WEBVTT - CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Five 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:10.200 Cool Zone Media book Club book Club, book Club book Club. 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:13.520 Hello and welcome Nicols on Media book Club, the only 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:15.240 book club that you don't have to do the reading 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:19.919 for because I do it for you. And we are 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:25.960 on week five of her Metica by Alan Lee. And 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:31.680 if you're just tuning in now, why why would you 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.920 do that? Why would you do that to yourself? Why 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.360 would you do that to the text? Why would you 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:39.800 do that to Alan Lee? And why would you do 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.760 that to the world? Why would you start at part five? 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:50.440 Have you been so ruined on narrative and linear storytelling 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:56.400 by shows that are where you just pop in wherever 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:02.800 you want? Is that what happened to you? Are you sad? Anyway? 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:05.480 You can listen wherever you want. I just my brain 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:08.000 doesn't let me do that. But this is week five 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.360 of her Medica by Alan Lee. Alan Lee is the 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:16.039 specfac pen name for Peter Gelderlos and where we last 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:20.280 left our hero days Days followed a hunch through the 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:25.039 rain and onto the rooftops, finally understanding the big reveal 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:30.480 you all been waiting for. The sky is real sort 0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:34.400 of a reverse Truman show. As it were running along 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.840 the rooftops, they see endless neighborhood blocks, stretching towards a 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:43.160 horizon that curves down, not up. They're not on a spaceship. 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:46.840 They've just realized they must still be on earth. In 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.240 this great moment of revelation, the safety drones catch up 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:54.600 to Days, knocking them out as they fall off the barricade. 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:57.640 Just as a heads up. This episode contains an extended 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.400 digression of our protagonist arguing as someone about biological gender, 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:06.920 and you know, so that's where we're at. Days came 0:02:06.960 --> 0:02:10.880 too in pieces. As the sedatives wore off, Their hands 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:14.880 started working, first, probing an amusement at body parts that 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:20.560 were alienated, unfeeling not yet plugged back into the neurological network. 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:24.960 What's this, the hand seemed to say? A leg, a pelvis, 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:29.079 a torso, placed right within arm's reach. To whom does 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:33.320 it belong? Days laughed along with their hands, who had 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.120 left a leg there? What were their hands doing? They 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.080 could not say. They were not yet present enough to 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.600 feed them a purpose. The hands seemed to have a 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.520 purpose of their own. Why should Days be telling the 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:48.200 hands what to do? There was a sudden tingling, not 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:54.240 entirely pleasant. Was that leg? Day's leg? Oh, why were 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:59.519 fingers poking at their leg Days was back at the office. No, No, 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:02.480 that wasn't true. There was a plexi on one side, 0:03:02.800 --> 0:03:05.120 There was a plexi on the other side. There were 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:09.440 plexies on every side. Where were their instruments? This wasn't 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.440 the office. Days tried to sit up. Days came to 0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:17.960 in pieces as the sedatives wore off. First, their eyes opened. 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:22.320 Their head didn't feel great. Their stomach didn't either. Their 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:26.440 legs were tingling uncomfortably. Their hands seemed to be asleep. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:31.320 There was a memory the sky. A tear formed in 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:35.440 their left eye. Where were they? They sat up slowly. 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.480 It was some kind of holding cell. A metallic column 0:03:39.520 --> 0:03:42.880 in one corner pinged. A small door flush with the 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:46.960 column's curve, slid open. A cup of water was revealed. 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:51.560 Within days drank it down. They replaced the cup. The 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:55.800 door closed. A moment later it opened again. The cup 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:59.920 was full. Days drank. There was a toilet in the 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:05.520 far corner. Days sat down. The plexies phased opaque. It 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:07.880 took a while, but they were finally able to piss. 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:12.240 They staggered back to the bed. The plexies went transparent again. 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:16.600 The column pinged, the door opened, There was a tray 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:20.359 of food this time and mre in principle, but but 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.320 different from any emory they'd eaten. They felt weak. They 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.400 wanted the food, but their stomach roiled as they ate. 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.800 They lay back down on the cot. When Days awoke, 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:35.560 there was a person on the other side of the plexi. 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.560 They wore strange clothes of a thick material, plaid red 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.120 on top, blue bottoms, and their skin was as pasty 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:48.520 as John Wayne's. The person was eyeing Days suspiciously. You up. 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:53.960 In response, Days pulled themselves into a sitting position high. 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.360 Their voice creaked, and their heads spun a little. They 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:01.240 rubbed their temples until the feeling passed. Just get in, 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:07.320 I guess, so they sedate. Newcomers me, I've been here 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:11.240 a while, but they transferred me from another block. Days 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.600 looked around to see walls on all six sides. The 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:20.240 floor lateral sides were transparent. Plexi two had breathing holes 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.080 and looked out on the narrow corridors that flanked the cell. 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:26.159 The other two looked into cells just like the one 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:29.840 they occupied. The person with the funny clothes was in 0:05:29.880 --> 0:05:35.919 a cell. I'm Days, that's your name. Days, nodded, What 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:41.200 a strange person, Robert, Nice to meet you. Robert let 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:45.599 out a quiet snort, but they smiled amiably. Days peered 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:48.720 around between the lighting and the way the block was built. 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:51.080 They couldn't see if anyone was in the cells across 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:56.080 the corridor, nor how far down the corridors extended. You're 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.360 not from around here, are you? Days remembered what they 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.520 had discovered running atop the wall fleeing from their block. 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:06.160 None of it seemed real anymore? Could it be possible? 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:11.000 Such a big lie? I guess not? Where are we? 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:17.920 Got me there? Days hesitated? Is this her medica? Where's 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:22.080 that East Coast? Robert did not know what her Medica was. 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:27.200 To be honest, I'm not exactly sure. Robert scrunched up 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:33.839 their face. What about you? Where are you from? Oregon? Oregon? 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:38.360 East coast? Those sounded like Terran references. It was too 0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:41.920 much evidence to deny the articles from twenty twenty three 0:06:41.960 --> 0:06:45.360 from Terra mentioning the pandemic and nothing about extra system 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.400 travel the block on their communication when they were about 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.679 to measure the corialis force. The realness of the sky, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.760 the view from atop the wall not consistent with a 0:06:54.839 --> 0:07:00.240 concave curving platform. Her Medica had never left. He had 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:04.000 been on Terra the whole time. Could it be possible? 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:08.680 The magnitude of the lie was dizzying. Days craved confirmation, 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.400 but how to ask without sounding completely bizarre? They needed 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:18.000 more information. What's Oregon like? They asked, innocently. Our community 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.920 is nice, peaceful, no crime, all god fearing men and women. 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.640 We've got fifty thousand acres timber corn potatoes. We bring 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:31.800 in a good crop. Robert had a strange way of speaking. Nonetheless, 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:34.040 they understood most of it, and none of it sounded 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.600 like life on a spaceship, not any ship that Days 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.640 could imagine. But they wanted to make sure. Do you 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:44.560 have mountains? Mountains? You bet we do. Have you been 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.360 to the sea the Pacific? I've been there, but I 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:52.040 don't travel much mountains and ocean. It would be quite 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.560 a feat to get those on a ship that settled 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:57.640 it unless Robert were lying. And they could not guess 0:07:57.640 --> 0:07:59.720 what the motive the other prisoner might have for such 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:03.720 a bas lie. They were on Tara, they had always 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.560 been on Tara. None of them were going to colonize 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:09.080 a new home world. None of them would ever get there. 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.640 Tell me Days. You're not from the secession? Are you? 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.680 The secession? Oh boy? The secession? The Second Civil War? 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.320 Do they not teach you people about any of that? Sorry? 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:25.880 Days shrugged, The fake virus, the totalitarian coup, none of 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:29.720 that ring a bell. We had a virus. You think 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:31.680 you did. I'm sorry to break it to you, but 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.480 where you grow up, that's a totalitarian society. They made 0:08:35.480 --> 0:08:37.640 a fake virus to try and keep everyone locked up, 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.160 but patriots fought back and we won our independence, took 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.160 half the country with us. Honestly, I'm not surprised they 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:47.840 don't teach you about us. Yeah, I guess there's a 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:50.800 lot of things they didn't teach us. The line about 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.560 a fake virus reminded Days of something in one of 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:57.079 the articles. You seem all right, even if you are 0:08:57.080 --> 0:08:59.319 from the other side. How'd you end up in here? 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:04.160 What you do across the border? I was running, I 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.920 went over the wall. Yeah, we don't take too kindly 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.600 to people going over that wall. But don't you worry. 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:12.400 I'm sure they'll send you back in no time. And 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.199 when they do, you make sure you tell your people 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:20.600 about what really happened. There never was any virus. So 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:25.480 we're in the secession. Now. Days's head was reeling. Their 0:09:25.520 --> 0:09:27.800 grasp on what was fact and what was fiction had 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.000 already been seriously loosened, and their interlocutor in the next 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:34.679 cell didn't exactly inspire confidence. It was not the oily 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:38.000 feeling of a well designed lie that Emil had omitted, 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.319 but rather the blind self assurance that whatever happened to 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:45.040 be the most convenient was an unquestionable truth. That was 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:47.880 the impression Days got, and now they knew better than 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:52.320 to discount their intuition. Don't know where else we'd be, 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.240 Robert shrugged. Matter of factly. They looked around at the 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.760 PLEXI walls. Though this is definitely not our local jail. 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.200 Tell you the truth. I don't like it one bit. 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:04.480 No lawyer, no phone call. This is how I imagine 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:07.640 jail looks like outside this secession. Didn't think we were 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:10.920 supposed to have facilities like this for illegal sure, but 0:10:11.000 --> 0:10:16.280 for citizens maximum security I suppose, They chuckled, showing an 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:20.760 ironic pride. Days failed to understand. So how'd you get 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:26.640 in here? A shot a man? Robert said, plainly. Oh, 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:32.880 Days struggled to fathom exactly what that would mean neuromuscular incapacitation, infection, 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:38.920 prone puncture wounds, uncontrollable nausea, a radiation, dismemberment, fatal blood loss. 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:43.079 They decided against inquiring after the technology level of ranged 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:48.000 weapons in the secession. Besides, Robert's vocabulary was thoroughly quaint, 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:52.120 and Days wasn't sure they'd understand anyway. And you don't 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:56.600 know when you'll get out. Nope, I've barely seen any guards. 0:10:56.640 --> 0:10:59.960 Definitely haven't spoken any officials, not since the sheriff turned 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.120 me over to those marshals. This place is high tech. 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.920 I tell you that practically runs itself. First I was 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:09.960 in a block with other people from the secession. Then 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.000 they moved me. Honestly, you're the first person I've seen 0:11:13.040 --> 0:11:15.720 from the outside. I mean, not counting when I'm on 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.960 border patrol. But we don't talk much with the illegals 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.880 when we see them, he choked back a laugh. Don't 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.480 you worry, though, We only shoot the bad ones. The 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:28.120 good ones. They're looking for freedom Christians who are being persecuted. 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:31.280 We give them a chance if they work hard. Asylum. 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:34.040 You know, there are plenty of communities that would take 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:37.520 in someone like you, but our community is a bit special, 0:11:37.880 --> 0:11:40.400 a lot of veterans from the war, so we get 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:44.000 final say on who moves in. Well, you wouldn't exactly 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:48.319 fit in, Robert chuckled, pointing at Days as though it 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:52.760 was self evident. Days nodded like they understood. But do 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:55.520 you know what else is self evident? Do you know 0:11:55.559 --> 0:12:00.000 what else you cannot? As though you understand the products 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:04.960 services that support this podcast. That's right, every single one 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:08.240 of them you already know. In fact, you might already 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:10.400 know them so much. They might be so self evident 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:13.480 that you reach down to your phone and you press 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:17.440 that forward fifteen seconds button a couple times. Do you 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:20.679 hear the music come back in? Or you can listen 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:24.160 to the ads. It's really up to you. That's freedom 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:29.000 for you, the right to choose that particular tiny thing. 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:46.120 Here's the ads, and we're back. The day wore on. 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:50.160 They ate when the next food tray arrived, Days decided 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.440 not to confide in Robert about her medica. Robert was 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.520 condescending enough already, and Days did not want to give 0:12:56.559 --> 0:13:00.599 them any ammunition. He's got those friends. How many of 0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:03.280 them knew the truth? It was possible that none of 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:07.840 them did. They trusted Zip absolutely. They wouldn't lie to Days. 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.840 They had grown up together. In fact, Zip had been 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:12.960 helping them get a better sense for their place on 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.199 her Medica. Someone from Safety had probably paid them a 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:19.720 visit before they could carry out the experiment. Days wondered 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:24.200 how Zip would have reacted and somehow they knew the 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.040 Safety team member. They would have said Days had suffered 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.600 a mental breakdown, that they were becoming obsessed, denying the 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:34.920 reality of the situation. After that, even though Zimp's intensions 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:38.040 were good, catering to that paranoia, they would call it 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:42.600 a paranoia was only encouraging the behavior. Then Zip would 0:13:42.640 --> 0:13:45.559 receive a reminder to uphold the new safety and not 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:49.439 spread need to know information. Whatever setup they'd put together 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:52.720 to carry out the experiment would be confiscated. The next 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:55.000 day at work, they'd get a challenging new assignment that 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:58.000 would keep them busy. When they checked, Days would be 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:03.440 classified as permanent reconciation. Would that be enough? Would Zimp 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.640 make their peace and say goodbye without ever knowing what 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.160 had really happened to their old friend. It seemed so absurd. 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:13.360 They were so smart, how could they not know? But 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:17.840 Days remembered how They'd been educated plenty of formula and equations, 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.520 but all the experiments were done on simulations. They were 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:25.360 asked to complete mathematical proofs to test the technical knowledge 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.040 they'd been given, but never to test the story of 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:30.920 who they were, where they were, how they'd gotten there. 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:36.040 It was masterful misdirection. They'd been given the tools to 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.000 take apart their world, all of them, but they'd also 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:41.560 been given a more interesting project to put those tools 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.440 to use on. So they put their shoulders to the wheel, 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:50.160 and the world stood unquestioned. What about EMMYL, the putative 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.640 inter block rep. Did they know? Days assumed they did. 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:57.560 Surely EMMYL had actually been a safety investigator. But the 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.240 more they thought about how ZIP had been fooled, how 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:04.400 they themselves had been fooled, the more doubts appeared. If 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:06.880 EMML was willing to accept that their job consisted of 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:11.400 protecting compartmentalization, of making sure no one tried obtaining knowledge 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:14.840 outside their professional assignment, of checking up on anyone flagged 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.920 for abnormal behavior and making a simple recommendation whether that 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:21.680 person could be trusted to follow the rules, whether they 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:25.680 needed a temporary reconciliation process, or whether they presented a 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:30.040 permanent danger. They really didn't need to know anything. All 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.440 they had to tell themselves was that sabotage was a 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:37.400 threat to her Medica, and anyone violating compartmentalization was enabling sabotage. 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.600 The articles that for Days had triggered so many questions 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.920 for EMIL probably just tripped an alarm unauthorized sensitive information 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:48.200 that had to be controlled. Days thought about how no 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:50.680 one they knew worked in a field that gave them 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.280 proof her Medica existed. Sure there was someone who worked 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.880 in propulsion, but they were pretty sure that person just 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.800 ran models on improving the efficiency of fusion reactions. They 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.360 never would have seen the engines and didn't know how 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.960 their results were actually put to use. Everyone had such 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.480 a small part of the picture, and it was the 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.160 system itself that fed the bigger picture back to them. 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.320 They all trusted that the information they produced was being 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:18.760 put together in a sensible way. As for the millions 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.080 of passengers, who knew how many of them were real 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.520 people from what Days had seen on their run, there 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:28.040 were thousands, for sure, all living and working in identical 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:32.080 blocks covering at least twenty five square kilometers somewhere with 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:35.400 a naturally flat terrain, but no one knew more than 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:38.320 a couple hundred people for real. The majority of those 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:42.359 millions who were active visible on socials could have been artificials, 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:46.160 there to confirm the alibi everyone was so intent on believing. 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:51.160 Days felt sick most of all because on some level 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:55.240 it wasn't a surprise the world had always felt empty. 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.400 Something moved just to the edge of their field of vision. 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:03.080 Days turned nothing for a moment. They thought, hoped it 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.359 was snookums, but snookums couldn't find them there, which is 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.200 a tragedy because they could use a good cuddle. They 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:13.320 curled up on the cot you got the blues, Robert called, 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.080 Days sat up and shrugged. They had been napping lightly, 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:21.120 an onearic distortion of the last day's revelations rolling through 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.480 their head. They felt lethargic, like there wasn't any need 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.639 to grab on to one of the coherent versions of 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:32.280 reality that suggested itself, Like it didn't even matter that happens. 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:35.720 You gotta be patient in here. They gave a compliant nod. 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.360 Robert mistook their silence for a request to force them 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:43.360 into a state of cheerfulness. This won't last forever. Soon 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.520 you'll get to go back and be with your people. 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:50.120 Days nodded again. I'll tell you what I sure miss 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:55.359 my wife, wife wife. Days remembered encountering the term in 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:59.040 old literature. It was something along the lines of either 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.880 a friend or servant. Should they ask, they might as 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:05.480 well indulge in their curiosity a little. If Robert was 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:09.879 going to make avoiding a conversation impossible, what do you 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.120 miss about them? Days? Hope the question was neutral enough 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:18.200 that the answer would reveal the words meaning who what 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.440 miss about who? Your wife? You just said you missed them? 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:26.639 I only got the one. We're not polygamists now. Days 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:30.760 was thoroughly confused, Right, your one wife? What do they 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:34.800 do you mean? She? Robert looked at Days like some 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:39.720 insult had been proffered. She Days vaguely remembered the earth 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:43.360 from some old novels that hadn't been translated into modern English, 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.959 one of a class of obsolete pronouns spurred on by 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:52.479 Days's blank look. Robert Turtle, She he you know? Okay? 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.399 Are you telling me? You don't say? He? And she 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:01.800 In an unguarded moment, Days snapped back at Robert's scorn, Well, 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:05.600 they are archaic. Oh for crying out loud. I heard 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:08.600 stories about this, but it had to be a tall tale. 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.160 Don't tell me you people pretend men and women don't exist. 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.280 This had taken an interesting turn. Days figured they could 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:18.840 either lay back down and put an end to the conversation, 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:21.520 or make it a little less one sided, giving the 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:23.960 likelihood that they would be stuck in it, willing or not, 0:19:24.400 --> 0:19:27.280 for the next several days, and finding out more about 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:31.480 Robert's world might answer some questions they had about their own. Well, 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:36.040 it's certainly a classification system that once existed, a classifer. 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:38.760 How are you going to deny what's in front of 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:42.480 your very nose? Since crashing out on the aptitudes, Days 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:45.840 had not felt confident talking about scientific matters with their peers. 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:49.240 Prior to that, though, they had been a voracious student, 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:51.600 and in the short time they had known Robert, they 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.439 had already shaped under their condescension. Days was certainly a 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:58.720 capable mind when compared to Robert. Maybe they were even 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:02.159 intelligent when compared to her America's brightest. They realized a 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.880 blossom of warm confidence spreading through their chest. Of all 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.320 the cohort mates they had been deferring to these last 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:10.560 years of their life, who had been sent on to 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:14.040 prestigious work assignments. None of them had been smart enough 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:16.439 to figure out it was all a lie. It was 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:20.080 time for Days to start trusting in their hunches. And 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.919 do you know who else is smart enough to figure 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:26.040 out that it's all a lie? I don't know either, 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:45.200 But here's ads and we're back. Robert presented an interesting challenge, 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:48.840 like running into a modern day Aristotle and trying to 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.200 explain how atomic theory was more practical than the notion 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:56.080 of five elements. The objection Robert seemed to be raising 0:20:56.200 --> 0:21:00.159 was not terribly complex. The challenge consisted of fitting in 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.000 about two years of primary school rudimentaries into a single conversation. 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:08.160 But it seemed like they had time. Days clasped their 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:11.159 hands and shifted into a posture that was neither confrontational 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:16.760 nor dismissive. Facing Robert, but not quite head on. Have 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:19.240 you thought about your approach? I don't know why you 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:22.000 need to divide the human species according to a classification 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:26.560 system that goes beyond current functionality, I mean, job descriptions. 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:29.880 It seems like a dodgy enterprise. But if you're going 0:21:29.920 --> 0:21:32.600 to insist. Maybe we can agree that the fundamental feature 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:35.880 of the system should be clarity, no room for ambiguity. 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:39.800 Robert was taken aback by this sudden change in register, 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:44.359 but they not at all the same, that's right. Clarity 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:47.639 Days continued well on those grounds. It seems the notion 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:52.200 of men and women would have to be rejected Robert's sputtered. Pullah, 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:54.960 it's me sputtering. It's not in the text. It wasn't 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:56.840 written out like Pooluh, but I was trying to do 0:21:56.920 --> 0:22:01.080 my example of a sputtering. Chromosomatic different is not binary. 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:05.320 You were aware of that, right, Hormones, genital development, none 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:08.520 of it is strictly binary. And it's dangerous to establish 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:11.880 a biological generalization and shed the rest as a rounding error, 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:15.480 because well, those rounding errors are people. And as for 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:18.080 the ones who supposedly fit in the boxes, there's an 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:21.679 additional danger as some will fit better than others. So 0:22:21.760 --> 0:22:25.919 now you have a non utilitarian value hierarchy. Instead of 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:29.080 just being human, everyone is now either more or less. 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:34.160 Plus the fact that the distinction serves no purpose, so ambiguous, 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:38.840 problematic and useless. Honestly, I don't think there's a system's 0:22:38.840 --> 0:22:42.120 analysis and existence that would class this metric as operational. 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:49.359 It is self evident, Robert said, lividly, standing up for themselves. 0:22:49.680 --> 0:22:52.520 Days had started feeling manic, and from there it was 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:56.000 a short hop to cocky time for a tidy coup 0:22:56.080 --> 0:23:01.760 de gras. Oh yeah, which one am I woman? Robert said, 0:23:01.760 --> 0:23:05.680 without blinking. Days had to hand it to them. They 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:08.600 were unflinchingly bold to make a claim. They knew, they 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:12.959 both knew they cannot possibly back up. How do you know, 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.919 Days stuttered, it's obvious, Robert drawled, as though it were 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:21.639 in fact obvious. Well, you haven't given me a chromosome test. 0:23:21.760 --> 0:23:26.240 We just met, but it's plain as day. Anyone can 0:23:26.280 --> 0:23:30.600 see it. I don't see it because your brain washed. 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:33.920 Robert rolled their eyes. Now, that certainly took the cake. 0:23:34.840 --> 0:23:39.440 And what are you then, man? Robert shrugged, misunderstanding the question. 0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:43.879 Days rolled with it. Have you ever taken a chromosome test? 0:23:44.240 --> 0:23:47.840 Don't need to? Don't you think that's a self confirming theory. 0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:50.080 If you never test it, you never have to find 0:23:50.080 --> 0:23:53.600 out if it's wrong. Robert sighed, like their patients was 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:58.040 wearing thin Look at me, now, look at you, Yeah, 0:23:58.080 --> 0:24:02.000 we look quite different, Uh huh, Well we're not close 0:24:02.080 --> 0:24:06.159 genetic relations, why should we look similar? Okay, try not 0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:10.560 to be indelicate for starters. I have a beard, Yeah, 0:24:10.640 --> 0:24:14.040 so do I look a mustache anyway? See right there, 0:24:15.520 --> 0:24:17.920 you don't shave. I get that it's gross, No need 0:24:17.960 --> 0:24:20.520 to flaunt it. But if people have to adapt their 0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:23.399 behavior and even modify their bodies to confirm the theory, 0:24:23.720 --> 0:24:27.240 then those are false metrics. Oh, for the love of God, 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:31.679 I can't have babies. You can have babies, Well, you 0:24:31.720 --> 0:24:35.120 could have babies with the right surgical procedures. Here Robert's 0:24:35.160 --> 0:24:38.280 eyes widened alarmingly, and neither of us know if I 0:24:38.320 --> 0:24:41.880 could in fact reproduce in my current state. I've never applied, 0:24:42.000 --> 0:24:44.640 never gotten tested. And even if I could, or even 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:46.440 if I got the procedure to make sure I could, 0:24:46.560 --> 0:24:48.520 there would undoubtedly come a time in my life when 0:24:48.560 --> 0:24:50.800 it would no longer be an option. Would I then 0:24:50.880 --> 0:24:54.840 cease to be a woman? Look, women can have babies, 0:24:54.880 --> 0:25:00.200 and barring some perverse voodoo science, men cannot. What was 0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:03.840 feeling a bit offended, they rose to their feet. It's 0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:06.560 a flimsy assumption to think that someone with no hair 0:25:06.600 --> 0:25:09.960 on their face has productive ovaries and a viable birth canal, 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:12.480 and then on top of it, to get disgusted with 0:25:12.520 --> 0:25:14.840 someone who doesn't shave their face because you insist on 0:25:14.880 --> 0:25:17.639 believing that they can bear children. But beyond all that, 0:25:17.760 --> 0:25:20.400 child bearing is a bad metric for a social division 0:25:20.640 --> 0:25:24.119 because it's not a physiological constant, it's a voluntary activity. 0:25:25.240 --> 0:25:27.359 Oh wait, Days just remembered some things that they had 0:25:27.400 --> 0:25:31.520 read about the primitives. Frantically they steered towards another topic 0:25:31.600 --> 0:25:34.879