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Chapter: Chapter 6: Binary Counting

  • Several guinea pig sized invertebrates with soft bodies and feet like caterpillar prolegs mill around inside a long hutch bedded with straw. Talita opens a large chest freezer full of plastic bags of the same animal, including eggs and the pupated winged male forms. A paper sign taped to the lid of the freezer reads "TALITA ONLY!!!!" A zoomed out shot of the building interior reveals many rows of long hutches containing different life stages of the invertebrates. Talita is near the entrance, where there is a cluster of fridges and freezers, a workspace, tools, and straw bales. She looks past the rows of hutches curiously, where there appears to be more under construction.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 170

    Today

  • Bip: Instead you'd rather dodge sharp metal? Talita: I had tin snips and didn't expect to revisiting. Go plug in already, wiseass. She kneels down in front of one of the console cabinets with a pair of needle nose pliers. The electrician worm climbs out to the end of one of the front loader's arms, carrying a cable jack. It plugs this into a port on the side of a console. Bip: Ugh, avian programming. I hate base 8. Talita: Yeah well… If you’d rather work these itty bitty avian switch boards instead… She pushes up the sliding cover on the console cabinet to reveal the tiny rows of switches, breakers, and controls. Bip: Ew. No. Talita: Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll start turning the plant back on. The plant is shown from outside at a distance in the junkyard. Quietly, the lights next to its door turn back on.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 169

    Jun 05, 2025

  • Runaway to the Stars: Page 168

    Jun 03, 2025

  • Runaway to the Stars: Page 167

    May 31, 2025

  • An RC front loader rolls up behind Talita on the empty factory roadway, with an electrician worm perched on its steering wheel. Bip: So there's enough purified heavy water? Talita: Yeah, but I don’t know how much we can convert before Mel does geosurvey in 2 weeks. The worksite is gonna be pretty suspicious from satellite photos. Bip: And running the plant at max capacity would be suspicious in energy use logs… Talita: Like we even could. This plant hasn't refined deuterium in over a decade.  A birds-eye view of the huge indoor space shows rows of water and gas tanks, machinery, and piping under a semi-cylinder roof. The factory floor has road markers painted on it, but there is also a branch-like structure of narrow catwalks connecting the tops of various structures and the inside walls. HYDROLYSIS PLANT fluid cooling pipes water tanks electrolyzers gas separators purifiers and dryers compressors flight access catwalks

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 166

    May 29, 2025

  • Chapter 6: Binary Counting Talita is holding up a hand, clothed in her exosuit. Her left finger is extended, while her thumbs and right finger are closed. Talita: Four She extends her left thumb and closes the other digits. Talita: Eight She extends her left finger. Talita: Twelve She extends her right finger. Talita: Two empty… Fourteen. She is in a dark building, examining large tanks with avian numerals on them with the light of her headlamp.

    Runaway to the Stars: Page 165

    May 27, 2025

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