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| Generated by Google Workspace Labs text-to-image AI software |
The Attic Forest is a beautiful place. It is, in fact, the most beautiful
place on the ship, though that’s not saying much, except when remembering
the first time you were in the engine room. It’s not just Tinaya, Lilian,
and Cainan anymore. A whole team works shifts, gardening, maintaining the
atmosphere, giving tours, and performing other necessary duties. That’s not
even counting the events that are held here. It’s a hot venue that people
use for concerts, poetry readings, and the like. The section is frequented
by a great deal of people every day. It’s hard to tell how much the
Extremusians love to visit, but anecdotal evidence suggests an undeniable
success.
Last year, Tinaya was able to finish the coding for the giant sequoia in the
basement. It’s currently around a half meter tall, and the growth rate will
increase year over year. Still, very few people know about it; only the
essential members of government and crew. Most of these positions won’t even
maintain the secret to future administrations. When they leave their
positions, they won’t pass the information on to their successors. There is
presently no strategy for announcing it to the public. The specimen is still
so fragile, and that’s what they’re most worried about. It’s better to let
it grow big and strong before they start letting people see it. One day,
though. One day.
Today, Tinaya is in another meeting. She attends these from time to time
when someone comes up with a new idea of what to do to make Attic Forest
better, or at least what they believe could accomplish this. Most of them
are stupid or bad, but others are not so terrible. They would just be really
difficult. Extremus did not simply wave goodbye to Gatewood, and fly off
into the space. The ship contains data upon data upon data. Earthan history,
Ansutahan history, philosophical papers, cooking recipes, all kinds of
entertainment; basically the scope of Earthan and vonearthan knowledge.
While they do not maintain constant communication with anyone back in the
stellar neighborhood, Team Keshida sends periodical updates with new
information. It’s just about possible to know everything that everyone in
the galaxy knows. Part of this data includes genomic databases for every
known species on every planet.
If you wanted to know what the DNA double helix for a penguin looked like,
you would be able to look that up. For the most part, that’s all you would
be able to do. The people who came up with the idea of this mission didn’t
accumulate most of this information for any specific purpose. It just didn’t
make any sense not to have it, and it’s not like virtual storage space is a
precious commodity. Now the bioengineering scholars have other ideas.
They’ve become inspired by the Attic Forest project. At the moment, plants
are the only things that have been grown from their genomes, but they could
take it further. They’re interested in trying to develop animals now,
starting with fish. It took a long time to get this project off the ground,
so to speak. This next stage—if it ever happens—will surely take even
longer. The ethical questions are so much more plentiful for this proposal,
and it’s not something that Tinaya or Lilian can help with. Even so, they
have to be at all the meetings, because they’re in charge of the biome.
Today is different. This meeting isn’t with the bioengineers.
The Resource Allocation Team: RATs, as they’re called by people who don’t
like them. And most people don’t like them. They’re a weird little bunch.
They’re responsible for handing out things like watches and tablets, and
teleportation devices—which are against the law for now. If you want a new
set of clothes, you go to them. If you want a new couch for your room, they
have to approve it. Everyone has a horror story about going to Allocation
for something they need. Capitalism was mostly vanquished centuries ago, and
replaced with something better, but elements of it are kept alive on the
ship, and it’s all thanks to the RATs. It’s not really their fault. There’s
limited space here, and therefore limited resources. Even the time traveling
excursion ships can only do so much for them. There is no trade with any
other culture, and there are no takebacks. So they have to be careful with
what they give, and who they give it to. They pay close attention to the
contribution points market, which is the best approximation of a currency
here, and that can lead them to making a lot of decisions that people don’t
like, even if those decisions are reasonable, or at least unavoidable.
People’s perceptions of them aren’t all rational, but human beings are not
rational. The question is, what the hell do they want with the Forest
Guides?
“We would like to make more paper.” Oh, yeah. They’re the ones who used some
of the trees they found on the verdant planet they came across a ways back
for paper.
Lilian stares at them dumbfounded. “Really?” More paper? Why has the novelty
of this not worn off yet. A computer will let you write and overwrite the
same space virtually countless times. What’s the point of not being able to
do that? And anyway, it goes against the whole purpose of this project. “You
wanna kill my trees?”
“Not all of them,” RAT Two tried to clarify for his partner. “One tree can
make a lot of paper.”
“And what are we doing with all this paper?” Lilian presses.
“We’re...writing books...and sharing leaflets. I mean we’re not doing it.
We’re just providing the materials that are needed.”
Lilian sighs. “We survived on this tin can for sixty years without a single
sheet of paper. Before that, we were in the Gatewood Collective for forty
years, also without paper. It wasn’t even that common on Ansutah. There is a
reason that Earth was able to move away from it as it advanced
technologically. Why are you so desperate for it now?”
RAT one and RAT Two exchange a look. RAT One clears his throat. “Honestly,
Madam Diamond, we have no clue. Like he was saying, we’re not doing
anything. It’s the people who want paper, as stupid as it sounds.”
“Let’s stop beating around the bush,” I jump in. “Pun intended. You have a
public image issue. You’ve had it since departure day. Well, you probably
lasted a few days before the first generation started realizing all the
things they could never have, because they were stuck on a spaceship in the
middle of nowhere. But ever since then, you’ve been fighting to look like
the good guys. And the truth is, you’re okay. Your job is important.” I tap
on my chest. “And individually, most people know that. “Our world would be
chaos if everyone could just go take whatever they wanted whenever they
wanted it. We’d run out of paper in half a second. You found something that
works. As you said, it’s stupid, but it’s fun, so you want to capitalize on
that success. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to. That is not what the
forest is for.” I stammer a little. “That sentence doesn’t really even do it
justice. It’s for...very much not that. That is to say, we didn’t just build
it for something other than making paper. We did it to show the value of
life in its (albeit relatively) natural state. Earth long ago had a huge
problem with the amount of wood it was using. Everyone knew it, no one knew
what to do about it. Eventually, however, they figured it out, and we have
reaped the benefits of that struggle without actually going through it
ourselves.
“On my grave will I let you send us backwards! I don’t care what people
think of you, we’re not making any more goddamn paper! We’re not making any
handcrafted chairs. We’re not not making any fucking bonfires. We’re not
doing any of that. The Forest stays as it is, and we won’t tolerate its
destruction, or even just talk of destruction. If you breathe one word of
this to anyone else, and make anyone believe that there is a remote
possibility of this happening, I will float you myself. I’ve been in hock,
it’s not that bad. I will gladly die in a cell to stop you from peeling one
piece of bark from one tree. Is there any confusion about what I’ve just
said?”
The RATs exchange another, very uncomfortable look. I turn my head to share
one with Lilian, worried about her being disappointed in me, but she’s not.
She actually looks proud. The allocators are scared out of their minds. They
are not going to call her bluff on the whole homicide thing that she
threatened them with. “In that case, would you consider...”
I tilt my head, prepared to go to war, showing them that I still mean
business. What could they possibly ask after my speech?
He takes a breath, so he can keep going. “...working for us.”
What? “What?”
“You hit the nail on the head.” RAT Two avoids looking Tinaya in the eye.
“We have an image problem. The Parks Department had one too, didn’t it? It
didn’t have any image to speak of. No one thought about it. No one cared
about it.” Now he makes eye contact with her. “You changed that. You joined
the team, and suddenly it’s a real thing. You built all of this.” He spread
his arms to indicate the forest. They’re sitting in something they call The
Fishbowl. It’s a glass structure somewhat close to the center of the Forest,
where meetings like this can be held. Of course, there’s no weather in here,
but it’s nice to have for privacy’s sake. It’s completely soundproof.
“You want me to fix the RA—” She stops herself; they don’t call themselves
that. “...the Resource Allocation Team?”
“It would really help us out,” RAT One said with a glimmer of hope in his
eyes.
I look over at Lilian again, who frowns at me, but very softly. She looks to
the men. “Would you please give us the room? You too.” There is a fifth
person in the room. He is a representative from the government. Someone like
him always sits in on these meetings in order to advocate for the best
interests of the Office of First Chair. He bows slightly to her, but deeper
to Tinaya, and then leaves quietly with the other two.
“Uhh...I don’t know why they would ask that,” Tinaya says to Lilain. “It’s
such a dumb question, right?” She laughs. “Right?”
“It’s really not,” Lilian counters. “They’re one hundred percent accurate
about their assessment of you. You are...an inspiration. I mean that in the
most literal sense of the word. You are like the Goddess of Inspiration. You
make things happen, and you make them better, and I would be selfish to keep
you.”
“What are you saying, Lilian? Are you firing me?”
“If that’s what it takes for you to realize your potential, then yeah.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”
“I don’t really mean that. If you want to stay, I’m not going to force you
out, but I think you should go on your daily walk, and really think about
whether you belong here still. You will always have a home with me, but the
rest of the ship needs you, and I can’t believe it took those guys to make
me realize it. Just...look into your heart, and think about your future.
Even if you would rather stay, is that really what’s best?”
Tinaya isn’t sure. Is it?
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