Quarantine

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

(( Intro post for Zechs Marquise. ))

Boredom is the bane of even our modern civilization, it would seem. Yet I would consider my situation to be somewhat extraordinary, as most individuals go; only very few people would be stuck in Martian quarantine for five days.

I may understand the necessity of the quarantine I had to endure upon my first arrival to Mars. Admittedly, at the time I did resent it - we had been in transit through space for a number of months, it seemed illogical that any illness we might have brought wouldn't have developed in the womb of our ship during that interval. But the reasoning otherwise was sound. I kept my grievances to myself.

But a quarantine when transferring from two separate Atmosphere Radiation Control stations?

Trust me when I assure you that I have been endeavoring to keep myself entertained. Yet here I am resorting to the Internet for amusement ... And it's only noon, of the second day of quarantine.

It's lucky that I have found this community, here. For I thought that most Internet communications would be 'lagged' and therefore the connection would be too slow for optimal transfers, save for electronic mail? Ah, as a journaling site, you must receive my posts at a later interval from when I originally sent them. Forgive me if my responses to your queries are slightly delayed, in that event.

This community, however, is a fascinating network of mostly fabricated identities, from what I have read so far. Am I supposed to be in on this joke? Claim that I hail from another 'reality' as well?

Fine, then, in my reality I am a mechanical technician on the Mars Terra Formation Project. And that is the only thing of interest about my person.


(( Paranoid Zechs is paranoid. But then again, one doesn't nearly annihilate billions of people and then later advertise their identity over the internet. For the curious, his hackable user information is here and they can find out who he is. :D ))

Comments

[maraich]

You talk a lot!

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. At times, my acquaintances have complained commented that I can be terse.

I suppose it depends on the subject and medium of communication.

(( Strikes are deleted text; hackable ))

[the-air-corsair.livejournal.com]

Ah, someone from even farther ahead in the future than myself. I greet you!

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

Ah, I am from the future, now? Do tell.

What grand and golden age do you hail from, in that event?

[flying-mace.livejournal.com]

Martians? They're alive in your world?

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

... If you mean alien life forms detailed and originating from some fanciful work of fiction, then no.

If you mean citizens who are working to terraform Mars for colonization, then yes. I suppose that would designate me as a 'Martian'.

[shovel-sick.livejournal.com]

...I didn't understand a damn thing you just said.

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

What is the nature of your confusion? Exactly how, in my apparent verbosity, was I ambiguous?

[know-sacrifice.livejournal.com]

Whoa, you're on Mars?

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

Orbiting Mars. It isn't habitable yet; we are currently in the process of terraforming the surface.

It's a common misconception that the scientists and technicians live on the surface of the planet during the process. However, due to the techniques necessary to transform the conditions of Mars, being off the planet is rather wise.

[sunao-punch.livejournal.com]

I didn't read your whole post, but I can tell it's boring. Don't type so much.

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

If you are so quick to judge quality of content based on its quality, I weep for the education system perhaps it would behoove you to avoid such posts in the future.

[seventh-gospel.livejournal.com]

Wait wait wait.

Fabricated stories??

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

I have little cause to believe the stories I read here are the truth.

Alternate timelines and other worlds seem to be quite a fanciful idea. It was not intended to be a slight against yourself or other members of the community, let me assure you.

[excelloneesama.livejournal.com]

Why does he seem familiar and remind me of whips?[[ooc:LoL SRW references not hackable]]

You're stuck in one place for five days? That's hardly something to complain about...though I guess I understand having nothing to do for who knows how long gets boring.

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

There is also the matter of the room in question that I am confined in is only about four meters by four meters. This includes all necessary facilities for living and caring for my own person; for example, a kitchenette of sorts is to my immediate right.

It becomes rather boring, indeed.

[oceanicbutterfly]

Mars, huh...? Here, we've only managed to send a few robotic probes there. The Americans are hoping to send people there in the future, but...

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

... I assume you are also claiming to be of some past, alternate time.

In which era do you live, might I ask?

[mad-hatta10-6.livejournal.com]

Mars?
I do say that it sounds like a sort of cameo of the sort.

Pray tell what kind of deranged place is that?

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

...

The type that attracts deranged individuals such as myself, apparently.

[robotany.livejournal.com]

Terraform?

[So very pinged.]

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

The process of transforming the surface of a planet into a suitable environment for habitation? Yes. Have I become an encyclopedia for these people?


(( Strikes, once again, are deleted text; hackable ))

[redprototype.livejournal.com]

Surely there's more to you than that. You'd at least have a name.

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

As many people do, I have been called by several of them.

However, my name is not important.

[attorneyatlol]

Well, radiation can be poisonous, right? Maybe they want to make sure you aren't carrying anything that could spread to your coworkers.

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

Thank God, somebody who doesn't jump down my throat for my skepticism.

Radiation may be a sort of poison, true. However, it is the atmosphere of Mars itself that we are bombarding with radiation. The science behind that is not my field, specifically, but I understand there is little danger of it transferring to the crew of the stations.

When I have patience, I may see the wisdom of this action. It does not negate the fact of the matter that this is dull.

[probablythebutz.livejournal.com]

Terraforming Mars!? Dude, that's like the stuff science fiction is made of! I've gotta visit your world when you're done!

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

Again the whole 'visit your world' bit.

It would be at least a decade before the Martian surface would be suitable for any sort of colonization.

Science fiction frequently predicates actual technological discoveries. Jules Verne detailing rockets launching men into space years before the pre-colonial space race, for example.



(( Strikes are deleted text, hackable ))

1/2

[lol-shinigami.livejournal.com]

[lol-shinigami.livejournal.com]

Man, you're the last person I thought I'd see here.

[tyki-tock.livejournal.com]

Greetings Zechs, I am Tyki.

Did I read that right? You're on Mars? That's incredible - what year is it in your Earth? For me, it's only 1899, and our technology is sadly lacking compared to what many of the people on this community are used to.

I hope you're not stuck in quarantine for too terribly long.

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

The year is AC 198. Forgive my skepticism, however; if you are from the old calendar year AD 1899, how is it that you can communicate here on the electronic medium?

It is only for a few days more, yet the quarantine is very dull. However, as complaints go, 'dullness' is a rather trivial and perhaps even juvenile one.

[canhaswrenchpls.livejournal.com]

But this all sounds so FASCINATING!
You're a mechanic in SPACE? Like, on other planets?
How do you get your machine to travel in space? I might try and upgrade mine...

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

Space craft construction and design is a lengthy and perhaps tedious subject to explain in an effort to educate someone on building a vehicle worthy of that vacuum. While I know much of the theory and, obviously, know how to affect repairs in order to keep a craft in top condition, I do not have the knowledge necessary to engineer such a vehicle 'from the ground up', as it were.

Yet the basic theory is, in relation to the entirety of the discipline, relatively simple. A machine must be able to survive high velocities and heat when leaving the atmosphere. The machine must also be able to keep out the cold and vacuum of space. It must be able to withstand re-entry into the atmosphere again, as well as having the ability to deliver the passenger safely to the surface. Finally, in order to launch into orbit to begin with, there must be a sufficient force to push the vehicle up into space, breaking away from the Earth's gravity.

Further information, I am certain, you may find at your own leisure over the Internet.

[notrlyperfect.livejournal.com]

Hn.

I would think that the quarantine would be entirely necessary in an environment that must be consistently stable.

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

In honest reflection, I certainly agree. The reasons behind these precautions are both logical and necessary for the environment the scientists and mechanics must maintain. Certainly, any strain of cold or flu virus would quickly turn into an epidemic within a closed environment such as this.

Yet the reality evolves into thus: It is boring to remain confined within a small space for days without anything constructive to occupy my time.

(( Locked to Heero: ))

Forgive my perhaps inappropriate assumption. Yet is your profile information truly accurate?

[lovelovegoddess.livejournal.com]

Uh, what's a "Terra Formation Project"?

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

In brief, it is a project to change the surface of an uninhabitable planet, such as Mars, into that which is more similar to Earth.

You may find further information from scientific articles on the Internet. A good reference for those with only rudimentary knowledge in science is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming

[and-dont-blink.livejournal.com]

[petmysnakes.livejournal.com]

Hmm. How tedious~

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

Indeed. As necessary as these precautionary measures may be.

[pow-hammer.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the community, um... what's your name?

[Backdated]

[biverbam.livejournal.com]

Growing worlds?

[Backdated]

[thricedeadwind.livejournal.com]

... One may phrase such a thing in those terms.

Yet this is merely one world. Thus far, things cannot grow here - the project scientists are endeavoring to change the planet so life may develop.