That's not what it means, equality. It's not all being the same. It's not a school that proceeds at the pace of the slowest student, or a government that taxes a good businessman so that he only earns as much as the bad one next door. Equality means that nobody should be told that they can't do things, that they'll be artificially held back because they look a certain way, or were born to a certain caste, or are female. [All men created equal indeed!] Artificial limitations, not natural ones. If nobody on Earth ever thought that way, then our peoples are much less alike than appearances suggest.
[One could interrogate the origin story, of course. Tyrannical Tirvan government, dupes and victims under its power, brave Lorentzen and his rebel following. What came before? What worse secrets lay in their history? But of course Ari Tayrey would say that the free colonies didn't carry responsibility for any crimes of old Tirva.]
[She looks momentarily very confused when he talks about what's acceptable for men, and then laughs. Oh, he didn't understand her, although she didn't think that she was being very subtle, or that he was very innocent-minded. Men don't get their ecstasy from violence. He can't think they're all sadists!
Maybe she'd have teased him about it, but what he says next changes her train of thought entirely. Not human. He certainly looks human, but she's not going to ignore the clues placed before her. He must want her to know.
Another drink from the glass.]
They should care if anyone is propositioning children, no matter where it's happening. [True, if one considers how the Tradelines defines a child! But equally she can't see that anyone would take issue with teenage Tayrey propositioning Captain Laitinen, twice her age. He wasn't her captain, so there's no trouble.] Other than that, it seems like a lot of trying to restrict other people's private business for no good reason. I wouldn't have guessed, though, about France. [Most of what she has been told about France came from the British, and they're hardly unbiased.]
We do the same on the Tradelines. One night affairs. Overnights. When the ship puts in for fuel and resupply. It works well for us. [If they'd been downstation, now, she'd have considered him. More than considered. Although now she's second-guessing herself, because what if that's all... pheromones or the like, because of what she suspects he now is?
She takes another sip of wine.]
These two ethical vampires. One of them is you yourself, yes? Or at least you are leading me to think it, but you and I just went on a long walk in bright light, and I understand that a vampire wouldn't enjoy that very much.
[If she's very wrong, he might laugh at her for the paranoid reasoning, but that's a risk she's willing to take.]
no subject
[One could interrogate the origin story, of course. Tyrannical Tirvan government, dupes and victims under its power, brave Lorentzen and his rebel following. What came before? What worse secrets lay in their history? But of course Ari Tayrey would say that the free colonies didn't carry responsibility for any crimes of old Tirva.]
[She looks momentarily very confused when he talks about what's acceptable for men, and then laughs. Oh, he didn't understand her, although she didn't think that she was being very subtle, or that he was very innocent-minded. Men don't get their ecstasy from violence. He can't think they're all sadists!
Maybe she'd have teased him about it, but what he says next changes her train of thought entirely. Not human. He certainly looks human, but she's not going to ignore the clues placed before her. He must want her to know.
Another drink from the glass.]
They should care if anyone is propositioning children, no matter where it's happening. [True, if one considers how the Tradelines defines a child! But equally she can't see that anyone would take issue with teenage Tayrey propositioning Captain Laitinen, twice her age. He wasn't her captain, so there's no trouble.] Other than that, it seems like a lot of trying to restrict other people's private business for no good reason. I wouldn't have guessed, though, about France. [Most of what she has been told about France came from the British, and they're hardly unbiased.]
We do the same on the Tradelines. One night affairs. Overnights. When the ship puts in for fuel and resupply. It works well for us. [If they'd been downstation, now, she'd have considered him. More than considered. Although now she's second-guessing herself, because what if that's all... pheromones or the like, because of what she suspects he now is?
She takes another sip of wine.]
These two ethical vampires. One of them is you yourself, yes? Or at least you are leading me to think it, but you and I just went on a long walk in bright light, and I understand that a vampire wouldn't enjoy that very much.
[If she's very wrong, he might laugh at her for the paranoid reasoning, but that's a risk she's willing to take.]