Innovative Solutions Guide

I wrote this to aldersprig's second prompt.  My non-responsive computer has the original version....

“A big problem is what they used to call ‘cabin fever’ brought on by bad lighting and lack of colour,” explained the guide.  “We tried all the usual remedies, but of course we can’t use the best method and simply send people outside anymore.”

“So colour and light solve the problem?”  The guest from another, newer and smaller but rapidly expanding arcology looked hopeful.

“Not entirely,” the guide admitted.  “Stimulation is important.  Light, colour and other people will all provide some stimulation but no one component is enough.  In the long term, and we do have to think in the long term given the current situation, even that basic triad simply isn’t sufficient to support psychological health in the majority of the population.”

“So, how do you do it?”  The guest did not try to conceal her interest.  “Your psychiatric crisis rates have dropped to half of anyone else’s.”

“We listened to our greatest critics,” admitted the guide, “the ones who kept telling us that we needed to be closer to nature.”

“Have they been outside and seen what nature is doing these days?”  The guest asked the question with some asperity.

“Of course not,” the guide almost laughed.  “What they wanted was the nature of a children’s picture book.  Most of them have never even applied to leave the arcology, but we gave them what they asked for.”  He opened the door out of the administration section for her and closed it behind them with a snap.  “We’ll need to take the travel ramp to see the best examples,” and with that he led her to the moving beltway in the middle of the thoroughfare.

It didn’t take her long to see what he meant.  “Decorative plantings!”  Her exclamation made several of their fellow travelers look at her with amusement.

“Yes,” agreed the guide, “those ones are flowering cherries.  There are only five of them and it’s just a tiny wedge of space, but the effect is much bigger.  We’re just coming into one of the sections we’re proudest of.  The oldest areas of the arcology were our greatest challenge, small, narrow, cramped and too tight to renovate.”  He paused, “Look up.”

She did.  Just above their heads was a riot colour and texture as the flowers grew down from the roof.

Innovative Solutions Guide

I wrote this to aldersprig's second prompt.  My non-responsive computer has the original version....

“A big problem is what they used to call ‘cabin fever’ brought on by bad lighting and lack of colour,” explained the guide.  “We tried all the usual remedies, but of course we can’t use the best method and simply send people outside anymore.”

“So colour and light solve the problem?”  The guest from another, newer and smaller but rapidly expanding arcology looked hopeful.

“Not entirely,” the guide admitted.  “Stimulation is important.  Light, colour and other people will all provide some stimulation but no one component is enough.  In the long term, and we do have to think in the long term given the current situation, even that basic triad simply isn’t sufficient to support psychological health in the majority of the population.”

“So, how do you do it?”  The guest did not try to conceal her interest.  “Your psychiatric crisis rates have dropped to half of anyone else’s.”

“We listened to our greatest critics,” admitted the guide, “the ones who kept telling us that we needed to be closer to nature.”

“Have they been outside and seen what nature is doing these days?”  The guest asked the question with some asperity.

“Of course not,” the guide almost laughed.  “What they wanted was the nature of a children’s picture book.  Most of them have never even applied to leave the arcology, but we gave them what they asked for.”  He opened the door out of the administration section for her and closed it behind them with a snap.  “We’ll need to take the travel ramp to see the best examples,” and with that he led her to the moving beltway in the middle of the thoroughfare.

It didn’t take her long to see what he meant.  “Decorative plantings!”  Her exclamation made several of their fellow travelers look at her with amusement.

“Yes,” agreed the guide, “those ones are flowering cherries.  There are only five of them and it’s just a tiny wedge of space, but the effect is much bigger.  We’re just coming into one of the sections we’re proudest of.  The oldest areas of the arcology were our greatest challenge, small, narrow, cramped and too tight to renovate.”  He paused, “Look up.”

She did.  Just above their heads was a riot colour and texture as the flowers grew down from the roof.

You, We, They Did What?

I wrote this to lilfluff's first prompt.  It follows on from Aftermath.

The Achuan were collected by their parents.  In their culture their age gave them considerable latitude, apparently.  However, contacting an intelligent species by accidently dropping radioactive debris on them and then trying to clean up the damage without anyone finding out had crossed the line that activated parental intervention.

The human Terrani found the reactions of their erstwhile invaders’ parents easy to categorize.  Some grabbed their offspring by a protuberance or limb and dragged them onto the parental vessel, to the accompaniment of either continuous speech or deadly silence.  Several sets of parents wanted their children’s possessions, currently scattered as debris across three continents, returned to them – these demands ceased when they were offered what the humans understood to be the planetary cleanup bill.  Two sets of parents offered their children up for punishment ‘under the Accords’ – offers their species’ mentor turned down with, “It was a genuine accident and they displayed no ill intent, the Accords were not broached.”  Three sets of parents provided ‘an apology display.’  The Terrani could categorize these reactions if not understand them.

One parent, arriving on its own in a sharp-edged vessel and with a glowing white globe orbiting its head, loomed over its equal height offspring and said clearly, in translation, “Interesting.  You may be worth my time after all.  We will discuss your further education on the way home.  In.”  The parent did not seem to care that everyone within a three hundred metre radius heard every word.

“That family,” commented the mentor, “has always been a problem.  I’m glad they left before we had the stardrive discussion.”

“The stardrive discussion?”  His human audience weren’t sure they wanted that discussion.

“Oh, its having been done isn’t a problem,” the genial being assured him, “reverse engineering from unintentional debris is completely within the Accords.  It’s what your collaboration of,” it consulted something, “the University of Kinshasa, the Sorbonne, NASA and a man in a backyard shed in Leumeah have actually done.”

“Oh?”

“You’ve skipped the Achuan’s stardrive and made the type my people employ.”  The Achuan’s mentor looked directly at the human.  “Mentor race selection for your species should be very interesting indeed.”

You, We, They Did What?

I wrote this to lilfluff's first prompt.  It follows on from Aftermath.

The Achuan were collected by their parents.  In their culture their age gave them considerable latitude, apparently.  However, contacting an intelligent species by accidently dropping radioactive debris on them and then trying to clean up the damage without anyone finding out had crossed the line that activated parental intervention.

The human Terrani found the reactions of their erstwhile invaders’ parents easy to categorize.  Some grabbed their offspring by a protuberance or limb and dragged them onto the parental vessel, to the accompaniment of either continuous speech or deadly silence.  Several sets of parents wanted their children’s possessions, currently scattered as debris across three continents, returned to them – these demands ceased when they were offered what the humans understood to be the planetary cleanup bill.  Two sets of parents offered their children up for punishment ‘under the Accords’ – offers their species’ mentor turned down with, “It was a genuine accident and they displayed no ill intent, the Accords were not broached.”  Three sets of parents provided ‘an apology display.’  The Terrani could categorize these reactions if not understand them.

One parent, arriving on its own in a sharp-edged vessel and with a glowing white globe orbiting its head, loomed over its equal height offspring and said clearly, in translation, “Interesting.  You may be worth my time after all.  We will discuss your further education on the way home.  In.”  The parent did not seem to care that everyone within a three hundred metre radius heard every word.

“That family,” commented the mentor, “has always been a problem.  I’m glad they left before we had the stardrive discussion.”

“The stardrive discussion?”  His human audience weren’t sure they wanted that discussion.

“Oh, its having been done isn’t a problem,” the genial being assured him, “reverse engineering from unintentional debris is completely within the Accords.  It’s what your collaboration of,” it consulted something, “the University of Kinshasa, the Sorbonne, NASA and a man in a backyard shed in Leumeah have actually done.”

“Oh?”

“You’ve skipped the Achuan’s stardrive and made the type my people employ.”  The Achuan’s mentor looked directly at the human.  “Mentor race selection for your species should be very interesting indeed.”