invoke religion or sex (given they lack the former and do not have taboos on the latter) but food decay, such as "gristle" or "green meat". Economy Barast do not have a monetary economy. Each person is given what they need when they need it, and in turn is expected to work at providing a meaningful 'contribution' to society. No barast would ever dream of attempting to take more than they need from society, and because of their stable population, there are no issues with scarcity (the population level was stabilized at the point it was in order to prevent such issues from even developing). Barast always consider their work in terms of how it contributes to society, and any work which does not contribute sufficiently is stopped. This leads to a lack of knowledge in certain areas, such as astrophysics, as such pursuits are stopped once they ceased to produce meaningful improvements in ordinary life. This also leads to some over-specialization, as driving is considered a specialized contribution and how to do so is known only to public conveyors whose sole contribution is to taxi people from point to point or to drive public buses. Occasionally, a Barast may voluntarily remove themselves from society in order to continue work that has been deemed not meaningful or to protest when work is purposefully stopped as dangerous. This individual would move away from the community to an isolated area, and would thereafter support themselves. They would not be able to generally ask for assistance from the greater community, and would also in some cases remove their Alibi Archive implant as protest (so their life after leaving the community would not be recorded) or have it removed involuntarily (to prevent any further recording regarding dangerous work). This isolation is voluntary, and they can have visitors or opt to return to the community at any time, although returning requires that they resume providing a meaningful contribution (and cease any dangerous work, if that was the reason for leaving). Medicine Barast medicine has become largely automated, and most doctors, aside from first aid (excepting researchers), simply operate and maintain this technology. This technology is highly robust and is able to be adapted to Gliksin physiology fairly quickly after contact. A notable difference in medical practice is a result of the lack of squeamishness displayed by the Barast. Rather than using anesthesia for surgery, this