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.

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Alatana looks concerned.

Kan Neli

"Humans just need laws," he says to Alatana. "Many people are not nice if they don't have to be, but they are glad to be part of a society where they have to be."

"Okay."

"And we're here to make sure they have that," Sinkali says, patting her on the head with the hand that isn't holding Imeo to her shoulder, "nice and clear and for everybody."

She nods solemnly.

Kefin is about at the point of concluding that he's not going to season properly on Earth when he finally stops springing. He notices when he and Pelape have an entire conversation which he's not even tempted to derail into discussion of magic! babies!

thesignalandthenoise

"- and that was the last time I tried dyeing my hair orange."

Pat pat. "Father and I should lobby the university he snuck into to take students on merit, given, uh, how well it went last time. Wouldn't help them get jobs, I guess."

thesignalandthenoise

"It'd be risky for whoever tried it, but - I would've."

Nod. "And you'd probably end up with quite a few out-of-caste students, just on the numbers - most people aren't green, I think by Kantil's best estimates only about half of the smartest people are green - and then maybe they'd adjust. Or maybe they'd get defensive of green jobs, I guess there's also that option."

thesignalandthenoise

"Probably some of that yes."

Sigh. "Caste flexibility doesn't even help that much with that, because most greens want to be doing green things."

thesignalandthenoise

"Do they? Overwhelmingly?"

"You could probably get some people excited about programming or graphic design? When I've asked people 'what would you do if you weren't green' the answers range from 'be miserable all the time?' through 'write books and sell merch, I guess?' through 'I guess ballet would be fun' but - I think intellectual and artistic work are legitimately a really cushy deal, for a certain kind of person they're approximately the only jobs that are fulfilling in their own right instead of just being a paycheck, and if given the choice to do something awful for a paycheck I'm sure lots of people would but I don't actually think they'd be better off for having the option."

thesignalandthenoise

"Yeah." Sigh. "I could've played it safer - the stereotype I keep running into is 'oh you're half orange you must teach two year olds to swim!' and I could do that - but -"

"I mean, I think it's objectively the case that for most people a job is just a paycheck and we're not, even with caste flexibility, going to have a world where everyone is doing something intellectually fulfilling and challenging every day unless it turns out we can automate everything and end scarcity. But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck to feel like there's a huge gulf between what you could be achieving and what you're actually allowed to achieve, and for no good reason..."

thesignalandthenoise

Nod nod.

Hug. "Important blue relatives, that's the trick. Too bad it doesn't scale."

thesignalandthenoise

Hug. "Pity, that."

"Maybe we should find some genetic researchers who can isolate Aitim's mild springs and splice them in for anyone who wants them and then he would do the 'let her do that, that's my niece' thing for a third of the population of Anitam."

thesignalandthenoise

"Ha!"

"Have you been blogging? Now that we have wi-fi in the house?"

thesignalandthenoise