Much like the first book in this series, I paged through this one quickly. Prayer is also quite short, and picks up where the first book ends with Sibling Dex and Mosscap on their way back to human civilization. I love how much this series invites you to look the world through different eyes. As with the first book, Mosscap is good at illustrating the funny things that we do as people. However, there’s an interesting bit where this is reversed as Mosscap learns about the nature of exchange in the human society of Panga.
Rather than using a currency meant to track the value of objects being traded, people exchange “digital pebbles” (“pebs”) that connote the benefit of the service or goods received by the community. This reflects one of the ways that human society evolved following robotkind’s departure (a society that would be considered quite radical, by the standards of our own). In a sentence (perhaps obscuring more than it reveals), humans appear to have arrived at some form of socialist or anarchistic society. Chambers is very measured in the details about Pangan society that she chooses to reveal. The focus of the book is on the relationship and journey between Sibling Dex and Mosscap; delving into broader social organization isn’t really the point. Yet, in my longing to see our world become a bit kinder and more like the one that Chambers paints, I find myself drawn to these threads when she offers them. For example, as Sibling Dex explains, their society has discarded the notion of personalized debts:
“But if there’s no penalty for debt, what’s to stop you from taking without giving back?”
“It’s a bad feeling,” Dex said. “Everybody has a negative balance from time to time, for lots of reasons. That’s fine. That’s part of the ebb and flow. But if someone had a huge negative… well, that says they need help. Maybe they’re sick. Or stuck. Maybe they’ve got something going on at home. Or maybe it’s just one of those times when they need other people to carry them for a while. That’s okay. Everybody ends up there sometimes. If I saw a friend’s balance and it was way in the red, I’d make the point of checking in.”
“You can see other people’s balances?”
“Yeah, of course. It’s all public.”
“Does that not get competitive?”
Dex squinted. “Why would it?”
Mosscap stared at Dex in silence for a moment, seemingly surprised at this, but not elaborating as to why.
Our world is often competitive, but we should ask whether this is necessary or inevitable. I think Chambers and I agree that humans ultimately want to help. We’re social beings: we don’t want to endlessly take without giving back. Fiction allows us to imagine worlds like Panga that inspire us and shape our intuitions. This moment between the two characters is small and the story moves on soon after, but I think this is what I’d share if I was trying to explain what these books are about.
As we see elsewhere, people (and Mosscap) give pebs to others in order to acquire things they need, such as food, lodging, and parts (and/or labor) for repairs. One imagines people probably “spend” almost all of what they receive, meaning the average person has a balance very close to zero. However, as this passage illustrates, one will never fail to receive what they need due to an insufficient balance. In fact, negative balances are treated as possible signals of diminished personal capacity.
For the purposes of the story, this complicates Mosscap’s efforts to survey and discover what needs that humanity has. People need their door hinges tightened or help with their math homework, but largely it seems that people are mostly getting by. What’s left are philosophical or existential needs, or (as Mosscap says later in the book) ”[requirements] the person has in regards to feeling satisfaction with their life. Some people lack whatever it is and are searching for it, but others already have it.” In reading these two books, I’m reminded of Corey Robin’s notion that “the point of socialism is to convert hysterical misery into ordinary unhappiness.” In other words, we ought to ensure the “floor” of our society is high enough to shield people from the worst of deprivations, leaving them free to pursue matters of the heart and spirit. Happiness is not guaranteed, but if your society ensures a fundamental level of agency, people might find what fills their cups. This is what we see with Sibling Dex shaking off their restlessness and finding meaning in accompanying Mosscap on its journey.
In any case, following the travels of Mosscap and Sibling Dex has helped me fill my cup. If you find yourself inside on a rainy Saturday or in transit somewhere, I think these two books will do the same for you.