(IC) Lost in Dreams (Julian)

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Jailer: "Its got some parallels. Of course those clones didn't just engage in espionage, kidnapping, and assault. You lost your freedom through that, not because you were born into it."


"You're not going as a student. You're going as a subject. So yes, You'll be the youngest there. You have unique gifts, and the researchers will be studying those gifts."

"Better hearing that than learning you're a bunch of hypocrites. What do they expect to find out?"

[ericthered]

(I mean, they could still be a bunch of hypocrites)

"Why you can perform an astropic scream. And why you can seek. And why you can perform telekinesis. And more about what astropic qualities really are. And how to find other people like you."

*********************************
How does Julian spend his last few hours of unstructured psuedo-freedom?

Most of the time is spent traveling. Kuro has a large amount of orbital infrastructure: There is discussion of rings and orbits and elevators. In practical terms, its mostly a lot of sitting around in transportation boxes. The view of the planet is awesome. It looks much like earth, though it seems to have more ocean. Or maybe that's just the view he was looking at. Transportation takes him right up to the academy: the first grand building is decorated with relief sculptures of scenes depicting Starpus and Humans. The front area seems to be dedicated to tourism: He's bound for one of the 100 foot tall buildings in the back. He's brought by his corrections coordinator, Albak Ozker. Albak tells Peter his job is to keep Peter out of trouble, and if he feels like he's getting into trouble, to consider Albak a resource, not an obstacle.

The corrections coordinator escorts him all the way to the academy, where he is met by two women who introduce themselves as Idda Simons and Celsa Santiago. Idda is the "operations manager" for "your project." Celsa Santiago is your "Personal Efficiency Coordinator"

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

(I mean, they could still be a bunch of hypocrites)

I suppose, though Julian is sort of willing to take them at their word here, and there is the fact that if they are hypocritical they'd have to care enough to lie to someone they could just toss into prison if he was uncooperative.

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Why you can perform an astropic scream. And why you can seek. And why you can perform telekinesis. And more about what astropic qualities really are. And how to find other people like you."

Sure, there's a whole orphanage full of them... I guess they mean more like the genetic thingies.

Originally Posted by ericthered

How does Julian spend his last few hours of unstructured psuedo-freedom?

Reading up on the planet he's not going to be seeing much of for the next two years.

Hooray for double entendres!

Originally Posted by ericthered

Most of the time is spent traveling. Kuro has a large amount of orbital infrastructure: There is discussion of rings and orbits and elevators. In practical terms, its mostly a lot of sitting around in transportation boxes. The view of the planet is awesome.

Kind of easy to forget I've been in space all this time. Though I haven't really been looking out the window much...

There've been less than a thousand people in space where I'm from... Does being a super-astropic make me important enough to be here too?

Originally Posted by ericthered

It looks much like earth, though it seems to have more ocean. Or maybe that's just the view he was looking at. Transportation takes him right up to the academy: the first grand building is decorated with relief sculptures of scenes depicting Starpus and Humans.

"What's the big building for?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

The front area seems to be dedicated to tourism: He's bound for one of the 100 foot tall buildings in the back. He's brought by his corrections coordinator, Albak Ozker. Albak tells Peter his job is to keep Peter out of trouble, and if he feels like he's getting into trouble, to consider Albak a resource, not an obstacle.

"With the schedule I have, the only trouble I can imagine involves sleeping in."

Originally Posted by ericthered

The corrections coordinator escorts him all the way to the academy, where he is met by two women who introduce themselves as Idda Simons and Celsa Santiago. Idda is the "operations manager" for "your project."

"So you're in charge of all the technicians and stuff, right?"

Originally Posted by ericthered

Celsa Santiago is your "Personal Efficiency Coordinator"

I try to unravel what her title means in my head. "And you're... My secretary."

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

I suppose, though Julian is sort of willing to take them at their word here, and there is the fact that if they are hypocritical they'd have to care enough to lie to someone they could just toss into prison if he was uncooperative.

Eh, most people have some hypocritical aspect to their lives and belief systems, and most of them either don't recognize it or aren't going to bring it up. Completely self-consistent moral systems for the real world are hard.

Sure, there's a whole orphanage full of them... I guess they mean more like the genetic thingies.

Ha.

Reading up on the planet he's not going to be seeing much of for the next two years.

Theres a lot to read up on: Its geography, its history, its biology, the big cities... More than enough to fill up two hours. Koru currently serves as the capital of all of humanity not on earth, and is one of the most populated planets... only earth and Panogos have more. The world has a lot more water than earth, and has several "submerged continents", with massive shallow-water zones surrounding relatively small islands. It hosts the academy, the concordance assemblies, a stock exchange they seem extremely proud of, historical buildings, and what they claim are the best universities in the galaxy.

Kind of easy to forget I've been in space all this time. Though I haven't really been looking out the window much...

There've been less than a thousand people in space where I'm from... Does being a super-astropic make me important enough to be here too?

Is he saying that out loud?
Windows on Space Infrastructure and expensive and risky.

"What's the big building for?"

"Its the front building. The part that visitors come to, and it has some classrooms and an auditorium in it"

"With the schedule I have, the only trouble I can imagine involves sleeping in."

Albak: "Good. Structure is excellent for avoiding trouble. You'll find trouble though: remember my offer."

"So you're in charge of all the technicians and stuff, right?"

Idda: "Yes."

I try to unravel what her title means in my head. "And you're... My secretary."

Celsa Santiago: "Hardly. I don't take orders from you, I take requests. I'm here to make sure that your time is well used, and that you are in peak shape for all of them. Think of me like your coach."

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Eh, most people have some hypocritical aspect to their lives and belief systems, and most of them either don't recognize it or aren't going to bring it up. Completely self-consistent moral systems for the real world are hard.

Well, I take that as the usual level of self-contradiction that kinda just happens, not blunt and obvious hypocrisy like "the closeted homophobe" or "the communist who runs gulags". If you squint and tilt your head, you can see Panagos in the modern US. But then you unsquint and you notice that it's a small fraction of people, at a decade older than birth.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Ha.

It's been a while but he's warming to the clone theory, if only enough to joke about it. Though his version is lower tech.

Originally Posted by ericthered

More than enough to fill up two hours. Koru currently serves as the capital of all of humanity not on earth, and is one of the most populated planets... only earth and Panogos have more.

If I recall, Earth (or maybe Sol?) dwarfed out Panagos by an order of magnitude. How does the split between Earth, the next big nine, and the rest work out?

Originally Posted by ericthered

The world has a lot more water than earth, and has several "submerged continents", with massive shallow-water zones surrounding relatively small islands.

If only I could go swimming...

Originally Posted by ericthered

Is he saying that out loud?
Windows on Space Infrastructure are expensive and risky.

Well, if Albak notices the pensive expression on his face as he looks outside, he'd might get the same line. But right now just thinking.

Originally Posted by ericthered

Albak: "Good. Structure is excellent for avoiding trouble. You'll find trouble though: remember my offer."

"I won't find trouble, trouble finds me."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Celsa Santiago: "Hardly. I don't take orders from you, I take requests. I'm here to make sure that your time is well used, and that you are in peak shape for all of them. Think of me like your coach."

"So you're in charge of the schedule."

I find it funny that another woman named for a city is in charge of my day-to-day.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

If I recall, Earth (or maybe Sol?) dwarfed out Panagos by an order of magnitude. How does the split between Earth, the next big nine, and the rest work out?

Sol system is an order of magnitude larger than Panogos. They quibble about what counts as "earth", but its about half of Sol's population. Earth and the next big nine are about equal... but the rest of Sol is about equal to that again.

"I won't find trouble, trouble finds me."

"When it does, you can call for help."

"So you're in charge of the schedule."

And your physical and mental health, your diet, and lifestyle adjustments.

I find it funny that another woman named for a city is in charge of my day-to-day.

I swear that's random. Though I suppose maybe I should change that.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Sol system is an order of magnitude larger than Panogos. They quibble about what counts as "earth", but its about half of Sol's population. Earth and the next big nine are about equal... but the rest of Sol is about equal to that again.

So, does that imply that the proportion of the population on Koru/Panogos/etc. compared to the rest of the Koru System/Panogos System/etc. is way more lopsided than Earth-Sol, or are the measurements different because of how massive Sol is?

Originally Posted by ericthered

"When it does, you can call for help."

"If I don't get kidnapped again, I will."

Well, probably.

Originally Posted by ericthered

And your physical and mental health, your diet, and lifestyle adjustments.

"How many changes am I going to have to make? I really want to be better..."

Maybe this is for the best. If I got a pile money, would I be able to make myself make necessary changes in my life?

Originally Posted by ericthered

I swear that's random. Though I suppose maybe I should change that.

Ah, it's OK.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

So, does that imply that the proportion of the population on Koru/Panogos/etc. compared to the rest of the Koru System/Panogos System/etc. is way more lopsided than Earth-Sol, or are the measurements different because of how massive Sol is?

Most systems are a lot more lopsided than Sol, either because they all/mostly live in space habitats (most of the small colonies) or because they have a planet everyone lives on with space infrastructure around it (like Panogos or Koru)

"If I don't get kidnapped again, I will."

"Just how many times have you been kidnapped?"

"How many changes am I going to have to make? I really want to be better..."

Santiago: "We'll start with the rigorous schedule and I'll adjust as we find points of friction."

Maybe this is for the best. If I got a pile money, would I be able to make myself make necessary changes in my life?

Would he be happier with the pile of money with crooks on Panogos or as a prize guinea pig at the institute? Its an interesting question, both in the general case and in the specific.



Santiago wastes no time setting Julian to work. He begins his schedule. Santiago lurks in the background, urging the teams doing the scans, giving instructions, and so forth to finish on time. She keeps the whole thing running exactly on schedule.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Just how many times have you been kidnapped?"

I think for a moment. This doesn't count, Charitable Hands was an orphanage, so it doesn't count either...

"Twice."

Originally Posted by ericthered

Would he be happier with the pile of money with crooks on Panogos or as a prize guinea pig at the institute? Its an interesting question, both in the general case and in the specific.

Kind of a big complicated question, that probably ends up with: "What does it mean to be happy?"

Like, Julian with a bunch of money, is still Julian, with all of his flaws. He's still cowardly, unconfident, and emotionally stunted. With more money than he knows what to do with, he has even less motivation to do anything about his flaws. He could just coast around and not really fix anything about himself. If he faced any challenge, he just pay his way to ignore it.

On the other hand, as a guinea pig, a lot of choices have been taken out of his hands, and he has to live a rigorous schedule that's probably not that comfortable. This isn't a good start. On the other hand, given a structure, Julian works himself into the structure. He bent himself into Beatty's structure, he bent himself to fit into Bumundo's structure, he bent to fit into Royal's structure, and he would have bent to fit into Panogos's structure. If he has to bend again, seeing the parts of him that he doesn't like getting bent out is an upside.

Make no mistake, if somehow he could just press a button and that pile of money and be on Panogos right now, he probably would. If he wasn't flawed the way he is, he may very well be there right now (or perhaps dreamt his way off by now).

Originally Posted by ericthered

Santiago wastes no time setting Julian to work. He begins his schedule. Santiago lurks in the background, urging the teams doing the scans, giving instructions, and so forth to finish on time. She keeps the whole thing running exactly on schedule.

Given a lot of exercise was mentioned...

I continue to run on the treadmill... "*huff* H-how *puff* how much *huff* longer? *puff*"

At some point, I ask where the Academy is. And also what day it is. (perhaps retroactively. My notes say the longest day was the 19th, so the 20th or 21st would be indicated)

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by TGLS

I think for a moment. This doesn't count, Charitable Hands was an orphanage, so it doesn't count either...

Nice work disqualifying all of those.

I suppose kidnapping is a pretty common theme in lost in dreams. Some get it more than others.

"Twice."

Albak: "You will be safe on Koru. Its not a war zone like Panogos."

Kind of a big complicated question, that probably ends up with: "What does it mean to be happy?"

Yeah, its an interesting question.


I think he'd still be at Panogos, and he might still be waiting on his pile of money. I'm not planning to jump him after just five days.

Given a lot of exercise was mentioned...

I continue to run on the treadmill... "*huff* H-how *puff* how much *huff* longer? *puff*"

"Twenty two, twenty one, twenty... three, two, one. You're in excellent shape. Now we're going to rest you for five minutes. While you're resting we're going to do a 3D scan of your intestines. You remember the fluid you drank earlier? its at the right spot in your gut now..."

At some point, I ask where the Academy is. And also what day it is. (perhaps retroactively. My notes say the longest day was the 19th, so the 20th or 21st would be indicated)

The city is called "Partnership", in reference to the deal with the starpus. I'm not sure what day it is? If the starpus were kidnapped on the 19th, then they were recovered on the 20th, he was shipped out on the 21st, and now its evening.



His dinner is quite late, in an empty cafeteria. He's told the next day he'll eat with everyone else.



His room is small and spartan but clean, and he's told one of the walls is a screen.



His dreams are not notable.



In the morning, he wakes up to an alarm he did not set without any recognizable source: speakers must be built into the walls. And then begins a dedicated attempt to quantify everything astropic that he can do, starting with the Telekenesis. (Did I give you stats on that?)