After-piece (no spoilers)
Aug. 18th, 2014 02:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
avevale_intelligencer"Hold on," said Verneen. "There's something wrong with your maths here."
"Ten years after my mother died, why was I only nine and seven-eighths?" Tollain said. "They kept me in stasis for a couple of months while they built the bubble and worked out the procedures. My birthday got postponed."
"No child was ever that precocious," Kaichang scoffed.
"I was. I spent most of my first decade unable to do anything much but read and think. You could say I started out as a grown-up and didn't get a chance to be a child till I was eleven."
"And you've been one ever since," Kaichang said, but she was smiling.
"You left off the ending," Orville said. "What happened after all that?"
"Nothing," Tollain said. "Well, what I'd said would happen happened, obviously. But there was no comeback for what I did."
"Then you were lucky," Orville stated.
"I was careful," Tollain said.
"Do you have any of her recordings left?" Suncat said. "I never heard her, stuck out on Argenthome."
"Neither did I," Kaichang said.
"Nor me," added Verneen.
Tollain shook his head. "I gave them away," he said simply. "I didn't need them any more."
"Maybe we can find some somewhere," Kaichang said hopefully.
Tollain looked at them. It would be a shame to douse their hopes. And anyway, who knew?
"Maybe," he said. "Who's going to give me a hand with the dishes?"
*
If you want to know what all this is about, check out The Boy In The Bubble, a brand new short story available here!
Originally posted on http://avevale_intelligencer.dreamwidth.org. Comment here or there or both if you wish.
"Ten years after my mother died, why was I only nine and seven-eighths?" Tollain said. "They kept me in stasis for a couple of months while they built the bubble and worked out the procedures. My birthday got postponed."
"No child was ever that precocious," Kaichang scoffed.
"I was. I spent most of my first decade unable to do anything much but read and think. You could say I started out as a grown-up and didn't get a chance to be a child till I was eleven."
"And you've been one ever since," Kaichang said, but she was smiling.
"You left off the ending," Orville said. "What happened after all that?"
"Nothing," Tollain said. "Well, what I'd said would happen happened, obviously. But there was no comeback for what I did."
"Then you were lucky," Orville stated.
"I was careful," Tollain said.
"Do you have any of her recordings left?" Suncat said. "I never heard her, stuck out on Argenthome."
"Neither did I," Kaichang said.
"Nor me," added Verneen.
Tollain shook his head. "I gave them away," he said simply. "I didn't need them any more."
"Maybe we can find some somewhere," Kaichang said hopefully.
Tollain looked at them. It would be a shame to douse their hopes. And anyway, who knew?
"Maybe," he said. "Who's going to give me a hand with the dishes?"
*
If you want to know what all this is about, check out The Boy In The Bubble, a brand new short story available here!
Originally posted on http://avevale_intelligencer.dreamwidth.org. Comment here or there or both if you wish.