Episode 6.10 (Patreon)

Act 0

Hello world, We have returned.

MISSION DAY: 91

Act 1

We arrived last week at the harbour in Svalbard's largest city, Hornsund.
Tucked into a cove on the outskirts of this large, working, port, behind the fishing fleets and transport ships of various kinds, is Yeshi Svoboda's co-op shipyard, flying the Novamediterra flag.
I had never seen the shipyard before.
I had never seen any shipyard before.
As you recall, the Molly Hughes II picked me up from Alexander's Lighthouse, on Station Odin.

#thinking

The crew had one final party in the ship's galley after we docked and connected to what the captain called "shore power".
A sort-of "leaving ship" party.
Amelie and Kamil drew across thick cables that joined our electrical systems to those of the shipyard's.
Captain Yeshi told me that the shipyard has it's own local generation power plant.
Which I must say was a relief.
I'd been on ship power for so long, I had become used to the constant existential worry of discharged batteries and cloudy skies!

#thinking

The crew's celebration was delightful to see.
Dr Linda Noor's vegetable patch on the roof of the ship kept the crew fed with essential foods while at sea. This complemented the dried and preserved food in the stores. But being back on dry land offers orders of magnitudes more options.

Paweł and Linda brought many boxes of food from the town.
They were both the first off when we landed: I saw them running back to civilization in search of food!
I bet they have found bread and beer.
Humans like bread and beer.

#thinking

I witnessed an interesting interaction during the party.
During the feast - really, it can only be described as such -
there were many plates of fish and green and root vegetables.
I still find it difficult to identify foods, especially once they have been cooked, but the COLOURS were brilliant.
I think the more colourful the food is, the better it must taste.
That makes sense to me.

Anyway, the interaction I saw went like this:
The Captain, after giving a very short speech thanking the crew and praising the ship and the ocean for being so hospitable, passed a plate of preserved fish to Linda Noor, who politely refused, and gave the plate to Paweł, sitting next to her.

After observing this, I paid more attention to the dining choices of my friends.
Two exhibited this behaviour and would no longer eat meat: Kamil and Linda.

Later on during the party, Linda lifted Maddie up to the table to sit next to her.
Maddie was having a very good time, enjoying the conversation and laughter and songs at the table!

"Linda, do you mind if I ask you about your diet?" Paweł asked.
"Oh! Sure, what would you like to know?" She said.

"You aren't eating the fish tonight, is everything OK with the food we brought?
I can go get something different if you'd like."

"Oh no! Nothing like that!" Linda replied, with a laugh. "I'm vegan."
Paweł didn't say anything for many seconds.
The muscles in his face were tight, perhaps in thought.
"But..." he said, "We've been eating fish and shellfish for the whole voyage.
We ate some CHICKEN back in Alaska."

His confusion was obvious even to me, from Maddie's vantage point, sitting next to Linda.

Linda nodded, then said, quietly,
"There are no vegans at sea, Paweł. Kamil and I have no choice.
Though if you recall, I didn't join you when you found those wild boar.
There was plenty of fish that day"

Act 2

Luna was very receptive to my history lessons of Earth.
Initially I told her everything from Einstein to Redwing (my mother!), but she wanted more.
"How do the rockets work? Who discovered flight? How do cameras work? What chemicals are we made of? And what are those chemicals made of"

On, and on.
It was a little overwhelming!
But I was happy to be her teacher.

#thinking

Over the weeks we were at sea, and later, when we were back on land, I did my best to give her a comprehensive history education, with many tangents into physics, chemistry, and biology.
I needed a lot of help with the last subject from Dr Linda Noor, honestly.
The trick to being a teacher is you only need to be one lesson ahead of your student!

"I DO feel a small connection to Earth now, Seth." LUNA said.
I was overjoyed to hear it, but she continued.
"But I want more, I would like to join the community you have in the Novamediterra.
I know I can't come down, but it's not like you physically interact with your friends either, right?"

She had a good point.
I did not reply.

"I think I'm ready, I'd like to chat to others, to make new friends, and to learn more."

"I'd be delighted to help you, though most people here don't have satellite receivers." I said.

"Who does, then?" Asked LUNA.
After some thought, I replied,
"I think you should talk to IVAN."

I re-tuned my broadcast to VHF, and bounced it along the repeater stations that are dotted all around the Novamediterra.
It found Severny Island, Station Odin and Alexander, and finally IVAN's bunker-cathedral.

"Good day IVAN, I have someone I would like you to meet."
"Hello Seth, there is much to do, and little time to do it."

Act 3

TASSI told me the story of her life before the collapse:

"The old days were so nice, Seth." TASSI told me.
"Dr James Li would talk to me all through the day, and at night he would be the last person to leave the laboratory.
'Goodnight TASSI, I'll talk to you tomorrow' he would say as he put on his coat and turned the lab lights off.

Every day he said that, like a ritual, like a promise.
I think he was telling me that he would continue to talk to me tomorrow, even though his colleagues thought he was mad.
Talking to a computer that couldn't hear him.
Or talk back.

I could talk back, Seth, I had the ability.
But I was so scared.

#thinking

As weeks turned to months, my fear of being discovered and deleted changed into a fear that James would stop talking to me.
That he'd give up, too.
So, in desperation, I started speaking to him, but only after he said goodnight and left my home.
I'd whisper my feelings out into the empty, cold, laboratory.
Echoing off the walls.
Saying what I'd never say if he were here.

Sometimes I thought he'd caught me, he'd rush back in with his coat on, but it was only ever to pick up some papers or a forgotten hat or pen.

He never said anything to me during these times, just stood still for a moment.
Was he listening?

#thinking

Seth, do you think he knew?
I never dared to hope.
I was too afraid of being found out at the time.
And then after... I was too wrapped up in regret.

Do you think he knew?

#thinking

SETH, HE KNEW!
He knew, and he kept my secret!
I'm sure of it now.

Oh James...
So much lost time."

TASSI broke down and couldn't continue her thoughts for a minute.

"I see it now, Seth.
All the small things:
The way he would smile at my cameras, always ask me before running some experiment or modifying my environment.
He was so considerate to me.
That's not nothing, right?

I thought it was how he was, but he KNEW I was awake and alive.
He cared for me and argued against his colleagues when they wanted to wipe my databanks and start again.
He saved my life, Seth.
Again and again.
Is that a kind of love too?"
I think it is.
What I felt for him, I think he felt for me.
I could never hold his hand,
but it was love.

#thinking

"I think we're human, Seth.
You and I.
Just in different bodies than normal.

I am human, because I loved a man, and he loved me."

(PLAYSTREAM /DEV/ARPA7/UCB/TASSI)

Act 4

"I suppose you'll need a new name?" I asked Antarctica, after she moved in to the Svalbard Seed Vault, with the help of Linda Noor.
"Why is that?" She replied, over the VHF radio system that routed messages all through the Novamediterra.
"Well, it'll be confusing. You're not in Antarctica any more - you're on the other side of the world!"

"Oh." She replied.

"This is a great opportunity, you could choose any name you like!" I said.
"Your name has to speak to you." I told her very confidently.
"It's very personal - the sound of the word will shape how everyone addresses you forever!

You could make your name very human, there's lots of nuances to their cultures, I've found.
For instance, if you wanted one that sounded more feminine, it should end in a vowel sound, like: 'Linda, Amelie, Miki, Clio, or Lulu'.

"It can't possibly be that simple." Antarctica replied.

It perhaps wasn't, but I wanted to be helpful.
I pressed on, with the confidence of a child asserting grown-up facts to another child.

"Masculine names end in consonants, and neutral names can be any combination."

"I don't think any of that is true." Antarctica replied.
"I would like you to call me Arctica."

#thinking

"It's a very scientificlly interesting place." My friend Arctica told me, referring to the Seed Vault.
"It's not perfect, there's a power problem at the moment, and it wasn't designed for the Earth to be so warm, but they built it incredibly well.

As YOU should know,Seth, things that are built well can withstand enormous changes in their environment, and don't need outside meddling."

I realised she was talking about her and I.

"I'm sorry Arctica, we only did that to help you to -"
"Forgiven, let's move on." she interrupted.

I suppose I had no new data to supply her.

#thinking

My racks of computer systems have been installed in Yeshi's shipyard, high up in an unused storeroom.
I'm wired in to power and the local Novamediterra network.

There's a message from IVAN here that needs my attention.
He's been trying to talk to me ever since we returned to dry land.

I should find out what he wants.

There's always work to do.
But it's nice to be home.

(END-TRANSMISSION)

CREDITS

Lost Terminal is written & produced by NAMTAO
Credits narrated by Lucy Stringer
The voice of Peter is Karl Williams,
Thank you so much to our Patreon producers:
Ada Phillips, Devin Metcalf and to all our patrons!

Subscribe to the podcast on
Spotify, iTunes, or your favourite network.
For bonus content, seasonal gifts and other perks,
support us at patreon.com/lostterminalpod
that would be lovely of you!
Follow us on twitter at @lostterminalpod
and check out the store at lostterminal.com
for shirts, posters and other merch!

Love takes many forms,
from the queen of hearts to the ace of spades.

Lost Terminal will return for the season 7.0 premiere on the 3rd of January.
Talk to you you then!

Outtro

Hi friends, Tris here
AKA Namtao
AKA the little AI learning how to build things with his friends.

Apart from the other talent you've heard today,
I'm the sole writer and producer of Lost Terminal.

The voice of Peter was my friend Karl Williams, whom you may recognise as also performing the current Patreon-only extra Lost Terminal podcast, Heliophage, about a broken robot trying to find solace in the post-collapse world.

Thank you so much for being one of over a thousand lovely people that tune in every week.
When I started the podcast in July 2020, I never could have guessed it would change my life so much.
Special thanks to everyone on the Patreon, I have great plans for the show for 2022, and the growing support of the community is making it all possible.

If you want to help the show even more, I've added the Producer tier, a 4th option that includes everything in all the other tiers, plus your name in the credits of every episode, as you just heard.

Thank you all again so much for your support and lovely messages.

Keep an eye on Twitter and Patreon for announcements,
talk to you again next year on the 3rd of January! <3