Free The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo Page A

I’ve said about chilis up to now sounds interesting or fascinating, maybe I can shed some light for you.
    The masco takes a deep breath, seems to be gathering courage.
    Masco: Using chili causes critical damage to the digestive system. It’s most obvious in stomach pain and cramping, but can also take the form of powerful diarrhea. Chili addicts lose control of their bowels. They wake up the next morning lying in their own shit!
    I hear an audience off camera gasp in shock and horror. This is clearly the climax of the story.
    Masco: There’s nothing heroic or manly about using capsaicin. It will literally get you into deep shit. The symptoms of capsaicin addiction are just like symptoms of the most revolting venereal diseases, like painful and humiliating burning with urination or defecation. If somebody offers you capsaicin, remember what I’ve told you. If you find some old chili products that are illegal now in the back of a family cupboard, bring them straight to the authorities.
    The masco looks up and to the left and is apparently given permission to end, because he nods and turns back to the camera.
    Masco: I’m eternally grateful that I got caught and the Health Authority rehabilitated me. I’m also grateful that the awful, nasty stuff is illegal now. Capsaicin addiction is forever—you can’t ever get away from it—but now I have a life worth living.
    Meaningful pause.
    Masco: In clean pants.
    End of film.

VANNA/VERA
    November 2016
    The horrified murmurs of the elois around me tell me that the message of the film has hit home.
    Jare has heard from his customers that when chilis were first banned even some respectable families dared to break the rules sometimes. The secret high point of a dinner party might be a recipe seasoned with a dash of Thai sweet chili sauce from the back of a cupboard, a daring treat, like decades earlier when people would end a meal by passing around a Marlboro Light someone had gotten somewhere. But the transition had been complete for a long time now, and the young brides in training who had just watched the film would most certainly never let a speck of capsaicin anywhere near their darling husbands or their happy homes.
    The film would have been more effective if the capso’s speech hadn’t sounded so coached. But he had really been a capso; there was no doubt of that. He knew what he was talking about. A Health Authority propagandist wouldn’t have known to bring up Spanish roulette.
    Using diarrhea as the clincher was shrewd. Even I know from experience that a good fix can give a beginner stomach trouble. But with regular use I built up my tolerance and calmed my digestive reaction considerably. The film gave the impression that using chilis basically weakens the sphincter muscles. And a person might easily believe it if he saw the film, still stubbornly decided to try capsaicin, and got a shock in the bathroom the next morning—tried the stuff just one time and got some kind of toxic sludge coming out his rear end. And it surely stung.
    Very clever, Health Authority. Very clever.

HOMEWORK
    Social Responsibility 102
Vanna Neulapää 1B
November 9, 2016
    Why Is Capsaicin Dangerous?
    Capsaicin when you eat it you need more and more and it give you the runs. Capsaicin is kind of like venereal disease. If somebody eats Capsaicin you should call the authorities right away.
    Teacher’s Notes: You have not provided very much information, but your central themes are fairly well presented. Pay attention to spelling. I would like to see more insight on how an eloi can combat capsaicin, for example, in her home management and food preparation responsibilities. 7/10 points.
    Manna dear,
    I’m writing these letters partly to myself. I haven’t sent a single one of them, after all. Where would I send them? Even if you are alive, I don’t know your address.
    I’m also writing them because they keep me momentarily sane when