EP183: Beans and Marbles

[Nobilis]

Just goes to show:

Don't get between a man and his coffee.

[600south]

hmm, pretty much every thought I had about this story has been said here already. yep, I thought the editing errors were part of it too (at least the first time) and yep, when he announced that it's not possible to change the system clock at the end it bothered me too. yep, Steve's voice is a little too friendly for horror... though that can be used to effect.

other than that it was pretty straightforward, even a little predictable. I felt it needed an extra layer somewhere... a little more background on the John character; what might have made him want to leave Earth in the first place, some reasons for his madness. I think there was a brief moment at the end where he brought his father into it, but it sounded tacked on.

all in all, a good listen though not one of the classic Escape Pods.

oh and Steve, I still think you're doing a great job of this despite whatever else is going on. Hang in there.

[Talia]

The editing bits were actually kinda cool for me. At first I thought it was an edit error, then I wasn't sure, then I was, but they didn't hurt the story. I get interrupted often enough at work that I rewind now and then, so it was the same.

The part that DID bug me was the line to the effect of "There is no system for changing the ships time." That line almost killed the story for me. If you deleted that line, the story would have worked a lot better. If he KNEW that, then he'd have to wonder how the time did change. Obviously, he was crazy, but still, he'd ignore that fact, not tell it in the story. He also could have said 'I can't believe he found a way to edit the time, there isn't a built-in way, or something like that. Perhaps he could have realized after he vaped Richard that, wait a minute, there isn't a way to change the time, what have I done!

All that aside, if I imagine how the story would have been without that line, I did enjoy it. I wasn't surprised by anything, but a story doesn't need a surprise to be good.

I think there was a bit of a suggestion of multiple personalities. one part of him knew there was no way to change it. This is the same part of him that also hid the coffee. It was manipulating the "sane" part of him in an effort to wrest control, which it finally did. At least that's how I read it.

[evo.shandor]

2001 but without HAL, so Dave Bowman is the one to go crazy.  Best unreliable narrator I've read/heard in a while.  And while we do find him unreliable very early on, I think it adds -- not hampers -- the story.  What is he not telling us, and how much of what he does say are lies?

And I like we don't know what happened to the coffee beans.  Told 1st person (past tense), if John had found them, it would colour how he told the story: Either "I misplaced them and killed Richard for nothing" or "He did take them and deserved it."  This third, unknown option is more satisfying.

Personally, I think he was snacking on them the whole time -- which is why he couldn't sleep at the end -- but was so bat-s**t crazy he wasn't even aware of it.  We know from his 3 hours in the head that time slips by for him without realizing it.

Last point: Kudos for character development of Richard.  He is the antagonist of the story, told from a bias perspective, but still as well rounded as he could be in a short work: committed to the mission, stressed, trying to be reasonable, scared.  He could easily have been a hardboard cut out but I did feel sympathy for him.

[FNH]

Three hours in the bog.  What was he doing, catatonic perhaps?

[McToad]

What a great story.  The voice fit Steve so well (or Steve did the voice so well) that I am now convinced he is an espresso sipping psychopath.  The language, tone, and plot all conveyed a wonderfully believable character, the piece was tightly written and devilishly entertaining.  Good work.

I would like to see more like this...space stories.  I love these and find far too few of them, especially ones like this where the environment is well done.  The depictions of the free-fall environment and the ship-board procedures worked well for me.  The author got more right than wrong (trust me, this is a compliment), and these details added quite a bit to the story.

The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations.  Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet.  And for this story, it didn’t really matter that it was moving or not, only that it had a door that locked and a PA that could be turned off.  The other nit--the title.  Just “Beans” would have worked better.

-McToad

[deflective]

The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations.  Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet.  And for this story, it didn’t really matter that it was moving or not, only that it had a door that locked and a PA that could be turned off.

the espresso machine needed gravity.

[TristanPEJ]

When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself

[Zathras]

A coffee shop in Rio Rancho offers Evil, 8 shots of espresso topped off with coffee.  At $4.50, I have a new way to spoil myself when I drop the boy off for gaming.  My wife is not amused.  I think she wants me to be on a ship after I have one... or two.

[stePH]

When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself

Who are you then, when you haven't had your caffeine?

[Talia]

Me.

[TristanPEJ]

When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself

Who are you then, when you haven't had your caffeine?

it was a poor attempt at humor I apologize

[Raving_Lunatic]

Don't apologise.

[Zathras]

When I haven't had my caffeine I'm just not myself

Who are you then, when you haven't had your caffeine?

it was a poor attempt at humor I apologize

Oh, I get it, it's clever.  How's that working out for you?

[600south]

The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations.  Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet.

that, along with recent International Space Station news made me think: how exactly DOES a space toilet work?
I imagine some kind of vacuum cleaner hose attached to your bottom... which does/doesn't sound like fun.

I remember when Alan Shepard needed to go, they said "just do it in the suit".

[florismk]

I remember when Alan Shepard needed to go, they said "just do it in the suit".

Or, to quote Donovan's "The Intergalactic Laxative" (http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/The-Intergalactic-Laxative-lyrics-Donovan-Leitch/9E7A0435E70D0E0448256D97000DAF06):

"I was impressed like everyone
When man began to fly,
Out of earthly regions,
To planets in the sky.
With total media coverage,
We watched the heroes land,
As ceremoniously
They disturbed the cosmic sand.

In awe, with admiration,
We listened to their talk.
Such pride felt they,
Such joy to be
Upon the moon to walk.
My romantic vision shattered,
When it was explained to me:
Spacemen wear old diapers
In which they shit and pee."

[Wattsian]

Hi, Steve and Floris!

Few-months listener, first-time writer.

Good story. A little predictable in its unreliable-narrator twist, but a good listen. I found myself more enamored of the narrator's obsession with coffee as a civilian colonist than the tragedy unfolding at the end.

God bless you, Steve, on THE best science-fiction short-story podcast out there.

Wattsian

[alllie]

The only nits I had were the centrifugal toilet -- sorry, a moving mass like this is impractical on any spacecraft because it is too difficult to dampen the vibrations.  Such a thing is possible, but the cost and complexity of it mean it would never be done for a toilet. 

At first I didn't catch on to the crazy. I thought some kind of time dilation was occurring in the toilet when it was spinning while the ship traveled at 32X light speed, like maybe the toilet developed its own timeline. 

Richard seemed a little crazy too.

[McToad]

the espresso machine needed gravity.

Nice try    Thing is espresso machines use pressurized steam, not a gravity feed.  That's one of the primary things that distinguish espresso from coffee.  Besides, I doubt they designed a generation ship around one crew-member's addiction (though authors have slightly different motivations than aerospace engineers, so in terms of the story you are, I suspect, dead on).

-McToad

[stePH]

the espresso machine needed gravity.

Nice try    Thing is espresso machines use pressurized steam, not a gravity feed.  That's one of the primary things that distinguish espresso from coffee.  Besides, I doubt they designed a generation ship around one crew-member's addiction (though authors have slightly different motivations than aerospace engineers, so in terms of the story you are, I suspect, dead on).

What you need gravity for, is to keep espresso in the type of cup that it's normally served in.

Richard seemed a little crazy too.

Considering that he was seen from the perspective of the crazy narrator, not a big surpise there.

[florismk]

What you need gravity for, is to keep espresso in the type of cup that it's normally served in.

Not only to keep it there, but also to encourage it to seep down from the machine into the cup... 

And to address another point someone made: of course the engineers did not design the ship around one astronaut's addiction. I prefer someone else's reading: it's exactly the kind of weird engineering snafu that happens on government contract jobs.

[DKT]

Really enjoyed this one. Long, slow burn toward insanity fueled by espresso mixed with a great unreliable narrator.  This is certainly my cup of Joe.

[Zathras]

This is certainly my cup of Joe.

Ugg.  Thought we were gonna avoid that one.   

[DKT]

This is certainly my cup of Joe.

Ugg.  Thought we were gonna avoid that one.   

Not a chance.

Hey. Wait. My coffee's all gone.

Zathras...WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY COFFEE?

[Zathras]

Hey. Wait. My coffee's all gone.

Zathras...WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY COFFEE?

::cough cough::

Huh?

::wipes off face::

What are you all steamed about?