Troubled words from my parents, my Amma and my Appa, drift beyond the kitchenette.
"We can't repair the synthetic marsh," says Amma. "Not with this budget." I thought the authorities promised our next allowance months ago.
"What if there's another flood?" says Appa. "If the marsh can't absorb enough water, this village will be pulverized."
"Rog pa je," murmurs Amma. She exhales, setting down her tea-mug with a clunk -- sharp enough to make me squeak. "Norje," she calls, "why are you here?"
I poke my head into the kitchenette. "Can't sleep."
"Come, son," says Amma, leading us toward my cot. "Let's talk."
She hands me a flexi-stone. I read what she's highlighted: Ether's gaining monstrous power, tracking our sentiments. Weeding out the inefficient, often the cultural.
"No!" I shriek. We can't live without Ether. Our world would fall apart at the seams.
We experience flooding as often as tourism. The Ether-powered marsh is our salvation (when functional), retaining floodwater to send to purifiers, recycling it for domestic use. Some blame the floods on logging. Synthetic trees are prettier, anyway. My Amma quotes legends: the god Gya cured our land, Tibet, of an ancient flood, sending teacher-missionaries to civilize the monkey-like survivors.
"Is Tibetan a monkey to be civilized... or destroyed?" asks Amma. "Are some languages and people more important than others?" Of course, I seldom notice the few and far-between, though I'm among them.
Continued: Ether is based on the concept that people are as easy to manipulate as numbers, though most think themselves incapable of kidnapping by words.
"If people couldn't manipulate each other," I respond, "there'd be no life. To get what we need, we must exploit others!"
"Do you grasp the irony of your words?" murmurs Amma. "Do you know the meaning of exploitation?"
Nope.
"Rog pa je!" yelps Appa, peering at a new line on the timestream. "Tourists are coming tomorrow!"
Amma squeezes my shoulder. "Norje, we need to talk more, but it'll have to wait. You must sleep."
As the night grows old, she stays by my side. Neither of us is easily put to rest.
YOU ARE READING
Rog Pa Je (Help!)
Bilim Kurgu2084. The Ether, which internally connects and tracks humans, permeates global society. Tibetans are one of many groups that face oppression, their language nearly snuffed out. One Tibetan family has chosen to sell itself to tourism.
