From Petra's diary
Today I had a lot of homework to do. And I'm not just talking about the math exercises, the other teachers are really going wild giving us unconventional homework that is giving us quite a few headaches.
To start off, the social studies teacher asked us to watch some news programs on TV and choose a news to write an essay on. How boring, who watches TV anymore?
TV: "... And the protests continue in the squares of Sim City. The movement for disguises freedom is gaining more and more momentum among the sixamians living in the city, and it's now spreading among many locals too. Yesterday..."
Michael: Do you think this is a good topic for the essay?
Petra: Today is a quite calm day, for a social studies essay I don't think we can choose anything else. What do you think, Emy?
Emma: … What? Oh, sorry, I got distracted listening to the TV.
Petra: We were thinking of writing about this in the essay, what do you think?
Emma: Yeah, well, it could be a good idea, you're right.
Michael: I don't know much about alien disguises, but having an actual sixamian in the group will probably help, I guess.
Petra: Ehi, it's not like I know much about that stuff either. I barely ever went to New Sixam!
Michael: (sighting) I guess we'll have to study hard also for that essay then... What about the art assignment, instead?
Emma: The teacher told us to go to the arts district in the city, take part in some artistic activity, and bring him a report. I think we'll just have to take our bikes, and see what we find.
We all nodded, and we headed for the door. Before leaving, I took one last look at the TV before turning it off.
I'd never thought much about the issue of the sixamian disguise, what could we write about in that essay?
With a shrug, I signaled the others to follow me, we had all the time to worry about that later. We had to pedal quite fast if we wanted to reach the Sim City Arts District before it got too dark, after all.
Emma: What about painting graffiti?
Petra: Knowing the art teacher, if the report is convincing enough we could also take pictures of some pigeon. But the graffiti sounds funnier!
Michael: Rather, we're better to take some photo of was we painted then, to show that we actually sprayed some paint around.
Petra: Right!
Michael: Wait, I start having some doubts... What exactly are we painting?
Petra: I drew two girls.
Emma: What? But I'm drawing a fish!
Michael: And I'm making a cat instead...
I still don't know how we managed to save that graffiti, dear diary, but in the end it didn't turn out into a total disaster, right?
Once the graffiti was finished, we moved to one of the nearby tables to start thinking about the essay and the report we still had to write.
Petra: If one of us were to stand on Mike's shoulders, we should be able to photograph the graffiti from high enough to take a decent photo, right?
Emma: Don't you think we're a bit too heavy, though?
Petra: Uhm, maybe you're right... Then we could make a pyramid, Mike and I can stay at the base, and you can climb on our shoulders.
Emma: Yeah, well, maybe it could work this way, yeah...
Weird, Emy didn't seem particularly interested in the art assignment. And she hadn't said even once: "It would be too dangerous, we risk falling and getting hurt!". That wasn't really like her, what was distracting her?
Petra: (perplexed) Are you okay, Emy? You seem distracted.
Emma: Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about the other essay we have to write, the social studies one.
Well, that other assignment was certainly still buzzing in my head too. Even if I didn't know much about sixamian disguising, I still probably knew more about that topic than both Emy and Mike, and so most of the job would have fallen on my this time. Why did she seem so worried, then?
Emma: You see, at home we often talk about it, ever since the TV started reporting the news. Mom especially seems to always take it very personally.
Petra: Really?
I was listening to her, perplexed: what was she referring to? Luckily for me Emy seemed in a chatty mood, because she continued to tell her story:
Emma: Yes. I think people almost never notice because I wasn't born with purple skin like her, but in reality, my great-grandmother came from New Sixam. That's why we care a lot about these news too, I guess.
Petra: What!?
I didn't mean to blurt out like that, but I couldn't help it. Children of Sixamese people practically always have blue, purple, or green skin like mine. I suppose that, in theory, after many many generations, sixamian genes can dilute enough to no longer be evident... Yet, this was the first time I heard of it actually happening.
Emma: C'mon, you didn't notice it either? That's why my eye shape is like that, a little strange.
I was more and more confused. Was she saying she thought her eye shape was strange? How did that silly idea cross her mind?
Petra: C'mon, you're eyes aren't weird at all... Rather, why do you say that your mother takes the protests about the disguises personally?
Emma: Well, that's because my great-grandmother had to pay a very large fine for a similar reason. She had moved here at a time when sixamians were still looked upon with a lot of suspicions, and she had disguised herself as a human to find a job. After all, she didn't mean to do anything bad, and yet her case turned into such a mess that even the New Sixam embassy had to intervene. I think that's why people still talk about it back home, even though it happened a long time ago.
Petra: Oh, I'm sorry...
It's strange to think about it, and yet we all know that until a few decades ago, we sixamians were treated like that here in Sim City. Who knows what life must have been like for them, I don't envy them at all...
So, with our heads full of thoughts, we took our bikes and went back to our homes.
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From Gaia's diary
Over the weekend we celebrated the twins' birthday, it was a lot of work to prepare everything but they both couldn't wait any longer. Even though spring had just started, the sun was warm, so we decided to take the cake on the outdoors table, on the patio.
Both Alec and Nico were particularly excited about having a piece of the cake Diego cooked for them. He talked so much about it and the special ingredients he planned to use that everyone couldn't wait to have a slice, honestly.
And here are my boys! They are now taller than me, isn't it incredible, my dear diary?
We all had a lot of fun. It was nice to eventually have such a nice and carefree day, after all the worries of the last few months.
Gaia: Did you see that crazy sky tonight?
Diego: Yes, I had never seen the Northern Lights so far south before!
Gaia: But enough chit-chat, Alec and Nico really loved that cake! What did you put in it this time?
Diego: An exotic fruit with an unpronounceable name that I brought back from my last trip. It's incredible how many strange foods grow in the other hemisphere, isn't it?
He continued to talk about that strange fruit for a while, even trying to explain to me how to pronounce its name (I can confirm it, it really is very difficult), before changing the subject and saying:
Diego: Rather, good luck for tomorrow! You're inaugurating your startup, aren't you?
Gaia: Yes, that's right!
Diego: I am sure you will do great, I think people will love your idea!
Gaia: Thanks! And good luck with your next trip too!
So we said goodbye, tomorrow we will both need to wake up well-rested if we want to start off on the right foot.
In the meantime, back home…
Techna: I don't understand why everyone is so happy about the Northern Lights, it's interfering quite a bit with the radio signals...
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The next morning I got ready for a quick run to the old community area, now converted into my new startup. I wanted to be optimistic, but the TV playing in the background didn’t help much.
TV: “The new report on the response of Earth’s ecosystems to human activities has provided dire results. Other 3500 species have been declared extinct the last year alone, and an unprecedented number of other species has been added to the endangered list. According to the experts... ”
Poor little creatures, why do they need to be involved in all this?
But that wasn’t what I was supposed to be thinking about, I had a hard day of work ahead of me.
???: Listen, I was thinking... Since you produce the phones one by one, can’t you make them the exact shape I want?
Gaia: Um, in theory, yes, I guess... But electronic devices are very complex, and if we don’t follow a precise blueprint we risk making a big mess.
???: Just change the blueprint then, what's the issue?
Gaia: … I can try.
The good thing is that, even though it's only the first day of business, some curious people are already showing up with devices to reassemble. The bad thing is that, however, they're already bombarding me with impossible requests.
I can't afford employees, nor am I capable of improvising new motherboards for cell phones, what do I do?
If the customers were just a little less pushy, then maybe I could concentrate enough to…
???: What happened? Why are you covered in paint?
Gaia: Um, it's nothing serious… Come back in a few hours, I swear your old phone will be completely reassembled by then.
???: Um, if I really have to…
As if that weren't enough, I also spotted a guy with a notebook who takes notes every time he thinks no one is watching. I'm afraid he might have come to review my startup, doesn't it seem that way to you too, my dear diary?
Some customers didn't seem very satisfied, and I was hit by a sudden realization: there was no way I could do all this alone, I had to ask help. Possibly, before bad rumors about my startup start to spread...
Gaia: Listen Techna, have I ever told you that you are really good at developing blueprints for the matter recomposer?
Techna: Yours doesn't seem like a self-standing comment, what do you have in mind?
Gaia: I was thinking about what I would need to improve my startup, one idea led to another, you know... And then I asked myself: who knows how long it would take for Techna to recalculate a new blueprint for a cellphone?
Techna: I have integrated a processing script into my software, on average it takes three minutes to run a calculation of that type. But I don't see how this could be of any help to you.
Gaia: Well, I was thinking that, you know... Wouldn't you like to give me a hand, and work in the startup too?
Techna: What? Me? That would require me to go out, and interact with the locals, and-
Techna isn't exactly the most expressive person, but I think I really shocked them with that question. Their head was spinning all around, that's not a common view.
Gaia: I told you already, there are no rules in this Country that prohibit you to go out.
Techna: And what if the authorities started to question me about Sixam? I don't want to answer such questions, you know.
Gaia: We just have to avoid saying you're from Sixam then! I don't know, for instance, ehm... For instance, so that now I started recomposing electronics, we could say you were just built with a matter recomposer too, starting from, ehm... a few old PCs and a broken blender! I think it could work, don't you?
They didn't say anything for a few minutes, but I could clearly hear the buzz that accompanied the processing of the answer. I know they care about the environment, they've been attentively following the evolution of climate change since since they got back here. At least they were considering my proposal.
After I don't know how long, they finally answered me:
Techna: It could be risky, the number of possible unforeseen events is relevant.
Gaia: Do you think they're still keeping an eye on you from Sixam?
Techna: I have no way of ruling it out, but unlikely.
Gaia: Why is that?
Techna: Decades ago, they decided to completely shield the planet to prevent anyone else from intercepting their communications. Incidentally, this also hindered their ability to pick up signals from outside.
Gaia: Then what? Are you really this scared of the Earthling's governments?
Techna: Up to now the reward for exposing myself to the public didn't overcome the risks. I'll need to run some simulations before telling you if the situation changed.
Techna's calculations ran all night, the next morning I didn't know what to expect.
I admit that I'd almost lost hope, when I saw them reaching me at the entrance, ready to leave.
They only posed one condition to their participation: we had to refuse any request to build other robots. Well, that's easy for me, I have no idea where to start from. Did they feel the need to specify this because they would know how to do it with the instruments available in the startup, instead?
I guess these questions will remain unanswered: convincing Techna leave the house was a massive achievement already, and we just have too much work to do today to worry about anything else.
That startup project seemed impossible for just one person, but maybe the two of us could do it.
Techna seemed a little nervous at first. After so many years on hide, however, they also seemed impatient to do something different.
Many people wanted to talk to them, intrigued by the novelty of seeing a robot. They even helped me out countless times, with those customers who were asking for custom designs for their electronic devices. I don’t know what I would have done without them today, and the customers won’t forget this visit any time soon either.
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