Garden of forking paths
{{ | date=08/30/2018 | time=09:00 EST | summary=Alma is not talking in word salad, she's offering to read cards for Aaron and Al. | cast=
| place_name=Alma's office in the Hall of Science
| place_desc=There's a wooden desk next to a window. some bookshelfs. a coatrack. Spangly
twirly things hang from an articulated desk lamp. Colorful pencils mixed
with twigs and leaves fan out from a jar. Next to the desk, a magazine
holder is filled with lucite and wood parts for making behavioral puzzles.
Along one wall there is a bookshelf crammed with books. One shelf is given
over to poetry, fiction, myth, and history. Alma's bike leans against the
other wall. The coatrack in the corner has scarves and things hanging from
it. some very garish ones too.
A crank handle controls a clear plane of glass that is set within an array of glass bricks. It is almost always open regardless of the weather. There's no screen. A rectangle planter of succulents sits on the windowsill. If you peek close you can see an artful display made of found things. There's an ewer of water filled with rocks to put the water in easy reach for a drink. Next to the window there is a magnetic whiteboard surrounded by pictures. | log=Alma rap rap raps on Emma's door to no avail. She sighs in dissapointment and starts to head back to her office when she sees Aaron. "Aaron! Emma's not in," she says, with puppy dog eyes. "Do you have a moment? I want to show you stuff! I was going to talk to her about it but I should explain this to you too! Explaining things to people really clarifies the mind, don't you think!? Here! I have coffee from the teacher's lounge. Extra coffee! Do you want coffee! It's really good for a change!"
Aaron stops in the hall when Alma ambushes him. There's a moment where he almost visibly changes mental gears. Conversations with the young as-far-as-he-knows-Euthanatos tend to require a different mindset than he'd been prepared to have. He blinks, and glances down the hall. There's a concerned look on his face. It would be easy to get the impression that he was expecting Emma to be there. "If Dr. Durov isn't in, then sure, I have a little time."
Alma cocks her head at Aaron like a crow who is chasing thought. "Ok ok--whew," She takes in a deep breath and puffs it out. "That was some coffee, ok, ok, pull in all the threads you know?" That latter part seemed more self talk than talk at Aaron, but her tone is reassuring like she's trying to admit she knows she needs to do that for him. She walks a little less bouncy. It's a determined and confident walk to her office door. Her pocket bzzes ands she pulls out for a moment. She chuckles softly and replies before putting her phone away.
Aaron follows along, silently.
Her desk top is in motion. Well, slow motion. Right now it's stopped but there's evidence of the motion because there's a space cleared in the middle. She sits down. "Come in; shut the door. I'm planning something with Emma and Arthur, and I was going to show her how I could help before the trip. And it's related to the clarity I mentioned to you the other day. Thing havebecome a lot clearer to me lately." She looks far off, to the west. "I'm going to tell None I'm leaving." She looks back up at Aaron, "Shall I begin?" She pulls out a deck of cards wrapped in a silk cloth.
Aaron enters the office, and closes the door. There's a moment where he glances around, seeming to take everything in, but it's brief. He follows Alma to the desk, and takes a seat in one of the chairs across from hers, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he sits. "Whoa, hold up," Aaron says. "You already began. You're telling None you're leaving? Detroit?"
"What?! No! I'm not leaving Detroit. I can't. I," She interrupts that sentence with a different one, "I'm leaving The Euthanatos. I finally found clarity in what I've been struggling with. I love None, you know, like--first kinda like a comrade? then a parent almost." she pauses a moment in memory, "or a grandparent, really. please don't let them have wasted their life." That latter part to herself. "Where was I? Anyway, I have clarity. I can show you?"
Aaron blinks. His lips purse and draw to one side. His eyes focus on the cloth-wrapped cards for a moment, and then pan up to Alma's face. "Is this demonstration related to why you're choosing to leave the Euthanatos, or is the clarity you want to show me related to something else?" The tone in his voice marks it as a legit uncertainty, like he is not sure at all that there's even a connective through line from one sentence to the next in what she says.
Alma is looking through time and space, but right now the time is
only in her mind. She scans the room and then looks at Aaron like a crow who
is bringing him the twirling string from a kite. She expands her fingers and
brings them together and then then sweeps Aaron in the motion like she's
brushing through him to bring these to her as well. "It's aaalllll related.
It really is. Everything is connected and I could explain it, I think I can
really, but we just don't have the TIME for it. Mosquitos? Euthanatos?
Colony collapse? There are n dimensions for us to weave through or like
Latent Semantic Analysis when--did you know it uses Singular Value
Decomposition like Quantum Physicists, so it's like the mind--but I don't
have time to learn Quantum Mechanics and it's a side effect--Here!"
She grabs a book and slams it down on the table, "It's like this! Uh, and this and this!" She grabs two more books and puts them down. "And---" She stops herself and takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry, everything is related. And you being here with me in the context in this universe with the physcicality of this day and these elements.... Oh my god I'm so close to quiet. it gets like this when I'm--look how much time I've spent. Can you ask that question again? It helps me focus." She looks around the room again, like she can actually notice saccades, until she comes to focus again on Aaron's face with extreme intensity.
Aaron just sits there and watches until Alma stops to breathe. When she does--and even looks to him to say something, to boot--he shifts in his seat, scooting closer to the edge of it. "Ms. Hunter...Alma," he starts. "You are barely making any sense at all. Are you sure you're in a good place to be making major decisions like the one you're presently contemplating?"
"That's not what you asked before, but ok: Yes. Yes, I am."
Aaron looks skeptical. "Okay, if you're sure," he says, also sounding skeptical. "What is the clarity you found that is leading you to choose to leave your Tradition?"
Alma narrows her eyes, "That's personal. That's mental intimacy. I don't know you like that." Alma says this as if you asked to kiss her. "Anyway, you're here. We both wanted to see Emma. I can show you this. Remember when I talked about clarity the last time? And the quasiter? I can explain that."
"I don't have time for this," Aaron says, his hands pressing into his knees as he stands up. "I'm glad you found your clarity, Ms. Hunter. I hope that's _actually_ what you've found. Do be careful not to get _lost_ on your garden path." Then he turns and starts to walk toward the door.
"Hold it right there! You looked worried the other day and I can help. The universes call out to each other in the interdependency. I /will/ help you. I have a calling. Despite me yelling at Al, I care about her. Seeing your care helps me respect you." She waves to the door. "Go, since you need to. Some lines I can't see draw you."
Aaron pauses at the door, his hand on the handle, and turns to look at Alma. "Mind your own business, Ms. Hunter, and I'll mind mine. If I want your help, I'll ask for it." Then he pulls open the door, and leaves. }}
