Beithioch



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  1. Rec *

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    'Rocky, do you remember the expected, average human lifespan?'

    I ask it conversationally but Rocky freezes in place all the same.

    'No,' he states.

    'No?'

    'Yes, Rocky remembers. No, do not want to talk about this.'

    I lean back and fold my arms.

    'Rock…'

    'Grace. No. Bad bad bad.'


    Dr Ryland Grace is an old man. Dr Ryland Grace knows what he wants to happen when the time comes. Rocky doesn't want to talk about it.

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    18 Jun 2026

  2. Rec *

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    The capsule touches down on Erid about a decade and a half after I do.

    There's a message inside translated into fourteen different languages. Y'know, just in case I've taught myself - and then the Eridians - Afrikaans.

    Hey, it reads. Can we have our ball back, please?

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    18 Jun 2026

  3. Rec 36

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    Martin takes a nap; Jon looks too hard at the sun.
    -
    Martin “wakes up” and the sky is still mottled gray. He’s learned not to look too hard; inevitably, there’s something he doesn’t want to see. “Jon,” he says on a yawn. “Ready to go?”

    There’s no response.

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    18 Jun 2026

  4. Rec 32

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    "Is this about their latest SecUnit rescue subject?" ART asked. Nosy fucker; I should have known it would have bullied the other bot pilot for details.

    "SecUnit extraction," I corrected, to be pedantic. Or is it pediatric? Whatever, I wasn't going to ask.

    "So it is about that project?" ART plowed forward. "I am not surprised they want your input. You are one of the more valuable information sources they have."

    "I just feel like they're setting themselves up for failure," I admitted. "Their newly freed SecUnits keep trying to self-destruct."

    There was a .5 second pause. In the feed, it felt like an eternity. "I see," ART said, not sounding so smug anymore. "Yes, that is distressing."
    .
    Or, the first (sort of) organized suicide prevention effort for SecUnits.

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    18 Jun 2026

  5. Rec *

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    “So, I was thinking about why I’ve been throwing up. I think some of it is the actual, physical properties of the taumoeba, but I honestly think half the battle is the taste. See, humans use smell and taste to tell us if food is going to make us sick, like it’s moldy or smells weird, that sends a signal for disgust to our brains to stop us from eating it, and that triggers nausea.”

    “I feel this way about all human food,” I say, and Grace rolls its eyes.

    “Sure. But I think my brain is being overprotective about the taumoeba. It’s the same reason why human kids get picky or people throw up during pregnancy, even when the food they’re eating is perfectly edible. My brain is signalling to me that I shouldn’t want it in my body, mostly because -- well, I don’t. It smells like mildew and algae and has the texture of chia seed pudding that was forgotten at the back of a fridge. But that’s making me nauseous when I even think about putting it in my mouth, which makes me more likely to throw up.”

    “But how would you eat without using your mouth?” I ask.

    Grace grins at me. “That, my friend, is exactly the question I’ve been asking myself. And I think the answer might be something called a nasogastric tube."

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    18 Jun 2026