Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Syn Callibri]

The Bathroom....

...a subject that few discuss, however I find that I spend a great deal of time soaking in the tub to relax(when Im not on station or soaring through the abyss)...the bathroom is pretty typical (except that there is a tub rather than a sonic shower...$$$$$) for the upper middle class district on my homeworld where I take residence with my "sisters"...M'Rell and Z'Hai. As you can see the general lighting is kept at a low level (personal preference) and the tub is spotlighted by five directional LED light clusters, the tub is a formed poly-ceraminc with an over head shower/light combination which has a color selector to adjust the illumination hue. The floor is polished brown marble quarried locally. Many of the "amenities" are voice operated or managed from a gal-net interface terminal (blue glow center image). You can see that the room is quite large...I insisted. The other functions of this room are tucked away nicely from view, both for privacy and aesthetics...again, I insisted. Maybe, IF you ask real nice I may show you the bedroom next...

[Syn Callibri]

...meh. 

[Jonathan Morrison]

The living quarters or 'Stacks' as they're more commonly referred to are little better than slum housing for the workers inhabiting them. They consist of three small rooms, a small living area, bedroom, and bathroom. The walls are essentially rust with some new patches of metal occasionally due to the centuries of continuous use. The confined spaces make the quarters quite claustrophobic, funny when you look at the inhabitants job of being a miner.

Basic living facilities are provided from the corporation such as a small electric stove unit, sinks, table and chair, bathing facilities, and a small cot. These it seems are maintained much better than the quarters, but whether it's due to the residents or corporation has yet to be determined.

The quarters are prefabricated off site and shipped in and assembled with a shield surrounding the 'Stacks' to provide protection. They get stacked thirty high, forty deep, and fifty wide. The corporation assembles these makeshift cities to house thousands of workers and as such the moon surface and mining sites are covered in these giant blocks of slums. Stairwell access is all that's used by the workers anymore as the lift systems are so old it is more of a danger than simply walking to ones' 'Stack'.

Despite the downward spiral of degradation of their living spaces, the workers never file complaints. Probably due to the hefty pay they receive for being a moon miner.

[Silver Night]

Around the Cluster, with Akare Nulie

Today I'm visiting Maintenance Post 437C, in the middle of a SuVee corporation automated farming operation.

The small, prefabbed unit provides a place to live for one to three SuVee employees who maintain and repair the equipment in their 10000 square km area.

Maintenance Tech Raho Pala explained that they are usually rotate in for eight to fourteen months at a time, though some accept or even request permanent assignments.

"It can be tough for the families." He says, adding, "But they understand. We're feeding the State."

The living area is surprisingly spacious, though as Raho notes, "One thing we've got plenty of out here - land."

Most of the furniture is clearly corporate-issue, but some of the pieces are brightly painted. ("We've only got the colors they give us to touch up the machinery," Raho explains.) A table and few chairs, a battered low-end holo-projector against one wall, a console where equipment status can be monitored, and a small, but functional kitchen space in the corner. Raho assures me that after a few months, most of the techs learn how to do wonders with the bland supplies the corporation sends. Apparently cooking is a hidden prerequisite for success in this particular job.

The walls are covered in a mix of posters provided by SuVee and decoration that is clearly more personal in nature. Sports teams, holo-stars, prints from classic and contemporary artists, cheerfully defaced motivational posters, and even hand painted art abounds and overlaps. According to Raho, it's traditional for out-going techs to leave behind at least one item. He's only due to stay for another month, and he shyly points out his own contribution: A small abstract piece made from what he calls 'N.O.ed parts' that sits on a shelf in the kitchen.

Through a door in the back is a separate compartment where the techs bunk, and past that is the door out to the maintenance yard, where farm equipment too damaged to repair in the field, but not damaged enough to send to Central is brought.

That's where I meet the other members of the maintenance crew, Isia and Eland. They both get back to work after a brief greeting. Raho explains that the harvester they're working on is needed back out in the fields. He also tells me that Isia and Eland are recently married, and are planning on requesting a permanent assignment to post 437C.

"They're even talking about getting authorization to have a kid." He says, "We've been working on fabbing up a little addition so they can have their own room. All approved, of course."

The yard is bordered on the side opposite the hab unit by a small parts warehouse and attached machine shop along with the shed where most of the monitoring equipment is. There's an old, but well maintained looking short-hop heavy-lifter for bringing in the damaged equipment.

To wrap up my tour, Raho takes me up to the observation tower above the hab unit. The fields spread out without breaks in every direction, the irrigation channels glittering in the sun. It seems incredible that these few people can make it run smoothly, but Raho says they do, and he seems confident they will continue to. And as he says, "We damn well make the most of it while we're out here."

[Laurentis Thiesant]

I've always imagined the Sotaku Estate to be, simply put, a whole bunch of land - dotted with farmland, small communities and whatever else there needs to be.

Center of all of this, yet separated by quite some distance before any other buildings come along, is the home of the overlords - the administrative and domestic seat of power for this particular Jin-Mei dominion. It in itself has always been to me a representation of the Jin-Mei caste's, the very house itself being divided more or less into three areas. The first being a central area, designed for access by all castes and any outsiders that come to visit, it acts as a meeting area, lounge room and conference hall as need be. This area is capable of being shifted to change size and composition as need be, and extends from the front to the back of the building.

The second, which I've always pictured to the left side of the building - is a service area. Contains all domestic aspects of the house, this part is mostly inhabited by any Jing Ko employed by the overlords. There would also be live in quarters for any permanently placed servants (A Jing Ko's place of business is usually also their housing).

Finally is the right side of the house, reserved exclusively for the Saan Go and Sang Do castes. The bed chambers of the overlords are here, as well as all offices and other executive facilities. While expected to be of much higher quality then the rest of the building, most of the more expensive items are maintained in the central chamber as a way of showing off to any visitors. Only visitors of culturally intact Sang Do/Saan Go heritage may enter the right sided partition.

In a more traditional commune, such as the Sotaku Estate, there is very little technological intrusion, with anything that is adapted to suit the earthy, wooden decor. Sang Do offices would be expected to have installed consoles and communication equipment to handle business both off-world and with neighboring communes. There would be very little recreational use of the computer network.

[spoiler]
... god that's a crap image. But it was a quick compilation from ages ago.[/spoiler]

Out the back, there is a signifigant change from most of the worked land that surrounds the Estate's landscape. A sign of elegance at the behest of the ruling family more then anything practical. There is a rain forest of sorts, nothing massive, just a place of contemplation and relaxation for those at the top of the pyramid.

[Bureeiku]

For some reason, I saw your picture, and was reminded of this:
[spoiler][/spoiler]