1: Where are you going after this?
2: Leaving the world of islands behind.
1: It will be a long swim, but perhaps you are a skilled floater.
2: I hope to identify that way one day, but amateur would be more appropriate to my current skill level.
1: Then you’re taking a great risk, no? Leaving the world of islands with few skills seems vulnerable, no? Is protection important to you?
2: I remember some big felt things. Just having those big felt things in my mind makes me feel happy and safe. Is that what you meant by protection?
1: Yes, and along with feeling safe and soft, I want you to exercise your protection when necessary; to swim when you’re drowning, so to speak — to change when adaptation is required.
2: I see. Yes, I think I do adapt. I do most of my thinking while I’m using my electric scissors, so I have lots of time. Time to think lends itself well to adaptation, I think.
1: Will you still think and cut things electronically after this, when you leave the world of islands behind?
[a baby enters]2: I guess I’m not sure. It depends on what other places are like and whether or not I can figure out how to bring my electric scissors with me for the swim.
baby: Mommy says not to bring the electric clips in the water. They have a special place and even though they could go anywhere, they should stay at the safe familiar space.
2: who are you?
baby: A baby, a post-millennial, a generation after the first generation to come of age in the era of climate change. I am the feelings that come after the collective, unconscious anxiety stemming from the immense idea that the world may, in the foreseeable future, be uninhabitable for humans. I am release…
[Another baby enters]2: Wow. Did you write that yourself? It kind of sounds like a description from a program at an art gallery.
the other baby: [singing] I forgot to join you!
All: [singing] What is there to join?
babies: [singing/cooing] We can join the group, you can join our group. Milk our sleep for all its worth and we’ll soon be ready to talk computers with you. Or we can just watch over each other, a world of babies with nothing to adapt to but other babies.
All: [singing] We would love to join your group, but first let us finish our rehearsal. First let us finish our rehearsal. LET US FINISH OUR REHEARSAL NOW!