Of Hair and Other Things

[Shadow 0]

Of Hair and Other Things

 

A Shadow Log

 

It had occurred to Shadow that biologicals had an innate need to categorize not only inanimate objects (which, of course, were not inanimate at all, they only seemed that way to the observationally challenged senses of an organic being), but anything they came across, including other biologicals, even those they considered similar to themselves. Moreover, their classification went beyond the complex taxonomies that constantly changed because of DNA sequencing. They either craved or enjoyed what The Hefner called pigeonholing according to rank, behavior, hair color, quirks of communication, etc. In fact, anything that could differentiate one from the other tended to create a pigeonhole, though Shadow had yet to locate this hole aboard the Agincourt.

 

For instance, in the absence of anything concrete on which to base their decision, they had first named this energy being Shadow then renamed it Casper and had given it a gender, which was beyond strange on so many levels.

 

For lack of, or perhaps in complete disregard of Tay Nightflyer’s proper designation, they had named her Bat, among other things. But she didn’t seem to mind and the crew seemed to derive a degree of amusement that kept the crew occupied during otherwise dark and dangerous times.

 

All that aside, Shadow had noticed that he, too, in his observations of this universe, had begun to categorize. It intrigued him immensely and he wondered if it was a sign of progression or regression. However, the more intrigued he became the more he categorized and he wondered how far he could go with said categorization until one day the use of the transporter caught his attention.

 

These finite biological beings stood on a platform and trusted a mechanism to disassemble their atomic structure, transport it through the ether to a destination, and then reassemble it – hopefully in the original configuration. If, he wondered, they could do that, why did they not remain in that disassembled state, an infinitely more efficient state of being than the complex energy-wasting biological state to which they were born?

 

‘Twas, indeed, a puzzlement. In their original biological state they consumed stored energy in the form of food, used only a portion of said stored energy to sustain, grow, and reproduce, then disposed of the stored energy that was not needed. This disposed stored energy eventually disintegrated into its prime components, bonded with other components, began to grow into another biological item to be used as stored energy, and the cycle continued ad infinitum. Their seekers called this the conservation of matter and energy, though Shadow begged to differ that there was any kind of conservation involved, only consumption and disposal.

 

Disposal. Removal. Discarding. Clearing. Throwing away. It was all such a waste. And evidence of such seemed to litter the ship, though the crew didn’t seem to notice it as much as Shadow did. Except for The Harper, who kept what she called a lint roller by her chair on the bridge. It had something to do with The JoNs and a process called shedding, which Shadow took to be similar to other biological life that the crew considered non-sentient. Deciduous trees found on some planets seemed to exhibit the same phenomenon: the shedding of a part that is no longer needed, or falling away when its purpose is finished, such as when the fruit is ripe. Was The JoNs’ shedding similar to that? Did The JoNs produce a tiny unseen fruit beneath what she called her coat?

 

Yet, The Harper didn’t seem to notice the shedding of her own hair, which seemed to drop occasionally, especially when she was faced with incalculable odds in stressful situations. Though she occasionally removed a hair from her uniform tunic she seemed to be more obsessed with The JoNs’ shedding than her own. The shedding of hair and dead epidermal particles also seemed to be ignored, except by the lowliest of the lowly who were tasked with cleaning the ship. Yet another categorization.

 

‘Twas, indeed, a puzzlement.

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Nice log from the Resident Energy Being: I'm missing the Word of the Week (deciduous! woo!). This is so depressing.

 

::makes note to hide The Harpers command chair lint roller::