1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media. 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 2: Book Club, Club, book Club, book Club, book Club. 3 00:00:11,080 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 3: It's the book club. It's the Cool Zone Media book Club. 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 3: I'm your host, fire, your killjoy, and with me today 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 3: is my guest fellow. It could well, I'm not in 6 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 3: it could happen here post but this is on that 7 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 3: could happen here, bead sure is, and that's care. Hello. 8 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 3: I read books amazing. I honestly listen to audiobooks at 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 3: this point. Honestly, oh I do. 10 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 2: I can't. I can't retain the information with an audio. 11 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,239 Speaker 2: But at least most of the books I read are 12 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 2: just like nonfiction. I haven't I haven't read a novel 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 2: in years, which I kind of feel bad about. But 14 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 2: my job, Warrence, I read just a whole bunch of 15 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 2: like really upsetting nonfiction, and like I can't like take 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:51,880 Speaker 2: notes the same way if I'm listening to an audiobook, 17 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:52,279 Speaker 2: I don't know. 18 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 3: Oh no, that's that's that's true for me. I forget that. 19 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 3: My day job is reading history books for podcasts the media. 20 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 3: Those I read, yeah in print, I actually really like 21 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:05,320 Speaker 3: reading the physical book while pacing. 22 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 2: But oh yeah, me too. Yeah, I love pacing. 23 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 3: It's so good. Maybe you're pacing while you're listening to this, 24 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 3: dear listener, cools On Media book Club is every Sunday 25 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:23,959 Speaker 3: and I read you stories and this week's story is 26 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 3: by a friend of mine, Tobias s Bukel. I'm sort 27 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 3: of a former teacher of mine who I think is 28 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:36,960 Speaker 3: really cool. I met Tobias when he was my teacher 29 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 3: at the Clarion West Writers Workshop, and I would just 30 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,039 Speaker 3: like to shout out that aspiring writers. There's a six 31 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 3: week workshop called Clarion West. There's another one called Clarion 32 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 3: I went to Clarion West, so I have a little 33 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 3: bit of bias towards it. And it sounds like a 34 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 3: reality TV show, But it's not like I spent six 35 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 3: weeks in a sorority house with eighteen strangers in Seattle 36 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 3: and learned science fiction writing from amazing authors, with a 37 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 3: different author every week comes in to teach us. That 38 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 3: sounds cool, Yeah, it was. It's a really good thing 39 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 3: for people who are like just at the part of 40 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 3: writing where you're just starting to be good enough, but 41 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 3: you're not consistently good enough yet, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, 42 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 3: And it really I'm not a formal education person. I 43 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 3: don't have any degrees I've been thinking about framing my 44 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 3: high school diploma to put behind me in Zoom calls 45 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 3: as a joke. 46 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 2: That be funny, that'd be good. 47 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 3: But Clarion West Workshop type things is very practical, and 48 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 3: Toby is a really good teacher. Toby's bio before we 49 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 3: get to the story. Tobias S. Bukel is a New 50 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 3: York Times bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner. Born 51 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 3: in the Caribbean, he grew up in Granada and spent 52 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 3: time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence 53 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 3: much of his work. His novels and almost one hundred 54 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 3: stories have been translated into twenty languages. His work has 55 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 3: been nominated for awards like the Hugo Nebula World Fantasy 56 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 3: and the Astounding Award for Best News Science Fiction Author. 57 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 3: He currently lives in Bluffton, Ohio, with his wife and 58 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,480 Speaker 3: two daughters, where he teaches creative writing at Bluffton University. 59 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 3: He's online at Tobias Buckell dot com. That's b u 60 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 3: c k e l L and dispelled Tobias. I guess 61 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 3: I'll just read the whole thing. T O b I 62 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 3: A S b U c k e L l dot 63 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 3: com and is also an instructor at the Stone Coast 64 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 3: MFA and Creative Writing Program and also sometimes he teaches 65 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 3: Clarion West. They should find a year there you go. 66 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 2: I've been looking at workshops, but been working at clown 67 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 2: clowning workshops because there's really because there's no good clown 68 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 2: schools on the East Coast except for in New York. 69 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 2: And I've never been to New York. So now looking 70 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 2: for like regional clown workshops because all the clown schools 71 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 2: are in the elitist LA and New York theater scenes. 72 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 3: It's no good, tragic. It's funny. When I when I 73 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 3: first joined the anarchy scene, there was a lot of 74 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 3: like radical clowns, and so there was yeah, clown workshops. 75 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 3: But I hear that gen Z is like obsessed with clowns, 76 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 3: and all my friends are complaining that, like the dating 77 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 3: apps are full of like sexy clowns. 78 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 2: Yes, yes, clowns. Clowns are back in a big way, 79 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 2: but we don't have like the the training to support it. 80 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 2: There's a lot of like clown aesthetics, but not much 81 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 2: about actual clowning. So hope, hopefully they'll be like a 82 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 2: clown renaissance, a clownissance, if you will, in the next 83 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,719 Speaker 2: five years, as more of the Gen Z clowns kind 84 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 2: of get educated and are able to start providing their 85 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,400 Speaker 2: own kind of education to the up and coming Gen 86 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 2: Alpha clowns or whatever. 87 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 3: Would this be at a clnaissance clownissance festival? 88 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 2: I mean I have I have gone as a jester 89 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:03,800 Speaker 2: to multiple renfairs. I've gone with you to a runfair before. 90 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. Okay, well that has nothing to do with today's story. 91 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 3: But it's a fun story, and that's why I picked it. 92 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 3: We've been doing a lot of very serious stories, which 93 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 3: are also very good, but I've kind of wanted to 94 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 3: do something a little bit more lighthearted to make fun 95 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 3: of rich people. 96 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 2: Oh Evergreen, Yeah, Evergreen fun time, I know. 97 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 3: And it's actually funny because it's a very classic. It's 98 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 3: a very classic sci fi story in so many ways, 99 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 3: even though it's modern, you know. 100 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:34,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 101 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 3: This story is called the Plastic People. Raya found the 102 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:41,719 Speaker 3: feral child on the edge of the garbage park on 103 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 3: the last day of the group's vacation. Garrison passed out 104 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 3: from drinking the better part of a bottle of one 105 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 3: hundred year old is Ley Scotch had dropped a cigar 106 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 3: onto the edge of the canvas tent and set it 107 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 3: all on fire. I absolutely picked you for the guest 108 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 3: aha of this character. 109 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:01,359 Speaker 2: Yeah. I usually only get Garrison Keeler because there's not 110 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 2: very many of us out there. 111 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 3: Oh, I don't know who Garrison Keiler is. 112 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 2: I don't know either, but it's the one other person 113 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 2: named Garrison in the world. 114 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 3: Okay, that well, now you know that there's a future Garrison, 115 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 3: So damn it, Garrison, Agagnier shouted, as personal air quality 116 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 3: alarms blared. You and your fucking retro addictions. There'd been 117 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 3: scrambling and shouting among the five old friends as they 118 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 3: tumbled out onto the fetid, methane rich air outside. Go easy, 119 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 3: It isn't something he can do. Back upstairs, Susie stumbled 120 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 3: out of her own tent with a fire extinguisher. Everyone 121 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 3: coughed and spat as she blew the fire out in 122 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 3: a cloud of chemical powder. Don't defend him, Agunier snapped. 123 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 3: Ten years, Garrison shouted, clutching the almost empty bottle triumphantly. 124 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 3: His heavy boots crunched in the ground, knocking styrofoam chunks 125 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,719 Speaker 3: into the air, and I still love you all. That's 126 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 3: the last bottle, Agugnie anger, suddenly as banked as the 127 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 3: tent fire on this world, Garrison said, Ever, the last 128 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 3: bottle of Islae anyone will ever have, Agugnie said, and 129 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 3: snatched it from Garrison. Raya listened to the bickering with 130 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 3: half an ear as the orange glow of the fire 131 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,320 Speaker 3: faded away. As she'd been sure she had seen something 132 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 3: skiter past the shadows on the edge of camp. Something's 133 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 3: over there, Raya whispered to Susy by the fridge. London 134 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 3: had been listening to them. She pointed in the direction. 135 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 3: Raya indicated and snapped her fingers. The night lit up 136 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 3: and two drones dropped out of the air. Was using 137 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 3: them for dance lights, London muttered, but trash rattled and 138 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 3: slid down the pile. As the intruder scuttled away from 139 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 3: the stunningly bright light. Raya shielded her eyes and tried 140 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 3: to follow along. As the drones ducked and weaved around 141 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 3: the compacted hills of old earth debris cornered it, London 142 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,320 Speaker 3: said triumphantly. Is a bear? Garrison asked, blearily. It's a 143 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 3: bear right there. Are no bears, idiot, Susie said, they're extinct. 144 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 3: London said. Raya clambered one of the unsteady trasholes they'd 145 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 3: parked the tents between. I see it, she said. It 146 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 3: was a little boy, streaked in grease and mud, ribs, 147 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 3: visible as the drone lights played over him. His wide, 148 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 3: dark eyes stared fearfully at her as he tried to 149 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 3: hide behind a cracked porcelain tub. Oh my, London said, 150 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 3: clamberin over behind Raya. The poor little thing. Does he 151 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 3: live here? Susie asked, disgusted, how we just spent three days. 152 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 3: Garrison said it's not that bad, idiot, Susie said, it's 153 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 3: a shithole. It's miles and miles of trash. It reeks 154 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 3: everywhere I step. There's old world crap. I agree, while 155 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 3: it was fun to see what the old world was like. 156 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,560 Speaker 3: Agougnie threw the last bottle of his lay off into 157 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 3: the dark. It shattered against something invisible out there. I 158 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 3: think maybe it's time to call it. Let's go home. 159 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 3: I'm tired of the gravity. Susie agreed. It's oppressive. We 160 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 3: can't leave the child here in the trash. Raya protested, 161 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 3: Garrison groaned, Oh, come on, that's what it's like down here. 162 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,560 Speaker 3: You know this. They'd flown down into the heart of 163 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 3: the dump for their mini reunion. Partying in an exotic 164 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,680 Speaker 3: location would make an incredible story. All the termites down 165 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,559 Speaker 3: here can survive just fine without our help. They love 166 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,719 Speaker 3: living in places like this, Susie said, don't think you're 167 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 3: doing it any favors. Living here must be a hell. 168 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 3: It's a hell they chose to make, Garrison said, this 169 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 3: is all theirs. They made it. They knew how to 170 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,439 Speaker 3: live in it. Raya clambered her way over rusted out 171 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 3: heaps and winced when something jabbed through her boots into 172 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 3: her skin. She'd had all our shots, though, a prerequisite 173 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 3: to coming down. Hey there, she said softly to the 174 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 3: scared child. His hair was matted and clumped. He was 175 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 3: so covered and muck that he almost blended into the night. 176 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 3: She held out a candy bar in her right hand. 177 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,560 Speaker 3: The child snatched it from her, shredding the plastic wrapping 178 00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 3: as he ripped into it with jagged teeth. What's your name? 179 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:07,079 Speaker 3: The child just stared at her. Raya held out a hand. 180 00:10:07,720 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 3: Would you like to come with us? He scuttled back 181 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 3: from her and right into a Guigne's arms. He circled 182 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 3: around and snuck up from behind. The child wailed and screamed, 183 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 3: but he was a small creature, and Agugnia tucked him 184 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,199 Speaker 3: under an armpit with a quick smile. Shall we go? 185 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 3: Everyone agreed that it was time to end the party, 186 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,440 Speaker 3: and with Reya placated, the reunion trickled back into the 187 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:34,200 Speaker 3: shuttle for the trip home. Susy strapped into the pilot's 188 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,480 Speaker 3: seat and activated a return sequence. The main engines lit 189 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 3: up and scattered all their camping equipment off to mingle 190 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 3: with the rest of the trash park as a silvered 191 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 3: ship thundered into the sky, with the fair old child 192 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 3: screaming all the way up to orbit. Raya tried to 193 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 3: give him a chocolate bar, but he ate the wrapper 194 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,679 Speaker 3: and bar pointed teeth, ripping into the whole package, then 195 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 3: puked it up all over the cabin. You're cleaning that up, 196 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:02,240 Speaker 3: Susi shouted, as Reya tried not to throw up herself. 197 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:10,480 Speaker 3: And if you want candy bars, we were sponsored by candy, 198 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 3: sponsored by Big Candy. That's right, we got we got 199 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,240 Speaker 3: the twenty twenty three Wonka sponsorship. So line up outside 200 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 3: every every every fifth, every fifth bar gets you one 201 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 3: ticket to book Club in your in your ears though 202 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 3: you have you still you still have to plug in 203 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 3: through the headphones. But you'll be allowed to listen to 204 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,320 Speaker 3: book Club. Yeah. So yeah, as long as you buy 205 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 3: enough candy bars, that's right, offer them to random children. 206 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 3: And here's those ads, and we're back scrubbing the mangy child. 207 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 3: Clean took five I have domestic assistance an hour. It 208 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 3: fought free of the butler's first attempt, and he'd called 209 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 3: in the chef and three clean team professionals to get 210 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 3: the kid into the tub. They washed the dogs in 211 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 3: Mighty tim Gonzo, and Ophelia, the three poodles, usually the 212 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 3: ones unlucky enough to get hauled into the plastic tub 213 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 3: in the middle of the mudroom, off by the kitchens. 214 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 3: Barkden ran around in the middle of all the chaos, 215 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 3: making the most of the fun. He's a wiry one, 216 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,320 Speaker 3: the butler observed. Stronger than you'd think, it's all that 217 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 3: full gravity, the chef said, drying herself off. Rayo watched 218 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 3: the chaos unfold on a tablet, patching into the house 219 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 3: video feed while enjoying a calming soak and the marble 220 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 3: trimmed upstairs bathroom attached to her unit as she scrubbed 221 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,079 Speaker 3: away the stink of the old world and half digested 222 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:51,840 Speaker 3: candy bar. The gold leafed Florida ceiling windows in front 223 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 3: of the bathtub framed the stars beyond, a stunning view 224 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 3: when she stopped to think about it. Mostly she found 225 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 3: that it kept entrancing her personal assistant, so Ria usually 226 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 3: kept the window darkened. On one of the other orbital cities, 227 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 3: Raya spent the night with a man who had his 228 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,760 Speaker 3: whole bathroom floor transparent. You could look down on the 229 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,199 Speaker 3: mother planet slowly passing by underneath every minute while taking 230 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 3: a shit. Her view won for class. His was the 231 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 3: one everyone talked about at the party. Raya stood up 232 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 3: and toweled herself off handy. Her pa had a selection 233 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 3: of evening gowns waiting in her room. The one with 234 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:33,840 Speaker 3: microblades that could produce enough lift to waft around her 235 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 3: legs at a pre programmed height got the nod. Then 236 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 3: it was off down the hall to mother's dining room, 237 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 3: where she was fussing over the layout. Why is there 238 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 3: an extra seating alas demanded, hovering over the table as 239 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 3: a chef directed the setup. It's for the child, we found, 240 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 3: Raya explained. Her mother looked utterly perplexed, so Raya showed 241 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 3: her a picture of the sight and one of the 242 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 3: child screaming as they rocketed back up to orbit. It's 243 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 3: a farll, Raya said, living in the garbage dump. We 244 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 3: went to the dump. Alaise looked horrified. You went down, 245 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 3: Susie piloted it. It's safe. How much did that cost? 246 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 3: Elise's horror had turned into a vaguely scandalized expression. Raya 247 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 3: had to think about that a second. It was Susie, 248 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 3: you know her father owns the shipping. Recognition flickered across 249 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 3: Eliza's face. That's Susie exactly. Most of the founding families 250 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 3: knew each other well enough by first name, but mother 251 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 3: always struggled with the names of Raya's friends and which 252 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,360 Speaker 3: kid matched to which parents. They were just a blur 253 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 3: of little people in and out of the house to her. 254 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 3: Of course, the house staff knew Rhea's cohort by name. 255 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 3: They'd served them enough dinners and requests over the years. 256 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 3: Bring the child in, Raya ordered, and then to her mother. 257 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 3: You wouldn't believe the squalor we found the poor thing in. Well, 258 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 3: it is the old world, Elise said. There's a reason 259 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 3: we left. Look at what they do to it. It's 260 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 3: barely inhabitable. It's hardly a child's fault. It was born 261 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 3: to it. I've been saying for years we should just 262 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 3: put birth control and all the medicine we shipped down 263 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:16,680 Speaker 3: there from the factories. Don't be so ghost. Rahea rolled 264 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:20,720 Speaker 3: her eyes. You always tried to rescue strays. Remember that 265 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 3: little kitten you found over by the garment factory mittens. 266 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 3: Raya clenched her jawl. You had it put down. I 267 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 3: told you, sweetie. The cats have gotten out of hand 268 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 3: in the green ways. They're killing everything and throwing the 269 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 3: ecology nets off kilter. We keep having to poll species 270 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 3: out of storage to repopulate the gardens. Oh it's here. 271 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 3: The little boy stood at the servants doorway, two domestic 272 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 3: assistants behind him. With hands on his shoulder. They cleaned 273 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 3: all the dirt off of him. He was pale, almost 274 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 3: sickly so and so skinny that his shirt and trousers 275 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 3: flopped baggly around him. One of the domestic assistants had 276 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 3: brushed out as long, stringy hair and braided it. Oh 277 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 3: look at how nicely we've we cleaned him up, Raya said, 278 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 3: you're supposed to return a baby bird to the nest. 279 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 3: Alise whispered to Raya as she sat down. Doesn't this 280 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 3: Pharrell have parents? Raya caught her breath. She hadn't thought 281 00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 3: about parents. She's just seen a near starving child enacted 282 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 3: not good ones if he was living in a dump. 283 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 3: It stays in your quarters, Alise huffed. I don't want 284 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 3: it anywhere near my rembrands or the silver, and never 285 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 3: ever in my rooms. Come on, little one, Raya waved 286 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,360 Speaker 3: at the child, come sit with us, let's eat. He 287 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 3: approached poor thing so tentatively, much like the kitten Elise mentioned, 288 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 3: nervous about trusting the outstretched hand, unlike mittens. The child 289 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 3: pulled out a chair and sat down as instructed. Does 290 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 3: it speak, Elise asked the domestic assistance. It screams, miss Raya. 291 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 3: Raya patted the child's hand and he flinched. Don't be 292 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 3: like that, Raya said, we rescued you. Everything's going to 293 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 3: be better now, the child whimpered. Raya looked out over 294 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 3: the first course being set out and frowned. Let's get 295 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 3: you something so magical to'll cheer you right up, something 296 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 3: you never would have experienced in that nasty dump. Ice cream, 297 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:22,159 Speaker 3: Now that was the ticket. Raya ordered it, delivered with 298 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:26,840 Speaker 3: chocolate sauce drizzled on the top. There we are, she said, 299 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:30,439 Speaker 3: pushing the bowl over. Try this. The child bared teeth. 300 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:35,200 Speaker 3: Good God, they're filed to a point. Alisee shuddered. Raya 301 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 3: scooped a spoonful of ice cream and held it up. 302 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:42,080 Speaker 3: Try it. She took a chilly bite and smiled at him. 303 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:44,880 Speaker 3: He nibbled at the spoon when she moved it back over. 304 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 3: Persuaded by her enjoyment, he shuddered as his tongue hit cold, smiled, 305 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,440 Speaker 3: then ate the rest of the bite. Soon he had 306 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 3: his face in the bowl, licking it clean. That's a boy, 307 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 3: Raya said. He sampled more food, but right when a 308 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 3: Lee's and ray started on their Kobe beef, he clutched 309 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:04,880 Speaker 3: his stomach and looked at them with an almost comical 310 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:09,240 Speaker 3: confused look, and then threw up all over the dinner table. 311 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:13,119 Speaker 3: Alie stood up, threw her napkin down at the mess, 312 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:16,720 Speaker 3: and declared, I'm going to visit Lars at Lunar North. 313 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 3: Call me when you come to your senses. The domestic 314 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,399 Speaker 3: assistant swooped in to clean up the mess and the boy. Raya, 315 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:25,880 Speaker 3: in a funk, retired to a room to brood over 316 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 3: what had gone wrong. She had started this with the 317 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 3: best of intentions, but it wasn't going to plan now. 318 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,680 Speaker 3: Her mother had her judgy face on. The domestic assistants 319 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 3: looked annoyed, and she could hear the child screaming and 320 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,880 Speaker 3: fussing away from somewhere deeper inside the family estate. Hell, 321 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 3: she didn't even know the child's name. One of the 322 00:18:47,119 --> 00:18:50,120 Speaker 3: engineering staff came back in with the boy. We weren't 323 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 3: sure where you wanted him to stay. Before Raya could 324 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 3: say anything, the child ran toward the window at the 325 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 3: back of the living room. Earth, he said, pressing against 326 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 3: the thick glass, his large brown eyes filled with tears. 327 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 3: He can speak, Raya said, Thank goodness. She'd started to 328 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,119 Speaker 3: worry that maybe the pharaohs back down on the planet 329 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 3: had started to lose the capacity to speak, but that 330 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:15,880 Speaker 3: didn't make any sense, as they all purchased medicines, weapons, 331 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,639 Speaker 3: and other supplies for many of the family businesses that 332 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 3: still did trade below them. She assumed that you had 333 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 3: to be able to speak to do that Earth, the 334 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,560 Speaker 3: child said, back to that nasty dump, Raya shook her head. 335 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 3: Look around you, look at everything I can give you. 336 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 3: I rescued you. The wealthy had left Earth long ago, 337 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,359 Speaker 3: moved manufacturing to orbit, moved all their wealth up, even 338 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 3: scraped off all the good soil so they could grow 339 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:45,719 Speaker 3: whatever they wanted an orbit. Some people felt they had 340 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 3: abandoned Earth or turned their backs on its suffering that 341 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:51,240 Speaker 3: only the very rich could afford to get to orbit, 342 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:54,480 Speaker 3: and that they'd walked away from their responsibility to be stewards. 343 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 3: It was the ancestors of the wealthy who had done 344 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 3: so much damage on their way to being rich. Ray's family. 345 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,200 Speaker 3: It was mainly held that if one really wanted to 346 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 3: work hard enough, anyone could get into space. Those left 347 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 3: behind had simply not applied themselves. This child's ancestors had 348 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:16,399 Speaker 3: not applied themselves, but Raya had rescued it. The least 349 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 3: the child could do was show some gratitude. Instead, he 350 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,440 Speaker 3: wiped snop from his nose at and sniffed at the 351 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,200 Speaker 3: window until Raya's patience broke. The only word the child 352 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 3: seemed to know was Earth. She left the estate for 353 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 3: a walk to clear her mind and meet up with 354 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:37,680 Speaker 3: a Gugne for some actual conversation. And if you want 355 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,919 Speaker 3: your golden ticket Garrison to Space, every fifth candy bar. 356 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 2: Every fifth candy bar, new new Musk branded Wonking candy 357 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 2: bar is coming sued. 358 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 3: That's right, I'll. 359 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 2: Get get you a free a free trip to Bars 360 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 2: one way one way ticket though. 361 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 3: God, wouldn't it be great if I'm I'm all in 362 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,879 Speaker 3: favor of Elon Musk personally attempting to get to Mars 363 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 3: with all the richest people in the world. 364 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, No, I'm all for one way tickets 365 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:08,080 Speaker 2: to Mars. 366 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 3: Oh, I don't think they'll make it. Oh really well yeah, 367 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,399 Speaker 3: I mean I'm not big into gambling, but I would 368 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,640 Speaker 3: be so happy either way. Then I would absolutely gamble 369 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 3: on this. 370 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 2: No matter what happens, everyone wins. 371 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 3: It's yeah. I think the best would be is if 372 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 3: they like set up really nice stuff on Mars and 373 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 3: then die and then when you know, people try and 374 00:21:38,119 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 3: go there, there's like nice stuff anyway. 375 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be cool, But I think you're putting 376 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 2: little too much faith in their infrastructurability. Yeah, that's build 377 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,000 Speaker 2: set up nice stuff on Mars in the first place. 378 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, I've seen how badly their cars are made. I 379 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,920 Speaker 3: love that we're supposed to be impressed by their space rockets, 380 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 3: as if, like before I was born, we hadn't put 381 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,440 Speaker 3: a human onto the Moon by way of yeah math 382 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,919 Speaker 3: done by women with notebooks. 383 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 2: No, I mean we had like wizards in the Nevada Desert, 384 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 2: like launching rockets with like Crowley's space journals in like 385 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,040 Speaker 2: the nineteen forties, which led to the space program. And 386 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 2: these fuckers can't manage to get something up into orbit consistently. Yeah, 387 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 2: pretty pretty, pretty funny stuff. Yeah, because they're all fucking 388 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 2: grifting each other anyway, what's not a grift? Are actually 389 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 2: a lot of these ads are probably these ads? Yeah, 390 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:54,919 Speaker 2: here they are, and we're back into the economic system 391 00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 2: that we all live in. 392 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:03,240 Speaker 3: Here's the story. Airwon orbitals carefully landscaped gardens, curved up 393 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 3: until they met the ceiling, a transparent metal that let 394 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,120 Speaker 3: you look in toward the center of the orbital where 395 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 3: the heavy infrastructure and docks all clustered around a needle 396 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 3: shaped hub. The ring shape of the orbital let its spin, 397 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 3: and the insides of the hoop dripped with greenery that 398 00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 3: teams of biota specialists worked overtime to keep in balance, 399 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 3: getting a forest to stay alive against cosmic rays, occasional 400 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 3: pressure losses from punctures, and the gyrations of a life 401 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,439 Speaker 3: support system closed in so tight that problems cascaded around 402 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 3: in dizzying complexities. Reya had studied systems management for a 403 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:42,480 Speaker 3: whole agonizing three months, idly toy in with the idea 404 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 3: of becoming part of the ecosystem management team on one 405 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 3: of the orbitals, but five minutes near a sewer processing 406 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 3: plant deep in the bowels of Erewhon had her change 407 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:55,679 Speaker 3: her mind. She joined her father's team of orbital arbitrage specialists, 408 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 3: flipping futures contracts based on complicated home and transfers and 409 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,920 Speaker 3: cargo manifests through cis lunar space, a much more dependable 410 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 3: income stream, not that she needed much. The family endowment 411 00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,439 Speaker 3: created back when her great grandfather lived on Earth and 412 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 3: decided to start building orbitals as a lark with the 413 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 3: extra billions lying around would always take care of her. 414 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,240 Speaker 3: You had to do something or life became awfully boring. 415 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 3: Quickly enough, Agugner met her in the scent garden, running 416 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,919 Speaker 3: his hands over lilacs and breathing them in with a smile. 417 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 3: Hungover or still drunk, Hi, hello, t you, Reyes said, 418 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 3: stopping by a striking clump of mini cedar trees. No, 419 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,360 Speaker 3: I'm high, Agunya took a deep breath. Come on, Agugne, 420 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,200 Speaker 3: really after a treat like the one we had. Agugne 421 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,320 Speaker 3: smiled and joined her by the cedars. Just a small buzz, 422 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 3: take the edge off. Susie's still mad at you. Susie 423 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 3: wouldn't speak or turn messages right now. She'll get over 424 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 3: it in a week. That little creature threw up everywhere. 425 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 3: Agunya picked up a stick and scratched at it. The 426 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,239 Speaker 3: smell of cedar filled the air between them. Then I 427 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 3: threw up. It was a horror movie in there. It'll 428 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 3: take more than a week. Ray A sighed. Maybe I 429 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 3: need to send her an apology. Ah, there you go, 430 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 3: something decadent and not easy to find anywhere. An air on. 431 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 3: Agagnier took out a lighter and ceremoniously handed it to her. 432 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 3: I'll have to have my people think of something, Raya said, 433 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,120 Speaker 3: flicking it off and on. It would be a good 434 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 3: thing to set her personal assistant to She hadn't spoken 435 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 3: to him since she'd stuck him researching equipment for the 436 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 3: trip that caused this whole mess. That's the spirit, it's 437 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,040 Speaker 3: the personal thought that counts, Agugnier said. That should help 438 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 3: her forget all the vomit in her hair. He looked 439 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 3: pointedly over at the cedars. The child's still throwing up. 440 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 3: Raya confessed, it's pissing me off. I try to do 441 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 3: the right thing and it goes all wrong. It's the 442 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,520 Speaker 3: story of my life, a gugnie. Everything is always a struggle. 443 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 3: Raya held the lighter up to one of the branches 444 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 3: in front of them. The flame flickered as it scorched 445 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 3: the bark, and they both patiently waited for it to 446 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 3: catch and quicken. You know, Agugnier said, thoughtfully, as the 447 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 3: tree began to burn, you might need to get checked over. Mmm. 448 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 3: Raya stepped back as the flames left higher. A doctor, 449 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,359 Speaker 3: you didn't take the child through customs like they have to, 450 00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 3: he nodded at the ground's crew, respectfully approaching with extinguishers. 451 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,359 Speaker 3: A gunie held up a hand so they stopped twenty 452 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,440 Speaker 3: feet away and waited. Oh shit, Raya said, we could 453 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,399 Speaker 3: have all been exposed to some exotic earth bug. Agugnier said, 454 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 3: I'd get yourself checked up, or you might be the 455 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 3: one vomiting everywhere we had our booster shots. Nevertheless, the 456 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,640 Speaker 3: smell of burning cedar made her mouth water. Raya made 457 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 3: an appointment to have a doctor come in tomorrow, and 458 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 3: she left the gardens to go have dinner with a Gugnie, 459 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,800 Speaker 3: a floating restaurant with a liquid menu nestled into, of 460 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 3: all places, the docks at the center of Arawon. What 461 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,080 Speaker 3: do you think the ground's crew would do without us, 462 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 3: Agugnie wondered. Later, as they hung in the air near 463 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 3: an old wooden deck taken from some famous once sunken ship, 464 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 3: and sucked at galact swirls of soup carefully deconstructed in 465 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,359 Speaker 3: the air between them, Raya poked a dumpling with a 466 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 3: finger and watched it wobble its way towards the guignet's nose. 467 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:13,160 Speaker 3: He dipped his head at the last second to bite 468 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,960 Speaker 3: at it, but it tumbled away from his chin. They 469 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 3: wouldn't have a job if it wasn't for us, Reyes said, 470 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:21,840 Speaker 3: we'd have to send them away where we're an orbital. 471 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,400 Speaker 3: It's not my job to think about those things. Raya 472 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 3: protested and splashed broth droplets at him. The doctor came 473 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 3: much later the next day, held up by an accident 474 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 3: at the docks or something silly like that, and by 475 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,240 Speaker 3: then the vomiting kid had been passed from assistant to 476 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:40,639 Speaker 3: assistant all through the house and then exiled to one 477 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 3: of the pool rooms. But after a painful blood draw 478 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 3: and some checks on his machine and a few scans, 479 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 3: the doctor looked over his glasses to clear her. The 480 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 3: scan results on the glasses, full of complex imagery, reflected 481 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 3: off his green eyes. Everything comes in normal, and you 482 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,920 Speaker 3: had your full compliment of booster shots before you left. 483 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,679 Speaker 3: Thank goodness, she said. But I'm glad you checked in. 484 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 3: Can't be too safe. He started to pack up his equipment. 485 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,040 Speaker 3: I'm so relieved, Raya said, letting out the breath she'd 486 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,720 Speaker 3: been holding as she waited for the verdict. I thought 487 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:15,360 Speaker 3: maybe the boy had given me something. The doctor turned back, 488 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:19,439 Speaker 3: eyebrows raised, Raya groaned and rolled her eyes. No, not 489 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 3: that it's the child we brought back up with us. 490 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 3: He keeps vomiting. Well, maybe I should see him, the 491 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 3: doctor said. Raya sighed, okay, sure. She explained how they'd 492 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 3: found the child as she led the doctor through the 493 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 3: hallways to the pool room. The large clear blister that 494 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 3: held the pool bulged out beyond Erowan's metal hall. If 495 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,800 Speaker 3: you dove down into it, you could look out along 496 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 3: the outside of Arawan, or down at the Earth. You 497 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 3: could swim out into space. The domestic assistance had put 498 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:50,640 Speaker 3: the child in one of the bamboo cabanas around the pool, 499 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 3: but he was sitting on the edge of the pool 500 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 3: and looking down through it to earth home. He asked, 501 00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 3: a whole new word since she'd last been around him. 502 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,880 Speaker 3: Yah idly wondered if they were indeed passing over his home. 503 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 3: As she looked down through the pool at the blurred 504 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,760 Speaker 3: land masses below them. Raya took out her diamond tipped 505 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 3: heels and sat with her feet in the water as 506 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:14,200 Speaker 3: the doctor ran scans and then had to fight with 507 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 3: the boy for a blood draw. He's malnourished, was the pronouncement. 508 00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 3: And you've been feeding him the wrong food. The wrong food, 509 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 3: Raya frowned. I don't understand. We gave him the best food. 510 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 3: He ate our table. The house chef prepared the meal. 511 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 3: The doctor carefully unwrapped a candy bar and handed the 512 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 3: wrapper over The child chewed on it, his sharp teeth, 513 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 3: shredding it quickly before he swallowed in a noisy gulp. 514 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 3: He's modified, the doctor said, his tone patient and completely polite, 515 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 3: yet infuriating. Somehow all the surface folk are since the 516 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 3: turn of the century. There are microbes that eat plastic. 517 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 3: Those capabilities were grafted onto the human genome. He eats plastic. 518 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 3: They had to do that or they'd all starve. Don't 519 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 3: you remember this from history class? History class? He remember 520 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,720 Speaker 3: the exodus, her great grandparents, leaving the messy, despoiled Earth 521 00:30:08,800 --> 00:30:12,200 Speaker 3: behind for the skies and other planets. Boring talks about 522 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 3: translunar independence movements, the old democracies failing on Earth, and 523 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 3: the great die offs. She vaguely remembered something about plastic. 524 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 3: She should have paid more attention, but Eric had sat 525 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 3: next to her in history, and she'd been so distracted. I 526 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 3: guess I need to call Susie and see if we 527 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:32,600 Speaker 3: can put him back down, Raya said. Finally, Susie couldn't 528 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 3: do it. Her family had found out she'd use the 529 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:39,120 Speaker 3: ship without clearing it, and she was haha grounded. Nothing 530 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 3: Raya could say about humans being modified to eat trash 531 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 3: in order to survive after being left on the surface 532 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,560 Speaker 3: made a difference. The child was stuck on air one. 533 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 3: Garrison agreed to come over, but he didn't have anything 534 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 3: to offer other than too many attempts to touch her 535 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 3: hands or knee or get close to her. I think 536 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 3: he really needs to get put somewhere where he can eat, 537 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 3: she told Garrison. It's not going to be good for 538 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 3: him in our house. We don't have that much plastic 539 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 3: on a house scale. No oil in space. Plastics came 540 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 3: from plants, and it made more sense to eat plants 541 00:31:11,440 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 3: than waste them on packaging. But Raya knew where most 542 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 3: of the plastics ended up. Come on, Garrison, help me 543 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:22,400 Speaker 3: take him to the vats. Garrison groaned, but she finally 544 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 3: promised that she'd make it up to him afterwards. He 545 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:27,360 Speaker 3: was convinced he was going to get laid, but she 546 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 3: was really thinking about the bottle of mccollin and the 547 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 3: family vault. Or maybe she'd save the priceless scotch and 548 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 3: fool around. Sex wouldn't be a bad way to kill 549 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,240 Speaker 3: some of her frustrations. Later, Garrison helped wrestle the child 550 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 3: into a cart and they drove over to the vats, 551 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:45,320 Speaker 3: where they pulled him through the airlock. It reeks. Garrison said, 552 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,840 Speaker 3: it wasn't quite the trash parks of Earth, but it 553 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 3: was the holding area for acres of Erewhon's own trash 554 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 3: before it got scrunched off to the recycling vats. Here 555 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,000 Speaker 3: you go, Raya said, you can live here now, all 556 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 3: the food you need. The child looked at her, not 557 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 3: getting it go on. It took some convincing, some shouting, 558 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 3: and a little subterfuge, but then finally got the boy 559 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 3: to settle in between two hillsized mounds of trash, munching 560 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 3: contentedly away on some plastic carry bags. At the airlock, 561 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 3: Raya took one last look back. This is where I 562 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 3: had to leave Mittens, she said, sadly, Mittens my cat. 563 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 3: Oh I wish Raya trailed off, forming her thoughts. I 564 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:31,880 Speaker 3: wish our families hadn't been forced to leave Earth and 565 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 3: take everything with them. If they'd been allowed to stay, 566 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 3: maybe they could have used their resources to help make 567 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:41,840 Speaker 3: every make things better. Garrison stared at her, who said 568 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:46,959 Speaker 3: they were forced. Raya frowned. My family, that's he laughed. 569 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 3: We left because we could, because we're better richer superior. 570 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 3: Garrison hit the button and the airlock doors thudded shut, 571 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,760 Speaker 3: leaving the earth child alone in their trash. He tried 572 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,880 Speaker 3: to take her back to the family house, but she 573 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:05,400 Speaker 3: dropped him off at his penthouse. Disappointed, Garrison would be 574 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 3: on his own for the night and without the antique Scotch, 575 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 3: Raya said on the edge of the pool, looking down 576 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:13,360 Speaker 3: at the Earth passing by on each rotation of the 577 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 3: orbital's great wheel until it was time for dinner. By then, 578 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 3: her vague sense of guilt or responsibility had passed. You 579 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,160 Speaker 3: couldn't save every broken stray, even with the best intentions, 580 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:33,680 Speaker 3: She decided. The duh, is that is that the story? Yeah? 581 00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 3: That's the story Alrighty. I like how it's subtle and 582 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 3: would really take a lot of work to deconstruct what 583 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 3: it's talking about here. 584 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, very very lofty, kind of far out, far out ideas. 585 00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 2: It's it's uh diving into very fantasy, very fantasy. 586 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 3: Yeah, there's nothing like this as any there's no real 587 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,600 Speaker 3: world parallels to you know, the way people treat. 588 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:02,680 Speaker 2: We would never eat plastic. What are you talking about? 589 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 3: Well, that part is like that's the only utopian part 590 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 3: we would. 591 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:08,960 Speaker 2: They would never put a plastic in our food. What 592 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:09,399 Speaker 2: do you eat? 593 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:10,280 Speaker 1: Yeah? 594 00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:12,440 Speaker 3: Oh god, I wasn't even thinking about microplastics. 595 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 2: No, yeah, we definitely don't eat a credit cards worth 596 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 2: of plastic every week? It's fine, whoa do we really? 597 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,080 Speaker 2: I might I might be wrong on the week. There. 598 00:34:22,480 --> 00:34:23,040 Speaker 2: Let's see. 599 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,279 Speaker 3: Is this like the five spiders a year thing or 600 00:34:26,360 --> 00:34:27,319 Speaker 3: is this like real? 601 00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: Yes? 602 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 3: This is this is this is this is real? No, 603 00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:35,719 Speaker 3: I do believe it. I mean there's yeah. I think 604 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:39,440 Speaker 3: about when I compost where I like, I compost shredded 605 00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:43,680 Speaker 3: paper and yeah, shredded cardboard, And that means that, like 606 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 3: I'm composting things with tiny amounts of plastic in it, 607 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 3: because like you know, there's tiny little bits of plastic. 608 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:53,439 Speaker 2: Yes, every every week we eat about a credit card's 609 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:56,879 Speaker 2: worth a plastic. Isn't that cool? 610 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 3: Yeah? It's good for us. 611 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,879 Speaker 2: Isn't that an uplifting thought about civilization? 612 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,879 Speaker 3: Yeah? I like how we look back at the people 613 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:09,799 Speaker 3: who like ate off of lead plates and are like 614 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 3: fucking war on. 615 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 2: Those idiots, those fools Yeah, they didn't know better back then, 616 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,880 Speaker 2: unlike us, the enlightened modern people. 617 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:18,400 Speaker 1: Yeah. 618 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:20,320 Speaker 3: Well, what's funny is we do know better and we 619 00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 3: just like can't do anything about Well, yeah, because where 620 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,440 Speaker 3: the We're not Raya and Garrison in this story. 621 00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:34,799 Speaker 2: No, no, we're the trash child. Yes, absolutely. All we 622 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:37,160 Speaker 2: can do is make a mountain out of our trash 623 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:43,880 Speaker 2: and maybe subterranean tunnels in the trash. I propose a 624 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 2: dual power solution to this, where we build out our 625 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:50,480 Speaker 2: infrastructure on the trash planet. We're also strengthening our forces 626 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,799 Speaker 2: to overtake the space ships. But I'm I'm sure the 627 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 2: anti sims will just try to blow up the ships 628 00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 2: in the first place. 629 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 3: So yeah, and you know, I don't want to like 630 00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 3: stop them from trying, but I do want to eventually 631 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 3: also get the space ships. 632 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,319 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean it is. It is part of 633 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,600 Speaker 2: I think humanity's quest for the heaven. 634 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:14,080 Speaker 3: I read too much Octavia Butler to be like anti 635 00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 3: humans figuring out a way to space. I just don't 636 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,719 Speaker 3: want it to be colonized by the rich bastards. 637 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:22,920 Speaker 2: We have which is really really the only way to 638 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 2: see which unfortunately it's the only way where it's like 639 00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,839 Speaker 2: it looks like it's gonna happen. Because also, if if 640 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:31,839 Speaker 2: there was ever like an anarchists space program, it would 641 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 2: be sabotaged by other anarchists. It's just not fun. It's 642 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:37,279 Speaker 2: just not possible. 643 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,719 Speaker 3: There was a huge UH in the like nineteen tens, 644 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,520 Speaker 3: and then in nineteen twenties in Russia there were the 645 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 3: anarcho cosmists, and they were I mean, it was mostly 646 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:51,000 Speaker 3: this sort of weird theological, i mean political movement where 647 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,759 Speaker 3: they were going to like resurrect the dead and like 648 00:36:53,840 --> 00:36:58,240 Speaker 3: have like gay space communism basically nice nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 649 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:01,600 Speaker 3: but they were some of the last anarchists that the 650 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:03,640 Speaker 3: the USSR put up with because they were a little 651 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 3: bit like lost in their own heads and not doing 652 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:07,080 Speaker 3: much political stuff. 653 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:08,200 Speaker 1: Yeah. 654 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,840 Speaker 2: That's that's why I I do kind of respect the 655 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,920 Speaker 2: anarchists to like cling onto Star Trek as like as 656 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:20,480 Speaker 2: like a utopian future despite despite Starfleet's many problems. Yeah, 657 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 2: it still is like one of like the better better 658 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:28,640 Speaker 2: like end end results for like humanity and even like 659 00:37:28,680 --> 00:37:30,640 Speaker 2: the Earth, because like the Earth's doing great in Star 660 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:34,680 Speaker 2: Trek's future as well, like it it survives total cataclysm 661 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:38,160 Speaker 2: and now it's like a very very healthy ecosystem for 662 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 2: animals and humans and other animals and plants and fungi 663 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:46,800 Speaker 2: and the whales that talk to space signals. 664 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:48,960 Speaker 3: So yeah, that's why I want to have both. We 665 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 3: have to solve the problems of the problem of the 666 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:54,040 Speaker 3: rich people, and then we can have both space and 667 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:58,200 Speaker 3: a green utopia here on Earth. And in the means, 668 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:02,720 Speaker 3: it would be nice. Don't steal old children from places 669 00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 3: that are places that have been impoverished by first world 670 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:06,959 Speaker 3: gun you know, like. 671 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:10,440 Speaker 2: You know, I can't think of any any examples of 672 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 2: rich people coming into improvished areas and just kidnapping children. Now, 673 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:17,960 Speaker 2: I cannot imagine where the author might be might be 674 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:20,160 Speaker 2: pulling that outrageous idea for. 675 00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:23,520 Speaker 3: Yeah, totally totally out It's just science fiction. 676 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,040 Speaker 2: I will say. I do like the idea of having 677 00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:29,640 Speaker 2: a bathroom where I can just look down into space 678 00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:33,200 Speaker 2: in the floor. It's like just like sitting on the toilet, 679 00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:34,800 Speaker 2: just like staring into the abyss. 680 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,439 Speaker 3: I want to swim in that. See. That's why it's 681 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,000 Speaker 3: like I want the nice stuff for everyone. I want 682 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:43,919 Speaker 3: to swim in the bubble pool that looks out over 683 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 3: all of everything. 684 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:50,480 Speaker 2: Yeah. No, we should we should bring back like like 685 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:53,400 Speaker 2: like like the uh like the Roman public baths, but 686 00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:56,440 Speaker 2: just put just put them in space for everybody. Go 687 00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,879 Speaker 2: have your space bath. No. That that that is the one. 688 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:04,160 Speaker 2: Speaking of trick again, When when William Shatner was hoisted 689 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 2: up to almost outer space on I think it was 690 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:12,400 Speaker 2: Jeff Bezos's penis shaped rocket, he wrote his like his 691 00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:14,960 Speaker 2: immediate like he he thought he'd be like filled with 692 00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:18,000 Speaker 2: like wonder and awe, and he's like, no, space is terrifying. 693 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,759 Speaker 2: There's nothing there. It's just an abyss of darkness. We 694 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,200 Speaker 2: need to go back to Earth. Earth is where the 695 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:27,920 Speaker 2: life is. Space was terrifying, which I do find to 696 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,759 Speaker 2: be a very a very fun reaction as well, as 697 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 2: you like stare into like absolute oblivion, like the cold 698 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,160 Speaker 2: death of everything, and you're like, no, no, there's like 699 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:39,279 Speaker 2: light on the Earth. Let's go back to her. 700 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:40,920 Speaker 3: Yeah. 701 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:43,640 Speaker 2: But you know, if I'm like hungover and I'm puking 702 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:45,960 Speaker 2: into a and I'm puking into a toilet, I would 703 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:48,120 Speaker 2: also like to just look off to the side into 704 00:39:48,160 --> 00:39:49,960 Speaker 2: the abyss and like see how I feel about it, 705 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,880 Speaker 2: you know, Yeah, and then I can decide if I 706 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:54,360 Speaker 2: want to go back to puking in the toilet. 707 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:57,320 Speaker 3: That makes sense. Well, it's because you didn't eden of plastic. 708 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:01,440 Speaker 2: That's right, that's I had. I hadn't got my credit 709 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:02,040 Speaker 2: cards worth in. 710 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:08,040 Speaker 3: It's a hangover cure that everyone should try. Well, the 711 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 3: classic promo at the end of this for us is 712 00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,320 Speaker 3: that we both have podcasts. What's your podcast that you 713 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 3: might really do? The feed of already, dear listener. 714 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,239 Speaker 2: Well, I spend a lot of time working on a 715 00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,360 Speaker 2: podcast called it Could Happen Here. One of my more 716 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,000 Speaker 2: recent projects that I'm proud of is a Halloween special 717 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:31,000 Speaker 2: I put together about the Oregon Ghost Conference. And then 718 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,239 Speaker 2: I also I kind of made a follow up episode 719 00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:36,479 Speaker 2: about this tech company called mind bank AI who wants 720 00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:40,560 Speaker 2: to trap your brain inside a computer. So those those 721 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:44,279 Speaker 2: projects are are my my most recent favorite things I've 722 00:40:44,320 --> 00:40:46,600 Speaker 2: worked on. No, those can be found on the it 723 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:48,960 Speaker 2: Could Happen Here feed wherever you get your podcasts. 724 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,759 Speaker 3: I liked the Ghost Conference one. I didn't dislike the 725 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 3: other one, but the Ghost Conference was really good. 726 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:56,400 Speaker 2: It was fun. I had, I had, I had a 727 00:40:56,400 --> 00:40:56,839 Speaker 2: great time. 728 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:00,759 Speaker 3: It's fun to hear from a someone who's skeptical around 729 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:04,400 Speaker 3: the grift around ghost stuff, but is not like a 730 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:08,480 Speaker 3: like raw pure angry atheists. 731 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:11,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I'm not like a Reddit like debunker. 732 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:14,720 Speaker 2: I'm I Like, I think a lot of these these 733 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,080 Speaker 2: ideas have some conceptual basis in the way that they 734 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:20,839 Speaker 2: interact with like our brain and how we form like 735 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:24,200 Speaker 2: phenomenons that create our reality. But also I think the 736 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:25,919 Speaker 2: way that a lot of these ghost hunters are going 737 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,839 Speaker 2: about it is maybe slightly misguided and it's kind of 738 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:32,000 Speaker 2: missing the point of what these concepts were like invented 739 00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 2: for in the first place. And it is certainly really 740 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,239 Speaker 2: interesting area to be and when I'm like when I'm 741 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:41,279 Speaker 2: when I'm like in these paranormal spaces because I I 742 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,040 Speaker 2: believe in a lot weirder stuff than they do, but 743 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:46,200 Speaker 2: I don't believe in the type of weird thing they do. 744 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,640 Speaker 2: And it's certainly an interesting thing to navigate. 745 00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:53,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, No, it comes across and it's good listening. And 746 00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:55,479 Speaker 3: if you're listening to this on that it could happen 747 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,160 Speaker 3: here feed, you can listen to my podcast that comes 748 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:00,960 Speaker 3: out every Monday and Wednesday called Cool People Who Did 749 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:04,600 Speaker 3: Cool Stuff, where I talk about history and people who 750 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,480 Speaker 3: were cool who did cool things. Actually, a lot of 751 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:10,040 Speaker 3: times I have to talk about complicated people who look 752 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,000 Speaker 3: through on the surface and then you realize that they 753 00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:13,920 Speaker 3: kind of sucked but they still did cool things. 754 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:17,480 Speaker 2: Because we're all you say that. Are you saying that 755 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:19,960 Speaker 2: cool people are not universally good? 756 00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:21,240 Speaker 3: Yeah? 757 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:22,879 Speaker 2: In every single way about their life. 758 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:27,120 Speaker 3: Yeah. And if you want to know more about Tobias Bukell, 759 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:31,279 Speaker 3: you should google him. And his latest book is called 760 00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,600 Speaker 3: A Stranger in the Citadel. I haven't gotten a read yet, 761 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:38,440 Speaker 3: I've read a lot of his other stuff, but John Scalzy, 762 00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:41,680 Speaker 3: author of the Kaiju Preservation Society, has this to say 763 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:46,760 Speaker 3: about his Toby's latest book, with A Stranger in the Citadel, 764 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:49,120 Speaker 3: Tobias Bukell writes to the moment we live in with 765 00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:52,719 Speaker 3: a clarity and urgency that only fable can provide. Read it. 766 00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:56,600 Speaker 3: So I will leave you all with that and talk 767 00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:00,920 Speaker 3: to you next week on Sunday for the Cool Zone 768 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:02,640 Speaker 3: Hie everyone. 769 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:06,960 Speaker 1: It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 770 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:09,720 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website 771 00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:12,000 Speaker 1: cool Zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 772 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:15,600 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 773 00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:17,960 Speaker 1: You can find sources for it could happen here. Updated 774 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:22,080 Speaker 1: monthly at Coolzonmedia dot com Slash sources. Thanks for listening.