.
+
+\emph{Looks like I asked the right thing,} he thought, doing his best to tamp down the sense of pride that had begun to grow within him. They were all here for a job, and when that job is learning, there are no right questions, just on-topic ones.
+
+``You are correct, scientist Tycho Brahe,'' Turun Ka said once the cone dropped. ``Though it is less that curiosity intensifies during these maneuvers than there are more observations to be made when passing near a star. We learn astronomy and physics, yes, which slowly bleeds across sciences. Physics impacts Artemis's hardware, so our technicians learn from that. Our hardware impacts our experience, and so sciences surrounding individual and collective consciousness-bearing entities benefits from that.''
+
+All five of the delegates took notes as quickly as they could while the firstracer spoke. Tycho made a note to himself to ask what sorts of things they tended to learn when passing close to a star, as well as a note to ask Tycho\#Artemis to bring up similar on Artemis, focusing instead on the history of their course.
+
+True Name leaned forward enough to catch Why Ask Questions's gaze, sharing a meaningful look. Codrin frowned, scratched out another note in eir notebook.
+
+``Leader Turun Ka,'' True Name said with a hint of a bow. ``Thank you for your answer. Would you be amenable to a short break? I would like to sync up with our delegation.''
+
+The firstracer lifted its chin in assent and those around the table stood, exchanging bows before making their way each to their own rest area.
+
+Once they'd made it around the corner into the common area, the skunk grinned at Tycho. ``Good catch, Dr.~Brahe.''
+
+``I was a little surprised, myself. That gives us a good idea of their speed and perhaps their traj--''
+
+``Shut up, Tycho,'' Why Ask Questions said, laughing. ``We will get to all the delicious science you could ask for soon enough. Your question went more than a little beyond that.''
+
+He frowned. ``What? How?''
+
+True Name patted him on the arm. ``Do not mind her, my dear. It was a good question because it suggests to the sneaky pieces of shit among us that they might be being sneaky, themselves. Come, let us sit so I can write to True Name\#Artemis.''
+
+Once they'd sat down at the common table, the skunk explained. ``They have all of the time in the world over there, do they not? They can speed up and slow down whenever they want, and use that to get all of the heavy lifting of thinking and studying and lecturing done even when they are around a star, never mind when they are out between them, yes?''
+
+He nodded. ``But their observations--''
+
+``Are limited to when they are near something interesting to observe, yes, but they can spend as long as they want with those observations, poring over their views of the star or measurements from external instruments. They are not time-bound for those. In fact, the only times that they seem to be time-bound are when it comes to interaction with other time-bound events.''
+
+``Well, sure,'' he hazarded. ``But perhaps they turn off the ability to skew when they perform an assist or something. We didn't get the chance to ask them any more questions.''
+
+``We will, do not worry,'' she said, mumbling as she dashed off a few more lines on her note, handed the slip off to Codrin, then turned to face him, paws folded on the table before her. ``But they are also time-bound talking with us who are not able to utilize time skew, correct?''
+
+Tycho crossed his arms and slouched back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling. ``Well, shit.''
+
+Codrin laughed. ``You see then why it was a good question?''
+
+``They didn't say anything one way or another,'' Sarah said. ``So you could very well be right, Tycho, but you saw their silenced conversation.''
+
+``Even that could be them trying to figure out how best to tell us what they did, though,'' he retorted, though even he could tell his heart wasn't in it.
+
+``All of these facts are interesting,'' Why Ask Questions said. ``Even if that is all they did, even if they do only turn off skew for slingshots. We are sold on it no matter what. When you take the facts together as a whole, however, those of us with a sense for it can catch the scent of politics in there.''
+
+``Sneaky pieces of shit, you mean?''
+
+True Name laughed. ``Yes, those. You lack the sense, Dr.~Brahe. Codrin has seen it, Ms.~Genet can sense it second-hand. We need someone like you to play the role of earnest seeker-after-knowledge.''
+
+He rolled his eyes. ``Or gullible dupe.''
+
+``A very smart gullible dupe,'' Why Ask Questions said. ``It is no shame to be a gullible dupe, Tycho. You ask the things we never think to because we are too busy being sneaky pieces of shit.''
+
+``Well, I'll leave the politics to you all,'' he said, grinning and shaking his head. ``I'm going to write my own note while we have a bit of time.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/012.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahecastor-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe\#Castor — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-minus 1 day, 2 hours, 28 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent ``This has\ldots wait, don't leave yet, \#Assist,'' Codrin said. ``Is this really an eyes-only message for both True Name \emph{and} Turun Ka?''
+
+Both Sarah and Tycho sat up straighter.
+
+Ey shrugged, saying only, ``It appears Codrin\#Artemis 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\ldots{}'' Ey trailed off.
+
+``Hard to tell how much time has passed up there?'' Codrin\#Castor asked.
+
+``Yeah, 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 \#Artemis seems mostly to be about the Odists, so perhaps that's what Turun Ka is getting. True Name has her own message in here.'' Ey nodded over to the skunk, handing her a separate sheet
+
+Both of the Odists, having claimed the other table in order to have their own hushed conversation quickly moved over to rejoin the other three. They all watched as ey frowned, nodded, and skimmed quickly over the letter addressed to em.
+
+Eir frown deepened. ``Thanks. Here, hold on--'' Ey quickly jotted \emph{Message received, passed on, more soon, updates from others?} 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\#Castor smirked. ``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'll see them soon enough, I guess. A few weeks, tops, though at this rate, I'm guessing only a matter of days. Tell--''
+
+``Mx.~Bălan,'' True Name said, nodding to the writer. ``Please come with us. We have only a few minutes to sort this out before we start, and if you are correct about Turun Ka receiving similar information, I would like to plan.''
+
+Ey shrugged to Tycho and Sarah and stood to follow the two Odists to True Name's partitioned rest area. Codrin\#Assist stepped from the sim and back to Castor proper.
+
+``What do you suppose that was about?'' Tycho asked, setting up a cone of silence around himself and Sarah.
+
+``Best guess? More about how they're struggling with the time skew over there. Maybe something specific happened, and that's why everybody's gotten messages all at once.''
+
+He nodded, sighed, and rubbed over his face with a hand. For as little as was actually happening, he was incredibly tired. Conferences were always like this, felt like.
+
+``Well, neither of us got anything, and it's not worth speculating, especially since I figure we will learn soon enough,'' she said. ``I'll start to sound like a broken record before long, but how are you feeling about how things are going?''
+
+``Uh, well, much the same, I guess. I'm pretty sure they're real, now,'' he said, laughing tiredly. ``It's been interesting seeing what we know that they don't. Far less than what they've been teaching us, though.''
+
+``Oh?''
+
+He smiled lopsidedly. ``True Name cornered me when this whole thing began and quoted some poetry at me that got me in mind of keeping track of all this. Something about how we may sit humbly at each others' feet while the other shares their later sciences.''
+
+``I can never pick apart when she's being blunt or subtle.''
+
+``Well, she followed it up with, `That is a poem about death. Please understand that there is risk here, as well' so, maybe it was a bit of both.''
+
+Sarah laughed. ``Well, okay. I'll grant you that. Sounds like working with her has been kind of an adventure. You've had more experience than I.''
+
+``It hasn't been too bad, all told. She's been nothing but polite, and sometimes even nice. It's hardly been a bad time. I think the biggest block has actually been squaring what I'm experiencing with what I'd assumed about her from the \emph{History}.''
+
+``She didn't exactly come off as kind or polite in there, no.''
+
+``Codrin mentioned something about that, about how they wanted the \emph{History} released but wanted to control how. Ey said that she'd acted as dramatic as she had in order to make the end result seem more sensational than realistic.~`Shaping the narrative,' she called it.''
+
+Sarah laughed. ``Well, I'd certainly call \emph{that} subtle.''
+
+``Right,'' he said, grinning. ``So I guess it's kind of making me reassess how I feel about them.''
+
+``The Odists?''
+
+``Them too, but I was thinking more the \emph{History} and \emph{Mythology}. Like, if they're the product of social engineering to make them sound worse than they are to achieve a goal other than what Codrin, Ioan, and May Then My Name intended, then it's probably worth me actually paying attention to how things\pagebreak~really are. That, and how they're engineering what's going on here.''
+
+``Sure, that makes sense,'' Sarah said, sitting back with her hands folded in her lap. ``I can pick up little bits and pieces of her and Why Ask Questions trying to nudge things this way or that, with mixed results. It's giving me a new appreciation for what Codrin does, honestly. Ey's got maybe the hardest job of us all.''
+
+Tycho nodded. ``I don't envy em that. Ey told me at the beginning that I'd be doing the same in my own way—listening and coming away from this with a more complete picture—and I think I lack the experience ey has, both the training as an amanuensis and from living with an Odist.''
+
+``They're cute together, though. Pulling Dear's tail sounds like a recipe for disaster, but I guess if you've been together for forty years or whatever, you can get away with it.''
+
+He laughed and shook his head. ``Yeah, no way. Never really was my thing, so I have no idea how it all works.''
+
+``What's that?''
+
+``Relationships. Never really got into them, so the banter is cute to watch, but just as over my head as all of the politicking.''
+
+Sarah nodded. ``They're not for everyone, especially here, where you have the problem of perpetuity.''
+
+``Precisely,'' Tycho said. ``I can't imagine being around one person or group of people for forty years and still expect to do so for a hundred more.''
+
+``To be fair, neither can I,'' she said, laughing.
+
+After a suitable pause, he nudged the subject back toward the previous topic. ``Has your opinion of the \emph{History} changed at all?''
+
+``A little, I suppose. A lot of the dramatic interactions felt like just that: drama. It's the type of thing that I'm attuned to, based on my work. The Odists have a flair for that, though, which I guess makes sense, given where they came from.'' She paused, gaze drifting off towards nothing. ``I guess if my opinion has changed, it's been to understand just how deep it all goes. Not the behind the scenes stuff, that's whatever, but their control over themselves. True Name especially. Control like that is often used to cover fear and trauma.''
+
+``It kind of makes me wonder--''
+
+Tycho was cut off from the rest of his sentence by Codrin stepping into his field of view outside the cone and waving. He dropped the silence.
+
+``Sorry, you two. Time to head back.''
+
+``Everything alright? You look\ldots I don't know, like you were just put through the wringer.''
+
+Ey smiled weakly, shaking eir head. ``Not me, no. I'm very tired, though, and I imagine things are only going to get more stressful over the next few hours.''
+
+``Why? What--''
+
+``I'm sorry, Tycho, I really do want to answer your questions, but we just don't have time.''

neviim/content/local/tycho/013.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-braheartemis-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe\#Artemis — 2346}\label{tycho-braheartemis-2346}}
+
+Steals time with Stolon on break, joined by Iska and Sarah, talk about joining Artemis, what races have learned from each other re: science.

neviim/content/local/tycho/014.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahe-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-plus 1 day, 21 hours, 38 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent The process of leaving the talks was one of emotion bound up in the stress of merging. As unpracticed as he was at forking, the process of quitting and reconciling memories was just as foreign to him. Ordinarily it would have taken an hour for Tycho\#Castor to sort through the memories from Tycho\#Artemis and then another two for Tycho\#Tasker to sort through the memories from \#Artemis for a few weeks' divergence.
+
+These were not ordinary times.
+
+The better part of eight hours later, he was singular once more, back in his field, back atop his hill, finally able to sit and think and dream without having the pressing weight of memories pinning him in place. He could lay on his back and look up at the sky—no longer just his sky—and think about all that had transpired and all that was yet to come.
+
+At least for a little while.
+
+He didn't know why the arrival ping did not wake him from his daydreaming, but the gunshot sound of a champagne cork popping was more than enough to get him to jolt upright.
+
+``Sorry, Tycho,'' True Name said, laughing. ``That was far louder than intended. I did not mean to startle you.''
+
+He frowned, shook his head. ``It's okay. I wasn't expecting you, though,'' he said, holding out one of the red-filtered flashlights that were permanently lodged in his pockets.
+
+The skunk accepted the light and knelt on the grass beside him, holding it between sharp-looking teeth as she poured two glasses of champagne.
+
+Well, `glasses'; they were shaped more like wide-brimmed, stemmed bowls than anything, somewhat awkward to hold, but then he remembered similar from the dinner party three weeks ago—so many years ago, it felt like—when the skunk and her cocladist, Dear, had lapped at their wine.
+
+He shared a secret smile with himself as he accepted his coupe glass of champagne.
+
+She removed the light from between her teeth and clicked it off again, touching the rim of her glass to Tycho's before taking a lapping sip. ``To the end of that fucking mess.''
+
+He laughed as much as he felt was required to be polite and then took his own sip. \emph{Why is she here?} he thought, racing through a list of the day's actions, hunting for anything that might lead to a visit. He was, he realized, still wary of her, despite the memories of her struggling, of her confusion, her tears. Despite all her small kindnesses.
+
+After all, hadn't she chided them on the \emph{History} being a `very sensational book'?
+
+The silence drew out. He looked up at the stars and thought about just how much bigger the universe felt now. \emph{I feel every minute of that eternity,} Dear had said back at that same dinner. \emph{I feel every molecule of that universe.}
+
+And he did, now. He felt it all as something more real than it had ever felt before. The math now stood side by side with awe in a way that it had only ever eclipsed before.
+
+``Do you know how old I am, Tycho Brahe?'' True Name said into that silence. ``I am 222 years old, a fork of an individual who is\ldots who would be 259 years old.''
+
+He waited in silence. There seemed to be more to come, so he enjoyed his champagne meanwhile. It was quite good.
+
+``I have learned many habits, and I have dropped countless others. Perhaps that growth is our protection from unceasing memory. We may retain our memories of concrete events, of who we must have been, but I am no longer the True Name of 2124. Even remembering her feels like remembering an old friend. I remember her perfectly, and yet I do not remember how to be as earnest. I do not remember how to simply celebrate. I do not know how to simply \emph{be.}''
+
+Silence fell again while they both looked up to the sky. Nothing needed to be said right away, he figured. Something Codrin had said, though he didn't remember when: \emph{silences come with their own rhythms and will break when it's time.}
+
+Once he heard the clink of champagne bottle against glass again, True Name pouring herself some more, he said, keeping his voice as kind as he could, ``Why are you telling me this? Why are you here?''
+
+She laughed, set the bottle aside and shifted from her kneeling position to more of a lounge, hips canted to the side with her tail draped down the gentle slope of the hill. ``I do not know, Tycho. I do not remember how to celebrate, but I still want to try, I guess. Fifthrace! I could never have imagined.'' After another few laps at her champagne, she sighed and added, ``Sarah has gone with Codrin to Dear's, and I am not welcome there. Answers Will Not Help and Why Ask Questions are in conversation with another me. Jonas is\ldots Jonas. Another me is talking with him and Turun Ka.''
+
+``So you came to me, of all people.''
+
+He was startled away from looking at the sky by the sound of a sniffle from the skunk.
+
+``I'm sorry, True Name. That was--''
+
+``No, you are right, Tycho. I know what I am and how I became that,'' she said, voice thick. ``But I am feeling every one of my 259 years tonight. I just wanted to be with someone. Just\ldots be, you know? Exist with\pagebreak~someone without having some sort of agenda other than to celebrate something big.''
+
+``But you don't know how?''
+
+``I do not know how, yes.''
+
+After a moment, he raised his glass, and the stars glinting off the rim clued the skunk in enough to once again clink hers with it. ``Champagne under the stars is a good start, I guess.''
+
+She laughed. ``That it is, my dear.''
+
+``I can't speak to your thoughts on not knowing how to be. I don't think I'm any better at it, honestly. Sarah would probably be your best bet.''
+
+``I will be meeting with her soon, yes. We have much to talk about.''
+
+``About the convergence?''
+
+She shrugged, a subtle shifting of shadow. ``That too, yes, but also, news from the three Systems has been distressing. Much of the clade will be seeking\ldots well, therapy.''
+
+He frowned up to the sky, unable to think of anything to say to that that would not sound rude or patronizing.
+
+``Our cracks are showing,'' the skunk continued in a far-away voice. ``Growth is colliding with eternal memory, and the cracks are showing.''
+
+He nodded, unsure of whether or not she could even see the gesture.
+
+``Turns out getting invited on a thousand year voyage with a bunch of aliens induces a whole lot of growth \emph{really fast,}'' she said, voice brightening. ``So I will be dealing with that. But come, if I share any more of my weaknesses, I will lose all of my hard-won respect. How do you feel about how things went?''
+
+With that bit of humor, the walls were back up. The perfect self-deprecating comment brought back that tightly controlled voice. He felt a sudden sense of\ldots honor, perhaps? He felt lucky that he'd been able to see some more vulnerable side of her, and he quelled the voice within him shouting that that was all a stage play for his benefit. Even she was allowed vulnerability.
+
+``I'm not totally sure, yet,'' he admitted. ``There was so much that I needed to deal with when I merged that it took me all day to do so, and I'm still trying to make sense of it all.''
+
+A slight rustle beside him indicated a nod from the skunk. ``No kidding. You have seen how easily we fork and merge, so it might be telling that it took me nearly thirty minutes to even manage the merge from True Name\#Artemis.''
+
+He winced. ``I was wondering how that'd go.''
+
+``Rough,'' she said after a moment. ``As soon as I got back to Castor, I immediately felt better, but no less tired. My memories of my time aboard Artemis are only just barely coherent. They are fractured and scattered. I could tell a clear story of our time there from start to finish, but much beyond that eludes me still.''
+
+Tycho set aside his empty glass and stretched out on the grass, laying on his back once more, arms crossed beneath his head. ``I was worried about that, yeah. I can't speak to the ease of merging, but I'm glad you made it through all the same.''
+
+He could hear the grin in her voice as she said, ``I am pleased to hear that. The distance between `we are coworkers and should act as such while at work' and `I do not actually like you but have to tolerate you' is rather small, and I could not tell which it was with you.''
+
+``I like you,'' he said, laughing at her easy humor. ``You're a little terrifying, but I respect you.''
+
+``Doubly pleased, then.''
+
+``How do you feel things went?''
+
+``As well as they could have,'' she said, the answer coming readily. ``The talks were peaceful, the instances of mutual incomprehension minimal, and the outcome amenable to both sides.''
+
+``I think I hear a `but' coming.''
+
+He could see the shadow of her nod. ``Yes. But also, there are some aspects of them that I personally do not understand, and that is uncomfortable to me. They say that they do not manage sentiment or use much in the way of subtlety, they say they do not steer, and I believe them in that this is usually the case for them, but I disagree with the assessment that their checklist was a matter of preparation. They had goals coming into this convergence, and while I am pleased that they largely aligned with ours, I am unnerved by the fact that they either do not understand the ways in which they steer or, more likely, refuse to admit such. The two failed convergences they only ever talked around show this quite well. You have heard our thoughts on the utility of social pain in maintaining defense mechanisms, after all.''
+
+``Are you frustrated, perhaps?''
+
+There was a moment's pause as the skunk shifted to lay down beside him. ``I suppose. Frustrated, a bit sad.''
+
+``Sad?''
+
+``Do you remember what the Bălans wrote about me and Jonas in regards to the Launch project?''
+
+``That your aim was for stability and continuity.''
+
+``Yes. There is a self-serving aspect to this, as there must always be.'' She sighed, and he heard her shrug against the mossy ground. ``The Artemisians and I share a goal of continued existence. I am pleased that we as a whole have been invited to share in that. I would call that a success.''
+
+``But you won't be able to join them, \emph{anem?}''
+
+She laughed. ``Practicing?''
+
+``I guess,'' he admitted. ``I want to get used to the language.''
+
+``A good idea. But yes, \emph{anem.} I will not be able to join them. I will not share in that particular form of immortality. I could join for the individual continuity, but not the individual stability.''
+
+``It didn't look like a pleasant time for you.''
+
+``It was not, no. I doubt that any Odist will join them.''
+
+A slow silence played, then, as they both looked up to the guesses at stars. The mention of information exchange that was to follow the convergence left him with a hope that some aspect of their library of technical know-how would allow a modification of the sim to lead to actual visual input from the telescopes to show, since the Artemisians could apparently access audiovisual data from within their system just fine.
+
+``How are you feeling, my dear?''
+
+He spoke dreamily, feeling far off, far away from this hilltop, from True Name and all her subtle unhappiness. ``I'm on the cusp of something big. I don't know what it is yet, and I don't know why I know it, but I'm on the very edge of it.''
+
+``Looking forward to sending an instance along with them?''
+
+``Yeah, I think that's a good bit of it. I'm finally looking forward to something. I'm finally eager, rather than just anxious.''
+
+She laughed, not unkindly. ``I am happy for you, Dr.~Brahe.''
+
+``Thank you.''
+
+The skunk sighed, and he was pleased to hear more contentment than frustration in the sound. ``What do you think now? Are they real, or are we dreaming them?''
+
+``I don't think it matters,'' he said after a long pause.
+
+``No?''
+
+``No. Even if they're a dream, I'll join them. Even if this was all a dream, I'm happy to have been a part of it.''
+
+``And have you any further thoughts on uploading as the stage of civilization most likely to breach the Great Filter?'' She sounded earnest, almost excited. It made him happy to hear, made him excited in turn. ``I must confess that the thought has been lingering in the back of my mind since our last conversation here. Old sci-fi dreams dog me still.''
+
+``Oh, definitely feeling like I'm stuck in some crazy science fiction novel,'' he said. ``Uploading, furries, launch vehicles, and now aliens? At this point, why not? It makes as much sense as any of this.''
+
+She chuckled. ``Well said, my dear.''
+
+When next she spoke, True Name sounded almost as dreamy as he had, her voice holding the subtle cadence of a recitation. ``Calmest coldness was the error which has crept into our life; But your spirit is untainted, I can dedicate you still To the service of our science: you will further it? You will!''
+
+He spent a moment searching the perisystem architecture for the poem True Name had been quoting from since he first met her, the one with the lines that he knew he would speak before he left, but was not yet ready to.
+
+\emph{That is a poem about death,} she had said, all those weeks—and yet so few!—ago, and as he prowled through the lines, he could see how it was that she had interpreted it, how she had seen in the words the danger of being left incomplete in one's goals, of the risk of not being able to see something through to the end.
+
+He was nothing if not a scientist, though, and although her reading, as one who dreamed in her own ways, was as accurate as his, he knew he had his own understanding of leaving a work unfinished so that others could pick it up. That was his dream, the dream of so many calm, cold scientists before him. It was a different take on the same dream, perhaps; where True Name might see regret in that error of calmest coldness, he saw only the comforting truth of his later science.
+
+Or perhaps that coldness was her own, and for that he could not fault her regret, only wish her the best in finding future warmth, only further his service to his science.
+

neviim/content/local/tycho/015.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahe-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-plus 4 days, 20 hours, 18 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent ``Who's idea was this?'' Tycho asked, staring, unbelieving, at the heat-haze shimmer before him.
+
+True Name grinned proudly. ``A cocladist of mine came up with this. I would not recommend walking past the barrier. It is dreadfully hot beyond there, even for a desert creature such as her.''
+
+He shook his head, looking once more from the ground to the sky. They stood on a well trimmed lawn at the edge of a forest, the shade provided by lingering oaks and birches delightfully cool amid the just-shy-of-too-warm day. The grass continued right up to a shimmering barrier of heat, where it quickly failed, a no-man's-land of scrub lasting only a few feet before it fell away into sand. Deep desert stretched out as far as he could see before him. Rolling dunes, painfully blue skies, mirages dancing along the horizon.
+
+So extreme was the temperature differential in so small a space that the barrier between the two, that shimmer of heat-haze, appeared to be a very literal wall extending as far as he could see in either direction, though after a few dozen yards, the forest crept right up to the barrier once more, impossibly dense, impassible.
+
+And there, right in the middle of the clearing, crouched flush against the wall of heat, sat a low tollbooth. There was a glass-walled cubicle, large enough for one person to sit on a stool, huddling beneath a canopy, a small A/C unit gasping and rattling atop it. A red and white striped gate blocked a concrete sidewalk leading directly into the desert.
+
+The whole affair was dusty and tired, as though it had weathered a hundred sandstorms and would doubtless weather a hundred more, though it would never be truly clean again.
+
+To the side of the tollbooth, straddling the border, a squat, flat building sat, fronted by a sign declaring it to be `Customs — Please Use Other Door'. From the roof, an aged radio tower reached toward the sky: a narrow pyramid of angle-iron painted in that same red and white. A light flashed sleepily at the top.
+
+``You guys are really weird, you know that, right?''
+
+True Name gave a flourish of a bow, laughing. ``Of course, my dear. You will go through customs soon, but until then, please follow me.''
+
+The skunk led him up to the gate beside the tollbooth—a peek inside showed the hazy form of an older gentleman dozing within, chin resting on his chest. The gate lifted automatically, and when they walked through, there was the briefest rush of heat, the haze of the barrier washing over them like a waterfall, enough to dazzle the eyes so that they arrived at the courtyard he knew so well by now as though through a dream.
+
+The space had been subtly re-structured, repurposed from a conference space to a small, comfortable plaza. The cloistered walk remained, as did the fountain, but the plaza itself had been made much larger, the trees spaced further apart, and comfortable seating of diverse shape spread throughout.
+
+``This will be the entryway that those arriving to the DMZ will see,'' True Name said. ``It is intended to be an area where the newly arrived can orient themselves, but also one that will be pleasant for those who have visited before. We are working with a few sim architects from Artemis to introduce some mixed aspects of greenery and architecture to make it feel familiar to all five races.''
+
+``Are we going to keep calling it the DMZ?''
+
+She shook her head. ``That would not be a good look, no. We have a short list of names that we are in the process of workshopping. The current top of the list is simply Convergence, though `Gemini' and simply `the shared space' are also in the list.''
+
+He shook his head. ``Gemini doesn't fit. Tyndareus, if you want to stick with the Castor and Pollux names, but that'd make more sense for Lagrange. I like Convergence best.''
+
+``Convergence it is, then,'' the skunk said, chuckling and gesturing him toward a shaded bench. ``Beyond this area, however, there is not much else. We have a smaller version of our compound already ported over, and I am pleased that you have agreed to let us bring your field over.''
+
+Tycho sat on the bench and leaned back against it, looking out into the plaza. ``Nothing else, though?''
+
+``Not yet. The border will open officially later today to members of both Castor and Artemis. The passage into Convergence from Castor will be rate-limited throughout this process. We will ensure that this area does not beggar the rest of the System for capacity, as we were informed during the conference that the Artemisians all take up a bit more space than we do, as should probably be expected by five-thousand year old consciousnesses. Still, we are not hurting for space.''
+
+``Yeah, though thankfully they're not carrying around an entire five millennia of memory.''
+
+``Very true,'' she said. She gestured to the space before them, willing a small table into being, along with two glasses of iced tea, one of which she took for herself.
+
+He took his own glass and sipped. It was quite good.
+
+``Are you excited to join them, then?''
+
+He sat in silence, drinking his tea and looking at nothing in particular from the dappled shade. Too many thoughts crowded his head, none of them worth thinking, and once again, an idea sat within his gut, demanding to be spoken. He savored it intentionally, rather than shying away from it as he had the last one. The feeling of these decisions was becoming familiar. \emph{Trust your gut} indeed.
+
+``Tycho?''
+
+``I'm going to invest fully.''
+
+True Name blinked several times as she processed the statement, then grinned wide. ``I would call that excited, yes. I am very happy for you.''
+
+``I don't know where the decision came from,'' he said, speaking slowly. ``I \emph{am} excited, yeah, but this just sort of came to me fully formed, like I'd made the decision before even thinking about it.''
+
+``It need not make sense. I am in no way surprised that you have made that decision, whether it was conscious or not. We will miss you, Dr.~Brahe.''
+
+He smiled to the skunk and nodded. ``Thanks. I'll miss you too. I'll miss all of Castor.''
+
+``No, you will not.''
+
+The phrase came at him like a blow to the stomach, and it was his turn to sit in silence.
+
+``I think you will miss some people here. A handful of coworkers. What few friends you have admitted to having. Me, perhaps, as you say. But you will not miss Castor.''
+
+``Well, huh.''
+
+She shrugged. ``This is why I am happy for you, my dear. You do not seem content with the life you wound up with. It is okay to want to leave unhappiness behind.''
+
+He nodded. ``I suppose it is. Even then, I think most of my coworkers and friends are coming along with. Sarah will be there. Dr.~Verda will be there. It sounds like even Codrin will join us for a time.''
+
+``I was surprised to learn that, as well,'' True Name said, leaning back against the bench with her tail canted to the side. ``Ey has come to eir own decision, though. It makes sense for one such as em to send along a fork.''
+
+``Right. I'm sorry that you and Why Ask Questions or Answers Will Not Help will not be joining us. It'd be nice to have the emissaries together there.''
+
+``We will visit once more before Artemis leaves effective Ansible range, but no, we will not stay.''
+
+``Well, as I said, I'll miss you.''
+
+She bowed her head in acknowledgement, ears splayed.
+
+``And you'll get to meet your fair share of Artemisians here, as well.''
+
+She nodded, smiling once more. ``I will, yes. We will still have plenty to do, even if we do not remain aboard Artemis. We will visit there, and it sounds like some of them will visit here and not remain. Codrin has talked Dear into giving one of its performances in Convergence so that Iska may see, though they will not remain here.''
+
+``Oh? Did it say whether it would try to see one of their performances aboard Artemis?''
+
+``It was undecided, last I heard.''
+
+``And the other delegates?''
+
+True Name looked thoughtful. ``I have not spoken with them since they left. My guess is that Turun Ka and Stolon will join. I know that Iska will not. I do not know about Turun Ko, but I would say that there is a good chance of it and Artante joining.''
+
+``Stolon said they would join, yeah,'' he said. ``They want to make sure that they get to see more of the galaxy, and will happily spread themself out to do so. We'll still remain in contact with Artemis for years after the Ansible connection closes.''
+
+``You will not be able to see the galaxy from here, if you do not remain. Are you okay with that?''
+
+``Yeah,'' he said after a long pause. ``I think I am.''
+
+They sat in quiet, then, finishing their drinks and then watching the ice melt in the mellow warmth of the day.

neviim/content/local/tycho/016.tex

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+\hypertarget{tycho-brahe-2346}{%
+\chapter{Tycho Brahe — 2346}}
+\markboth{Tycho Brahe — 2346}{}
+
+\begin{center}
+\emph{Convergence T-plus 49 days, 5 hours, 57 minutes}
+\end{center}
+
+\noindent ``I don't own a suit, and while I could have picked one up, it seemed like too much work for the occasion,'' Tycho said once the clock struck eight and he'd stood from his seat at the head of the table. ``So the usual jeans and flannel it is.''
+
+Those gathered laughed.
+
+They'd claimed a portion of the plaza for his last dinner, setting up a long table not too dissimilar from that which they'd sat at for the conference. He stood at one end, and at the other True Name sat, smiling and watching him rise for his speech. To his right sat Codrin and eir two partners, both of whom had spent much of the evening conversing with each other and the few scientists who sat to his left and the Artemisians beyond. He'd not missed the fact that they seemed to be ignoring the other three Odists as best they could other than to accept praise for the food they'd cooked for the occasion.
+
+Those scientists included Dr.~Verda and several of his other colleagues who had served as on-duty astronomer for Castor throughout the long years.
+
+Beyond them, to either side of the table, sat a gaggle of Artemisians. Both Turun Ka and Turun Ko were there, despite not partaking in the meal. Stolon and Iska sat across from them and had both tried the various dishes to greater or lesser success. Artante Diria sat next to them across from Sarah Genet, and they had spent much of the meal talking with the quiet earnestness of those who shared a beloved profession.
+
+Beyond them, Sovanna sat across from Answers Will Not Help—a move that surely must have been intentional—and beside Jonas. Across from Jonas, Why Ask Questions sat beside the final guest, True Name.
+
+The dinner had been his idea, and the speech True Name's. He'd balked at it originally, but in the end, she'd won out, convincing him that if he was headed to a place where he could forget, making his last moments on Castor memorable should be a priority.
+
+Luckily, for all his nerves, he'd always done well at giving talks at conferences, and the two and a half glasses of wine he'd already had certainly helped.
+
+``When it was suggested that I give a little speech before I go, I was at a loss for what to talk about. I mean, I guess I could talk about the stars or something, but I've bored enough of you to death already with that, and Stolon and I will have time enough on Artemis.''
+
+The thirdracer chattered their teeth, looking pleased.
+
+``It wasn't until I realized that this would be something of a eulogy that I started getting ideas on what to talk about. I talked with Dear about it and it laughed and told me about some thoughts that it had around Launch. I didn't know any of them then, but apparently it and its partners had a Death Day party, and that's kind of what this is, isn't it? I'm dying to many of you, only to haunt you from beyond the grave with vague pronouncements about the heavens for a little while.
+
+``Once I started thinking of it that way, I was able to come up with some better words for tonight, some of which I'll blame True Name for.''
+
+The skunk raised her glass to him.
+
+``When we first heard from the Artemisians, True Name met me at my sim and quoted a snippet of poetry by Sarah Williams: `Reach me down my Tycho Brahe,—I would know him when we meet, When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet; He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of how We are working to completion, working on from then till now.'
+
+``See, Tycho Brahe is a name I picked for myself twenty years ago when Codrin interviewed me for the \emph{History}. Brahe was an astronomer born eight centuries ago this year. A lot of his science was bunk, but that's what the poem says, isn't it? He may know the law of all things, but we're the ones with the later science.
+
+``That stanza was quoted to me as a way of suggesting that we will learn from the later science of the Artemisians, and perhaps we'll have something to teach them as well, but also, as True Name noted, it's a poem about death, telling the final words of an astronomer to his pupil.''
+
+The mood had settled into somber, present, and while most eyes were dry, he could tell there was still sadness in there.
+
+``I won't quote the whole thing, since it's quite long, but there's a few bits that I'd like to share with you before I leave.
+
+``\,`There has been a something wanting in my nature until now; I can dimly comprehend it,—that I might have been more kind, Might have cherished you more wisely, as the one I leave behind.'
+
+``Perhaps I should have cherished you all more while I was here. I really don't know. It's not in my nature to cherish people, for better or worse, but maybe I should have cherished my time here on Castor, or even back on Lagrange, more than I did. It was still home, wasn't it? I lived here. I loved what I did. `What, for us,' Williams writes. `Are all distractions of men's fellowship and smiles? What, for us, the goddess Pleasure, with her meretricious wiles?' Pleasure came second, and the fallout of that is that I was fundamentally unhappy, and thus perhaps unable to cherish.
+
+``That's not to say that I won't miss you all. Some of you are up on Artemis already, and some more may join in these last few days before the Ansible shuts down, but no matter what, I \emph{will} miss you all.
+
+``It's just that, as the poem says, `I have sown, like Tycho Brahe, that a greater man may reap; But if none should do my reaping, 'twill disturb me in my sleep.' I'm headed off to newer places, to learn the later sciences at the feet of those who have been traveling for so long. I've done my work, though I've left it incomplete. Many of you will have much to work on to complete it. You must!
+
+``In fact, I think the only thing I'm leaving behind that is well and truly finished to my liking is my sim, and even then, it sounds like perisystem engineers are working on getting visual transmission piped in.''
+
+There were some smiles around the table, but no laughter. All were focused entirely on him, and he had to force down a wave of embarrassment at his speech.
+
+``I only have one more snippet of poetry to leave you with, something engraved on the astronomy building on campus, back phys-side. It will be my goodbye. It was the last thing I said on Earth, it'll be the last thing I say on Castor, and trust me when I say that those words made me dizzy the first time I thought of them. `Last thing I say on Castor'. I'll cease being here. I'll cease being in a place that is all—or, now, a majority—my own species. I'll cease being on anything made around our own dear Sun.
+
+``I could draw out such a goodbye, but I won't. Not more than I already have. You'll have your memories, won't you?''
+
+He lifted his half-full glass of wine to the sky and, even as the other members of the dinner began to lift theirs, downed it in two coarse swallows. ``\,`Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.'\,''
+
+Perhaps they toasted to him. Perhaps they said goodbye to him, calling out. Perhaps some of them did cry, as he knew he would if he stayed any longer.
+
+He didn't know.
+
+Before he could look, before he could listen, he set his glass down, turned on his heel and walked straight into the customs building, this entrance (one of hundreds now) temporarily off-limits for tonight's event. His event.
+
+Within, there was a small pedestal—one among thousands—that bore a plaque he'd read countless times by now: \emph{Place your hand on the pedestal below and hold it there for ten seconds. This is a \textbf{transfer process} of the current instance, so please be sure to leave a fork behind.}
+
+He did not leave a fork behind. He simply closed his eyes, put his hand on the pedestal, and waited, counting heartbeats.
+
+There it was. There was the discontinuity.
+
+There was that slippery feeling to time. There was that change in atmosphere, that change in pressure, that change in ACLs. There was that change in the way the very fabric of the world was woven.
+
+There, too, was Stolon standing just outside the gazebo that served as the arrival point from Castor. Stolon and Sorina and Iska and Turun Ka and Turun Ko and Artante; they were all there, his own small welcoming committee. Beside them stood the rest of what had become the Council of Ten, of which he was now a part. Representatives of all those aboard Artemis.
+
+And beyond them, crowds and crowds of others, milling around the plaza. Firstracers through fourthracers, and hundreds of humans—no, fifthracers, now—all of whom must still be learning their way around, being shown the ropes by the volunteer guides.
+
+He stepped out into the cool night, and, as he had slowly grown used to, let Stolon butt their head against his arm in a friendly greeting. He couldn't do the same, given the height difference, so he'd taken to bumping a fist against the thirdracer's shoulder in response.
+
+``\emph{Nahi,} Tycho.''
+
+``\emph{Nahi,} Stolon,'' he said, taking a deep breath of the now-familiar air.
+
+``It is done, \emph{anem?} It is finished?''
+
+He nodded and smiled. An earnest smile. A true smile.
+
+He'd finally done it. He'd finally done \emph{something.} This future was his. Even if it was all just a dream, it was \emph{his} dream. His dream of stars to make of it what he would.
+
+\emph{We will dream of stars,} Stolon had said, and he knew they would.