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Sutopia

Ch 30, STravel: Space Travel

Logan had learned to appreciate how quickly things moved in the Transhuman society so it was a little bit of a shock to learn that he'd have a wait before he'd be able to get to Earth L4. The hab was so 'off the grid' that its name was literally its position within the solar system; 'Earth L4'. which occupied a specific point a set distance ahead of Earth on its orbit of the sun. It was a significant point in space because it was resistant to gravitational deviations, able to hold its relative location to the Earth without requiring any kind of energy expenditure.

Due to the lack of information exchange amenities, Earth L4 required physical travel to reach so Iactis would not be an option. Logan didn't understand everything there was to know about travel in space but he did know that L4 was far enough away that it took Earth more than 60 days to reach the point that L4 had inhabited; according to his implant it was just over 300 million kilometers, which meant that he had quite a trip ahead of him.

Rather than spend the waiting time obsessing over the trip, Logan strove to keep himself busy, which meant that he started packing. Back when he was alive in the 22nd century he never went anywhere; since his Corpus Verto he hadn't left the Lunar Spire except by Iactis, so the thought of travel did a fine job of increasing is anxiety level enough that his implant had to work harder to control his hormone levels related to than than the whole 'Bri sex tape' thing-- the only time he worried about that was when he used it as a comparison for his stress from other issues.

Eventually though, the day of his trip arrived. He looked at his itinerary as well as the directions provided to him by Star. Logan had no idea what to expect when he got into the lift and inputted the request for the launch pad. Until that day the highest he'd gone was about 2/3 of the way up the spire but, as he noticed, hon that day he ended up going to the very top. Stepping out of the lift, Logan was astounded to see that the only real structure at the highest point on the Lunar Spire was a mushroom-like 'cap' which turned out to be a large landing pad with six areas cordoned off for various space faring vehicles.

One of the attendants directed him to launch pad four where he was surprised to see a rather 'odd' looking vessel which looked nothing like what he'd expect a shuttle to look like. The vehicle was situated on four large leg-like skids and was roughly egg-shaped. The base was easily 30 meters in diameter, with the top being slightly smaller at about 20. The entire thing was some 50 meters high by his estimate, and had no apparent thrusters that he could see.

He approached one of the attendants who was guiding passengers to it. "Um... excuse me... is this the shuttle heading to Earth L4?"

The short, thin, three armed Transhuman woman offered him a smile. "It sure is, Logan. I see you're included on the passenger manifest. It looks like this'll be your first trip You can head right up the ramp and the shuttle crew will help get you situated." She gave him a friendly wink. "You're in for quite a treat!"

Logan lingered for a moment. "Uh... thanks."

Her smile widened. "Be sure to make a Sim Vid-- there's at least a million Transhumans out there that'd LOVE adding that onto their Logan Bradshaw collection!"

The young man's optimistic view of the trip immediately came crashing down and her smile was instantly meaningless. He quickly made his way toward the shuttle, offering a very quick, succinct, dismissive "Yeah."

As he approached, Logan saw that there was another ramp which appeared to be getting filled with all sorts of containers; it was easily four times the size of the one to which he'd been directed. There weren't a lot of people ascending the ramp, which meant that there was no line. The moment he stepped inside there was an attendant, a short, thin, four-armed Transhuman man who had an eager smile and a readiness to provide guidance. He showed Logan further into the shuttle and to the passenger compartment.

Just like the ground crew woman, the shuttle attendant had all of his information and apparently selected to give him the full tour (explaining that first time travelers got a few extra minutes to be shown around). Logan learned that the majority of the shuttle was taken up with cargo, communications equipment, and backup systems. The passenger compartment was relatively small since there were usually not many physical passengers. Logan was even more surprised to hear that the shuttle was not just a back-and-forth one between the Lunar Spire and Earth L4; it did, in fact, have six different stops and traveled both with and against the planetary orbits around Sol.

As the tour came to an end and the man showed Logan back to his dedicated passenger compartment he asked if Logan had any questions. Finally given an opportunity to bring up what had been on his mind since he first saw the egg-like vehicle, the young man asked one. "So... I didn't notice any big thrusters or anything... what's up with that?"

The attendant offered a grin. "Well, since there's no atmosphere to get in the way and the gravitational pull is so little, this pod doesn't require the kind of lift many planetary shuttles need to break orbit. In fact, except for emergency thrusters, this pod won't need anything."

The statement only half-answered Logan's question so he asked a follow-up one. "Then how are we getting from the Lunar Spire to Earth L4? Don't we need some kind of thrust or something?"

The attendant saw to it that Logan took his seat; the entire setup reminded Logan of a city bus or maybe something more like a commuter train. Once he was seated, the attendant explained "Oh, unlike early space flight, Transhumanity rarely uses chemical rockets. Not quite two hundred years ago the solar system was grid-managed with a variety of transportation aides. This particular pod utilizes sky hooks."

Logan blinked, trying to envision what the man was talking about just based off of the name, but every time he tried his mind came up with something more and more implausible. In the end he relied on his implant and spent the next ten minutes using the metanet to figure out exactly how he'd be getting "from A to B". His attention was hijacked, however, when a fellow passenger entered into his field of view... and the form of said passenger caught him completely by surprise. "Fucking 'sky hook'... there's no god damn SKY in space... what the hell're they thinking calling em 'sky hooks'?"

The figure was at least two meters tall and, as it walked, it made a sound reminiscent of stones being rubbed together. The sound made sense since it looked like a humanoid pile of rocks, albeit, the earthen-texture looked far more like some kind of bony shell as it got close. Logan couldn't help himself. "Uh... hi! I couldn't help but--"

Walking right past him, the figure spoke over him, its voice deep, grating, and masculine-sounding. It also sounded faintly of what Logan considered a Texas accent. "Well work on that kid, and just don't."

Shut down immediately, Logan really didn't know how to proceed, so he shut up. A faint titter sounded from behind the young man so he turned around, rising up so he could glance over the back of his seat at the traveler occupying the spot behind him. Logan was again taken aback as his one-seat-back neighbor looked just as equally inhuman, but in a different way. Much more similarly sized to a Human, the giggler's skin was a strange silver color and glimmered as though it were metallic.

The individual had an androgynous look to them and their entire body looked almost artificial, down to the faint glow from their irises, evenly cut hair, and a complete lack of fingernails. When they spoke, their voice also lacked a distinct tone or timbre to give any real hint as to their identity. "Hi. Don't mind Tom... he's not very social."

Logan wasn't really sure what they were getting at. "Tom?"

The androgynous Transhuman gestured toward the gruff rock-guy. "Him."

The young man didn't really know how to respond to that. "Oh... okay."

The silver-skinned Transhuman smiled, revealing pearly white teeth. "Don't worry... he's not dangerous... he just doesn't like idle chatter. My name's Drew, by the way."

Logan's one-seat-back neighbor extended a hand, which the young man shook as their name appeared above them per the social media norm. He introduced himself as well. "Hi. I'm Logan. Logan Bradshaw."

Drew smiled right away. "Let me guess... you're going to Earth L4 to get away from the social media frenzy?"

Smiling disappearing, Logan simply nodded. "Yeah."

The Transhuman got up, stepped around the seats, and took the empty one beside Logan. "Well, you made a good choice; Earth L4 is completely off the grid."

Logan was happy to direct the conversation anywhere but his Sim Vid fiasco so he latched onto that. "Yeah? Is that why you're going there too?"

Drew shook their head. "Nah... I'm passing through Earth L4. I like to visit Habs in person which means shuttle is my preferred method of travel."

Although he couldn't fully fault his new companion on having a preference, based on what he knew about Transhumans, the idea of physical travel seemed strange so he was compelled to ask. "In person? Why?"

Laughing, Drew raised an arm, running one delicate hand along their smooth arm. "I had this Corpus custom made almost 80 years ago... it's designed to make hab visits easy no matter the gravity, atmosphere, or radiation levels. I like experiencing all that this solar system has to offer, and I'd rather do that in one solid take rather than having to hip-hop across the space from one hab to the next."

Logan didn't completely understand it but, then again, he reminded himself, there was no reason he had to. "Oh... okay. That makes sense, I guess.... and I suppose it's the same deal with Tom?"

Drew laughed. "Tom? Oh, no... he's an Earth L4 local. Hits up the Corpus Verto center on the Lunar Spire every decade or so to update his Corpus."

Nodding in thought, Logan realized that leaving Earth L4 meant having to use a shuttle, so the trip made sense, but the purpose didn't. "Why doesn't he just use the Corpus Verto center on Earth L4?"

Drew smiled. "Because there isn't one. EL4 doesn't have scans, they don't have readers, and they don't have writers. There's no social media, no implant interface, and no Corpus Verto. Most Transhumans might call it 'backwards', but the people there call it 'secure'."

A loud, gravely voice rumbled from further back in the passenger cabin. "It's called 'free', Drew. I tell ya that every god damn I see ya."

The silvery Transhuman rose up so they could turn around and rest their knees on the seat, chin perched on the high back as they responded. "Sure did, Tom. This is Logan by the way... he's a Class One. Been in his corpus less than a month."

The grunt in response lacked commitment. With that out of the way, Drew turned back around, sitting down again, and continued their conversation with Logan. As good as conversationalist as Tom apparently was not, Drew did a fine job keeping the young man entertained until the entire pod gave a faint shudder, and Logan felt a sinking sensation in his gut. "Are... are we taking off?"

Before Drew could answer, a voice spoke into Logan's ear, transmitted directly through his implant. "Hello passengers. This is the Crew Lead speaking. We are preparing for launch. Please make certain you are in your seats and, for those of you not used to travel, I encourage you to give permission for your implants to activate sensory inertial dampeners. We have a Class One with us today; if you are seated with Mr Bradshaw, please provide him any help he may need before we launch. 60 seconds."

Although Drew offered him assistance, Logan didn't need it and he followed the broadcast's directions. He felt a strange jarring sensation as his inner ear stopped giving him a sense of balance support, and he regarded his companion. "So... what's with getting called out? Why'd they point me out specifically?"

Drew grinned wide. "Oh... most Class Ones aren't really ready for their first sky hook launch so things can get messy if they don't have their inertial perception dampeners on."

The thought concerned Logan more than a little. "Why? What's so--"

He got his answer before he could finish asking the question. Back in the 22nd century Logan had gone to an amusement park and had the chance to ride a sling-shot roller coaster that went from standing still to over sixty miles per hour in barely a second but the shuttle blew that out of the water by a a significant margin. Flung back into his seat, Logan thought he was going to black out but, a moment later, his stomach did a flip in his guts and, the next thing he knew, he was weightless.

Letting out a contented sigh, Drew relaxed into their seat by slightly tightening their restraints. "Ahh... it's always so invigorating to start a trip off with a few extra G's."

Logan was about to ask for clarification, but he had to shut his mouth or risk vomiting. The moment his implant asked if he would like some assistance he confirmed that he wanted ALL the assistance; he recovered in a matter of seconds. Only once he was confident that he wasn't going to black out, spray out vomit, or pee himself, did Logan ask. "THAT was a sky hook?"

Drew only laughed as a response.

* * * * *

Over the next hour or so, Logan ha a chance to listen to Drew's numerous stories about traveling the solar system. Drew explained about their numerous custom upgrades that allowed them to experience a wide variety of Transhuman habitats. They told Logan stories about underwater habs, microgravity habs, Habs with low radiation shielding, subterranean habs built into hollowed out asteroids, cloud city habs, and even enormous open space habs that were so large they managed to contain their own atmosphere... granted, at an incredibly low level of pressure.

Drew went into detail on a few of them but, for the most part, kept to generalities and focused instead on their personal experiences of the different ways of traveling between them; apparently Drew didn't bother with Iactis and was a professional shuttler. That brought up quite the question from Logan. "So... even though you can go from hab to hab in the blink of an eye you'd rather spend hours or days traveling physically?"

His companion offered a succinct nod, smiling with their metallic teeth. "Sure do. I believe in the ancient adage 'It is about the journey and not the destination'. You're lucky that this trip is barely a day... some of them can be weeks!"

Logan shrugged, offering an amiable grin. "That's true, I guess... but, hey, at least you have some pretty amazing stories... that'll make the time go fast."

Drew offered another grin. "Well, as flattering as that might be, I've already been up for almost forty eight hours and I've done this trip often enough that I'm thinking of going into a hibernation pod."

The statement caught Logan by surprise; he had just stated to do a metanet search for it before realizing that the shuttle wasn't connected. Fortunately he had no problem with the tried and true method: asking a question. "Uh... what's a hibernation pod exactly?"

Unbuckling themselves, Drew moved along from seat to seat alternating between pulling with an arm and slowing their movement with a foot, passing to the next row as if they were at home in zero G, pausing next to Logan. "Not exactly what you think if you know anything about the old vids on the topic--- they're not some kind of cryogenic tank or anything. This shuttle is made for three week journeys and it can get boring, so they have ways to transition Corpori into a sleep cycle that can last days at a time. Easy way to pass the time. In my case, I could go for a few hour nap."

Logan nodded at that. "I never did much traveling back in the 22nd century... couldn't get the hang of sleeping while in a vehicle."

Drew laughed. "No worries... the hibernation pod sees to that. But, if you'd rather stay up for your first trip then by all means stay up... not a lot of people use the pods for such a short journey."

The young man nodded. "Alright. Sleep well, I guess, Drew."

His companion offered a nod. "I don't visit the Lunar Spire very often but, hey, if I do, maybe I'll look you up. Enjoy the rest of the trip, Logan!"

Logan shook Drew's offered hand and then let the metallic Transhuman head off to a Hibernation Pod. Realizing that his distraction was leaving him, the young man instead chose to use the monitor built into the seat in front of him, flipping through the various feeds that showed the space outside of the shuttle. Looking at the rear view image he was still able to see the moon, but it was getting smaller; before long it would be the size he was used to when gazing at it from Earth.

His reverie was interrupted when one of the crew made an announcement that they would be connecting with the next sky hook in the segment in two minutes. Taking the declaration into consideration, Logan changed the view of the monitor to a forward one; it was almost a full minute before he could tell that there was anything ahead of the craft and another thirty seconds before he could clearly make out what, in his mind's eye, looked like the skeleton of a jelly fish (which, he knew, they didn't have) with six arms stretched out to create an umbrella of sorts with a long arm dangling down below it.

As he watched, the shuttle headed toward the bottom of that arm, and the crew started counting down from fifteen. Logan was astounded as their vessel shot toward the bottom of what he realized was a collection of outstretched cables and, flawlessly connected to it. For the second time that day he felt rapid acceleration and, before he knew it, they had shot past the sky hook and were careening further out into space toward what (he hoped) would be the destination of Earth L4.

About an hour later several of the crew came floating by, once again in zero G as they started handing out various food options. Although the meals were prepared differently to account for a lack of gravity, Logan was surprised that the quality was still incredibly good-- almost identical to the Spire. The meal went well and crew came by to collect his utensils. The young man went back to gazing at the monitor in front of him, still scrolling through the various views provided from outside the shuttle, but his attention was pulled from it the moment another traveler sat down in the seat next to him and it very nearly buckled under the weight of the new comer. He was surprised that it was Tom.

The rock man's voice was rough but lacked any overt aggression. "First time on a shuttle, huh, kid?"

Logan nodded, trying to keep his response simple and to the point. "Yeah."

Tom grunted. "Ah... you gotta be a Class One then."

Another simple question got another simple answer. Logan nodded again. "Yeah."

Tom smirked with obivous pride. "Heh... I'm a Class Two... born in Twenty One Eighty Three."

That statement caught Logan by surprise. "So... that means, you're... like... fifty years younger than me?"

Tom, as it turned out, was indeed very gruff but, as Logan learned, he wasn't so much anti-social as he was anti-social-system. He was a native of Earth L4, a place where social systems weren't present, let alone all-powerful. In his brief explanation, he also caught Logan's attention as he discussed Earth L4 which he referred to as 'The Liberty Cluster' since THAT term was familiar to the young man, since it was the name of a project that had started back when he was alive in the 22nd century.

It caught him completely by surprise. "Wait... you mean that vanity project started by the mega-moguls in MY time?"

Tom's huge, rocky shoulders grated when he shrugged casually. "Sure. A bunch of hyper capitalists back when money was a thing. They got tired of being told what the could and couldn't do so they started fresh. 'Libertarian's paradise' they called it. Earth L4 is a collection of tons of different habs these days... it's grown a lot since back then. My grand dad and his friends built it to last-- they just didn't take any time to think about how much it'd change over time."

Logan blinked. "Your grandfather?"

Tom nodded. "Yep... one of the initial investors. He shoveled in most of the cash for the sky hook system we're using... fucked as it is these days."

Logan sat dumbfounded as the rock man started talking about the history of transportation between Earth and its L4-- about how the sky hooks used to be powered and held in a location relative to both sites to facilitate transfers but, over time, Transhumanity just let them float free, meaning they'd only line up for a proper trip two or three times a year. As it turned out, Tom wasn't a horrible conversationalist, he was just blunt and to the point. He was definitely able to get his ideas across.

While not nearly as engaging or as colorful as Drew, Tom still managed to help paint a picture of what Logan was in for. The young man was informed that the shuttle would be stopping at the largest of the numerous habs at L4, and that it was the one most often visited by travelers. He'd have a small residential unit reserved for him and, presuming whoever booked the trip did their job, Logan would have the resources he'd need to have a good stay. Tom was quick to add "Just don't expect any social media feeds... you're liable to get your ass kicked if you try anything. Folks at The LC don't go for that shit one bit."

Logan nodded. "The LC? Oh-- The Liberty Cluster, right. Yeah... that's okay... I want a break from all of that social media stuff anyway."

Tom let out a rumbling chuckle. "Yeah... obviously... you're a Class One, and still learning just how bat-shit crazy most of the Transhumans are, eh? Well, you're in good company-- most of us at The LC want nothing to do with their damned systems."

Their talk petered out after that, and there was an uncomfortable silence for several minutes as Logan thought of a follow-up question-- he had a native of Earth L4 with him, and it was his chance to get some information. He did ultimately come up with something. "So... uh... Tom? Why don't they have Corpus Verto clinics at the cluster?"

The rock man grunted. "Not everyone at The LC is into the idea. Most of us have genetic modifications done, but not everyone has an implant and not everyone uploads... fewer go through Corpus Verto."

Logan stated the obvious. "You do."

Tom shrugged. "Sure... but I'm not gonna tell others they gotta, and some don't want to. One thing you'll see when you get there is just how that changes things. Personally I like it a hell of a lot more. Even though things stay the same they still change a lot more too. You can actually see different generations and shit, not all the plastic, immortal dandies you'll find other places. Lots of Transhumans are afraid of dying, but there are plenty of folks at The LC that aren't-- it's just another part of life."

The statement made sense in many ways, but that still didn't answer Logan's question completely. "So, if you want to go through Corpus Verto you have to go to a different hab then?"

The rock man grunted. "Usually Lunar Spire... not a lot of Habs will process an Ego into a new Corpus for just anyone. Since the Lunar Spire is the central processor for stored Egos and custom jobs, they'll take on most requests... that's the only fuckin reason I go to that place, and only every decade or so. Two days is my limit, so I get in and get out."

It was a gruff answer, but Logan couldn't really object to Tom, who was just stating his own viewpoint. "Oh... and what about the sleep pods? Do you use them on your trips?"

Tom raised a hand in objection. "Fuck no! Getting your Ego switched with Corpus Verto is one thing, but there's no way in hell I'll let some damn machine turn my brain off!"

Logan and Tom continued to talk for some time; the rock man really was passionate about many topics and, despite the uncomfortable first impression, Logan did gain a certain appreciation for him. Most of those topics ended up being pretty intense, but he always somehow managed to conclude each portion of the discussion neutrally; Tom was something of a hot head, but he still managed to keep his cool.

They chatted for another set of sky hooks but, after one such hand-off, Tom stood up, offering a curt dismissal. "We'll be there soon."

The young man accepted that at face value. "Oh... okay, Tom. Uh... thanks for the chat."

Tom nodded. "Oh... hey... open up a hard line for a minute."

Logan stared at him blankly. "A what?"

The rock man held out a finger. "Touch my finger, you clueless Class One... this is the only way to interface without social media or a metanet connection."

Doing so as directed, Logan was surprised when contact information was provided to his implant. That confused him. "I thought there wasn't any social media on--"

Tom was as gruff as ever. "It's not social media... that's like a mobile number. God damn, and here I thought they had introduction classes and shit for you Class Ones."

Logan hadn't really expected having a way to contact a local for help during his vacation, but it was a nice bonus... even IF Tom WAS (more than) a little intense.