Edits, lead into Mitzvot

content/read/003.md

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ He shrugged. "I do, but I'm getting sick of being cooped up. Begged an additiona
 
 A silence stretched for a few minutes before Prakash said, "Nice day, isn't it?"
 
-"No," ey said, laughing. "It is cold and gray. My cat is dead, my job is gone, and my two friends are someone I can only meet in a place I am terrified to go and a researcher of something that is no longer a problem." *Memory is a mirror of hammered silver,* the litany continued within as always. Ey hoped silently. *A weapon against the waking world.* "Dreams are the plate-glass atop memory: a clarifying agent against the sun. Sorry."
+"No," ey said, laughing. "It is cold and gray. My cat is dead, my job is gone, and my two friends are someone I can only meet in a place I am terrified to go and a researcher of something that is no longer a problem." *Memory is a mirror of hammered silver,* the litany continued within as always. Ey hoped silently. *A weapon against the waking world.* "Dreams are the plate-glass atop memory: a clarifying agent against the-- Sorry."
 
 Prakash nodded, as though this was part of a normal conversation. "You're okay, RJ. No luck on the job front? Are you doing alright for cash?"
 

content/read/005.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 > *Convergence T-minus 22 days, 13 hours, 35 minutes*
 
-It took Tycho Brahe what felt like an age to remember Codrin Bălan, and then it took em 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.
+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.
 

content/read/006.md

@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ Codrin hesitated, taking a sip to gain a bit more time to mull that over in eir
 
 "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 *History* was longer, but while I can see this one being perhaps shorter, the intensity is going through the roof. I'm not sure how much of that is just being exhausted, though."
 
-*"That is about the topic of work, though. How do you feel about the topic? Aliens sending us copies of Douglas? Or perhaps us sending aliens copies of...well, whoever we decide?"*
+*"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...well, whoever we decide?"*
 
 "Frightened? Excited? Anxious? It feels too big to think about, in a way."
 
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ Codrin shrugged. "I don't know what else to say other than that. Obligated, then
 
 "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 Dear's 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.
+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.
 
 *"I will accept a portion of that responsibility,"* it said when it could speak again. *"But the rest falls on my cocladists. I may be one of them, but I am no metonym."*
 

content/read/007.md

@@ -98,9 +98,9 @@ He nodded, hoping that there was still enough red light shining on him that she
 
 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...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 three feet above himself the precise ways in which he was being played like a fiddle.
+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."
+"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. *How did she know that I'd met Codrin and Dear?*
 
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ The skunk stood, offered a paw to help Tycho#Artemis in standing. "That or Sea P
 
 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."
+"*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--"
 

content/read/008.md

@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ He nodded. "It all just sounded so normal. There didn't seem like anything else
 
 "Artemis? Is that what they're calling the remote...ship? Vehicle?"
 
-He nodded. "Vehicle. 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."
+He nodded. "Either, really. It carries 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 *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."
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ For eir part, ey began structuring the project. There would have to be the journ
 
 "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."
+"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 *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."
 

content/read/009.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
     
 > *Convergence T-minus 22 days, 3 hours, 49 minutes*
 
-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 at least 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.
+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.
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ Tycho rubbed at the back of his neck, searching for the best way to explain it.
 
 Jonas nodded. "And that approach isn't all that close, is it?"
 
-"Oh God no. Three light-seconds is, uh...nine hundred thousand kilometers? Something like that."
+"Oh God no. Five light-minutes is, uh...kilometers? Something like that."
 
 "Good, thanks for confirming. I'm going to ungate the next set of messages. Ready?"
 
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ The skunk across from him waved her hand to dismiss the comment. "You will be th
 
 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."
+"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?"
 

content/read/010.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ But for now, ey was safe inside, laying in supplies, even if they were simply em
 
 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?" Dear's partner asked, voice muffled by a pillow as the fox kneaded on their shoulders.
+"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."
 
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ The reprieve lasted until morning when, upon waking, Codrin discovered a note on
 > * Leadership: myself, True Name
 > * Scientist: Dr. Tycho Brahe
 > * Recorder: you
-> * Representative 1: Why Ask Questions Here At The End Of All Things of the Ode clade
+> * Representative 1: Why Ask Questions, Here At The End Of All Things of the Ode clade
 >
 > 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.
 >

content/read/011.md

@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ He nodded. He could already feel the presence of that information lingering on t
 
 "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, which, he supposed, was to give him a variety to choose from.
+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?"
 

content/read/012.md

@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ 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 realized ey was holding eir breath. True Name's gaze bore down on Tycho with such intensity that the astronomer shied away from her.
+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...sorry."
 

content/read/013.md

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Answers Will Not Help laughed and nodded. "Oh, by all means. We will get by with
 
 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? Though 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."
+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?"
 

content/read/014.md

@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ Ey let her lace her fingers with eirs as ey thought. Words were a long time comi
 
 She squeezed eir fingers between her own. "I think Codrin and Dear settled into a life of their own on Castor, but you know Dear. It is intensely focused on these big dramatic gestures. And before you say it, I am focused on drama, but rarely are my actions in life dramatic. I am happy with the life we have built. I am happy living with you and loving you and pushing you into writing increasingly weird plays."
 
-Ey laughed, lifting her paw to kiss at her knuckles. "Well, sure. You got me to settle down, I guess. I don't think Dear is capable of settling down that much, but its patterns are familiar. It will do as it does and drag others with it."
+Ey laughed, lifting her paw to kiss her knuckles. "Well, sure. You got me to settle down, I guess. I don't think Dear is capable of settling down that much, but its patterns are familiar. It will do as it does and drag others with it."
 
 "I hope you do not resent me for that," she said, tapping at eir chin with a finger. "I do not get the impression that you are unhappy, my dear, but I occasionally worry that your life now is not entirely the one that you wished to build."
 

content/read/015.md

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ It was not at all surprising that dinner at home was far less stressful than din
 
 This was confirmed when they returned home and the instance of Dear 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 other 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.
+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 coffee and desserts and pleasant, easy conversation.
+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 psychologist before I uploaded. I still am, I guess. Dear, you did theatre, right?"
 
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Eyes turned to Codrin, who shrugged. "I went to school, then a year of a history
 
 *"Had you needed to get a job while down there, what would it have been?"* Dear asked. *"I have a guess, but I want to see how close I am."*
 
-Codrin picked up eir coffee mug 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."
+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. *"I was close on the bachelor's but was not expecting the master's. What drew you to that?"*
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ He trailed off, staring up into space with a blank expression, then shook his he
 
 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 coffee 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..."
+"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..."
 
 *"What sort of questions are we talking about?"*
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ They all nodded.
 
 "So they started about four thousand years ago?"
 
-He shrugged. "There are specific numbers. They add up to...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."
+He looked up to the ceiling as he calculated. "There are specific numbers. They add up to...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?"
 

content/read/017.md

@@ -10,17 +10,17 @@ Once the rains had calmed down and before the oppressive heat began to drift laz
 
 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 news.
+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 solely 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.
+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 L<sub>5</sub> within seconds of em telling her such.
 
-It was the reaction that ey was most worried about. True Name was a touchy topic with one of eir partners, and the cold hatred of one of its cocladists was...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, *"She is the best of us."*
+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...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, *"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. I make a lot of chicken soup for her to have something comforting, though I'm not sure how much it helps. It's the only time she ever asks to be alone, and I will go stay with Douglas. 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."
+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.
 

content/read/019.md

@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ There were far more questions than there were answers and, apropos to the situat
 
 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 an hour of rest alone in his quarters and paced, composing his message in his head.
+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.
 

content/read/021.md

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ At last, though, they had dotted all of the 'i's they could find and crossed all
 
 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 a fotă, an over-skirt rather like an apron, in rich, embroidered red, with a simpler panel of fabric hanging from the back.
+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 *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.
 

content/read/024.md

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ She looked over to True Name, who gave a small nod of permission.
 
 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 begin, leader True Name."
+"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 galaxy scale. At what stage were each of your races, and, if you have ran across any additional races, at what scale did they work?"
 

content/read/025.md

@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ Tycho kept waiting for True Name to interrupt, for her to tell them that they ne
 
 "I would like to know more, representative Artante Diria." The skunk sat up straighter, quelling a wave of human form before continuing. "When we fork, our new instances can quit and we are presented with their memories so that we may have the experiences of both instances should we choose. Is that how your system worked?"
 
-"Similar, yes, though only if the fork was created from the current instance."
+"Similar, yes, though only if the fork was created from the current instant."
 
 True Name tilted her head, gestured for the representative to explain.
 
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ Stunned silence from the emissaries greeted this explanation.
 
 "Is there a portion of this that needs clarification?" Artante asked, frowning.
 
-"We can only fork from the present. From the current instance, as you say," Codrin said. "That's a fascinating idea, though. Do you know how it worked? If Dear --- my instance artist partner, that is --- could do that, it would open up worlds of possibilities to it."
+"We can only fork from the present. From the current instant, as you say," Codrin said. "That's a fascinating idea, though. Do you know how it worked? If Dear --- my instance artist partner, that is --- could do that, it would open up worlds of possibilities to it."
 
 She bowed apologetically. "It has been nearly a millennium since I have been able to fork, recorder Codrin Bălan, and even then, I was not very adept at it. In one of your letters, you discussed dissolution strategies; I was what you would call a tasker. I will ask another of my race for details after the conference."
 
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ Artante laughed, nodded. He was pleased at the familiarity of her expressions. I
 
 All heads turned toward Why Ask Questions. The question had been mumbled and quiet, but surprising coming from one who had been otherwise silent.
 
-"Many of us did not," the representative said. "During our convergence, it was primarily those who would be labeled taskers who took part."
+"Many of us did not," Artante said. "During our convergence, it was primarily those who would be labeled taskers who took part."
 
 "Did others have trouble like me?"
 

content/read/026.md

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ The skunk nodded. "You are a careful lot, but it is nice to see when you do beco
 
 There was a long moment's silence, and were it not for the shallowness of her breathing, ey might have thought May had fallen asleep. Eventually, she whispered, "I do not like that."
 
-Ioan dipped eir chin enough to bump eir nose against hers. "Codrin said Dear got quite upset about it, yeah. It warned em that there would be two Odists among the emissaries and that ey should watch out."
+Ioan dipped eir chin enough to bump eir nose against hers. "Codrin said Dear got quite upset about it, too. It warned em that there would be two Odists among the emissaries and that ey should watch out."
 
 She remained still, no reciprocating press of nose to nose. She continued in her whisper. "Once, when I was in school, I performed in a play that used the works of Emily Dickinson throughout. I still remember it. *Time feels so vast that were if not For an Eternity--- I fear me this Circumference Engross my Finity---*"
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ May hugged herself closer to em, snout once again ducking beneath eir chin. "I u
 
 After she trailed off, ey tightened eir arms around her, brushing fingertips through fur.
 
-They lay like that in the quiet and the dark. Eir fork apparently finished up with eir notes and quit, but given the topics of conversation and lack of any insistence on behalf of eir instance, ey declined to accept the merge. Ey did not want to be distracted from the simple task of petting May, of enjoying the feeling of having her back.
+They lay like that in the quiet and the dark. Eir fork apparently finished up with eir notes and quit, but given the topics of conversation and lack of any insistence on behalf of the instance, ey declined to accept the merge. Ey did not want to be distracted from the simple task of petting May, of enjoying the feeling of having her back.
 
 "May?"
 

content/read/030.md

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ The skunk shook his head. "I am enjoying the ability to taste something again af
 
 He rolled his eyes and made a rude gesture at her.
 
-The other Odist fit neatly into the pattern of a human Michelle, though over the centuries, she had opted for a form that was a little taller, a little slimmer, and bore more heavily styled hair. More chic, perhaps. She was prone to grand gestures and grand outfits in all black or all gray or all red. She had also leaned into hedonism more so than any of the other Odists Ioan had met. She ate heartily, drank more than all of them --- though this mostly manifested as a ruddy glint to her cheeks and a more wicked grin than usual --- and brought with her a very comfortable-looking camp chair.
+A Finger Pointing fit neatly into the pattern of a human Michelle, though over the centuries, she had opted for a form that was a little taller, a little slimmer, and bore more heavily styled hair. More chic, perhaps. She was prone to grand gestures and grand outfits in all black or all gray or all red. She had also leaned into hedonism more so than any of the other Odists Ioan had met. She ate heartily, drank more than all of them --- though this mostly manifested as a ruddy glint to her cheeks and a more wicked grin than usual --- and brought with her a very comfortable-looking camp chair.
 
 Even having worked with her for nearly a decade as a playwright and under her direction as an actor for the last few years, ey continually found emself surprised by her simple desire to enjoy life, put on good plays, and be friends with everyone she could. It was a simplicity that was lacking from so many of her cocladists that ey'd had a chance to meet.
 
@@ -111,13 +111,11 @@ End Waking nodded, speaking toward the fire. "And so I screamed and I ran, and w
 
 "Or perhaps it was just an instant," A Finger Pointing said.
 
-<!-- was there supposed to be something here? There was a newline... -->
-
 End Waking's words came with a finality that seemed to draw the memory to a close, though nothing about the recitation --- monologue? --- had felt memorized or rehearsed. "And so I went mad."
 
 "Jesus." Douglas's whisper broke the long silence that followed. "And you're afraid that's what would happen on Artemis?"
 
-"Not exactly that," the skunk said. "But when presented with the fragility of eternity once more, I cannot imagine that I would remain sane. That any of us would."
+"Not exactly that," he said. "But when presented with the fragility of eternity once more, I cannot imagine that I would remain sane. That any of us would."
 
 "This is what we fear," May said.
 

content/read/035.md

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Artante's eyes darted over to Sarah, who lifted her eyebrows in a hint of a shru
 
 "And during convergences?" True Name asked.
 
-"During convergences, we act more in the way that you suggest. We act as a filter between the receipt of information from the converging civilization. The cases in which we might block information or shape it to our own means remain rare, but the ability to explore the ramifications of that information and prepare for possible outcomes we have found useful."
+"During convergences, we act more in the way that you suggest. We act as a filter between the recipeints of the  information and the converging civilization. The cases in which we might block information or shape it to our own means remain rare, but the ability to explore the ramifications of that information and prepare for possible outcomes we have found useful."
 
 "This makes sense. Thank you, leader Turun Ka. We work along similar lines, where we have first access to information coming from Artemis --- our only convergence thus far --- and we are able to run simulations on possible outcomes in order to prepare for reactions."
 

content/read/037.md

@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ True Name, despite maintaining careful control of her expression, still appeared
 
 Answers Will Not Help, however, was a mess.
 
-Her form rippled between species, and with it, so too did her expression. She would veer wildly between barely constrained laughter and agony, all while tears coursed down her cheeks or left tracks in fur. She managed to keep quiet for the most part, though occasionally a snippet of poetry would escape her: here a line of the Ode, there a bit of Dickinson. She had even startled Tycho at one point by quoting something ey didn't quite recognize: "I have sown, like Tycho Brahé, that a greater man may reap..."
+Her form rippled between species, and with it, so too did her expression. She would veer wildly between barely constrained laughter and agony, all while tears coursed down her cheeks or left tracks in fur. She managed to keep quiet for the most part, though occasionally a snippet of poetry would escape her: here a line of the Ode, there a bit of Dickinson. She had even startled Tycho at one point by quoting something ey didn't quite recognize: "I have sown, like Tycho Brahe, that a greater man may reap..."
 
 This wild dissociation from the world around her was made all the more unnerving by the fact that ey could tell that she was having a difficult time staying within common time. 
 
-She never veered far from it, only within a range of point one to either side, but even that carried with it a sense of wrongness. They were in a unison room, something that she had specifically requested, which ey'd been told meant that she specifically *shouldn't* be able to do that. Skew simply wasn't available to em when ey reached for it.
+She never veered far from it, only within a range of 0.5 to either side, but even that carried with it a sense of wrongness. They were in a unison room, something that she had specifically requested, which ey'd been told meant that she specifically *shouldn't* be able to do that. Skew simply wasn't available to em when ey reached for it.
 
 Iska had hardly taken their eyes off her since they'd noticed as well, as though they were trying to puzzle out just how it was that this was happening.
 

content/read/038.md

@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ She winced and looked away, ears pinned flat.
 
 Ey had to resist the urge to reach out and offer her eir hand to hold for comfort as ey did so often with May. They looked so similar, even still, even after centuries of divergence, and all the more so when struggling with overwhelming emotions.
 
-She must have caught some slight movement or hint of this on eir face or in eir posture, as she chuckled. "If I were built more like your May Then My Name, then perhaps I could more easily accept comfort, but I am not. Thank you for listening, though. I cannot talk about these things with Jonas."
+She must have caught some slight movement or hint of this on eir face or in eir posture, as she chuckled. "If I were built more like your May Then My Name, then perhaps I could more easily accept comfort, but I am not. Thank you for listening, though. I cannot talk about these things with many others."
 
 Ey laughed, shrugging sheepishly. "Sorry, True Name. Long habit. Still, I'm happy to listen. I know that my relationship puts us in a precarious position relative to each other and there are still some aspects about our history that are...difficult to internalize, but, well--" Ey sat up straighter at a sudden memory. "Hey, have you talked with In Dreams yet? Or this Sarah Genet?"
 

content/read/039.md

@@ -50,13 +50,13 @@ He smiled lopsidedly. "True Name cornered me when this whole thing began and quo
 
 "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 fraught. You've had more experience than I."
+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."
 
-He rubbed his hands together and chewed on his lip thoughtfully. "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 *History*."
+"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 *History*."
 
 "She didn't exactly come off as kind or polite in there, no."
 
-"Codrin mentioned something about that, about how they wanted the *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."
+"Codrin mentioned something about that, about how they wanted the *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 *that* subtle."
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ Sarah nodded. "They're not for everyone, especially here, where you have the pro
 
 After a suitable pause, he nudged the subject back toward the previous topic. "Has your opinion of the *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, though, based on my work. The Odists have a flair for that, though, which I guess makes sense, given where they come 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."
+"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, though, based on my work. The Odists have a flair for that, though, which I guess makes sense, given where they come 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--"
 

content/read/040.md

@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ True Name bared her teeth, tackling the blurring, crumbling form of Answers Will
 
 After a moment's tussle, Answers Will Not Help sprawled flat the ground, limp and laughing, retching, crying. "For the Stupendous Vision of eir diameters---" she said, and then quit, leaving True Name to fall to the ground, weeping.
 
-There was a shocked silence around the table, and when no one moved, Codrin slid out of eir chair to kneel by True Name's side. Her form had begun to waver once more, and, remembering the aversion to touch that came with that, ey simply sat beside her, waiting until she calmed down.
+There was a shocked silence around the table, and when no one moved, Codrin slid out of eir chair to kneel by True Name's side. Her form had begun to waver once more, and, remembering the aversion to touch that came with that, ey simply knelt beside her, waiting until she calmed down.
 
 It was Sarah who broke the silence. "What just happened?"
 

content/read/042.md

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ 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 L<sub>5</sub> point which we call Lagrange --- seceded from the political systems on Earth two hundred twenty-one 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."
+"The System --- the original one you observed at the L<sub>5</sub> 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."
 

content/read/043.md

@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ Codrin and Sarah both stared at the firstracer before laughing, joined by Artant
 
 "*Anem,*" Turun Ko confirmed, and the single word came out nearly a song.
 
-There was a moment's silence. Comfortable. Warm. The six of them seemed content to bask and watch the shadows of leaves play on the wall. Ey was tired, ey realized. Dreadfully exhausted. The warmth of the sun, even standing up, seemed to be doing its best to lull em to sleep. Stolon also seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit, stretching languidly, speaking lazily.
+Conversation waned. Silence. Comfortable. Warm. The six of them seemed content to bask and watch the shadows of leaves play on the wall. Ey was tired, ey realized. Dreadfully exhausted. The warmth of the sun, even standing up, seemed to be doing its best to lull em to sleep. Stolon also seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit, stretching languidly, speaking lazily.
 
 "I am not worrying." They poked a torn bit of the leaf into their mouth and chewed thoughtfully before spitting it out with a choking sound. "*Natarla...*"
 

content/read/044.md

@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ The Dear that I live with has, in comparison to Dear#Castor, relaxed and moved o
 
 Also, as an internal postscript, I should note that the three of us are all still deeply in love with Serene and she with us, so please do not misconstrue the past tense above, but good Lord. Two foxes in the same house? Never again.
 
-This is the end of the private content of the letter. Please redact this in its entirety should you pass my thoughts on to Castor (though of course you may talk about it with May; she'll understand the sensitive nature of the topic).
+This is the end of the private content of the letter. Please redact this in its entirety should you pass my thoughts on to Castor (though of course you may talk about it with May Then My Name; she'll understand the sensitive nature of the topic).
 
 **END IOAN BĂLAN INDIVIDUAL-EYES-ONLY MATERIAL**
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ I'll keep you up to date either way.
 
 While I'm sure that another Odist has already passed on this information, you should know that two Odists have quit recently, May One Day Death Itself Not Die and I Do Not Know, I Do Not Know, leaving behind no forks. The Ode is now ninety-seven.
 
-May and In Dreams were there at the end, and this has led to an increased sense of urgency when it comes to the clade approaching their affliction. To that end, May, True Name, and In Dreams are working with a psychologist recommended from folks on Castor (the Sarah Genet mentioned in the messages I've been forwarding) to discuss paths forward.
+May and In Dreams were there at the end, and this has led to an increased sense of urgency when it comes to the clade approaching their affliction. To that end, several Odists are working with a psychologist recommended from folks on Castor (the Sarah Genet mentioned in the messages I've been forwarding) to discuss paths forward.
 
 These events took place during May's aforementioned overflowing spell, which led to it being prolonged to nearly a week. She has made it through, and my nose remains intact despite getting tackled, as usual. She has recovered well despite some lingering depression, but this, in combination with some of the news from Castor which you also will have received before this, has me more worried for her than usual. She may be a little terror, but she is my little terror.
 

content/read/045.md

@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ With questions running thin and the table plagued by awkward silences, it was al
 
 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 cup of coffee, and wandered off without another word.
+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.
 
@@ -58,13 +58,13 @@ Codrin did eir best to restrain a sigh. "But it *is* a conversation? There is a
 
 "*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."
+"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?"
 
 "*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, *anem?*"
 
 Ey nodded. "*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, her and Turun Ko sharing a meaningful glance. "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."
+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?"
 
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ Flipping through the pages at the rate of about one per second, Turun Ko said, "
 
 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."
+"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.
 

content/read/046.md

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ They waited in uncomfortable silence.
 
 "You want your race to be fifthrace even if you don't join?" Artante asked.
 
-Ey nodded. "I'm surprised at how much I like it here. I could see myself living here, even. Just that joining would mean leaving behind at least one, and probably both, of my partners. Dear is an Odist, and would likely experience what True Name and Answers Will Not Help are-- or did. I'm not sure that I could stomach that. Still, it's incredibly alluring, and speaks to the romantic in me. A meeting of species and cultures from light years apart, and little old us having the chance to be a part of that."
+Ey nodded. "I'm surprised at how much I like it here. I could see myself living here, even. Just that joining would mean leaving behind at least one, and probably both, of my partners. Dear is an Odist, and would likely experience what True Name and Answers Will Not Help are---or did. I'm not sure that I could stomach that. Still, it's incredibly alluring, and speaks to the romantic in me. A meeting of species and cultures from light years apart, and little old us having the chance to be a part of that."
 
 Artante looked toward Sarah expectantly.
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ She sighed, nodded.
 
 The longer ey spoke, the more True Name seemed to perk up. By the end of eir recitation, she was sitting up straight and had a smile on her muzzle. It was slight, true, and still tired, but it was an honest smile.
 
-"I do, yes. Thank you, Codrin. Then yes, I want that outcome as well." To the Artemisians, she said, "We began the project of Launch as a way to divest. We wanted to ensure the stability and continuity of our species and the Systems that we live on --- Castor, Pollux, and Lagrange. We want to explore, of course, and we want to change and grow and all that comes with life, but we also want to keep living. I can think of no better opportunity for divestment than tagging along on a millennia-long journey through the galaxy."
+"I do, yes. Thank you, Codrin. Then yes, I want that outcome as well." To the Artemisians, she said, "We began the project of Launch as a way to divest. We wanted to ensure the continuity of our species and the Systems that we live on --- Castor, Pollux, and Lagrange. We want to explore, of course, and we want to change and grow and all that comes with life, but we also want to keep living. I can think of no better opportunity for divestment than tagging along on a millennia-long journey through the galaxy."
 
 Tycho laughed, nodded. "And hey, think of the sights we'll get to see along the way."
 
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ After the round of answers, there was a long, blurred meeting, and then the Arte
 
 Tycho stood as well, and, after a moment's hesitation, so too did the rest of the table. He didn't know why they were standing and bowing, but it seemed to be what the moment demanded.
 
-Something had happened, just then. Something of import. He had no clue as to what it had been. Neither did he understand how, he realized, but he knew that it was something decisive. Something, perhaps, victorious.
+Something had happened, just then. Something of import. He had no clue as to what it had been. Neither did he understand how, he realized, but he knew that it was something decisive. Something, perhaps, momentous.
 
 "Leader True Name, as leader of this delegation and member of the Council of Eight," Turun Ka said, voice bearing the weight of ritual. "I would like to formally welcome you aboard Artemis as fifthrace."
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ Silence followed the series of formal greetings, broken only by the sound of him
 
 "I must admit, leader Turun Ka," True Name said, voice hoarse. "I was not expecting this. I had been working under the assumption that we still had several steps to go on your checklist. This feels sudden."
 
-"This is the reason for us holding two separate talks in separate locations about separate topics," it said with a hint of a bow. "Working in parallel with different parameters increases the opportunities for forward momentum. The message that I received from Castor via recorder Codrin Bălan mentioned the penultimate step had been reached, that of acting individually for the betterment of all without the blessing of leadership. With that news, we expected that the decision point would be reached today. The opportunities for happiness and safety were created. There will be further talks as long as we are within range, and even after as we join with one another, all of which will simply be between us as species with shared goals rather than delegates."
+"*This* is the reason for us holding two separate talks in separate locations about separate topics," it said with a hint of a bow. "Working in parallel with different parameters increases the opportunities for forward momentum. The message that I received from Castor via recorder Codrin Bălan mentioned the penultimate step had been reached, that of acting individually for the betterment of all without the blessing of leadership. With that news, we expected that the decision point would be reached today. The opportunities for happiness and safety were created. There will be further talks as long as we are within range, and even after as we join with one another, all of which will simply be between us as species with shared goals rather than delegates."
 
 She and nodded, that faint smile returning. "A sensible approach."
 
@@ -144,4 +144,4 @@ He nodded.
 
 "The final two lines of the fourth stanza are the most commonly quoted: Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved--"
 
-"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night," he finished, grinning. "That was the last thing I said to myself before uploading. It'll be the last thing I'll say before I leave Castor."
+"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night," he finished, grinning. "That was the last thing I said before uploading. It'll be the last thing I'll say before I leave Castor."

content/read/048.md

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ The skunk accepted the light and knelt on the grass beside him, holding it betwe
 
 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 bowl of champagne.
+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."
 
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ He could see the shadow of her nod. "Yes. But also, there are some aspects of th
 
 "Are you frustrated, perhaps?"
 
-There was a moment's pause as the skunk shifted to lay down beside him, echoing his posture. "I suppose. Frustrated, a bit sad."
+There was a moment's pause as the skunk shifted to lay down beside him. "I suppose. Frustrated, a bit sad."
 
 "Sad?"
 
@@ -164,5 +164,3 @@ He was nothing if not a scientist, though, and although her reading, as one who
 
 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.
 
-*We will dream of stars,* Stolon had said, and he knew they would.
-

content/read/049.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Ey'd been startled, in that half-doubled, roundabout way that an up-tree instanc
 
 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 spread already laid out for them.
+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.
 
@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ Ey laughed and bumped eir shoulder against its own. "Of course."
 
 *"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. *"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 coffee mug. "To the proper amount of excitement."
+Sarah laughed and raised her glass. "To the proper amount of excitement."
 
-Dear hoisted its own mug as thought it was an ale-filled tankard. *"Precisely, my dear!"*
+Dear hoisted its own glass as thought it was an ale-filled tankard. *"Precisely, my dear!"*
 
-Codrin smiled, sipping eir coffee as ey watched. *Proper amount of excitement, indeed.*
+Codrin smiled, sipping eir wine as ey watched. *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](Lagrange) for the LVs and everything looked exactly the same, minus only the few friends who had not done so.
+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.
 

content/read/050.md

@@ -40,13 +40,13 @@ Tycho sat on the bench and leaned back against it, looking out into the plaza. "
 
 "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 coffee, one of which she took for herself.
+"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 coffee 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. *Trust your gut* indeed.
+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. *Trust your gut* indeed.
 
 "Tycho?"
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ He smiled to the skunk and nodded. "Thanks. I'll miss you too. I'll miss all of
 
 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. Perhaps a handful of coworkers, and what few friends you have admitted to having, but you will not miss Castor."
+"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."
 
@@ -100,4 +100,4 @@ True Name looked thoughtful. "I have not spoken with them since they left. My gu
 
 "Yeah," he said after a long pause. "I think I am."
 
-They sat in quiet, then, finishing their coffees and then watching the ice melt in the mellow warmth of the day.
+They sat in quiet, then, finishing their drinks and then watching the ice melt in the mellow warmth of the day.

content/read/052.md

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ There were so many changes bound up inside em --- inside them both --- and now,
 
 Her skin grew smoother, softer, fairer as they walked; her cheeks grew fuller.
 
-She adopted the Romanian skirt, fotă, and blouse ey'd worn to the talks as her own.
+She adopted the Romanian skirt, *fotele*, and blouse ey'd worn to the talks as her own.
 
 And with that last footfall, she chose a name.
 

content/read/054.md

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ The thirdracer chattered their teeth, looking pleased.
 
 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.
+"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 *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.
 
@@ -38,13 +38,13 @@ The mood had settled into somber, present, and while most eyes were dry, he coul
 
 "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.
+"*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.
+"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 *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!
+"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."
 
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ There were some smiles around the table, but no laughter. All were focused entir
 
 "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."
+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.
 
@@ -86,4 +86,4 @@ He nodded and smiled. An earnest smile. A true smile.
 
 He'd finally done it. He'd finally done *something.* This future was his. Even if it was all just a dream, it was *his* dream. His dream of stars to make of it what he would.
 
-"*Anem.* It is finished."
+*We will dream of stars,* Stolon had said, and he knew they would.

content/read/056.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ The world had long since begun to blur, to sag. It had shifted from some known s
 
 It was not as though ey could not see well, for if ey dedicated enough energy to the act of seeing, the act of looking, then everything was as in-focus as it had always been.
 
-Rather, it was a sense, a sensation, a way of moving through the world that implied that *this is how it must be.* The utilitarian furniture. Eir spare apartment in the S-R Bloc with its grimy wallpaper and mountainous views. Eir tea cup and kettle. Eir dreams. All of it was slowly losing coherence, and ey could not tell whether it was a natural process or something new brought on by all of the therapies and the two exploratory surgeries.
+Rather, it was a sense, a sensation, a way of moving through the world that implied that *this is how it must be.* The utilitarian furniture. Eir sparse apartment in the S-R Bloc with its grimy wallpaper and mountainous views. Eir tea cup and kettle. Eir dreams. All of it was slowly losing coherence, and ey could not tell whether it was a natural process or something new brought on by all of the therapies and the two exploratory surgeries.
 
 They had poked around in eir brain, had they not? They had dug through eir mind. They had explored eir dreams. They had delved through memory and found the choicest bits. They had plumbed the depths of eir creativity.
 

content/read/057.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Continued in book IV, [*Mitzvot*](https://mitzvot.post-self.ink)