Author Topic: EP618: All Profound and Logical Minds (Artemis Rising)  (Read 6388 times)

eytanz

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EP618: All Profound and Logical Minds (Artemis Rising)

AUTHOR : Bennett North
NARRATOR : Dani Daly
HOST: Laura Pearlman

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The space station was silent in the way that a black hole is black; it was more than just an absence of noise. There was something physical to the silence, a force pulling in all sound and eating it. Hannah anchored her boots to the floor of the atrium, feeling the reassuring click as the magnets engaged. Emergency lights washed the atrium floor with a watery red light.

Taking a deep breath of her tepid suit air, Hannah unzipped her bag. An insulated thermos floated out. She left it slowly rotating next to her elbow while she rummaged around to find her keychain. It was a cheap one, made of injection-molded nickel, in the shape of a caffeine molecule. Stupid and gimmicky, yes, but she needed a symbol of her faith and as an atheist, it worked. Bethany had come up with the idea of doing the ritual as an exorcism. A real Catholic exorcism would take much longer, but the clients liked the concept, and Hannah’s abbreviated version worked.

A faint click in Hannah’s ear warned her a second before she heard her sister’s voice over the radio. “Ship to Missionary. Come in, Missionary.” Bethany’s voice was thin and staticky, more white noise than words, but it was like tasting cream after having nothing but water.

Hannah closed her eyes for a second, savoring the soft hiss, and then opened them again, shifting a glance to the heads-up display to trigger the radio to pick up her response. “This is Missionary. I’m in position in the atrium.”

“How’s it looking in there?”

Hannah looked toward the starboard side of the atrium. Six or seven bodies had collected in the awning of a cafe like a lost handful of balloons. They were dressed casually as if they’d been strolling through the park at the time that the station vented.

“Quiet,” said Hannah.

“Good.” Bethany’s voice had a laugh in it. “The longer it stays quiet, the better.”


Listen to this week’s Escape Pod!
« Last Edit: March 28, 2018, 02:50:50 PM by Fenrix »



DerangedMind

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Reply #1 on: March 18, 2018, 02:40:30 PM
This was a good story, and I can see it easily working into a larger body of works.  I'd love to follow the exploits of Hannah and Bethany as they exorcise AIs. 

I loved the fact that the author actually used the third dimension in space.  That is so rarely done, and done well.  And the idea of belief being important, not what you believed in was an interesting one. 






CryptoMe

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Reply #2 on: March 20, 2018, 03:34:09 PM
The sibling relationship in this story was very realistic, I thought.

I also was impressed about the use of all 3 dimensions in zero G. Which is why I was particularly disappointed about the cavalier approach to vacuum in the story. Vacuum is very different from no air. Yes, there is a lack of oxygen, but there is also extreme low pressure, which wreaks havoc on the body. You can't just strap an unsuited body to your back and hope they last until you can get them to oxygen. You literally have only seconds before irreversible damage happens, when the fluids in your body start boiling and breaking cell walls.....



eytanz

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Reply #3 on: March 24, 2018, 04:48:30 PM
You literally have only seconds before irreversible damage happens, when the fluids in your body start boiling and breaking cell walls.....

I believe this is a myth - the liquids in the cell will boil, but humane cells are strong enough to withstand this for a considerable period of time. There more serious risk from the low pressure is lung collapse.

Also, human cells (and the cells of all other multi-cell animals) don't have cell walls.



Katzentatzen

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Reply #4 on: March 26, 2018, 01:10:14 AM
As an atheist former religious scholar, I LOVE the “exorcism” of a rogue ai concept. Also as an older but mostly viewed as a less competent sister, I enjoyed Bethany’s proving of her skills. Just a fantastic hard sci fi story.

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CryptoMe

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Reply #5 on: March 26, 2018, 03:52:15 PM
You literally have only seconds before irreversible damage happens, when the fluids in your body start boiling and breaking cell walls.....

I believe this is a myth - the liquids in the cell will boil, but humane cells are strong enough to withstand this for a considerable period of time. There more serious risk from the low pressure is lung collapse.

So, according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exposure), severe symptoms of embolism occur in about 30 seconds (lung collapse occurs concurrently). Embolism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebullism) is the formation of gas bubbles in bodily fluids, and results in tissue damage.

This sounds to me like the boiling liquids damage the cells within 30 seconds. Granted the references for this in Wikipedia were rather old. If someone has more up-to-date references, I would welcome those. 

Also, human cells (and the cells of all other multi-cell animals) don't have cell walls.

Yes, yes, human cells technically have membranes, not walls. But the point here is what happens to the cell-containing material, not what you call it.



eytanz

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Reply #6 on: March 26, 2018, 10:00:54 PM
You literally have only seconds before irreversible damage happens, when the fluids in your body start boiling and breaking cell walls.....

I believe this is a myth - the liquids in the cell will boil, but humane cells are strong enough to withstand this for a considerable period of time. There more serious risk from the low pressure is lung collapse.

So, according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exposure), severe symptoms of embolism occur in about 30 seconds (lung collapse occurs concurrently). Embolism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebullism) is the formation of gas bubbles in bodily fluids, and results in tissue damage.

This sounds to me like the boiling liquids damage the cells within 30 seconds. Granted the references for this in Wikipedia were rather old. If someone has more up-to-date references, I would welcome those. 


The wikipedia article on space exposure specifically notes the lung and respitory tract as the danger points; the embullism (sic) page adds the blood vessels in brain. But what you said, and what I believe is wrong, is that cellular damage occurs. Note the example (in the space exposure page you cite) of Joseph Kittinger who suffered embolism in his hand, which recovered within 3 hours once it was restored to normal pressure. The cells expanded, but were not ripped apart.

So just to be clear - you were right about the timeframe, and you were right that embolism is a major risk factor that I don't think the story considered enough. But embolism does not cause irreversible damage to cells - it causes fluids in already vulnerable parts of your body (the lung, brain) to become risk factors.



CryptoMe

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Reply #7 on: March 27, 2018, 02:27:11 PM
You literally have only seconds before irreversible damage happens, when the fluids in your body start boiling and breaking cell walls.....

I believe this is a myth - the liquids in the cell will boil, but humane cells are strong enough to withstand this for a considerable period of time. There more serious risk from the low pressure is lung collapse.

So, according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exposure), severe symptoms of embolism occur in about 30 seconds (lung collapse occurs concurrently). Embolism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebullism) is the formation of gas bubbles in bodily fluids, and results in tissue damage.

This sounds to me like the boiling liquids damage the cells within 30 seconds. Granted the references for this in Wikipedia were rather old. If someone has more up-to-date references, I would welcome those. 


The wikipedia article on space exposure specifically notes the lung and respitory tract as the danger points; the embullism (sic) page adds the blood vessels in brain. But what you said, and what I believe is wrong, is that cellular damage occurs. Note the example (in the space exposure page you cite) of Joseph Kittinger who suffered embolism in his hand, which recovered within 3 hours once it was restored to normal pressure. The cells expanded, but were not ripped apart.

So just to be clear - you were right about the timeframe, and you were right that embolism is a major risk factor that I don't think the story considered enough. But embolism does not cause irreversible damage to cells - it causes fluids in already vulnerable parts of your body (the lung, brain) to become risk factors.

Fair enough. I did find the Wikipedia articles less than clear on this point.



Fenrix

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Reply #8 on: March 28, 2018, 03:05:14 PM
I really enjoy this story form, and was pleasantly surprised to see a horror story in my science fiction! A classic chestnut of the haunted ship that our heroes must enter, and hope they don't bring whatever monstrous thing killed everyone prior to its haunting. Two varied examples are The Voice in the Night (conveniently over on PseudoPod) or Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. There's a lot of room to explore this in new and fun ways, and this story is no exception.

I really liked the tension and pacing, which fit this monster format nicely. The logical and methodical approach to the exorcism follows the supernatural forms as well. The turmoil between and within the characters fits comfortably in the bookshelf with Blatty's work on exorcism.

Looking forward to reading more from this author.

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NessaNessaJoy

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Reply #9 on: April 02, 2018, 03:42:07 PM
I nearly jumped out of my seat while listening to this story. I was in the part where the AI turned the gravity off for the first time, and there's chairs and tables flying around, when there was a screaming "Wahoo!" from Mario as I reached my destination via google maps.

Excellently done suspense story.



Dangskippy

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Reply #10 on: April 05, 2018, 02:58:20 AM
I just want to drop additional positivity onto this story’s feedback thread: Thank you for a great experience. Loved it.


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acpracht

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Reply #11 on: April 05, 2018, 03:37:56 AM
I nearly jumped out of my seat while listening to this story. I was in the part where the AI turned the gravity off for the first time, and there's chairs and tables flying around, when there was a screaming "Wahoo!" from Mario as I reached my destination via google maps.

Excellently done suspense story.

Just need to say that this post made me laugh so hard. ;)

-Adam