Senses of Time and Place

Sight is one of the most heavily used senses today.  Travel is accomplished with the help of traffic signs of different colors or displays of flights and their pending arrival or departure.  Even pedestrians utilize street signs for their location and required directions.  Cell phones and tablets require custom settings to be activated and the occasional additional app to be installed so owners unable to see the touchscreen can still enjoy their devices.  While many art museums feature audio tours, they tend to describe the life of the artist or history of the painting and not the beauty of the piece itself.  Magazines and other publications try to boost their sales by featuring covers that are pleasing to the eye or broadcasting controversial headlines.  A difference between the amount of movement detected by the eyes and the motion sensitive inner ear is what causes motion sickness.  These are just some examples of the importance of the information our brains receive from our eyes.

The recent release of Daredevil on Netflix got me thinking about how much can be learned about the surrounding world without being able to see.  Even without enhanced senses, much can be gleaned about obstacles ahead by listening to the effects solid objects have on sounds in the area.  A number of blind folks have developed a navigation technique that takes advantage of echolocation.

The post today attempts to describe a normal daily activity while using only the senses of hearing, smell, touch, and taste.

It was a wonderful spring morning.  The warmth of the sun emerged through the windows as I walked across the smooth tile floor of the kitchen.  My bare feet had received a slight shock when I stepped from the carpet of my bedroom hall onto the chill of the ceramic tiles of the kitchen.  The difference was noticeable, but not as drastic as an early winter morning would provide.

My toes rested familiarly in the gentle roughness of the grouted groove between the tiles that were lined up in front of my refrigerator.  Opening it up, I heard the gentle clatter of glass on glass from the shifting bottles on the shelves of the door.  A cool draft filled with the smells of box of oranges placed on the bottom shelf blew across my face.  Reaching in, I felt for the round tub of butter where I usually left it.  Finding the smooth plastic, I reached around it to make sure its size and shape were what I expected.  I set the butter on the shelf next to the fridge and grabbed the second jar on the right from the top shelf of the door.  Removing the lid, I gave the contents a sniff to make sure it was the orange marmalade that I was in the mood for.  It took spooning grape jelly instead of pickle relish on a hot dog for me to learn that a jar sitting where I expected it doesn't mean the jar would necessarily contain what I was looking for.  That was certainly one of the more interesting hot dogs I've ever eaten.

Stepping through the warm spot formed by the sun again, I stopped for a second to warm my feet up and savor the start of a potentially nice day.  Finally, I arrived at the larger counter I used for preparing my meals.  Reaching forward with a well practiced motion, I grabbed the smooth glass knob of my breadbox.  My fingers traced along the first plastic bag of bread they found.  Finding the front of the bag, I felt the plastic clip holding it closed.  That clip told me the bread was white bread, not the wheat I wanted to toast.  Finding another bag, I felt the twist tie that meant this bag contained the type of bread I desired.

The kitchen was filled with the scent of warm wheat as I pulled a knife from a nearby drawer and opened the butter and marmalade.  The satisfying "tunk" of the toaster told me my breakfast was perfectly warmed just as a light rumble from my stomach informed me it was time to eat.  The hard wooden handle of the butter knife hardly moved in my hand as I drew it across the soft butter.  A long, light crunching sound reached my ears as I moved the butter-coated knife along the stiff bread.  Another soft rumble emerged from my stomach as I buttered the second slice.  The scent of sweetness and oranges reached my nose as a layer of marmalade followed the butter.  With one hand, I reached out and dropped the knife in the area I knew the sink to be.  The clatter of metal blade on metal basin told me I was right on target, once again.  My other hand brought one of the coated slices of toast unerringly towards my mouth.  I took a big bite of the crispy bread.  My mouth was filled with the creamy texture and sweet citrus flavor of my chosen toppings.

Now that my empty stomach had been filled, it was time to get the day started.  The sounds of beeping alarms and shifting bed springs indicated that my roommates would be up soon.  I left the butter and marmalade on the counter where the others could see them.  I returned to my room and prepared myself for whatever the world had in store.  It did seem odd to me that the only one in the house up early enough to enjoy a sunrise was the only one that couldn't see it's colors.

If you were to go blind, what is the one sight you think you would truly miss?  With descriptive audio tracks on movies and television shows, books in braille, crosswalk signals with audio cues, and text-to-speech apps, do you think there is more that could be done for the sightless to help them enjoy the modern world?

Time has come....

Time has been a part of tales and stories as long as people have been passing tales from one generation to the next.  Rip Van Winkle could be said to be the first time traveler, although his trip was accidental and unfortunately only in one direction.  Since then, many other authors and story tellers have explored the options of moving back and forth through the passages of Time itself.  Some books have been about a single person exploring the past and future, others about groups large and small making the trip across the temporal borders that separate today from yesterday and tomorrow.  Entire entertainment franchises have been built around making trips through time itself and the unique perks and problems these trips involve.

Thanks in part to modern physicists like Einstein and Hawking, a tool for modern authors exists that can make time travel more feasible and technological.  Approaching the speed of light would alter the flow of time one experiences in relation to those moving through the universe at a more mundane pace.  As one travels at speeds approaching the speed of light, time would move more slowly for the traveler than for those at home.  This takes place today.  Some satellites in orbit travel at such a high rate of speed, their clocks must be periodically reset or they would go out of sync with ground control.

With this in mind, it is entirely possible for a living "time capsule" to be developed.  Something like the discs loaded on the Voyager, a ship with a small crew and filled with cultural data could be set on a course to deep space and back to Earth at an extremely high rate of speed.  This would allow them to share modern viewpoints with anthropologists and researchers hundreds of generations down the road.  Imagine how much more we as a society might know if members of some of the lost civilizations like the Mayans, the Moai builders of Easter Island, or the residents of the temple in Angkor Wat were still around today to explain how they viewed their worlds.

I make this recording as a part of the permanent log of the spacecraft Hartnell as a part of "Operation: Van Winkle."  We were about two-thirds of the way through a mission with very simple parameters.  All we had to do was accelerate to a speed that approached the speed of light, coast for a few years, then return to Earth and quickly decelerate.  There we would share with the population the shared knowledge, values, and societal norms of the planet we left.  While just over a couple of decades would have passed for us, numerous generations would have passed for those back home.  Our crew would be the first time capsule that could explain the importance of the past to those that "dug it up."

The 50 members of the crew all had experience in multiple disciplines including electronics, engineering, communications, biology, and even some linguistics.  Over the first few relative of the 25 we were away from Earth, we all shared our knowledge with each other.  This was done for two reasons.  One was intentional, to make each one of us a backup contingency in case one or more members of the crew fell to some unexpected illness.  In the beginning, it also gave us something to do to fill the endless hours as our ship accelerated through empty space.  Nothing more was required of us than double checking our position and course and ensuring the environmental systems were still functioning.  All of the members of the crew were selected for their patience and ability to remain focused despite numerous possible distractions.

One major advantage of our "cargo" was the nearly endless supply of entertainment in a multitude of languages and genres.  Mornings would be spent performing simple maintenance on the ship and its systems.  Books, movies, and music we consumed during most afternoons, depending on the preference of the individual or plans for later.  Debates and discussions filled the evenings.  Comparisons were made between comedic movies from Korea and Japan.  The progression of science fiction in relation to actual scientific advances was a topic of many conversations.  Even the definition, content, and distribution of pornography made for more than a couple nights' late night topics.  In order to further clarify what we had for future generations, we recorded ourselves so that our words could be added to the library of culture that was to be shared.

The last 16 years had taught us a lot about each other and the shared history of all of humanity.  There was still enough for us to learn even more over the next 9 years.  Even the relative isolation from other crew members forced on us by the rapid deceleration during the last year and a half of our trip will be filled with final log entries, summaries of our explorations into our "cargo," and attempts to communicate with the current residents of Earth.  As much as we could hope that records of our existence would last hundreds of years, none of us really expected that to be the case.

Time capsules have been buried for all kinds of lengths of time in all manner of containers and places.  Why not one for all of humanity in space?

When you think of time travel, what is the first franchise that comes to mind?  Leave a comment and let me know.

When will the Noah arrive?

Stories can be outlined and planned in extreme detail.  Even so, they tend to grow organically.  Characters that were planned to be a utility in the background can become major players in the plot.  Items and inanimate objects that appear important at first may fall by the side without a clue.  All of this is a natural part of the story writing process.  Just as life can change plans in the real world, a fictional world can develop a life of its own and alter the original plans of the author.  A good tale is one that balances the author's first intentions with the wild growth of the tale itself.

The young technician was having difficulty getting any of her superiors to take note of the signal she had found.  Some said the signal was too short and couldn't be anything more than a simple distortion.  Another informed her that the Noah had transmitted their initial signal in many languages of Earth, therefore her signal couldn't be anything because it was too alien in nature.  He pointed the nearly random nature of the signal further showed it was simply a natural phenomenon.  She was escorted out of his office before she was unable to point out the base 6 encoding he has missed that made the signal appear random to anyone used to seeing data in patterns of base 8 or 10.  Anyone else that she felt would understand what she had was either in Antarctica or at a dedicated research station in communication with Antarctica.  She would have to find a way to get the data she had into the hands of someone closer to the South Pole.

In the cold at the bottom of the Earth, a small discovery had been made.  The varying artifacts that had been scattered around the planet as proof of their former presence could all be joined into one object.  When combined, the object seemed to modify electromagnetic signals nearby and give off a new signal.  The new signal was the same, regardless of the frequency or type of signal present.  AM radio signals, VHF television broadcasts, and digital data transmissions were all apparently detected, modified, and transmitted again as the same signal.  Through much experimentation it was discovered that the only variation in the new signals was one of strength.  Each retransmission was slightly stronger than the original broadcast.  However, an inability to understand the signal the object transmitted meant the scientific minds were still stumped as to its purpose.

A studious officer on duty in the communications building happened to discover something the scientists had all missed.  Each time there was a test on the strange object, he picked up a signal similar to the Noah's that lasted the exact duration of the test, but much weaker and locally sent.  He recognized the nature of the alien transmissions from reports and recordings he had been studying in his off duty hours.  After detecting a week's worth of tests, the officer took his readings and the detailed reports of earlier signals from the aliens to a group of scientists having some food in one of the common buildings.  They quickly understood what he was trying to show them.  They took this new information to the laboratories without finishing their meals.  There was finally a way to directly communicate with the Noah.  Now it was up to the diplomats and numerous governmental representatives to come up with a message to send.  Hopefully there would still be time for the Noah to help humanity when the politicians reached a consensus.

When the officer returned to his quarters, he was in a good mood and decided to read some of his personal emails.  He found one from a cousin of his that worked for NASA, and she was asking him for a favor.  He would read the rest of that one later.  His sister was due to have a new baby any day now and he had a pool going with some of his comrades that involved the new baby's birth weight and time.  There was an email from his mother that could have some interesting news.

A number of Drag'kon attack craft quickly approached the orbit of Uranus.  They were still undetected by the single Noah craft.  None of the technology on Earth was capable of seeing them approach before they wanted to be seen.  The captains were all anxious about the pending battle, but visibly relaxed.  A number of the weapons personnel were salivating at the thought of a fight, even when not at their stations.  The lower ranks working in the bowels of the ship were only aware of their ever present duties, in battle or traveling between systems didn't change anything for them.

I will admit that certain connections have appeared in this segment that I didn't really expect.  The relation between the communications officer and the technician that discovered the Drag'kon was completely unplanned.  It does add a possible tool that can be utilized in more than one way later as well as a possible wrinkle to add a touch of drama if needed.

Character Development

One of the more difficult tasks of writing a story is developing the characters that reside in that story.  How would they feel in a given situation?  What would they want to do?  What would they actually be capable of doing?  How much of the difference between the two is their mental state, and how much of it is physical?  How would a different character react in the same situation?  How would the story move if the roles were changed or reversed?  All of these decisions have an effect on how a story grows and develops.  None of the decisions have to be made right away.  Some of the answers may even puzzle or surprise the characters themselves.

It all started a few weeks ago. I can't say exactly what day the change came over me, it was such a gradual thing. I began feeling stronger. My muscles weren't any bigger, I couldn't lift any more weight, my daily runs weren't getting any longer or less exhausting, but I could feel something more coursing through my body. It was nearly impossible to describe more what, it was just more.

How much I was changing really hit me one day. The last few days of work had been difficult and more stressful than normal. My daily run was just as much a chance to vent my frustrations as it was a way to keep in shape. The heavens unleashed a downpour as my run brought me by a stretch of abandoned warehouses. I figured the storm would blow itself out quickly, so I ducked between two slightly opened giant doors to take some shelter. My footsteps echoed in the vastness that surrounded me. Dust motes glided on the slivers of dirty light struggling to get through dirty glass windows.

The size and industrial beauty completely missed me. I was too frustrated by the way things had been going combined with the sudden need to hide from the weather. Out of anger and a lack of anything else to do, I picked up a piece of scrap metal from the floor and threw it as hard as I could. The feat of strength this required escaped me until I heard the scrap metal hit a support pillar over half way down the warehouse's length. I looked up and a chill ran through me as I spotted an I-beam sticking through the large support pillar like a pencil stuck through a piece of paper. The air was filled with a slight hum as the two pieces of metal vibrated sympathetically from the impact.

That first day had me shocked. I didn't know what was happening to me. I was in that warehouse trying to pick up other pieces of steel and other metals for almost an hour before I figured out it was my emotions that triggered the increase in strength. My initial frustration at the weather forcing me into the place had allowed me to hurl the steel I-beam before I even knew how heavy the thing was.

Since then, I have cut my runs short and spend more time inside the abandoned warehouse experimenting and testing to see what else I can do. New powers and abilities seem to be growing in me gradually. I am not invincible, but injuries heal faster than before. When I am wounded, I don't feel normal pain, more of a sense of something is out of balance in a certain area. I'm almost afraid to test how far this particular pair of abilities can stretch.

I am able to run faster than I ever could before, but my endurance hasn't increased much. What's strange, is I can run for the same amount of time regardless of how fast I go. Running faster doesn't lower my endurance any more than running slow does.

On an impulse, I decided to try flying one day. I can levitate myself a little above the ground, but nothing I would consider really flying. At least not yet. Once I get a little more altitude, maybe I will try moving around some.

I have found that these new abilities are connected to my feelings.  The angrier I get, the stronger I am.  A powerful sense of fear lets me run faster.  Being happy and laughing allow me to levitate.  Calming myself and relaxing seem to accelerate my healing.  Who knew actually having emotions could one day prove useful?

One thing I keep wondering, more than where these abilities and powers come from, is what shall I do with them? I'm comfortable financially and don't really feel the need to start robbing banks. Taking over the world might be easy, but I'm not so sure I would want the job of running it all once I did. I have no inclination to become a superhero, tights never really looked good on me anyway. Professional athletics are out, my performance would lead to too many questions and “random” tests for performance enhancing drugs. I had considered doing something about the wars that keep popping up in different parts of the world, but then some government may want more answers than I would want to provide. Besides, I've never been a fan of needles and I'm sure someone would love to set up a lab just to stick me full of them. Maybe some day I will figure out what to do with myself.

How should this person continue?  How soon must he make a decision on the use of his powers?  Should he experiment more and try to find more abilities?  Leave a comment and let me know what you think or how you would react to suddenly becoming more powerful.

How can the Noah help?

This is another installment in the saga of the alien race known as the Noah.  I know where I want this story to go, just not real sure how I want to get there.

The evidence of the Noah's existence and nature had all been located and brought to the representatives of the countries in which the items were found. Through much discussion and debate, a neutral location was chosen for the items to be brought together and examined. A place where further debates can be made without any one country having a home turf advantage. Each representative would have two security personnel and a scientific adviser with them. The small number in each party was determined to balance the size from each nation and not overtax the limited resources readily available at the chosen location. The lack of native population, military presence, or cultural influence meant that Antarctica would be an ideal meeting place for both international and interstellar guests despite the harsh environment.

Shelters were set up for each group to participate in their respective activities. The scientists shared notes on the items that had been found, their theories regarding the materials the items were made of, and possible methods for translating the strange script engraved on them. The various governmental representatives met in small committees that attempted to establish proper protocols and priorities for future meetings. Very little was said about the signal that had brought them all together. Off duty security personnel simply lounged around and discussed various travels they had been on and former comrades that had been lost to one foe or another, sometimes speaking with the fatal individual themselves. Mere weeks had passed since the Noah's signal had first been detected and received. Most of the world's population assumed that bringing all of these differing people together so fast meant they could quickly come up with a solution to the problem of the Drag'kun that would benefit everyone. Two things nobody realized was how long it would really take the politics to get anything accomplished and that the two year deadline mentioned by the Noah was an overestimation.

While all the talking, discussing, and theorizing was happening, the Noah continued approaching the Earth. They finally settled in an orbit slightly larger than that of the moon. They monitored military, civilian, and commercial communications frequencies with much intensity. Partly out of their natural curiosity for the residents of this planet, and partly out of a hope for a reply to their initial broadcast. All of their attention was focused on the blue planet below and, with the help of its residents, protecting as much of the population as possible.

The Drag'kun scout probe continued on its path, approaching the fourth planet of the system and keeping it between them and the Noah battleship as they begin their arc away from the sun. The captain of the craft closely watches the occupied planet and the other ship to ensure they aren't detected as he begins to transmit a directed signal to the fleet. His estimation was that a medium sized attack force would be sufficient. The only real opposition would come from the Noah battleship. The planet itself couldn't raise more than a few simple nuclear missiles that were best suited for harming the planet itself. No real threat to a force in orbit.

Technological rewards would be at a minimum, but natural resources would more than make up for the lack of usable parts to replace damaged ship components. The significant amount of slave labor the prominent intelligent species offered would keep the captains of all the attacking ships more than satisfied. If nothing else, all the animal species of the planet could be used to replenish food stores through the majority of the fleet.

All of this was transmitted from the scout pod to the Drag'kun in charge of the large fleet. The signal was sent in a series of small, quick bursts to minimize the chances of detection and interception by anyone else. This procedure was followed despite the small chance that anyone else in the system even knew they were there.

By the time the scout ship rejoined them, the attackers would be done with their efforts and splitting whatever spoils they obtained amongst themselves. He knew there would be some rewards for him and his crew, but the best choices would be kept by the attacking captains for their own enjoyment.

Unbeknownst to the captain, a small robotic probe on the red planet below the Drag'kun craft and its orbiting relay satellite operated on a frequency complimentary to the one the scout captain used. The satellite picked up the transmission and automatically relayed it to monitoring station. Only a single person noticed the odd signal embedded in the usual feed from the scientific instruments of the robot. It suddenly struck her that she was looking at another signal from an alien species. With all the top scientists in Antarctica, could she get anyone's attention? Would they understand what this other signal meant? Did she understand what it meant?

Once again, to be continued.....

On a side note, my calendar is in the shop so I should have the next post up on Wednesday as promised, not Thursday.

Game Time

Between spending time with my sons, working full time, various writing projects, and all the other things life throws around, I still manage to find some time to myself to enjoy a little time playing video games.  One game I enjoy playing is Final Fantasy XIV.  Adventurers travel all the lands of Eorzea fighting in dungeons and battling foes to protect the citizens from evil forces.

Like other games in the Final Fantasy franchise, this version includes the popular Chocobo.  Usually the large bird is a utility used as a mount.  Very rarely is much of the story told from the Chcobo's point of view.  I thought it was time for this to change.

I see these as being tales told to other chocobos in the stables at the end of each day's travels.

I am so excited. My day has finally come. I have been given a partner to travel and explore this wide world in which we live. I see all the different types of peoples that visit the fields near our home. Tall muscular fighters that nearly have to duck to enter the stables. Short folks that can hide from sight in tall bushes and barely reach my knees. They all travel about protecting others, fighting monsters, and collecting materials for their various crafts. Now I can travel with someone and do all of this along with them. Wait. I hear the whistle made for my new partner. KWEH! Off to start my adventures.

I spent most of the day running through the woods with my new partner. He is a small person that uses mystical energies rather than steel weapons. I could have not asked for a more perfect rider. As we moved between the trees I could see some people fighting smaller monsters. Beasts too weak for my partner to be bothered with. Some people were fighting these monsters to keep them away from the nearby city. We rode to a village filled with people even smaller than my rider. They were so short, their feet didn't touch the ground. They just floated around with their wings fluttering. We crossed through the village and approached another forest filled with larger beasts and walking trees. I will admit I am a little glad my partner dismounted and sent me away before fighting anything there.

My partner got some clothing for me. He calls it “barding.” What I have now is simple and decorated in the colors and symbols of the nation he has been helping lately. He has promised me more barding in different styles and patterns. I can't wait.

Cold. Today was a journey in an area that was very cold. Mountains soared into the sky. Stone towers rivaled them in height. Beasts here come in both large and small sizes. Fortunately, I am much faster than the large lizards that roam the area. Some of them tried to come after us, but I was able to keep us safe until we entered the brick city that had been established a long time ago. Some of the walls of the city looked damaged, but it was still safer than the castle nearby that had been taken over by beasts and dragons.

Today's adventure was both exciting and intense. I was given a treat of gysahl greens. With a gift like this, I expected to carry my partner from one end of the world to the other. However, this time he didn't hop into the saddle for a ride. Instead I fought alongside him to beat many, many evil monsters. It was very scary at first, but I couldn't leave my partner alone when he had so much faith in my skills. KWEH! I learned a new kick to use the next time I'm asked to fight. Despite my fears at first, I can't wait to beat more monsters and learn more combat skills. Maybe I will even learn some tricks to help my partner by more than just fighting.

These last few days has been extremely busy. We traveled from area to area, region to region, and nation to nation. We fought evil troops that came with magitek defensive units, a behemoth, numerous goblins and evil sylphs, and more fish men than I care to count. We traveled to the ocean, visited a region full of giant crystals, and cruised across a giant desert. While I truly enjoy my time with my partner, I wouldn't mind if he got a new mount so I could get a little rest. Maybe one of those flying things with one eye could carry him around for a bit.

Now, where did I leave my controller.  Ramuh has offered up a challenge I can't refuse.

Ring Masters

There are a hundred excuses I could come up with for this post being a day later than normal.  The simple honest truth is that I fell asleep.  A long working weekend followed by a busy start to the week left no time to recover any missing slumber.  A quiet Wednesday morning in a comfortable led to a sudden urge to catch up on all the sleep I had been deprived of.

Delays aside, today's post isn't something that didn't come from my mind, yet I still had a significant hand in creating.  It is a story idea from the notebook of my oldest son.  He is a fan of both Marvel and DC comic universes.  Influences from tales like the Green Lantern and Infinity Gauntlet can be seen in his writings, with details that are entirely his own.

The words below are entirely his.  The only changes I made were some basic copy editing for spelling and simple grammar.  Otherwise, the story is directly out of his notebook for future comics.

Okay.  We didn't ask for these powers, but here is the story.  The date was March 19, 2019.  My friends and I chose to walk home through the forest.  That's when I came across six rings.  I thought two for each of us so I shared them with Hank and Tim.  As we put them on weird things happened to us.  I felt like I was on fire in an earthquake.  When it was over I had power over fire and earth.  Hank had power over water and wind.  Tim had power over light and dark.  We chose to call ourselves "The Ring Masters."  We were on our last year of high school and would be going our separate ways.  However, when there is trouble, you can count on The Ring Masters to be there!

Other stories in his notebook hint at the possibility of multiple related titles with chances of crossovers and other interactions.

I am proud that he has decided to express himself in the same way I do and with tales of his own creation.  Sharing our skills with the next generation gives our children a safe outlet for their thoughts while keeping important creative skills alive in a dynamic and changing society.  Now, if only I could get him to clean his room.