Editing Food for Thought
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<span style="color:#800000"> '''''Steve dangled several shiny lures at me in our previous RP, [[Coffee and Convictions]]. It was only a matter of time before I gave in and started speculating. Here's what I came up with... AND Steve actually answered back in-character as Sonia. So I had to add that conversation below. Thanks, Steve!—Maer'''''</span> | <span style="color:#800000"> '''''Steve dangled several shiny lures at me in our previous RP, [[Coffee and Convictions]]. It was only a matter of time before I gave in and started speculating. Here's what I came up with... AND Steve actually answered back in-character as Sonia. So I had to add that conversation below. Thanks, Steve!—Maer'''''</span> | ||
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'''December, 2524'''<br> | '''December, 2524'''<br> | ||
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"Wheat versus Sorghum, what are you talking about?" Sonia replied after a moment's puzzled silence and on my phone's screen her expression made it clear she thought I'd gone off the deep end of the conspiracy theory pool. I got that a lot from her. "No, they are trying to grow some new fangled grain out there, it's called Sorghum.... isn't that a kind of wheat?" <br><br> | "Wheat versus Sorghum, what are you talking about?" Sonia replied after a moment's puzzled silence and on my phone's screen her expression made it clear she thought I'd gone off the deep end of the conspiracy theory pool. I got that a lot from her. "No, they are trying to grow some new fangled grain out there, it's called Sorghum.... isn't that a kind of wheat?" <br><br> | ||
− | "Well, it's a kind of wheat in that it's a kind of grain | + | "Well, it's a kind of wheat in that it's a kind of grain. That much I remember from biology class. But I think they've got different properties in protein or gluten or something. One makes it easier to do some things with it, and the other for other things. But yeah, both are edible." I sighed. Dammit, I thought I was on to something. Sonia's hardly an expert. Neither are you. But maybe it's something worth watching anyway. I ducked into the overhang of an apartment building's front entrance, seeking shelter from the snow as well as a modicum of privacy. I kept my voice low as I continued. "Of course, if I were to try to solve the food shortages, I'd start making astral-stationary algae farms, growing it under domes on parabolic structures positioned to make the best use of the solar energy they're orbiting. You could grow a metric ass-ton of food that way."<br><br> |
− | "They could do that, but that costs real money, and puts all the risk in the hands of the agro-business." Ever the practical one, Sonia immediately put me straight. "You put seeds in the hands of farmers, and the risk rests with them. Not to mention of course, that since that TSE outbreak a few years ago there's been a greater demand for | + | "They could do that, but that costs real money, and puts all the risk in the hands of the agro-business." Ever the practical one, Sonia immediately put me straight. "You put seeds in the hands of farmers, and the risk rests with them. Not to mention of course, that since that TSE outbreak a few years ago there's been a greater demand for real grains. Real protein." She looked thoughtful for a moment, then made eye contact through the screen. "I think you're in the wrong business, Mei Mei, you could make some boring story about moderately novel grain developments into a serial about a secret conspiracy to destroy the independents and restore the Alliance." She smiled over the screen. "What annoys me is that my editor put me on this Yong Chwen Mien (plain, bland) story, only after I pitched him a story about some of the mega-corps getting involved in local rim politics: haciendas, banana republics, juicy stuff. That might be a real story, but he was worried that I was getting too political. He said he was grooming me for big things and had to keep my record clean until I was ready. Feh Feh Pi Goh."(Baboon's Ass Crack)<br><br> |
"They are? Which ones? What places? How much?" I pounced on the shiny lure she dangled in front of me. Pavlov had his dogs, I had my mental cats and right now they were jumping. Good manners and faith in my friend prompted me to add, "And congratulations on the grooming for the bigs. I know you'll run with it all the way to the Pulitzer. If anyone could do it, it would be you."<br><br> | "They are? Which ones? What places? How much?" I pounced on the shiny lure she dangled in front of me. Pavlov had his dogs, I had my mental cats and right now they were jumping. Good manners and faith in my friend prompted me to add, "And congratulations on the grooming for the bigs. I know you'll run with it all the way to the Pulitzer. If anyone could do it, it would be you."<br><br> | ||
− | And yet, I couldn't help but wonder about the mega-corps insinuating themselves into the political scene. Like the | + | And yet, I couldn't help but wonder about the mega-corps insinuating themselves into the political scene. Like the zaibatsu of Old Earth, it could foster prosperity or disaster. It was times like these when I wondered if it were ever possible to escape the weight of history, especially as we seemed to be repeating it. Perhaps history was simply the story of human nature and therefore inescapable, as we would never escape being human.<br><br> |
Which begged the question—would history unfold differently if we were no longer human? Would we be better off? Or would we be worse? <br><br> | Which begged the question—would history unfold differently if we were no longer human? Would we be better off? Or would we be worse? <br><br> | ||
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− | Sonya laughed. | + | Sonya laughed. What was I thinking saying something like that to Vikki? She composed herself and tried to think of an answer that wouldn't require her to resort to booting up her Encyclopedia. Then she employed the wits that let her keep up with the frenetic engineer. "You know Vik, you might be able to help me with that. I've been officially told not to investigate it. But you haven't. When you are out on the Rim, keep your eyes open, And if you know where you are going me, wave me the location, and I'll see if I have any leads. You can be my 'man' on the inside."<br><br> |
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− | " | + | "Absolutely," I said, my mental cats already going nuts with the possibilities. I put my back to the wall of the entrance so no one could look over my shoulder at our conversation. "Do you have a secure dropbox? Will we need one?"<br><br> |
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− | "[[Food for Thought#HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE|Wǒ míngbáile]]," I agreed. | + | "[[Food for Thought#HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE|Wǒ míngbáile]]," I agreed. I understand. Strung up? Lynched? For telling the truth? Suddenly everything became hyper-real, no longer a game. But that didn't mean I couldn't shoulder the risk. Sonia reported for the [[Food for Thought#HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE|Yì Jǐngtì]]. The name of the paper meant "Righteous Vigilance". Perhaps had more people been vigilant, the disasters of Miranda, TSE, and the Plague would have been prevented. It was dangerous, yes, but it was also necessary. "I'll be careful." <br><br> |
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− | + | ==='''''HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE'''''== | |
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− | ==='''''HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE'''''== | ||
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'''Wǒ míngbáile''' = ''' 我明白了 ''' = '''Woah''' ming-'''bai'''-luh = I understand. [http://translate.google.com/?hl=en#en/zh-CN/I%20understand Sound clip]<br> | '''Wǒ míngbáile''' = ''' 我明白了 ''' = '''Woah''' ming-'''bai'''-luh = I understand. [http://translate.google.com/?hl=en#en/zh-CN/I%20understand Sound clip]<br> | ||
− | '''Yì Jǐngtì''' = ''' 義警惕 ''' = '''Eee''' '''jee-eng'''-tee | + | '''Yì Jǐngtì''' = ''' 義警惕 ''' = '''Eee''' '''jee-eng'''-tee [http://translate.google.com/?hl=en#en/zh-TW/Righteous%20Vigilance Sound clip]<br> |
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<br><br><br> | <br><br><br> | ||
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− | Return to [[ | + | Return to [[Viktoria Tikhonova| Vikki's Page]]<br> |
+ | Return to [[Firefly-RPG]] Homepage <br> | ||
+ | Return to [[Delilah_Crew|the Crew]] Page |