^ What's up with these posts? It feels like I am reading a novel.
I have failed therefore I have succeeded.
I have failed therefore I have succeeded.
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Arnoud
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- Jul 17, 2020
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"What," I said, with confusion fat, "the holy fucking shit was that?"
And off we lifted over the beach, up once again into the wind's reach.
"Look," he said, "True, they're all one century, but since we live at least nine in these enlightened times, they are but teenagers still. Aging is a relative thing. It wasn't long after life extension was perfected we noticed that the older one dares to grow,
the more they prefer the company of those in years close to theirs they know. That is why each age lives on its own isle. You would have little of importance to say to a child, such is the gap ten times wider with us. So there it is."
I said, "'So there it is. Why, my grandfather liked that phrase also." "That may be," said he, "and yet your grandfather is not me."
And off we lifted over the beach, up once again into the wind's reach.
"Look," he said, "True, they're all one century, but since we live at least nine in these enlightened times, they are but teenagers still. Aging is a relative thing. It wasn't long after life extension was perfected we noticed that the older one dares to grow,
the more they prefer the company of those in years close to theirs they know. That is why each age lives on its own isle. You would have little of importance to say to a child, such is the gap ten times wider with us. So there it is."
I said, "'So there it is. Why, my grandfather liked that phrase also." "That may be," said he, "and yet your grandfather is not me."
What’s the problem?” Sheppard said. He couldn’t be too worried if he’d brought along his drink. Soft drinks were rare in Atlantis, since they had to be brought from Earth, and though they’d laid in a limited supply it could be expected to run out soon. Sheppard was unwilling to abandon his short of murder and mayhem. Beckett smiled ruefully. For all their differences of background and skills, he had developed a considerable respect for Sheppard in their years of working together, a respect he thought was mutual. “Sorry to take you from your dinner. I’ve got an anomaly I can’t pin down.” He sat up, letting the chair come upright, the sticky interfaces disengaging from his fingertips. “It feels like a wobble. You know. When you’ve got a tire about to go.” Sheppard frowned and put his drink down on the edge of the platform. “Ok. Let’s have a look,” he said with the air of a man about to look under a friend’s hood. Beckett stood up, catching himself for a moment on the arm of the chair.
It always felt very strange to settle back into his mere physical body after some time in the interface. Sheppard slid into the chair and leaned back, his eyes closing as the interfaces engaged, the chair lighting around him as power flowed, a profound expression of peace on his face. Beckett knew better than to interrupt. Sheppard’s fingers twitched lightly in the interface, then stilled. He would be diving into it now, the pathways of the city’s circuits and cables mirroring the neural pathways of his mind. Done right, impulses flowed like thoughts, data streaming effortlessly into easy interpretations. Beckett usually did not find it quite that simple. Practice and diligence had made him a competent pilot for the city, but he had never quite gotten the knack of thinking in three dimensions, of visualizing so many moving points completely. He wasn’t a pilot. He was a medical doctor who through some trick of genetics had the particular piece of code that the city responded to. Sheppard was in his twentieth year in the Air Force, a man whose natural talents ran this way, honed by years of experience in high speed aircraft. He could get a lot more out of the interface than Beckett could.
Never thought I would see John Abruzzi in a commercial.
- Jul 17, 2020
- 5,037 Posts
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And following his dead end boon, I set eyes upon the fractured moon. I said, "Our pale lady of the night is not looking quite right. What happened to her?"
"The Fall," he called. "Why, the world wasn't always such a peaceable place; we once used to play war to keep score."
"How does one blow up a moon?"
"By being smart enough to build technology that can do so, and simultaneously stupid enough to use it. Not too long from now pieces of her will fall to the ground and if any of us are still around by then
the air will turn deathly and for sure no living thing will endure. Save for those living beneath the sea…."
"Like me," I said, "and what will everyone still above the sea do instead?"
He said, "We've another destination in mind, where we might start over sensibly this time.
"With a squint I call sight just slight of rising constructs in the far, spires and towers for a crown, sure the mark of a city or town.
"The Fall," he called. "Why, the world wasn't always such a peaceable place; we once used to play war to keep score."
"How does one blow up a moon?"
"By being smart enough to build technology that can do so, and simultaneously stupid enough to use it. Not too long from now pieces of her will fall to the ground and if any of us are still around by then
the air will turn deathly and for sure no living thing will endure. Save for those living beneath the sea…."
"Like me," I said, "and what will everyone still above the sea do instead?"
He said, "We've another destination in mind, where we might start over sensibly this time.
"With a squint I call sight just slight of rising constructs in the far, spires and towers for a crown, sure the mark of a city or town.
Arnoud
Senior Member
- Jul 17, 2020
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"
Said I, "Start over where? Over there?"
Said he, "Nay, that is but the remains of nations. Why, sometimes on a new morning one can still make out the old world."
Said I "Well who lives there?"
"No one," he said, "Or, the remains of the dead. The legacy of our forefathers who'd rather blow up a moon than two teams agree on some tune they might both peaceably dance to. To hell with them.
For all our modern wonders, it's taken millennia to recover from their blunders.”
And from the smallest of corners of my mind's eye I saw and heard the bright sounds of those dead towns, the blaring horns and thousand forms of life to those days prior to whatever fire they cast on themselves
back before science had learned to stand in defiance of aging and death.
And almost under his breath my old companion said, "The cruel irony is that many folk from that barbaric time still survive today, since aging technology went their way. Yet the human brain can only contain so many memories,"
Said I, "Start over where? Over there?"
Said he, "Nay, that is but the remains of nations. Why, sometimes on a new morning one can still make out the old world."
Said I "Well who lives there?"
"No one," he said, "Or, the remains of the dead. The legacy of our forefathers who'd rather blow up a moon than two teams agree on some tune they might both peaceably dance to. To hell with them.
For all our modern wonders, it's taken millennia to recover from their blunders.”
And from the smallest of corners of my mind's eye I saw and heard the bright sounds of those dead towns, the blaring horns and thousand forms of life to those days prior to whatever fire they cast on themselves
back before science had learned to stand in defiance of aging and death.
And almost under his breath my old companion said, "The cruel irony is that many folk from that barbaric time still survive today, since aging technology went their way. Yet the human brain can only contain so many memories,"
Bobby Summa
Elite Member
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
- Jul 17, 2020
- 5,037 Posts
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“
and so as they've aged, they've forgotten the truth of what they did to our planet and moon in their youth. And though the catastrophes live on in their name, they have by quirk of dementia escaped the blame. What luck. What shame."
I said, "But you assume from the ruins that they knew what they were doing. Maybe they meant well with their inventions, and broke the world in spite of their best intentions?”
"Right," he said, "I'm sure in their empty heads when they poisoned the ocean and took their wars to the moon they were really doing it for love and big bright red balloons."
And he looked off from our basket a moment and said, "Sorry."
Said I, "Don't apologize, why all that anger in your eyes makes me just then remember my grandfather's temper. You so resemble him, see.”
"That may be," said he, "And yet your grandfather is not me."
and so as they've aged, they've forgotten the truth of what they did to our planet and moon in their youth. And though the catastrophes live on in their name, they have by quirk of dementia escaped the blame. What luck. What shame."
I said, "But you assume from the ruins that they knew what they were doing. Maybe they meant well with their inventions, and broke the world in spite of their best intentions?”
"Right," he said, "I'm sure in their empty heads when they poisoned the ocean and took their wars to the moon they were really doing it for love and big bright red balloons."
And he looked off from our basket a moment and said, "Sorry."
Said I, "Don't apologize, why all that anger in your eyes makes me just then remember my grandfather's temper. You so resemble him, see.”
"That may be," said he, "And yet your grandfather is not me."