acertifieduser | ○ 04: Maybe they once locked eyes.

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○ 04: Maybe they once locked eyes.

[Filtered AWAY from George]
[AUDIO: There's a short pause before Eddie speaks.]

I have a favor to ask. I'm trying to help my warden understand a more modern approach to romance. What I need is a woman, between the ages of twenty-four and thirty-two.. thirty-three, who would be willing to take him out on a date. Maybe a private dinner, drinks afterward, and a starry walk in the CES or something. He'll know up front what this is; this isn't some trick and he won't be expecting to fall in love or anything.

I don't have anything specific to offer as a thanks, but I'm pretty resourceful if there's something specific you're looking for. I'm not providing any weapons and I reserve the right to refuse anyone for any reason.. because even knowing what's going on, he's still a nice guy and I don't want to mess with him. I'm really just looking to help him out.

Oh, it's George Crabtree. Some of you might know him.

[Private to George]
I want to know more about your time. Are there any books, fiction or non-, that you can recommend? I'm a pretty fast reader.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Are you more humble now?

Why not give me both?

Not from counting chairs, trust me.

I played a trick on Bertie Magenta. That's the official reason.

The real one? I suggested an unauthorised way of queuing.

You went against the system. I understand. I'd say I'm proud of you, but I don't want to demean you at all. I'm actually kind of embarrassed that we share names now because I feel like I better step it up if I'm going to be a good example.

To be fair, the other Eddies aren't exactly amazing examples. It all depends which one you pick.

You're just the deviation from the norm, is that it? [He laughs a little.] Maybe you can teach me what it means to be an Eddie.

I'm not sure I know yet what it means to be an Eddie.

There's no meaning to being an Eddie. You have to create it. If you and I put our heads together, do some good things, and act with confidence? We'll be making what it means to be an Eddie. That's what they don't tell you about all those suits and product names and everything -- all of that stuff is created over time with lots of minds behind it. Everyone and everything can create who and what it wants to be.

...Suits and product names?

Well, sure. Suits and uniforms have those insinuations of power, wealth, authority, or other similar ideas that come with just wearing the clothes. If you wore the clothes even without the authority, people would be more inclined to listen to you because they associate it in their minds. It's why people who are better dressed tend to be perceived as more competent and trustworthy. There's nothing inherently powerful or trustworthy about a tie, but someone somewhere decided they wanted that kind of association and probably put a lot of time and money into making it a reality.

For product names.. well, it's pretty much like a government. They hire a lot of people and pay a lot of money in order to achieve a public perception that generally doesn't actually equal what the corporation is like. This drink company where I was from, Coca-Cola? They used to give out about 3 million in scholarships for kids to go to school every year, but they spent probably 50-100 million advertising it to make them look like better people. It's the same idea.

Oh. Well, I sort of understand that - some people traded extra merits to get univisual clothes, but you can only buy clothes produced by the collective, I suppose. We're expected to wear a tie at all times.

...Why would they do that? What's the point?

Oh. It's probably like the univision thing. There had to be people in uniforms too, though, right? Some kind of designation for police and others?

Back in my world, there's a lot of competition. It's called consumerism. People can choose what to buy what they want from where they want. If people don't like a company, they won't buy from them and the company will go out of business. I'm oversimplifying, obviously, but hopefully you get the idea.

Not really, no. The Yellows were 'police' I guess, and our clothes had to be within certain regulations, and designed for wear at certain points in time. But Yellows just wore a spot on their lapel like the rest of us.

But if they go out of business, where will you buy things then? And what will all the ~~Greys~~ workers there do?

Wow. There really isn't anything like it in your world, I don't think. Like the suits, I mean. I wish I could figure out a better way to explain it, unless you understand the idea already even without the parallel? If not, I can try to explain it a little better.

America is a consumerist society. A lot of businesses do the same thing. It's actually illegal for one business to be the only one doing something; they call it a "monopoly" and the business is forced to break into pieces so that there's competition because otherwise they can charge whatever they want and control their product however even if it's completely ridiculous. So, if I wanted to buy a soda, for example--you know what that is, right? It's a kind of drink--, then there's two main companies and several smaller ones and I could buy from any of them all in the same store generally. If one went out of business, there would still be the others to choose from and, generally, new businesses are opening and closing every day, so there's always more people trying to make it and succeeding or failing. If a company goes out of business, then the workers get fired or "laid off" and they look for a new job. Most people work ten different jobs in their life, if not more. It's not like it used to be, because the business world is faster-paced and has higher demands of people. It's also less personal; most of the stores people work in are owned by corporations that control hundreds of the stores across the country and so it's pretty damn easy for the corporation to fire a few hundred people or whatever is needed because they probably haven't even met the workers they're firing.

Does that make sense? ..Do you enjoy reading at all? There's this book called "Syrup" by Max Berry that gives a better idea of how consumerism works. It's exaggerated, but it's pretty accurate.

I follow, mostly.

It doesn't sound any better than home. Entirely different, but no better.

I'll read anything I can get my hands on. I'll look it up.

You're always welcome to ask more questions if you think of any. I really don't mind explaining things and it's worth knowing about your culture too for the sake of comparison. It's kind of a social experiment in the kind of way most people only dream of or get from science fiction.

It has its perks. Namely, if you know how to work the system, you'll be content and happy for the rest of your life.

I recommend it then.

I'm trying to pick as many things up by observation as I can.

But if you don't, you're miserable. Same with any system.

I think that's the best way to be, Eddie.

Well yeah, sure, but that's why you find your gimmick or your edge.

What is a gimmick of all things?

A gimmick. It's like a plan or an image that you think of or construct for yourself -- or for something.. anything, really -- that you use to make it more attractive or appealing, generally to help it sell better. In my world, because there were so many companies to choose from and so many people trying for the same job and everything like that, gimmicks became the catchy way to sell people. If you weren't the smartest or the most attractive, you came up with an image to make people think you were.

So you lie?

Yeah. Statistically, twenty percent of all conversations include deception of some kind, meaning you run into, on average, two to five different lies per day. The only reason you keep trusting people is because you believe--and I mean people, not just you--that if people are honest in one situation, they'll continue to be that way because we like to sort people and believe them to be consistent. It's easier on our minds that way.

That, I can understand.

I just never heard it described as 'gimmicks' before.

Well, a gimmick is a special kind of lie, like a facade or a 'white lie.' People like classifying things to justify them easier.

You mean like acting like a proper Swatchman when you're really sneaking your own Green at night?

I hesitate to say yes without really understanding what you mean.

○ 04: Maybe they once locked eyes.

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Private - why you make me review my notes?

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