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

"- I said I'd be back tomorrow when you'd had a day to think about it. I'll do that."

" - okay."

too-early-and-too-late

Pop.

He does not sleep. He paces.

too-early-and-too-late

He does not sleep. He watches executions. Bounces around the world to find places where the courts are open.

Alicorn

Courts continue to court. They are very brisk and only corrupt when they have a good reason such as a large bribe.

too-early-and-too-late

...who's passing the courts large bribes, and over what?

Alicorn

Almost nobody! One Amentan employer is bribing a court to let off one of his employees though.

too-early-and-too-late

...eh, all right.

When it's been a day Timothy goes home. Is the family with the baby still staying with Aitim and Kan?

Alicorn

Mom has gone back to work and baby, being breastfed, has gone with her.

too-early-and-too-late

That will make this a little harder. (A baby wouldn't be scared. A five-year-old, if this does not go expectedly, will be scared.)

Timothy thinks about executions.

"Imperio," he says quietly at Aitim. He watches the tension drain out of Aitim's face just slightly.

He would like Aitim to pick up his daughter and race giggling with her up the stairs.

What fun!

too-early-and-too-late

And then he would like him to turn around and throw her down the stairs.

...he starts to. Halfway through the motion he stops, loses his balance, tumbles with her. The stairs are inexplicably soft and bouncy; Alatana shrieks with delight.

Alatana doesn't speak any English. Aitim has a little. "The fuck," he shouts when they land.

too-early-and-too-late

...Timothy goes visible. He's sitting against the wall. "Sorry. It's the fastest way to learn to throw it off and it's really really hard to cast on people you like at all."

" - and the threshold for liking someone enough it's hard to cast on them is in about the same place as the threshold for deciding you'd rather work with me than curse me?"

too-early-and-too-late

"Wouldn't have had any space in the middle at all if you'd stop executing people."

Aitim kisses his daughter.

"Who's that."

"His name is Timothy and he's a friend of mine who is visiting."

"He looks like you but orange."

"He's not orange. Human colors don't mean anything."

"Can we do the stairs again -"

"No!" He glares at Timothy.

too-early-and-too-late

"I was going to do Sisheka but she left."

Sigh. "Alatana, sweetie, can you go find Kan?"

"Yes yes."

"Are there any more unpleasant surprises about working with you against my own people to orchestrate the failure of the invasion of Earth?"

too-early-and-too-late

"I really hope not!"

"I'll have an easier time throwing it off from now on?"

too-early-and-too-late

"You should. I'm not going to be able to do it again to check."

"Because you like me more now that you tried to make my kill my daughter?"

too-early-and-too-late