Skye is the Limit by Phenomenal Pen (detective books to read TXT) 📗

Turning to Lu, Chul-Moo gave a nod and said: <Big brother.>

The exact word he said was “hyung”, which indeed carried a lot of respect among Koreans.

Lu flashed an embarrassed smile and slowly sat down.

<If what you say is true,> Zacharie said, <you need to respect me because I am older than you.>

<Oh yeah? How old are you?>

<Twenty. I know you are nineteen.>

<That is my international age. My Korean age is twenty-one. Boom.>

<Well, we are not in Korea, are we? But it does not matter. I know I am more advanced than you.>

<Prove it,> Chul-Moo said with an edge in his voice. He added with a flourish: <The floor is yours.>

<I do not mind if I do. Thank you very much.>

Zacharie stood up and even walked to the center of the room.

<Bonjour. My name is Zacharie Michel. My close friends call me Zee. So, when you feel that you have earned the right to call me that, you may. Just please never call me Zach.>

Chul-Moo snorted.

<My pet peeves are people who blindly worship at the altar of technology, who have grown overly dependent on it. Of course I do not presume to tell people how to live their lives. Live and let die, as Sir Paul once said. But ignorance is something I simply cannot abide.   

<These Silicon Valley execs believe they are safe with their private jets and secret doomsday bunkers. But when peak oil or the technological singularity comes, all of humanity, technocrats and survivalists alike, shall be dispossessed and pushed down to the mud. Classless but finally free. And all the world shall realize that the survivalists were right all along.>

Chul-Moo raised his hand. Without waiting to be acknowledged, he asked: <If you are such a hard-core survivalist and anti-tech, why did you sign up for SKYE Beta? Why did you not just give or sell your ticket to someone more interested? I am sure your ticket would have fetched a hefty price and you could have put all that… [don?]… into buying a campervan or whatever.>

<Doing so would achieve nothing. I know why Athena has selected me out of millions and millions of people. It falls on me to open the eyes of the world to the truth.>

<You’re so dark,> Chul-Moo said. <I guess when Athena scouted you for your big imagination, she forgot to specify the genre: Utopian or Dystopian.>

The pro gamer chuckled.

<You can think whatever you want, but pessimistic is the last thing that a survivalist is. We thrive in shared human experience and creativity, not despair and sterility. We paint using oil and watercolor, celebrating the perfection of the human figure. Those robots mimicking Vermeer or Van Gogh? They’re nothing short of blasphemy to us.>

<Well, I do not like it either that robots are beating Koreans in baduk,> Chul-Moo said, referring to an East Asian board game that was more intricate than chess. <But that does not mean I am going to skip using a lighter to make fire.>

<You would also strip sand away from the seabeds, coastlines and rivers,> Zacharie hissed, <to feed the production of concrete and your precious silicon chips.>

<And you would not?>

<I think people could live with a few billion fewer smartphones rather than risk the very ground they’re stepping on.>

<So you are going to throw away four million years of human evolution so we can all live in the mud like cavemen.>

“Er, guys,” Ayodele cut in, “is it all right if I go ahead and introduce myself?”

 No reply from Zacharie or Chul-Moo, who were shooting daggers at each other. In the end, Zacharie backed down and returned to his seat while Ayodele took the floor with a great deal of uncertainty. 

Ayodele cleared her throat and said: “Hi guys. My name is Ayodele Eze and you can call me Ellie. I’m a veterinary student but after I graduate I also plan to apply to medical school. I can speak some Mandarin because I’ve taken one semester of it. My hobbies are photography, blogging, playing the piano, and sleeping. I like eating but I’m a terrible cook. And… oh yeah, I’m a cat person. I have a two-year-old Persian cat named Marie.

“This is actually my first time to travel abroad and to ride a plane. I just want to say I’m so thrilled that my first ever destination is Silicon Valley and it’s to meet you guys.” 

Silence from the rest of the Imagineers.

“Um, are there any questions? You can ask me anything.”

Lu raised his hand and Ellie said, “Yes, Lu.”

“It’s not really a question. But, now that you mention it, I forgot to say that I’m a dog person and I’m actually a fabulous cook, especially when it comes to Brazilian cuisine. I make a mean feijoada and I’d be happy to cook for you guys if we ever get the chance.”  

<What’s that, hyung?> Chul-Moo asked.