There was a blog post yesterday. Given the circumstances I am in (erratic internet), you can draw a conclusion to what happened to the post. I didn't realise it was missing until about an hour or two later. That obviously put me off blogging for a while. I'm still a little put off, so I ain't posting anything worth reading today. (And yes, I might be back to strange but readable code posts, as evidenced by the Morse code below.)
.--. --- .. -. - .-.. . ... ... / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .
-... -.-- / - .... . / .-- .- -.-- / --..-- / / -.-- --- ..- / .--- ..- ... - / .-- .- ... - . -.. / -.-- --- ..- .-. / - .. -- . / - .-. -.-- .. -. --. / - --- / .-. . .- -.. / - .... .. ... / ..--..
.. / .-- .- ... -. / - / -.- .. -.. -.. .. -. --. / ..--.. / / - .... . .-. . / .. ... / -. --- - .... .. -. --. / --. --- --- -.. / .... . .-. . / ..--.. / / .--- ..- ... - / .-- .- -. - . -.. / - --- / ... . . / .-- .... --- / .-- --- ..- .-.. -.. / .- -.-. - ..- .- .-.. .-.. -.-- / .- - - . -- .--. - / - --- / .-. . .- -.. / - .... .. ... / ..--.. / / -... -.-- / - .... . / .-- .- -.-- / --..-- / / - .... . / .-.. .. -. -.- / -.. --- . ... / ... .- -.-- / .-.. .. -. -.- / ..--..
Chapter 1 - 03: Today is Monday
"Please come in," Kanya replied. A young nurse came in. "Where's Harrison?" she asked.
"He left quite a while ago."
"I brought food and drinks. So you're the new one, huh?"
"New one?"
"Never mind. You'll find out later anyway."
"Find out what?"
"Let's change the topic - have you heard of that Erse Arete is coming to visit the ship?"
"Who's Erse Arete?"
"You've even forgotten something like that? She's the 29th Gifted. We're meeting them at the station we're stopping at to resupply. She's quite fond of walking through any ships she happens to come across during any of her long trips."
"Gifted?"
"On second thought, maybe I should just leave you to your own devices for a while. It seems you don't remember much. The console in your room should have access the Terran Meganet. You should find out everything you need to know from there."
"Huh?"
"I'll leave you alone for now. And by the way, your room number is 230. In case you've forgotten that, or blindly followed Harrison without looking at your room number behind you. Which you probably did."
Kanya nodded in response.
"I suggest you return to your room once you're done with the file. You'll have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."
Why the Story Feels Funny
If you haven't already noticed, there is a bout of discontinuity between 'page 1' and 'page 2' of chapter 1. This is due to the fact that they were written and published separately. If I ever join them up into one post, I will add stuff between page 1 and page 2 to complete the section. As of such, chapters will appear shorter than they should, and expect me to compile everything into a PDF in the future when I have completed publishing the entire chapter on my blog. :D As for Kanya's past, expect to not learn substantial amounts until much further. More about Erse is probably more likely in the short run.
I'm sure some people might be hungry for more episodes of the Stapler saga. I will get back down to that as soon as I feel like it. Expect me to do stupid things in my quest to make fun of staplers and staples.
Chapter 1 - 02: The Month is September
A discussion was continuing in the room. "How are you feeling? Any drowsiness? Sickness?"
"I'm fine. Just tell me what's going on. I can't remember anything at all. The only thing I remember was that room and how familiar it looked."
"It's familiar because you've been in that room before. A lot of this ship will seem familiar to you. As you might have already noticed, you have some form of amnesia. This state was induced on purpose."
"Why?"
"The reason will be revealed to you later when you have been reconditioned for proper function in the human social system. All I will tell you know is that you have been identified as a good leader and skilful in the art of dogfighting in space."
"What would that mean?"
"You will be assigned to be the leader of a squadron of scout fighters on the exploration vessel Kirkor. Of course, you will have to be trained first."
"Training?"
"You are most certainly talented at this, but you need to know more about yourself first. Take this file. We'll begin simulations tomorrow in a fake cockpit. Get some sleep."
Harrison promptly stood up and left Kanya in the room. The file was full of clippings and photos. Kanya was in for a long night. He studied the file intently.
According to the file, he was an expert pilot of fighter class ships and frequently led raids and attacks against bases much larger than his own. From his records, he frequently succeeded. It also said he was quite adept at repairing things regardless what it was.
He gleaned through loads of photos, from those with his parents and siblings, to those with his former squadron. The record stated that his squadron was ambushed and killed during a scout mission. It felt wrong. He knew that it wasn't true, but didn't know what part of it was wrong.
But if it were true, would it have been the purpose of his memory erasure? He was thinking deeper. It was probably more likely they stumbled upon something they shouldn't have. He somehow recalled being told stories of these people whose memories were erased. He even remembered some of them being assigned to the ship he was assigned to.
Losing himself in deep thought, he suddenly realised someone was knocking on the door. A female voice beckoned, "Is it OK for me to come in?"