Tag: machine civilization

“The Fallen” 4/20

Glad for another Friday as I’ll need a couple of days to see where the story is going; probably when I’m early to church. Having Allie wander around in the cavern is going to get really old fast. And there’s no way a teen girl is going to physically fight her way out of anything.

Speaking of church, I’ve said in other places and interviews that my Catholic faith informs my works but does not drive them. Many of the Hartmanns are Catholic; some more than others. The Empress’ father doesn’t have any faith at all (and finds his daughter’s politics to be a constant source of contention).

Oh, yes: in this segment I finally catch up to that image which started all of this a few months ago. Hope to see everyone on Monday.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/20″ →

“The Fallen” 4/19

And we draw to a conclusion of the second interlude. As they learned a lot, losing the drone is not particularly a failure. There is another on the way. And, I suspect, that if Nichole thought Allie was in mortal danger, she’d be head-first down the tunnel, orders or not.

Speaking of, we’ll be back underground. Allie accepted she was alone, found something extraordinary, met a distant relative, then was alone again. Even for a demi, that gain-loss dynamic must hurt. And I bet it hurts more to a fifteen-year-old girl. Underground. In the dark. I hope Nichole was able to reach her, give her a mental life-line. We’ll see. Things might get even darker.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/19″ →

“The Fallen” 4/18

Nichole 5, being retrospective, is kind enough to make a short summary of many of my books. After that, they find themselves retracing the path which Allie took. I’m glad she showed up, otherwise, with the drone under human control, it would have taken another 5,000 words to complete this segment. As it is, we’ll be finished here on the surface on Wednesday and back underground Friday.

I’d no idea Nichole slept (so to speak) with Gil Haven’s son, Joe. As a Model 5 – the first designed to fit seamlessly into human society – she has no sexual desire or response, per se. But, as a person, she wants those she loves to feel happy. Statistically, Joe is likely dead of age by now. This MS has covered a lot of time, and I really need to think about where I’m going once this is finished.

[And no, the hyperlinks will not be in the final version]

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/18″ →

“The Fallen” 4/17

As the song goes, “A very old friend came by today…” Looking at my notes, I startled myself that Nichole 5 Clarke is right around a century old. I’ve come that far since she made her debut in Friend and Ally. While Kira is miffed at the political issues to Japan sticking its nose into this mission, she realizes that this much older person will be perfectly suited to control the drone, so far under the ground.

There’s a bit more to write before the surface team finds something startling, after which we’ll be back to check on Allie. I’m personally a bit run down today and still have to DayJob a few hours tomorrow, but I’ll keep at it.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/17″ →

“The Fallen” 4/16

A bit shorter, but much is going on. And much more will be going on in just a few more segments.

For those of you have not read part three of “Obligations of Rank,” and shame on you, Kira discovered she can sense life, anywhere on Mars. Because she’s a made demi-human? From God? I assume the latter but don’t know.

Once they get close to the end of the rabbit hole, we’ll be meeting a Special Guest, who I have not had in mind for some years.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/16″ →

“The Fallen” 4/15

Another interlude back on the surface, seeing how the rescue effort is developing. And, boy, is it. Even so, there’s much careful planning for phase two, the drone. Recall at this moment Kira has no idea how deep the hole is or how does it end. As she says, she is assuming the best for Allie and Zhukov and planning accordingly. I have Kira reflect a little on the political changes to Earth and Mars over the last thirty years.

The play on words of “A-Hole,” A for Alicia Alvarez, came to me before Mass yesterday, so I’m assuming the pun is divinely inspired.

Because there is a lot for me to learn in this second interlude, I may be back to a MWF posting this week. Apologies.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/15″ →

“The Fallen” 4/13

May or may not be an update tomorrow, Friday. This was a little hard to get down. Unfortunately for Alicia, it’s about to get harder. I see another Interlude after that, but I don’t think, per my first, they’ll be all the funny anymore.

Burial customs are a cornerstone of all civilizations.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/13″ →

“The Fallen” 4/9

It’s Friday, so here’s a longer segment. I always seem to have people talking during a meal; quirk of mine, I suppose. As you’ll see on Monday, from the last paragraph here I have her jump to the conclusion, with “so that’s what happened.” Otherwise, I’m retelling swaths from Ice Inundation Intelligence, which all of you have already read.

Since I asked myself about vitamin D deficiency, I had to do some research. Guess what’s on the menu next week?

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/9″ →

“The Fallen” 4/8

Some talking but no real resolution as to what the heck is going on. If they are confused then I have no clue at all where this is going.

I did finish my preliminary spreadsheet about ages. I, obviously, still need to draw the cavern. That’s a bother right now as, several segments ahead, they go exploring.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/8″ →

“The Fallen” 4/7

New secondary character, batting clean up for what happened in the last pages of A Texas Naval Affair. It is with timeslips such as this that I have no choice but to pause and make notes. Lots of notes.

Looks as if I’ve enough segments to make it to Friday. I’m taking today and part of tomorrow to complete my spreadsheet of character ages (as three generations, so far, have been covered in this MS). I also need to get the sketch of the cavern down so I stop using things such as [north?] as placeholders as I have no idea which way they are facing.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Continue reading ““The Fallen” 4/7″ →