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Speaker 1: Cool Zone Media book Club book Club book Club. Hello

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Speaker 1: and welcome to cools On Media book Club, the only

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Speaker 1: book club where you don't have to do the reading

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Speaker 1: because I do it for you. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy,

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Speaker 1: and I've been promising you big things the coals On

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Speaker 1: Media book Club for months now. I've been saying big

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Speaker 1: things just around the corner, and you're starting to think

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Speaker 1: Margaret's just saying that to have something to say, but

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Speaker 1: it wasn't true. I was thinking about big things and

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Speaker 1: the main purpose of those big things is that I'm

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Speaker 1: excited about a bunch of new content that we've got

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Speaker 1: for you. And we're starting that new content this very

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Speaker 1: week because this week I'm going to be reading you

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Speaker 1: and novella. Well, okay, over the next several weeks, I'm

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Speaker 1: going to be reading You and Novella. And I didn't

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Speaker 1: even write it. I'm going to be reading you. Hermetica

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Speaker 1: by Alan Lee and it was published by Detritus Books

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. Alan Lee is a pen name.

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Speaker 1: It's the speculative fiction pen name for an author you

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Speaker 1: might already know about, and if you don't, you could

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Speaker 1: come to know about. Named Peter Gelderlos and Peter Gelderlos

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Speaker 1: is the author of a bunch of nonfiction books you

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Speaker 1: might have already read, including The Solutions Are Already Here

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Speaker 1: and How Nonviolence Protects the State, and a lot of

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Speaker 1: stuff that talks about the formation of states and movement

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Speaker 1: strategy and all kinds of things. But this is Alan

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Speaker 1: Lee's debut novella. But if you want to find more

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Speaker 1: from Peter, you can find his essays, his rants, his analysis,

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Speaker 1: and his missives on substack at Surviving Levia Fan or

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Speaker 1: if you just search Peter Gelderlos, which is Peter g

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Speaker 1: elder Loos, and you can find all that on somebs stuck.

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Speaker 1: It's a good substock. I subscribe to it. Hermetica by

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Speaker 1: Alan Lee one. It was when Days found a sheet

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Speaker 1: of tree fiber inside the wall, stamped with black ink

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Speaker 1: and the likeness of words, words referring to Earth, that

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Speaker 1: they realized things did not add up. Why had they

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Speaker 1: pried open the wall panel in their module in the

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Speaker 1: first place. Destruction of one's module was destruction of hermetica itself,

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Speaker 1: And no behavior was more selfish, more dangerous than sabotage.

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Speaker 1: Of course, Snookums had started it scratching at the panel,

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Speaker 1: not that that would count as a mitigating factor in

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Speaker 1: any reconciliation processed. Days might be invited to join to

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Speaker 1: address the sabotage. Snookums was a cat, a fugitive, almost

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Speaker 1: certainly inexplicable, at least for the moment, but at the

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Speaker 1: end of the day, a cat, therefore not a citizen,

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Speaker 1: therefore not party to reconciliation processes. In fact, the relevant

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Speaker 1: agreements would probably class Snookum's misdeed as negligent sabotage on

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Speaker 1: Day's watch, even though Snookums was not assigned to Days

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Speaker 1: did not even appear to be in the system. Days

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Speaker 1: had permitted the cat into the module, had watched as

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Speaker 1: the cat scratched fervently at the wall, had joined in

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Speaker 1: the destructive enterprise, and now everything was unraveling at a

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Speaker 1: terrifying speed. When Days was younger, they knew they wanted

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Speaker 1: to work on the sky. The day Snookums appeared. The

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Speaker 1: sky was a perfect azure and argent dome. It was

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Speaker 1: oppressive in its glory. Days wanted to reach out to

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Speaker 1: touch it, to paint a little wisp of cloud just there,

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Speaker 1: but they were not allowed. The sky was the domain

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Speaker 1: of others who had been judged and found more worthy.

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Speaker 1: Summarily unfair that a single exam had reduced Days to

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Speaker 1: a peon. After staring a moment longer at the exquisite sky,

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Speaker 1: Days let their head fall chest to chin and trudged

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Speaker 1: off down the block. Days had dosed that morning, but

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Speaker 1: still they could not summon the will to smile a

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Speaker 1: greeting to the people they passed. The mere thought of

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Speaker 1: this failure brought the tears a growing weight, begging release,

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Speaker 1: a release they could not allow. Some moisture around the

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Speaker 1: rim could fall within the probability shadow of allergies or sleepiness,

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Speaker 1: not likely in their file, but still possible, But a

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Speaker 1: whole fat tear rolling down a cheek would definitely result

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Speaker 1: in Days getting sent home, marking up another sick day,

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Speaker 1: which in itself wasn't a problem. Even at fifteen percent productivity.

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Speaker 1: Days would not be classed for permanent reconciliation unless they

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Speaker 1: also logged a couple anti social, but it would ineluctably

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Speaker 1: feel like another failure, one more in an unbroken train,

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Speaker 1: going as far back as they cared to look, as

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Speaker 1: far forward as they dared to imagine. Perhaps working on

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Speaker 1: the sky had been an unpragmatically ambitious dream. Designers required

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Speaker 1: the highest aptitude in esthetics, mechanics, and maths. They had

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Speaker 1: to be team players. The sky formed a joint project

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Speaker 1: with Engineering, Life Sis and Mattillo. Days's high aptitudes and

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Speaker 1: intuitive low scores and teamwork and fine appreciation for suffering

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Speaker 1: had tracked them into palliative therapy. Yet wasn't that, on

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Speaker 1: another level an affirmation of their feelings. Days had the

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Speaker 1: unshakable feeling that it was their destiny to touch the sky.

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Speaker 1: What other dreams could one have condemned to die in

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Speaker 1: transit for Days's cohort. There was no final destination. Days's office,

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Speaker 1: like all health centers on her Medica, was at the node,

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Speaker 1: just at the end of the block. They paused before

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Speaker 1: going in. It was so low today, the sky as

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Speaker 1: though it began just at the top of the section walls.

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Speaker 1: The walls didn't end Days new Every block was itself

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Speaker 1: a sealed module, but the designers gave them something beautiful

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Speaker 1: to look at overhead, so they wouldn't have to stare

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Speaker 1: at gray walls on all six sides. Days would give

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Speaker 1: anything to climb into that deep, rich blue. They sighed

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Speaker 1: and walked through the double set of sliding doors, passing

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Speaker 1: through decontamination, Days went straight to their office. Lingering in

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Speaker 1: the common area would all but force the other therapists

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Speaker 1: to ask them how their day was, and Days couldn't

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Speaker 1: bear the thought of that, how's it going? The cruelest

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Speaker 1: question there was. They sat down and let out the

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Speaker 1: tears when they could. They focused on breathing, deep breaths.

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Speaker 1: It wouldn't do to see a patient like this. Every

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Speaker 1: work assignment brings us close to all of us or

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Speaker 1: none of us. That's what they had been taught. Days

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Speaker 1: was supposed to feel proud of their work as a therapist,

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Speaker 1: but it was impossible not to see the assignment as

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Speaker 1: some kind of failing. They had been early selected for

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Speaker 1: placement in a science cohort, and at the end of

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Speaker 1: it all, Days was barely a technician, while the others

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Speaker 1: had gone on to great things. True, only one person

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Speaker 1: in the cohort had been selected as a designer, and

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Speaker 1: last they knew, sidetracked into an entertainment project is as

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Speaker 1: far from the sky as Days themselves. And it was

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Speaker 1: also true that officially all jobs were equally valued and

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Speaker 1: prestige ranking was discouraged. Appreciative commentary on this or that

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Speaker 1: work category was boosted or muted accordingly, and even palliative

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Speaker 1: therapists and cleaning bought repair. Overseers got their digital love,

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Speaker 1: but people could still distinguish what was PSA, what was forced,

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Speaker 1: and what was generally admirable. It was even worse than

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Speaker 1: a science cohort because the peer reviewed structurally could not

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Speaker 1: use the same metrics as the social and if your

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Speaker 1: name never dropped in a PrV, you were definitely nobody.

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Speaker 1: But it was not the lack of name recognition that

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Speaker 1: chafed days. They could not help make the sky every

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Speaker 1: single day, and in exchange, they had to be classed

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Speaker 1: as permanent reconciliation on their profile for all the cohort

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Speaker 1: to see. If no one ever knew that they made

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Speaker 1: those colors, those moon rises, those soul hemorrhaging sunsets, they

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Speaker 1: would be perfectly happy. It was the fact that they

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Speaker 1: spent three and a half days a week guiding point

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Speaker 1: prods and air jets over the knotted backs and shoulders

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Speaker 1: of those who did the real work. That they coached

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Speaker 1: the creators of beautiful and important things on corrective posture

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Speaker 1: that stifled their spirit. Once they were breathing normally, Days

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Speaker 1: called the console to life and clocked in. The first

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Speaker 1: appointment came in seating and undressing on the other side

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Speaker 1: of the plexi. They were a young person in mechanics

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Speaker 1: from the next blockover who had started seeking therapy be

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Speaker 1: a few months ago for soreness and migraines. The two

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Speaker 1: had talked on other occasions when Days was on the up.

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Speaker 1: They had a decent job and reducing distribution loss between

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Speaker 1: blocks the unending quest to make her Metica more efficient.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't genius work, but anything that might accelerate the

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Speaker 1: arrival window was considered at least a little prestigious. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: anything that involved working on the ship and not just

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Speaker 1: on the bodies that filled it or the secondary machines

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Speaker 1: that serviced it was considered decent. Days had never worked

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Speaker 1: on anyone who had worked on the sky or the

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Speaker 1: engines for that matter. It would be illicit, but Days

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Speaker 1: wondered whether those job descriptions were tracked to higher grade therapists.

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Speaker 1: The scan was complete, and Days began directing their array

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Speaker 1: of instruments over the patient's back, keeping half an eye

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Speaker 1: on the display that Mr. End all the neural activity,

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Speaker 1: but mostly just following their own feelings on what the

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Speaker 1: other body needed, how it responded to the probing, the vibrations,

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Speaker 1: the digit pressure, the heat and the cold of a

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Speaker 1: dozen different appendages they kept in motion on the other

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Speaker 1: side of the plexi. Days supposed they were pretty good

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Speaker 1: at what they did. There had even been comments on

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Speaker 1: social that spoke of a magic touch that didn't seem

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Speaker 1: to be PSA. They were pretty sure they had been

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Speaker 1: written by real patients and weren't just machine love to

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Speaker 1: cheer them up for all its prosaic lack of glamour.

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Speaker 1: Therapy was something Days could do when they were down,

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Speaker 1: and when they were up, they could feel what other

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Speaker 1: people were feeling in a way it had surprised Days

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Speaker 1: to learn most other people could not. And that was

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Speaker 1: the world. Days inhabited a jungle of raw feelings in

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Speaker 1: which they were at the same time cold and alone.

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Speaker 1: But do you know what will keep you, dear listener,

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Speaker 1: from feeling cold and alone? The cold alone embrace of advertising,

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Speaker 1: because you and the advertising can be alone together. And

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Speaker 1: can you really say that you're alone listening to advertising?

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Speaker 1: Probably here's that, and we're back on a prior appointment,

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Speaker 1: Days had asked this patient if they knew anything about

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Speaker 1: the arrival window, But the mechanic wasn't that high up,

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Speaker 1: and there wasn't really anything else they could ask someone

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Speaker 1: like that, Certainly nothing that had any bearing on their block.

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Speaker 1: The power worked except when it didn't, but it always

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Speaker 1: came back quickly, and emergency systems never failed. Every now

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Speaker 1: and then a PSA went out and they were all

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Speaker 1: asked to minimize usage between such and such hours. Surely

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Speaker 1: there was a lot of work involved behind the scenes,

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Speaker 1: but what to say? So Days conducted the session in silence.

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Speaker 1: The thought of the arrival window stayed with them, though

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Speaker 1: the arrival window was all always narrowing and widening based

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Speaker 1: on the complex interaction between the colleagues and FIZZ and

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Speaker 1: the ones in engineering in interaction Days was not privy

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Speaker 1: to and would not understand anyway. But as it stood

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Speaker 1: most recently, her Medico was scheduled to arrive in two

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Speaker 1: to three hundred years at best. Unless bioen COGFIZZ and

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Speaker 1: Metaphizz made some huge advancements, Days would live just past

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Speaker 1: the halfway point. They would never arrive. They would spend

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Speaker 1: their life correcting the knots and cramps of engineers and

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Speaker 1: designers who would put those knots right back in place

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Speaker 1: with their next week of desk work. Even the ones

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Speaker 1: who had complete HF interfaces, no typing, all verbal in

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Speaker 1: gestural commands had posture problems. After all, many of the

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Speaker 1: high tier specialists voluntarily worked seven days a week to

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Speaker 1: keep their heads sharp. As the old saying went, so

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Speaker 1: as probably an NBS a problem that would never be solved,

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Speaker 1: which meant that Days's entire purpose was to keep fixing

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Speaker 1: those reappearing knots forever and ever unto death, and that

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Speaker 1: was all there would be. After two more appointments, Days

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Speaker 1: went home for the day, and that's when snookums appeared.

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Speaker 1: Crossing the block almost back to the module. They saw

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Speaker 1: movement out of the corner of their eye. Days turned

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Speaker 1: and there was a cat. None of their neighbors had

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Speaker 1: cats like that. Well, Days couldn't actually be sure. Weeks

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Speaker 1: passed before any one person had the chance to spend

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Speaker 1: time with even half the people on their block. But

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Speaker 1: getting assigned a new cat that was something people bull

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Speaker 1: horned on social every time, VIDs, anecdote and a flurry

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Speaker 1: of commentary. Days would have noticed a cat like this,

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Speaker 1: ash and coal and tiger stripes with peach cream undertones.

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Speaker 1: The cat had a peremptory gaze, set over a broad,

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Speaker 1: majestic nose that came to the perfect little floor delise

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Speaker 1: pawprint of a tip, a sculpted kiblet of marzipan perched

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Speaker 1: over a pursed mouth, flanked by long fans of whiskers

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Speaker 1: that bespoke a scornful elegance. The mystery cat ran up

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Speaker 1: to the nearest wall, shoring up its confidence, perhaps, but

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00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:16,800
Speaker 1: also inciting attention. Hey snookums, Days said on a whim,

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Speaker 1: not knowing why. They lowered their mask, not strictly permitted

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Speaker 1: out on the street, but no neighbors happened to be

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Speaker 1: traversing the block at this hour. Hey baby, Days made

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Speaker 1: kissing sounds, and Snookums as it were, came hither. The

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Speaker 1: feel of its fur was so warm and soft. Some

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Speaker 1: kind of liquid pleasure flowed through Days's body, and they

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00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,360
Speaker 1: drank it up, parched like one coming in from the desert.

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Speaker 1: They immediately felt their trapezius relax, releasing weeks of built

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Speaker 1: up tension. They should have noticed it was, after all,

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00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,400
Speaker 1: in the center of their limited feel of expertise, but

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Speaker 1: while a patient begged a diagnosis, the self always demurred.

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Speaker 1: Having rubbed thoroughly against Day's leg, Snookums ran suggestively ahead,

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Speaker 1: right up to the door of the module, Day's module.

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Speaker 1: I don't suppose it's any harm if I borrow you

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Speaker 1: for a bit. As they approached, the module, door slid open,

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Speaker 1: and Snookums waltzed right inside, as though it owned the place. Well,

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00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,720
Speaker 1: they joked, they can't say I kidnapped you. The bed extracted,

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Speaker 1: and Days plopped down on top of it. Snookums jumped

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Speaker 1: up and soon was atop their lower back, purring and

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Speaker 1: kneading away. Even more tension dissolved, as though chains had

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Speaker 1: been wrapped around Day's lungs, and they re encountered the

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00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,880
Speaker 1: tears forced down that morning and so many other mornings.

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Speaker 1: Now there were no more walls and no need to

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Speaker 1: man them, and Days surrendered every last tier to the

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Speaker 1: bed sheets. By the time Snookums jumped off, Days felt

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Speaker 1: dry and clean, lighter. They let the cat hang around

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Speaker 1: until well after the beginning of the night's cycle, stroking

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Speaker 1: its head and flattering it with a progression of increasingly

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00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,400
Speaker 1: ridiculous superlatives and then let it out the door. Snookums

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00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,080
Speaker 1: disappeared into the dark. Later they scrolled through all their

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00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:16,320
Speaker 1: neighbour's socials. None of them had a new cat. Days

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00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,800
Speaker 1: woke up with a certainty that it was a special day.

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00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:20,880
Speaker 1: As soon as their feet hit the floor, the bed

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00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:24,920
Speaker 1: retracted and the smell of coffee infused the air. Good morning,

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00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:29,560
Speaker 1: they chirped, Good morning, Days. The blinds rolled up with

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Speaker 1: a satisfying rustle, like a whisper in reverse, and Days

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00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:37,760
Speaker 1: saw that the designers had outdone themselves again, another beautiful

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00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:41,240
Speaker 1: day aboard her Metica. By the time they fell to

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00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:45,160
Speaker 1: a crouch, the floor panel had tranced to sturdy foam,

264
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,480
Speaker 1: and Days launched themselves into a dozen short reps of crunches, squats,

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00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:52,760
Speaker 1: and burpies. As they came down from the final leap,

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00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,600
Speaker 1: fingers almost touching the module's roof, they were panting joyfully.

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00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,880
Speaker 1: They did a few stretches while their breathing came down.

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00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,120
Speaker 1: Heel up on the windowsill, the shower extracted the moment

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00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,120
Speaker 1: they pulled their underpants down right on cue. The jets

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00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,679
Speaker 1: were hot and precise, and Days found bliss in the

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00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,160
Speaker 1: barrage of water. They didn't exactly have time to think

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00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:18,560
Speaker 1: before the leader ran out, but to feel. Certainly, they

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00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:22,760
Speaker 1: felt a wonderful day stretch out before them. They toweled

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00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,880
Speaker 1: off and tossed it, along with yesterday's clothes, into the chute,

275
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:30,080
Speaker 1: which closed and backed them away. The shower dehumidified with

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Speaker 1: a gentle roar as Days selected a new set of clothes,

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00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,520
Speaker 1: a loose baggy shirt and some snug elastic pants that

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00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:41,720
Speaker 1: would offer no objections. They thought capriciously if later they

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00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,880
Speaker 1: felt like dancing. As soon as they took a seat,

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00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,600
Speaker 1: the mr shooted out onto the table, piping hot its

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00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,680
Speaker 1: farther edge, making a perfect tangent with the coffee mug

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00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:55,080
Speaker 1: at its side, just the way they liked it. Would

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00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:59,040
Speaker 1: you like a dose this morning? No thanks, I'm ready

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00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,600
Speaker 1: to meet the world on my own today. Module had

285
00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:05,960
Speaker 1: already predicted that response based on Days's vitals and visuals,

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00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,760
Speaker 1: but it also knew that being asked and saying no,

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00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:13,159
Speaker 1: affirming their ability to go without chemical supplementation, increased the

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00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:18,080
Speaker 1: average time before Days would again need a dose. Breakfast

289
00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,959
Speaker 1: was pretty good. A palette of flavors with names like bacon, mango,

290
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:27,080
Speaker 1: and plantain cast across a satisfying diversity of textures. As

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00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:31,040
Speaker 1: they finished up the last bites, they decided, Hell, they

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00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:36,440
Speaker 1: could go all out. Calendar Yes, Days, who's my social

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00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:42,680
Speaker 1: appointment for today? Milty? Oh good? Send a confirmation, also

294
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:47,520
Speaker 1: a message recording, Hey, Milty, I'm looking forward to seeing

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00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,040
Speaker 1: you today. Do you feel like coming over? I hope so,

296
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,679
Speaker 1: I'm cooking, don't bring anything, see you at nineteen h

297
00:18:54,440 --> 00:19:00,200
Speaker 1: buye sending thanks. Shall I set your default to pre

298
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:05,040
Speaker 1: confirmation on social appointments? Whaho module, let's not get ahead

299
00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,800
Speaker 1: of ourselves. Days chuckled, Wait and see how we're feeling tomorrow. Yeah,

300
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,400
Speaker 1: of course, Days. They stood up, pushing the empty mre

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00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:18,040
Speaker 1: and mug into their chute. Oh, Days, Milty has confirmed

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00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,800
Speaker 1: for nineteen h great. It had been about a week

303
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,920
Speaker 1: since Days had kept a social appointment. You only got

304
00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,760
Speaker 1: one a day, plus the malty on Sundays and the

305
00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:30,520
Speaker 1: block party four times a year for everyone in good health.

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00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:33,560
Speaker 1: It had been like that ever since the new safety

307
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,200
Speaker 1: was implemented, back when Days was an infant. It turned

308
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,560
Speaker 1: out that the population on her Medica, ideal for rapidly

309
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,840
Speaker 1: settling a new home world, was also the perfect ecosystem

310
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,800
Speaker 1: for the evolution and incubation of new viruses, and twenty

311
00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:50,399
Speaker 1: five years ago an epidemic had raced through the close

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00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:55,800
Speaker 1: quarters of the ship. ARPV, popularly known as the Choking sickness,

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00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,800
Speaker 1: had infected millions. It was only deadly in extreme cases,

314
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,720
Speaker 1: but it spread asymptomatically, making it exceedingly hard to control.

315
00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,880
Speaker 1: The engineers and medicals had perfected the module and block layout,

316
00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,600
Speaker 1: restricting transit across the entire system. Every cohort in every

317
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,280
Speaker 1: block was composed of people of the same age, preventing

318
00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:20,280
Speaker 1: cross generational contagion and protecting the more vulnerable age groups

319
00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:24,359
Speaker 1: while streamlining health services. And since then there have been

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00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:28,560
Speaker 1: no serious emergencies. They had adapted. What had become vigilance

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00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,560
Speaker 1: became custom, and life went on. But do you know

322
00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:38,160
Speaker 1: what is a serious emergency. The amazing sales and deals

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00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,520
Speaker 1: that are available to our listeners through these advertisements, every

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00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:48,199
Speaker 1: single one of them a serious life altering emergency. And

325
00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,320
Speaker 1: you're thinking, but, Margaret, wouldn't it have made more sense

326
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,240
Speaker 1: to use as an ad transition that what had been

327
00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:01,679
Speaker 1: vigilance became custom and how life goes on despite these advertisements.

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00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,200
Speaker 1: Well you might think that, but I'm holding by serious

329
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:10,680
Speaker 1: life altering emergencies. Run, don't walk to probably just press

330
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:25,200
Speaker 1: forward fifteen seconds, probably with four times or so, and

331
00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 1: we're back mask on and out the door. Days looked

332
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,119
Speaker 1: around for snookums, but saw no sign of the cat.

333
00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:35,919
Speaker 1: A number of their neighbors were out and about, and

334
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,720
Speaker 1: they sang out one good morning after another. The sky

335
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,479
Speaker 1: was projecting puffy white clouds and a strident sun, and

336
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: Days relished in the wind whipping about their face. The

337
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:49,639
Speaker 1: membrane that closed off the top of every block was

338
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:53,439
Speaker 1: permeable to air and precipitation, as her Medica's life support

339
00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,639
Speaker 1: system needed to cycle oxygen, nitrogen, and water vapor on

340
00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:02,040
Speaker 1: a shipwide basis. System was far from perfect, and occasionally

341
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:07,399
Speaker 1: there were simulated weather events to equalize pressure and chemical distribution. Fortunately,

342
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:10,600
Speaker 1: the designers could always anticipate weather occurrences with the data

343
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 1: they got from Mettio, and they made sure the sky

344
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,360
Speaker 1: was always dressed for the occasion. So today the clouds

345
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:19,760
Speaker 1: moved from left to right in the same direction as

346
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:23,680
Speaker 1: the wind, coming to the center of the block. Days

347
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,639
Speaker 1: saw they were building something on the green. As a

348
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,520
Speaker 1: couple drones hovered about, movers deposited bundles and a couple

349
00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,600
Speaker 1: bots erected a tall pole almost as high as the

350
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,879
Speaker 1: tallest modules the family units. Was it already time for

351
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,840
Speaker 1: the next block party? Days wondered what the theme of

352
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,920
Speaker 1: this time would be. The last one was Chinese New Year,

353
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 1: but Days hadn't been feeling well and gave it a miss.

354
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,880
Speaker 1: Staying out of the way of the bots, they crossed

355
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,600
Speaker 1: the green The health center was straight ahead, but the

356
00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:54,919
Speaker 1: supply node was to the right at the end of

357
00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:57,879
Speaker 1: the cross street. They had to get ingredients if they

358
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 1: were going to cook for Milty tonight, but then they

359
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,399
Speaker 1: might be late for the first patient and certainly too

360
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,880
Speaker 1: excited thinking about dinner to focus on work. They could

361
00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:11,320
Speaker 1: stop by on the way home. It was a fortuitous decision.

362
00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: First in the queue they got a new patient, one

363
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 1: who worked in mettio. Bubbling with curiosity, they bit their

364
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,159
Speaker 1: tongue until the patient was comfortable and the ensemble of

365
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 1: machines were whizzing and worrying over their back. It would

366
00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:29,320
Speaker 1: not do to stress them out, compound whatever muscle problem

367
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,800
Speaker 1: had brought them here, and get a low rating on

368
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,680
Speaker 1: top of it all. Some people loved to talk during

369
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 1: the sessions, but others flat out fell asleep. So you're

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00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 1: a meteorologist. Days ventured after the patient let out a

371
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:49,800
Speaker 1: particularly appreciative groan. Me, no, days frowned. Nope, I work

372
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:53,639
Speaker 1: in meteorology, but I'm actually a botanist. Oh good, a talker.

373
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,680
Speaker 1: I thought all the botanists were an alimentation, most of us,

374
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,320
Speaker 1: but not me. You know the bushes and shrubs grow

375
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,399
Speaker 1: on your block? Uh huh, Well every block has a

376
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,679
Speaker 1: botanical cohort, you see. To complement the human population spread

377
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 1: across our Medica, we actually have quite a biodiversity in

378
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,040
Speaker 1: plant species. Of course, everything will need to terraform is

379
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 1: in the gene bank, but there's a hypothesis that after

380
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,200
Speaker 1: a certain stage of KEMPREP we'll have better luck transplanting

381
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:25,120
Speaker 1: adult specimens. In any case, with livestock, we have a redundancy,

382
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,040
Speaker 1: and it's also proven to improve air quality and mental

383
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: health for the passengers. Wow, well that makes sense. So

384
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: what's the connection with meteorology. Media's primary job is to

385
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:40,480
Speaker 1: monitor the atmosphere aborder Medica. Of course, the atmosphere belongs

386
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,879
Speaker 1: to life systems. Their prime directive is to give us

387
00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 1: air de breathe, but any changes they make have shipwide

388
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,720
Speaker 1: ramifications and they have to work closely with METEO to

389
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,919
Speaker 1: roll out those changes and monitor any feedback. Think of

390
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,640
Speaker 1: METIO as like a shock absorber for life sys AH

391
00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 1: in botany, well, we're the shock absorbers for the shock absorbers.

392
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 1: A meteorology rollout is designed for the health of the

393
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:07,399
Speaker 1: passengers while minimizing the kind of discomfort systems ripples can cause.

394
00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 1: No one's thinking about the shrubs. So that's where I

395
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,400
Speaker 1: come in. Weather events an atmosphere in general spell life

396
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:15,919
Speaker 1: or death for our botany cohorts, and they're not very

397
00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,080
Speaker 1: high up on the priority chain. Now, your maintenance blocks

398
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,600
Speaker 1: are collecting chemical data every time they go by, and

399
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 1: the block analyzes it and sometimes can make a change autonomously.

400
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,320
Speaker 1: Schizophrogma needs more watering done, but I combine that with

401
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,919
Speaker 1: qualitative commentary on plant health. I can override the block

402
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,480
Speaker 1: and design a special treatment regime for an unhealthy specimen,

403
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,159
Speaker 1: And in the case of prolonged malaise, I can make

404
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 1: a recommendation to METIO, like to change the weather. You

405
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,640
Speaker 1: bet if it can keep a cohort from dying off.

406
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 1: Of course, like I said, it's low on the priority chain,

407
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:55,840
Speaker 1: but sometimes they make adjustments. WHOA, that's amazing. I've never

408
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:58,520
Speaker 1: met anyone who can affect the weather before. So you're

409
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 1: in charge of all the plants on her Medica, The

410
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 1: patient laughed me. Nah, I just supervise one hundred blocks,

411
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,639
Speaker 1: no complaints here. That lets me travel way more than

412
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,960
Speaker 1: your average passenger. But her Medica is huge, and we

413
00:26:12,040 --> 00:26:14,560
Speaker 1: each got our tiny role to play. If any one

414
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,960
Speaker 1: person just focuses on themselves, they feel small. But we're

415
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:23,520
Speaker 1: doing all together. It's extraordinary. A shadow crossed over Days's

416
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,880
Speaker 1: heart the first of the day. The patient was right,

417
00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 1: it was extraordinary. But Days couldn't help but feel like

418
00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,680
Speaker 1: their life was impossibly small. Was it fair that one

419
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,800
Speaker 1: person could travel across a hundred blocks, could reach up

420
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 1: and touch the sky, could make it rain, and Days

421
00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,080
Speaker 1: had to spend their life between the module and the office,

422
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: not even one hundred meters apart, touching strangers through a

423
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 1: plexi and the intermediary of a dozen probes and appendages.

424
00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,679
Speaker 1: It was their own fault, of course, If they had

425
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 1: studied harder, they could have done better on the aptitudes.

426
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 1: They had had all the advantages of an education in science.

427
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,679
Speaker 1: The other people from their cohort had gone on to

428
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,160
Speaker 1: important assignments. They didn't keep up with most of them,

429
00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:08,679
Speaker 1: but they could see what they were doing on social

430
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,919
Speaker 1: One a mathematician had created a dynamic encryption system that

431
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 1: enabled classified reports to read one another, so that specialists

432
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 1: from different working groups and with different security clearances could

433
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,679
Speaker 1: access relevant information across departments or check their data against

434
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,199
Speaker 1: another set of data without actually having to view it

435
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,959
Speaker 1: in the event they did not have clearance. Another, a

436
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 1: molecular biologist, was working on a team perfecting a nanobotic

437
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,199
Speaker 1: array that could quickly scan, detect, analyze, and repair genetic

438
00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:42,560
Speaker 1: mutations across an entire organism. Plenty had gone into phizz,

439
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,720
Speaker 1: and though physics people generally could not speak about their work,

440
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:47,399
Speaker 1: it was rumored that one of them was in the

441
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:53,360
Speaker 1: nuclear program working on her Medica's propulsion system ZIMP. Days's

442
00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 1: best friend from the cohort was in higher ed training

443
00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 1: the next generation of minds in quantum Mechanics AXA. Another

444
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:05,439
Speaker 1: classmate was in socio psych designing optimum human interactions. Definitely

445
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:07,879
Speaker 1: not Days's cup of tea, but who was Days to

446
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 1: be picky? They were a masseuse running the same dozen

447
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,919
Speaker 1: routines over variants of the same four problems, over and

448
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 1: over and over again. The trainings post aptitudes were simple,

449
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,160
Speaker 1: a year of anatomy and then a month of technical

450
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,880
Speaker 1: education for operating the machines. Days had figured it out

451
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,280
Speaker 1: in a week. Zimp, on the other hand, had gone

452
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,879
Speaker 1: through six years of training and had to do hours

453
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,680
Speaker 1: of reading every week to keep up on the PRVs,

454
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,080
Speaker 1: and the molecular biologist from the cohort had only gotten

455
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 1: a work assignment a couple years ago after eight years

456
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: of post app training. If Days had been feeling a

457
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,240
Speaker 1: little better, more social the day of the aptitudes, would

458
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,080
Speaker 1: the outcome have been any different. They had scored well

459
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 1: in analytical and maths, but the low teamwork score had

460
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,240
Speaker 1: spelled doom for just about any cutting edge assignment. Dreading

461
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,560
Speaker 1: the memory, they were back in the unfamiamiliar room. Most

462
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 1: of the faces were unfamiliar to cohorts got broken up

463
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,720
Speaker 1: for testing. The young students in the room were joined

464
00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 1: by another bond, though, who could fail to recognize the

465
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 1: shared anxiety to no one's self in one's peers. The

466
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,800
Speaker 1: examiner was late. No one was happy about that. The

467
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:21,080
Speaker 1: screens at the front of the class already read nine

468
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:24,760
Speaker 1: twenty That was starting time. They were supposed to have

469
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,719
Speaker 1: two and a half full hours to finish. Days looked around,

470
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: weighing their peers, growing concern. The ubiquitous Remember the wiki

471
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:38,160
Speaker 1: poster hung forlorn on the back wall. There were no windows.

472
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,680
Speaker 1: At nine twenty four thirty six, the door swished open

473
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,120
Speaker 1: and the examiner bustled in, taking their place at the

474
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 1: head console. Their face was a ste not a sign

475
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 1: of fluster or apology. Everyone in the class shifted backs, erect,

476
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,360
Speaker 1: hands at the ready atop their desks. The examiner logged

477
00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 1: in and entered a command, and the console extracted from

478
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,720
Speaker 1: everyone one's desk. Twenty sets of fingers launched themselves across

479
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:09,040
Speaker 1: tactile screens, entering personal ID numbers and passcodes. Any moment

480
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 1: the first problem should appear. Instead, the examiner spoke, speaking

481
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,360
Speaker 1: with strictly forbidden during the aptitudes. But they were the examiner.

482
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:20,840
Speaker 1: They could have you removed and failed for the mere

483
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,680
Speaker 1: suspicion of impropriety. Before the test begins. You will all

484
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,120
Speaker 1: go in to configure and set the test time back

485
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:32,520
Speaker 1: to nine to twenty zero zero. Use this override a

486
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: twelve digit passcode appeared on the main screen. That was

487
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:40,480
Speaker 1: certainly irregular, and it hardly seemed fair. They had now

488
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,440
Speaker 1: lost five full minutes from their testing time, and no

489
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:46,960
Speaker 1: one ever got through all the problems. Days decided not

490
00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 1: to comply. Still frightened to the examiner, they moved their

491
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 1: fingers over the tactile so they'd blend in with all

492
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 1: the others. Then the test started and the first problem

493
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 1: appeared on everyone on screen. Dun dun dun. That's the

494
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: cliffhanger music. Everyone knows that dun du dun, dun dun't.

495
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 1: That's not the cliffhanger music. That's just me making noises

496
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,240
Speaker 1: with my mouth because I've been talking into a microphone

497
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: for a while and it makes me lose my brain

498
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 1: a little bit. Anyway, that's the end of part one,

499
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 1: well episode one of her Metica by Alan Lee. Join

500
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,440
Speaker 1: us next week when we find out what happens next

501
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 1: and in the meantime Allen Lee. It's a novella published

502
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:35,560
Speaker 1: by Detritus Books in twenty twenty one. You can go

503
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:39,000
Speaker 1: check it out now if you want, but you can

504
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:41,440
Speaker 1: also check out other stuff done by the same author,

505
00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 1: Allen Lee as their speculative fiction pen name, and his

506
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,960
Speaker 1: name for most of his books is Peter Gelderlos, which

507
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:52,000
Speaker 1: again includes, for example, the book The Solutions Are Already

508
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,520
Speaker 1: Here Strategies for Ecological Revolution from Below. And you can

509
00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:01,920
Speaker 1: also check out Peter Substack Surviving Laff and I don't

510
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,880
Speaker 1: know what else to plug besides listen next week when

511
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 1: I read you the next part of Hermatica by Alan Lee.

512
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:13,280
Speaker 1: All Right bye. It could happen here as a production

513
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,360
Speaker 1: of cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media,

514
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 1: visit our website coolzonemedia dot com, or check us out

515
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,240
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

516
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,200
Speaker 1: to podcasts. You can find sources where it could Happen here,

517
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: updated monthly at coolzonemedia dot com slash sources. Thanks for listening,