Toledot minus epilogue

toledot/content/launch/sys/Ioan/008.tex

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ They wound their way through a small crowd, an array of low couches and tables,
 
 Ioan shrugged, ``A tea, perhaps. Too late in the day for coffee, too early for alcohol.''
 
-Sadiah nodded. Within a minute, a server brought them two steaming cups of a milky tea---chai, it turned out, and quite good, at that.
+Sadiah nodded. Within a minute, a server brought them two steaming cups of a milky tea—chai, it turned out, and quite good, at that.
 
 Once they'd gotten the obligatory how-are-yous and good-teas and nice-libraries out of the way, Ioan retrieved eir notebook and a pen.
 
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@ Sadiah sat up straighter in the booth, setting her nearly untouched tea to the s
 
 Ey nodded. The whole encounter was so outside eir experience that ey could think of nothing better to do.
 
-``Stop me when I get to something that you haven't heard or realized yet. Two hundred years ago, the System seceded from the rest of the institutions on Earth. This happened in conjunction with one of the launches for the L\textsubscript{5} station. Secession was organized by the Council of Eight, one of whom was Michelle Hadje, the progenitor of the Ode clade---this is why I was so interested in your work, I'll note. The Ode clade is made up of, nominally, one hundred individual instances, though they occasionally spin off long-running instances and pretend they haven't. The first ten of these instances were created shortly before Secession in order to help handle the workload as Michelle grew tired of her position. With me, so far?''
+``Stop me when I get to something that you haven't heard or realized yet. Two hundred years ago, the System seceded from the rest of the institutions on Earth. This happened in conjunction with one of the launches for the L\textsubscript{5} station. Secession was organized by the Council of Eight, one of whom was Michelle Hadje, the progenitor of the Ode clade—this is why I was so interested in your work, I'll note. The Ode clade is made up of, nominally, one hundred individual instances, though they occasionally spin off long-running instances and pretend they haven't. The first ten of these instances were created shortly before Secession in order to help handle the workload as Michelle grew tired of her position. With me, so far?''
 
 ``Yes, that sounds correct,'' ey said. Ey figured it was not worth correcting her on the reality of Michelle, of what ey'd seen and heard from May and Dear.
 
 ``Okay.'' Sadiah continued her speech smoothly, sitting almost completely still, as though reciting something from memory. ``The Odists were integral to both Secession and Launch, and may have orchestrated both, each in their own way. I see you frowning, which I'll take to mean that I'm getting close to the limits of where our knowledge agrees.''
 
-``I suppose, yes. Some of the discussions I've had---my clade has had, I mean---with Odists have brought much of this to light over the past few days.''
+``I suppose, yes. Some of the discussions I've had—my clade has had, I mean—with Odists have brought much of this to light over the past few days.''
 
 ``Excellent. Please stop me when I reach the place when our knowledge diverges. The Ode clade, through managing Secession and Launch, has influenced the politics of the System, such as they are, as well as those on Earth, which--''
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ She laughed breathlessly, finally letting her shoulders sag and her chin droop.
 
 ``The bit about influencing politics phys-side.'' Ey shook eir head, ``Which I'm a little confused about. I suppose I can see how that might work, given the communication between sys- and phys-side during both of those occurrences, but--''
 
-``I'll note that we're nearing the extent of my knowledge as well. Sorry, I interrupted.'' Despite the acknowledgement, she continued, unfazed. ``All I can say is that I've noticed patterns. I think you have, too, as mentioned when you frowned, but I am starting to piece together patterns that go beyond that. Yes, they helped with Secession, yes they helped with Launch---more than helped, organized---but that, I think, includes subtle manipulation of politics planet-side in order to ensure that both happened precisely as they wanted.''
+``I'll note that we're nearing the extent of my knowledge as well. Sorry, I interrupted.'' Despite the acknowledgement, she continued, unfazed. ``All I can say is that I've noticed patterns. I think you have, too, as mentioned when you frowned, but I am starting to piece together patterns that go beyond that. Yes, they helped with Secession, yes they helped with Launch—more than helped, organized—but that, I think, includes subtle manipulation of politics planet-side in order to ensure that both happened precisely as they wanted.''
 
 ``Where are you seeing that?''
 
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ Sadiah sat back suddenly as though slapped, blinking rapidly and tapping at the
 
 ``Alright. I feel like I've touched a nerve, for which I apologize. What do you miss most about living phys-side, and what excited you most about moving sys-side?''
 
-At this, the historian---if that's what she was---relaxed. ``I was fundamentally unhappy with the limitation of time and just how much research I could do at once, so I came to where I could fork.''
+At this, the historian—if that's what she was—relaxed. ``I was fundamentally unhappy with the limitation of time and just how much research I could do at once, so I came to where I could fork.''
 
 Ey nodded and jotted down the answer. ``And, last one, what's the first thing that you did after uploading?''