WEBVTT - CZM Book Club: The Plastic People by Tobias Buckell 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:03.240 Cool Zone Media. 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:10.119 Book Club, Club, book Club, book Club, book Club. 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:14.240 It's the book club. It's the Cool Zone Media book Club. 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:17.239 I'm your host, fire, your killjoy, and with me today 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:19.400 is my guest fellow. It could well, I'm not in 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:21.560 it could happen here post but this is on that 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:26.040 could happen here, bead sure is, and that's care. Hello. 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:30.960 I read books amazing. I honestly listen to audiobooks at 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:33.320 this point. Honestly, oh I do. 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:36.520 I can't. I can't retain the information with an audio. 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:38.239 But at least most of the books I read are 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:41.320 just like nonfiction. I haven't I haven't read a novel 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:43.800 in years, which I kind of feel bad about. But 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:46.559 my job, Warrence, I read just a whole bunch of 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:50.000 like really upsetting nonfiction, and like I can't like take 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:51.880 notes the same way if I'm listening to an audiobook, 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:52.279 I don't know. 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:55.600 Oh no, that's that's that's true for me. I forget that. 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.880 My day job is reading history books for podcasts the media. 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:03.600 Those I read, yeah in print, I actually really like 0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:05.320 reading the physical book while pacing. 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:08.880 But oh yeah, me too. Yeah, I love pacing. 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.600 It's so good. Maybe you're pacing while you're listening to this, 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:18.160 dear listener, cools On Media book Club is every Sunday 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:23.959 and I read you stories and this week's story is 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:27.560 by a friend of mine, Tobias s Bukel. I'm sort 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:32.000 of a former teacher of mine who I think is 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:36.960 really cool. I met Tobias when he was my teacher 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.720 at the Clarion West Writers Workshop, and I would just 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.039 like to shout out that aspiring writers. There's a six 0:01:43.080 --> 0:01:46.200 week workshop called Clarion West. There's another one called Clarion 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:48.120 I went to Clarion West, so I have a little 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:50.240 bit of bias towards it. And it sounds like a 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:55.680 reality TV show, But it's not like I spent six 0:01:55.760 --> 0:02:01.400 weeks in a sorority house with eighteen strangers in Seattle 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:07.480 and learned science fiction writing from amazing authors, with a 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:10.880 different author every week comes in to teach us. That 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:14.480 sounds cool, Yeah, it was. It's a really good thing 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.040 for people who are like just at the part of 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.400 writing where you're just starting to be good enough, but 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:25.120 you're not consistently good enough yet, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:29.520 And it really I'm not a formal education person. I 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:33.480 don't have any degrees I've been thinking about framing my 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:36.120 high school diploma to put behind me in Zoom calls 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:36.720 as a joke. 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:38.320 That be funny, that'd be good. 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:44.120 But Clarion West Workshop type things is very practical, and 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:48.160 Toby is a really good teacher. Toby's bio before we 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:52.400 get to the story. Tobias S. Bukel is a New 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.440 York Times bestselling author and World Fantasy Award winner. Born 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.040 in the Caribbean, he grew up in Granada and spent 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.520 time in the British and US Virgin Islands, which influence 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.480 much of his work. His novels and almost one hundred 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:06.880 stories have been translated into twenty languages. His work has 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.040 been nominated for awards like the Hugo Nebula World Fantasy 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.560 and the Astounding Award for Best News Science Fiction Author. 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.440 He currently lives in Bluffton, Ohio, with his wife and 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:18.480 two daughters, where he teaches creative writing at Bluffton University. 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.880 He's online at Tobias Buckell dot com. That's b u 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:26.040 c k e l L and dispelled Tobias. I guess 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.040 I'll just read the whole thing. T O b I 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:32.280 A S b U c k e L l dot 0:03:32.320 --> 0:03:35.320 com and is also an instructor at the Stone Coast 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:40.520 MFA and Creative Writing Program and also sometimes he teaches 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:43.120 Clarion West. They should find a year there you go. 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.960 I've been looking at workshops, but been working at clown 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:51.440 clowning workshops because there's really because there's no good clown 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.280 schools on the East Coast except for in New York. 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.160 And I've never been to New York. So now looking 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.360 for like regional clown workshops because all the clown schools 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.480 are in the elitist LA and New York theater scenes. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.480 It's no good, tragic. It's funny. When I when I 0:04:08.520 --> 0:04:10.720 first joined the anarchy scene, there was a lot of 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.640 like radical clowns, and so there was yeah, clown workshops. 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.800 But I hear that gen Z is like obsessed with clowns, 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.080 and all my friends are complaining that, like the dating 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:23.880 apps are full of like sexy clowns. 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:28.000 Yes, yes, clowns. Clowns are back in a big way, 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:32.760 but we don't have like the the training to support it. 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:35.640 There's a lot of like clown aesthetics, but not much 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.960 about actual clowning. So hope, hopefully they'll be like a 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.840 clown renaissance, a clownissance, if you will, in the next 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:44.719 five years, as more of the Gen Z clowns kind 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.240 of get educated and are able to start providing their 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.400 own kind of education to the up and coming Gen 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:52.120 Alpha clowns or whatever. 0:04:52.400 --> 0:04:55.560 Would this be at a clnaissance clownissance festival? 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:58.720 I mean I have I have gone as a jester 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:03.800 to multiple renfairs. I've gone with you to a runfair before. 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:09.320 Yeah. Okay, well that has nothing to do with today's story. 0:05:09.920 --> 0:05:14.080 But it's a fun story, and that's why I picked it. 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.000 We've been doing a lot of very serious stories, which 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:18.400 are also very good, but I've kind of wanted to 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:21.479 do something a little bit more lighthearted to make fun 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:22.159 of rich people. 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:27.479 Oh Evergreen, Yeah, Evergreen fun time, I know. 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:29.720 And it's actually funny because it's a very classic. It's 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.240 a very classic sci fi story in so many ways, 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:33.360 even though it's modern, you know. 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:34.880 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.440 This story is called the Plastic People. Raya found the 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:41.719 feral child on the edge of the garbage park on 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:45.400 the last day of the group's vacation. Garrison passed out 0:05:45.400 --> 0:05:47.120 from drinking the better part of a bottle of one 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:49.880 hundred year old is Ley Scotch had dropped a cigar 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:52.240 onto the edge of the canvas tent and set it 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:56.160 all on fire. I absolutely picked you for the guest 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:57.720 aha of this character. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.359 Yeah. I usually only get Garrison Keeler because there's not 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.000 very many of us out there. 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:05.080 Oh, I don't know who Garrison Keiler is. 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.320 I don't know either, but it's the one other person 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:09.920 named Garrison in the world. 0:06:10.720 --> 0:06:14.760 Okay, that well, now you know that there's a future Garrison, 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.800 So damn it, Garrison, Agagnier shouted, as personal air quality 0:06:20.839 --> 0:06:25.000 alarms blared. You and your fucking retro addictions. There'd been 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.760 scrambling and shouting among the five old friends as they 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:32.680 tumbled out onto the fetid, methane rich air outside. Go easy, 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:36.320 It isn't something he can do. Back upstairs, Susie stumbled 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:40.000 out of her own tent with a fire extinguisher. Everyone 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:42.400 coughed and spat as she blew the fire out in 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:46.159 a cloud of chemical powder. Don't defend him, Agunier snapped. 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:50.560 Ten years, Garrison shouted, clutching the almost empty bottle triumphantly. 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.680 His heavy boots crunched in the ground, knocking styrofoam chunks 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:58.719 into the air, and I still love you all. That's 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:01.919 the last bottle, Agugnie anger, suddenly as banked as the 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:06.960 tent fire on this world, Garrison said, Ever, the last 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:10.360 bottle of Islae anyone will ever have, Agugnie said, and 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:14.600 snatched it from Garrison. Raya listened to the bickering with 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.600 half an ear as the orange glow of the fire 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.320 faded away. As she'd been sure she had seen something 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.720 skiter past the shadows on the edge of camp. Something's 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:27.120 over there, Raya whispered to Susy by the fridge. London 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:29.680 had been listening to them. She pointed in the direction. 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.920 Raya indicated and snapped her fingers. The night lit up 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.800 and two drones dropped out of the air. Was using 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:40.200 them for dance lights, London muttered, but trash rattled and 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:42.960 slid down the pile. As the intruder scuttled away from 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:46.720 the stunningly bright light. Raya shielded her eyes and tried 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:49.200 to follow along. As the drones ducked and weaved around 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.600 the compacted hills of old earth debris cornered it, London 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:57.320 said triumphantly. Is a bear? Garrison asked, blearily. It's a 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.920 bear right there. Are no bears, idiot, Susie said, they're extinct. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:06.080 London said. Raya clambered one of the unsteady trasholes they'd 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.440 parked the tents between. I see it, she said. It 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.080 was a little boy, streaked in grease and mud, ribs, 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:17.840 visible as the drone lights played over him. His wide, 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.440 dark eyes stared fearfully at her as he tried to 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:24.640 hide behind a cracked porcelain tub. Oh my, London said, 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:28.680 clamberin over behind Raya. The poor little thing. Does he 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:33.400 live here? Susie asked, disgusted, how we just spent three days. 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:37.880 Garrison said it's not that bad, idiot, Susie said, it's 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:41.280 a shithole. It's miles and miles of trash. It reeks 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:46.000 everywhere I step. There's old world crap. I agree, while 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:47.840 it was fun to see what the old world was like. 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:50.560 Agougnie threw the last bottle of his lay off into 0:08:50.559 --> 0:08:54.720 the dark. It shattered against something invisible out there. I 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:57.360 think maybe it's time to call it. Let's go home. 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:02.280 I'm tired of the gravity. Susie agreed. It's oppressive. We 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:04.920 can't leave the child here in the trash. Raya protested, 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.960 Garrison groaned, Oh, come on, that's what it's like down here. 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.560 You know this. They'd flown down into the heart of 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:15.680 the dump for their mini reunion. Partying in an exotic 0:09:15.720 --> 0:09:19.680 location would make an incredible story. All the termites down 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.559 here can survive just fine without our help. They love 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.719 living in places like this, Susie said, don't think you're 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.680 doing it any favors. Living here must be a hell. 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:32.120 It's a hell they chose to make, Garrison said, this 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.440 is all theirs. They made it. They knew how to 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.439 live in it. Raya clambered her way over rusted out 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.000 heaps and winced when something jabbed through her boots into 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:43.680 her skin. She'd had all our shots, though, a prerequisite 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:47.080 to coming down. Hey there, she said softly to the 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:50.600 scared child. His hair was matted and clumped. He was 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.200 so covered and muck that he almost blended into the night. 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:55.960 She held out a candy bar in her right hand. 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.560 The child snatched it from her, shredding the plastic wrapping 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.920 as he ripped into it with jagged teeth. What's your name? 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:07.079 The child just stared at her. Raya held out a hand. 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:11.400 Would you like to come with us? He scuttled back 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.600 from her and right into a Guigne's arms. He circled 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:18.400 around and snuck up from behind. The child wailed and screamed, 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:20.720 but he was a small creature, and Agugnia tucked him 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.199 under an armpit with a quick smile. Shall we go? 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:27.280 Everyone agreed that it was time to end the party, 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:30.440 and with Reya placated, the reunion trickled back into the 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:34.200 shuttle for the trip home. Susy strapped into the pilot's 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:37.480 seat and activated a return sequence. The main engines lit 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:40.040 up and scattered all their camping equipment off to mingle 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.600 with the rest of the trash park as a silvered 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:45.680 ship thundered into the sky, with the fair old child 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.160 screaming all the way up to orbit. Raya tried to 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.600 give him a chocolate bar, but he ate the wrapper 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.679 and bar pointed teeth, ripping into the whole package, then 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:59.320 puked it up all over the cabin. You're cleaning that up, 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.240 Susi shouted, as Reya tried not to throw up herself. 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:10.480 And if you want candy bars, we were sponsored by candy, 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:14.640 sponsored by Big Candy. That's right, we got we got 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:18.240 the twenty twenty three Wonka sponsorship. So line up outside 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:23.160 every every every fifth, every fifth bar gets you one 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:27.240 ticket to book Club in your in your ears though 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:28.720 you have you still you still have to plug in 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:31.600 through the headphones. But you'll be allowed to listen to 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:35.320 book Club. Yeah. So yeah, as long as you buy 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.760 enough candy bars, that's right, offer them to random children. 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:59.240 And here's those ads, and we're back scrubbing the mangy child. 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.240 Clean took five I have domestic assistance an hour. It 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.160 fought free of the butler's first attempt, and he'd called 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:07.760 in the chef and three clean team professionals to get 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.720 the kid into the tub. They washed the dogs in 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:15.079 Mighty tim Gonzo, and Ophelia, the three poodles, usually the 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.600 ones unlucky enough to get hauled into the plastic tub 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:19.480 in the middle of the mudroom, off by the kitchens. 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.600 Barkden ran around in the middle of all the chaos, 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.880 making the most of the fun. He's a wiry one, 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.320 the butler observed. Stronger than you'd think, it's all that 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:33.800 full gravity, the chef said, drying herself off. Rayo watched 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:36.920 the chaos unfold on a tablet, patching into the house 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:40.280 video feed while enjoying a calming soak and the marble 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:44.120 trimmed upstairs bathroom attached to her unit as she scrubbed 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.079 away the stink of the old world and half digested 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:51.840 candy bar. The gold leafed Florida ceiling windows in front 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:55.480 of the bathtub framed the stars beyond, a stunning view 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.880 when she stopped to think about it. Mostly she found 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:01.960 that it kept entrancing her personal assistant, so Ria usually 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:07.000 kept the window darkened. On one of the other orbital cities, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.320 Raya spent the night with a man who had his 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.760 whole bathroom floor transparent. You could look down on the 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.199 mother planet slowly passing by underneath every minute while taking 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:20.400 a shit. Her view won for class. His was the 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:24.280 one everyone talked about at the party. Raya stood up 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:28.240 and toweled herself off handy. Her pa had a selection 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:30.960 of evening gowns waiting in her room. The one with 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.840 microblades that could produce enough lift to waft around her 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:37.400 legs at a pre programmed height got the nod. Then 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.000 it was off down the hall to mother's dining room, 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:43.200 where she was fussing over the layout. Why is there 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:47.000 an extra seating alas demanded, hovering over the table as 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.920 a chef directed the setup. It's for the child, we found, 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:55.400 Raya explained. Her mother looked utterly perplexed, so Raya showed 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:57.000 her a picture of the sight and one of the 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:01.040 child screaming as they rocketed back up to orbit. It's 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.960 a farll, Raya said, living in the garbage dump. We 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:08.280 went to the dump. Alaise looked horrified. You went down, 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:13.720 Susie piloted it. It's safe. How much did that cost? 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:18.400 Elise's horror had turned into a vaguely scandalized expression. Raya 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.080 had to think about that a second. It was Susie, 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:26.120 you know her father owns the shipping. Recognition flickered across 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:31.880 Eliza's face. That's Susie exactly. Most of the founding families 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.320 knew each other well enough by first name, but mother 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.320 always struggled with the names of Raya's friends and which 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:40.360 kid matched to which parents. They were just a blur 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:42.560 of little people in and out of the house to her. 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.560 Of course, the house staff knew Rhea's cohort by name. 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.600 They'd served them enough dinners and requests over the years. 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.400 Bring the child in, Raya ordered, and then to her mother. 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:57.560 You wouldn't believe the squalor we found the poor thing in. Well, 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:00.640 it is the old world, Elise said. There's a reason 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.040 we left. Look at what they do to it. It's 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:07.080 barely inhabitable. It's hardly a child's fault. It was born 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.880 to it. I've been saying for years we should just 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.240 put birth control and all the medicine we shipped down 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:16.680 there from the factories. Don't be so ghost. Rahea rolled 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:20.720 her eyes. You always tried to rescue strays. Remember that 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.920 little kitten you found over by the garment factory mittens. 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:29.720 Raya clenched her jawl. You had it put down. I 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:32.320 told you, sweetie. The cats have gotten out of hand 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:34.520 in the green ways. They're killing everything and throwing the 0:15:34.520 --> 0:15:38.000 ecology nets off kilter. We keep having to poll species 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:42.400 out of storage to repopulate the gardens. Oh it's here. 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.880 The little boy stood at the servants doorway, two domestic 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.320 assistants behind him. With hands on his shoulder. They cleaned 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.160 all the dirt off of him. He was pale, almost 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.880 sickly so and so skinny that his shirt and trousers 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.360 flopped baggly around him. One of the domestic assistants had 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.920 brushed out as long, stringy hair and braided it. Oh 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.880 look at how nicely we've we cleaned him up, Raya said, 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:09.520 you're supposed to return a baby bird to the nest. 0:16:09.760 --> 0:16:12.840 Alise whispered to Raya as she sat down. Doesn't this 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:16.840 Pharrell have parents? Raya caught her breath. She hadn't thought 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:20.200 about parents. She's just seen a near starving child enacted 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.360 not good ones if he was living in a dump. 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.680 It stays in your quarters, Alise huffed. I don't want 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:30.560 it anywhere near my rembrands or the silver, and never 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:34.760 ever in my rooms. Come on, little one, Raya waved 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.360 at the child, come sit with us, let's eat. He 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:43.080 approached poor thing so tentatively, much like the kitten Elise mentioned, 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:47.760 nervous about trusting the outstretched hand, unlike mittens. The child 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:51.080 pulled out a chair and sat down as instructed. Does 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:56.360 it speak, Elise asked the domestic assistance. It screams, miss Raya. 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.920 Raya patted the child's hand and he flinched. Don't be 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.680 like that, Raya said, we rescued you. Everything's going to 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:07.760 be better now, the child whimpered. Raya looked out over 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.520 the first course being set out and frowned. Let's get 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.520 you something so magical to'll cheer you right up, something 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.800 you never would have experienced in that nasty dump. Ice cream, 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:22.159 Now that was the ticket. Raya ordered it, delivered with 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:26.840 chocolate sauce drizzled on the top. There we are, she said, 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:30.439 pushing the bowl over. Try this. The child bared teeth. 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:35.200 Good God, they're filed to a point. Alisee shuddered. Raya 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.520 scooped a spoonful of ice cream and held it up. 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:42.080 Try it. She took a chilly bite and smiled at him. 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:44.880 He nibbled at the spoon when she moved it back over. 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:49.760 Persuaded by her enjoyment, he shuddered as his tongue hit cold, smiled, 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:52.440 then ate the rest of the bite. Soon he had 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.600 his face in the bowl, licking it clean. That's a boy, 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.440 Raya said. He sampled more food, but right when a 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.399 Lee's and ray started on their Kobe beef, he clutched 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:04.880 his stomach and looked at them with an almost comical 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:09.240 confused look, and then threw up all over the dinner table. 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:13.119 Alie stood up, threw her napkin down at the mess, 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:16.720 and declared, I'm going to visit Lars at Lunar North. 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.119 Call me when you come to your senses. The domestic 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.399 assistant swooped in to clean up the mess and the boy. Raya, 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:25.880 in a funk, retired to a room to brood over 0:18:25.920 --> 0:18:29.119 what had gone wrong. She had started this with the 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.920 best of intentions, but it wasn't going to plan now. 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:35.680 Her mother had her judgy face on. The domestic assistants 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:38.600 looked annoyed, and she could hear the child screaming and 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:42.880 fussing away from somewhere deeper inside the family estate. Hell, 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:47.119 she didn't even know the child's name. One of the 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.120 engineering staff came back in with the boy. We weren't 0:18:50.119 --> 0:18:53.160 sure where you wanted him to stay. Before Raya could 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.320 say anything, the child ran toward the window at the 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:59.679 back of the living room. Earth, he said, pressing against 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:03.080 the thick glass, his large brown eyes filled with tears. 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:07.840 He can speak, Raya said, Thank goodness. She'd started to 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:10.119 worry that maybe the pharaohs back down on the planet 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:12.879 had started to lose the capacity to speak, but that 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.880 didn't make any sense, as they all purchased medicines, weapons, 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:18.639 and other supplies for many of the family businesses that 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:22.320 still did trade below them. She assumed that you had 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:25.720 to be able to speak to do that Earth, the 0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:29.560 child said, back to that nasty dump, Raya shook her head. 0:19:29.600 --> 0:19:32.080 Look around you, look at everything I can give you. 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:36.240 I rescued you. The wealthy had left Earth long ago, 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:40.359 moved manufacturing to orbit, moved all their wealth up, even 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:42.480 scraped off all the good soil so they could grow 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:45.719 whatever they wanted an orbit. Some people felt they had 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:48.960 abandoned Earth or turned their backs on its suffering that 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.240 only the very rich could afford to get to orbit, 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:54.480 and that they'd walked away from their responsibility to be stewards. 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:56.920 It was the ancestors of the wealthy who had done 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:00.800 so much damage on their way to being rich. Ray's family. 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:03.200 It was mainly held that if one really wanted to 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:07.040 work hard enough, anyone could get into space. Those left 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:11.600 behind had simply not applied themselves. This child's ancestors had 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:16.399 not applied themselves, but Raya had rescued it. The least 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:20.840 the child could do was show some gratitude. Instead, he 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.440 wiped snop from his nose at and sniffed at the 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.200 window until Raya's patience broke. The only word the child 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.359 seemed to know was Earth. She left the estate for 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:33.200 a walk to clear her mind and meet up with 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:37.680 a Gugne for some actual conversation. And if you want 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:42.919 your golden ticket Garrison to Space, every fifth candy bar. 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:48.000 Every fifth candy bar, new new Musk branded Wonking candy 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:49.000 bar is coming sued. 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:50.119 That's right, I'll. 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:52.560 Get get you a free a free trip to Bars 0:20:52.720 --> 0:20:55.560 one way one way ticket though. 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:59.000 God, wouldn't it be great if I'm I'm all in 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.879 favor of Elon Musk personally attempting to get to Mars 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:04.399 with all the richest people in the world. 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.600 Oh yeah, yeah, No, I'm all for one way tickets 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:08.080 to Mars. 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.560 Oh, I don't think they'll make it. Oh really well yeah, 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:15.399 I mean I'm not big into gambling, but I would 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:19.640 be so happy either way. Then I would absolutely gamble 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:19.879 on this. 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:24.920 No matter what happens, everyone wins. 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:30.159 It's yeah. I think the best would be is if 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:32.320 they like set up really nice stuff on Mars and 0:21:32.359 --> 0:21:38.080 then die and then when you know, people try and 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:40.280 go there, there's like nice stuff anyway. 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:43.880 Yeah, that would be cool, But I think you're putting 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:46.840 little too much faith in their infrastructurability. Yeah, that's build 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:49.000 set up nice stuff on Mars in the first place. 0:21:49.040 --> 0:21:53.520 Yeah, I've seen how badly their cars are made. I 0:21:53.560 --> 0:21:56.920 love that we're supposed to be impressed by their space rockets, 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:00.440 as if, like before I was born, we hadn't put 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.440 a human onto the Moon by way of yeah math 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:06.919 done by women with notebooks. 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:11.960 No, I mean we had like wizards in the Nevada Desert, 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:17.159 like launching rockets with like Crowley's space journals in like 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:20.040 the nineteen forties, which led to the space program. And 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:24.160 these fuckers can't manage to get something up into orbit consistently. Yeah, 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:26.960 pretty pretty, pretty funny stuff. Yeah, because they're all fucking 0:22:27.000 --> 0:22:33.840 grifting each other anyway, what's not a grift? Are actually 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:36.000 a lot of these ads are probably these ads? Yeah, 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:54.919 here they are, and we're back into the economic system 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:56.320 that we all live in. 0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:03.240 Here's the story. Airwon orbitals carefully landscaped gardens, curved up 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:06.600 until they met the ceiling, a transparent metal that let 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:09.120 you look in toward the center of the orbital where 0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:12.000 the heavy infrastructure and docks all clustered around a needle 0:23:12.040 --> 0:23:15.200 shaped hub. The ring shape of the orbital let its spin, 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:17.840 and the insides of the hoop dripped with greenery that 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:21.920 teams of biota specialists worked overtime to keep in balance, 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:26.840 getting a forest to stay alive against cosmic rays, occasional 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:29.840 pressure losses from punctures, and the gyrations of a life 0:23:29.880 --> 0:23:33.439