[rfk-dev] Getting this train moving

[Harry J Mason]

On Thu, 1 Nov 2012, Eric S. Raymond wrote:

> Harry J Mason <hjm03r at ecs.soton.ac.uk>:
>> On Wed, 31 Oct 2012, Eric S. Raymond wrote:
>>
>>> 	 You crushed the simulation. And the robot. And the kitten
>>
>> I've always liked the quirk that robot and kitten are referred to without
>> an article.
>
> This is a significant point, and I almost changed it to do that just
> now.
>
> But when I spoke the two variants aloud to myself, I found that I like
> the metrical effect of the extra unstressed syllables. It somehow
> contributes to the desired feeling of tragedy and inexorable doom - I
> think it might be the grinding quality of the triple parallel
> construction that does this.

True, but perhaps we could make it more poignant.
Maybe randomly pick between:

You crushed the simulation. Robot was destroyed first.
You crushed the simulation. Kitten was destroyed first.
You crushed the simulation. Robot never fulfilled its only function.
You crushed the simulation. Kitten never knew companionship.

etc.