Conversation with Bet

This scene will be toward the end of Act I for the Javier and Mētis story. It is a cross between a world-building essay and working on writing dialogue.

Javier is an Earth tween who has been convinced by Mētis to live on a village ship. Javier was forced to leave his grandfather’s farmstead on the still technologically backward Earth due to family intrigue.

Bet is a minor character in the story of Javier and Mētis, acting as an informal teacher to Javier. He could be retired if he chose that path, but he prefers to continue to do basic work on the ship to keep busy. Javier first met Bet when he was doing janitorial work outside the family suite and Javier had to navigate his way to school for the first time. Bet also does gardening in the Arboretum and spends a fair amount of free time there, where Javier has come across him for this scene.

Bet and Javier walked along a gravel path in the Arboretum. The crunch of their footfalls was much more satisfying to Javier compared to walking elsewhere on the ship. He also found the earthy smells to be comforting. The fragrances of the flowers, the aroma of the dew, and even the scent of the dirt made Javier feel at home–though it was much greener and more humid than any walk he had experienced back home.

Javier asked about the “post-scarcity society” he had learned about in school. “If everything you need is free, why work at all?”

“Well, if you don’t mind eating at the Canteen for every meal and eating just what you’re given, and you don’t mind having only one change of clothes that are the same as the utility overalls you’re wearing, and you don’t mind sleeping in a tube every rest period, then I guess you would be free to spend your time as you like. Provided, of course, that what you want to do doesn’t cost any money.”

Javier then recounted other things he learned from Civics class and asked how life on the village ship really worked. Bet thought a bit and answered, “Our world is based on the idea of balance. With the correct mix of everything, each thing stays in balance. Just as we feed and water the plants here and make sure the temperature is just right. We are not given all the food we could eat nor all the clothes we might desire. Our needs are met. If we want a special treat, we must pay for that and work to earn that pay. Importantly, such treats are built into the economy so we can indulge a little and not feel deprived.”

Javier protested, “But I’ve seen many of the same people at the pub every Cycle, and they don’t seem to be drinking only a little each evening.”

Bet chuckled, making many of his wrinkles smooth away, except those around his eyes where the wrinkles multiplied. “Balance isn’t a static thing or one-size fits all.” Their path went under the bows of a fair-sized tree, shading them from the bright light running through the axis of the ship overhead. “Take this willow. If we plant it too close to a waterline, it will drink all it can and break the plumbing. With plants, we control their intake. With people, it balances out over a lifetime or across many people. And their earnings provide some limits to overindulgence.”

“So with a minimum of work, people can enjoy more than their needs being met. Why do more than the minimum? Why doesn’t everyone just do some basic job and have fun the rest of the time.”

Bet stopped and looked sidelong at Javier. Then he nodded to himself and started walking again. “Where to begin? Javier, what do you consider ‘fun’?”

Javier rattled off the books and videos he’d poured over that explained how various parts of the ship work, in addition to general science topics. He also brought up the bottle rocket and how he’d made a new one with Helia’s help and launched it in the garden commons behind their suite.

“And given all this extra learning you’ve done, you wouldn’t want to get at least some related certifications?”

“Oh, I probably would, but my cousins back home would be happy to work as little as possible in the kitchens or sweeping the very clean corridors. And my uncles wouldn’t like it one bit. They’d want to see me chopping wood and my cousins working harder than just keeping things clean.”

A rabbit darted across the path in front of them clearly frightened of something, and Bet stopped again. This time he looked up, covering his eyes from the bright light. “Ah, there it is. Javier, do you see the hawk?”

Javier said he did.

“Well, like on Earth, we have more rabbits than we have hawks. But because we have limited space, we need to control both populations. If we get more rabbits than are good for our Arboretum, we round up a bunch, and rabbit will be on the menu for a while. If we get too many hawks, we will capture some and send them to ships that don’t have any. There are some similarities between learning and certifications. Not everyone wants to be captain. Having done that job when I was younger, I can say I wouldn’t want that responsibility again. But enough people want these jobs for their own reasons that we cover most positions with spare talent who can take over if needs be.”

“But how do you make sure there are enough?”

“Directly, I suppose we don’t. But jobs with more responsibility come with more pay, as specified in the village compact. Many villages pay people for time spent learning or for earning particular certifications. And like an Arboretum with too many hawks, other ships may entice talented individuals from other ships into jobs where that village doesn’t have folks with the right certifications. This brings us to more indirect ways. Parents still often pressure their kids to take particular career paths. If not parents, then sometimes kids just feel a general weight of past family achievements, though none of us are lacking in that department. For a village with no one qualified for an important job, there’s a subtle shame when an outsider might be brought in to do it.”