fic:echoes
Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
| Next revision | Previous revision | ||
|
fic:echoes [2017/06/16 16:34] nicholas_russell created |
fic:echoes [2017/06/16 17:58] (current) nicholas_russell speling |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| ====== Echoes ====== | ====== Echoes ====== | ||
| - | It is a quirk of FTL comms that the signal carrying the message is not all that different from regular electromagnetic transmissions, of the kind used before the golden age. Instead the signal propagates instantaneously along its route by sidestepping the ususal lightspeed restrictions of light and radio waves. | + | It is a quirk of FTL comms that the signal carrying the message is not all that different from regular electromagnetic transmissions, of the kind used before the golden age. Instead the signal propagates instantaneously along its route by sidestepping the usual lightspeed restrictions of light and radio waves. |
| - | Every Elysian schoolchild knows these basics - after all, they are what built the Empire as it is today. What many are unaware of however, is the quirk of physics which means these messages also travel at regular speed through regular space, facsimilies of the original transmission arriving years or decades after their sending. | + | Every Elysian schoolchild knows these basics - after all, they are what built the Empire as it is today. What many are unaware of however, is the quirk of physics which means these messages also travel at regular speed through regular space, facsimiles of the original transmission arriving years or decades after their sending. |
| Much of this is simply ignored, automatically filtered from the receiving equipment. Long-irrelevant stellar noise, the byproduct of a galactic civilization dumping raw power into space in order to bend the very rules of the universe in which it lives. For historians, however, these messages can represent something truly important: literal echoes from the past, messages from people and times long past. | Much of this is simply ignored, automatically filtered from the receiving equipment. Long-irrelevant stellar noise, the byproduct of a galactic civilization dumping raw power into space in order to bend the very rules of the universe in which it lives. For historians, however, these messages can represent something truly important: literal echoes from the past, messages from people and times long past. | ||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
| Day Ta Rey Shin was one of the youngest aides in the Tel cultural delegation, brought along mostly for her noted expertise in Elysian political history and to do some translation work where necessary for the elder members who - despite their seniority and diplomatic expertise - were not entirely comfortable with the more esoteric Elysian dialects. | Day Ta Rey Shin was one of the youngest aides in the Tel cultural delegation, brought along mostly for her noted expertise in Elysian political history and to do some translation work where necessary for the elder members who - despite their seniority and diplomatic expertise - were not entirely comfortable with the more esoteric Elysian dialects. | ||
| - | The delegation was on what they cynically referred to as the "sightseeing" portion of its trip - a downtime of a month or two between actually important diplomatic meetings. Prima was one of the most populous and wealthy of the Elysian Empire's core worlds, but did not house the core of its government, meaning many Elysian politicians and diplomats had to travel to meet them. | + | The delegation was on what they cynically referred to as the "sightseeing" portion of its trip - a downtime of a month or two between actually important diplomatic meetings. Prima was one of the most populous and wealthy of the Elysian Empire's core worlds, but after the decentralisation no longer had as many important politicians, meaning many Elysian politicians and diplomats had to travel to meet them. |
| Eschewing yet another of the parties that had been arranged for the delegation to fill the time, Day Ta had left to spend some time with Andrew, a young local who had been assigned to guide her around the archives at Cambria University in New Catarina. She met him at the steps of the university's physics building, a bounce in his step and obvious excitement on his face. | Eschewing yet another of the parties that had been arranged for the delegation to fill the time, Day Ta had left to spend some time with Andrew, a young local who had been assigned to guide her around the archives at Cambria University in New Catarina. She met him at the steps of the university's physics building, a bounce in his step and obvious excitement on his face. | ||
| Line 17: | Line 17: | ||
| "Come in Day, I know it's unusual to bring you out here but there's something I want you to see." | "Come in Day, I know it's unusual to bring you out here but there's something I want you to see." | ||
| - | "You know I'm not a physicist, right?" she grinned, intruigued. | + | "You know I'm not a physicist, right?" she grinned, intrigued. |
| "Of course, don't worry, this'll be right up your street." | "Of course, don't worry, this'll be right up your street." | ||
| Line 41: | Line 41: | ||
| "Yes, this is it! Look!" | "Yes, this is it! Look!" | ||
| - | Andrew pointed to an unoccupied terminal. Day Ta sat, and tried to focus on just one fragment of the words glowing on the screen. It was only then that she realised what she was looking at. | + | Andrew pointed to an unoccupied terminal. Huge amounts of text scrolled across it. Day Ta sat, and tried to focus on just one fragment of the words glowing on the screen. It was only then that she realised what she was looking at. |
| ---- | ---- | ||
| FROM: 6-0-SPD, ON ORBIT, C-ALCHEMIA\\ | FROM: 6-0-SPD, ON ORBIT, C-ALCHEMIA\\ | ||
| - | TO: RUSSELL FAMILY, LANDFALL, NEW PRIMA | + | TO: RUSSELL FAMILY, LANDFALL, PRIMA |
| MESSAGE BEGINS | MESSAGE BEGINS | ||
fic/echoes.1497630862.txt.gz ยท Last modified: 2017/06/16 16:34 by nicholas_russell
Page Tools
Except where otherwise noted, content on this wiki is licensed under the following license: CC Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
