. "From sheer darkness, small points of light become visible. Afterwords, the tiny dots become elongated streaks resembling ripples in water. Soon it becomes apparent that we are submerged underwater. Earth has changed in the last 350 years; the South is smaller and still an economic drag. The bayous of old have been replaced by large indoor facilities built to imitate the old marshes. Sunlight becomes obstructed by the embrace of a mother and son. \"How are you, Sirius? \", I said. \"I do well, Sav. Message from Mira awaits you.\" \"What's it about?\" \"She did not say.\""@en . "From sheer darkness, small points of light become visible. Afterwords, the tiny dots become elongated streaks resembling ripples in water. Soon it becomes apparent that we are submerged underwater. Earth has changed in the last 350 years; the South is smaller and still an economic drag. The bayous of old have been replaced by large indoor facilities built to imitate the old marshes. Sunlight becomes obstructed by the embrace of a mother and son. \"I remember a long time ago standing on the shore of an ocean back on Earth. The waves lapping the coast, lit only by the dimming light of the setting sun. There was an eery feeling in this, you could feel the cold breeze on your skin and the soft sand beneath your feet.\" Mira and I used to go there alot, even as children, but now the nostalgia of a dream is all that's left. I remember her quoting a great soldier from the 22nd century,\"humanity had grown up on a world full of oceans, so perhaps, you can say it prepared us for the inevitable. Its eventual expansion into the stars. But the stars are not for man. We looked out and embraced the darkness, never knowing what would lie ahead. Maybe we should've looked before we leaped.\" The great ocean of space was always amazing to us, humanity as a whole. Little did we know that the universe would be almost unforgiving for a race from a planet in an uninteresting region of the galaxy. Other races would always throw it in the faces of humans and their post-human relatives that human-centric attitudes would in the end be counter productive. Despite that Mira and I decided to become partners in a kind of space line for tourists to explore the wonders of the galaxy. It was an easy way to get a living off world, thankfully, these spaceline jobs weren't getting supplanted by cys or bots anytime soon so maybe it was a great \"business\" venture. I had decided to turn off the full-imersion virt-real sim and head back to the cockpit. But I couldn't help but remain there in silence for a few moments, might have been ten minutes, but I suppose I needed the time for reflection. I'll miss her. But maybe her choice was the right one, I was done \"having to run her life\" and apparently she's glad I don't anymore. When I entered the cockpit I saw that my first officer Sirius was there situated right seat. Sirius was a Draslaydian, they are an advanced species of the avian variety, known for being a bit too religious in some regards. Birds went extinct hundreds of years before anyone I knew was born and so seeing a Draslaydian always took me back to a more innocent time in Earth's history. The 20th century seems like a great place to visit but I am morbidly against the 21st century and the treachery of a few men who decided short-term profits were more beneficial than long-term investments. Luckily trade and ideas like money are kind of archaic in this day and age. \"How are you, Sirius? \", I said. \"I do well, Sav. Message from Mira awaits you.\" \"What's it about?\" \"She did not say.\" Sighing, I said \"I'll take it on the comm then.\" I sat down and pressed a button on the control console marked communications. At that moment I sat wondering about what she could have to say to me. We'd spent the last year apart, but decided to remain friends. We hadn't talked in about that long. Her message hologram opened up and I waited for her image to display."@en . "REDSHIFT: The Stars Are Not For Man (Script)"@en . .