SHIP'S LOG:

e

Bretenda J 10/28/2025 10:10pm

Crate 969. Not sure why it rates special containment. It's packed tightly with slim volumes, each with a date range on its spine and cover, and each short chapter within it is dated as well. I picked one at random and opened it:

Jemma was packing up her things.

"It's a new page in our lives," she said. "The most exciting adventure we ever imagined!"

"I just think it would be different if we had a choice."

"I think the science is pretty clear on that."

Always comes back to the "science" argument. And there's no arguing with it.

Everybody was packing up. Everybody on the whole Earth. And everybody was just fine with it. More than fine.

"I'm sure you'll get assigned soon. There's just so many different variables. So much to keep track of. I'm sure yours is still getting processed."

"Oh yeah, can you show me your dispatch papers again?"

"Sure. They're... I think I must have packed them already."

Jemma hadn't received "discharge papers." Nobody had. Ask her about them and she'd get confused and change the subject.

"They say they'll make all the clothes we need on board. Everything we need. Toothbrushes, toothpaste, pillows, food..."

Everyone was allowed one standard carryon-sized bag. To take with them when they left the Earth.

Everyone except me. I didn't seem to be leaving.

Phil Pringle 7/3/2025 11:52pm

Hey! Giant girl! Knock knock! Let me out of this jar!

*knock knock knock*

Up here! Third shelf to the right!

*knock knock knock*

No! Come back!

Bretenda J 3/11/2025 9:28pm

Box number 28 contains a Snorff Instrument. It's a polyhedral solid, but when you count the sides you always get a different number. Rapping on any side (with your hand or a mallet) produces a different and deeply resonant tone. Started playing with it and suddenly realized three hours had gone by.

Bretenda J 11/16/2024 3:23pm

A book jumped out at me -- literally -- in the low security shelves. Poor little guy was misshelved, obviously. Was not able to read the title on the spine and the darn thing wouldn't let me open it. This complicates figuring out where it should go, because obviously it needs some higher level of containment, and without a title or author or access to the metadata on its edition page, the database doesn't really help. So I'm keeping it in my bunk till I figure out what to do with it.

Bretenda J 7/23/2024 10:09pm

I had to check the temps on the refer unit and there was a particularly smelly crate I was compelled to open up. The manifest referred to it as The Shen Orb.

Packed in ice, it was an iridescent sphere about the size of a cantaloupe. The smell was related to a number of barnacles attached many of which appeared to be unhealthy or dead. A waterproof envelope contained some limited documentation:

The Shen Orb

CPU for the massive Techno-clam of the Mermaid Imperium. Removed after maintenance of the Techno-clam became too expensive for Emperor Oplophor IX. Purchased at a yard sale fundraiser for the Saltytown Old Seaman's Home.

Bretenda J 4/1/2024 10:59pm

It's a long way from Gelsar 4 to Elenar 6, with hardly a stop along the way. And as only an Apprentice Deckhand, there isn't always a lot to do on such a long trip.

But I've always loved books, and boy do we have a lot of them on this trip. The holds are stuffed to the gills! 1337 crates in total.

I know because I've had to count them three times already. And didn't seem like it could hurt anything if I opened up a few of them and took a look...

e 12/8/2023 12:47pm

Accepted transfer

Dr. Oscar G. Delmer - 9/6/2023 10:53pm

Job claimed by e 2023-12-08 12:47:48

BOOK TRANSPORTATION

Good Day! I am Dr. Oscar G. Delmer and I am in need of someone who can transport my entire collection of books and curious objects from Gelsar 4 to Elenar 6. This collection is highly valuable, and it is very important that it is transported with the upmost care. I should warn you that some of the objects and books are "Special" and may take some interesting containment strategies. There are about 1300 crates worth of books and objects. For more information, please contact me.

Dr. Delmer

e 2/13/2023 2:13pm

e