WEBVTT - CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Two 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:03.240 Calzon Media. 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:11.840 Book Club book Club, book Club book Club. Hello, and 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:13.880 welcome to the cools On Media book Club, the only 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:15.520 book club where you don't have to do the reading 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.360 because I do the reading for you. I'm your host, 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:22.279 Margaret Kiljoy, and every week I bring new stories or 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.560 story adjacent things sometimes, but this time it's stories because 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:30.200 this time, as you probably notice from the title, it 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:34.120 is part two of a novella called Hermetica by Alan Lee, 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:36.920 which was published by Detritus. 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:39.960 Books and twenty twenty one. And I'm really excited that 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:44.840 we got permission to run that novella here for you all. 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:48.840 Alan Lee is the speculative fiction pen name for Peter 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:53.920 Gelderlos and Peter Gelderlos for folks who aren't familiar, is 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.240 the author of a bunch of nonfiction books that you 0:00:56.320 --> 0:01:00.000 might have read, including The Solutions Already here and How 0:00:59.880 --> 0:01:04.440 non Violence Protects the State. If you like this story, 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:09.440 well you should tell Allen Lee to write more stories. 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.560 But if you want nonfiction, you can go out and 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:18.000 check Peter's books, and you can also check out Peter Substack, 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.360 which is Surviving Leviathan, which has a lot of different 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:24.720 essays and things that are good because if you like 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:27.800 the things that Peter says, you'll like the things that 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.840 Peter says. That seems self evident now that I say 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:36.119 it out loud, But what isn't self evident is what's 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.600 going to happen next. I'm going to do the thing 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.120 where I read a couple paragraphs of what had just happened, 0:01:41.440 --> 0:01:43.720 just so that you are caught up, even though there's 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:47.840 going to be a scene transition. But it's a flashback 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:53.840 to when Days, our protagonist is taking a test. Before 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:56.120 the test begins, you will all go in too, configure 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.680 and set the test time back to nine twenty zero zero. 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:04.520 Use this override. A twelve digit passcode appeared on the 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:09.000 main screen that was certainly irregular, and it hardly seemed fair. 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.200 They had now lost five full minutes from their testing time, 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:17.000 and no one ever got through all the problems. Days 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:22.639 decided not to comply. Still frightened of the examiner, they 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.720 moved their fingers over the tactile so they'd blend in 0:02:26.000 --> 0:02:29.640 with all the others. Then the test started and the 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:34.920 first problem appeared on everyone's screen. Okay, that's where we 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.400 left it with the implication, at least I'm assuming that 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:43.280 the fact that they like didn't go along with what 0:02:43.320 --> 0:02:46.840 they got told to do is like why they didn't 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.080 do well on the getting along with other people thing. 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:56.120 That's my assumption, all right, this is the new part. 0:02:56.800 --> 0:02:59.920 Days was delighted to find snookums waiting at the module 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:03.600 when they walked up, arms full of groceries from the 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.079 supply node. Module opened up to let two of them in, 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.560 and Days gave the cat a good scratch behind the ear. 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:13.240 As soon as the groceries were safely atop the table. 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:23.320 They had gotten more than enough ingredients for dinner real tomatoes, basil, garlic, onion, mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:29.520 red paste, petra beef egg sub fresh lasagna noodles. They'd 0:03:29.560 --> 0:03:32.399 had a backlog of credit, having canceled the last week 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:35.840 of socials. If they weren't feeling up for a social, 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:40.160 they usually weren't feeling up for cooking, and emors were unlimited, 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:44.920 just a voice command away. Days was reputed to be 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.400 the best cook on the block. There was not much competition, 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.320 but still it was nice to be valued for something. 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.000 As long as they canceled social appointments on bad days. 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:59.520 Friendship with Days was a cherished commodity. The meals they 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:03.720 whipped up balanced their unpredictability the fact that so often 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.680 they simply did not show up. In truth, it worked 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:11.000 out quite well. They needed at least five days worth 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.800 of credit to get enough fresh ingredients for a good meal. 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:19.360 Taking on too many socials just wouldn't be tenable. Aksa 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.800 just released a new list. Shall I put it on? 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.440 Of course? Module knew that Days nearly always listened to 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:30.479 music while cooking and access lists were highly rated. But 0:04:30.560 --> 0:04:34.800 today Days had a specific melody worming its way through 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:41.240 their brain. No put on devoric Slavonic dance one the 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:47.560 forty six. The orchestra erupted pleasantly through the module's walls, 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.680 and Days started on the prep, chopping the onion, mincing 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.920 half the garlic front left burner medium high, front right 0:04:55.960 --> 0:05:00.920 burner medium. They placed two pans on the rain, dripped 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.800 in some olive oil. Next, they converted the mushroom into 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:08.480 thin slices. There was an autocutter built into the wall 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.400 next to the range, but Days relished the contact, the 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:16.560 differing textures and resistance of the vegetables, the weight, and 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:20.880 the inexorable finality of the knife. A simple machine that 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:26.279 ebedded rather than forestalled entropy. The pans were already hot. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.880 They put the onions in one, the garlic in the other. 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:35.279 The violins and flutes pranced with a deceptive gayety before 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:39.040 the bassoons came in and the whole thing rocketed to 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:43.880 its frenetic finale. Who were those people clapping? It must 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:47.480 be a recorded concert from back on Terra. Her Medico 0:05:47.600 --> 0:05:50.279 was big, but Days had never heard of it having 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:55.000 a concert hall or a full symphony orchestra module cyclolont 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:59.640 Slavonic dance. Seven following Days's biostats their reaction to the 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:06.000 previous peace current activity. Days had tried learning an instrument once, 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:10.240 but had little talent or perhaps a lack of consistency. 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:14.680 They were fascinated by music, though. One of the quirks 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.480 of NTK and the New Safety was that people tracked 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:22.160 for the sciences had little access to studies on history, culture, 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:27.479 and philosophy, basically any of the extraneous product of Terran civilization. 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.279 Perhaps the architects of Hermetica had wanted a clean break. 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:36.960 The Terrans had discovered thermodynamics very well, but why weigh 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:39.799 themselves down with all the other baggage of a self 0:06:39.839 --> 0:06:45.000 destructive society. So they had libraries full of dismembered artifacts, 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:49.920 from novels to waltzes, but little about the stories behind them. 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.000 Days often found themselves wondering about the people who had 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.640 created such beautiful music. They had first gotten hooked while 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.560 studying for the aptitudes when certain kinds of music were 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:04.600 boosted from improving focus and retention. Really, they were only 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:08.040 familiar with thirty odd pieces by half a dozen composers. 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:13.120 Didn't understand the weird number word system for cataloging symphonies, 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:18.360 nor what dramatic experiences the composers were drawing on. Yet 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:25.040 something undeniable was there, reaching across the void to commune. 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:28.320 Days turned back to the task at hand. As the 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:33.200 melody twirled and slowed, joyous and grave, a whirlwind of 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.760 life on the precipice of despair. They scooped the petra 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.960 beef in with the garlic and shook on a generous 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.720 dusting of cayenne. It was going to be a beautiful supper. 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.600 Days stole a moment on the couch with snookums, running 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.960 their thumb between the cat's shoulder blades as it purred blissfully. 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.560 Before long, though they had to get back to the range, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:59.720 stirring the beef the onions, adding the mushrooms to the onions, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:07.520 salting them. Module picked the next score, Shostakovich's second Waltz. 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:13.120 Preheat oven to one ninety front right, burner to high front, 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:18.080 left off. They whipped together the rikatta and the egg. 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.960 Sub opened the red paste, boiled the oven pan, and 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.400 topped a layer of red paste with the first layer 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:28.520 of lasagna. The petro beef was sizzling. They turned off 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.640 the last burner and then continued layering veggie's meat and 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:38.360 red paste Lasagna, rikatta, lasagna mazzarella on top. When all 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:43.280 the layers were in place, then into the oven. Days 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:46.000 can make the salad later. The tomatoes would be best 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.520 if served freshly chopped. They hurried back to the couch 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:53.840 where Snookums was still kneading the fabric and staring at them. 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:59.560 Horns sounded quietly at first, then joined by trombones, strings, 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:04.600 wind wins. They had forgotten about the music. Module had 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:09.360 cycled on to the eleventh Symphony. Milty should be arriving 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:14.360 in an hour. Perfect timing. Snookum shifted its weight against 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.720 Dais's thigh and the two of them blissed out, carried 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:22.760 along by the symphony's rising emotion. Now tragic, now heroic. 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.240 Suddenly it was time to take the lasagna out, slice 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:31.240 the tomatoes, mince the basil and garlic. And then Milty 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.199 was there. But do you know what else is here? 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:40.120 That's right, the advertisers. They're here to share dinner with you. 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.200 Just imagine each one of them sitting at the table. 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:47.120 What conversation would they bring? You don't really have to guess, 0:09:47.440 --> 0:10:05.560 because they'll tell you. And we're back. Milty had gone 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.600 into organic chemistry, and their work had something to do 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.199 with growing tissue samples or replacement organs that days did 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:16.360 not fully understand. Most of the time they worked from home, 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:20.640 going over lab results or conducting tests by remote, but 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:22.839 every now and then they got to go into campus, 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:27.320 some twenty blocks away. The standard block had four nodes, 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.600 one on each end of the two perpendicular streets, a 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.920 health center, a supply node, a maintenance center, and some 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:40.400 other workstation different for every block. Those who did not 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.160 work at either of those four stations worked from home 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.560 as much as possible. Vectors on her Medica had to 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:50.520 be kept to a constant minimum, but Scientific research was 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:54.640 a major priority on board her Medica had set out 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:58.200 from Terra with a solid design and trajectory towards a 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:02.600 cluster of star systems with a high number of promising exoplanets, 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.800 but the greater part of their mission resources were in Potentia, 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.880 the cohorts of advanced scientists who were constantly improving the 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:14.720 ship's propulsion, making sure life systems could function for five 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:19.000 hundred years with no external inputs, and augmenting their terraforming 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.040 kits to be ready for whatever the conditions were on 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:26.719 the exoplanet they eventually settled. None of that had ever 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:32.240 been done before. Laboratories were the largest spaces on the ship, 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:38.040 entire blocks or several adjacent blocks fitted out as scientific campuses. 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.880 Days had no idea how many there were in total, 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:45.599 but Milty was lucky enough to work at one of them, 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:48.200 and they were kind enough to only tell stories that 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:52.280 helped Days appreciate how large their world was without feeling 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.679 envious about being confined to such a small part of it. 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:01.600 Days liked Milty. After dinner, they put on a movie, 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.479 a new one that paired Humphrey Bogart and Robert Williams 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.600 in an old style Western, the first two in a 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.680 probe team to land on Mars. Days loved listening to 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:18.720 Milty laugh. The film was Milty's recommendation. Days had rarely 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.840 enjoyed Westerns in the past, but they cannot think of 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:25.160 any other new release to recommend. In the end, they 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:30.040 had to admit Bogart played the perfect straight, hard jawled 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:34.440 eyes on the mission as Williams went crazy itching at 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.440 the regolith that got inside their suit or getting in 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:42.160 a shouting match with the air minor Bravo. Days said, 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.560 when it was over, you liked it. Oh, I'm glad 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.600 I needed to laugh today. So I have a question, 0:12:51.040 --> 0:12:54.880 Milty said. They knew Days loved to discuss films as 0:12:54.920 --> 0:12:57.520 soon as they were done, and they always indulged them. 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:00.880 A Film Studies elective had been one of Days's favorite 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:05.599 courses in school, covering everything from sound engineering to narrative technique. 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.360 In introduction for those who would go on to work 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:13.720 in entertainment, the teacher, a kindly bearded old person, often 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.120 diverged into the long history of the craft pre exploration, 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.320 and those tangential lectures refracted through the lens of dolly 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.600 zooms and fourth walls. Were the source of much of 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:31.080 what Days knew about Terra. Ask away, why do they 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:35.760 call them Westerns? I thought West was a Terran positional reference. 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:40.480 It can only map onto a planetary surface relative to rotation, right, 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.240 so is it a cultural thing? I remember some Terrans 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.640 referred to themselves as Western. There was, in fact an 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:52.480 esoteric joke about primitives on Terra only moving in one direction, 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:58.320 counter to the planet's rotational spin. Days knew the answer 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.280 to this one. It was true that the protagonists of 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.400 Westerns were always pasty skinned, and the bad guys, if 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:08.880 there were any besides misbehaving air miners and silicate factories, 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:13.520 had their skin darkened or a neo Western's painted green. 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:16.959 As a child, Days had assumed it was in fact 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:20.320 the protagonists who painted their skin in some bizarre old 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:24.400 world status esthetic. After all, nearly all the people they 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:28.080 had seen with such pasty skin were Terran actors. The 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.320 film teacher, though, had explained that an old world Terra, 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:36.280 before the explorations began, the pasty skinned phenotype had dominated 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:39.720 the film industry and only cast themselves in the leading roles. 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.640 What a bizarre place Tera must have been, and what 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.600 a relief that Hermetica and all its passengers had left 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:52.240 Tera far behind them. Actually, there are pretty specific genre requirements. 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.880 A western is a retrospective science fiction, said in what 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:00.920 was considered to be a primitive or low tech frontier. Wow, 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:04.520 you really paid attention in class, are you kidding? I 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.680 ate that shit up all electives. Not enough focus on 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:11.200 the core material, they said, with a ryegrin, A sure 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:15.880 track to being a palliative therapist or a cleaner. Hey, days, 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.400 I would rather watch movies with you than with any 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.840 of my work colleagues, So don't stop lay more of 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:27.840 this knowledge on me. Retrospective science fiction. Yeah, the story 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.120 is set in a place in the past, so low 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:33.800 technology relative to the audience, and in a territory, though 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:37.920 identify as especially primitive and chaotic. Yet at the same time, 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:41.200 it's a territory that has been tamed and organized by 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.000 the time the people are there watching the movie, a 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.720 space that in fact might be identified as being at 0:15:46.720 --> 0:15:50.000 the cutting edge of their technological development. See you have 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:53.600 Humphrey Bogart bumbling around on Mars and Terra's first attempt 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:59.400 at extraterrestrial inhabitation, John Wayne playing suck the caesium on 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.600 the Nevada test site. I guess the first works in 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:07.200 the genre would be called The Tempest or the Aonid. 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.400 By this point, Days was just riffing. Their old teacher 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:15.240 had mentioned the fact about John Wayne's demise, satisfaction and 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:20.160 bitterness waging some unexplained battle across their face. But the 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.160 literary references where connections Days had come up with in 0:16:23.200 --> 0:16:27.640 the moment, no way to evaluate their historical validity, certainly, 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:32.240 no studies to cite, simply a pattern that felt right obvious. 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:37.520 Even so, why Western? Oh? I guess it's a coincidence, 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:41.320 but most of the classical or modern Westerns involved geographic 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:44.960 travel to the west on the planetary surface, not the 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.400 case with neo Westerns. But by that time the name 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:51.960 had already stuck. Feeling fully comfortable now or desirous of 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:56.960 more attention, Snookum's god in Days's lap, Milty hadn't mentioned 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.440 it yet, which was odd. Snookum's had been rubbed against 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.760 Dais's legs or purring on the couch between the two 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:10.520 for the whole movie. So this cat appeared yesterday? What cat? 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:16.480 Milty asked, earnestly, still smiling, Well, the cat of ad 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.919 for this is the worst ad transition I've ever done. 0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:21.960 But imagine it was clever, and then that would be 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.800 what was happening, a clever ad transition. And if you 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:26.800 had cooler zone media, you would just get the clever 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.479 ad transitions. But if you don't, you also get the ads. 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:34.280 It's like bonus content. By not paying, you get to 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.840 listen to these ads or press forward thirty seconds like 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.399 usually four to six times until you hear the jingle 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:53.919 music come back in. It's really up to you and 0:17:54.000 --> 0:18:02.440 we're back. What cat, Multi asked earnestly, still smiling. Snowcums 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:08.400 flicked its tail in sudden displeasure. Oh never, long story, 0:18:09.760 --> 0:18:15.199 No tell me, Milty smiled again in encouragement. I was 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.160 days knew not to push it. People saw what they 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:21.840 were going to see, and most of them hated the 0:18:21.880 --> 0:18:25.359 idea that not everyone saw the same thing. I was 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:29.280 thinking of applying for a companion animal. Oh that's great, 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:34.240 I saw one yesterday. The profile, I mean looks really cute. 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:38.840 Snokem's jumped off Day's lap in a huff. Milty still 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:42.760 didn't notice. I'm sure you'll get approved. There's not too 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.400 many on our block. You've a good record you work 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:49.159 in therapy. They didn't add that mental health index was 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:53.000 also a factor. Didn't need to. I bet you'll get 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.440 your first choice too. What's it look like the cute one? 0:18:57.280 --> 0:18:59.880 Snookeums began scratching the side of the couch and pat 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:05.160 to irritation like a trouble maker. Hey do you want dessert? 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.640 Days had to change the subject fast before Milty asked 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:13.960 to see the profile. Milty went home after dessert Snooums 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.200 was still huffy, scratching at the wall panel as Days 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:20.960 put dishes in the chute. Their mood was starting to crash. 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:24.760 Why did socials always end up making them feel more alone? 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:30.680 A module put the music back on. Accusatory notes rang 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:35.879 out sharply Shostakovich's Symphony Number thirteen. According to the screen, 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:40.600 Snookums began scratching more furiously, as though it wanted to 0:19:40.600 --> 0:19:45.200 be heard over the strings. Hey, I'm sorry, some people 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.760 just don't want to see. What was I supposed to do? 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.800 Days walked over and picked the cat up, hugging it tightly. 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:56.680 Snookum's forebore then resisted, and finally Days let it spring 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:00.880 to the floor. Hey, you did some damage here, Days 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:03.920 knelt down. The corner of the wall panel had actually 0:20:04.000 --> 0:20:07.919 come loose. That wasn't good, but instead of pushing it 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:11.040 back into place. The module was largely self repairing, and 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.560 a little nudge to realign the panel might solve the 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:18.760 whole thing. Days began pulling. They had never seen what 0:20:18.880 --> 0:20:21.560 was behind a wall panel, and at the moment, the 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:25.600 perfect stability of their environment felt like mockery. It was 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:28.920 a feeling which Days would be unable to explain, yet 0:20:28.960 --> 0:20:33.680 at the same time was absolutely certain. The walls exuded scorn. 0:20:34.440 --> 0:20:38.600 They condescended, they knew things they assumed Days was unable 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.760 to see, and they belittled their attempts to think freely. 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:48.760 Continuing may cause structural damage. It's okay, Module, I'm trying 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:51.080 to fix it. Actually, I need you to release this 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:54.280 panel so I can put it back in properly. It's misaligned. 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:59.840 Most systems were self regulating, and modules data certainly indicated 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:04.760 Days was in fact wrong, but a standard AI parameter 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:08.640 allowed human intervention to override system decisions in cases where 0:21:08.680 --> 0:21:11.600 the risk only encompassed a single element and not the 0:21:11.640 --> 0:21:17.000 whole system. Human perception, however, imprecise was open ended, and 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:21.880 system criteria had to come from passengers anyway, so module relented. 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:26.919 The wall panel came free. It was not the destructive 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:30.080 release Days had been hoping for, nothing like taking a 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:34.280 hammer to the whole structure. But on her Medica, all 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:38.680 forms of release were modulated through the paramount need to compromise. 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:46.800 The gesture's inevitable disappointment, however, evaporated immediately. Mystery took its place. 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:50.520 For the moment the panel came free, a sheet that 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:54.560 had been tucked behind it fell to the ground. Snookums 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:58.080 took a seat beside it, looking up at Days pointedly. 0:22:01.000 --> 0:22:05.040 Days's hands began to tremble. Remembering their alibi, they quickly 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:09.119 stuck the panel back in the wall. Okay, that should 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:15.000 do it. Panel is aligned, and secured their mouth dry. 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:18.520 Days picked up the sheet off the floor. Its texture 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:23.760 was strange, brittle, its tones muted and dirty. It was 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:27.639 covered with minuscule writing on both sides. But when Days 0:22:27.680 --> 0:22:32.560 tried to enlarge nothing happened. Had it been back there 0:22:32.600 --> 0:22:35.680 so long it had run out of battery. They shook 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:40.679 it a few times and tried again. Nothing. A device 0:22:40.720 --> 0:22:44.480 like that should be piezo electric, but maybe it was malfunctioned. 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:47.400 Maybe that was why it had been discarded back there. 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:51.159 Days stood and brought the sheet to the range. If 0:22:51.200 --> 0:22:54.240 it had any internal circuits, even malfunctioning ones, the range 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:59.320 would detect them, recharge them, and if possible, repair them. Nothing. 0:23:00.240 --> 0:23:04.760 The range did not recognize the sheet as electronic Days 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:08.320 looked closer, twisted an edge of it. It seemed to 0:23:08.320 --> 0:23:10.719 be made of some kind of fiber, and not one 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:14.439 they were familiar with. Well, they'd have to do this 0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:20.119 the old fashioned way. Squinting, they began to read. Along 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:25.960 the top there was a date June twelfth, twenty twenty three, 0:23:26.240 --> 0:23:32.760 below a yellowing margin. An article began experts as vaccine 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:39.680 Hope's falter choking sickness here to stay. Dun, Dun, dun. 0:23:40.119 --> 0:23:43.240 That's the end of part two. What does it all mean? 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:48.200 Why is there a presumably newspaper hidden inside the wall. 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:51.600 One of the reasons that I like this book is 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:54.920 that I have a specific fondness for generationships. I think 0:23:54.960 --> 0:23:57.320 I first read Orphans in the Sky, which I could 0:23:57.320 --> 0:23:59.560 not tell you the first thing about when I was 0:23:59.720 --> 0:24:02.720 very young, and which is a book. Bey Heinlen is 0:24:02.720 --> 0:24:05.840 a very complicated author. It's the easiest way to put 0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:12.400 that and just this idea that since we can't assume 0:24:12.480 --> 0:24:15.439 that we'll ever have warp speed or hyper space or 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:19.400 faster than light travel, that if humanity is ever going 0:24:19.440 --> 0:24:23.840 to get to the stars, we're going to have generationships. 0:24:23.880 --> 0:24:26.720 We're going to have ships where people live and die 0:24:27.680 --> 0:24:30.840 and you know, have their entire lives like on these ships. 0:24:32.000 --> 0:24:36.200 And it's always been an idea that fascinates me. It's 0:24:36.240 --> 0:24:38.719 funny because it's like just as much science fiction feeling 0:24:38.840 --> 0:24:41.679 is like light speed to me. But that's because we 0:24:41.760 --> 0:24:45.040 can't even get biodomes to work here on Earth, to 0:24:45.119 --> 0:24:47.959 my understanding. But that's because we don't try enough. I 0:24:48.000 --> 0:24:53.720 think I think that a hermetically sealed environment, a hermetica 0:24:54.040 --> 0:24:57.960 as it were, it's like probably possible, you know, but 0:24:58.040 --> 0:25:01.280 we certainly haven't nailed it. I can't take people like 0:25:01.359 --> 0:25:03.520 Elon Musk seriously. There are a million reasons I can't 0:25:03.520 --> 0:25:06.520 take Elon Musk personally seriously. But it's why I can't 0:25:06.520 --> 0:25:10.120 take anyone claiming to be looking at Mars expedition seriously 0:25:10.160 --> 0:25:12.680 because the problem with getting to Mars, there's so many problems, 0:25:13.040 --> 0:25:15.960 but it's not rocketry. The first and foremost problem is 0:25:17.000 --> 0:25:21.520 sealed environments is biodomes, and so that's what people would 0:25:21.520 --> 0:25:24.080 be putting their efforts into if they were actually serious 0:25:24.080 --> 0:25:32.960 about it. Anyway, that's my rant about generationships. But join us. 0:25:32.960 --> 0:25:35.800 Next week we get to part three of her Metica 0:25:35.880 --> 0:25:38.160 by Alan Lee, And if you want to read more 0:25:38.160 --> 0:25:40.600 from the author, you can do by finding the other 0:25:40.720 --> 0:25:44.520 name they write under, Peter Gelderlos, which is G. E. L. 0:25:44.800 --> 0:25:51.480 D R. Los. You can find him on substack Surviving Leviathan, 0:25:51.720 --> 0:25:54.679 or you can check out many of his books. You 0:25:54.720 --> 0:25:56.560 can probably check out all of his books, but he 0:25:56.600 --> 0:26:00.120 has many of them. They talk about anarchism, and they 0:26:00.160 --> 0:26:04.600 talk about history, and they talk about tactics, and they 0:26:04.640 --> 0:26:08.199 talk about, well, the solutions are already here. Is about 0:26:08.240 --> 0:26:11.240 how there's a lot of ways that we can deal 0:26:11.240 --> 0:26:13.960 with climate change and things like that, and it's not 0:26:14.320 --> 0:26:18.280 by science fiction breakthroughs, but by looking at things that 0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:23.240 already work. Speaking of already working, I already did my 0:26:23.480 --> 0:26:27.120 work of reading you this episode, So I'm signing off now. 0:26:27.200 --> 0:26:29.760 This is Margaret Kiljoy. You can find me wherever you 0:26:29.880 --> 0:26:34.040 want to, and I probably am there, but I'm also 0:26:34.080 --> 0:26:36.680 on substack. That's where I kind of write the most 0:26:36.760 --> 0:26:39.240 consistently right now. I also have another podcast called Cool 0:26:39.280 --> 0:26:42.400 People Did Cool Stuff, which is a history podcast, and 0:26:42.560 --> 0:26:46.080 I will talk to you all soon. It Could Happen 0:26:46.119 --> 0:26:48.480 here as a production of cool Zone Media. For more 0:26:48.480 --> 0:26:51.560 podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website cool zonemedia 0:26:51.600 --> 0:26:53.920 dot com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, 0:26:53.960 --> 0:26:56.680 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 0:26:57.080 --> 0:26:59.199 You can find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated 0:26:59.240 --> 0:27:02.280 monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. 0:27:02.480 --> 0:27:03.320 Thanks for listening.