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[darkforcerising]

Who else blew off work to watch Perseverance land on Mars today? Show of hands?

Comments

[darkenedmoon]

I'm not about to raise my hand, I suppose, but that is just...so impressive to me. Some things in one's life are meant to stop and give one pause, and I believe that is one of them, no?

[darkforcerising]

Someday we'll have an actual colony on the moon! And that's exciting.

[darkenedmoon]

On the moon? I wouldn't mind being an old woman and seeing something like that, if you ask me. Of course, there's the question of atmosphere, but I imagine that might be like some of the science fiction films. Domes and such...

[darkforcerising]

The moon and Mars at least. But probably also colonies on Jupiter and Saturn moons. Probably places in the asteroid belt for mining purposes.

Soon. We'll be setting up places like that all over the Solar System soon.

[darkenedmoon]

The entire solar system? Is that even possible? I mean...I suppose if it's done on the Moon, it wouldn't be beyond humans to do it all over, but the time involved...there's no fast travel, that will take a few decades, won't it?

[darkforcerising]

"Soon" is a relative term scaled to the history of human exploration.

Maybe not within the next five years, but within our lifetime. This lifetime.

[traceofeffort]

I was late for class, that probably counts! I'm very excited to see what it finds, but it's a major technological achievement even if it doesn't see anything exciting.

[darkforcerising]

I'm excited for the completely autonomous helicopter Perseverance brought with it.

[traceofeffort]

Oh right, I forgot about that! That's really cool too. Man, I want a helicopter... I guess I'm not an interstellar rover, though.

[darkforcerising]

Okay, but we could get a drone.

[traceofeffort]

Hey, don't give me ideas! Although... that'd be cool for a LOT of things. Maybe I'll have a future on Instagram after all ♪

Or hey, have a drone take a picture of me playing ON Mars, someday in the distant future. Once we've dug up the water we're... pretty sure is there? I haven't kept up with that stuff in a bit.

[darkforcerising]

That's probably really far off. But it's good to have dreams, right?

[traceofeffort]

Definitely. On both counts. Even if they're weird or way out there.

Would you go? To Mars? If it were cheap enough, it wouldn't kill you, the usual caveats?

[darkforcerising]

Of course I would go to Mars. No need to even think about it. Would you?

[traceofeffort]

Maybe not in a heartbeat, but... it'd be really cool, I think. I'd like to see new planets! How many people can say they've been somewhere literally out of this world?

[not_as_i_do]

Oh was that today?

[don't mind him, he thinks he's funny]

[darkforcerising]

... You wound me.

[not_as_i_do]

No real harm meant, dear boy, just a little teasing. I had a surgery, actually, or I would have tried to catch at least some of it. I take it the thing went well? No major disasters?

[darkforcerising]

I guess surgery is an okay excuse.

There's even video you can watch now.

[not_as_i_do]

Especially since I was the one wrist-deep in a man's ribcage.

[he takes a few minutes out of their conversation to inspect the link. oddly enough, his first thought is that it's not nearly as red as he'd been led to believe, but ... still]

That's incredible. Being able to watch a video of a thing as it's happening from so far away ... I wonder how many millions of people take that for granted in the age of high speed internet.

[darkforcerising]

Or, we could think about how many people get to experience now what you older folks got when NASA showed you all the first Earthrise photograph.

[not_as_i_do]

Look at you, putting the positive spin on things and making me feel like a bitter old fogey.

[he's so pleased, really.]

[darkforcerising]

I can't stop the passage of time, only enjoy the innovation that comes with it.

[not_as_i_do]

That's the sort of thing that ends up in books of pithy quotations with your name under it. Practicing for when you're famous for something-or other?

[he's teasing, of course]

[darkforcerising]

I mean, I'm probably in a Wikipedia article about pilots that survived a crash with an F-15.

[not_as_i_do]

Nnnnot quite the sort of thing they hang quotes on, but I'm still quite glad you did.

[and he means it, too]

How've you been lately, anyway? Remembering anything new? Not waking up on the ceiling anymore, I hope?

[darkforcerising]

I don't want to be anyone's inspirational porn anyways.

Still getting memories. I'm always surrounded by assholes in my memories. The Good Guys aren't always good people. But I haven't broken any more windows.

[not_as_i_do]

At least you're surrounded by people? So many of my memories ... I'm just alone. Or there are only one or two people there. One is always an older man, in a white uniform, sitting in a chair. I think he's supposed to be watching me.

[a short pause]

I'm beginning to wonder if I go insane, Anakin.

[darkforcerising]

Like, really? Not just metaphorically?

[not_as_i_do]

The more I see ... the more I think so. Really. I'm always wearing scrubs, even though there's not a patient in sight. Except for a few memories when I'm younger, with my wife or my children.

[darkforcerising]

Well. Fuck.

I think that's different from anything anyone else here is going through.

Have you told anyone else?