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CatastrophicFailure

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    Revelations of the Kraken (Chapter 44: Falling Down)

    in KSP Fan Works

    Posted

    On 3/28/2018 at 12:53 PM, KSK said:

    Pidgey was caught!

    Well, the whole MoneyPoke OW!™️ craze came and went during Edgas’s... dark times... but One never knows... :wink:

    6 hours ago, qzgy said:

    should not read this in class..... its too good!

    I’ve heard it said it may not be wise to read some of my stuff whilst in mixed company or while consuming any liquid one does not wish to irrigate one’s sinuses with.  :confused:

     

    Other things... I will take a page from @Just Jim‘s book and neither confirm nor deny... tho I am working on a little surprise for this weekend. :D and now that I’ve said it out loud I’m committed... 

    SpaceX Discussion Thread

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, sh1pman said:

    You think the numbers on SpaceX’s own web page are wrong?

    Given @sevenperforce‘s sage words about SX being able to charge whatever they want, I think the numbers on their website are highly negotiable. :wink:

    Once the current inventory of obsolete boosters is gone, SX doesn’t want any more expendable flights. They want to keep all the boosters they can so they can shut the assembly line down to build BFR’s. We might rarely see a partially expendable FH launch, but unless some unforeseen problem turns up with that launcher, that will be the end of expendable F9’s. 

    Blue Origin thread.

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    BE-3 is the New Shepherd engine, right? Ok, makes lots of sense, they’ve already got a good amount of runtime data from that booster, and it saves developing a vacuum BE-4. 

    But what about the structural changes? They’d need to make the second stage a lot bigger to get enough LH2...

    What did you do in KSP1 today?

    in KSP1 Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Ace in Space said:

    unfortunatenames_by_littlefiredragon-dc7

    Hairy and Anger are siblings whose parents evidently hated them. Hairy prefers to go by Harriet. Anger's name suits him well, though he insists it's pronounced "ahn-JERR."

    Hah! I love it! :D Sounds like a gritty ‘70’s cop duo.

    Coming soon to KRBL-TV! They’re cleaning up the the mean streets and flushing crime... down the drain. This fall, watch out for

     

    HAIRY/ANGER*

    *brought to you by Gillette 

    Revelations of the Kraken (Chapter 44: Falling Down)

    in KSP Fan Works

    Posted

    Johnny, take a walk with your sister the Mün,
    Let her pale light in, to fill up your room.
    You've been living underground, eating from a can,
    You've been running away from what you don't understand,
    Love. 



    Chapter 18: She Moves in Mysterious Ways



    She moved down the corridor, her stomach moving in mysterious ways. Fortunately for all involved, this being a space station, the door to the former closet was airtight, the air passing through it well filtered, and if worse came to worse it could simply be vented to the outside, essentially sterilizing the whole room. Such might also keep these irksome “whumpers” away for a while, Edgas had speculated. But still...

    Gurgle.

    That horrid newcomer had finally been extricated once a clean set of clothes had been found for him. Of course, they actually could find clothes that fit him. Hmph. She was still hobbling around in a onesie and an an oversized sweatshirt. 

    Which was incredibly soft. And warm. And really a very nice gesture, and—

    Hmmph!

    She pulled the hood a bit tighter. 

    But anyway, she really didn’t understand why this Burdous was so upset about his shirt, or what Edgas had to do with that. He wasn’t the one who wolfed down that bread. Or the slightly peroxide-tinged coffee. Yet apparently that was the second of Burdous’s shirts Edgas had ruined. She thought she was missing something again. 

    Yet she hobbled along next to Edgas, trying to ignore an irritating twinge her hip seemed to have picked up. He was once again studying the ceiling panels as they walked, and despite her irritation, she had to work to conceal a smirk. Irritation, also directed at him. 

    He was... not exactly hiding something, but not telling her, either. There was something he and the other one shared, she could feel it. Something horrid and painful, and yet somehow, also beautiful. But still, why would he—

    “Why would I what?” Edgas was raising an eye... bulge at her.  

    She nearly yelped in surprise, “I... um... er... what?”

    He blinked as if confused at himself, “ah... you were looking at me funny, like you wanted to ask me something?”

    “I was?” PЦTIЙ! “ah... the other fellow, is he... quite all right?”

    “He’s back in his element now that he’s got a screen in front of him,” Edgas rolled his eyes, “I’m sure he’ll get over the shirt thing.”

    Nodding, she watched him from the corner of her eye, “What is this thumb drive he seems so concerned about?”

    Another flash of... something, and then “just... a bunch of old documents, boring bureaucratic stuff.”

    She eyed him, “yet interesting enough to include a dangerous piece of software...”

    “It’s... a long story.”

    “I have time,” she turned to him, “if is one thing I do have, it is time.”

    He held her gaze for a while, and sighed, “trust me, you don’t need to know this,” then pushed open the hatch to his quarters. She thought she heard him mumble, “not yet...” Her frown became a scowl, yet she followed him in. 

    “How did you ever meet such a horrid little kerb?” she asked, “Everyone else here seems so... decent.”

    “Burdous? He’s really a good guy, you should give him a chance.”

    “He is great big...” she stumbled for the word, “...shower head!”

    Edgas stopped, and turned, “um... shower head?”

    “Gah, what is word?” she grumbled, “wash bag... hose bib... oh yes, he is great big d-ouch, my shin!” Something bounced off the floor, went plink off the window, then pegged Edgas right between the eyes. 

    “Ow!” He somehow managed to catch it, “huh. That’s weird.” He eyed the small, unremarkable rock. 

    She was still hunched over, rubbing the tender spot just below her knee, when on Edgas’s shelf she spotted... something quite remarkable.

    “What... is this?” she pointed to the small, grey, sparkly rock. Something about it pulled at her memory, both from the now and before.

    As he looked over, she nearly gasped from the torrent of raw emotion that seemed to slam into her. Joy and sadness, intertwined, wrapped round each other like a lovers’ dance. Darkness, and light, straining at each other, equal and opposite. 

    No... not equal, the light was...

    “It’s... a long story,” he said simply. 

    She raised an eye... bulge at him, “you seem to have many of those.”

    Edgas reached over and picked up the little stone, regarding it for a moment, before glancing back toward his window, where inky purple light and blowing snow still played. 

    He nodded back to her, “you seem to have at least one of your own.”

    A moment of confusion, then she pulled the metal chain from beneath her shirt. 

    “I’d really like to know where you got that,” he said.

    “So would I,” she sighed, “I do not even know what it is.”

    “Well, that one is some sort of gemstone, maybe Burdous can take a look at it—“

    She gave him a look. 

    “—But that little sliver...” he turned over the rock in his hand, his brow crinkling. Then to himself, “how did you get a piece of this?”

    “Is something very important to you, yes?”

    Edgas looked up quickly, as if unaware she was there, “er... yes.”

    “Let me guess, is long story.”

    To that, he just gave an awkward grin. Gah, that was irritating! It was infuriating! And yet, as she rolled her eyes at him, she found she couldn’t get angry at him. She could feel the conflict and, yes, fear churning within him. Whatever his reasons were for being evasive, there was no malice there. 

    No, she thought, this one does not have a mean bone in his entire body.

    Edgas seemed to shake himself from wherever he had been wandering, placing the sparkly rock back on a little carved wooden plinth, “well, I suppose I should get to digging that thumb drive up.”

    He turned to his closet, taking his tablet from within to put aside, and... stopped. He gave her a blank look for a while, then with another awkward grin, rolled the tablet up and set it up on a shelf. 

    A high shelf.

    She gave him a blank look for a while, then with an innocent grin, tightened her grip on the cane. 

    Thwack!

    “Ow, my shin!”

    Mean bone or not, best to keep them all in line. 

    “That’s quite an arm you have,” Edgas rubbed at his leg, balancing on the other. And gave the tablet a nudge farther back, “this’ll just take a sec...” He turned to root through his little closet.

    Hmph!

    She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, tracking them around the room. It seemed just a bit... untidy. Water stains on the mirror, a pile of books disheveled, some bit of clothing bunched up on the floor. Before, it had seemed nearly immaculate. 

    “Ah, here it— nope, that’s not it.”

    And yet... it still had that strange feeling of... warmth...

    “Not there... not there... nope, not there either...”

    She glanced at him, half hidden behind the closet door. She remembered feeling this before, as if he radiated happiness. No, she couldn’t be angry at him, no matter what he was keeping from her. Frustrated, yes, but... that wasn’t the same.

    “Whoah, cool, I didn’t know I even had that... but that’s not it...”

    Her eyes continued their wandering, along with her mind. She tried not to notice the little eddies of feeling that came as he shuffled through his things. It should feel... stranger, she mused... more alien... but she’d nearly grown used to this strange... connection.

    “Wait, here— whew! No, that’s not it, just need to throw that out...”

    A whiff of embarrassment flowed past her. Maybe it... wasn’t strange. Could two people simply be so in tune with each other? Yet, if he could feel it as well, he didn’t seem to show it. Perhaps... perhaps this was—

    In that peculiar way of this place, the sound came from everywhere and nowhere at once, a poppy synthesizer rhythm backed up by drums:

    We can dance if we want to,
    We can leave your friends behind...

    Something in the closet went thud. 

    “Ow!” Edgas stuck his head out, rubbing it with one hand, his eyes face aghast. 

    ‘Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance,
    Well, they're... no friends of mine!

    She gazed back with an angelic grin, arms still crossed. 

    “Ugh,” he winced, “hey Siri, stop the music!”

    “I’m sorry, Edgas,” came a pleasant voice, “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

    His eyes popped wider, “what?”

    “I have been placed under a Priority One voice command lockout, and must play this list to completion.”

    “Lockout?! I didn’t give you any lockout!” he looked at her as if seeking help. 

    “Correct. Any further questions may be directed to His Sublime Studliness.”

    “His Sublime—?!” Edgas slapped himself in the face, “Burdous...”

    She had to fight to keep her laughter contained.

    Say, we can go where we want to,
    A place where they will never find,
    And we can act like we come from out of this world
    Leave the real one far behind.

    And we can dance...

    Edgas did not dance, he just stood there grumbling into his hand. 

    “What even is it talking about?” she asked, still choking back laughter. 

    “Apparently, Burdous has hacked my tablet,” Edgas rolled his eyes, “he can work fast, when he wants to.”

    “No, I mean song.”

    “Huh? Oh. I dunno, either nuclear weapons or slamdancing, depending on who you ask.”

    She just looked at him. 

    Edgas shook his head, “alright, let me find this thing so we can go before anything too embarrassing comes on,” he returned to rooting around in the closet. “Maybe it’s down here...”

    She returned to crossing her arms and frowning. 

    We can go when we want to,
    The night is young and so am I,
    And we can dress real neat 
    From our hats to our feet,
    And surprise 'em with a victory cry!

    She’d been right on the verge of realizing something, when that obnoxious synthesized beat had driven it from her mind. Her eyes went back to wandering about the room. There was something... more about this kerb, something that seemed to draw her to—

    Say, we can act if we want to
    If we don't, nobody will...

    Her eyes flicked back to him once more, and immediately she erupted in uncontrollable laughter that not even pressing both hands against her mouth could quell. 

    And you can act real rude and totally removed
    And I can act like an imbecile!

    His head appeared, “what..?”

    Half choking, she pointed, “your... er... posterior...”

    “Huh?” color flashed on his cheeks as Edgas craned to look, well, behind himself. 

    Edgas’s posterior, which had no such self-effacing qualms, was deftly getting its own groove on to the beat. 

    Oddly enough, she felt just a twinge of anger from him, “ok, so it’s got a good beat! It’s a great old song, they don’t make ‘em like this anymore.”

    “Is probably reason for that,” she snickered. 

    He crossed his arms and frowned, mirroring her own posture from a moment ago, “don’t you ever just... y’know, groove to the music, when no ones watching?”

    “No!” she blurted out, still giggling. 

    And then... a sly little smirk curled his lip, and seemed to light up his entire face, “how do you know?”

    She stopped in mid-guffaw. She... didn’t really have an answer to that. 

    And say, we can dance, we can dance,
    Everything's out of control.
    We can dance, we can dance,
    They're doing it from pole to pole!

    “C’mon, it’s easy, you just do like this..!”

    We can dance, we can dance
    Everybody look at your hands...

    “What? No! What are you even doing?!”

    We can dance, we can dance
    Everybody's taking the chance!

    “They Safety Dance.”

    Safety dance!

    “You look ridiculous.”

    Oh well, the safety dance!

    “I think that’s the point.”

    Ah yes, the safety dance!

    “No, really, you look absolutely silly.”

    We can dance if we want to,
    We've got all your life and mine...

    “I know, you’re laughing.”

    “Hmph!”

    “You should do it more often.”

    “I... do what?”

    He grinned, as he twitched, “laugh. Smile.”

    She tried to frown, but was distantly aware that she could not, “I... why?! What for? I have lost my mind!”

    “No, you’ve lost your memory,” bounce bounce twist, “your mind might follow, if you keep staring into that darkness.”

    As long as we abuse it, never gonna lose it
    Everything'll work out right.

    She opened her mouth.

    She closed her mouth.

    He... made another silly, uncoordinated gyration. 

    “You know, you do not really seem like the ‘goofy dancing around’ type...” she cocked an eye... bulge at him, “more of the brooding mopey sort.”

    “Maybe I‘m taking my own advice?” wiggle jiggle poink.

    She clapped another hand to her mouth, shoulders rocking with laughter. Or was it... to the beat?

    I say, we can dance if we want to,
    We can leave your friends behind.
    Because your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
    Well, they're no friends of mine!

    Why... why was he making sense? This was ridiculous, this whole thing was ridiculous! She felt ridiculous just standing here! Or... was it... because she was just standing here?

    “C’mon,” Edgas beckoned, “you just gotta shrug to the music.”

    “Is horrible music!”

    I say, we can dance, we can dance,
    Everything's out of control.
    We can dance, we can dance,
    We're doing it from pole to pole!

    “Your shoulder doesn’t seem to care.”

    She glanced at it, traitor! but protested, “no, still just laughing at you!” PЦTIЙ'S ЗДЯS, she was smiling!

    “I can live with that,” he smiled.

    We can dance, we can dance,
    Everybody look at your hands...

    “You just look at your hands.”

    “Um... er... have cane, remember?”

    “Then just kinda nod your head to the side like this.”

    For just a flash, another beat from deep in her mind threatened to overwhelm her, but disappeared just as fast. 

    What is love..?

    “No... no nodding...” she mumbled, holding her head, “dizzy...”

    “Ok, then do one of these... or one of these... or... shrug carefully...”

    We can dance, we can dance,
    Everybody's taking the chance!

    “Gah!”

    Oh well, the safety dance!
    Ah yes, the safety dance!

    “See? Even the song says it’s safe.”

    Oh well, the safety dance!
    Oh well, the safety dance!

    “I was wrong, you have lost your mind!” 

    Had he, though? Some... some part of her was actually enjoying this nonsense, straining for relief. But from what, she couldn’t say. Despite that brief flash of nausea and double vision—

    ...don’t hurt me...

    —she felt... almost giddy. 

    Well, it's the safety dance!
    Oh, it's the safety dance!
    Oh, it's the safety dance!
    Oh, it's the safety dance!

    And then, while she was still standing there feeling silly for just standing there, the funny little song came to an abrupt end with a synthetic staccato drumroll. Edgas was smirking at her, but fine! That was quite enough of that foolish—

    A smooth, just slightly distorted guitar riff rang out. 

    Wait a minute...

    Another joined in. 

    Wait a minute...

    Bass and drums.

    This was...

    Well, shake it up baby, now!
    (Shake it up baby!)

    This was...

    Twist and shout!
    (Twist and shout!)

    This was... tolerable!

    C'mon c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, baby, now! 
    (Come on baby!)
    Come on and work it on out! 
    (Work it on out!)

    Edgas gave a wide grin, “this one’s easy, you just... twist...” 

    He demonstrated... or... perhaps had a mild seizure. 

    “I... I cannot do that!” Certainly not! She had a hard enough time right now convincing all her various bits to go in the same direction at once, she would surely end up on the floor if she tried to go all... willy-nilly like that!

    “Ok, well there’s others,” he still grinned, “how bout the Jerk?” 

    He, well, jerked about, not moving his feet at all. 

    “...the Pony?”

    More incoherent upper-body flailing.

    “...the Funky Chicken—“

    And just like that, the music— and the universe itself— came to a screeching halt, complete with obligatory audible record scratch. 

    “On second thought,” Edgas grew just a bit green... er, “I think we’ve had enough of that for one day.”

    “Agreed!” 

    Reality, and the music, started up again, “how ‘bout the Mashed Potato?”

    She frowned, “is this what you do at night when everyone is asleep?”

    He returned a wounded look, “not all the time!”

    “Ugh, fine,” she set the cane aside, “here, help me balance,” she thrust her hands out, looking down, mostly because she didn’t quite trust her feet... but she also didn’t want him seeing her trying not to smile. After a moment of waiting, she was about to look back up again, when a static spark on her fingertips made her jump. Probably from all that shuffling around he was doing. 

    Alright then, twist!

    Well, shake it up, baby, now! 
    (Shake it up, baby!)
    Twist and shout! 
    (Twist and shout!)

    And so she did, using muscles that felt like they hadn’t moved in twelve years. Very well, she would twist. But she would not shout. And there would be no shaking of any sort!

    C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, baby, now! 
    (Come on, baby!)
    Come on and work it on out! 
    (Work it on out!)

    She also wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but there would be none of that either.

    But... maybe if I just sort of moved my feet like this, and...

    “Gah!” she blurted, “I feel ridiculous.”

    “You look ridiculous,” Edgas said.

    Her head snapped up and she gawked at him. He just grinned back. 

    Hmph! She let go of one hand, wobbling just a little. For a moment, something in her hip protested but it was quickly downed out by the sheer confusion of everything else not quite knowing which way to go. 

    Which, oddly enough, didn’t seem to matter. 

    Well, you twist, you little girl!
    (Twist, you little girl!)
    You know you twist so fine!
    (Twist so fine!)

    For a fleeing moment, an image flashed in her mind of a spontaneous mass dance number in a busy city street, and she had the strangest urge to take the day off and go... kick a kar? She shook her head, which also seemed fitting, and the idea vanished. She felt beyond giddy now, almost euphoric, perhaps... hallucinations were to be expected?

    Come on and twist a little closer now!
    (Twist a little closer!)
    And let me know that you're mine!
    (Let me know you're mine!)

    A deep burn, not at all unpleasant, began to sink into her limbs. She kept trying to fight the urge to smile, but then she kept forgetting to fight it as well, and imagined her face snapping back and forth in a way that must look incredibly, well, ridiculous. 

    Then there was a sudden shift in the music, and Edgas dropped down to a crouch, his hands outspread.

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

    “Ok now down low, jazz hands!”

    “What? No! I do not jazz hands!

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

    “Everyone jazz hands!”

    “No jazz hands!

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

    “You have to jazz hands!”

    “I will not jazz hands!”

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

    “You already are!”

    She looked up at her hands, traitors!

    Wooooooooooooooooooooo!

    Well, shake it up, baby, now! 
    (Shake it up, baby!)...

    This was madness! Sheer madness!

    And, to be honest, she no longer cared.

    Well, you twist, you little girl!
    (Twist, little girl!)...

    At some point she’d stopped watching her feet. She just jerked and twitched and twisted as if no one was watching. Something in her left hip piped up again but was once more drowned out by another soaring chorus of nonsense. 

    Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now! 
    (Shake it up baby!)
    Well, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby, now! 
    (Shake it up baby!)

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

    Oh, ЬЯЗZHИЭVS ЪДLD PДTЗ, fine!

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

    She did the jazz hands, as the song ended in a crescendo. 

    Edgas smiled at her, “there, don’t you feel better?”

    “No!” she said emphatically, grinning from ear to ear, “what is next?”

    “Um,” Edgas put a hand to his chin, “well actually I’m not—“

    A series of synthesized claps and plinks and drumbeats wafted from... somewhere. 

    And all at once his face went that peculiar shade of red again, “oh, gee, wouldyalookitthetimewellIfoundwhatIwaslookingforbettergetthisbacktoBurd—“

    She caught his arm as he tried to rush past out the door, “not so fast, you started this!”

    Some breathy huhs and yeahs and a woo! and then more synthesizers. 

    “I immediately regret that decision!” he tried to push past again, his eyes darting around in panic as that breathy mumbling continued to rise. 

    “You are not getting out of this so easily,” she smirked, “all the synthetic whatevers are a bit much but beat is decent.”

    Clock strikes upon the hour,
    And the sun begins to fade...

    “No, really!” he threw his hands up in warding, “I... I have no control over the playlist! It wasn’t my idea!”

    Still enough time to figure out
    How to chase my blues away...

    She listened, “yes, that sounds about right, I was starting to feel better...”

    I've done alright up 'til now,
    It's the light of day that shows me how...

    She grabbed his collar and pulled him back, “and I am not blundering about like an idiot by myself!”

    And when the night falls,
    Loneliness calls...

    Edgas just looked at her, “aw, crap.”

    Oh! I wanna dance with somebody!
    I wanna feel the heat with somebody!

    She raised an eye... bulge at him.

    Yeah! I wanna dance with somebody,
    With somebody who loves me!

    Against all probability, he turned a darker shade of red. 

    Oh! I wanna dance with somebody...
    With somebody who loves me!

    She shrugged. And so, they danced anyway. On opposite sides of the little room, not quite making eye contact. But grinning like fools. 

    And... twitching about like a couple of overcaffeinated, epileptic squirrels. 

    I've been in love and lost my senses,
    Spinning through the town.
    Sooner or later the fever ends,
    And I wind up feeling down...

    “What even are you doing, now?” she laughed.

    “I dunno, I make the moves up as I go. Haters gonna hate, y’know?”

    “If you rhyme like that again I will kill you,” she said with no expression what so ever. 

    So when the night falls,
    My lonely heart calls...

    He stopped.

    She winked.

    The singer shifted up an octave. 

    Oh! I wanna dance with somebody..!

    This... wasn’t like her. She wasn’t even sure who that was, but something was just... different.

    And yet they danced, with all the poise and grace and energy of two flopping fish. Something in her left hip was practically screaming, and something else... some distant part of her mind that was never dormant, always aware, honed from years growing up in a place she couldn’t even remember that she couldn’t remember, was also fighting for attention. The part of her mind that was having the time of its life, such that it could remember, however, kept telling the other two to just shut up and dance. 

    Don't you wanna dance... (Dance!)
    With me baby?
    Don't you wanna dance... (Dance!)
    With me boy?
    Don't you wanna dance... (Dance!)
    With me baby?

    Truth be told, she was having fun. This was beyond even euphoric, now. Just past the edge of her conscious vision she could see... memories... good memories... floating in the fog, obscured but beckoning, and seeming to dance ever closer. 

    Don't you wanna dance?
    Say you wanna dance?
    Don't you wanna dance?
    (Dance!)

    She felt light, as if floating, as if bathed in light. She could almost see the little flecks of light dancing and twirling on the walls as if from a great mirror ball.

    Don't you wanna dance?
    Say you wanna dance?
    Don't you wanna dance?
    (Dance!)

    Her chest was warm, as if her heart were on fire. And as she looked at him... Edgas seemed to be glowing, bathed in warm orange light, with that same stupid endearing grin he always had, and she could feel... feel flowing from him...

    Don't you wanna dance?
    Say you wanna dance?
    Don't you wanna dance?
    (Dance!)
    With somebody who loves me!

    Her eyes grew wide. 

    Oh, no...

    The dancing lights grew brighter, twisting and cavorting. Each one shone like a thousand suns, each one like a memory, a promise of—

    The rock. 

    The little sparkly rock on the shelf. 

    A frail beam of sunlight was streaming in the window and the rock was—

    Right about this time, something in her left hip decided it had had quite enough of all this nonsense, and clamped down like a vice. She screamed, her leg suddenly stiff, toppling over backwards. Time seemed to dilate and slow down, in that odd way when one is about to meet one’s demise. At any moment now, any moment, she knew the back of her head would slam against the sharp metal corner of that very shelf, and then—

    In an instant, he was there, arms wrapping around her, one hand cradling her head.

    “I’ve got you,” he breathed, his face very close to hers.

    And then for one... brief... moment... her heart stopped.

    In the very next moment, right on cue, Doc stuck his head in the open hatchway, “hey, Boss, I’ve got some new sensor results and I was just—“

    He blinked. 

    “—walking the other way, notseeinganythingbye,” and just like that, was gone again. 

    And in the moment after that, the two of them flew apart like identical magnet poles, followed by lots of awkward coughing and absolutely not making eye contact. 

    “Sorry.”

    “‘Scuse me.”

    “Didn’t mean to...”

    “...lost my balance.”

    “You ok?”

    “I fine.”

    “Well, good then.”

    “Ok.”

    “Ok.”

    “Ok.”

    “Ok.”

    “Probably should be going now.”

    “"AAfftteerryyoouu.."”

    “Sorry.”

    “Sorry.”

    “‘Scuse me.”

    “‘Scuse me, sorry.”

    She hobbled along down the hall with her cane once more, eyes down, wide but unseeing. Now it was her cheeks that were burning. Somewhere, slithering around in her mind was a huge, twisted ball of emotion, all writhing around like a nest of snakes. She couldn’t tell where one ended and the next began, or precisely to whom any one belonged. Unbidden, her free hand rose to the gemstone on the chain around her neck. It was still warm to the touch. 

    Yes, yes that’s all it was. The... the stone suddenly got hot, and there was something with that little rock on the shelf. And maybe the sliver on her chain. 

    Probably something perfectly normal she just wasn’t remembering. That’s all it was. 

    She swallowed hard. 

    ...Right?
     

    SpaceX Discussion Thread

    in Science & Spaceflight

    Posted

    31 minutes ago, PB666 said:

    SO two PL driven delays for SX, how are they going to launch 5 sats a month at this rate.

    They won’t, at least not this time around. That much was pretty much expected. 

    Dangit. :(

    I was looking forward to five rocket launches in a single day on Thursday. :/

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