Tag: Sci-fi

Distant Love (Part 25)

Maeve looks at the giant dome that is the moon station Sector C. It is a large, translucent dome with multiple levels inside, under a star-laden sky. She sees dots moving. Looking down at the grey regolith, she hopes to join them.

Thank God for Derek; everybody made it back safely. She shudders at the thought of what would have happened without him.

Feeling sweaty in the spacesuit, she wonders if he will find her attractive.

I hope so.

One of the rescuers had made a strange comment, though. When she had relayed the story of what had happened, she stated that Derek probably would have been there himself if not for the rocky surface.

What was that supposed to mean?

Her Mom talks over the communications. “Don’t forget to thank that, Derek. And thank you, Maeve. The two of you saved the ship and everybody on board.”

“I will, Mom.” Even after a near-death experience, Mom just keeps being Mom.

Another crater to traverse.

Just as well, I can hop over all these obstacles in the low gravity.

They are getting closer now, and she can see that the station is internally spinning to create artificial gravity close to that of Earth.

Distant Love (Part 24)

Back in his room, a million thoughts run through Derek’s head. He has just heard over the communications line that Maeve is alive. She is being brought to Moon Sector C right now. He is both thrilled that she is okay and terrified at the thought of meeting her.

He looks at the mirror. Combs his hair to the left, then back to the right.

“You can do this, Derek!”

Talking to myself. Has it really come to this?

Derek swirls his wheelchair to the left, then back to the right.

I look good, apart from the chair, that is.

He frowns, then looks up at the ceiling.

I promised I’d meet her; there’s no turning back.

Derek wheels out of the room, then down the lift, to the ground level, and over to entry point B. Looking out at the gray, cratered lunar surface, he ponders what is going through Maeve’s head. Some of the debris from the landing is still making its way back to the surface. It reminds him of a video he had seen of it snowing on Earth.

Bodies appear over the top of one of the craters. Then still more.

What should I say? Good to see you. Think, Derek, think!

The Electric State: Billie Bobby Brown Shines Pity Chris Pratt

Hello dear readers, I do hope you are all enjoying the last gasp of summer. This time, I’m writing about an interesting film I watched on Netflix last night – The Electric State. It’s based on a novel, yay for writers everywhere.

From Wikipedia –

In an alternate 1990, a war between humans and robots has left the world in disarray. With the help of Sentre CEO Ethan Skate, who developed Neurocaster technology that allowed humans to upload their minds into drone robots, humanity managed to win the war, while robots were banished to the Exclusion Zone. However, the success of this technology meant many people opted to live their virtual lives in a semi-vegetative state while drones did most of the work.

In 1994, teenager Michelle lives with her deadbeat foster dad Ted. Years earlier, she was involved in a car crash along with her family, in which her parents and brother reportedly perished, and has since lived with a succession of foster families. Michelle is also having trouble at school due to her refusal to use Neurocaster technology to participate in virtual classes.

One day, the sentient robot Cosmo – a robot character of the cartoon of the same name which Michelle’s declared-deceased younger brother Christopher, who was a child prodigy, watched – finds Michelle. He is only able to communicate using gestures and a limited set of pre-recorded words, but manages to convince her that he is controlled by Christopher. Michelle and Cosmo set out across a dystopian landscape to find him by first finding Dr. Clark Amherst, the doctor who confirmed Christopher’s death.

The film has a good cast. Chris Pratt plays Christopher, and the indefatigable Billie Bobby Brown, of Stranger Things fame, plays Michelle. There is little chemistry between them. Like most modern films, it is no longer socially acceptable for any on-screen age gap romance to develop. If this were made during the actual 1990s, that would have been a central plank of the film. Down with that sort of thing! She is clearly a child, at just 21 years of age.

The relationship between Michelle and her brother is warm and authentic. The robots move naturally, and I liked the action scenes. Things get dark at times but not much more than your average Disney film.

So, when you’re sitting on your couch later, maybe give it a try. It gets four stars out of five from me.

Distant Love (Part 23)

Maeve’s hand trembles as she sees the ship is approaching the first marked point. Everybody she loves is on this ship, and their lives are now in her hands. This is not the extra responsibility she looked for from her Mother over a month ago. The manager of a section of the ship would have done.

Just some recognition, that’s all I wanted. Nothing like this.

She ignites the thrusters for four seconds. The ship’s descent is slowed.

The surface of the moon is coming closer now, and she can now make out its major craters along with various human settlements, including Sector C.

Once more, she fires the thrusters. Again and again. All she can do now is hope.

Derek and Nathalie look out through the window of their compound as moon ash is thrown up toward the darkness of space in the distance.

Nathalie put her hand on Derek’s shoulder. “I’m sure she’s okay. You did everything you could.”

A solitary tear rolls slowly down the side of his face. “I sure hope so. If anything has happened to her…”

“Don’t think like that, Derek. Nothing good will come of it. Be positive. You need to prepare to finally meet the woman of your dreams.”

Distant Love (Part 22)

Maeve hears Derek take a large breath. He speaks in a serious tone. “Your ship has no landing gear. To have a soft landing, you will need to initiate the thrusters at certain points as it descends. Even then, it would ordinarily be considered a crash landing.

“I’m going to change the holographic display. You will now see a much smaller ship in front of you and the moon in the distance. Your landing area is marked out, along with the different points on the trajectory you need to take action at.”

The new holographic display appears.

Maeve stares in awe. “I don’t know about. Can you not do it remotely, or maybe get an AI to do it?”

“I’m afraid not. Unfortunately, I will be unable to communicate with you as you near the surface. No AI has been trained on what you are about to do.

It’s up to you, and you alone.”

There is silence. Maeve says, “I understand.”

For the next ten minutes, she watches the ship approach the moon. She launches the thrusters at the first marked point. Then releases.

Derek speaks. She can hear the fear in his voice. “I’m about to lose communications. Best of luck, and I’ll see you soon.”

Distant Love (Part 21)

Maeve feels her heart beating, “I’m not sure I can do this, Derek.”

“Yes, you can. Remember when you thought you were a goner in Terminutus V? I messaged you that you could do it, and you did. And I’m telling you now, you have this.”

She grinned. “You always were my biggest supporter. If I do make it through this, we must meet up. You can show me the best places in Moon Sector C. What do you say?”

There is a pause for a few seconds.

“Yes, we’ll do that. I promise.”

The holographic display begins to flicker, and a red dot appears. Maeve purses her lips. “There’s something wrong.”

Back on the moon, Derek is trying to understand what has gone wrong and what can be done to rectify the situation. He bites his bottom lip as he looks at the timer at the bottom right of his screen. It shows fifteen minutes counting down. It denotes the time left before Maeve either lands safely or dies in a massive fireball.

You can do this, Derek.

“Okay, Maeve, we need to cut off the fuel to a thruster. Press the red dot three times.”

She did so, and the display stopped flickering.

Derek tapped his desk. “Okay, Maeve. Here comes the hard part.”

Distant Love (Part 20)

She replies in an excited tone, “This is Maeve.”

“Good to have you back, Maeve, and sorry for leaving you. The solar flare created a major problem with some of the lunar systems. Everything should be fine now.”

Maeve jerks as the holographic display reappears.

“The holographic display should be back. Now we have to go a bit faster, as we’ve lost quite a bit of time. It’ll be like that game you play. What was called – Mars Odyssey?”

Her heart misses a beat. “How do you know that?”

“It’s me, Derek.”

“No way.”

“Yes, it is. What are the odds, eh? I know it’s such a strange way to finally meet. But must get back to the task at hand. There’s not much time.”

Maeve closed her eyes and took a big breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”

Derek went through a series of actions that would need to be done in quick succession. “Okay, Maeve, let’s see what you can do.”

Seconds later, Maeve’s hands flail all around her as she controls different parts of the ship. “How’s things going, Derek? The hip has started to rumble.”

“Stay calm, the ship is starting to feel the moon’s gravity. You are doing great so far.”

Distant Love (Part 19)

Maeve waits for the communications to resume. She is sweaty and repeatedly tapping the side of the computer console. It’s been over twenty minutes since the communications ended.

She hears the clanking of steps. Someone is coming towards her.

Her mother enters with a frown, just as she had expected. “What happened Maeve? I thought we had things under control.”

“The communications abruptly ceased. I’ve tried everything I know. Things seem to be fine at this end, the lunar end seems to be the problem.”

Her mother leans back against a wall. “Well, they better get their house in order or we’re lunar dust. That moon is getting bigger all the time.”

“They will Mom. The guy I was talking to, I trust him. He’ll figure something out.”

“I hope so, Maeve. I hope so. I’m going back up. Keep me in the loop sweetpea.”

She never calls me that. Things are very bad indeed.

A cackling sound. Maeve reacts, “Is that Moon Sector C? I repeat, is that Moon Sector C?”

“This is Moon Sector C.” Maeve grinned at the sound of the familiar voice. For the briefest of moments, she wondered if he was handsome. She just knew he was.

Distant Love (Part 18)

The voice spoke to Maeve again. “Okay, our trajectory is still a bit off. Look to your right. Do you see the orange line? I need you to hold your finger on it for ten seconds. Now.”

Maeve lifts her hand to the right and holds it there.

“Peerrffect. Well..” The line goes dead, and the holographic display disappears. Maeve looks around the room, her pulse racing.

In Moon Sector C, Derek stares at a blank screen. The room is dark except for a red, hazy light coming from the four corners of the room.

Nathalie shouts, “What in the Earth just happened?”

Derek shakes his head. “It must be some sort of power cut. I think we’re on emergency power.”

“Yes, you’re right. I think I remember reading it somewhere in the Emergency Protocols.” She walks over to the door and looks through the transparent top. “We’re not the only ones affected. Scary, what if we run out of oxygen?”

“No, there is an emergency supply. I’d be more worried about the ship that I’m pretty sure is now on a direct collision course. Whatever the problem is, I hope they fix it fast. At least it would be quick.”

Nathalie stares at him, “You are a strange one.”

Distant Love (Part 17)

The communication line goes silent.

A holographic display appears around her. Each section of the ship is detailed in multicolor light. Her mouth is ajar as she hears the man again.

“Maeve, can you hear me? I repeat, can you hear me?” His voice sounds tense.

“Yes, I can hear you. It worked. A holographic display has appeared around me. It’s like I’m in the middle of it.”

The male voice takes a large breadth. “Well, thank the stars for that. So, there’s not a second to lose. I need you to turn your head left. Do you see a flashing, green light?”

Maeve frowns and looks to the left. She sees the flashing green light. “Yes, I can see it.”

“Good, the ship is currently travelling too fast. We need to reduce its velocity. Put your finger on the flashing green light for five seconds. You will feel the ship slowing down.”

She puts her finger on the light. The deceleration pushes her forward in the seat. “You should have told me I needed to be strapped in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Trying to think about so much at the moment. Yes, you need a belt, and so does everyone else on the ship.”