A Glibertarians Exclusive: Listening Post, Part 6
“So, the impact on the other side of the moon, the magnetic anomalies – that was you?”
The sparkling spire of light paused for a moment, as in reflection. “What you describe was this aspect of the Aa arriving here.”
“This aspect? Are there more of you?”
“The terms you use do not apply. There are aspects of the Aa on the worlds you know as Earth, Mars, Venus, and the others in this stellar system. But they are not individuals. This aspect before you is not an individual. We are the Aa.”
“Why now? Why did you even bother? The T’Cha have been here and gone.”
“We/The Aa are advanced beyond your understanding, Bel Deveran, but we are still bound by the universal physical laws. We cannot open a portal blindly to another system. Even for We/The Aa it takes time to calculate where we may emerge. Within a stellar system the process is much easier, but between stellar systems takes time.”
“The portal being what caused the anomalies we saw, I suppose. Well, you all can do as you like, but I’m going back to Earth. That ship that just came in, it’s an old roboticized hauler, but I can program it to take me home, and it has deep-sleep pods. I suppose you don’t know what those are?”
“We can derive the meaning from your thoughts.”
“Wondrous. I suppose you’ll be off after the T’Cha, then. What will you do when you find them?”
“We require a direct, uninterrupted path to the T’Cha, what you would call ‘line of sight.’ The T’Cha, like you, are corporeal beings. Once direct path is achieved, we can cease the functioning of their nervous systems. They will stop functioning, quickly and painlessly.”
“Genocide, then. Nice. Well, I can’t say they don’t have it coming. Kill them all, as far as I’m concerned. Meanwhile, I’ve got a ship to catch, so if you don’t mind, I’ll be about shutting this facility down so I can leave.”
“As you wish.” The spire of light wavered, disappeared.
It took longer than Deveran had thought to shut down all the post’s systems. The command suite was last; he shut down all the long-range scanners, the security monitors, and the internal systems. Finally, he set up an automated sequence to shut down the reactor, delayed by twelve hours to give him time to program the Bounder and depart.
Finally, it was done. The Mimas Listening Post was silent. Only emergency lighting illuminated the corridors. Deveran walked through one last time, slowly, remembering the people he had shared this lonely duty with, trying not to think about how they all met their ends.
Best not dwell on all that, he told himself. He headed for the supply ship.
Deveran sat down in the ship’s cockpit. It took an hour to program the flight sequences. Eight years, more or less, to get home. Only last thing to check: His personal data had successfully transferred over the Bounder’s data storage. He flipped on the recorder to make on last log entry.
***
Personal log entry: 26 May 2234, Coalition Navy Supply Packet Bounder
When the Bounder landed, I was so happy to see it I almost pissed myself. Not for the hope of company, not for the hope of rescue, I’d given up on all of that, even after the ‘visitors’ arrived. But this automated supply packet still had crew quarters, and I know enough about how they work to reprogram it to take me home.
I’d rather die on Earth than here. Maybe, by some miracle, there are some people there that survived the T’Cha somehow. I’ll find out, I suppose. The Gates are down, with nobody to manage them, so I guess it’s going to be the old-fashioned way, in a ballistic trajectory. Good thing the packet still has its deep-sleep pods.
I’m bringing my VR headset along. I figure there’s time for one last visit with the family before I go into deep-sleep. I’ll visit them again when the ship wakes me up in Earth orbit. I can take the ship down myself, and I figure I can eyeball my way down to the Carolina barrier islands. If a fellow has to die, that’s as good a place as any, and at least I have happy memories there. More than I can say for the Mimas-Goddamned-Listening Post.
If something goes wrong, hopefully someone will find this log. If there’s anyone else out there to read them, well, that’s another story.
Recorded 1804 hours ship time, 26 May 2234, Chief Electronics Mate Bel Deveran, Coalition Navy
***
With that done, he sealed himself in the deep-sleep pod. The VR headset lay on an acceleration couch, apparently forgotten.
I’m coming home, he thought as the deep-sleep process overwhelmed him.
The aspect of the Aa appeared outside the deep-sleep pod. A tendril of sparkling white reached out, almost tenderly, to touch the pod’s surface.
“Your corporeal form will remain here,” it said, as though Deveran could hear him. “This ship has insufficient power supplies to lift off this moon. We/The Aa concealed this from you to avoid unnecessary damage to your mental processes. We/The Aa have recorded your mental engrams and your genetic data, as well as genetic data from the remains of the other humans on this moon. In time, perhaps, once the T’Cha have been dealt with, we may find a suitable world on which to re-establish your species. Until then, this aspect of the Aa will remain here, with your form, to ensure no harm comes to you.”
“Until then, dream well, Bel Deveran. We have harvested much data from your memories and from the device you use to re-live experiences. We have striven to make your dreaming… pleasant, for as long as is required.”
***
Deveran had awoken from deep-sleep the day before. Half an orbit around the home world, and he saw his intended landing site, and managed to control the ship through the hammering, jolting re-entry sequence, finally coming to a landing.
Deveran smiled as the Bounder settled to earth – the Earth – on a windswept stretch of beach. The ship’s hatch swung wide to allow in the fresh sea air.
Damn, Deveran breathed in deep. He left the cockpit and went to the open hatch. I’m here. The barrier islands. I made it.
He climbed down from the old supply shuttle. There was nobody on the beach. No gulls swirled by overhead. No children were playing in the sand. The beach was covered in dry seaweed, and some fragmented remains of an old fishing boat cluttered the sand.
Then, in the distance, he saw a figure. A tall figure with long black hair, a slim body in a black bikini, a sheer flowered sarong about her hips. She was walking slowly away, as though leading Deveran on somewhere.
“Sara!”
The figure stopped. She turned to face him. Deveran could see her smile.
“Come on,” Sara called. “I have a place for us. Follow me.”
Deveran hurried to catch up.
***
Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp
And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore
You always responded when I needed your help
You gimme a map and a key to your door
Sara, Sara
Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow
Sara, Sara
Don’t ever leave me, don’t ever go
Nice, but I see him as Bruce Campbell also.
I don’t have words…. Powerful ending, Well done Sir,
Bravo!
/ standing Ovation!
Nice close, Animal!
I enjoyed this one and remain astounded that you can just come up with these over and over.
Thank you!
That’s an interesting ending.
Good stuff!
Since Ted’s hasn’t shown up yet, Sara
Smile!
I’ve posted that before.
That was a nice wrap-up to a very enjoyable story, thanks.
Hope things are better in Alaska than in NJ. Seems the seventies have come back hereabouts.
Waiting for Odd / Even days for gasoline.
That house down the road from us is still for sale.
Now, that said, it’s -18 here this morning, so, take that into account.
The cold is what I cannot sell to my wife. Too sad.
Same. 66 and sunny here. She noted that it’s 18 degrees back home. No chance I can sell her on long winters anymore.
Sometimes being a brain in a jar is the preferable state.
Totally.
This simulation is starting to suck.
That’s how TNG got rid of Moriarty in the end.
Apropos.
…
hmmm, wouldn’t it be interesting if people did simulations like that for *every* president?
Imagine what a simulation based on the post-9/11 policies for a twenty-year period would have looked like in, say, late 2003?
How about a simulation of the Obama-era changes looking out to 2040 or so?
It would probably turn into a fancy Rorschach test and/or exercise in projection.
I thought of the game because of the computer mind living a simulation, and in the winning endgame, the mind gets to continue on living the simulation but a better simulated world.
I found myself hoping that the “dreams” provided for our hero are convincing enough that he suspects nothing…
Great story, Animal.
The real question now is, when inhabiting a virtual world, does one still masturbate (virtually) ?
If you have sex with your clone, is it gay or just masturbation?
Both gay and incest.
There was a sci-fi short story from years ago, might have been by Rudy Rucker, where homosexual incest between identical twins was an important plot point. I can’t remember anything else about the story. I also don’t know (or want to think about) why that little tidbit was what stuck in my mind…
Are you a twin?
There’s also “–All You Zombies–“
The Moral Virologist by Greg Egan:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moral_Virologist
That was the one. I feel a little better that someone else recognised it.
Robot Chicken answered this question. But I can’t find a clip.
https://www.newsweek.com/nasa-parker-solar-probe-fastest-object-built-humans-passes-sun-record-breaking-364621-mph-1651815
Close enough to being on topic.
Neat.
Not that I pay much attention to the theme stuff, but this does fit with the one attached to the resumption of Burning Man – Waking Dreams.
Damn. Thanks, Animal.
Any thought to packaging this up for submission to a SF journal, writing contest, or the like?
It’s fantastic. Really appreciate it.
There’s a thought. I’ll talk to Mrs. Animal about it when she gets home and is feeling better; she knows about all that kind of thing.
Follow up from the morning thread.
*points*
Ha Ha!
Thanks for pre-empting one of my Afternoon Links?!
*shakes fist, grumbles, goes back to edit*
Just trying to help.
Hazard of the trade.
*clicks “update”, plods upstairs to get tea*
“Our organization does not support hate in any form.”
Hahahahaha!
Wait, you’re serious!?!?
HaHa Hahahahahahah!!!!
Don’t drunk (just assuming) tweet.
I dunno. When I’m drunk, I get talkative and jovial. I don’t usually start agitating for a race war.
Just remember, one of the effects of alcohol is lowering inhibitions. So if you aren’t somewhat inclined to try/do something normally, being drunk isn’t going to add that to your natural responses. I doubt anyone was putting pressure on the twit to advocate such violence.
I’d wager a good amount she was stone-sober – once politics infects all aspects of your life, saying horrible things like that seems totally reasonable.
Huge deal:
I was just on YouTube and got an advertisement pushed to me…
Talking about inequality and racism and hate…
Tag line:. We can stop this with federal legislation to have a consistent approach across all social media platforms. Call your congressman…
Fade in logos….. FACEBOOK.
Get ready. They know the window of opportunity closes in a year and a couple of months.
Facebook lobbying the feds for what the feds have been lobbying Facebook for for years. Pretty Meta.
What you did there. I see it.
Great story and a great ending. Much more upbeat than I had though was possible. Revenge, followed by blissful simulation for an aliens viewing pleasures.
Here is the novel that this story reminded me of for some reason. There is a bit of speculation that the ending would have been similarly bleak, but thankfully it was not so.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Maze_of_Death
All of them, including the colonists thought to be dead, awake to find that they are actually the crew of the spaceship Persus 9, stranded in orbit around a dead star with no way of calling for help. Their experiences had been a kind of virtual reality, a computer-generated religion that synthesized their beliefs. Their dormancy should save energy of the ship’s life support systems for the unlikely case someone would detect the stranded ship and rescue them. It becomes clear that they already completed several cycles of virtual reality dormancy, due to the gradual disintegration each more nightmarish than the previous one. Seth Morley is depressed by this and wonders whether it would be better to let all the air out from the ship and thus kill them all rather than live out the rest of their lives engaging in virtual realities. However, a deity known as the Intercessor, supposedly existing only in the virtual reality program and not a part of the “real” world, appears before Morley and stops him, stating that death is for each individual to decide for themselves. It offers Morley a choice of possible forms to be reborn as, and he decides on “a cactus on some warm world… to be asleep but still aware of the sun and of myself”. The Intercessor guides him into the stars, stating he will “live and sleep for a thousand years”.
The others, unconcerned with his disappearance, embark on another hallucination which resembles the previous one, only without Seth Morley.
Not to be confused with the “diq” behind the wheel.
Cadillac files to trademark Vistiq, Lumistiq, and Escalade IQL
Cadillac plans to be an EV-only brand by 2030, it’s trimmed-down dealer network expected to sell a range wherein all or most models end with “iq,” as in Lyriq and Celestiq, that pronunciation being “ik,” not “eek.”
Lumistiq sounds like a time release sleeping pill/antidepressant combo. Ask your doctor if Lumistiq is right for you.
Lumistiq may cause psychosexosomnia and premature ejaculation.
Side effects may include frustration and spending inordinate amounts of time at your dealership’s service department.
I thought it sounded like some type of make-up.
And then they file for bankruptcy.
Where is Ozy? Semper Fi!
Marine Corps compliance with vaccine mandate on course to be military’s worst
You’re welcome. I feel like I’m in touch with each and every one of the holdouts, though that is obviously not the case.
The tragic thing about this is how the media has buried the entire Doe v. Rumsfeld and anthrax vaccine debacle, as if it never happened.
That’s only 15 years ago – within the same term of service for many folks. So seeing the DoD get shut down for trying to administer experimental vaccines isn’t some novel thing for these guys.
But the media keeps acting like, “Oh, this is shocking!?!” Only to Orwell’s minions who believe the Party gets to change history on the fly.
BTW, the first time a vaccine was given EUA vaccine status? Yes, kids, anthrax. And the govt agreed that it had to be given voluntarily, which they consented to in the court’s order in Doe.
Doe v. Rumsfeld (Doe 3), Case 1:03-cv-00707-EGS (ECF Dkt. # 90)(Emphasis in original)
That was an awesome story Animal. I was not following it, bit went back and read all previous parts.
I’m tempted to add a brisket to the menu just to spite you.
In a bizarre tweet, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis suggested that soy is a more economically efficient Thanksgiving meal option than turkey.
“A Thanksgiving dinner serving of poultry costs $1.42,” said a tweet discussing a Federal Reserve Economic Data blog post. “A soybean-based dinner serving with the same amount of calories costs 66 cents and provides almost twice as much protein.”
No mention of Soylent Green?
And less than one-tenth the joy
Rib roast. Fuck you Fred.
Beef Wellington all the way.
Fred can kiss my beefy ass.
Wife saw the cheapest packer brisket was $100 at Costco today and returned home with ground beef instead for me to make a meatloaf.
Damn. Meatloaf is good and all but a very poor substitute for Thanksgiving brisket.
Same number of calories, but what’s the volume?
The fed can continue to eat shit and die.
100g turkey = 28g protein
81g tofu = 7g protein.
So almost 650 grams to the serving. Ugh.
What about a serving of crickets?
LOL.
Get fucked, FRED.
Sorry but no, soybeans give me gas.
And all that estrogen will give you bitch tits.
And soy face.
Bull Shit! I paid 33 cents a lb. for a twenty pound Turkey, they can Bite ne!
Legally
BlondeBoneheadedOn Saturday, Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon offered her sage opinion of the not guilty verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, tweeting, “Woke up this morning thinking about every mother/father/sister/brother/friend who has lost someone to senseless gun violence in America. And then ..there was no justice for their pain. This is a disgrace.”
She continued, ‘No one should be able to purchase a semi-automatic weapon, cross state lines and kill 2 people and go free. In what world is this safe … for any of us?”
Honey, don’t spoil it by talking.
*robot voice* State Lines *bleep bloop blorp*
That assertion is a good way to spot either a sub 90 IQ, an ignorant ass, or a damn liar.
Media Warns Thousands Of Americans Planning To Cross State Lines To Celebrate Thanksgiving
Um, the world in which assholes don’t riot, burn down buildings, and violently attack people, and expect to get away with it?
I live in this world. Ms. Witherspoon apparently lives in the other one…
Sure, behind a locked gate with security. I doubt the police stand down in her neighborhood.
DEG: regarding the Oaks gun show, I might be in, depending on if we’re out there visiting the GF’s family that weekend. It’s very close to where we’d be visiting.
Awesome. I’d really like to make it down. I will know soon I hope.
I’m down.
I can’t open my wallet fast enough to donate!
Elon Musk has announced he will dedicate one of his very own SpaceX rockets for the task. He will also dedicate a second rocket large enough to hold Brian Stelter.
Brutal.
Just got to read the story.
Great work, Animal; I’m curious where this will lead.
This is the final chapter…
We can always hope for a sequel!
True.
Well, shit. Aren’t stories supposed to end with “THE END” or “FIN” or something?
I want my money back.
Have you seen the old British horror movie Dead of Night?
Great ending man. Thanks for this.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10230017/Bay-Area-hit-consecutive-day-brazen-looting-gang-mall-jewelry-store.html
Another large smash-and-grab in the Bay Area. And these idiots have convinced themselves that somehow they are in the right and their theft is justice.
It’s getting organized.
How long before the government reacts or a reactionary force organizes?
reactionary force
I don’t think people are going to line up to be Rittenhoused for “reacting” to these goons.
I wouldn’t object if someone dropped the gate on them and set fire to the establishment.
They’re already assaulting some of the employees. It will escalate.
Bernie Goetz was a symptom, not a cause.
Big corporate stores will just start hiring armed security.
Small family-owned stores very well might do the whole shoot-shovel-and-shutup thing.
Big corporate stores will just start hiring armed security.
Or they’ll shut down the unprofitable store and go open one in a city where this isn’t an issue.
“Hammer Gang.” I guess that’s a thing?
ISTR that’s a British thing.
Sounds legit.
2 legit.
Come on, we can’t quit this thread now!
*narrows gaze*
Needs some rooftop Koreans.
We had some discussion the other day about the “but they’re insured” argument–how dishonest it is because most insurance excludes damage caused by acts of war, civil disorder, and agents of the state.
Does anyone know how insurance companies define “civil disorder,” i.e., so they require an official declaration of “riot” or similar? I could see a mayor/politician who supports rioting hold back on a declaration of riot or disorder so that insurance would not be void, so as to blunt the anger of locals who lost property in a disturbance.
Also, while the law continues to hold fast (for now), the public discourse as seen in social media and MSM seems to be pushing toward delegitimizing defense of business, and certainly property, as allowable circumstances for self defense. Since law is downstream of culture, there’s a real risk that in decades to come, laws might be enacted to continue to constrict self defense rights more and more. In those cases, the only remedy would be to move to jurisdictions that still honor the concept.
It varies. But I work with a very woke civil rights group whose hq was collateral damage in the riots. Insurance did not cover the building damage. They were shocked that they the right thinkers got vandalized and pissed about the insurance situation. However they don’t seem to have learned anything.
A couple miles from where I used to live.
Growing up in the Bay Area I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. I miss what it was, but I never want to go back.
Something something more of what you reward something something less of what you punish.
Carry on, San Fran. I’m sure this will all be fine.
And I disagree that the people doing the smash and grab have convinced themselves of that, HEX.
They’re thieves and they fucking know they’re stealing. But they also know that right now you can get away with it because politicians are screaming bullshit that justifies it.
That is all that’s going on. This falls plainly on the politico-media establishment that has been going straight down that slippery slope.
Hell, the current VP of the United States helped pay bail for people who looted and burned down businesses under the excuse of “George Floyd.”
The dirtbags know exactly what the politicos on Team Blue want, will allow, and can be passed off as “retributive justice against Whitey.” This is just the natural consequence of it.
Oddly enough, the moral reprobates are not confused about whether this is wrong or not. They just have a great cover story for doing it now.
Yeah, this is more than that 7-year-old misdemeanor law and more than woke DA’s.
This is a broken culture. Like you said, the criminals know they can get away with it and in the current climate almost nobody will call them out on it.
We’ve always had moral reprobates among us. They’ve historically been held in check by, well, fear. At this point, they’ve been told, quite clearly, that they have nothing to fear.
I tend to believe that this sort of behavior doesn’t describe most people. But, you don’t need a particularly large portion of the population being bastards to break down social order. If even 5% of the population are empowered reprobates, this is what you get.
At this point, I’m not sure punishing the reprobates themselves is going to solve the problem.
I tend to believe that this sort of behavior doesn’t describe most people.
Look at the optimist over here!
My view is that, for most people, sticking to one’s morals/ethics/principles is a luxury that is founded on them having a very comfortable life and a clear view of the looming consequences for anti-social behavior. Some may hold fast in the face of a certain temptation, but give people enough of a motive of personal gain and enough of a guarantee that those who would hold them to account will turn a blind eye, and very few will stay consistent with their own morals.
There is a very easy way to discourage this behavior…
‘WHY COME NO BUSINESSES ARE OPENING HERE?”
When all of my liberal friends where cheering on the riots and looting, I pointed out that it’s hard enough to get businesses to open up in the urban areas, so now it’s damn near impossible because the city did nothing to stop the looting.
Pop! Goes the narrative.
(Sorry, Swissy!)
Darrell Brooks is the new black face of white-supremacy. – CNN
Already done…
Mathboi Fly!
New narrative incoming:
Brooks wa s fleeing from the racist police who forced him into the parade. The blood is on the cop’s hands.
Not gonna work. A career criminal ran over grandmas. Blatantly, on camera.
I’m openly and proudly anti-vaxx. I think that most people (at least those under 60 or 65 yo) who got injected made a mistake.
Australia:
JFC.
Good lord…Aussie’s going full Hitler…
I am anti-vax mandate, because it’s the most blatantly invasive and potentially physically harmful part of the Covid narrative, but I don’t want to get too caught up in looking at this as all about the vaccine.
I am also very concerned about lockdowns, business closures (or capacity limits), travel restrictions, and masking. Those are blatant limits on freedom handed down as law from on high, and if they get away with it for a non-emergency disease, they can get away with it for any other cockamamie reason.
agreed
https://ktla.com/news/local-news/1000-turkeys-and-sides-being-given-to-families-at-boyle-heights-turkey-giveaway/
Fuck that. Give them SOY!!!!
🙄
Did pardon have the annual pardoning of the soybean yet?
Did *BIDEN* have the annual pardoning of the soybean yet?
Dammit
The annual Bidening of the…
“Bidening” would be the new term for hair-sniffing.
Except that happens a lot more frequently, it would seem.
I used to go in for a Bidening when I picked up the cat for a cuddle, especially if she had been outside in the fresh grass and flowers.
Okay, since you brought up Turkey Giveaways…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGFtV6-ALoQ
The all-time classic that simply cannot be beat.
https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2021/11/woman-in-a-60-day-covid-19-coma-was-to-be-removed-from-life-support-but-she-woke-up-on-the-day-it-was-to-happen.html
Wow.
This is hilarious! Watch to the end.
https://www.tiktok.com/@jaxwritessongs/video/7026868183508340014?sender_device=pc&sender_web_id=7003801829608015366&is_from_webapp=v1&is_copy_url=0
Heh, that’s great. Dude, that is not how you apologize.
(also, her friend with the violin is adorbs)
Netflix password had me rolling
One gets the impression that’s what he’s really concerned about.
🙂
That’s Lindsey Sterling. She’s hawt. I have her Christmas album.
A taste:
Carol of the Bells
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Ah, yes, I’ve seen those before. Hawt, indeed.
That is an excellent album. It’s on permanent holiday rotation at House Sheldon, along with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Christmas in the Aire, and John Denver and the Muppets…
meh
Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas” on repeat for 6 straight weeks. That’s how I roll.
You’re a monster.
It sounds like she’s dating a sociopath.
If anyone is in the market for PPE, Spartan Armor has you covered.
Black Friday sale – 25% off.
I’m not anti-leafblower, but JFC, how long are you guys going to be? It’s been hours.
My lawn guys start at 8:30 sharp on Mondays. I feel bad for neighbors who want to sleep in, but the lawn guys make pretty quick work of corralling and sucking up the leaves.
“Winter” is setting in so once my few deciduous trees are gone, there really won’t be much to do to the yard at all, since it’s largely gravel.
Highs this week in the 60s, lows in the 30s. I see roses growing in some yards, so I might try that next year.
8:30 is a pretty civilized and reasonable start time for lawn work, so says I.
9am-7pm is my “reasonable hours”. An hour buffer on either side is “not ideal, but not offensive”. 6:30-7:00am is the start time around here during the summer for the pros
I don’t care if you are okay with leaf blowing for certain hours or if you blow leaves yourself. If you are against the use of leaf blowers at any hour or for any length of time you are anti-leafblower. Full stop.
Nice.