===

Author: Olive

Date: May 30 2187 (Earth Standard Time)

Location: Orestes Outpost

===

Hello? Is this thing working?

Seems like it's some kind of protocol for communicating with rest

of the universe. Hmm...what should I say to you?

I discovered my parents old transmissions buried deep within the

file structure. They've only sent two messages in the past 17

years. They mustn't have much hope of being rescued. Not that they

let on. They always tell me the opposite. They tell me you're

coming to get us any day now. Whoever you are.

Of course, I stopped believing in that a long time ago. I still

pretend to have hope for a rescue, for their sake. Actually, I

don't really care if we're rescued or not. We have all we need

here.

I read over my mother's last message many times. I already knew the

whole story about her. My dad told me everything.

I read it to remember there was a time for us, for our family,

before the crystals. After that last message, my mother went right

back to her fascination (obsession?) with the crystals. She's still

my mother, and sometimes she feels so present and loving, but

mostly she's just a bit 'out' of it. She wanders around aimlessly,

talking to herself. When she's not zoned-out, she's asleep.

Sometimes, she sleep-walks. Sleep-walking on an outpost like this

isn't really the best thing. My dad was terrified she'd do

something to compromise our little artificial environment, so she

agreed to let him tie her to the bed when she sleeps. It's not a

pretty sight, but it's better than alarms going off randomly at

night.

As for me, I don't sleep much. I have nightmares. I feel like I'm

awake, that there is someone else in the room with me, and I'm not

able to move. It's some kind of woman who's there. Her face is

always in shadow.

For a couple of years, I would help my dad out at the dig-site, but

it started feeling too depressing. He's the only one who still goes

out there now. He's gotten pretty deep. Still nothing to report on

that front.

Now that I've discovered this old messaging system, I'll try come

back here again and write something else. It seems to be a nice

cure for insomnia. I'm starting to feel sleepy now.

The other night I dreamt Navy was in my room. His presence felt

different than the woman's. It felt comforting...exciting even. He

mostly ignores the rest of us at this point, so I don't know much

about him. He's a bit weird but he's always been nice to me. Since

the crystals grew back, he has returned to his 'study' of them.

It's a shame he and my mother don't join forces and actually figure

out what they are.

===

Sent via the QEC