Chapter 22
“Amelia?”
“Yes, Ms. Snow.”
“What seems to be the problem?”
“What problem?”
“You know I will not tolerate you answering a question with a question. Don’t make me repeat mine.”
“The problem is I’m not doing my nightlies.”
“Why?”
“I am not motivated to do them.”
“Why?”
“I have no motivation.”
“Why?”
“I am out of paper, and the bottle you provided is full.”
“Why didn’t you ask me for more paper?”
“You wouldn’t give it to me. I asked before.”
“Why didn’t you ask again?”
“I thought the answer would be the same.”
“Why?”
“I thought you’d say paper was an inefficient means of recording one’s thoughts.”
“I would. And why wouldn’t I provide another bottle?”
“You would say it was an inefficient means of storing one’s recorded thoughts.”
“I would. And why would I say those things, Amelia?”
“You would say those things, Ms. Snow, because you would argue that great citizens of the recent past created digital technologies that allow for the more efficient and reliable recording and storage of one’s thoughts.”
“Exactly. Then why would you want me to provide you with more paper and a bottle when the creation of such items can only contribute hazard to the environment?”
“The environment has healed, thanks to the actuator, reducing the risk of hazard.”
“Reducing it to zero?”
“Not to zero.”
“Has the environment healed completely?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then why would we want to go backwards?”
“I don’t want us to go backwards.”
“Then why contribute to the hazard when the technology is more efficient?”
“What about the energy to run the technology?”
“The elliptical machines powered by citizens create that energy without any contribution to the hazard, and they promote the good health of citizens in the process.”
“What about in places like this, Ms. Snow? Who creates the energy to run the technology here?”
“We can’t allow the students to run an elliptical outside the home. The law forbids it.”
“And the Private that runs the rehab respects the law?”
“Yes.”
“Then who creates the energy here?”
“We have employees for that, those who operate elliptical machines, same as we do for maintaining the common space.”
“And who prepares the meals?”
“The meals are actuated to us.”
“And who prepares the meals before they are actuated?”
“You know everything actuated comes from a farm or factory run by machines remotely programmed and operated by citizens of City.”
“But who creates the energy to operate the machines at the farms and factories?”
“There are all sorts of technologies, Amelia, like solar power and wind power that can generate energy for such facilities. Great minds have worked long and hard to advance such developments, making your attachment to paper and bottles more inefficient than you currently understand. Perhaps after the annual dance in the spring, you should begin studies in energy technology. One can always move forward.”
“Will I be permitted to go to the dance?”
“Of course, if you do your nightlies.”
“And Marco?”
“He doesn’t do nightlies, but if he agreed to be institutionalized, a man of his resourcefulness and initiative could prove useful to the Mod and City.”
“He won’t agree to it.”
“Then he won’t prove useful.”
“Then the annual dance is not useful to me. Find something else to motivate me.”
“What would motivate you, Amelia?”
“What about more paper and another bottle?”
“I’ve already convinced you that there are more efficient and less harmful ways to create and store thoughts.”
“Those aren’t the only measures of justifying a thing.”
“And how would you like to justify your request?”
“I prefer a paper and a bottle.”
“Why?”
“I like the act of writing.”
“We could provide you a digital writing pad.”
“I like the act of writing with the weight of a pen in my hand.”
“We could give you an electronic pen with the same weight.”
“I like the way paper sounds when I roll it up and put it into a bottle.”
“We can run a program to make those sounds.”
“I like that, when I am done writing, I can place the rolled paper into a glass bottle.”
“We can create a graphic design to simulate that experience.”
“I prefer the real thing.”
“How is the real thing superior?”
“The real thing is superior because my writing shows through the bottle and reminds me of Marco.”
“We can create a graphic design to suit the same purpose, even render it to scale. Your example adds nothing.”
“The real thing is superior because I say so.”
“Amelia, if you give up, if you get flippant with me, I will remove the bottle and paper.”
“I’ve already earned them.”
“You earned them for doing your nightlies.”
“And I did my nightlies prior to receiving those rewards.”
“While I cannot take those rewards for failure to finish your nightlies, I can take them away for failure to engage in informal dialogue with me.”
“With you, chat is indistinguishable from a nightly.”
“Not in the eyes of the law. The laws governing in-person colleges are clear.”
“That logic sounds circular.”
“Once a law is posited, circularity is no defense for breaking it. If you fail to engage informal dialogue after refusing to do your nightlies, the law requires I remove any material rewards from your room.”
“Until I resume the dialogue or finish my nightlies?”
“Precisely.”
“Then resume the dialogue, Ms. Snow.”
“In the case of the bottle and paper, how are the real things superior to what we could create digitally?”
“They decline. They can expire. They can be lost.
“How are those potential failures good?”
“They remind me of Marco, of our humanity, that we too can decline or expire or be lost.”
“And how does that reminder serve you?”
“I am reminded to savor Marco and our humanity because all people decline or expire or are lost.”
“And why couldn’t we create a program so that the virtual bottle and paper would also decline or expire or become lost?”
“The rate of our decline or demise is unexpected whereas a virtual bottle and paper would do so in a programmed fashion.”
“And why couldn’t we create a randomizing program so that the virtual bottle and paper would decline or expire or become lost with the same rate and probability as the real thing, thereby serving as a sufficient reminder of the preciousness of our humanity?”
“I don’t know.”
“You will answer in the positive or negative. Or else the law will require me to remove your material rewards.”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“We could create such a randomizing program.”
“Excellent. You’ve done very well this evening. You may keep your bottle and papers for now. You may not have more.”