"The problem is, you see, that the universe, is a fractal." "What?" "A fractal of scale."

Baron stared at River for a moment. "What the hell are you talking about? What the fuck does a fucking fractal have to do with terrorist attacks?"

"Predictability." River said. "Really, it's how they figured out space travel. Once the scientists realized the universe was a fractal, it was like all the work was done. Then they realized that a theory applicable on one level is applicable on any level within the system."

"Still don't see how this relates to fundamentalists from Tamahar. the problem isn't fractawhats, its religious extremism. The problem is a bunch of nut-jobs flew a cruise liner into a space station."

"Naw naw," River replied, "think about it. Is the problem that they did it, or that we put them in a position to do it? That's what I'm talking about. We're really the ones responsible here. You see..."

Baron went off. "The fuck are you talking about "our fault." These assholes flew a damn cruise liner into a damn space station! They accept responsibility, they did it. They alone!"

"But we could have stopped them. Prevented it, anyways." "How's that then?"

"Again, predictability. We were in charge. Right from the start, five hundred years ago, when the States finally took down Al-Qaeda." "The States collapsed ten years later." "Well, yes, but the West as a whole was fine. Germany just came to head things, no real change. And that was it. We had them done in. Islam was not only no longer leading an extremist front, but was disappearing entirely. Then all the namby pamby wishy washy idiots started whining about loss of culture, death of language, all the usual crap. "Oh!" they say "There's room in space for people of all colors and ethnicities!" So we give them a system. A real stinker though. Their culture was preserved, sure, but... resentful."

"Cut the crap, River I don't need a fucking history lesson."

"Right, right, well, anyway my point is this: we're just bunches of atoms, we know how atoms behave. In large groups, they're fractals. They repeat across scale. So, if we know how atoms behave, really we know how people behave. I mean, has the world in the larger sense really changed at all? Sure, we have a couple systems now, not just one planet. But the Anglic systems are still rich, the black systems are still poor. All we've done is change the scale. The timeline is recurring back on itself now. Couple months I bet some warp lane gets bombed. Then in a hundred years or so the Anglos will invade Tamahar. Then they'll collapse just like the States. Few hundred years later some crazy in the Galactic Mid East will tractor beam a star into another system and scorch all the atmospheres off. And that's what I mean. They should've known that the same thing was just gonna happen again, if they let it. We have only ourselves to blame."

Baron looked dubious. "I don't know. You can't judge human beings the same way you judge atoms. They're not the same."

"No, you're right." River responded. "They're bigger."

And again. Did you parcipate in the Short story competition? I think you'd do fine.

I didn't. Missed it I think.

Voting starts tomorrow. Don't worry, there WILL be a fourth one.