A Gentle Rain

A Tale from the Time of Arrival for 5 players

Reflections on a Gentle Rain of Neutrinos met up with the Fleet at the Nebula of Dexember, and then swam through hyperspace alongside the Fleet, a living being, an organic starship. It did not take long for Fleet linguists to decipher Gentle Rain's intricate flowing language and learn of their incredible intelligence. It took the linguists longer to realize that there were puns, musical motifs, and symphonies of light and particle that streamed in and around the semantic core of Gentle Rain's brilliant transmissions.

No one knew how old Gentle Rain was, and their answers were couched in humor and self-mockery. The statistical mean of Gentle Rain's answers was roughly three billion years, which seemed unlikely for a biological creature -- even for one that jumped porpoisefully through hyperspace. Their words, as transcribed.

It did not take long before Gentle Rain became an integral part of Fleet Navigation. Their biology was just better than the mechanical sensors built by the best engineers in the Fleet, even after they allowed some of the Fleet Engineers to do some closeup scanning of their sensorum. Gentle Rain always reminded them "You cannot flerk if you don't refresh your bleem. Are we then yet?" Their words, as transcribed, which never seemed to help about their biology.

Reflections on a Gentle Rain of Neutrinos has been with the Fleet for more than eleven thousand years, outlasting many scientists and Fleet Captains. Some of the Doctors Across the Galaxy spent their lifetimes studying Gentle Rain. Fleet Commander Deep Dark's command was barely a century old when Gentle Rain appeared.

In the last eight hundred years, Gentle Rain has slowly faded, in color, in capabilities, and even in their humor. Three weeks ago, they announced that it was almost that mythical "then," and that they would be passing "beneath hyperspace" in a matter of weeks. This is a crucial time, as the Fleet draws within a thousand years flight time of the Great Attractor, as space and time are already acting odd. Gentle Rain was needed more than ever.

Fleet Command offered Gentle Rain the chance to upload into the virtual, but they declined. "If you can't flerk in the real, how could I flerk in your inner space?"

An hour ago, Reflections on a Gentle Rain of Neutrinos twisted out of hyperspace, not into normal space, but somewhere else, somewhere beyond the Fleet's sensors and mathematics, in some flerk of nature. The Fleet stopped, devastated by the loss of their friend and colleague, the unique joyous spirit that was Gentle Rain. In cabins and chambers across the Fleet, small groups have formed, to mourn their passing -- none more so than in the virtual dining room inside the Fleet Commander.

If there is to be some solace, it may be found in the old ritual on the next page.

The Tale ends when Fleet Commander Deep Dark makes an important decision.

The Passing of an Astronaut (apocryphal)

It is common for each person to speak two lines, with the Lead Pilot / Admiral / Fleet Commander (Deep Dark) taking the final four lines.