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400s: Languages
By Statements 401: Philosophy & theory
When I went back to work the next day, there was more fiber optic cable spooling out from a reel on the loading dock. Following it down the hall to the staff elevator, I saw Vern and Tom feeding the thin blue line up into chasing alongside the plumbing. From overhead came the sound of muffled voices. Boarding the elevator, I noticed one of the ceiling tiles had been removed, and as I ascended I could hear voices rising in volume and then fading away as I passed by. —Can you hear what I'm saying? —signal to noise… –—sighing… –—singing… The elevator abruptly stopped at the second floor, the door rolled opened, and there was Franny, at the video checkout counter. —Got your By Statements done yet? said Franny. With a fist full of color pencils, Franny was filling in the department schedule on a twelve-month calendar spread out over most of the counter top. —I’m working on my By Statements now, came the muffled voice of Barney. But you wouldn’t want to hear ‘em out loud. Barney was laying on his back underneath a desk, his chubby arms and hands reaching out, pulling on a blue cable snaking down from the ceiling. Overhead, there was the sound of