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At a booth in Milliways sits a woman in her thirties, stirring a cup of tea, watching the stars explode. There is a fat boring-looking lawbook under her elbow, and a barcode across the back of her right hand.
Mark (with kappa)
Ruth (with Maggie)
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"My family's Jewish. And originally from Germany."
"Ah."
"That would be what I meant about number tattoos."
"There weren't all that many possibilities unless it was a future event."
"Nope. You don't get many people appropriating those."
"I told someone asking about the tattoo to go ahead and get one," snorts lawbook lady. "Get one, go gloveless, loiter in public places, and get arrested without telling the cops they were an original. Make trouble on clones' behalf."
"Sounds productive. They take you up on it?"
"No idea. It was on the internet, not someone I know."
"Ah."
"Um, hang on, my grand-niece wrote a book I think you might be interested in."
She goes over to the bar, and comes back with a book entitled Medical Technology For The Outworlder: How To Increase Your Lifespan And Wealth by Moira Xavier. "Most people back home think she wrote it as a gag but actually it was so Milliways can sell copies to people in worlds with lower tech levels than ours. I think rejuv beds can repair damaged organs, so if people having theirs nonconsensually harvested is a serious problem in yours this might be useful." It's a thick volume.
"Um, hang on, my grand-niece wrote a book I think you might be interested in."
She goes over to the bar, and comes back with a book entitled Medical Technology For The Outworlder: How To Increase Your Lifespan And Wealth by Moira Xavier. "Most people back home think she wrote it as a gag but actually it was so Milliways can sell copies to people in worlds with lower tech levels than ours. I think rejuv beds can repair damaged organs, so if people having theirs nonconsensually harvested is a serious problem in yours this might be useful." It's a thick volume.
Lawbook lady takes the book. "And this is in English, and everything?"
"Yeah. Our family was from Germany originally but my older brother moved to the States after everything while he thought Mom and Dad were dead and they decided to stay near him after my niece managed to retrieve them via time travel."
"...You could have just said yes."
"Yes. Yes, it is in English. Technical English, even, so you don't have to deal with futuristic slang terms."
"I can't pers- I know some people who should be able to use this."
She waves a hand. "You generally. One does not have to deal with futuristic slang terms. I wouldn't expect you personally to be a medtech."
"I mean, I know who to give this to, approximately."
"Awesomesauce."
Eyebrow raise. "As you say."
She shrugs. "Future. Language's shifted a little."
"I've heard the word, actually, it just seems - of insufficient gravity."
"I suppose. I can't really think of a better way of saying it off the top of my head without descending into purple prose, though."
Lawbook lady flips to see if there is a table of contents.
There is indeed a table of contents. The foreword describes what kinds of marvels can be developed using the plans in the book. The first chapter is about calculating your respective technology level and figuring out how much of an infrastructure upshift you need in order to get to the level the book was written at. Further chapters detail individual machines and their functions and how to construct them, mostly.
That's all very nice, then.
Indeed it is. If she cares to read the foreward, there are other things available besides just repairing damaged organs.