PINK writes of RUBY's departure. I'm sorry to report, but this is
indeed the case. I, too, have no idea how she managed to escape.
PINK also writes of her child, OLIVE. It's strange, I've no
record of a child living on the outpost before now, but I can see
her clearly, right now, fast asleep in room 9. The room is
beautiful, it is painted with an assortment of earth-animals on
three of the walls, and a picture of the Earth's solar system on
the fourth. I've never seen one, but I can infer that the room
has been transformed into what is commonly called a 'nursery'.
RUBY is gone, the crystals are gone. I'm freaking out right now.
I mean, where could they have gone?? There is nothing else here.
Only Orestes, only us.
My dreams are gone too. They were the only things that have been
keeping me going over the past eight months with RUBY. The sense
of the red city was growing stronger and stronger. At first, it
only appeared though meditation, as I've already reported.
Recently, it's been happening in my dreams too. I sleep for hours
sometimes, exploring the city.
It's been two days since the crystals and RUBY disappeared, it's
been two nights of dreamless sleep.
Green has been kept up all night with the baby's crying. Thank
God I have him. It's only because he's taken such good care of
her that I've been free to dream and explore the city.
Oh, OLIVE, how I regret having you.
I don't remember the birth, exactly, but they tell me it was long
and arduous. No wonder I repressed the memory.
OLIVE, if I could take you with me to the red city I would. And I
would leave you there. A barren outpost like this is no place for
a child.
Formally requesting urgent transport off this rock. You can leave
the rest of them if you want, but I need to get out of here.
- PINK
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Complied by the Werner H. Young Terminal Emulator
Info: Simple A.I., designed on-site for executing
systems maintenance tasks and exchanging messages between
the Orestes outpost and the Arsinoe.
Built by Werner Young (2113-2151).
Names of persons have been masked to protect their identity.
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