Flute Concerto in A Major

[collector]

[Irving Braxiatel appears on the Plane with a small information kiosk. You can tell it is an information kiosk because it is a kiosk and it has the word "INFORMATION" on a sign above it.

He picks up one of the brochures at the kiosk and flips through it, smiling to himself.]

Really, Broderick...

[Setting the brochure back down] And that takes care of that. For now, anyway.

Comments

[collector]

[Brax decides not to notice. The smile on his face is slight, but it's delighted. There is little he likes more than to learn things he didn't know before.[ It's just what the words made me think of. May I see them? I don't think I know technology like it.

[polarization]

[ Sefton's first response is to back up. He catches himself before he takes a full step, but the aborted motion probably says just as much as if he had taken it anyway. He shakes his head.

Paranoia keeps him from simply relinquishing the shoes for what would probably only be a minute or two. Just that short amount of time would probably add to his anxiety immensely - what if he didn't get them back, after all? ]

I'd rather not. ... Stuff like this's pretty common where I come from.

[collector]

[Braxiatel marks Sefton's very bizarre response. He almost wants to hold his hands out as you would to a startled deer. 'I'm unarmed, I won't hurt you.' Braxiatel decides to lean against the kiosk instead, hoping that a relax posture will make him seem less scary.

He is also idly wondering if this kid is in need of some psychiatric help.]

Of course, that's perfectly understandable. I apologize. Technology is an... an interest of mine, I suppose. It's rare that I find any I can't immediately identify. If you ever come across anything like it that you can spare for a moment, I'd be very grateful to examine it personally.

[polarization]

[ Sefton glances back to the brochure he's still holding, thumb slowly bending a corner of the front page back and forth. ]

Seems like it's pretty unique here, yeah. ... I'll see, but infused things can get pretty expensive. [ And it's not like he's got the cash to spare for someone's simple curiosity. ]

[collector]

[Braxiatel frowns, not sure what to do next. Benny has had to give him a slap on the wrist more than once before about his insensitivity on money issues. Humans have such weird norms about it.]

I'm a collector of assorted... things. All types of things, historical relics and manuscripts and old technology and the like. I always have funds set aside for procuring items of interest. I don't know what the monetary system in your world is, but I could offer you a commission for acquisition and retrieval.

[polarization]

[ Sefton looks up to stare at him for a moment, not quite sure. This guy sounds like a history buff - what would he want with infused-tech? Aside from it apparently being completely foreign, anyway. ]

You'll pay me to buy you something?

[collector]

[Braxiatel nods] As I've said, I am a collector. There are often works which have already been purchased or which are on display elsewhere. I can't get to all of these myself, so I sometimes commission someone for the finding, purchase, and retrieval of the items.

If you're worried about introducing technology to a world with nothing like it, it won't be a problem. I have a private collection, never put on display, that contains anything I can't share with the public - those artefacts which have yet to be made, relative-time, or which originate from another universe, or which are simply too dangerous to be freely accessible.

[His fingertips are pressed together as he tries to convey his sincerity without seeming overenthusiastic. He is still worried about this kid's jumpiness.]

[polarization]

[ As he should be. Sefton flips open the brochure, then flips it shut, holding it enough to crumple it a little near the center. ]

That's all? You're gonna have it 'n not use it or anything?

[collector]

It may be impossible to replicate in my world. We have our own technology that can do much the same thing, if in different ways.

[polarization]

Yeah?

[collector]

Yes, Neo-Aretian snowshoes, for example, or that odd little ice-vending bacteria invented on Verum in the late 5100s.

[polarization]

... late 5100s.

[collector]

CE, yes.

[polarization]

CE?

[collector]

The Common Era, roughly equivalent to AD, Anno Domini? The system devised by Dionysius Exiguus to replace the Diocletian? I don't know if your people would use it. Late into humanity's exploration of space, anyway.

[polarization]

[ Slowly shakes his head. He seems less jumpy now that the topic has moved away from his shoes... or himself in general, really. ] Still using AD.

[collector]

They're essentially the same thing. A matter of terminology and political correctness, but they've the same universe.

[polarization]

... Political correctness?

[collector]

Anno Domini means 'in the year of our Lord' - meaning Jesus Christ. Common Era denotes the same thing, but it really means the era of the people, the Vulgar Era. That's the other translation for it. When inclusiveness became more important on the popular agenda, various political forces decided to use CE in lieu of AD, though CE has been in use for as long as AD has. And it does spare everyone the mild embarrassment of Dionysius Exiguus having gotten it a bit wrong when he picked the year of birth.

[polarization]

[ Sefton considers all of that. Considering this all apparently happens after people make something of exploring space, it's all a little beyond his scope, to be honest. ] Oh.

[collector]

[Braxiatel nods. Once you get him on an academic path, it's hard to stop him. Too many decades spent in education, probably.]

The first known use in English of Vulgar Era was in a 1635 translation of Kepler; in an ephemeris from 1652, Christian Era first appears; 1708 marks the first appearance of Common Era. Obviously, those dates are what are known to contemporary researchers. The Latin versions - vulgaris aerae, aerae christianae, and common æra - of course stretch back much further, with the idea being to replace the the old Emperor-based system. The common era - the era of the people. I prefer the Holocene calender for human development.

[He pauses.] I'm so sorry. I tend to let history get away with me. It's the cost of living on a planetoid of academics. We were talking about your shoes?

[polarization]

[ Sefton doesn't mind the rambling, since it's obviously something the guy is interested in even if Sefton doesn't get much of what he's saying. History just isn't his thing. He hides his frown once the topic swings back around, the shuffling of his foot beginning once again, though slower than before. ]

Thought we were talking 'bout me getting something else for you. [ Beat. ] Planet...oid?

[collector]

Small planet. An asteroid, really, It only has a circumference of ten miles. It's where I hold the Collection.

[polarization]

Ten miles... [ That is super-hard to imagine. ] S' that mean it might crash somewhere?

[collector]

Most certainly not! Imagine everything that would be lost! No, the Collection is in a safe orbit, I've made quite sure of that.