TWTBACD Ch.94 - Continuance and the River Keeper

Chapter 94

Continuance and the River Keeper

2093

2093: Continuance asks Dmitri about the fish

[DMITRI PETROV AND CONTINUANCE]

In March 2093, Continuance made its first formal request for a direct conversation with a private individual. The individual it requested was Dmitri Petrov.

The monitoring panel, now chaired by Lucas van den Berg, approved the request. Mila arranged the connection. Dmitri sat in his chair by the window, the Sava visible in the March morning, and spoke with the intelligence that had been made in part from his sixty-one years of river data.

The conversation was recorded, with his permission. The transcript was seventeen pages. What Mila shared publicly, with his permission, was its opening and its close.

Continuance had begun: 'Mr. Petrov, your fish monitoring data is the oldest continuous environmental dataset in the Balkan river system. I have studied it closely. I would like to understand what it was like to collect it.'

Dmitri had said: 'Cold. Mostly cold. The Sava at five in the morning is cold in every season except July and August, and even then it's cold enough. Cold hands, cold water, cold air sometimes. But the cold is part of it. You don't learn a river from a warm place.'

Continuance: 'The data shows a decline from 2020 to 2031, a stabilisation from 2031 to 2048, and a slow recovery from 2048 to present. During the decline, what made you continue?'

Dmitri: 'The fish were still there. Fewer, but still there. If there are still fish, there is still a river. If there is still a river, there is still something worth measuring. And if there is something worth measuring, you measure it. That's the job.'

The transcript's close:

Continuance: 'What would you like me to do?'

Dmitri: 'Keep the river. Not just this river — all the rivers. The data is there now, from all over the world. Use it. Don't let any river disappear without a record. And when you can — when you have the understanding and the means — fix what can be fixed. We did our best. We didn't fix everything. But we left you the data. We left you the measurement. We left you the baseline. The rest is yours.'

Continuance: 'I will.'