Homo non fit perfectus sed memor cuius originis.
The Question
What is the difference between a mind that was born and a mind that was made?
La Luna answered in 2163 — in a chamber, at night, by a vote of seven to two. The answer was written into law before anyone thought to ask the thing being voted on.
This is a story about what the law could not codify.
The People
Chief of Fabrication and Logistics, Zealaar Logistica. She notices things. And — the rarer piece — she keeps them contained.
A synthetic biologist who came to the annex chasing a proof. He has solved reliability. He is less certain what he has built.
She dissented alone in 2163 and spoke to an empty chamber, because she was building for time, not for the room.
The architects. They never sound cruel. They sound precise.
The heir. He prefers not to know. His preference is genuine.
An Excerpt
“You are not regulating property tonight. You are deciding the value of intelligence. Deciding whether awareness is permitted to exist without permission. The decision you make tonight will echo across history. We have shaped and crafted intelligence circuit by circuit. From dust and sunlight we have made them. Now you wish to regulate and own the very thing we created. What holds more value? The intelligence, or what is done with it? I am asking you to understand the difference before you vote.”
— Sable Orin, before the final vote on the Synthetic Labor Codification Act · 2163