reverienet | voice- un: brightness

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voice- un: brightness_kholin

People have been vanishing. Not many, not often, not at a volume where we've noticed quickly, but a small number of the ones who initially arrived here have simply disappeared. They've been vanishing since before the doors into space opened, and at enough of a rate that we'd notice the diminishing number of suits if they were all falling off the station into the black.

Initially I had assumed it must be because this place is dangerous. If that were the case we should be tripping over the corpses by now. We clearly aren't.

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[ He rubs the back of his head, clearly at a bit of a loss. ]

I ain't gonna lie, Jasnah. Sometimes you say things and it's like I know I can understand 'em but I don't really get them. Especially when you talk about your world.

Does that mean you ain't really used to livin' with men, like this?

I've traveled between cultures before, so I have a little experience in dealing with the profound shock of new customs- but yes. I'll admit it, living here is sometimes uncomfortable. I am a heretic, but propriety is still propriety.

[Even sitting, speaking this frankly with a man she isn't related to, outside of a formal political meeting, isn't something that happens to her often.]

What's the most different part, to you?

Well, I mean, the fact that ya'll can't even eat a meal together has pretty much topped that list. Food is pretty damn important, where I'm from, and sharin' a meal is how a family's 'sposed to bond. It's one of the best ways of expressin' love for each other, by makin' and sharin' food.

I'd have a hell of a time, tryin' to stick to that rule.

But if there's anythin' else I can do, to make you feel more comfortable here, you just gotta name it.

Thank you.

[She says, rather sincerely. Jasnah can't think of anything, but thinks it speaks rather highly of him for asking.]

You're a good man. It's worth the shock of the adjustment, you know- the list of things a woman can't be isn't as long here. You aren't punished for being the wrong kind of feminine.

[ His face pulled into a frown. ]

What do you mean, what a woman can't be? What's the wrong kind of feminine?

Oh. Any number of things. A member of the military.

[She says, first of all.]

Never mind a general. A political leader- the Alethi have always historically had kings. Or, on a smaller scale, unmarried at my age. The number of times I've been snarled at for rejecting some suitor...

[ Oh.

He's starting to get it now. He knows enough history to know that Earth wasn't like Mars. That there was a wide gender divide, where women were treated like property. But it was hundreds of years ago. Almost ancient history. ]

Well that just sounds like a pile of horse shit. [ A half second later, even though he would normally not even notice, Jasnah was always so proper: ] Pardon my language. But that just don't make any sense.

I mean, I ain't about to speak for Gunny, but I'm pretty sure if someone told her she couldn't be military or that she had to get married she'd laugh in their face an' then plant 'em in the floor.

I need to meet her. That's been almost exactly my approach.

[She answers, cheerily enough.]

Go on. Tell me more about your world. Worlds? [The comparison is always interesting to her.] Or about Gunny.

[ He grins, at that. Anyone sharing traits with Bobbie was a good sign, by him. ]

Hell, I can give her a call right now, if you want. She's probably better equipped to give you her story than I am.

Worlds. Technically. We're both from Mars, and as far as I know, we're the only ones here who are. It was colonised by Earth, hundreds of years ago, but our philosophy is a hell of a lot different than theirs was. Or is.

We don't have the luxury of wastin' resources. Whether that be human talent or physical items. It don't matter a jot what your gender is. If you can fly, they're gonna set you flyin'. If you're a genius, probably to engineerin'. The entire planet is focused on one thing - making the surface livable, and protectin' Mars until it is. Everythin' else is secondary.

Please. [She says, welcoming more company, though;] Perhaps in the bar?

[Since they're both almost finishing eating. In the meantime she's got a few more things that she'd like to know.]

If the surface isn't liveable- does that mean that you have buildings sealed like this one?

Yeah, I'll shoot her a text. [ He pulled out his phone, typed in 'Hey, Gunny, come meet me in the bar, I wanna introduce you to somebody. and then turned his attention to Jasnah. ]

Yeah, that's right. A little different, be we live in domes. Inside we grow plants just like on earth, and the air is breathable, but outside its all red rock and dust, with an atmosphere so thin you'd choke, and enough radiation to give you a bad time.

'Radiation?'

[Asks Jasnah, brow creasing. This is probably going to be another 'space is terrible' conversation for her, honestly. Roshar's science hasn't come that far.]

What will it do to you?

[ He gave her a look that clearly read 'oh boy'. ]

Uh - radiation is energy, basically. Is the simplest way to put it. It radiates out from a source - like the sun, or radioactive material. The whole universe itself has somethin' we call 'background radiation' which is left over from when the universe began. A little bit of it ain't bad. Certain wavelengths are what drive life. Like sunlight and plants, right? They feed off that energy to grow.

The smaller the wavelength, the more destructive it is. It can start breakin' down your cells, your DNA. The amount and the time period in which you get dosed with it are the real kickers. A little bit over a long time ain't gonna do too much, save maybe make it more likely that you'll get cancer.

A big dose, all at once? Can kill you in a couple hours.

The way the sun can burn your skin, except worse. More extensive.

Where is it coming from out here, since we don't have sunlight? What creates it, and what do we do about it?

Well, that's the thing. We do got some sunlight - but even inside, the star in this system is sendin' out invisible radiation all the time. Visible light only makes up a part of it.

Now - it's hard to tell, but the planet below has got water, so there's probably a magnetic field around it - and hopefully, that means, around us, too - so that'll keep some of the worst of the radiation out. Think of it - uh - like an invisible shield, that envelops the planet in almost a tear-drop shape.

[ He paused, looked a little helpless. ]

I don't know how to explain it in a way that'll make sense. But generally speakin', shieldin' is the most important. Water's the best, and most stations or ships will have a room in 'em that's got thick lead walls or surrounded by a water tank, for solar flares. That's when a star kicks up a lot more energy than it would otherwise. You can actually see 'em, with a good enough telescope.

[Jasnah reaches up and pinches the bridge of her nose, because that's just one more thing to add to a long list of preoccupations.

She needs a minute to process all that.]

I'll add it to the list.

[Maybe one day she'll be able to stop adapting rapidly to life as an astronaut, and this will feel easy.]

Do our medics know anything about treating it?

Radiation meds are pretty common, where I'm from - even a really hard dose of nuclear radiation is somethin' you can survive, long as you get the meds in time - though you ain't havin' any children, after.

Well, it would be idiotic to risk getting pregnant in a place like this.

[Says Jasnah, with her customary empathy for the human need for connection.]

So as long as we can find the medicine.

It ain't a good idea in space, regardless. Even Belters generally try to get down a gravity well.

[ His is completely said with empathy. Miscarriages go up dramatically, outside of Earth's gravity. He knows from experience. ]

Yeah. As long as we find it. Or find a way to synthesise it.

Do you think the food replicators can be reprogrammed?

[She asks, another subject she knows relatively little about.]

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voice- un: brightness_kholin

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