Blue Peril: LUNA

I decided to create another blog project titled Plenty of Hours, a project I'm doing to get myself out there in my new life in a different city. It'll be a blog dedicated to random projects I'm working on, mostly because I realized I'm better at fulfilling projects when I have a public forum to post them in (a la Nakedly Sane). Currently I'm using the blog for a project I call Shuffle My Day, where I use the website Shuffle My Life to give me random things to add onto my daily routine to just to make it more interesting. So far I've only posted once, but I will try to post five days a week at the least. You can read my first entry and my attempt at comedy here.

So we return to Blue Peril back to James as he explores life outside of the Millennia compound, a cult that believes that life in the 21st century was the best time for humanity and that everything after it is all a novelty, the Amish of the future.

            “Welcome to the Armstrong City, the Moon’s first and largest colony, how may I be of service for you today?” The woman said, except she wasn’t a woman, or a human, or even real at all. James was perplexed; he thought he’d seen it all, hover cars, augmented reality glasses, petabyte thumb drives, and not to mention the spaceship he just took from Earth. It was too much to take in over the course of a few days, and this ‘woman’ who just appeared out of nowhere from the three cylinders resting on the ground, what he could only assume was her projector, was the straw that broke his metaphorical culturally inept camel’s back. He only reaction was to not react.

            “Hmm,” she said, “You don’t seem to have an ID chip or card on you, making my system hard to determine your preferences. If your chip or card is broken I can recommend to you a clinic that repairs them for cheap.”

            “Uhh, no thanks,” James said, he looked at her like a baby does when it’s trying to understand the world around it. She was mostly opaque, but upon further inspection he could see through her, like frosted glass. She was also very attractive, smooth skin that was neither brown nor white but a strange mixture of the two. Her eyes were blue and she wore a black-and-white dress with crescent moon in the middle.

            “Very well then, I highly recommend you get yours repaired soon to prevent any confusion at any of our data terminals. Would you like to set-up a temporary voice activated account for the time being?”

            “Sure,” James said. “But first who are you?”

            “I am LUNA, personal travel assistant for Armstrong City. You can find my stations at any major or minor points of interest.”

            “Interesting, nice to meet you Luna,” James said sticking out his hand then immediately pulling it back realizing how big an idiot he must have looked to the others in the terminal.

            “Very good, can you say your full name for me?”

This was the moment he’d been waiting for, a moment to leave his old name behind and begin anew. Except for the fact that he never put in the time to think of a name, so he said the first set of names that came to his mind: “Luke Ash Pilgrim” Star Wars, Pokemon and a clichéd last name, really brain? He thought

            “Thank you Mr. Pilgrim, and your place of residence?”

            “Mars,” he said thinking it would sound cool and exotic.

“Wănshàng hăo! Nǐ xǐhuān zhōngguó de háishì yīngwén de?”

And only to regret it immediately, what language was that even?

“Come again?” He asked the holograph.

“Would English be better suited for you Mr. Pilgrim?”

“Yes, please I like to immerse myself within the local culture when I travel.”

What the hell am I trying to do? Impress a fucking hologram?

“Would you like to add that to your profile?”

“Add what?”

“Your preference to immerse yourself while traveling,” LUNA said.

“Sure,” James now Luke said. There was a tapping on his shoulder, he looked behind him. It was a man probably in his mid thirties wearing a suit with a orange tie.

“Sorry for interrupting sir but I’m in a hurry to get a hotel, can you give me a moment?”

James looked back at LUNA then at the man; what a dick for interrupting his conversation with her.

“Welcome back Mr. Royal,” Luna said. “Will you be staying at the Collins Hotel as usual?”

“Not this time,” he said, “I’m on the other side of town this time at the Tycho resort.”

“Your cab is on its way, wait in port A lot 77.”

“Thank you,” he said looking at James, and went on his way. It took James a moment to realize he wasn’t thanking Luna but him.

He turned back around to see Luna had disappeared back into her tubes, like a genie in a bottle she granted Royal his wish for a cab and then retreated. In her place was the same crescent logo she wore on her dress.

“Well shit,” James said grabbing his bag when Luna popped back up. He jumped back again, the luggage slipped from his hands and fell, more like drifted, all the way to the ground.

“Welcome back Mr. Pilgrim, how may I help you today? Your profile hasn’t fully been developed yet, would you like the directions to the ID clinic?”

“No thanks,” he said. He wanted to talk to her more, get to know what the life of a hologram was like, but he decided against it. There was just too much to take in, he’d have to get some rest before anything new. “Can you get me a hotel, like a cheap one?”

“Sure, what part of town would you prefer?”

“The cheapest,” he said.

“I’ve registered you to a Motel 51 in the Aldrin district. Is that fine?”

“Yes,” he said picking up his luggage. “Can I get a cab there too?”

“Your cab is on its way, wait in port A lot 73 please.” She paused then asked, “would you like to pay for your hotel here or at the counter?”

“Counter, can you direct me to my spot?”

“Just follow the green arrow on the floor and you will arrive straight at your spot.”

“What green arro-“ he said looking around cutting himself off when he saw the arrow materialize on the ground right below his feet. He stepped forward and it moved forward, then back it followed him too, then he jumped left and right, the arrow stay at the same fixed speed pointing the same direction as if it were tethered between him and his destination.

“Would you prefer anything else Mr. Pilgrim?”

“No thanks,” he said attempting to fool the arrow by pacing in circles, he had no luck.

“Enjoy your stay here in Armstrong City,” she said.

“Thanks,” James looked back at where she stood; she had disappeared once again into her bottle.

He surrendered to the arrow and began following it through the terminal. There was a lot to take in about his new life.

The Desert (birth once again pt.2)

Sorry for the late Special post but today Kyle and I have decided to do two separate posts. His will be up hopefully tomorrow as it is his big writing day. Anyways This will be a continuation of both again which you can find here: http://nakedlysane.blogspot.com/2014/07/today-is-little-late-post-but-i-hope.html ,  Kyle and I have something planed for this storyline and the one he will be posting tomorrow so look forward to that. Anyways enjoy another Saturday special.

How long have I been walking? The crash site had stretched beyond the horizon that I could see. The closest star lingers in the sky even now never relinquishing its grasp of the sky. The heat is close to frying my systems and my liquid cooling struggles to keep them working as I walk through this bleak desert. It toys with me dust storms come and go trying to conquer me, my only blessing is the automatic helmet that protects my face. I should just be fortunate to land on a planet somewhat hospitable but I would rather take drifting through space any day. It might have been my hell for longer than I remember but I am not to confident this planet will be any better.

A rumble came from below the sand that interrupted my rose colored recollection of my coffin. It wasn’t a good sign, I had wondered when the local planet life would rear it’s head. What rose from the depths was far more terrifying than I had ever expected. It what could only be described, as a worm but it must have had evolved into something more deadly. The beast’s head rose 25 meters into air and stared straight at me with what had to be some form of eyes. I had frozen in my tracks this was unlike anything I expected; surely this planet was chosen to be my doom. What had to be the worms mouth slowly opened like a long slit down it’s head revealed rows upon rows of teeth. That is when it emitted a deafening high-pitched scream that brought me to my knees. I was done for.

The worm then started to lunge straight at me as I surrendered myself to be it’s food. Just before It ended up devouring me wholly a message ran through my head, ** emergency preservation system engaged**, I didn’t know exactly what it meant by that but I soon started acting on my own. Jumping through the air as though flying I landed on the beasts head my black jacket flapping behind me. Without hesitation I began to run down the length of the worm as it started to burrow through the san where I once stood. I had no control anymore but it didn’t matter I was alive.  The wind rushed past me as I went faster and faster till I hit my top speed, simultaneously my eyes analyzed the beast for openings but its hard outer exoskeleton made it hard to penetrate. It looked like my only option was to run.

It took a while but I finally reached it’s tail as it started an upswing, as it so happened the tip was the only place not encased in the monsters armor. With a short hop I landed on it’s only weak point, a bolt of energy shot down through my feet that propelled me high into the air. I pulled my arms and legs in and started to tumble through the air as the beast start to cry out in pain. At the apex of my rocket assisted jump I spread myself out to slow my decent. I watched as the worm decided I was not worth the trouble and started to burrow itself underground once again. Freefalling through the sky I could now see the jungle that rose just past the desert, I tried to direct my flight path towards it as best I could.

I ended up landing in a large sand hill which I used to cushion my landing but ended up tumbling down to the edge of the jungle. I had finally reached some form of shelter for the night and just in time as the moon finally dipped below the horizon. I checking the orbs that held the energy needed to power my systems, I need to soon recharge. As soon as the last light was extinguished from the sky the trees retracted their leaves inside themselves as if to protect them from something. Which was soon answered as the moon rose into the sky and started to freeze everything around me. It was unbearably cold within seconds of night falling, I had to find shelter fast. With most of the jungle foliage compacted inside itself I found a cave fairly quickly which I then used to sleep for the night.

Blue Peril: Leaving Earth

Sorry for the late update, and I apologize for any further late updates of the course of the next few weeks. I'm busy moving from state to state for my new job. 

Anywho, today I continue the Blue Peril [Working Title] series with a new character, James, a young man raised in a cult liken to the Amish today. I don't really know where he fits into the story yet, nor most the characters really, this is my attempt to do a short story like George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire. With lots of characters from from different points of view coming together, something I find fun and challenging.

           The Earth rotates at just over a thousand miles an hour, that’s faster than the bullet train in Japan and a Boeing 747 jet combined, but from geosynchronous orbit the planet looks like its racing grass grow, and is losing. As breath taking as the globe sized Earth looked, James was underwhelmed after seeing so many globes spin much faster down on the surface. He wanted to see every major city wiz by like bikes at the track racing against each other to cross the terminator line first. He could hear the announcer from his races in his head calling out each of their names as they crossed: Here comes New York in first, leading the race as usual, Atlanta is riding up on its tail, with Miami no so far behind it. This is going to be a close one folks! Instead it appeared the bikes were replaced with snails at this distance.

This thought only crossed James’ mind for a brief second until he remembered something: he is in fucking space! Millions of people depart the Earth’s gravitational well a day, but not until now could James afford to leave the needy pull of the Earth. Ticket’s for interstellar flights weren’t expensive, just a few hundred bucks to get from Earth to the moon, James just never had the time or interest until recently, mostly due to his parents.

Having been raised by two Millennia parents he was indoctrinated to believe that space travel and any technology more powerful than an early twenty-first century smart phone was nothing more than a luxury not a necessity. Millennia   is a movement, as you all know, that is a subset of the Techno movement which in turn is a subset of the Earthling movement. Each movement, or cult as most choose to see them, dedicated to living a fulfilling lifestyle of which cannot surpass the technology of the early twenty-first century. The followers, or cultist, can choose a life style from any time period of human history they want, from the ever popular Victorian Era with their fancy cloths and cola based tech (an industry only still alive due to this movement), to the easier life’s of the Early 21^st century (typically for those who want to live within an earlier time without trying too hard), to the wheel-less Paleolithic era (for the hard cores and hippies); totaling in ninety eight mid-sized city camps, or compounds, and two million followers across the globe. Anybody could leave when they want, there was no penalty at all, yet most didn’t. Brainwashing a child from birth is easier than correction facilities.

James continued gazing upon the green and blue orb outside the window, his disappointment of the speed had disappeared and his sense of adventure and freedom had returned. Oh the journeys he pictured himself having. Goodbye Earth, and hello new worlds.