1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:10,959 Speaker 1: Call Zone Media book Club, book Club, book Club, book Club. Hello, 2 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Welcome nichols On Media book Club, the only book club 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: where you don't have to do the reading, because I 4 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: do it for you. I'm your host, Margaret Kiljoy, and 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: every week I bring you stories, and this week I 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 1: bring you the conclusion of her Medica by Alan Lee. 7 00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: In the past six weeks, you've been listening to me 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,640 Speaker 1: read you her Medica, unless you're binging it all at once, 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: in which case it wasn't the last six weeks, it 10 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: was the last I don't know, four hours. Or you 11 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: might actually be listening to just part seven and not 12 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,559 Speaker 1: the rest of it because you just want to know 13 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 1: how it ends, in which case, congratulations, you're going to 14 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,480 Speaker 1: learn how it ends anyway. Alan Lee is a pen 15 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: name for Peter Gelderlops, who's a nonfiction author, but Allen 16 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: Lee is the name that he writes science fiction under. 17 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: And last time on her Medica Days met a person 18 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,959 Speaker 1: named Shauna, an author who worked on the storylines. After 19 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,479 Speaker 1: the slow collapse caused by climate change, pandemics and eroding 20 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: faith in the current systems, the government had turned to compartmentalization, 21 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: whereby people were warehoused and essentially prisons and fed lies 22 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: about the nature of their world to keep them confined, complacent, 23 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: and productive. Her Medica was one of these compartments a 24 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: storyline that produced scientific progress. Residents like Zimp who were 25 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: doing research on the starship were actually running very small 26 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: and specific parts of other scientific inquiries, and the rest 27 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 1: of everyone, like Days, kept the whole thing going. Nobody 28 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: has ever given enough information to pick apart the whole. 29 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: Truth and compliance and non questioning attitude is prized. After 30 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,559 Speaker 1: Shawna has taken away, Days woke up to a screen 31 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: with eight buttons. Two deactivated indicated that they wouldn't be 32 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: able to choose to return to Hermetica or the Secession, 33 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: which is also a storyline designed to keep violent fascist 34 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:10,399 Speaker 1: self contained. And there are six possible worlds to choose from, 35 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:12,639 Speaker 1: and just as a head's up, this final part of 36 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: the story deals with intense topics, including starvation and suicide, 37 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:19,120 Speaker 1: and so listen to it at a pace that works 38 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: for you if you feel like Days awoke their head hurt, 39 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: the cell was immaculate, there was no sign of their outburst. 40 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: The column pinged. Days found a cup of water within. 41 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: They drank it down. They went back to sleep. Days 42 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: had been half awake for a long time before they 43 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: finally forced their eyes all the way opened and rolled 44 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,840 Speaker 1: out of the cot. They drank some water and crossed 45 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: to the other corner to piss, Finally letting out a 46 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: long sigh, They went back to the screen with a 47 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: bitter obedience. They put a finger to the fourth square. 48 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: The image was of a beautiful white building on a 49 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: cliff with a majestic staircase winding down to a sandy 50 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: beach on an azure sea. People arrived in resplendent vehicles, 51 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: people evincing confidence, charm, and power. The video, however, focused 52 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: on those attending them, bringing them to their rooms, cooking 53 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: and serving their food, massaging them. Days was surprised to 54 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: see them use their hands directly and not any machines 55 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 1: fitting them into scoop gear on the back of a 56 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: small boat. The attendants were also elegant, always smiling, always 57 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: right on time, in the perfect place in a carefully 58 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: choreographed dance. The guests seemed very appreciative. One even shared 59 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: a bottle of wine with an attendant on the edge 60 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: of a hot tub. Days looked back at the cell, 61 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: raising an eyebrow. Being tracked was always insult, they realized, 62 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: thinking back to the aptitudes. But when the system read 63 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 1: you so wrong, the insult seemed even worse. Then again, 64 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: they had no way of knowing if the option had 65 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: not been placed on the screen to elicit exactly that reaction, 66 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: to push them to another choice, or at least to 67 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: inflate the feeling of how many choices were available? Could 68 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: one even speak of choice? Surely the system had already 69 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: calculated the probability of every choice on the whole menu. 70 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,239 Speaker 1: There were probably only two days might feasibly choose. Maybe 71 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: even that calculation was optimistic. Perhaps the modeling was so 72 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,720 Speaker 1: exact that everything from the mood and the lighting and 73 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: the promos to the order of the options were presented 74 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: in were all designed to produce a single outcome. Which scenario, 75 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: had the system determined days could fit into best. They 76 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: moved their finger, if only to stop the parade of 77 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 1: luxury in its servile attendance. The next image was quite 78 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: the contrast. A forest ancient trees. Three people trekked through. 79 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,280 Speaker 1: They were tired, dirty, but there was strength in their eyes. 80 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: They seemed like friends. One of them stopped, excited, They 81 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: had seen something. The others gathered around. It was a 82 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: moss growing at the base of a tree. They knelt 83 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 1: down reverently, and one carefully scooped a sample into a 84 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: small self ceiling bag. Later they were at a small station. 85 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: It seemed to be in the middle of the same forest. 86 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,480 Speaker 1: They were running tests, and one of them seemed to 87 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: be giving first day to a small amphibian, a variety 88 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: Days had never seen before. The animal seemed to have 89 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: some transparent oily substance on its skin. It was suffering, 90 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: but the person tended it lovingly, cleaning it off, giving 91 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: it an injection with a tiny needle. Later they were 92 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: gathered around a pond, releasing the amphibian. Now healthy, it 93 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: swam out into the water, joining others like it. The 94 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: final square showed an angry crowd in a street, perhaps 95 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: a protest. Days did not tap on the image. They 96 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:16,799 Speaker 1: let their hand drop to their side as a deep 97 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 1: sigh escaped their lungs. They turned and sat down on 98 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: the cot. Six options, six possible futures. One they had 99 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: not yet seen, another they definitely did not want. Two 100 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: of them were appealing, but they only seemed tenable for 101 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: those times when they were on the up, and when 102 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: would they be possibly feeling that way again, after all 103 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 1: they had been through, after what they had to do. 104 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:47,919 Speaker 1: Now the other two they might work. They could imagine 105 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: choosing a life like that, But no, they realized angrily, 106 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: it wasn't their choice. None of these lives would ever 107 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: be their choice. And then they realized why had They 108 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: had never been allowed to see anyone who worked in 109 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: this pre not even a simple robot. With no one 110 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: else here, no one who held authority over them. The 111 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: place was merely a circumstance, a fork in the road, 112 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: and not a prison, not a box someone had decided 113 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: to lock them up inside. All of it reinforced the 114 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: illusion of choice, as though they were in dialogue with 115 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: those six options on the screen, as though they were 116 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: about to choose their future life. But those worlds and 117 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: all the worlds, were like the prison itself, totally designed 118 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: by those who had control, completely inoculated against any choices 119 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: they might make. The fact that they were invisible, the 120 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 1: illusion that Days could control how they lived, only augmented 121 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: the architect's power. Looking back at the PLEXI, Days thought 122 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: about the button that had portrayed her medica. It had 123 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: initially been presented as inactivated and then removed entirely. At 124 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: first that made perfect sense. Why should they want to 125 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: return to Medica where they had been so unhappy? Everything 126 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: about it was a lie? But then they reconsidered that 127 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: was their home, the place they had grown up, everyone 128 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: they knew was there still, What right did those in 129 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: charge have to remove Days? With a wave of disgust 130 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: that hit like nausea, they realized the arrogance of it all, 131 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: the compartmentalization, the pretension of designing a world for them 132 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: to live in, circumscribing their futures, but always in the 133 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: guise of offering them choices. If humans could go uninvited 134 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: to another star system, why couldn't they go anywhere they 135 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: pleased on their own planet? And who had the authority 136 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: to keep Days from going home? They had no idea 137 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: who the architects were, but they certainly didn't live on 138 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: Days's block. And to whom did a block belong if 139 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: not to those who lived on it. Did they just 140 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: think they owned everything? No, Suddenly it was clear what 141 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:58,800 Speaker 1: they wanted. Days banged on the PLEXI her Metica, I 142 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: want you to send me back to her her Medica. 143 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: They yelled at the cell with growing conviction. Her Medica 144 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: was hell and that was why Days had to go back. Zimp, milty, 145 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: even Axa. They were all trapped there, trapped in the line. 146 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: None of them deserved that, and Days didn't deserve to 147 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: be torn away from them, even though they had spent 148 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,360 Speaker 1: so much of their lives in solitude. But even the 149 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: shrubs and flowers on the green had been their companions, 150 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: and the sky. They banged again on the PLEXI, let 151 00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,720 Speaker 1: me go back to her Metica. With Snookum still there, 152 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: it didn't seem like the cat would be able to 153 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,880 Speaker 1: find Days here. They started banging louder. They would go back. 154 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: They would find their old friends. It wouldn't be perfect, 155 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: the loneliness, the old anxieties. They would be waiting for 156 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: them too, but they would tell them, and together they 157 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: would change things. Could it be possible? Would the system 158 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: let them go back? Shawna had said the system was 159 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: set up for everyone to be productive in some way, 160 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: and the purpose of Hermetica was to produce scientists. Surely 161 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: the passengers would still be productive even if they knew 162 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: the truth. Days couldn't imagine that Zimp would ever give 163 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: up teaching quantum mechanics. The others too would continue with 164 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: their pursuits, only they would do it on their own terms. 165 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: They would get to decide what was useful or necessary, 166 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: once they were actually allowed to know the world they 167 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:29,440 Speaker 1: lived in. Could the system countenance such a modification? Would 168 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: it deign to engage in dialogue with its subjects? But 169 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,359 Speaker 1: you know who will always engage in dialogue with their subjects. 170 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:52,680 Speaker 1: Its products and services are benevolent overlords. And we're back. 171 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: Of course, Days knew that all cybernets entailed dialogue, and 172 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,440 Speaker 1: machine learning itself was based on seeking out maximum inputs. 173 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: But there was another factor that had always been there, 174 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: beneath the endless circuits of conversation, the socials, the peer reviews, 175 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,719 Speaker 1: the near infinite data that circulated on her Medica. Even now, 176 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: the entire system was seated just across the plexi from Days. 177 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: The cell itself constituted a dialogue, one that Days had 178 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 1: no role in shaping. They had been taught that science 179 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: was freedom, the freedom to explore, to advance any argument, 180 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: tied with a responsibility to test those arguments and consider 181 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:43,679 Speaker 1: any criticism. The examples of Terran Litt. They had been 182 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:47,679 Speaker 1: given to read in primary school often centered protagonists who 183 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: burned with a desire to say what they really believed. 184 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: Basic history from Terra was full of the same theme, 185 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: like the heroic contests between Socrates and the city or 186 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: between Galileo and the Church. In a flash, Days realized 187 00:12:02,280 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: the inputs they had been given as children steered them 188 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: all towards a pre selected conclusion. Just as the Church 189 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 1: had lulled its followers into a new prison by warning 190 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,839 Speaker 1: them of the dangers of idols and god kings, Hermetica 191 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 1: had frightened them with tales of irrationality or excess and 192 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: given them blinder so they could move more efficiently along 193 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: the one dimensional path they had been assured was the 194 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:30,560 Speaker 1: best one. The social technologies that had linked freedom with 195 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 1: expression had become obsolete a century ago, if indeed they 196 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: were ever real Thinking furiously, Days contrasted what they knew 197 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,319 Speaker 1: of the old world, the world of Edna and Galileo, 198 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:45,679 Speaker 1: with what they knew of cybernetics. The true test to 199 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:50,199 Speaker 1: distinguished between a free system and a totalitarian system, they realized, 200 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: had nothing to do with expression. On the contrary, totalitarian 201 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,559 Speaker 1: systems were now based on free expression as much as possible. 202 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: The real test was not communication, but action and influence, 203 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: Grasping for some way to make sense of it all. 204 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: A model that might interpret these disparate data. Days thought 205 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,359 Speaker 1: back to programming classes from before. The aptitudes and programmatic 206 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: terms are all elements enabled to rewrite code that could 207 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,640 Speaker 1: be the mark of a free system. Days supposed when 208 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,559 Speaker 1: you write a program to scan for content in the library, 209 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,200 Speaker 1: or to tell the block when to water the flowers 210 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:31,839 Speaker 1: on the garden, you're assuming that the books don't have 211 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: their own lines. They would rather share that you know 212 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: better than the flowers how much water they need. Scale 213 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: up to a system full of people, a system like Hermetica, 214 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: and now programmers are scanning people for specific content, deciding 215 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,719 Speaker 1: how to feed and water them, as though the programmers 216 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: and not the objects of their program. No Best Days 217 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: got a visit from a safety investigator because some of 218 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,600 Speaker 1: their behaviors tripped a security program. Days was not even 219 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: aware of Modules. Recommendations for Days regarding medication, diet, entertainment, 220 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: and all the rest were based on other programs. Days 221 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: that had no hand in crafting Days might be invited 222 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: to evaluate the program, to rate it, and in fact, 223 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: Module constantly sought out feedback from Days in the form 224 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: of biostats and cognitive indicators, but they never had authorship 225 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: over it. While the program's parameters surely aimed to ensure 226 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: Days's health, it was clear that a more fundamental parameter 227 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,680 Speaker 1: was the security of the overall system, the continued operation 228 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: of central programming. If they were free, According to this 229 00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: rudimentary definition, if they could reprogram the program they were 230 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: caught up in the elements on Hermetica, the people would 231 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:47,920 Speaker 1: mostly want to continue their research. Days was sure of it. 232 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:50,480 Speaker 1: After all. One of the things that had set them 233 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: apart was, unlike the rest of their cohort they did 234 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: not feel fulfilled by their work. Nearly everyone else did, 235 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: and if they could, the others would want to redesign 236 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 1: the work, modify its objectives and parameters. If instead of 237 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,720 Speaker 1: being trapped in a line, they were allowed to dialogue 238 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,320 Speaker 1: with the other elements of the Earth system, formulating their 239 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: own needs and requests pertaining to scientific research, they might 240 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: arrive at shared sets of objectives and parameters. That's what 241 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: a free system looked like. It didn't mean you were 242 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: free of consequences or free of the need to compromise, 243 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,480 Speaker 1: but that every step of the way, you had a 244 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 1: hand in shaping outcomes, and you could refuse a collaboration 245 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: that was contrary to your interests. Surely that was a 246 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: viable parameter. Days felt breathless, wondered if Galileo had had 247 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 1: a moment like this one. Their mind raced ahead. How 248 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: does this thing, this free system as they were venturing 249 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: to call it, compare to its other Perhaps the question 250 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: posed was an overly binary lens, but it was a 251 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: useful one for now. So if her Medica or the 252 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: whole world, as seemed to be the case, were not 253 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: a free system but a tutalitarian system, what defined it 254 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: as such? A totalitarian system? Days felt confident in their hunch, 255 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: would encourage input from all elements. But where would those 256 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:13,320 Speaker 1: inputs go? Not to the elements themselves? Need to know 257 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: the new safety trust the experts remember the wiki as 258 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: well as the parallel world Shawna had described. All these 259 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: data seemed to point to the same fact. Only those 260 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,280 Speaker 1: with an exclusive administrative access would be able to analyze 261 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: the inputs and decide how to act on them. Of 262 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: the system's total code, a large proportion would be fundamental 263 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 1: protocols that the vast majority of elements would have no 264 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: ability to alter. Again, alterations would be the prerogative of admin. Sure, 265 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: some portion of the code could be modified by everyday 266 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: elements with something like a guest or user level access, 267 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: but the changes would be largely cosmetic, and the parameters 268 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: for those changes would be limited in advance by In 269 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: the end, it didn't even matter who got to be 270 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 1: admined so long as most people were just guests in 271 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 1: their own system. So if Days were allowed to go back, 272 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 1: if the people on her Medica could get free, it 273 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,600 Speaker 1: wouldn't mean the end of existence for whomever was in control. 274 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: It simply meant that they would have to shift from 275 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: elations of command to relations of reciprocity. Were they up 276 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: for the change? What could Days do but insist they 277 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: went back to banging. Their fist was bruising. Finally, Cell 278 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 1: recognized that ignoring Days was no longer the best option, 279 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: which metric had been tripped to change its stance physical 280 00:17:40,600 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: damage to Day's body damage to the cell. Were there 281 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: other people farther down the corridor who might hear before 282 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: Days could consider what options for action. These different possibilities 283 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: might present a damage prone PLEXI A cell coded to 284 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 1: protect their bodily integrity other prisoners with whom they might communicate. 285 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: The plexi phased back into a screen. This time only 286 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 1: one item appeared, though it was huge and took up 287 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: half the wall a little unsubtle. It was the icon 288 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 1: for the Hermitica button, an inactivated gray scale situated inside 289 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: a red circle with a diagonal red line crossing it 290 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: out for good measure. Her Medica is not an option. 291 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,440 Speaker 1: You have a zero percent chance of being reassigned to Hermetica. 292 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: You have six options and must choose one of them 293 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,400 Speaker 1: before moving on to the next stage of your rehabilitation. 294 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: This is your last warning to cease attempted destructive activity 295 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: of the structures of this cell. Nowadays slammed both fists 296 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:49,280 Speaker 1: into the plexi again and again, followed by a series 297 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:54,159 Speaker 1: of frontal kicks. You motherfuckers, they screamed, taking the insult 298 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 1: shawnahad to use. You kidnapping motherfuckers. Send me home. Fuck 299 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,440 Speaker 1: your six choices, Send me home. They were crying. Now 300 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: that's my family, Give me my family back, you motherfucker's. 301 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:12,879 Speaker 1: A hissing sound came from the duckted above days awoke 302 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: their head hurt. The PLEXI was intact. Six squares glowed 303 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 1: softly in its center. There would be no dialogue. Whatever 304 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,720 Speaker 1: Days might want or need was completely irrelevant. They were 305 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: a machine to be programmed. They stayed a long time 306 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,639 Speaker 1: in bed. Your wants and needs are never irrelevant to 307 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,680 Speaker 1: the products and services who support this show. I'm sorry 308 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: the content keeps getting heavier and heavier and throwing too 309 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:44,639 Speaker 1: ads feels. I don't know whatever your's ads to keep 310 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: us paid. You could make your own choices about if 311 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: you listen to them or not. I guess, and we're back. 312 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: What would Shauna do, they wondered, crawling out of a 313 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 1: sordid dream. If they were a writer, Days could think 314 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,919 Speaker 1: of a fantastical ending to this story. They would choose 315 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: one of the options Cell offered them. They would explore 316 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: their new world, make friends together. They would find a 317 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: crack in the system, escape out into the real world, 318 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,680 Speaker 1: and live happily ever after. Or at least the story 319 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: would end ambiguously, with all the possibilities of the new 320 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 1: world left unexplored, Readers encouraged to hope for the best. 321 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: Another closed system, bounded by the complicity of spectators who 322 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:43,880 Speaker 1: violated the first law of thermodynamics, creating something out of nothing, 323 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: summoning hope and possibility out of a history that offered neither. 324 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: They were in an eternal present. Days realized there were 325 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: no cracks, There was no outside the system. There was 326 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:00,159 Speaker 1: no real world apart from this one, the unseen. What 327 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 1: they could not know from their present vantage, that terra 328 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,119 Speaker 1: incognita in which they safely stashed their neurosis about a 329 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: better world. It wasn't an outside, and it certainly wasn't 330 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: a whole world. The only shadows of possibility lay behind 331 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,720 Speaker 1: another enclosure. It was the darkness within a closed box, 332 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: bounded and contained, and inside nothing but Schrodinger's cat. Within 333 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,119 Speaker 1: that darkness, that uncertainty. Days might imagine a whole world 334 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: of possibilities, but really there were only two. The cat 335 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:37,640 Speaker 1: was either dead or trapped within the box. Death or imprisonment. 336 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: There were no other possibilities. Days would not tell themselves lies. 337 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,399 Speaker 1: Days drifted in and out of sleep. The column pinged, 338 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,239 Speaker 1: There were pings in their dreams. How many times they 339 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,879 Speaker 1: did not get up. They stayed in bed until their 340 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: body ached, stayed until it was past aching, stayed until 341 00:21:56,560 --> 00:22:00,000 Speaker 1: their dreams went on strike, and sleep refused to rescue them. 342 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,679 Speaker 1: They got up, went to the toilet. The pain in 343 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,520 Speaker 1: their midsection began to subside. They drank some water from 344 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: the column. The pain in their throat began to subside. 345 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 1: They paced back and forth a few times, felt their 346 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,399 Speaker 1: blood flow. Their mind come awake. Something whispered back there. 347 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,159 Speaker 1: It was like a pressure, a little package begging to 348 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: be opened. The column pinged again, and the thought was lost. 349 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: It was clear now they would keep them in here 350 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: until they chose. There were six options, and that was 351 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: all they were prepared to feed them, to keep them 352 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: alive indefinitely, a sort of suspended animation, until they agreed 353 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: to one of those six futures, and that consent would 354 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: be their first form of participation. From then on, all 355 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,360 Speaker 1: their actions would be modulated to improve their life within 356 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,720 Speaker 1: the bounds the architects had set. When would an opportunity 357 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: ever arise for something different? When could they possibly hope 358 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: to be in a situation where they had more leverage 359 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: than those in charge? A simple thought popped into their mind, 360 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:15,680 Speaker 1: If not now? When the whisper at the back of 361 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: their mind returned, and they repeated the question, if not now? 362 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,679 Speaker 1: When the pressure grew the shape revealed itself, and as 363 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 1: Days led it unfold, they came through with a sudden 364 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 1: force of violins and crescendo. It was a song, the 365 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: song they had been trying to summon for the last 366 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: few days. It was Vivaldi's can Scare though number two 367 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: in G minor lestette presto, and it thundered from their 368 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,879 Speaker 1: mind and throughout their very being, out their fingertips and 369 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 1: from their feet into the floor. The walls of the 370 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,120 Speaker 1: cell shook with the song. Cell was not entirely immune 371 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: to life either, and Days remembered another storm, and the 372 00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:59,040 Speaker 1: most important lesson of all, There are always other choices. 373 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,640 Speaker 1: There was always another way out. And then they saw 374 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,719 Speaker 1: the opportunity. They saw the exact point where they had 375 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: more leverage than those great and invisible who built entire worlds. 376 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,119 Speaker 1: Knowing Cell was watching, knowing their gesture mattered whether it 377 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:16,680 Speaker 1: had an audience or not, because it was an action 378 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,520 Speaker 1: that struck at the very nexus where all the system's 379 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: powers came to a focus. Days got up. They walked 380 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,639 Speaker 1: to the column and opened it. They took out the 381 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 1: tray of food. There it was the next meal, the 382 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: bland mash of calories and vitamins that would keep them 383 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 1: in this state of suspended animation until they made a choice. 384 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,879 Speaker 1: One of the choices the system offered another world identical 385 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:43,159 Speaker 1: to this one in all but appearance. Would they have 386 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: the chance to make this choice their own choice. They trembled, 387 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 1: frozen to the spot they doubted. Then they turned one 388 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: foot in front of the other. They crossed the toilet. 389 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: Days didn't know they would have the strength to follow 390 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,160 Speaker 1: their plan to the bitter. They didn't know what their 391 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 1: jailers would do to try to stop them. They were 392 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:10,000 Speaker 1: in uncharted territory, and that meant they were free already. 393 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 1: Days up ended the tray, dumping all the food into 394 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,600 Speaker 1: the shallow bowl of the toilet. Still trembling, they returned 395 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,639 Speaker 1: the tray to the column, closed the little door, and 396 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,359 Speaker 1: sat back down on the cop There would be no 397 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:28,399 Speaker 1: suspended animation, no slowly wearing them down until they chose 398 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:32,480 Speaker 1: a world immune to their touch. Over this their own self. 399 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 1: They had more leverage than the architects. Ever, could they 400 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: had made their move, they would refuse every one of 401 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 1: their offered choices. They were breaking out. The storm thundered 402 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:49,439 Speaker 1: and crashed all around, but within days was tranquil, calm, 403 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: ready for what might come. Days lay on the cot, 404 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,520 Speaker 1: hugging their knees to their chest. The pangs had left 405 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: them some time ago. Now their body felt warm and light. 406 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: They were on their way. The cell came and went. 407 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,400 Speaker 1: They had seen simp Milty had called out to them, 408 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: but their friends couldn't hear. Not yet Snookums had visited, 409 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 1: though Days couldn't remember if that had been in the 410 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:19,400 Speaker 1: cell or back on her medica. It was a joyful reunion. 411 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,160 Speaker 1: They'll be coming for me soon, Days thought to themselves. 412 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,919 Speaker 1: They had supposed from the start they wouldn't be allowed 413 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: to just waste away. The jailers, whoever they were, could 414 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 1: resort to force feeding, but at least then they would 415 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: have to appear to abandon their conceit that this was 416 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:40,320 Speaker 1: a circumstance and not a prison, one that they built 417 00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:44,199 Speaker 1: and maintained. Days could count that as a victory, and 418 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: no small one. A shudder passed through their body. It 419 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,679 Speaker 1: came with the force of catastrophe, like the whole world 420 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:56,760 Speaker 1: were shaking. Days found themselves panting as a subsided. They 421 00:26:56,840 --> 00:27:00,720 Speaker 1: let out a long, trembling sigh, but still their heart raced. 422 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:06,000 Speaker 1: They were stretched out now, They rubbed their arms, embracing themselves. 423 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: You did all right. If they didn't give themselves love, 424 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: who would. It had been a hard life, not the 425 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: one they'd wanted so little to look back on. But 426 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:24,600 Speaker 1: as the light trembled and sputtered, malnourished, disbelieved, Days felt 427 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: another life ready to open like a flower and draw 428 00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: them in. They imagined trumpets blowing and towers falling, and 429 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: they smiled at the thought, you did all right, barely 430 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: a whisper. Everything was warmth. No one would remember them, 431 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,520 Speaker 1: but it was okay. Days had never wanted recognition. They 432 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: would never be a hero. The neighbors from their block 433 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: practical people, They would disparage Days's sacrifice if they knew, 434 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: or at least try to dissuade them. Their world could 435 00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:59,680 Speaker 1: not hold itself up If Days were right, Their labyrinths 436 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,359 Speaker 1: were long longer to run. But it didn't matter. There 437 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: were no winners here. Footsteps seemed to echo in the corridor. 438 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 1: It didn't matter. Days doubted anyone could overcome their simple decision. 439 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:19,160 Speaker 1: They smiled, Let them try. None of it mattered. Everything 440 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:24,440 Speaker 1: was warmth. Days could hear it now, not the chorridor, 441 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: not the cell, the music behind the music. They'd felt 442 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: it there their entire life, and now it sounded clearly, 443 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: the colors, the sounds everywhere in everything. Days smiled, days cried, 444 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: They were on their way the end. I'm not going 445 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: to discuss the story too much today because we're going 446 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 1: to do a discussion with the author in the near future. 447 00:28:55,320 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 1: But yeah, thanks to listening to her Metica by Alan Lee. 448 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: And if you want to read more by the author, 449 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 1: you can look him up under the other name he 450 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: writes under Peter Gelderlos, which is g E L D 451 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,560 Speaker 1: E R l o O S. And he has a 452 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: substack you can subscribe to to hear his takes on 453 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: all the stuff going on in the world. And wherever 454 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: you are listening to this, I hope you're taking care 455 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 1: of yourself and yeah, you. 456 00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 2: Well, it could happen here as a production of cool 457 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 2: Zone Media. For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit 458 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 2: our website cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out 459 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 2: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 460 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 2: to podcasts. You can find sources where it could happen here, 461 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 2: updated monthly at cool zonemedia dot com. Slash sources. Thanks 462 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 2: for listening,