Ask Me Anything -- Hive Cattail

Does the colony have any naming conventions? (like generation names for example)

We just have the one name, which we choose when we reach adulthood. Some people change theirs later. You’re not allowed to name yourself the same name as anyone that’s still alive though. Some of us use our house name as a kind of “last name” for when we’re talking to the Earth people from the ship because that’s what they’re used to on Earth.

Were you astounded when you received the first message from Aspen Greaves?

I assumed I was hallucinating at first.

Are their books well known/influential amongst the colonists?

Pretty well known, yeah.

How are you feeling about being one of the liaisons with the Courageous crew?

I was nominated for the role mostly because I’d already talked to them and I already have a very high rank, being a Materials Port Supervisor. It’s a big job but I’m already trained in materials transfers which is good.

Do you feel any apprehension about the merging of the existing colony, and the new arrivals on the ship?

Zamanna’s spear, that’s a topic and a half.

What do you like to do with your free time? Do you do any crafts?

I like to read and learn about animals.

Are there any colony-wide holidays/celebrations?

Aspen’s books talk about ‘years’ being important in measuring time, but they don’t mean very much here except when you’re analysing weather cycles. Our big celebration is for creating a new set. Whenever people come together to make a new set, there’s a party for them and everyone brings them gifts over several days.

Were your parents or grandparents Antarcticans? Or were you an embryo kid? Or is that rude to ask?

Every kid is an embryo kid, that’s how babies grow. We don’t have any parents or grandparents.

Your name appears to be Arborean. Are you excited to meet Arboreans from Earth?

Does it? My name is just my name. I’m pretty excited to talk to Aspen more, but I don’t think Arboreans will be very helpful as a group, or at least, not any more helpful than anyone else. We don’t have an ocean near the settlement so I don’t think they’ll know much more than anyone else about growing things here.

Did you know that a lot of the Javelin program had sent prisoner colonists?

I don’t understand what that sentence means.

What is the coolest planet earth fun fact you know about?

Did you know that Earth has a moon? And it’s huge and it used to be part of the Earth itself when a big rock crashed into the Earth and made it? And you can look up and see it in the sky! Hylara doesn’t have a moon.

What's your favorite animal?

Carpenter bees.

Do you have siblings? how is your relationship with them?

I don’t really know anything about having siblings. I love my setmates, if that’s what you mean. Things have been a bit strained in the set since we heard from the ship and things we used to academically disagree about have become actual practical problems. But we still love each other.

Who picked your name? If you ever changed it, what would you change to?

I picked it. I’d probably go back to Zemiliope, which is what I used to be called when I was younger. But Hive suits me better.

If you could have a superpower, which one would you have?

I don’t know what that means. What are the options?

How long have you know Max for?

For as long as we’ve both been alive. We grew up together, everyone here grew up together.

Do you believe in reincarnation?

I don’t know what that means.

Do you create any kind of art? What?

I don’t make very much art, but my setmate Lorna used to be a really, really good painter when she was younger.

Favorite extinct animal

I don’t know which animals are extinct.

Would you rather be an assassin or a spy?

I just looked up what an assassin is. That’s horrible! Why would you want to kill people? We spend most of our time and effort trying to keep people alive! Violence is not the way to solve your problems!