text — uns: joe & nicky

[malta]

I don't know if anyone else has watched the documentary about the mayor, but it's a good watch. Is there TiVo in the future? Do you remember TiVo, amore? It recorded the TV, we had one in that hotel in Châtelet. Oh.

[ yes, joe is talking to nicky at the same time and clearly everyone is being gifted his stream of consciousness thoughts/words. local grandpa needs to stop going on the internet. ]

For those of you that haven't watched it, it's a gripping tale of the mayor's rise to power and his almost downfall when his wife shockingly spoke out against the government spending. Alexandra was sent to the labour camps and if she's alive, she's been there for nine years. They also had a daughter who they purposely kept off the record so there is little known about her, freckles, mostly. She would have been 17 when her mother was imprisoned and she would be about 26 now. Jesus, she's a baby, Nicky.

[ sorry all 26 year old orbers, you are baby children. joe doesn't make the rules. ]

How old was that boy you spoke to? Hmm. Nicky spoke to one of the law students, Callan Dela Cruz, a very sweet boy. You should all read his articles, he's an exceptional journalist. Okay, I'll stop, floor is yours, habibi.

[A private smile is exchanged between them, Nicky as always enraptured by Joe's effervescence.]

Callan was very charismatic, self-assured. I didn't get his age, amore. It wasn't the focal point of our conversation. What he did tell me was that "the fox," disappeared four years ago, and among the various theories are notions that the fox was a government agent who captured the fables all along. There are also many who think that they are in the labor camp or detained and in holding.

Callan himself believes that the fox, the hare, and the wolf were all founding members of the fables and like family.

[Nicky's quiet for a moment, his own brain meandering around the details, putting things together for himself as well as their team. Quietly. Thoughtfully.]

Even though the wolf hasn't been seen for years, Mr. Dela Cruz believes they're still around. Eye witness reports have put a person with a wolf mask in the Third Circle.

[ another brief pause. ]

Right, that's what we've got.


[ joe is green and nicky is blue. ]

Comments

[bossily]

[This conversation is starting to hit a bit too close to home. Clara isn't sure if she can bring herself to respond further. And she almost leaves it where it is. But her fondness for him has her coming back eventually.]

Mistakes only give way to shame when you don't learn anything from them. But you're right. There's some mistakes I've made that I'd also prefer not to repeat. My shame is knowing that I'm bound to make certain ones over and over again.

I think the mayor here may be like that too. No one has a position of power in a place like this without being weighed down by mistakes and shame.

[malta]

[ oh clara. ]

As am I

He was groomed for the position from quite a young age by the previous mayor but there is notably no one next in line

[ which joe worries says a lot about how much longer this planet has with so few resources, but he keeps that particular concern to himself. ]

[bossily]

In a world where you can get cybernetic enhancements, I'd assume that it's only a matter of time before life expectancy is raised and then removed from the picture altogether. Why would he need someone to be next in line in that case?

[It's easier to think of things in those terms, rather than think the planet is only months away from destroying itself entirely.]

[malta]

[ maybe he would be less rankled by that idea if he had not recently been tortured by someone trying to manufacture their own immortality, but alas, joe finds the idea of cybernetic and ai technology precipitating immortality hard to swallow. ]

Have you seen Robots?

[bossily]

Have I seen real, actual robots before? Yes.

[What else could he be asking here??]

[malta]

No, no, the cinematic masterpiece staring Robin Williams

[bossily]

You mean Bicentennial Man?

Or the cartoon one?

[why does she know there's a cartoon one? ugh.]

[malta]

The cartoon one

[ of course! ]

The way this city structures its class system is practically a precursor to the film if this planet choses to lean entirely into cybernetics and robotics

[bossily]

Next thing you know, you'll be saying all this society's problems would be fixed with a proper sing along. Which it might. If this were Pinocchio.

[she's not admitting that she's seen this movie. nope.]

[malta]

I am certain that society's problems were fixed by a violent peasant uprising and a worker's revolt aided by the systematic assassination of people in power to make way for a new citizen lead government but a singalong couldn't hurt

[bossily]

Suppose Professor Grisenko was right. There's not many problems singing a good Duran Duran song can't handle.

[malta]

Oh Rio got me through a month in East Germany, your professor is a very smart person