DN-007-The Meeting

**Notes on Past Events** Associated posts will be linked below. Audio visual notes to follow and to be linked.

So things are a little tense in the conservatories today… Everyone is whispering under their breath their little conspiracies about what’s to come of this big meeting. Gossip about the incident too. Eyes pierce through me as I walk by them. Maybe it was them, maybe it was my perception of them. I had felt horrible about the destruction of conservatory 9. The guilt I held is what I saw in their eyes. Was it really there? Or was it a projection of how I was perceiving myself? Either way. It was a long walk to the lab this morning. As I shrouded myself in the under layers of my space suit hoping to disappear for just a minute until I made it to my lab where I could just be there, be me, and breathe. When I got there I dove into more research, as if to distract my mind from absolutely anything else. I zoned in. I zoned in hard.

After a few hours the silence was cracked open by the static of the intercom. “Please report to meeting room 4 for a detailed synopsis of upcoming changes.”

After taking a deep breath, I gathered my things, got up and headed over. When I got there I found a seat in the back, silently shuffled in.

“Glad to see everyone.” Boss said as he closed the door behind him and walked toward the chalkboard in the front of the room that had already been pre-filled out with the main points he was planning on covering.

“First order of business, em.. For the last hundred years we have been using our ships to travel from one planet to another. This is all well and good, but we have seen an overwhelming number of incidents, on other planets and in transport. Unfortunately, the incident with Astrid has raised this issue, and is the main objective of resolution for being here today.

From this point on, we will be only utilizing portal technologies for planet to planet travel. Landon and his team are working on the construction of established planet portals so that travel, production and communication won’t be hindered.

I’m aware that not everyone is involved in our database projects. That’s fine. That’s intended. But, the number of new successful portal missions have now far outweighed the number of successful ship missions. Similar to our augmented reality systems, if we find ways to cognitively reduce risk parameters within travel, we will need to implement these procedures as new priorities. We will continue to develop interplanetary database derived solutions in the future, but as for now, this is our safest bet.

For most of you, this should not be much different than what you are used to. We understand that there will be a number of questions and concerns for those unfamiliar with the technology. This is why we are here. Please ask us, ask your peers and refer to the libraries. There’s a sufficient amount of data that populates these topics from previous testimonials to virtual experiences. There you can gain an understanding of the risks and the benefits. There’s a number in both directions. Please make yourselves aware.

The next thing I wanted to address is our departure of Mission 01 to Zephyria. Skylar, Landon and Zack, as you know, you are our team for this. Please refine your research on the current environmental data samples and specimens that you are working with and please conclude research the week prior to commencement of mission.

The third point I wanted to bring up, while I had you all here, was in regards to our internal workflows. As it stands, a lot of us work very successfully by fully immersing ourselves into our specialties that we have been assigned based on our evolving evaluations and metrics. This is working out, it is successful and we are happy to see that. Although, one metric overall that we have noticed a drop in, has been data in innovation and uncommon solutions. We are all very good at our own focus subjects, so good that I don’t believe we see the needs that exist across other specialties. It’s almost as if we are working in silos that streamline concentrated thought but are blinded to peripheral thought that evolves organically from cross specialty interaction.

So in the next few months, maybe years, we will be implementing missions, objectives, and projects that are integrative. We will be monitoring developments and how these interactions beneficially impact outcomes. So please keep that in mind, as you record and develop your final data submissions, in relation to your projects and outcomes.

Finally, to wrap this up, I know you are all disheartened to hear the news about Astrid. I’ll be honest. Missions are dangerous. That is something we all know and accept as our challenge when we agree to each mission. We agree to the possibility of death but we do it for the betterment of our evolution.

Astrid was no stranger to this. She knew it. She knew the dangers and laughed them dead in the eyes. She was bold, honorable, brave and… she was one of us.

We will be holding her memorial service over the weekend to commemorate her, her dedication to the mission and her rebellious hunger for truth and knowledge in the face of adversity and strife. We will follow the ascension of her spirit, her energy into the stars.

Zarzark Astrid. Onward and upward. ” Boss said as his voice broke and he gestured for us to leave back to our assignments.

I gathered my stuff, left back for the lab, sat there as I made surface level observations on the specimens but couldn’t bring myself to snap out of the haze. Letting everything sit with me in that moment of time, until I could really grasp reality again.

I left that afternoon right as the sun was crossing the horizon and welcoming the darkness that comes with a sunset. As I drove back to my home, I thought a lot about the sun as it set. Flourishing in the blues and all the colors that came to compliment the planet. I thought of how amazing it is that everything in our solar system has a chance to see the same thing despite the distances and realms of impossibility and in that moment I felt connected. Grateful that I could see it too, that I was a little part of all of it.