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“I don’t know what’s real, but there’s no harm in letting ourselves feel,” you sign.

“That’s sensible,” Akiko signs. “There’s really no harm in enjoying the moment.”

“The present moment is all technopaths have, right?”

“The current line in the æthereal code.” She reaches out to you, and you take her hand.

As if still under sync you both move at once and go to sit down by the water just as the shadow of night washes over you.

2254-06-04 10:26:44 明子 > too bad we can't see the Moon today

She messages you. Hard to sign with one hand free.

2254-06-04 10:26:48 Aydan > it'll be back, it's reliable like that

You both lay back on the soft moss and watch the stars drift by through the glass and water above.

2254-06-04 10:29:48 Aydan > I've read that a lot of ancient Earth cultures thought space must be an ocean of water, held up by a 'firmament'. that wasn't true, but ironically here we are, staring up at the stars through glass and water. we built the firmament ourselves

2254-06-04 10:30:03 明子 > we were always meant to be here, don't you think? somehow we always knew that, like we imagined this long ago and didn't know how to understand it

You see four objects moving much faster among the stars, and they descend upon you, the flock of four birds. You get your bag of seeds from your pocket to throw them some.

Akiko points up to a bright star.

2254-06-04 10:30:40 明子 > look, Alpha Centauri

2254-06-04 10:30:46 Aydan > your friends' namesake

2254-06-04 10:30:50 明子 > mostly. can't see Sagittarius this time of year.

2254-06-04 10:31:03 Aydan > why'd you name them that?

2254-06-04 10:31:18 明子 > that system fascinates me. we've known for a long time that it's the closest system to our own, just four light years away, absolutely nothing in a cosmological scale. yet even now when we have colonies at Jupiter and stations at Uranus, Alpha Centauri is still just a star in the sky, a reference point for navigating, a curiosity. we're no closer to touching that system's space ourselves.

She points up at another object coming into view, the bright red planet.

2254-06-04 10:31:26 明子 > once Mars was just a star in the sky too, little more than a poetic inspiration. but now it's a living world with several colonies, its dust has been touched by human hands, its water is part of human bodies

2254-06-04 10:30:37 明子 > do you think we'll touch the stars someday? look back on our Sun from Alpha Centauri?