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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too-early-and-too-late

"How long would it take, taking into account magic, to get Earth into shape to fight Amentans off if they came to hassle us about population?"

"Still a long time. Industrialization is complicated and there are lots of things that would be bottlenecks even if you solved all our current bottlenecks and as described you're rather personnel-constrained."

too-early-and-too-late

"Many wizards have decided to leave you alone until you hassle them in some way. Others have presumably realized that the whole planet with a single Muggle leader who knows nothing about us is a delightful arrangement for wizards who want to quietly rule the world. Honestly that's what I would probably do if you were less constrained into being horrible."

"I can't tell if you think you have the moral high ground here or not."

too-early-and-too-late

"- oh, I wouldn't mind-control you, I'd just show up and explain how we work and point out that someone was going to do what I was currently doing but that I was the best you were going to get and give you protection against the Imperius in exchange for you running the planet better. Regrettably I can't do that because most of the ways you are running the planet badly are not movable in response to personal incentives."

"If there were things that would be better if only I cared enough about them they are. Already. Better."

too-early-and-too-late

"You could be wrong about what 'better' is."

"The thing you mentioned sounded great - aside from ruining the lives of everyone who came here to start a new life and would either die or be thrown home a penniless childless refugee, that part isn't great, but the rest really is. It's just hard."

too-early-and-too-late

"You have some more resources now."

"I could abolish the death penalty altogether with ten years and high-volume access to, what are you calling it, Veritaserum."

too-early-and-too-late

"It's expensive. How would you do that?"

"I bet it improves the criminal justice system. Can roll it out somewhere, check, say the suppliers insisted it not be used for capital crimes for religious reasons so we're imposing prison sentences for those crimes instead, just in that area. If I'm right, expand it to more places."

too-early-and-too-late

"Hmm."

"I am unclear on what you plan to do with the suggestions I make."

too-early-and-too-late

"Consult with advisors."

"That did not give me a better model of what sort of situation I should be tailoring suggestions towards. Are you set on mind control? Why the fuck do you look like me? Are you considering in the place of mind control some kind of arrangement under which we agree on what I'm supposed to be doing and you can escalate if you're displeased?"

too-early-and-too-late

"That would not be a good idea because you are clearly smart and might be able to outthink me. If it turned out we wanted the same things we might just be able to work together."

"My impression is that we want the same things but disagree very profoundly on how achievable they are, and on what intermediate steps are acceptable."

too-early-and-too-late

"Is your father on-planet?"

"Yes. Why?"

too-early-and-too-late

"Want to have him talk tech with some people so we can decide whether it's in fact the case that we can't get Earth to an industrial power on our own fast enough to stop Amentans conquering more places."

"I think it would be a really bad idea for you to talk to my father."

too-early-and-too-late

" - oh, I'm not going to make it apparent to him that the most straightforward way for this to end is with you spending the rest of your life my magical slave, that wouldn't work at all, I'd have my father go and meet him and then after they'd been chattering at each other a while I'd throw them the problem."