999 OCTILLION SOULS, May 31, 2024
I FLIGHT
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TRANSLATOR'S NOTE:The following information is derived from Information Seed 40 and received by the Gravitational Wave Observatory. I and AI performed a frequency analysis on it. IE edited certain parts to make them more 'readable'. (He might have overdone it.) Please feel free to comment.28
The blinding white of the wormhole receded, replaced by the swirling nebula beyond. Legume squeezed her eyes shut, willing away the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. Charlotte, nestled against her chest, whimpered softly. Legume stroked her daughter's hair, a silent reassurance in the face of the unknown.
Panic still clawed at Legume's gut. The Shi pirates, with their grotesque armor and guttural growls, were a terrifying prospect. But the blind jump through the wormhole… that was a new kind of terror. They were hurtling through space, hurtling towards who-knows-where at the whim of these ruthless criminals.
de_tech_G: are they going to Pirate Island?
translator: we don’t know yet
A wave of self-loathing washed over her. She had brought Charlotte on this desperate journey, clinging to the hope of a better life. Now, because of her choices, they were hurtling through a cosmic lottery, the prize an uncertain future and the potential for a horrifying end.
cap_mal: what a wimp!
Anger, hot and bitter, flickered within her. The Wugum crew, with their gruff exterior and stoic acceptance, had seemed a gamble worth taking. Now, they were likely dead, victims of the Shi's brutality. A choked sob escaped her lips. She should have stayed on Lisse 8, the smog-choked dormitories in the habitat where they'd spent the last miserable shifts. At least it was familiar, a known risk.
But the image of Charlotte, her bright eyes filled with a yearning for a world beyond the haze of Lisse's factories, pushed the self-loathing aside. Legume couldn't give up. She had to protect Charlotte, to find some semblance of safety in this chaotic turn of events.
doc_T: at least she’s trying
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Legume forced herself to focus. The pirates might be ruthless, but they must have a reason for taking them. Perhaps they could be… bargained with? A sliver of hope, fragile but persistent, flickered within her.
Legume wasn't naive. The odds were stacked against them. But as the Ore Seeker continued its shuddering journey through the endless series of wormholes, Legume clung to that sliver of hope, a shield against the despair threatening to engulf her. For Charlotte, she had to be strong.
29
THE BUILDING, EARTH
Petra squirmed in her seat, the familiar hum of the classroom fading into the background. Today's VR lesson was Wavejing – the art of manipulating space-time. Her avatar, a spritely figure with fiery red hair, stood beside her friends' avatars in a digital classroom. George, the class clown, sported a bright green mohawk, while Valentino, ever the show-off, had a shiny suit of virtual armor. Dinah, the quiet observer, wore a sensible blue tunic, and Da Shi mirrored Petra's avatar with a bright smile.
ru_mikhail: wooooo, magic!
Around them, a dozen other students, most of them twelve years old, buzzed with nervous excitement. Their teacher, Ms. Chandra, a stern woman with eyes that twinkled beneath her virtual spectacles, stood at the front of the class, her avatar draped in flowing robes that shone with the colors of distant galaxies.
With a tap of her virtual staff, Ms. Chandra silenced the classroom. —Welcome, class,— her voice said in Govoreet, echoing in the simulated space, —Today, we dive into the history of Wavejing, the art of creating passageways through space!—
The image in front of them dissolved, replaced by a swirling nebula, its majestic colors a stark contrast to the sterile white of the classroom. Ms. Chandra's avatar gestured dramatically, changing to Simplified Latin. —For millennia, humanity dreamt of reaching the stars. Then, around gigayears ago, on a small, unremarkable planet called Earth, a discovery changed everything.—
A holographic giant of a figure materialized beside Ms. Chandra. Clad in simple robes, its face obscured by swirling light, it spoke in a voice that resonated with an otherworldly power. “We are the HiDimBes," it said in ancient English, "beings from beyond your quantum reality. We bring you the gift of lupsofot." The figure extended a hand, and a golden lump of oscillating, molten mass materialized. "This exotic matter holds the key to manipulating the Wavej Field."
uk_gwo5: hey, I’m fluent in ancient English
us_gwo: me too
Images flickered around them – ancient Earth scholars studying the properties of lupsofot, the material needed to create Wavej wormholes, and the look of awe on the faces of the pioneers who stepped through the arcane tunnels. Petra felt a thrill course through her. To think, these groundbreaking events happened right here, on Earth!
The lesson continued, Ms. Chandra detailing the dangers of Wavejing – the unpredictable nature of Wavej wormholes, the risk of merging quantum realities, and the cautionary tales of those who ventured too far. But even the dangers couldn't dampen Petra's enthusiasm. The ability to travel through space, to explore distant worlds, was a dream as old as humanity, and now, it was within their grasp.
As the lesson ended, Petra and her friends lingered, their avatars huddled together. "Imagine, Petra," Valentino said, his voice filled with bravado, "one day, we could be Wavej masters, exploring the cosmos!"
Petra grinned. The future stretched before her, filled with possibility. The history of Wavejing was fascinating, but the future? The future was theirs to explore, one carefully crafted Wavej wormhole at a time.