Tali and Simkha spent most of the next day in Simkha’s flat. Tali spent the morning doing calculations to build a Bagel for her rescue-me-from-the-hologram project. She double-checked her maths as she went, recording her results in her SIGN frame. Tali assumed Simkha was working on schoolwork—transcribing notes and organizing them in an outline.
When Tali asked what Simkha was doing, Simkha said ??Uh. [It] bwurdt [called the] wa-sho-ver-tech-n?que. [For] Erchaeobotanu.??
By the early afternoon, Tali needed a break. She flopped across the loveseat and made a silly face at Simkha, trying to snag her attention. Simkha didn’t notice. She turned back and forth between her notes and her laptop and typed furiously.
Tali hadn’t seen the new, grown-up Simkha in this kind of fugue state yet. She spent a few minutes observing Simkha, the little furrow on her brow, the sharp motion of her eyes, and the restless bouncing of her leg. Tali smiled softly and tapped a foot along with Simkha.
As a child, Simkha would throw an absolute fit whenever an adult made her stop in the middle of one task to perform another. Young Tali had seen how much that distressed her friend, and took it upon herself to protect young Simkha from unnecessary interruptions. She had been Simkha’s most ardent protector.
Of course that was then and this was now. Both girls had changed, to varying degrees.
Adult Tali had years more schooling under her belt. She had learned in the classroom about autism, mental derailment, and specifically autistic experiences of distress. Adult Simkha had probably learned the same things, and learned to minimize her own distress.
And, of course, some interruptions were necessary. So Simkha would probably tell Tali to interrupt her in order to meet her own needs.
Yeah, needs. Needs like… leaving the flat. Like having adventures. Like having adventures with Simkha.
Tali pulled out the chair across the table from Simkha, crouched on it like a gargoyle, stared at Simkha, and waited.
After seventeen seconds, Simkha blinked. She refocused her eyes. She looked up, saw Tali, and her lips twitched into a smile.
??Sim-khaaa?? moaned Tali. ??[I am] booo-ored! [I] wanna go out! [I] wanna eat! [I] want [exercise]!??
??Uhhh,?? said Simkha. ??[Do you] ?n ku?er gean wolle???
Tali cocked an eyebrow and said nothing.
??Uh, Ku?er??? repeated Simkha. She walked a hand across the table using two fingers as legs. ??Ku?er me? tyn fuotten???
??Hmmm,?? said Tali. She lifted one leg up, raising her foot above the edge of the table. ??[Is this called] ‘fuotten?’??
??[Um, yes],?? said Simkha. ??In fuot.??
If fuotten meant “foot,” then ku?er must mean “walk.”
??[Yes]!?? said Tali. ??[You-me is foot-walk. Walk is good!]!??
Tali pestered Simkha for more English words while they got ready to go out. She got words for
162. Walk,
163. Foot,
164. Feet,
165. Toe,
166. Sock,
167. Shoe,
168. Sandal (equivalent, but distinct to “shoe”), and
169. Bag
As soon as Simkha was ready, Tali rushed down the stairs and out onto the street.
Ahhh!
Tali thought this Fir-stox-ford city was way nicer than Tangiers. The weather here was comfortable. The air was pleasantly warm. And this particular day was perfect for an adventure. Tali basked in the afternoon glow while Simkha locked the door behind them.
Tali seized Simkha’s arm and dragged her off in an arbitrary direction. Tali marched them up one road, down another, and all the way along a third.
Soon enough, Tali and Simkha came upon a bustling city square. To one side of the square, a steady stream of people spilled out of one of those pointy Christian temples. To the other side of the square, a small mob of middle-aged people in self-similar clothing milled through a cluster of artsy-looking booths. All those people talked loudly in tones that reminded Tali of pointless university feuds.
Tali cocked her head as she observed. She tilted to just the right angle, then waited for her SIGN to do its thing.
After about an eighth of a second, her display winked out, spent another quarter second loading, and then activated Social Analysis Mode—SAM for short. The acronym wasn’t actually SAM in High Tongue, but Tali would have agreed that SAM sounds much better than ?h?N.
Tali’s SAM highlighted the closest member of the crowd first, a middle-aged man wearing a tweed suit.
??ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL EMOTIONAL SIGNS…
VERY PROBABLE: Disgust, annoyance
PROBABLE: Hunger, arousal, confidence
POSSIBLE: Satisfaction, distr—??
With a flick of her eyes, Tali switched her SAM to group analysis mode.
??ANALYZING INTERPERSONAL INTERACTIONS…
SALIENT DYNAMICS: Group loyalty, fear of outsiders, fear of exclusion, fear o—??
Tali glanced behind her, where Simkha wore an anxious expression.
??NO GROUP DETECTED. INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS RESUMED.
ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL EMOTIONAL SIGNS…
VERY PROBABLE: Anxiety
PROBABLE: Anxiety (elevated), fear, determination, arousa—??
Tali flicked her SIGN back to standard mode. She didn’t need help seeing past Simkha’s poor attempts to hide feelings. She could tell this was not the right place to begin their adventure.
Tali picked a new direction and led Simkha away. After about four minutes, they reached the river and stopped.
Tali noticed something odd. Or more accurately, she felt an ambiguous feeling that something was different about the district across the river.
Just what was the difference?
Maybe it was the style of the buildings? Comparing them directly, Tali thought they might be a little bigger, newer, and more closely packed than the buildings over here. But that didn’t feel like enough of an explanation.
Maybe the difference was in the pedestrian streets? The walking streets were set further apart from the automotive streets and didn’t even follow the same grid layout. The connecting paths were set off by bollards. And the pedestrian areas were brick-cobbled in a style similar to the older parts of the Bweim-Biew campus.
Or the difference could be in the writing? Both sides of the river were practically covered in signs, banners, and other words.
At first glance, both scripts appeared identical. Both used glyphs that were almost-but-not-quite identical to the crude alphabet she had learned for Saxonnaise. A second glance revealed that the script across the river had adopted a whole host of diacritics not used over here.
But for all their differences, the two districts had much more in common. They were constructed from the same materials. Their architectural details seemed like variations on the same theme. And they were joined by several bridges, allowing for a fairly steady flow of people hither and thither.
??[Simkha, what is that place]??? asked Tali.
??Uh,?? said Simkha, ??lyg, [what is it named]???
??[Yes, what is it named]??? said Tali.
??[That is],?? said Simkha, ??Saxe-Occ?dental.??
Simkha pointed down at the river.
??[That is] ?n ?r?v?er. [It is called] te ?r?v?er te Teems.??
Simkha spoke with a slight edge to her voice, prompting Tali to look again. Simkha did her best to wrestle her face into a neutral expression, but she had not become more skilled at hiding her thoughts over the years.
??[What is], er, [what is not good]??? asked Tali. ??[This place, Saxe-Occidental. It is…] er, [Is it not-good?]??
Simkha ducked her head.
??[No],?? she said. ??[It is good].??
??[Then what is not-good]???
Simkha pouted. Tali waited. Simkha gestured to the district across the river as she answered.
??Yn Saxe-Occ?dental, se [talk] te Franske [language]. [I do not talk] Fransk.??
Tali nodded. She had thought about the language barrier as a potential obstacle to a proper adventure with Simkha. But maybe she’d been thinking about it wrong. Maybe it could even be an advantage. She smiled.
But how could she get Simkha to go along with her plan??
??[Good we],?? said Tali. ??[Talk me. Relax you. Happy you. Happy me. Happy we. Walk we! Good]???
Simkha closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She set her jaw. When she opened her eyes, they gleamed with determination.
??[Yes],?? said Simkha. ??[Good]??
??So you took Simkha on an all-afternoon date,?? said Hrefna. ??And she spent the whole time just try?ng to teach you English???
??What is 'date?'?? asked Tali.
Tali sat next to Simkha at Mika and Hrefna’s kitchen table. Tali had figured out that this was a sort of weekly study group, although nobody was studying the same materials. Tali struggled to follow the conversation.
??Oh my G*d,?? said Simkha. ??It wasn’t a date! It’s like Tali said, it was an adventure. We used to do this sort of thing all the time when we were kids.??
??Hreffie!?? said Mika. ??Don’t tease her. Simmie, you can just ignore her.??
??Nooo-o!?? protested Hrefna. ??Don’t ignore me! Or I’ll, like, take off all my clothes.??
??What is, er, what is 'date?'?? Tali repeated.
To Tali’s left, Simkha squirmed and sat kinda weird in her seat—with her legs half-crossed and half propped against the table. Moving clockwise from Simkha, Hrefna sat with one leg in front of her and the other crossed so that her knee splayed out and touched Mika’s. Next to Mika sat a woman who had called herself “Corey.” She was exceptionally thin, styled her dark brown hair in a Titus cut. Coery’s posture was almost too perfect. Finally, Jneffner sat between Corey and Tali, her body turned away from the table and her legs hooked up and under her chair.
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??A ‘date’ is what you and Simkha did this afternoon],?? said Hrefna.
??A ‘date’ is kinda like what you and Simkha did this afternoon,?? said Mika. ??But if you and Simkha had been, like, girlfriends. Wait, do you even know what ‘girlfriend’ means???
??What is ‘girlfriend?’??
??It’s like, uh, like me and Hrefna? Or if you two were also, like, kissing and having sex. Wait, you don’t know what kissing or sex mean either, do you???
??Think we should demonstrate for her, babe??? said Hrefna.
??Or you can ask Simkha to show you ‘sex’ later tonight,?? said Corey.
Simkha choked on nothing.
Tali knew she didn’t understand some parts of the conversation, but she could absolutely understand teasing Simkha. She allowed a sly smirk to grow on her face.
??Nooo-o,?? corrected Tali, ??I know ‘sex.’ Simkha teach me ‘sex’ already. Simkha teach me ‘sex.’ Right away, first night I see her.??
Hrefna cackled.
??G*d damn it,?? groaned Simkha. ??Et tu, Tal?? Et tu, Corey???
Simkha groaned, turned towards the rest of the table, and hid her face
??I taught her the word for 'sex', but it wasn’t, uh, like that. We all know I’m too much of a mess for that. For all I know, Tali is a hundred percent straight.??
Tali grinned at Simkha
??Tali, you’re a riot,?? said Hrefna.
??I don’t know how to handle Corey making a sex joke,?? said Mika.
??You can make a sex-joke without wanting sex,?? said Corey.
??I mean sure,?? said Mika, ??but it’s still weird for you. Even if you weren’t about to suddenly join [Jneffner]’s team.??
??Nobody wants to be on my team,?? sighed Jneffner. She made an odd expression.
Tali frowned. She cocked her head to the side until her SAM turned on.
ANALYZING PHYSIOLOGICAL EMOTIONAL SIGNS…
VERY PROBABLE: Melancholy, anger
PROBABLE: Insecurity, anxiety, excitement
POSSIBLE: Disgust, anticipation, vigilance
Tali flipped her SIGN back to standard mode.
??…shut your stupid mouth,?? said Simkha. ??You’ve got no need to ask her.??
??Jneffner!?? insisted Tali. ??Is not true! We are all team here. We want team you.??
??Hmph,?? grumbled Jneffner.
??Yeaaah,?? said Mika. ??I don’t think Tali really got your meaning. But, like—you know she’s right. Right? Like, what I mean is that Georgia and Lídia don’t see you as any less part-of-the-group just because you’re straight.??
??Oh my god, I was literally joking,?? said Jneffner.
??Oops, my bad,?? said Mika. ??I just, like, thought it would be easy to read Georgia wrong, with how she’s always joking like you’re secretly bisexual. I’m confident she’s, like, trying to say that you’re part of the team. It’s not that you don’t fit in because you’re straight. It’s that you do fit in, even though your friend group is a total sapphic social club.??
??Sapphic syndicate??? said Hrefna.
??Queer Qabal,?? said Corey. ??ThankYouVeryMuch.??
??ANYWAY,?? said Jneffner, rubbing her forehead. ??Uh. Simkha. Tali. What did you two actually do? Did you really spend the whole afternoon learning English???
Tali looked at Simkha and raised an eyebrow. Simkha shrugged. Tali figured she could explain their afternoon, given everything she’d learned.
??Er,?? said Tali. ??We go to adventure. We go to place. We adventure to place. Simkha teach to me to words to adventure.??
??Yeah,?? said Simkha. ??We talked about the stuff we did. I taught her words as they came up.??
??So,?? said Tali. ??Hmmm. We go-ed to over-river. To French city. We see-ed big small child. Small child played to foot-ball.??
??We saw many small childs,?? corrected Simkha.
??Uh,?? said Hrefna.
??You saw many small child-ren,?? corrected Corey.
??Simkha take foot-ball, to—from? From many small child-ren,?? said Tali. ??Kick foot-ball to sky.??
??Wait!?? said Simkha. ??I just caught the ball when the kids lost control of it. And, like, showed them how to juggle it.??
??Kicked foot-ball faaa-aaar to sky…?? said Tali.
??Oh,?? said Simkha. ??You were just, like, trying to tease me, weren’t you???
??No, I think she was successfully teasing you?? said Hrefna.
??Hmmm. Since when are you able to juggle a football??? asked Jneffner.
??Oh, yeah,?? said Simkha ??I've been, like, a little obsessed with football tricks for, like, a couple years.??
??You ever consider joining a football team??? asked Jneffner.
??And then we find big world,?? said Tali. ??Little city. Many little city. And Simkha smoosh, smoosh, smoosh! Kill, kill, kill! Smoosh-kill all little the city.??
??Smoosh smoosh, kill kill??? asked Mika.
??Did you kids find that, like, twelve-meter tall globe built into, like, the side of that one museum??? asked Corey.
??Yes!?? said Tali, ??Globe is word! Big mu-se-um, big world-globe!??
??What was all the ‘smoosh’ and ‘kill’ about, then??? asked Mika.
??Ummm,?? said Hrefna. ??Obviously it was, like, smooshing and killing all the little cities painted onto the globe???
??Uh, yeah,?? Simkha admitted. ??That was basically it.??
??Hell yeah,?? agreed Hrefna. ??Smoosh and kill is, like, the obvious thing you do at the big globe.??
??Then we go to ca-fe,?? said Tali. ??Simkha buy me cute drink, cute pas-try. And two cute girl, they talk to us. They ask if we to-ga-ther. Oh! Like ‘date!’ Like ‘girlfriend!’??
??It was definitely a date,?? said Hrefna. ??But what did you tell the girls???
??Erm,?? said Tali. ??One girl, she asked to give to me to… num-ber? Yes, num-ber. Simkha tell to me to the meaning of num-ber. I say to girl, I no. She not, erm, ‘my type?’??
Mika and Hrefna exchanged a considering look.
??Don’t you dare,?? said Simkha.
??And two girl,?? said Tali, ??ask to give to Simkha to number.??
??Oh???
?? And Simkha say ‘AH, AH, ER, ERM, AH, ERM, NO, YES, NO, ERM,’ yes???
Hrefna cracked up.
??So two girl, she make the word number to the napkin, give napkin to Simkha, go to away.??
??Did Simkha keep her number???
??No!?? said Simkha. ??Obviously not! I took Tali back to our flat and we did schoolwork!??
??Schoolwork??? asked Jen. ??Tali, do you have schoolwork???
??Eh,?? said Tali. ??I write maths.??
??You took her back to our flat??? Mika smiled. ??That’s an excellent choice of words. I’m glad you two are getting so close.??
Tali grinned. Simkha groaned.