Tu's Story Part 5 ~ What Next?
Tu's Story
The revelations of the night before had removed a weight from her mind that had been gathering mass like a rain cloud over the last few days. The pristine dawn skies & the cooling freshness of the morning air reflected Tu's new, clear state of mind...
After a wander around her homestead, she entered into the kitchen of her childhood home, to find it full of the voices of three generations of her family, all of which stopped talking as she came in.
"Oh no', thought Tu," Not more secrets!"
But the little flame of fear flickered out again as the conversation immediately began again & expanded to include her.
Eventually turned to her smiling, "We have been discussing the artefact you found." she said.
Tu reached for her waist to check for it & looked up to see Saorsa handing it to her still covered in the cloth Tu had wrapped it in.
"The thing is," Saorsa continued, "We would really like to take it back with us tomorrow."
"Oh that's fine," said Tu & she meant it.
"However," continued Saorsa, "We also feel that it should stay with you."
"Well', replied Tu," That's fine too, "She was happy with either option," I would look after it."
Saorsa looked warmly at Tu, "We were actually wondering how you would think & feel about returning with us & staying for a while. You can help us in the work with the shard & of course, you are always welcome to leave whenever you want.
Tu looked to her parents Ebe & Iken, then to her grandparents Rebel & Bob, they all seemed at ease with the idea. If she could have read their thoughts, she would have seen that they were actually relieved at the idea. Unnerved by the Levski event & the broader implications, they each felt she would be safer off the plot for a while, and Saorsa & Sisu were certainly that - no one knew where the two called home or if they did they kept it to themselves. They all held their silence, however, in respect of Tu's own decision-making process.
"Yep," smiled Tu, "That's fine too," she said, & a little wave of excitement & mystery swelled up in her heart as she said it.
So it was, that the next day close to sundown, Tu with a few bits & bobs she had gathered from her Terrapin before patting its door goodbye., sat thoughtfully in the back of the vehicle.
Followed by a trail of homesteadians, her great-grandparents joined her & soon, in the ebb of brave-faced farewells she & Saorsa sat swaying & bobbing in the back of the couple's Ursa as Sisu drove it out into the foothills & up into the mountains to their ship. There were no escorts this time, Saorsa had deemed it unnecessary & refused Bob's many propositions of a protective entourage.
Where the ship would take them remained a mystery to Tu. But she was getting used to it & hopefully, all being Homi, she trusted she would find out soon enough.
Tu looked out of the back of the vehicle watching the sunset & its glowing reflection on the windows of her homestead as disappeared behind the hills gathering up behind them, then she turned to follow the gaze of Saorsa to look out of the front of the window to watch the mountains of her home planet in the liminal light of nightfall.
What Next?
This is an excerpt from Deep Space Crew ~ An Ongoing Story ~ By The Slingshots.
Tu's Story ~ Part 4 ~ Visit From The…
Tu's Story
Over the next few days, Tu kept herself busy catching up with close friends that hadn't yet left the homestead for the first time as she had only a couple of months previously. They seemed unaware of anything other than a home visit going on & as she told stories of her 'adventures' in the Verse, she omitted the unsettling events that had led to her return.
Time passed fairly quickly, she easily fell into the pattern of being at home, yet curiosity burned like a little fire in her mind that would not be put out as she waited for the arrival of her great grandparents Saorsa & Sisu.
This morning, at the homestead, there was definitely a lot more going on than usual. From the window of her room, as the first light crept over the ridges surrounding the camp, Tu had seen vehicles drive out & when she got up, she found granny Rebel & mum Ebe busy in the kitchen prepping a substantial amount of food. Tu offered her help.
"They're coming today aren't they?" She asked although it was more of a confirmation than a question.
Rebel, smiled back at her, "All being homii, yes they are" She answered.
Tu felt a little spark of anticipation ignite in her solar plexus. Hopefully, she was finally going to find out what all the fuss was about. At that moment Bob & her father walked in, deep in conversation. Temporarily distracted they stopped & looked at the three women, before turning on their heels and walking out again.
Tu was brimming with questions but knew that if she heard the reply," all will come clear" or, "you'll know soon enough" once more, she might scream like a brat, so she decided to just go with the flow of the day's events hoping that it would lead to answers eventually.
Over the next few days, Tu kept herself busy catching up with close friends that hadn't yet left the homestead for the first time as she had only a couple of months previously. They seemed unaware of anything other than a home visit going on & as she told stories of her 'adventures' in the Verse, she omitted the unsettling events that had led to her return.
Time passed fairly quickly, she easily fell into the pattern of being at home, yet curiosity burned like a little fire in her mind that would not be put out as she waited for the arrival of her great grandparents Saorsa & Sisu.
Suddenly she saw distant lights heading slowly towards the homestead.
As the shadows deepened between the homestead & the ridges,Tu watched from the window of her room, her eyes scanning the dips & dives of the mountainsides faintly lit by the soft radiance of the stunning nebulous sky she had grown up with.
Suddenly she saw distant lights, flickering at first, then stretching into beams, heading slowly towards the homestead. She headed outside to tell Bob who had been marking the portent passing time with his strides as he paced the Southern perimeter of the camp.
It was late that night when Tu found herself standing in the kitchen with her great grandparents. The room was a glow. Saorsa had looked at her intently, it was as if she could see into the depths of her mind Tu hadn't even been herself. But they were tired & there were going to be no revelations that night.
The next day, however, the lodge was open to a select few & gradually everybody gathered together around a table that was shrouded by beautiful hanging plants, collected from far and wide throughout the verse & carefully tended by everyone on the homestead.
The last to arrive was Bob, in his hand was the artefact still wrapped in the cloth Tu had carefully covered it in. He handed it to Sisu.
"It is as we expected", smiled Sisu," So Tu, can you tell us yourself, in full, how did you come by this?"
Not expecting to be the one to do all the talking, Tu did as she was asked & relayed her story in full, beginning with the quirky navigation glitch of the Terrapin that had caused her to be at an abandoned lab, ending with her strange trans-dimensional type experience.
Bob, helped her with the rest of the story, how he picked her up during her escape from the dangerous space station & bought her home.
It was strange to see her Grandfather in the presence of his parents, especially his father Sisu, Tu found it curious how they could be so alike & yet so different.
When the tale had been told, Saorsa who had been turning the artefact over & over in her hand, studying its shape closely, looked up at Tu.
" We are so sorry for the secrecy, which is, you will not know, customary on a subject such as this one? We had to be sure. Though, from all that I have seen & heard I am sure." She looked to Sisu, who nodded solemnly in agreement.
"There is an explanation for your experience & it is directly related to this," Saorsa held out the artefact in the palms of both hands, as she did so, light passing through the hanging foliage caught it, sending spectrums of colour in every direction.
"But your story Tu - is just a small passage of a much bigger story, a story that we ourselves are still uncovering. But as we piece it together, your experience & this artefact will help us considerably. We do believe that it is no coincidence that you should find this shaard."
"Shaard?" Tu posed the word back to Saorsa as a question, she hadn't heard the term before.
"Yes, Shaard," repeated Sisu, "Is just one of its names."
"These shaards are rare & extremely precious for reasons we have only just begun to understand, not only to our people but also, we believe, to the Holi Verse, or Verse as a whole. It is also no coincidence that they are appearing more frequently than we have known before, especially to Intuvii."
"Intuvii?" Yet another word Tu was unfamiliar with.
Long into the afternoon, the words spilled & by the time Tu left the lodge she had more answers than she could actually properly deal with all at once.
Her head was spinning. She needed space, to spread all the information out & bring it all back together in a way that made sense.
Everything looked different, both her inner & outer landscape were vaster, she felt a sense of purpose and
..she laughed to herself shaking her head in amused disbelief, she had found out her real name ..Tui
Everything looked different
This is an excerpt from Deep Space Crew ~ An Ongoing Story ~ By The Slingshots.
Tu's Story ~ Part 3 ~ Home Sweet Home
Tu's Story
Tu's Story Part 3 Home Sweet Home
Shaken up by the event at the space station she had stopped off at on her way home, Tu soon noticed that things back at the homestead were a little weird too.
After the initial warm homecoming greetings, she couldn't seem to get a straight answer out of anyone, who seemed mostly too preoccupied with something that definitely seemed to exclude her.
She noticed that the artefact, however, was receiving a lot of attention, all be it discreet. A few days after her return home, Tu's Terrapin had arrived back at the camp in a convoy with two other ships.
The pilot, after unloading a couple of small cargo boxes & a few hasty words with Bob, jumped straight back in one of the other ships which both then left again, almost immediately.
Bob turned about & headed off toward the shipyard carrying the cargo boxes, probably to his workshop, a grounded Herald that had found its way there some years back and never left.
Tu's Terrapin had arrived back at camp
Tu's Terrapin It looked like it had seen battle.
Tu walked over to touch base with her Terrapin.
As she approached, she was horrified to see the state of it. It looked like it had seen battle… & not fared too well at that.
She opened the door, which clunked, stuttered & jammed. A bit upset, Tu vented her frustration & thumped the door, then had to jump out the way as the ramp sprang down unconstrained.
Inside her ship, things were no better.
“What in space happened to you, my poor Terrapin?”
Everywhere she looked there was damage
Her mother Ebe arrived in time to hear the question. Ebe wandered around the back of the ship looking worried. Tu noticed her mother swiftly wipe something off the arm of the scanning chair.
"What was that?," thought Tu, "It looked like blood?".
"Mum!," Tu pleaded in frustration," What's going on? What are you not telling me?"
Ebe looked at her daughter sympathetically & gave her a hug.
"I know Tu, it must be pretty frustrating. All will be made clear.. we are just waiting for someone to arrive first."
"Who?" asked Tu, her impatience turning to curiosity.
" Saorsa & Sisu." There was excitement in Ebes voice & a grin took over her face as she as she held her daughter's shoulder & jostled them playfully.
Tu was taken aback by this reply, she hadn't seen her great grandparents in a long while. It was a rare visit indeed. She presumed it was because of the distance between their homesteads. No one had ever really told her where, in the star system, they lived. Or, in fact, if they even lived in this star system. It was beginning to dawn on Tu, just how much she didn't know & she was wondering if this was intentional. Ebes happiness was infectious & Tu found herself smiling despite her trashed ship.
Ebe was watching her daughter's face. "Come on," she said, grabbing Tu's arm and pivoting her around to the door. " I need your help with something, it's so good to see you, tell me about Eyla, how's she doing?" Together, they began walking away from the sorry wreck that was Tu's Terrapin.
As they passed the shipyard, Tu's father who was in there busy with what looked like the cargo boxes that arrived earlier, waved & smiled affectionately at his family. Ebe darted away over to him, Tu didn't hear what she said but watched as her mum nodded in the direction of the Terrapin, before quickly returning to Tu's side, re-linking arms & continuing their journey the outer limits of the homestead to its beloved 'Far Garden'
The next time Tu saw her Terrapin, it was in the shipyard being looked over by her father.
She joined him & was soon patiently listening to him tell her what he needed to do in order to fix it, whilst avoiding to mention how it got like that in the first place. Tu didn't push it, & was soon busy helping her father remove, search for, clean & replace. When they finally returned home, the sun was setting & They were one day closer to the arrival of their elders.
This is an excerpt from Deep Space Crew ~ An Ongoing Story ~ By The Slingshots.
Tu's Story ~ Part 2 ~ Fated Detour
Tu's Story
Hypnotised by the passing stream of starlight, Tu was finding it hard to keep her eyes open & stay awake and she was really hungry.
Close to a familiar space station, she was pondering whether to take a quick detour to grab a bite to eat to give her energy for the last leg of her journey home & she could refuel her Terrapin at the same time. Feeling revitalised just at the thought, she decided to go for it & set her star map for the location.
The space station was unquestionably a dive, but Tu had discovered it to be one of the places where friends and trusted associates of her homestead community, seemed to gravitate to. For a good while, this seemed strange to her, as the look & initial vibe of the place couldn't have been more different than her homestead, which was surrounded by peaceful nurtured beauty & kept tended & cared for.
More recently, however, as she became aware of the region's politics, she understood the counter culture it was part of & as she discovered a bit more about the history of the abandoned mining facility she began to realise that the ideals that the place stood for weren't so very different from those of her family, especially Bob & Rebel her grandparents & many others in her homestead community & network..
In the cool blue light of Levski's atmosphere, Tu navigated the asteroids, called in & carefully lowered her Terrapin into a cavernous hanger looming below.
As she exited her ship, something made her check that the artefact was still tucked safely in her suit pouch before, feet dragging, she wearily made her way across the dim-lit hanger to the elevator.
As Tu wandered around the junk store to see if there was anything useful to take back to her homestead, she is spotted by Aki, SubVerse* colleague of her grandfather known to many as Conspiracy Bob.
Aki had been cooped up in his hab all day & decided to take a wander & stretch his legs around the station.
He mostly kept himself to himself but observed the comings & goings in his crummy neighbourhood that was the spaceport & was pretty familiar with its people & patterns. He had seen Tu appear on the scene a month or so ago & being a trusted SubVerse member, it hadn't taken long to come to his attention who she was.*Subverse: Amongst the close allies of the DSC are the group SubVerse. Back in 28th Century the SubVerse network caught wind of rumours of an unusual group picked up in a rescue operation and took the initiative to approach them to find out more. The group, subsequently realised the necessity to come to their aid and keep them safe and help them... using their connections they helped the O8 keep a low profile. However, years of cooperation have since shown that Subverse are also looked after by DSC in return.
This is an excerpt from Deep Space Crew ~ An Ongoing Story ~ By The Slingshots.
Tu's Story ~ Part 1 ~ Properly Introducing Tu
2050 & seeing children whilst out & about in the built-up areas of the known verse is a pretty unusual occurrence. In the cities, the child-friendly elevators & trains transport directly from the family habs to the child zones, keeping youngsters isolated from the rest of the inhabitants and passers-through. On rare occasions, you might catch a fleeting glimpse of a parent with a child closely in tow rushing through a space station, but this was likely out of absolute necessity for complete lack of a better option - because opportunistic marauders made space stations & unattended children a dangerous combination.
Most children are brought up in the homesteads, constructed painstakingly from the ground up when colony ships such as the Pioneer are still only a promise & everything needed had to be painstakingly transported in. These homesteads, often called homing-hubs, were built for the sole purpose of bringing up children safely away from the madding crowd. Some homing hubs could run for generations, others preferred to disassemble from time to time for various reasons.
These family colonies, scattered throughout the peaceful, further regions of planets & fiercely protected to the hilt are generally considered off-limits to anyone other than the inhabitants & just not worth the risk of interfering with.
This was Tu's upbringing. Growing up in the safety of her hub, nestled in the lakeside woodlands of a beautiful valley somewhere on *redacted*. Like most of the children growing up in these isolated camps; as soon as they were able to fly, most, though not all, left to explore the skies that had been tempting them all their lives so far.
Tu was one of these youngsters. Like most preparing for their first independent journey off-planet, she was 'encouraged' not to go alone. This had been fine by her because she & her friend Eyla, who lived in the dome next to hers, had been planning the adventures they would have as soon as they were able, as far back as they could remember. Nothing much excited Tu more than waiting with all the other basecamp kids in the Cartography Deck of the Carrack dedicated to schooling, as the ship fired up & the hollow viewer came to life. Transported by the stars & planets holographically suspended before them, she loved to listen to intriguing stories of the system around her and beyond.
As Tu & Eyla wandered around the community shipyard, where all good ships go to die & eventually be reborn & where her father Iken, was usually to be found deep in the belly of a space ship draped in greasy metal entrails. The girls would plan their future escapades.
Fast forward a decade or two and the two friends are packing Tu's Terrapin. Grandpa Bob, after giving up on trying to interest Tu in managing a weaponised ship, had at least been able to talk her into a heavy-armoured Terrapin instead. But Two loved her Terrapin. She had watched her father bring the well worn, close to salvage ship back to life, learning as much as she could at the same time.
"Watch as if your life depended on it, "Her father had said to her seriously.
Which had seemed a bit extreme at the time, but she did anyway. A thousand test runs later followed by an eternity of flight training & the day had come when Tu was to become spacefaring.
Tu watched as the last of their escort party, which included most of the community plus mum Ebe, dad Iken, grandpa Bob & granny Rebel, which was customary for the occasion, slowed down in their wake & fell away to become a few distant specks far, far behind. Caught in a cocktail of emotions, the two young women were heading for New Babbage MT.
A few months later, Eyla, having fallen in love & paired up, had moved into a hab in Adira Halls, Area 18. Consequently, Tu lost her travel companion & found herself, 'Lonewolf' as granny Rebel of Earth descent would call it.
Though Tu was alone, she wasn't lonely, she had made a few other friends on her travels so far & she stayed connected with her family at home via the abundant friends & colleagues of her extended family or network that Bob & Rebel had encouraged (on the verge of insisting ), that she connected with. Tu found it surprising & somewhat perplexing how dynamic & robust this network was, but some extra sense told her this observation was probably best kept to herself.
She was also surprised when after returning to ArcCorp from that forsaken Day of the Vara journey to visit Eyla, to be contacted & instructed to visit a woman said to be a friend of her mothers.
This woman, who Tu recognised as a frequent visitor to her homestead, told her that her folks had asked her to tell Tu to head home as soon as possible.
"Everyone is safe," the woman had said whilst pouring them both a coffee, "But there's some stuff that they need to speak to you face to face about...oh... & don't tell anyone where you are going."
This was where Tu was heading now. She just hoped her Terrapin was going to make it & not be taking her to anymore abandoned labs. She was sure her dad would be able to get to the core of her navigation issues.
Her heart filled with joy at the thought of seeing her family again, Tu cranked up her playlist & as the stars sped past her, she was in her element.
This is an excerpt from Deep Space Crew ~ An Ongoing Story ~ By The Slingshots.
Tu's Story ~ Part 0 ~ Tu's Vision
Tu had always been sensitive to the vibes of a place & right now every intuitive fibre in her body was telling her that something really bad had happened here.
She had been wary to even enter the abandoned lab, & as she approached the steps leading to the entrance, she felt herself reaching for her sidearm. It wasn't there.
Tu sighed, she had left it back in the ship as usual, & after four solid hours of brain-draining troubleshooting, the defunct navigation system that had caused her to land in this forsaken place, inside her ship was the last place she wanted to be right now. Cursed curiosity overrode the sense of foreboding & as she slipped silently inside, the airlock closed behind her.
It was much like most of the abandoned bases in this system. Left standing like sealed time capsules, differentiated only by the captured transient memories left in the wake of passing whirlwinds of activity.
Tu looked around. Trash covered every surface & spilt onto the floor in random heaps. Above the whir of the life support system, she could hear the sporadic rattle of a loose-fitting panel flapping in the wind.
Sifting absent-mindedly through the useless detritus, something caught her eye. Backlit by the erratic flicker of a dying light, it glowed momentarily. Attracted by its strange translucence, she picked it up.
Mesmerised by the crystalline object, Tu was surprised by a wave of nauseating dizziness sweeping over her, followed by a storm of unexplainable panic. Overwhelmed, she struggled to catch her breath & keep her balance as everything around her began to morph & fade & out of the shadows of obscurity huge, monstrous figures began to materialise around her.
Caught in the overlay as one reality dissolved into another, Tu grasped with all her mental might to the preferable former. But her efforts in vain, she found herself stood amongst them.
Overbearing, they filled the room & where their grotesque bodies ended their tangible auras took over enveloping Tu with the stifling stench of dread & despair. Worse, everything, except her, was dripping in blood.
It was some, albeit little comfort that their eyes were closed, as they seemed to sleep standing. Tu dared not move lest she disturb the portent ambience. With as little eyeball movement as possible, she counted nine of them, their pitted & warty skin reminded her of amphibians from Earth, it hung, flabby on them in putrid folds & as they swayed eerily, their huge heavy arms swung at their sides & something disgusting slid from the long nails of their thick fingers.
Certain the creatures would hear her heart slamming in her chest, she tried to level & took a deep breath. Mortified, she watched as a beast opposite her suddenly inhaled. It's bloated nostrils flared, to reveal menhirs of teeth propping up the lips of its ugly mouth.
The creatures were stirring from their stupor, their sagging eyelids opened to reveal empty caverns of obsidian darkness. Tu began frantically searching for something to protect herself with but the creatures stood between her & anything useful.
Fully awake their bodies began to contort in fitful spasms, flinging bloody drool in every direction. One flailed toward her. Tu still held the object she had found & she hurled it at the beast, she watched as it passed right through the beasts fading head & lost consciousness.
When she awoke, to her relief, the former reality had returned. She wrapped & tucked the artefact into a side pouch & as the lab doors closed behind her, she wanted nothing more than to get back to fixing her ship.
This was an entry to To the SC's Day Of The Vara competition & then became the first time we met Tu in Tu's Story ~ Part 0 & an excerpt from 'Deep Space Crew ~ An Ongoing Story ' By the Slingshots
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TAKE A JOURNEY THROUGH THE DSC TIMELINE FOR AN OVERVIEW OF THE UNFOLDING DSC STORY TO DATE.
Within the timeline, you can find links to articles, blog posts, SoundCloud audios, image galleries, videos & more.. that illustrate the ongoing narrative of the DSC-08 past & present.
ORIGINS:UNKNOWN
In our expanding Verse, the descendants of the 08 & inspirators of the DSC walk amongst us, their origins are unknown, can you be sure of yours?
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TRANSCRIPT OF THE ARRIVAL ~ AS TOLD BY THE…
History
New horizons for the DSC-O8
Obtained from a recent visit by their son to the secret hideaway somewhere in The Verse..
The whereabouts of the last known remaining couple of the original eight [08] known only to their immediate family has been kept secret. The reason for this was always believed to be because one of them, if not both are Intuvii*.
The couple lived a nomadic life for a hundred years or so after 'the arrival', in which time they reared a family, travelling with them throughout the known Verse. On the formation of the Ark in 2800 however, in an attempt to remain unregistered, they settled ~ something very unusual for their 'race'.
Their offspring carried on travelling and continue the exploratory lifestyle they were used to today, now, with families of their own, they recognise that even though their parents are in good health, they are not going to be around forever and have asked them to share memories before it's too late. They thought a good place to start would be a firsthand record of their arrival as told by their parents, little did they know that this would be the tip of the iceberg of a huge archive of 'stories' handkept** by the couple, which are in fact their life's work since settling, which they continue to protect carefully and are obviously the reason they have remained hidden ~ but that's another (few) stories - when the couple eventually agree to release them.
So follows the transcript of The Story Of The Arrival As Told By The Last Remaining O8 Crew Members.
Transcriber: [Son] So shall we start with your names?
Both Interviewees : [Laughing] No! O.K so not quite ready for that yet, you recluses are so secretive!, Well, can you tell me about when you first arrived here?
O8 Him: Well, we woke up in what we now know was the DSA lab in the Stanton system
O8 Her: Yes, that's the first actual memory we have of our arrival.
O8 Him: It soon became clear to us that our 'rescuers' were under duress and the star system itself was under a negative destabilizing influence of endangering forces.
O8 Her: Yes, we weren't greeted in the way we were used to.
O8 Him: No, it felt kind of pressured.
O8 Her: Yes the reception wasn't welcoming
O8 Him: Well it wasn't hostile.
O8 Her:: No it wasn't hostile, but it wasn't welcoming
O8 Him: No it wasn't welcoming, there was a lot of stress and distractions.
Transcriber: There was a war on right?
O8 Him: Yes, and revolution.
O8 Her: Under the circumstances, we decided on reticence, to focus on keeping our wholi*** clear .
O8 Him: And we didn't understand this language then either.
O8 Her: No and they didn't understand us.
O8 Him: Plus we were suffering post-traumatic cryo-pod emergence and our memories hadn't returned
O8 Her: They never did actually.
Both [Laughter]
O8 Him: But seriously we do have some moments of intuvision****, which are likely memories but it is unclear of their time placement or meaning.
O8 Him: So basically, we were unable to attune wholi with our rescuers and further divided by language.
Transcriber: Can you explain Intuvision?
O8 Him: I guess the closest word you have for it, would be an amalgamation of the meanings of psychic visions and...
O8 Her: Daydreams but more real.
O8 Him: Yes because they are completely immersive at an experiential level.
Transcriber: Thanks. OK, so what happened next?
O8 Him: They continued their ' investigations' separately, one on one.
O8 Her: I remember some kind of visual recognition test…. I remember not really recognising any of the images they showed us,
O8 Him: No. I know they were ships, weapons, people
O8 Her Yes and writing, different languages.
O8 Him: Yes.
[The couple were both shown other artefacts that I have agreed to omit from this transcription for the time being, but promise to reveal it in context later]
O8 Her: We felt the need to get out of there, we really needed to regain homeostasi***** & wholi balance
O8 Him: Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to connect wholi with our rescuers.
Transcriber: Can you define 'wholi' ?
O8 Her: We based this word on your word holistic, which means mind/body/soul, but actually there is an added psychic element to it, a kind of super-intuition that can be tuned into when wholi is perfectly in balance. Wholi can be shared between people, or as we say people can commune in wholi.
Transcriber: Thanks.
What was your purpose when you arrived, did you have a purpose?
O8 Her: We don't have a word/meaning for purpose, it is an alien concept for us, one we have still decided not to take on.
O8 Him: No, we explore & expand our home, but it's not a purpose, it's just what we do naturally.
O8 Her: It's our nature.
Transcriber: But you are settled here now, how do you find that?
Both: Well, we are still exploring really
O8 Her: Yes we are exploring the intuvisionary world now.
Transcriber: Interesting, well we'll come back to that....What happened next?
O8 Him: We were all taken for medical examination.
O8 Her: It became really obvious just what a state of crisis everyone was in.
O8 Him: We wanted out the minute we arrived, luckily we only had a short stay. there were people in much more need than us.
O8 Her: But when we got out it wasn't much better was it?
O8 Him: No, it wasn't
Transcriber: Did all eight of you stick together?
O8 Him: Yes we did, especially to begin with, we spent time trying to piece anything together that might help us know who in space we were or what in space we were doing here.
O8 Her: It was pretty confusing for a while, but it was also exciting discovering somewhere new.
O8 Him: Thankfully, we met some good people who took us in, showed us the ropes and helped us get space-faring again. We crewed other's ships for a while until we managed to pick up our own, a Retaliator by Aegis.
Transcriber: So that was your first 'owned' ship after the arrival?
O8 Her: Yes it was basically the bare-bones version.
O8 Him;: Yes, the Retaliator Base, there were a lot of them about and they were affordable we re-purposed it for exploration.
O8 Her: It's supposed to crew seven, but we squeezed one more in.
O8 Him: Other ships & crew joined the fleet to what was to become Deep Space Crew!
[ … and so ends the Transcript of The Story Of The Arrival As Told By The Last Remaining O8 Crew Members. ]
