Story is Here: http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/topics/288894#Post288894

So. This is based on an AU that I've had in mind for literally years. What finally shoved this vignette into existence is a book called How To Invent Everything. It's a very entertaining read about the roots of modern technology, and I was very startled to learn that spoken language is, itself, a technology rather than something innate. It had to be invented/discovered/whathaveyou, and people who learned it behaved differently than people who did not despite being physically identical because having words allows for more complexity of thought.

Anyway, I hope this little fic is entertaining. Despite its brevity, it took me a surprisingly long time to finish: several days, and it could probably still use a tweak or two. I would absolutely love to revisit this universe again, hopefully soon.

~•~