Toledot minus epilogue

toledot/content/secession/phys/Yared/004.tex

@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@ Or hadn't previously. The more he learned, the more enticing it seemed.
 
 It certainly seemed like an easier life than this, accepting messages from shadowy government agencies to try and influence what was supposed to be a direct means of being represented in the legislatures of the world. It was one thing to try to do so from one's own perspective, but to accept such influence, even if he was only paid in coffee and cake\ldots{}
 
-It had surprised him that he had even picked up the task at first. Secession seemed like such a strange thing to ask for. What did the NEAC---or any government, really---gain by having the System secede? What was the System doing that threatened them so much? There was the brain-drain that some feared, but this seemed to rely on some more basic instinct or need to have that which is different separated from that which was familiar.
+It had surprised him that he had even picked up the task at first. Secession seemed like such a strange thing to ask for. What did the NEAC—or any government, really—gain by having the System secede? What was the System doing that threatened them so much? There was the brain-drain that some feared, but this seemed to rely on some more basic instinct or need to have that which is different separated from that which was familiar.
 
 He didn't know why he had picked up the task, but it was working, even on him. \emph{Especially} on him. The idea of secession from a government's point of view was one that fit neatly into his worldview without him needing to change anything, and that was strange in and of itself.
 
 The System probably should secede. At that point, uploading became a simple matter of emigration, one to a country that was guaranteed to grant you residency. Not only that, but, though the cost might be high and the move permanent, it offered a ready-made haven for refugees, whether from the increasingly hot climate or the countless little spats along disputed borders. Uploading was an option for those who had nowhere else to go, and one that offered them more freedom than any other country on earth.
 
-And this new idea that had started showing up, first in his conversations with True Name and Jonas, and then on the DDR in general, of tacking the System onto one of the launches for the L\textsubscript{5} station construction. The timing---True Name and Jonas, then the DDR---made him wonder if the Council of Eight had its fingers in other pies, too.
+And this new idea that had started showing up, first in his conversations with True Name and Jonas, and then on the DDR in general, of tacking the System onto one of the launches for the L\textsubscript{5} station construction. The timing—True Name and Jonas, then the DDR—made him wonder if the Council of Eight had its fingers in other pies, too.
 
 He wasn't sure how to feel about this. What an opportunity that had presented itself! All those arguments about the resources the System used would be all but put to rest. The station would house it, the station's solar power source would power it, and the Station Hotel's revenue would fund it. It would be another part of the tourists' experience. There were already plans for a new transmission system that would be easy enough to build for uploads to make it from Earth to the System without having to fly to the station first.
 
@@ -73,17 +73,17 @@ Think of one thing that has made news recently that does not have to do with any
 \begin{itemize}
 \tightlist
 \item
-  Legislation---that is, new laws to govern stuff, places, or money.
+  Legislation—that is, new laws to govern stuff, places, or money.
 \item
-  Scientific advances---that is, new ways to work with stuff, places, or money (and before you suggest theoretical sciences, consider that those are future ways to work with stuff. Psychological breakthroughs? Better ways to keep us happy so that we can produce and consume more stuff).
+  Scientific advances—that is, new ways to work with stuff, places, or money (and before you suggest theoretical sciences, consider that those are future ways to work with stuff. Psychological breakthroughs? Better ways to keep us happy so that we can produce and consume more stuff).
 \item
-  International relations---that is, which group people in which places have which stuff that which other group of people want.
+  International relations—that is, which group people in which places have which stuff that which other group of people want.
 \item
-  Technological breakthroughs---stuff.
+  Technological breakthroughs—stuff.
 \item
-  Exploration---places.
+  Exploration—places.
 \item
-  Travel, entertainment, comedy---commodified experiences.
+  Travel, entertainment, comedy—commodified experiences.
 \end{itemize}
 
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