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

Right... I think I can follow it.

So is dating someone you have no intention of marrying part of your culture? [Asked without a hint of aggression or suspicion. Somehow.]

Pleasure to meet you, Mister Spinola.

Good.

Sometimes it is, yeah. Sometimes people date because they want to get married and other times they date because they just want to have fun, or see if they have something in common. Sometimes people are just looking for someone to pass some time with who's fun but that they don't have to worry about marrying. There's a lot of reasons to date somebody. Marriage is one of many.

I apologize. Mr. Russet. Sometimes I forget we're not all friends. I hope you'll forgive me for being rude.

Huh. That's... quite unusual.

I certainly didn't think you were rude. I'm just far more used to the formal.

Thank you. I agree about it being unusual, really, but that's how I've always known it to be when I've been old enough for it to matter.

I suppose that's the only reason I think it is unusual - it's not like how I've known it to be.

Can I ask how you knew it to be?

It's a bit complicated.

You went on a date with someone if you were supposed to marry them. Usually to persuade their family you were a good sort of guy, and worth having in the family, because you'd look after their daughter or son. Or just not embarrass them.

Who you ended up marrying... usually worked out on what your parents could negotiate, and your colour perception.

Color perception?

The rest of it sounds pretty old-fashioned, but it makes sense if it's a society that puts a lot of emphasis on class.

What colour you can see, and how much. For example, I'm quite, uh, a wanted commodity, because I can see a lot of Red.

Does it make sense, though? Really?

What if you can see all the colors in equal measure, which is standard for my time?

Well sure. If you're a society based on class, then you have to maintain that structure and the only way to do that is to find objective values that can't be controlled by force of will as a measure of worth in the society. Beyond that, marriage means joining those objective values and it will be continually used as a point of comparison. Everyone--okay, well, not everyone, but the vast majority of people--will want a higher status because it means greater access to resources and less pressure to strictly follow the social norms of that particular culture. If you have nothing to offer, there's no reason for a higher society girl to accept you.

Unless you're trying to get into a philosophical debate of whether the class system actually works, but I think people are inherently drawn to levels of status in order to gain a sense of confidence and productivity which is necessary to survival. If everyone was equal, people wouldn't have that evolutionary imperative kicking in and, if people were judged on something subjective or that could be achieved just by trying, then no one would be able to agree on it or the ratio of elite to common would fall and the entire system would crumble.

Nobody can at home. That's... what makes you Previous.

Oh, no, I agree, it makes pragmatic sense. But it doesn't make sense when you love someone, but you can't marry them, because you've already been given to some [very bad word does not go here] tauping Purple, who only wants you for your Red anyway.

I think that was more my point. It's very... practical. But you're still buying and selling people, and completely ignoring their feelings about who they might actually want to marry. Irregardless of status.

What happened? Why did such an uncommon gene take over? Or did they start genetically tampering with the cones and receptors in the eyes to manipulate the different fields of color perception?

I didn't realize you were talking about love, Eddie. You're right. That kind of system doesn't make any sense for trying to love someone.

Who was she? The one you loved?

I... don't know. [damn, does he sound so frustrated.]

That's... I'd rather not go into that.

But let's say someone of the lowest social category.

There's nothing wrong with loving someone below you socially, Eddie. I married a woman like that and it was some of the best years of my life. She left me and I still think about her. I'm not saying your girl will leave you-- maybe that was a bad example. I'm saying it's alright to be interested and to go after her. Consequences be damned.

So what was the deal with her? Why couldn't you work up the courage?

...I did go after her. I did throw away the woman I was supposed to marry, that my dad had pretty much sold me to, for her.

Then it turned out that she was someone I was completely barred from talking to socially, let alone marrying.

Is it your deal to change things for the two of you, can I ask? There has to be a way for you to work around the system. A different country, maybe?

No, it isn't. There's... more important things I've got to ask for. For the good of everyone.

A different country? I don't know of any different country. We have to get permission from the council to go beyond the town boundaries.

That must be why you're a warden. That level of selflessness is something I honestly never really understood.

Jesus. They've got you guys whipped. So what are you going to do about her?

To be fair, I've only ever been brought up to put the Collective before myself.

For all their failings - nobody whips us. [misinterpretation is a go.]

I guess I'll live with it. I don't have much other choice at the minute.

That doesn't mean that's what you have to do.

It's an expression. It means that they have you under similar psychological effects whether physical whipping is present or not. It's a statement of submission and passive behavior.-- You guys really weren't allowed to go anywhere else?

You could offer the Admiral another deal for a second inmate, if I understand the system correctly.

But I can put the Collective before myself in a good way and actually help everyone.

No, we weren't. We had to apply for an open return - or be sent somewhere else. I was sent to East Carmine by my Council on a pointless task.

Once I've got this deal, I'm going home to fix things.

How are you managing that?

What kind of "pointless task," if you don't mind my asking?

I'm glad you're still hopeful about it.

In saving it from itself.

A chair census. It's one of the better Pointless Tasks.

It's still generous.

How does a person like you earn a pointless task anyway?

...It was designed to teach humility.

And there's an official answer to that question and a real one.

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