astroguy

The rest of the trip to the moon was still pretty boring. I really wished that space travel was as glamorous as I had imagined it would be, but I needed to get that out of my head because I'd now had this thought too many times. Traveling on a ship from England to the Massachusetts Colony in the 1600s might have seemed glamorous for about 5 minutes, but for the next few months? Utter hell. I should've known better. People died on those journeys, but here, it was … I gulped. I closed my eye

Yeah, this is a four-chapter arc that deals more with setting and characterization; this and the next chapter I won't say are "filler," they are more establishing and a breather from the action and intrigue from the last few. The fourth chapter is the key one that adds a critical component to the overall plot. It bleeds into the chapter 70–72 arc. Also, this mission sets up more of the space stuff for the big mission to [redacted] and a battle sequence ... circa chapter 74 (chapters 73 'til ~78 is that arc, in which a MAJOR twist happens). I will also say that I wrote the part last night where Steven "gets his," as the saying goes. I hope you'll like it. It's an interlude at the end of chapter 72, part of the end to that next arc.

I found my team in the dining hall, apologized for being late, and lunch continued without a hitch. Zane noticed I looked distracted, but I passed it off as just nerves and excitement about going to the outer solar system. I'm not sure if he believed me, but it didn't matter because he dropped it. Together, we went to the transport gate and, like before, told the guard our team number and they punched in a long code, their body hiding the panel from us ("I could tell you what it is if you

Spoilers ... To answer the second half of your first question, I'd point you to computers and the internet. I finally convinced my parents to let me have our old Macintosh IIsi in my room in the late 1990s, and it wasn't a given I'd get a computer for college. I didn't get my first smrt phone until about 2015. Now, people would rather lose their wallet than their phone. Integration of technology can be incredibly rapid, especially on a planet that has a single world-coordinating (if not governing) body and everyone has a guaranteed minimum income. Social changes can also be extremely rapid. Current US politics notwithstanding, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that when my parents got married, despite my mom earning more than my dad, she could neither have a loan nor credit card in her name because she was a woman.

All will be revealed ... later. Regarding gAI, I am going to guess you're talking about the interlude. These "A Mystery Place and Mystery Time" interludes will culminate circa chapter 7476*, based on my current outline. Edited to Add: I've actually written that chapter, just waiting to put it in the text since I'm actively writing chapter 66 now. Edited to Modify: I've been filling in some text since I last wrote this, and ch. 67 became chs. 67–69.

Still working through a backlog of work, so chapters will not be daily for at least another week. Sorry y'all.

Monday came, and I felt more engaged than I had in over a week. I could tell something was still there – a nagging voice telling me that nothing was fair, something had to be done, and if the system wouldn't, maybe that's why the Cosmic Beings sent me here. But, for the moment, that nagging voice was quiet enough I could ignore it. I don't know if Jake, Zane, and Deek would ever know what they really did for me, but then again, maybe they did. And, that was the whole point: Unconditional

I did warn that the depression would be "over" much faster than a deep depression would be in real life. 2–3 weeks versus months if not years (and clinical "major depression" has to exist for months before it's even diagnosed as such). Required for narrative reasons. But, I think the character is more real for it, and we've advanced both the plot and characters through this process.

"Where are we going?" "If I told you, I'd have to kill you." "Not funny," I replied, still not sure what was going on. Hesitantly, I'd let Zane blindfold me. He said something about a "trust building" exercise. It was the weekend, and I really just wanted to not think, not have any complications ... just, exist. But, I trusted Zane. Fuck … if I couldn't trust Zane, who could I trust? We'd both literally saved each other's lives. We kept walking, Zane either holding my hand o

Thank you. I'm at the point where the setting, systems, technology, and characters are in place to "tell the story I want to tell." Clearly I should self-edit a bit more given it took 100k words to get here, but thanks for sticking through it!

I'll keep quoting things if I know them and when I think they'll fit well. I already have a bittersweet one from Wicked for Jake that I will use in around 50 chapters.

Thanks. There have been a smattering of other quotes from other authors throughout the chapters, I've been waiting for someone to notice and point them out.

I agree, hopefully no more saboteurs. There'll be a lot more security sweeps, and they are doubling the faculty on board.

I'm going to work on getting chapter 64 edited and up in the next day (after 2:35pm MDT due to the 24 hr rule), and then it might be a few more days for the next chapter. Chapter 64 effectively "resolves" (not really, but as close as we're going to get) Shawn's current emotional/mental issues, while chapter 65 begins the next part of the work where we get ready to go into space again. The next two after that are "written," with gaps, but I got super-behind on my day job the last month and need to focus on that for the next few days as folks come back from vacation.

The next two weeks passed by quickly relative to the last. The three academic classes seemed to be linked now, telling the same story but from different angles of history, science, and technology. We were focusing more on modern interplanetary spacecraft and their systems, power, and safety, as well as how power systems on the ships were similar to those on Earth. I guessed this was related to "the event," but it was also as if Prof. Petrov's theme of the semester's courses being run from the

Okay, slightly funny: Listening to Judge Judy tonight while doing some work (work-work), and my ears perked up: The defendant on this episode is Shawn Olsen. Shaved head and tattooed arms, so not how I envisioned my character, but tall and twinky, so ... .

Yeah, gAI was sidelined for a bit, he walks a fine line between omnipotent do-everything and flawed do some-things. And, he can't do anything psychologically for Shawn. More about gAI will be coming out in about 10–15 chapters. 🤐

Yes. Chapter 63 will show bits of improvement. 64 is the main one that moves us forward. Putting 63 in the queue now.

I was in a field, surrounded by … nothing. Then, a single object appeared on the grass in front of me: A ball. I guess I was supposed to move the ball. I focused. I strained. It was like I was constipated, except this body didn't get constipated. I pushed and pushed, and then I felt a sudden pressure in my head travel down my arm aimed towards the ball and … it exploded. I looked around: At least no one was watching. The simulation reset, and I tried again. And again. And again

This chapter shows some level of introspection that people just a few days into deep, major depression usually do not have. It further starts the healing process which will be greatly accelerated (~2 weeks / thru ch. 64), while major depression can last months and be chronic thereafter even under medication and a therapist's supervision (raising hand having had a grandparent and parent who suffered/suffers from major depression). This is mostly for narrative reasons: I want to show that he has a realistic response to events, I want to give that response some time to "breathe" narratively and demonstrate a few interpersonal consequences, but I also don't want to turn the next 20 chapters into a therapy session.

I woke up that night to several frantic calls left by Heath, Jake, Deek, and Ian. I didn't want to talk to them. I sat up, and it hurt: My skin was glued to the surface with cum. At least I was wearing a shirt so my back was safe. I managed to pry myself up and get to one of the sonic showers. After cleaning, I walked back to the dorm. It was time for bed, and I refused to answer Peng's and Jake's questions. I just stripped everything off, rolled on my side, to face the wall, and

Agreed.

Thanks, this was the reaction I was hoping for. If Shawn was to appear real, this or something like it pretty much had to happen. Too much trauma with a (supposed) promise out.

The nurses brought us cots – the five of us, plus Deek: We'd been through enough with Deek that Jake suggested we call him, and Thiago. But, despite the cots, I don't think any of us really slept. Perhaps a wink here or there, but knowing that Zane was there, and he'd actually died, it was traumatizing all over again. I was almost resentful when it seemed like Heath took it harder than I did. The few times he managed to sleep, I would sometimes hear him mutter: "My fault … should protect

I would say things are "accelerating" now, but it's me so ... . That said, we are hitting increasing stakes. And, the more people involved, the more Shawn might be exposed before he's ready, and we're not just talking about the saunas. Remember about the first year teachers' meeting in chapter 46. Director Green might have everyone under his thumb, but there are several factions within the current faculty who are not happy about that. What happens if those factions are made aware of Shawn and see him as someone they could use? And who really is running things? Why does Sebastien seem to act with impunity? All these questions and more will not be answered in the next chapter, but they are coming up. The next several chapters – as I noted in the first comment – will follow Shawn and how he reacts to this situation. I will give a hint that I consulted two of my old college psych books and several clinical case studies in writing those chapters. I will also say as someone who occasionally deals with the "D" word that a tiny bit of the next few chapters comes from my own experience.