i would die for Rocky the Eridian

Not as formative as Latin maybe but there were tones and cadences that would carry between concepts. Rocky’s ship had a sort of dictionary on it and Grace was slowly working his way through the “A”s now that he had enough of a basic grasp of the grammar and syntax. Which was more like thinking in octaves and rhythms. Their method of writing was even somewhat similar to what Grace knew of musical notation, sort of. Not with time signatures and bars exactly, but with octave and rhythm indicators similar to music notes. It was like translating into math but each equation sang itself to you.

Grace laughs to himself whenever he finds an Eridian phrase that maps onto an English translation “alphabetically”. Like how Agate begins with A in English and is part of the primary note group that leads this section of words (the equivalent “A” section of Rocky’s dictionary). So when he gets to the phrase for “Atonal” he is surprised at some of the alternate definitions.

In Eridian, the concept of “traditional” tonality carries with it cultural connotations. Notes are arranged and language constructed itself around that hierarchy so the lack of “reference to key or tonal center and using the tones of the chromatic scale impartially” had layers to it that Grace had had to pause in his reading to parse through.

The more he read, the more atonality sounded like an Eridian medical condition. A sort of unknowing transgression of social norms. An inability to copy and present accepted means of communication, a sort of mistranslation that can occur to Eridians with atonality.

The mental image of a piece of paper overlays the screen in front of him and the words Individualized Education Program drift across his mind’s eye. He thinks for a moment. Atonality reminds him of autism.

Grace has autism.

Grace has autism!

As he does for most new memories, Grace goes in search of Rocky. It will allow him to check if he’s right about the social ramifications of atonality and also test Rocky’s medical knowledge!

In all his excitement, Grace hadn’t been prepared for Rocky’s response to his revelation.

They wear suits, but they don't even know basic etiquette.

2 mimir

You KNOW classic SF used the limited displays of CRT television and the static of transmitted signals the way theaters use stage makeup and lighting to make inexpensive props look great fine— take advantage of the medium! But it's hard to imagine how it looked if you've only seen Blu-ray HD restorations.