Time for family movie night on the Windrose!

[pain_train]

Who: Crew of the Windrose
Broadcast: Nope
Action: On the Windrose, mingle time!
When: 11/25 and onward

[Wow, the ship's a little smaller, but lookit that view! Let's talk awkwardly about it and mingle!]

Comments

[unbearablynaive]

Yes, we should. The algae may work for a time as a backup air recycling system, but not sustainably. With materials there is little I discard, even when broken.

According to the most recent studies, there are around 3 trillion trees on Earth. Many books are printed on recycled paper, however.

[pain_train]

Oh my gosh, that's so many trees. I can't even imagine that many. That's way more trees than people!

[unbearablynaive]

It is, yes. Quite a change from how things are out here, isn't it?

[Asteffiel has a little apple tree, he thinks, but anything larger than a bonsai isn't exactly efficient to have out in space.]

That doesn't mean the supply is unlimited, but a surplus of resources does make one less conscious of recycling or alternate methods than they might otherwise be.

[pain_train]

A big change from how things are at home, too. I can't even imagine it. You could like... walk around the trees. And. Look at them. Wow.

That's kind of a weird thought too, not recycling everything.

[unbearablynaive]

I hope you'll have that chance when we come upon another planet. A forest has a beauty unlike any other landscape. [Well, and so do they all, but that's the point.]

Pure waste, yes. It's difficult for people to see the consequences of their actions when they're in such a large environment, especially when education is lacking.

[pain_train]

And mountains. I'd really love to see mountains. I kind of... kind of remember them. Maybe a forest on a mountain, that would be really pretty. Plants do things with light that man-made stuff doesn't do.

Is that a big problem where you're from?

[unbearablynaive]

And mountains, yes. Perhaps a new planet will have features not even found on Earth. [There's so much variety in the universe that most humans have no idea about. He hopes they'll visit at least a few on their journey.]

It will be. It's not hit a crisis scenario yet, but without serious change it will.

[pain_train]

Oh, that would be so neat. Like... what kind of thing, do you think? Upside-down hills? Lakes made out of flowers? [Ice cream needs to figure in to this somehow.]

That sounds really sad. Hopefully people can get better about things and work together. I mean, we learned how to recycle everything when the dome closed. [Though she's well aware that there are all kinds of problems inside the city, even if she can't quite list them easily.]

[unbearablynaive]

Geysers that shoot so high they pierce the atmosphere. Seas of every liquid that exists, and the most spectacular sunsets--sometimes with three suns. [He remembers she likes sunsets.] And why not lakes of flowers and upside-down hills?

It will take that kind of awareness, either through a limitation or a general crisis, I'm afraid. Refusing to acknowledge the facts in front of oneself isn't by any means limited to humanity.

[pain_train]

Three suns... I would love to see a sunset like that! Or a bunch of moons in the sky. I'd love to see all those things and paint them.

People do that so much, though. Well, and not say what they mean. Maybe that's part of the problem too. Just too much lying in general.

[unbearablynaive]

I'd like to see your paintings of them. I think they'd be very good.

[He nods. Even when he can tell people are lying, it doesn't seem to change how they act.] It's rooted in self-interest, which is a survival instinct. Short-term survival and long-term are very different behavior patterns, though.

[pain_train]

Well, I'll show you when they're done, then. I'll probably just do some digital stuff to start, just so I can experiment with the color a little faster.

Living day to day is a habit when you don't have a future.

[unbearablynaive]

I'll look forward to it.

[He nods again.] Or when you perceive that you don't have a future, whether or not it's reality. Once the basic needs are addressed - safety, food, shelter - can one focus on the higher needs, and thinking about the consequences of one's actions is certainly categorized into the latter rather than the former.