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April 29th, 2001
2021:Dec:10: 19:44 ($1.72)
Hi, Grandpa. As you can see, I'm almost grown up now. Mom and dad are doing fine, and we're looking forward to your visit next summer. I guess dad has been keeping you posted on the work at the radio observatory, so I won't spend time on that.
My sixteenth birthday was last month and I had my implant put in. I have to tell you, I was really nervous. Sis had hers put in two years ago, and I know it went well, but still... It was funny, right after sis's surgery, she started getting these weird cravings for spinach and cauliflower. Anyway, she lost ten kilos in six months and looked better than ever. So I was wondering what would happen to me. But so far, nothing weird has happened.
The neatest thing that's happened lately was that our holo-school administrator took us on a tour of the Apollo 17 landing site a few kilometers from here. We rode on a flat bed behind a tractor while in our spacesuits, and that was a kick in itself. Riding along and seeing the stars above the rolling hills was an awesome sight. When we got to the museum, we went into the airlock and took off our suits. There's a grid of air-tubes about two meters in diameter that crisscrosses the landing site, so we were able to walk along inside the tubes in T-shirts and shorts and get right up close to the part of the Lunar Lander that was left behind. I was able to lean up against the plastic, and it almost felt like I could reach out and touch the gold foil. The reason we have the tubes is so that we don't go trampling around the site in our space suits and destroy the footprints left by the astronauts back in 1972. Those footprints in the lunar soil, we were told, will last for ten million years before the solar wind and meteoroid infall obliterate them.
Speaking of holo-school, I'm really enjoying it. I have a different holo-instructor for each class, so it keeps things lively. My favorite is my calculus instructor, Miss Tiffany. She's really beautiful and funny, and, of course, since she's really created by a computer, very patient with me. I got off to a slow start, but now that Miss Tiffany got me through the fundamentals, we're moving along quickly. The one I don't like so much is my history teacher, Mister Tonkin. He just doesn't seem to have the same sense of humor as the other instructors and seems too solemn for me. But the coolest part is the historical fiction movies we get to watch. It's almost like being there, and you get a real good feel for what it must have been like back in those days. Last week, I got to fight along side some Confederate soldiers during the U.S. Civil War. It was dirty, ugly, and just plain awful. If you got hit by one of those little round shots, you died an awful, bloody death in the hot sun and the mud. But I learned a lot about Abraham Lincoln and slavery in those three hours.
Anyway, I wanted to tell you more about the implant. You know, we're all pretty healthy here. The viral shields at the spaceport tend to keep Earth organisms from getting into the colony, but occasionally a few get through. Last week, my implant reported that it has detected a virus in some imported asparagus that I ate and immediately started my body synthesizing customized T-cells to attack it. I never even got the sniffles, but I did get some cravings for oranges and seemed unusually thirsty all week.
But that's not the coolest part of the implant. The best part is the holo-school's socialization training. I have a girl friend now! Yippee. Yeah, she's virtual, but when my implant is linked to the holo-projectors, I can touch her and kiss her just like a real girl. Her name is Melissa. She's two meters tall, just like me, and has very light brown hair and gray eyes. Melissa is sooooo cute, and she's teaching me all kinds of neat things about women. I think we're going to start having sex soon, and I'm really looking forward to it. It'll probably be years and years before I ever get a chance to have a real girlfriend. There aren't that many families here at Taurus Littrow yet, and young women are scarce. Besides, I'm not that anxious.... The punishment for getting a real woman pregnant is either castration or death, your choice, so I think I'm going to learn all I can from Melissa, ride the wave, and stay cool.
So, basically, I spend about six hours a day in holo-school and a few hours in the evening with Melissa. When mom and dad get back from the observatory, we have dinner together in the penthouse. That's an area in the living complex that's above ground that has a transparent dome on the top. We can eat with the other families and look at the Earth overhead. Of course, our robots prepare all the food and clean up afterwards which gives us a lot more free time. Dad tells me that most of the humans on Earth still prepare their own food and have to clean up afterwards. Sounds yucchy to me.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. We had our first implant seizure yesterday. I don't know if you heard, but the implants we get monitor behavior as well as maintain our immune and endocrine system and all the other stuff. It seems that this guy was in the mall trying to buy a camera, and he had a disagreement with the merchant. It got heated for some reason, and the guy tried to take a swing at the merchant. His implant caused him to double up in pain and disabled him until the cops arrived. He's in jail for a month, I heard he might have to undergo 200 hours of holo-school socialization training. Maybe. That's expensive, and the judge is talking about sending him back to Earth instead.
Anyhow, I've only had my implant for a month, and I'm still a little apprehensive. They don't really tell us what the parameters are, so I figure one of these days, I'll just have to push it a little and find out. So far, disagreements with mom about how much time I'm spending with Melissa haven't triggered any adverse reactions.
Sometimes, Joey and Andy and I cruise the mall, window shop, and stop for ice cream. We like to see how close we can get to the pedestrians while on our scooters, still no response from the implant thank goodness, and watch their reaction. Things are fairly cramped in the rest of the complex, so the mall and the penthouse, during the morning, are the only places where we can really stretch our wings. Also, I'm spending a lot of time on my artwork now. Holo-school can get pretty intense, and I find that I can get away from it all by immersing myself in my painting. Dad says I'm coming along nicely, and I might be able to sell the best of them to merchants back on Earth. Any extra income would really help, you know. College is expensive!
So how are you doing? Mom says you're getting ready to move into your new cloned body next month. It's a scary thing, I know. You always wonder about the computers that hold your knowledge and memories during the transfer. What if there's a glitch? Well.... I didn't mean to alarm you. It's been done a million times, and there's never been a problem. Even so, the thought of going to sleep and waking up in a younger version of your own body has to be a weird feeling. Mom and dad are still a long way from that, and I'm glad I don't even have to think about it. I have a hard enough time with Melissa just remembering all the things I'm supposed to do for her. Tonight, I have to go to the mall and look for a present for her, our first week anniversary together. If you have any ideas, send me a message. I could sure use some help from a wise grandpa. Anyway, we'll all keep in touch during the transfer.
So. That's all I have time for. Send me a vidmail when you get a chance or call me before your transfer. I want to remember how you looked when you were, um, old. Talk at ya later. Bye.
Copyright 2001 by John
Martellaro, All rights reserved. Quantum Threads banner
artwork by Tracy Haynes.
About the Author
John Martellaro lives in Colorado at 2,800 meters above sea level with a Ph.D. wife and two cats, Nikki and Data. He holds a B.S. in Astrophysics and an M.S. in Physics. His hobbies, include amateur astronomy, downhill skiing, bicycling, and listening to piano solos. His personal Macs are a B&W G3/400 with a flat screen Studio Display and a TiBook.
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