js_thrill | Two Passages from Constellation Games, relating to my current Mood (Reply)

Passage one:

"Curic, what was that you said to the immigration guy?" I said. Bai backed us out of the parking space and honked at some rubberneckers.

Curic took her tongue out again. "K'chua!" she said.

"Yeah, what's it mean?"

The prosthetic went back in. "It's a Nuk word. That's an Auslander language that's good for bringing down curses. The closest English translation might be 'fuck the system.'"

"That's very punk," I said.

"Don't swear in front of Eddie," said Jenny. "My sister is gonna think I taught him that."

"What, 'K'chua!'?" said Bai.

"The other one!"

"It's not the best translation," Curic continued oblivious, "because when you say 'fuck the system' you're addressing another person. 'K'chua' is something you say to the system."

Passage two:

"There must be at least one human paleontologist named Ashley," I said.

"It's not my name! My name is Somn. I'm not infinitely adaptable. I'm six hundred light-years from home with no fossils to excavate, but I'm still a paleontologist and my name is still Somn."

"Okay. Somn. I can call you Somn."

"Thank you," said Somn. "Thank you, Ariel. And talk to Tetsuo, please. Now I believe I can ask you something else. In English, what is the worst curse word?"

"Now this I can help you with," I said. "This is very subjective and very dangerous territory, Somn. I think you should stick with good old reliable 'fuck.' It's got universal appeal."

"I just want to say one thing with my own emotions and have a human understand it. This translator removes the meaning from everything I say to you. I don't even recognize myself in this other woman's voice."

"Okay, shoot."

Somn leaned into the smart paper and contorted her mouth into one huge pixel.

"FUUUUUUP!"

"You feel better?" I asked.

"I feel a little better."