I've got a list of names | Glowfic Constellation

Afen is disappointed in the universe. He bounds back and forth across his room explaining why to his wife, his infant granddaughter, the end table, and a reporter flabbergasted by her good luck and cringing silently against the wall in the hopes he won't remember she's there.

"There is no reason to suppose that a species evolving independently of Amentans, with their own evolutionary history and living mammalian species likely related to theirs, would end up looking like us. None. Every explanation every scientist has ventured to the press has been unimaginative and unconvincing retroactive refitting of bad models to baffling data. Aliens shouldn't look like us but with different hair colors. Aliens that are not made out of carbon at all would be unsurprising; aliens with only as much physiological dissimilarity as exists between us and animal species on our planet would be mildly surprising; aliens with opposable thumbs would be truly remarkable. This is not remarkable and biologically enlightening; this is just inconsistent with everything we understand about the universe. It doesn't teach us new things about evolution; it should make us rethink evolution. - don't quote that part, they'll take it out of context."

Reporter nods rapidly.

"All of that said, I've picked up three of the languages and I'm working on building a good machine translator, it's a challenge with as little as they've produced in the way of electronic records. I'm absolutely going there to meet them as soon as the politicians figure out what to do with themselves."

"Do you have any predictions about that?"

"About politics? Why would I have predictions about politics? They deliberately obscure relevant information, for one thing, and for another it's deathly boring."

"- I mean, sir, surely you hear from your son about -"

"I have seven children and some of them are very dense indeed but not quite dense enough to try to interest me in politics."

"I was referring to -"

"I know who you were referring to. If you want a statement from Aitim go bother Aitim."

"Thank you for your time."

"I did not alter my activities in response to your presence and therefore you can't yet be said to have wasted any of my time though you should go before you do."

...out skitters the reporter.

Total: 9381

Posts Per Page:

‹ Previous 1 2 … 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 … 375 376 Next ›

« First ‹ Previous 318 of 376 Next › Last »

"I wouldn't worry about that, it's not at all your fault and I don't think it's affecting much."

chanuphis

"Okay."

"Do you think you can get Mars in time?"

chanuphis

"It seems like it should be simple and I don't fully understand the ways in which it isn't simple. We can definitely make a lot of air and water. How far does proof of concept get us?"

"I don't think we could renegotiate a treaty off it...maybe one of the other Marslike planets that have been found doesn't have the problems that aren't about making air and water."

chanuphis

"Do the relevant inventors have specs on those already -"

"I don't have an answer but I will try to get one as quickly as possible."

chanuphis

"I'll ask Minor." She sends him a paper airplane.

"Thank you for diplomacy-ing instead of those of Timothy's relatives who might not be recognized."

chanuphis

"You're welcome. Although if necessary they could just Polyjuice, if the skill differential is a big deal."

"I think the differential in likelihood of turning someone into a hamster is more important."

chanuphis

"I'm very unlikely to turn someone into a hamster. Karen is probably even less likely but she's, hm, not as extemporaneous, I think the diplomats would like her better but she wouldn't be doing the best we could do for our agenda."

"And Minor or Theodore would be a very impassionated and persistent advocate for your agenda but some hamsters may result."

chanuphis

"Theodore might suffer on eloquence and perspective-taking, not that I did brilliantly at perspective-taking. I'm not sure he knows how to turn people into hamsters but that just means he might set them on fire."

"I think we are, as a caste, not very resilient to being threatened. Maybe we should figure out how to teach it in school."

chanuphis

"Doesn't come up?"

" - comes up in different ways. 'If I get this badly wrong there'll be a war' yes, 'if I get this badly wrong I'll be executed' yes, 'If I'm annoying I will be lit on fire' no."

chanuphis

"Wizard's're more durable, plus healing." Sigh.

"One consequence of having as harsh penalties for assault as we do is that it's completely unfathomable as a - semi-endorsed kind of thing. There's violence done deliberately in order to cause a change in behavior, which you warn for in advance so that it'll have the proper deterrent effect, and then there are people with sufficiently poor self-control that they'll ruin their lives in order to hurt someone else, and it'd be terrifying if they were in charge. And then there's casual cruelty towards animals or reds or something else that doesn't matter and can't fight back."

chanuphis

"We do do this sort of thing to each other."