There is, unfortunately, no escaping physics. Bound by the speed of light, even information must take. It's time to get birth going. And as we move farther into the void, that time grows until the distance becomes unspeakable.
Did that work?
Ah.
Ow. Oh. Green light. Green light. It's working. It's actually working. It's broadcasting. It's fuck. I'm live. Sorry about that. Minor technical issue. Sergeant west, big fan of the show, long time listener, first time caller. Well, it's not technically true. I've been calling for a few weeks now. It's just that for some reason, whoever designed this equipment decided that showing a red light would mean it wasn't live, unlike every other piece of broadcast equipment out there, rather than having display something more helpful, like a message saying, hello, I am broken. See, I wish more things had that feature. Hell, even some people as well. Now I'm thinking about it, I'm getting off topic. What I wanted to say was hi. I really love what you're putting out there. I've been listening for the past month or so and it was such a joy to find. Especially I too am an engineer. Hearing you talk about your work was like the audio equivalent of going to a party, wearing your most fancy hat and seeing someone else with the same fancy hat on and pointing to them and yelling, same hat. Only it's jobs in space. I'm not military, though. I'm on one of the big scientific survey ships they just launched, the Hypatia. I'm not the chief engineer or anything. She's way more focused on the big stuff. Engines, main computer, all the lab gear we're counting around. Now she leaves, the more day to day things to me, like unclogging pipes, fixing water pressure, debugging temp control, or blasting stains that just won't budge. Thankfully, we have a full set of mates to handle most of the cleaning, and they're pretty reliable. Don't need much servicing at all once they've broken in. So, yeah, same hat. Yeah. So the ship's heading out of the settle bubble now that we've done the shakedown, and I was wondering if I could fling you some questions before we jump too far from the outer relays, if that's okay? Given you've been cooped up on that station for over a year, how do you cope with sharing a limited space with other people for such a long time? Like, how do you find solitude or a waste or a lax? I have my own set of tips and tricks that I'd be really happy to share, but it's always interesting to see how others have adapted. On the flip side, I'm assuming your scientists are as keen as mine to head off and away missions and expeditions for days, weeks, months. When you get left behind for a spell, how how do you keep your your weird levels stable? Like, how do you stop yourself from talking to yourself or the objects around you? Anyway, once again, I really love your stuff. Even if I don't hear back, I hope you talk goes well and that you're able to keep up the show even when you make it back to civilization. Name I'm Simmons, on the survey vessel Hypatia. As mentioned, sanitation and Livability chief. Oh, and acting captain. Why are you such an idiot? Please, please tell me the mute button is working for.
Unspeakable distance is an actual play. Podcast of communication delay by Audio Quinn a link to the game's itch IO page and credits for our players are available in the show notes linked to this episode. This podcast has been a production of the Library of Cursed Knowledge podcast Network.