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  Tell the story.

  Drip

  by

  drip.

  Slowly.

  Over a hundred years.

  Collected Unpublished Lyrics

  - Sibsil Creed, Stories of Shurwinn, (2764)

  If I were going to write an uncook book or even share my recipes with anyone at all, I needed to be able to explain what I was doing and why.

  What was the rationale for my diet? Why did it work? I wasn’t even sure yet that it did work, but I was doing well enough to keep doing it.

  Search: traumatic brain injury vegetarian diet

  Whoa, no, too much. I needed to narrow it down.

  Search: traumatic brain injury uncooked vegetarian diet

  Hm. Interesting. “Cybernetic Post-Operative Pain Reduction On A Raw Vegan Diet.”

  The study was small—only twelve patients, but the results were exciting! A thirty-percent reduction in pain during the first three months post-op compared to the typical pain scores of people on standard diets.

  All twelve patients had continued enrollment in the study for long-term results. The paper I was reading had been published six months ago out of a University in the Bootes Galaxy, and it was groundbreaking!

  Cybernetics was fraught with post-operative complications.

  Pain was one of the many risks, and some cases had to be reversed due to long-term pain. Anything at all that could lower that possibility was good news.

  I wondered if the researcher would talk to me about my own condition and what had prompted him to try the diet for cybernetics? I made a note in my journal with the paper title so I could come back to it.

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  I kept searching, but I didn’t find anything else that looked like what I wanted. Scant information. Could I talk to people about it without a scientific foundation?

  The ideas started flowing.

  I wrote down everything that came to mind. Self-experimentation. Not a requirement forever. Just trying it out. Part of a larger healing journey. Anxiety. Journaling. Tapping. Trauma recovery. Recipes. Instructions.

  What I had learned from trial and error. Having a culinary adventure. Grief after loss. There was so much I could write about. So much I could say.

  I didn’t need to do it in a book! I didn’t need a restaurant or an uncook book! I could just start a new stream site and talk to people about my personal journey. It didn’t have to be scientific!

  And if it caught on, there would be more people. And more people meant more opportunities to record data, so it could turn into research eventually.

  People would need help. They’d need advice and encouragement, education and counseling. We couldn’t ignore things like anxiety and nightmares. We had to address everything that was going on.

  And how would people deal with family members and friends who may not like their dietary changes? I could help, and I could start anytime.

  I videoed Lirin, "Do you have a minute to talk about the Shurwinn Code and career ideas?"

  Lirin’s face lit up. "What’s going on? Did you get inspired?”

  I laughed, “I did! I did! I’ve got so much inspiration it will take me five years to figure out how to do it all!”

  “Yeeee! Are we gonna talk about it?”

  “Yes, yes. Okay, I have a lot of ideas. But the first thing is about the Shurwinn code. If I wanna start a stream site separate from my personal account—a business account—but I want to talk about my personal health journey, how much I’m allowed to say about Shurwinn? Because I can’t really talk about myself and leave out coming here. Does that make sense? And can I do any of this before I’m a citizen?"

  She nodded. “Okay, so you want to talk about your own experiences since you’ve been here? Like the monastery? What's the subject?”

  I gave her a quick overview.

  “That sounds like it could help a lot of people, Ryst! You have such a profound story to share,” Lirin said. "And I’m so proud of you. It wasn’t long ago that you were sitting by yourself, and now you’re ready to share your light with other people. To let that shine on them and offer them hope in dark days.”

  I blinked rapidly, holding in the emotion that threatened to leak from my eyes. Lirin was right, it was a big change to go from monastery Ryst to a public face again. But on stream, I thought I could do it. Start small, then take it step by step before getting too big.

  “Thanks, Lirin. That means a lot.”

  “Well, what you need to know about the Code is: don’t use specifics. Don’t talk about the monastery or any locations. Don’t give any identifying information, like people’s names. You can talk about yourself all you want, but be vague when necessary. And if you aren’t sure, then keep it to yourself, or ask someone like me for guidance. It isn’t as hard as it might seem. Especially because we already have the reputation in place; people off sphere expect the Shurwinn to be circumspect.”

  “Yeah,” I nodded, “that makes sense.”

  “And Ryst?” she asked hesitantly. “There’s a lot of resources available to you in Shurwinn. We support our businesses and utilize our connections. We promote each other. That’s how family works. And ultimately, we are all a family, even all the people I’ve never met in other oases. That is a key to Shurwinn success. So, there is support to help you grow, too.”

  I saw both eagerness and hesitation in her face. “So, is there something about citizenship that is related to this?” I wondered.

  “Yes,” she nodded encouragingly.

  Ok, I needed to ask questions and see what would be answered.

  “So, once my citizenship is approved, there will be more opportunities to talk to people for promotion ideas?”

  She smiled and said, “Perhaps.”

  Well, that was interesting news. My citizenship status was coming up in two weeks, but I hadn’t heard anything about it at all.

  “And in the meantime, while I’m waiting for the citizenship, are there things I could be working on? I was hoping to record videos of recipes. I’d like to start with the curry I made the other night, but I don’t know any videographers and don’t have a kitchen studio or anything like that.”

  She nodded and said, “I know a Recruiter who I think would be great to talk to. You can go over what you need. What you're looking for, and she can connect you. You can be doing all of this, and even get your stream site up before the citizenship is final.”

  “Okay, oh my stars, Lirin! This is so exciting! It’s like I’ve caught a wind in my sails, and I finally have a direction to go!” I grinned.

  “I’m so excited too. This is just wonderful, Ryst! I’ll transmit the details for you. And keep me posted. Anything you need, let me know.”

  “Great. Thank you times ten million, Lirin. Sunshine!”