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 would accuse them all of being disappointingly incurious about what caused his collapse but most of them have the excuse that it's presently difficult to travel to Italy."

"Please come back another time when Elio is feeling better."

too-early-and-too-late

"Did he say when that might be?"

"I am sure if he wishes to contact you when he is well again he will make that clear, Signore."

too-early-and-too-late

"Did he have contingency plans for you all for the case of some tragedy?"

"Signore, please go."

too-early-and-too-late

"I know you care about him, Erica. But someone did this. Is everyone in the organization here, are there any close associates of his who also vanished..."

"Someone did this and we do not know who. Signore."

too-early-and-too-late

"I'd be much happier to abandon my inquiry if I had assurance someone else was looking into it."

She stares levelly at him.

too-early-and-too-late

That doesn't do it either, if you're trying to stop giving me information, he does not say.

"Erica, the quickest way to get me out of your hair is to point me at whoever is leading the effort to investigate what happened."

"Please leave, Signore."

too-early-and-too-late

"No one is."

"It is none of your business, Signore."

too-early-and-too-late

"We're going to have to disagree on that. Elio didn't have contingency plans and no one is figuring out what happened."

"Signore, it is none of your business."

too-early-and-too-late

"I think he'd come back for you if he could, you know."

Dubiously polite massively irritated staring.

too-early-and-too-late

"The fastest way to get me out of your hair is to tell me who I should be talking to," he says again, cataloguing things about the massively irritated staring.

"Signore, I do not tell everyone who asks anything they wish even if they ask many times."

too-early-and-too-late

He starts guessing names of Elio's staff members.

She turns and goes inside and makes to shut the door.

too-early-and-too-late

Interfering with that would be a bit much. He leaves.

He goes home.

Ebele Miranda Swan ༐

chanuphis

"Any luck?"

too-early-and-too-late