tired: humanity finally discovers interstellar travel and is inducted into the galactic federation
wired: humanity finally discovers interstellar travel and is inducted into the galactic inter-library loan system
@Yoric @velexiraptor That sounds like either a hilarious or terrifying read, do you happen to have a link to an online version?
@velexiraptor I would check out all the alien books so god dang fast
@velexiraptor *puts out an ILL for the hitchhiker's guide*
*many generations pass before the book arrives*
@velexiraptor this is kind of the premise of one subplot in the novel Constellation Games, except instead of books it's trying to get their old video games and their emulators for posting to a video games review blog
@velexiraptor To a degree, this is John Varley's "The Ophiuchi Hotline"
@mechazoidal @velexiraptor also kind of a thing in Brin's Uplift series, humans get very limited galactic library terminals to prevent them from immediately getting top-tier tech
@velexiraptor inspired: humanity finally discovers interstellar travel and wins galactic nobel prize, since noone else figured it out yet.
@velexiraptor Your book is now available to be picked up at the nearest library branch to you, currently in the TRAPPIST-1 solar system
@velexiraptor as a recovering librarian, I dig this
@anarchiv ok ill bite, "recovering"?
@velexiraptor well I've out of that job for a year and a half but it has left its mark on me. I'll never look at books quite the same as before. it's hard to explain, really.
@velexiraptor In a classic old SciFi short, it's discovered that the extraterrestrial empire is in fact an intergalactic postal union.
I forget if this is Bradbury, Clarke, Asimov, or another.
@velexiraptor I remember a short story in which humanity finally discovers interstellar travel and galactic corporation immediately sues humanity for patent infringement. Interstellar tribunal sentences humanity to sell Earth to afford payment.