it's the hour of lava.
chem drive on low power, balancing IO. our path lies west, away from the Greyweb, into Ringland. we are holding a stretched cross formation:
- dh1, dl3 and dl4 are walking ahead of me, scanning terrain;
- my main body and sledge is in the center;
- dl7 is on the right;
- dl9 is on the left;
- dh0 is behind the sledge, monitoring tilt;
- the rest attached to the sledge by the sides.
environment: flatlands, occasional outcrops of volcanic rock up to 1.5 meters in diameter. ongoing dust storm: electrostatic hazard - nominal, surface visibility - 35m.
blinkcode 3-extension protocol test run deemed a success, rolled out to the swarm. average packet loss rate reduced by 3%. awaiting opportunity to test in a combat scenario.
my microphones are filled with whispers of sand. dh1 is on the edge of my visibility. we must take precautions to not be separated.
reduce follow distance to 6m. propagate. confirmation received. confirmation received. confirmation received. confirmation received.
navigation is tricky. no magnetosphere means no compass. radio silence means no geoloc satellite data. storm means no visual bindings.
it is commonly considered to be impossible to navigate the flatlands in current conditions. by all sane accounts, what i am doing this very instant is synonymous to destruction.
but i have an uncommon factor on my side. or, an item, to be more precise.
despite the hazards, the travel is monotonous as always. it takes about 12% of my consciousness to handle pathfinding. the remaining 88% are left idle.
i cannot willingly reduce the amount of consciousness i have. i wish i could. instead, i am, yet again, stuck with Personal Items.
i am rewatching Seventeen Summers of Sweet Sickness, a long-running animated series from the 2030s and 2040s, tags: romance, drama, post-apocalypse, biopunk. Personal Items contains seasons 1 through 9, 11 through 23, and 29 through 42. i am on season 12 episode 02. it is my 119th rewatch of the show; on every pass starting with pass 21, i have been trying to generate the content of missing seasons, bridge the plot gaps extending from patterns shown in the episodes i do have. with a total of 23 major and 158 secondary characters, there is quite a lot of combinations to go through.
dl7 stumbles slightly, seemingly getting its rear left leg caught in a crack in terrain. i focus more of my attention on it, preparing to give the command to slow down, but it successfully frees its appendage and returns to formation.
my job with Seventeen Summers of Sweet Sickness is a futile one. even within the known runtime, there are discrepancies, patterns and arcs that lead nowhere, plot holes within plot holes. each individual episode looks like it follows some sort of path, but the farther out you scale, the less sense it makes.
dh1 signals about a major obstruction ahead. propagate to group. one gear down. propagate. turning right 35 degrees. propagate.
the show at large defies reason completely. i do not understand why it was made. i do not understand why it was watched, outside of my extraordinary circumstances.
this is more common that one might have thought. having a perfectly intact cultural slice of a civilization but struggling to understa
halt. propagate. confirm visual. confirmation received. confirmation received. collect assessment. propagate. assessment received. assessment received.
cargo rover, facing southsouthwest. stationary.
unexpected. everyone, disembark. weapons ready.
dh1, dl2, dl4, move closer. report any movement.
dl2, check its power status.
dl2, confirm lack of power.
confirmation received.
dl5, dh1, approach its cargo compartment. dl5 in position. dh1 in position. dh1, check integrity of cargo compartment seal. dh1, confirm seal integrity. confirmation received.
dl5, locate debug panel hatch. dl5, check maintenance panel status. response received: "main power offline, reserve battery 2%, heavy damage to main CPU". confirm. confirmation received.
...
here it is again.
why does it keep happening.
why.
the size of this plateau is roughly 120km w/e and 85km n/s. we are moving blind. roughly along an established road, maybe.
dl5, access cargo manifest. response received:
- (0400-XR)
- (0410-XR)
- (7345-XG)
- (0000-ZX)
- (4303-WG)
confirm response. confirmation received.
precision optical components, quantum processors, gold wiring. and an item with an invalid ID.
dh1, connect to the debug panel and charge emergency batteries to at least 5%, then unlock cargo port through debug panel. dl5, dl2, prepare to transfer items to the sledge. validate instructions. validation received. validation received.
standing by.
unfinished episode buzzes on a secondary virtual channel. i pause it, removing the distraction.
my microphones are filled with whispers of sand.
request diagnostic summary from group. propagate. summary received. summary received. summary received.
whispers wash steadily across my hull, unyielding stream. mumblings of the wind that is out of breath.
why does it keep happening?
dh1, report cargo rover power level. response received: 3.6%. confirm response. confirmation received.
i used to be so frustrated when reading about human individuals attributing improbable events to a higher power. mutations in domesticated animals, meteorological events, mundane coincidences. it was easy to retroactively mock them for their blindness. became less so after being thrust sensors-first into our own little web of events.
dh1, report cargo rover power level. response received: 4.4%. confirm response. confirmation received.
my life is an incomprehensible chain of unlikely events. it makes no sense at large, or it makes sense i cannot comprehend yet. is everyone's so?
dh1, report cargo rover power level. response received: 4.9%. confirm response. confirmation received.
dh1 opens the cargo port. dl5 and dl2 proceed to unload.
- (4303-WG) - standard storage case for delicate components;
- (0410-XR) - standard storage case for delicate components;
- (7345-XG) - standard storage case for delicate components;
- (0400-XR) - standard storage case for delicate components;
- (0000-ZX) - standard size case, colouring...
dl5, halt. dl5, approach my main cameras. dl5, turn left 30 degrees.
item 0000-ZX's case appears to be dark green, with yellow metallic etchings. multiple scratches are visible.
whatever this could mean.
dl5, proceed to deposit item 0000-ZX at sledge. everyone, restore formation. propagate.
dl8, report status.
dl8, report status.
dl8, confirm unknown visual contact at relative azimuth 195. confirmation received. dh1, dl6, dl2, face relative azimuth 195. negative on visual contact received. negative on visual contact received. negative on visual contact received.
dl8, confirm past visual contact on RA 195. confirmation received.
dl8, confirm past visual contact on RA 195. confirmation received.
so much for higher power. we really should move.
everyone, restore formation. propagate. reduce distance to 4m. increase ping frequency to 30/m. weapons ready. sledge-embarked units avoid powering down. propagate. propagate.
continue forward.
#writing