📖 Read the book: Welcome to Wespirtech
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1Breathing the Air at WespiretchYouTubeRead Story
(Welcome to Wespirteck)
(Welcome to Wespirteck)
Green algee glowing in crystalline walls
We built the future in these metal halls
Two friends, one vision, chemistry and life
Never thought our breakthrough would cut like a knife
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
She was science personified, molecules in her eyes
I was tall, young, and awkward, trying to seem wise
Silence stretched between us
Two girls in a quiet room
Until we said, let's be friends
Like saying the words could make it true
We lived in science, just the two of us there
Ideas bouncing faster than atoms in the air
Late nights and laughter, research and connection
Making discoveries in a cell's cross-section
She saw chemical compounds, I saw growth
We built something beautiful together
A perfect synthesis of both
We changed the air, we changed the world
But who pays the price when progress unfurls?
We didn't know what we were making
Didn't see the poison in the cure
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
The administrators applauded
Our algae packs spread far and wide
The sweet smell of poison, the cost of our pride
While celebration echoes, they're gasping on the other side
But I drifted to the Hoilyn halls
Learned their language, heard their songs
While she stayed lost in her equations
And neither of us saw what we'd done wrong
Some things can't be measured in grants or acclaim
When breathing means dying, who's left to blame?
Our air purifiers work for everyone!
Anyone else is just a statistical aberration
We didn't know what we were making
Didn't see the poison in the cure
She hides in equations, I walk empty streets
Where laughter once rang out, now silence repeats
Shell instruments quiet, the red stew gone cold
Their culture displaced by the future we sold
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
The music's gone from these halls
Robots dance where the Hoilyn used to sing
And she's content with chemistry
While I regret everything
We changed the air, we changed the world
Now I'm leaving these halls where our dreams once swirled
The stars call elsewhere, there's work to be done
For the people we hurt, with the acclaim we won
I love science, but I'm more than that
And I've outgrown this place at last
She was science personified, molecules in her eyes
I was tall and awkward, but I've grown wise
Silence stretches between us, once again
Saying the words wasn't enough to keep us friends
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Goodbye to Wespirteck)
(Welcome to Wespirteck)
Green algee glowing in crystalline walls
We built the future in these metal halls
Two friends, one vision, chemistry and life
Never thought our breakthrough would cut like a knife
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
She was science personified, molecules in her eyes
I was tall, young, and awkward, trying to seem wise
Silence stretched between us
Two girls in a quiet room
Until we said, let's be friends
Like saying the words could make it true
We lived in science, just the two of us there
Ideas bouncing faster than atoms in the air
Late nights and laughter, research and connection
Making discoveries in a cell's cross-section
She saw chemical compounds, I saw growth
We built something beautiful together
A perfect synthesis of both
We changed the air, we changed the world
But who pays the price when progress unfurls?
We didn't know what we were making
Didn't see the poison in the cure
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
The administrators applauded
Our algae packs spread far and wide
The sweet smell of poison, the cost of our pride
While celebration echoes, they're gasping on the other side
But I drifted to the Hoilyn halls
Learned their language, heard their songs
While she stayed lost in her equations
And neither of us saw what we'd done wrong
Some things can't be measured in grants or acclaim
When breathing means dying, who's left to blame?
Our air purifiers work for everyone!
Anyone else is just a statistical aberration
We didn't know what we were making
Didn't see the poison in the cure
She hides in equations, I walk empty streets
Where laughter once rang out, now silence repeats
Shell instruments quiet, the red stew gone cold
Their culture displaced by the future we sold
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
The music's gone from these halls
Robots dance where the Hoilyn used to sing
And she's content with chemistry
While I regret everything
We changed the air, we changed the world
Now I'm leaving these halls where our dreams once swirled
The stars call elsewhere, there's work to be done
For the people we hurt, with the acclaim we won
I love science, but I'm more than that
And I've outgrown this place at last
She was science personified, molecules in her eyes
I was tall and awkward, but I've grown wise
Silence stretches between us, once again
Saying the words wasn't enough to keep us friends
(Breathing the air at Wespirteck)
(Goodbye to Wespirteck)
2Slug TimeYouTubeRead Story
Project review in the morning
My algorithm's still not right
The physics party's calling
But I've got to work tonight
Brain-scanners hooked together
Project the slug's brain pattern onto mine
Set the timer, flip the switch
And leave my human thoughts behind
The hum of scanners powering up
Blue lines tangled with the red
My arms dissolve, my vision dims
I've become something simple instead
Just five more minutes being simple
Five more minutes, nothing more
Leave behind the grant anxiety
And crawl across the petri dish floor
Slug time, slug time
Where the world is just greens and light
Slug time, slug time
Everything complicated goes quiet
Cat brains are too complex, bugs with all those legs confuse
My Universal Translator's stuck
While everyone else is playing games, I'm paying dues
I'm running out of luck
Just five more minutes being simple
Five more minutes to escape
My arms are gone, my eyes are dim
And nothing feels at stake
Slug time, slug time
Muscles rippling, radula sawing
Slug time, slug time
Three hours gone before the morning
Rayston comes in to check on me
He tries my pet project
And when he says, "Gee, that's relaxing"
Suddenly I see:
What if failure's just success
You didn't expect?
Maybe five minutes being simple
Is exactly what we need
The Universal Translator waits
But first, let's learn to breathe
Slug time, slug time
Sell it as relaxation
Slug time, slug time
Accidental innovation
Sometimes your spin-off saves you
When your main project falls through
And the thing you thought was wasting time
Becomes the thing that pulls you through
I scoop up the Marquise cat on my way out
Her claws dig in, her tail fluffs wide
"You're too tense, kitty," I say
"Maybe you should try slug time"
(Slug time, slug time)
Everyone could use a little slug time
(Slug time, slug time)
My algorithm's still not right
The physics party's calling
But I've got to work tonight
Brain-scanners hooked together
Project the slug's brain pattern onto mine
Set the timer, flip the switch
And leave my human thoughts behind
The hum of scanners powering up
Blue lines tangled with the red
My arms dissolve, my vision dims
I've become something simple instead
Just five more minutes being simple
Five more minutes, nothing more
Leave behind the grant anxiety
And crawl across the petri dish floor
Slug time, slug time
Where the world is just greens and light
Slug time, slug time
Everything complicated goes quiet
Cat brains are too complex, bugs with all those legs confuse
My Universal Translator's stuck
While everyone else is playing games, I'm paying dues
I'm running out of luck
Just five more minutes being simple
Five more minutes to escape
My arms are gone, my eyes are dim
And nothing feels at stake
Slug time, slug time
Muscles rippling, radula sawing
Slug time, slug time
Three hours gone before the morning
Rayston comes in to check on me
He tries my pet project
And when he says, "Gee, that's relaxing"
Suddenly I see:
What if failure's just success
You didn't expect?
Maybe five minutes being simple
Is exactly what we need
The Universal Translator waits
But first, let's learn to breathe
Slug time, slug time
Sell it as relaxation
Slug time, slug time
Accidental innovation
Sometimes your spin-off saves you
When your main project falls through
And the thing you thought was wasting time
Becomes the thing that pulls you through
I scoop up the Marquise cat on my way out
Her claws dig in, her tail fluffs wide
"You're too tense, kitty," I say
"Maybe you should try slug time"
(Slug time, slug time)
Everyone could use a little slug time
(Slug time, slug time)
3Einray and the BiologistYouTubeRead Story
Einray likes his physics clean
Sub-atomic, cold, unseen
No potting soil, no leafy green
Keep the sample plates pristine
But the moss got loose in the bio-lab
Deenah's hallucinogenic mistake
Now Schweitzer’s here with his petri dishes
And the elasti-tron is starting to break
"What's this machine?" the biologist asks
"It changes time," I say, up to the task
But then he suggests:
"Let's mix the quarks with a zygote seed
And see if we can make a super-speed breed of tree"
And then all hell broke loose…
Oh, the Altarian Ash is growing fast
But it’s putting down roots in the distant past
From the wedding chapel to the city street
Concrete cracking under ancient feet
Physics and Biology, a dangerous blend
When you grow a tree that slips back in time
Against all reason and rhyme
Oh how in hell is this gonna end?
Time traveling trees!
A much worse idea than it seems
Now everything is coming apart at the seems
because of-
Time traveling trees!
Da Vinci’s dark, the lights go out
The forest's taken down the town
Schweitzer’s on the comms, yelling "Look what’s going on!"
Exponential growth in reverse, a temporal cascade
Seeds dropping in history, a retrograde shade
We need a plan, we need a fix
For the mess that we've made
Ride the hovercycles to the canyon wall
Where an amateur scientist might save us all from
Time traveling trees!
A much worse idea than it seems
Now everything is coming apart at the seems
because of-
Time traveling trees!
Aunt Janice has the specs, she’s got the gear
She grows the root-moths that we need right here
Beautiful killers, yellow and bright
Chrono-log the eggs, get the settings right
Send them back to the start of the light
Eat the roots before they begin
A golden paradox for the win
To stop the
Time traveling trees!
A much worse idea than it seems
Now everything is coming apart at the seems
because of-
Time traveling trees!
Countered by…
Time traveling moths!
They reversed the order of effect and cause
Now everything is back to normal because
Of time traveling moths!
A flash of gold, a beat of wings
The memory fades of these terrible things
"Nice to meet you," "See you around."
Just strange vibrations in the ground
Let's destroy the data, wipe the slate
(Don't tell the sponsors, don't tempt fate)
But maybe…
Yeah maybe…
It was an adventure, wasn't it?
Physics and Biology, a dangerous blend
Against all reason and rhyme
It had to end, but what do you wanna bet?
If it came down to it, I'd work with that biologist again
Sub-atomic, cold, unseen
No potting soil, no leafy green
Keep the sample plates pristine
But the moss got loose in the bio-lab
Deenah's hallucinogenic mistake
Now Schweitzer’s here with his petri dishes
And the elasti-tron is starting to break
"What's this machine?" the biologist asks
"It changes time," I say, up to the task
But then he suggests:
"Let's mix the quarks with a zygote seed
And see if we can make a super-speed breed of tree"
And then all hell broke loose…
Oh, the Altarian Ash is growing fast
But it’s putting down roots in the distant past
From the wedding chapel to the city street
Concrete cracking under ancient feet
Physics and Biology, a dangerous blend
When you grow a tree that slips back in time
Against all reason and rhyme
Oh how in hell is this gonna end?
Time traveling trees!
A much worse idea than it seems
Now everything is coming apart at the seems
because of-
Time traveling trees!
Da Vinci’s dark, the lights go out
The forest's taken down the town
Schweitzer’s on the comms, yelling "Look what’s going on!"
Exponential growth in reverse, a temporal cascade
Seeds dropping in history, a retrograde shade
We need a plan, we need a fix
For the mess that we've made
Ride the hovercycles to the canyon wall
Where an amateur scientist might save us all from
Time traveling trees!
A much worse idea than it seems
Now everything is coming apart at the seems
because of-
Time traveling trees!
Aunt Janice has the specs, she’s got the gear
She grows the root-moths that we need right here
Beautiful killers, yellow and bright
Chrono-log the eggs, get the settings right
Send them back to the start of the light
Eat the roots before they begin
A golden paradox for the win
To stop the
Time traveling trees!
A much worse idea than it seems
Now everything is coming apart at the seems
because of-
Time traveling trees!
Countered by…
Time traveling moths!
They reversed the order of effect and cause
Now everything is back to normal because
Of time traveling moths!
A flash of gold, a beat of wings
The memory fades of these terrible things
"Nice to meet you," "See you around."
Just strange vibrations in the ground
Let's destroy the data, wipe the slate
(Don't tell the sponsors, don't tempt fate)
But maybe…
Yeah maybe…
It was an adventure, wasn't it?
Physics and Biology, a dangerous blend
Against all reason and rhyme
It had to end, but what do you wanna bet?
If it came down to it, I'd work with that biologist again
4My Words Like Silent RaindropsYouTubeRead Story
Deep in the archives of Wespirtech
Found a ghost from Earth One's wreck
"Mindular Telechips," a playful lark
Lighting up the mental dark
Ivan soldered the circuits tight
We pranked the admins in plain daylight
An invisible blaster, a silent shout
We thought we knew what it was all about
synth beats rising
Nine of us at the dining table
Eating in silence, a modern fable
A secret club, a mental wire
Playing with promethean fire
Can you hear me? 'Cause I can hear you
No need for words, the thoughts shine through
A web of minds, a tangled net
The closest friends I've ever met
But signals cross and wires fray
In the silent noise of the day
Then the line went dead in the dead of night
Ivan and Cora, out of sight
My chip was broken, or so I thought
Until the trap was tightly caught
"Thief," they whispered in the shared domain
"Liar," they echoed inside my brain
You stole my research, you stole my name
And blocked me out to shift the blame
Signal in, signal out
What are you all talking about?
Voices loud, voices clear
But you're not really here.
Signal in, signal out
Silence is the only doubt
music becomes chaotic, discordant
The jury sat inside my skull
The verdict sharp, the feeling dull
Intimacy without the cost
Is how the human soul is lost
I heard you laugh, I heard you lie
While I sat there and watched our friendship die
Prefect Osterio showed me the door
I don't want this connection anymore!
Music cuts out abruptly
Grab the zacto-extricator
Sound of a mechanical whir/click
Position the grip
spoken
Goodbye
Slow, Acoustic Guitar only
The silence rushes in like air
No more voices anywhere
My mind is empty, my mind is mine
Severed from the grand design
Cora and Anna were laughing there
Then— nothing but the quiet air.
I’m discredited, I’m cast away
Flying to Da Vinci to start a new day
But I feel lighter than I did before
Not carrying the thoughts of eight people more
The chatter fades, the signal stops
My words fall now like silent raindrops
Just silent raindrops
Washing me clean
Fade out on a single clear note
Found a ghost from Earth One's wreck
"Mindular Telechips," a playful lark
Lighting up the mental dark
Ivan soldered the circuits tight
We pranked the admins in plain daylight
An invisible blaster, a silent shout
We thought we knew what it was all about
synth beats rising
Nine of us at the dining table
Eating in silence, a modern fable
A secret club, a mental wire
Playing with promethean fire
Can you hear me? 'Cause I can hear you
No need for words, the thoughts shine through
A web of minds, a tangled net
The closest friends I've ever met
But signals cross and wires fray
In the silent noise of the day
Then the line went dead in the dead of night
Ivan and Cora, out of sight
My chip was broken, or so I thought
Until the trap was tightly caught
"Thief," they whispered in the shared domain
"Liar," they echoed inside my brain
You stole my research, you stole my name
And blocked me out to shift the blame
Signal in, signal out
What are you all talking about?
Voices loud, voices clear
But you're not really here.
Signal in, signal out
Silence is the only doubt
music becomes chaotic, discordant
The jury sat inside my skull
The verdict sharp, the feeling dull
Intimacy without the cost
Is how the human soul is lost
I heard you laugh, I heard you lie
While I sat there and watched our friendship die
Prefect Osterio showed me the door
I don't want this connection anymore!
Music cuts out abruptly
Grab the zacto-extricator
Sound of a mechanical whir/click
Position the grip
spoken
Goodbye
Slow, Acoustic Guitar only
The silence rushes in like air
No more voices anywhere
My mind is empty, my mind is mine
Severed from the grand design
Cora and Anna were laughing there
Then— nothing but the quiet air.
I’m discredited, I’m cast away
Flying to Da Vinci to start a new day
But I feel lighter than I did before
Not carrying the thoughts of eight people more
The chatter fades, the signal stops
My words fall now like silent raindrops
Just silent raindrops
Washing me clean
Fade out on a single clear note
5The Nebula Was EmptyYouTubeRead Story
The nebula is empty, the nebula is cold
Dust motes drifting, stories untold
I stretch in the fourth, I twist in the seventh
But the stars are still silent in my lonely heaven
I remember the frolic, the debris in the splash
But now I am settling in the cosmic ash
Is anyone out there? Is anyone near?
A tickle in the sixth, a voice in my ear
[staticky voice] "Running out of fuel," "Running out of air"
A tiny shiny object, fragile and rare
Oh, my metal friend, come into the fold
Let me wrap you in dimensions, let me hold you in the cold
You plummeted closer, a desperate flight
Reflecting the stars in the dull nebula light
I shuffled my form, eight through ten
Ready to greet you, again and again
"Here's to the other side," you said with a gasp
As I pulled you gently into my grasp
Music swells, becoming overwhelming and distorted
I hugged you too tight in the spacial weave
Expanded your atoms, I didn't mean to deceive!
Smooshed you back down, but the spark was gone
No blasters, no radio, no breaking dawn
Just a quiet shell in the drifting dust
A tragedy born of a lonely trust
Is anyone out there? Is anyone near?
A tickle in the sixth, a voice in my ear
[staticky voice] "Running out of fuel," "Running out of air"
A tiny shiny object, fragile and rare
Oh, my metal friend, come into the fold
Let me wrap you in dimensions, let me hold you in the cold
Unrequited love in a gravity well
Another silent ship in my collection to dwell
One ship longer, the row grows deep
While the proto-star matter rocks me to sleep
The nebula is empty.
The nebula is empty.
Again.
Dust motes drifting, stories untold
I stretch in the fourth, I twist in the seventh
But the stars are still silent in my lonely heaven
I remember the frolic, the debris in the splash
But now I am settling in the cosmic ash
Is anyone out there? Is anyone near?
A tickle in the sixth, a voice in my ear
[staticky voice] "Running out of fuel," "Running out of air"
A tiny shiny object, fragile and rare
Oh, my metal friend, come into the fold
Let me wrap you in dimensions, let me hold you in the cold
You plummeted closer, a desperate flight
Reflecting the stars in the dull nebula light
I shuffled my form, eight through ten
Ready to greet you, again and again
"Here's to the other side," you said with a gasp
As I pulled you gently into my grasp
Music swells, becoming overwhelming and distorted
I hugged you too tight in the spacial weave
Expanded your atoms, I didn't mean to deceive!
Smooshed you back down, but the spark was gone
No blasters, no radio, no breaking dawn
Just a quiet shell in the drifting dust
A tragedy born of a lonely trust
Is anyone out there? Is anyone near?
A tickle in the sixth, a voice in my ear
[staticky voice] "Running out of fuel," "Running out of air"
A tiny shiny object, fragile and rare
Oh, my metal friend, come into the fold
Let me wrap you in dimensions, let me hold you in the cold
Unrequited love in a gravity well
Another silent ship in my collection to dwell
One ship longer, the row grows deep
While the proto-star matter rocks me to sleep
The nebula is empty.
The nebula is empty.
Again.
6Of Behemoths and BureaucratsYouTubeRead Story
I travel the void with my gentle giants
Through the dead space in between
From the nebulas deep where the dust microbes sleep
To the systems where the people convene
Hegula called with a promise of light
A garden grown on the face of their sun
A myth made real in the mining night
A new kind of life just begun
I set up my tent on a rock in the belt
The starwhals fed on the dust
Jojee and Trina and Hermes the calf
In me they placed all their trust
"Puppies of space," I told the crowds
As my starwhals jetted and spun in the dark
The children gasped and laughed aloud
At the magic inside our circus park
Oh, the starwhals dance in the asteroid field
With a grace that the vacuum allows
Tricks and flips like dolphins in space
Their dexterity showcased
And every face watching was wowed
But we found ourselves trapped
When the government broke its vows
My starwhals got caught
In a war not our own
Caught in a war not our own
The fleet arrived with a warning shot
Expansionist greed on display
"No one leaves 'til the taxes are paid"
And the astro-tankers blocked the way
The Mayor begged me, his eyes hollow and grim
"If the shields go down, will they kill?"
He feared for his town, for the people within
And my heart suddenly stood still
Oh, the starwhals dance in the asteroid field
With a grace that the vacuum allows
Tricks and flips like dolphins in space
Their dexterity showcased
And every face watching was wowed
But I couldn't promise they wouldn't rampage
In terror and hunger and pain
So I kept them locked in their cosmic cage
While missiles fell like rain
I watched them weaken, day by day
Trina nudging Hermes to move
While I chased the tanker ships away
With nothing left to prove
Because we found ourselves trapped
When the government broke its vows
My starwhals got caught
In a war not our own
Caught in a war not our own
The war is over, the deal is made
The bureaucrats count up the cost
But I towed my friends to the sun's cascade
And counted everything lost
They fell into fire, under gravity's pull
To the garden they never would see
The nebula waits, empty and dull
And the pain remains with me
Oh, the starwhals danced in the asteroid field
With a grace that the vacuum allowed
Tricks and flips like dolphins in space
Their dexterity showcased
Their loss will haunt me forever now
Through the dead space in between
From the nebulas deep where the dust microbes sleep
To the systems where the people convene
Hegula called with a promise of light
A garden grown on the face of their sun
A myth made real in the mining night
A new kind of life just begun
I set up my tent on a rock in the belt
The starwhals fed on the dust
Jojee and Trina and Hermes the calf
In me they placed all their trust
"Puppies of space," I told the crowds
As my starwhals jetted and spun in the dark
The children gasped and laughed aloud
At the magic inside our circus park
Oh, the starwhals dance in the asteroid field
With a grace that the vacuum allows
Tricks and flips like dolphins in space
Their dexterity showcased
And every face watching was wowed
But we found ourselves trapped
When the government broke its vows
My starwhals got caught
In a war not our own
Caught in a war not our own
The fleet arrived with a warning shot
Expansionist greed on display
"No one leaves 'til the taxes are paid"
And the astro-tankers blocked the way
The Mayor begged me, his eyes hollow and grim
"If the shields go down, will they kill?"
He feared for his town, for the people within
And my heart suddenly stood still
Oh, the starwhals dance in the asteroid field
With a grace that the vacuum allows
Tricks and flips like dolphins in space
Their dexterity showcased
And every face watching was wowed
But I couldn't promise they wouldn't rampage
In terror and hunger and pain
So I kept them locked in their cosmic cage
While missiles fell like rain
I watched them weaken, day by day
Trina nudging Hermes to move
While I chased the tanker ships away
With nothing left to prove
Because we found ourselves trapped
When the government broke its vows
My starwhals got caught
In a war not our own
Caught in a war not our own
The war is over, the deal is made
The bureaucrats count up the cost
But I towed my friends to the sun's cascade
And counted everything lost
They fell into fire, under gravity's pull
To the garden they never would see
The nebula waits, empty and dull
And the pain remains with me
Oh, the starwhals danced in the asteroid field
With a grace that the vacuum allowed
Tricks and flips like dolphins in space
Their dexterity showcased
Their loss will haunt me forever now
7Daisy ChainingYouTubeRead Story
Well, I saw him there in the space-port lab,
Looking like a pineapple crossed with a crab
Talking big game 'bout a fifteen-minute run
From Altu Seven to the number Five sun
So I laughed in his face, said “I could do it in ten”
And that's when the trouble started, my friend
Are you ready to race?
Are you ready to race?
START YOUR ENGINES!
Well, he jumped off his ship to dodge a close rock
Then returned by a tether, giving me a shock
I couldn’t get through such a narrow lane
So I took the long way 'round, feeling the strain
I was losing the race, I was losing my pride,
But then I saw him duck down on the planet side
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Loop-de-loop, loop-de-loop, through the zero gee
In my space convertible — fly with me!
Yeah, fly with me.
Synth solo – erratic and "spacey"
He was fixing the rocks, covering his tracks
Hiding a wormhole behind our backs!
I was ready to shout, ready to scream
When his ship disappeared like a digital dream
So I did what any reckless racer would do
I aimed for the wormhole and I followed him through
Worm hole, worm hole, don’t know where it goes
Worm hole, worm hole, but I just can’t lose
Worm hole, worm hole, it might be a cheat
But my space convertible — never been beat
Yeah, I’ve never been beat
My radio crackled, my buddies cheered
"Come on! You can do it!" and my foggy brain cleared
Fourteen-forty on the dashboard clock
Four daisies left, just around the block
Well, I looped and I looped and I looped some more
Till I tied the race right at daisy-chain four
Fifteen minutes flat, we both touched down
The fastest racers in the whole damn town
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Loop-de-loop, loop-de-loop, through the zero gee
In my space convertible — fly with me!
Yeah, fly with me.
"Fifteen minutes flat," we tell the crowd
Two liars in space, feeling mighty proud
His secret is safe, ‘cause I share his glory
And if you ask me direct, I will deny this story
(Yeah, we cheated, but we made it in time)
(Yeah, we cheated, but we made it in time)
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Loop-de-loop, loop-de-loop, through the zero gee
And my pineapple friend — told a lie with me!
Yeah, he lied with me.
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Daisy chain, daisy chain, like skipping rocks
Loop-de-loop through the zero gee
In my space convertible, come fly with me!
Yeah, fly with me.
Looking like a pineapple crossed with a crab
Talking big game 'bout a fifteen-minute run
From Altu Seven to the number Five sun
So I laughed in his face, said “I could do it in ten”
And that's when the trouble started, my friend
Are you ready to race?
Are you ready to race?
START YOUR ENGINES!
Well, he jumped off his ship to dodge a close rock
Then returned by a tether, giving me a shock
I couldn’t get through such a narrow lane
So I took the long way 'round, feeling the strain
I was losing the race, I was losing my pride,
But then I saw him duck down on the planet side
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Loop-de-loop, loop-de-loop, through the zero gee
In my space convertible — fly with me!
Yeah, fly with me.
Synth solo – erratic and "spacey"
He was fixing the rocks, covering his tracks
Hiding a wormhole behind our backs!
I was ready to shout, ready to scream
When his ship disappeared like a digital dream
So I did what any reckless racer would do
I aimed for the wormhole and I followed him through
Worm hole, worm hole, don’t know where it goes
Worm hole, worm hole, but I just can’t lose
Worm hole, worm hole, it might be a cheat
But my space convertible — never been beat
Yeah, I’ve never been beat
My radio crackled, my buddies cheered
"Come on! You can do it!" and my foggy brain cleared
Fourteen-forty on the dashboard clock
Four daisies left, just around the block
Well, I looped and I looped and I looped some more
Till I tied the race right at daisy-chain four
Fifteen minutes flat, we both touched down
The fastest racers in the whole damn town
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Loop-de-loop, loop-de-loop, through the zero gee
In my space convertible — fly with me!
Yeah, fly with me.
"Fifteen minutes flat," we tell the crowd
Two liars in space, feeling mighty proud
His secret is safe, ‘cause I share his glory
And if you ask me direct, I will deny this story
(Yeah, we cheated, but we made it in time)
(Yeah, we cheated, but we made it in time)
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Loop-de-loop, loop-de-loop, through the zero gee
And my pineapple friend — told a lie with me!
Yeah, he lied with me.
Daisy chain, daisy chain, through the asteroid lanes
Tick-tock, tick-tock, gotta beat that clock
Daisy chain, daisy chain, like skipping rocks
Loop-de-loop through the zero gee
In my space convertible, come fly with me!
Yeah, fly with me.
8The Faithless, the Tentacled, and the LightYouTubeRead Story
I docked the Hypercube at Crossroads station
Looking for a break, a little relaxation
But the DCEO had a job for me
A rescue mission in the Banti'phi
Alien ruins appeared overnight
Cylindrical towers reaching for the light
"Go get our scientist," the Prefect said
"Before the cephalopoids wish her dead"
I checked the name, I checked the file
And felt my blood run cold a while
It’s Cora des Luz, from my Wespirtech days
The friend who betrayed me in a thousand ways
I took the job, took the pay
Maybe I’ll watch her beg today
In the heart of the asteroid, the tentacles writhe
Nine-armed shadows where secrets thrive
They don't speak with voices, they speak with a glow
Patterns of light that the diatomes show
I breached the hull with a laser knife
Crawled through the tunnels to save Cora's life
Found her trapped behind a force-field wall
Small and sleeping, curled in a ball
I could have crushed her with a button press
Left her to the vacuum — I considered it, I must confess
But I dropped the shield and pulled her free
The woman who stole my life from me
Music becomes ethereal, shimmering synth pads
She stole a sample of the glowing light
And turned the aliens to angry white
But the diatome spoke to me in the dark
"You have style," said the alien spark
"We travel between universes, we don't kill"
"Take your friend, if you have the will"
The glowing bulb, a sentient star
Chose to come with me, travel far
In the heart of the asteroid, the tentacles writhe
Nine-armed shadows where secrets thrive
They don't speak with voices, they speak with a glow
Patterns of light that the diatomes show
Back on the ship, Cora tried to lie
"I'll get your job back," she claimed — a desperate try
I smiled at her and saw her fear
My hatred vanished, my path was clear
She’s just a liar, small and sad
And I’ve got the best friend I ever had
A diatome resting on the dashboard light
Singing in patterns through the endless night
(Singing in patterns…)
(Through the endless night…)
Fade out on electronic blips resembling the light signals
Looking for a break, a little relaxation
But the DCEO had a job for me
A rescue mission in the Banti'phi
Alien ruins appeared overnight
Cylindrical towers reaching for the light
"Go get our scientist," the Prefect said
"Before the cephalopoids wish her dead"
I checked the name, I checked the file
And felt my blood run cold a while
It’s Cora des Luz, from my Wespirtech days
The friend who betrayed me in a thousand ways
I took the job, took the pay
Maybe I’ll watch her beg today
In the heart of the asteroid, the tentacles writhe
Nine-armed shadows where secrets thrive
They don't speak with voices, they speak with a glow
Patterns of light that the diatomes show
I breached the hull with a laser knife
Crawled through the tunnels to save Cora's life
Found her trapped behind a force-field wall
Small and sleeping, curled in a ball
I could have crushed her with a button press
Left her to the vacuum — I considered it, I must confess
But I dropped the shield and pulled her free
The woman who stole my life from me
Music becomes ethereal, shimmering synth pads
She stole a sample of the glowing light
And turned the aliens to angry white
But the diatome spoke to me in the dark
"You have style," said the alien spark
"We travel between universes, we don't kill"
"Take your friend, if you have the will"
The glowing bulb, a sentient star
Chose to come with me, travel far
In the heart of the asteroid, the tentacles writhe
Nine-armed shadows where secrets thrive
They don't speak with voices, they speak with a glow
Patterns of light that the diatomes show
Back on the ship, Cora tried to lie
"I'll get your job back," she claimed — a desperate try
I smiled at her and saw her fear
My hatred vanished, my path was clear
She’s just a liar, small and sad
And I’ve got the best friend I ever had
A diatome resting on the dashboard light
Singing in patterns through the endless night
(Singing in patterns…)
(Through the endless night…)
Fade out on electronic blips resembling the light signals
9The Genetic MenagerieYouTubeRead Story
Born on Da Vinci, a world lush and green
Where sapphire blue rivers gleam
Wespirtech called with its cold, hard lines
Gray as the crater-faced moon where it lies, in the sky
A temple of science, full of grand designs
I made the birds translators, and the cats' colors change
But the project they gave me to focus on was strange
"Live forever," they said, "Defeat death's sting"
But I just wanted to make the butterflies sing
So I stole the fastest ship
Broke their rules on a getaway trip
Thirty years running, thirty years gone
To build a world where a new sun shone
Welcome to my planet, welcome to my art
Where the trees change color like a beating heart
Poetry written on a butterfly's wing
And the forest itself begins to sing
I made the unicorns, I made the elves
They live short lives, but they find themselves
I don't want forever in a steel-gray cage
I’d rather write just one beautiful page
They came to arrest me, the men in blue
Expecting a villain, expecting a coup
But I showed them the garden, the life I had grown
A beauty that science alone had never known
Kylani was waiting, her hair clear like glass
We walked through the blushing, living grass
They asked why I did it, why I ran away
To make something perfect for just one day
My son Brandon, a clone of my youth
Stands by my side, the living proof
I made him to stay when I had to leave
But the officers saw what I achieved
"Let him stay," they said, "Let the old man be"
And suddenly, finally, I was free
Welcome to my planet, welcome to my art
Where the trees change color like a beating heart
Poetry written on a butterfly's wing
And the forest itself begins to sing
I made the unicorns, I made the elves
They live short lives, but they find themselves
I don't want forever in a steel-gray cage
I’d rather write just one beautiful page
Brandon takes the ship, takes my place in the stars
Leaving me here with no prison bars
Just the music of trees and the unicorn's flight
Fading away into the colorful night
I’ll die here happy, my work is done
Under the warmth of my own chosen sun.
Where sapphire blue rivers gleam
Wespirtech called with its cold, hard lines
Gray as the crater-faced moon where it lies, in the sky
A temple of science, full of grand designs
I made the birds translators, and the cats' colors change
But the project they gave me to focus on was strange
"Live forever," they said, "Defeat death's sting"
But I just wanted to make the butterflies sing
So I stole the fastest ship
Broke their rules on a getaway trip
Thirty years running, thirty years gone
To build a world where a new sun shone
Welcome to my planet, welcome to my art
Where the trees change color like a beating heart
Poetry written on a butterfly's wing
And the forest itself begins to sing
I made the unicorns, I made the elves
They live short lives, but they find themselves
I don't want forever in a steel-gray cage
I’d rather write just one beautiful page
They came to arrest me, the men in blue
Expecting a villain, expecting a coup
But I showed them the garden, the life I had grown
A beauty that science alone had never known
Kylani was waiting, her hair clear like glass
We walked through the blushing, living grass
They asked why I did it, why I ran away
To make something perfect for just one day
My son Brandon, a clone of my youth
Stands by my side, the living proof
I made him to stay when I had to leave
But the officers saw what I achieved
"Let him stay," they said, "Let the old man be"
And suddenly, finally, I was free
Welcome to my planet, welcome to my art
Where the trees change color like a beating heart
Poetry written on a butterfly's wing
And the forest itself begins to sing
I made the unicorns, I made the elves
They live short lives, but they find themselves
I don't want forever in a steel-gray cage
I’d rather write just one beautiful page
Brandon takes the ship, takes my place in the stars
Leaving me here with no prison bars
Just the music of trees and the unicorn's flight
Fading away into the colorful night
I’ll die here happy, my work is done
Under the warmth of my own chosen sun.
10Lunar CavityYouTubeRead Story
male lead vocal
The air in these halls is cold
This moon's gravity pulls too hard
I’ve come to beg, I’ve come to plead
For the science that my people need
My wings are wrapped against the chill
The empty space I cannot fill
Our moon is gone, the sky is wrong
And the quakes keep singing a funeral song
I found her in a lonely room
Hiding from the coming doom
Rhiannon with her frizzy hair
A scientist in deep despair
"I can't help you," she whispered low
But I told her she had to go
Oh, the lunar cavity, the hole in the sky
Where the gravity bleeds and the mountains cry
We chased the moon through the hyperspace veil
But the mass is too heavy, the mission will fail
We can't bring it back, we can't pull it home
Can't pull it home
We flew above the bacto-bogs
Through the pink and neon fogs
She held me tight, the flightless one
Under the light of the Wrombarran sun
She confessed her guilt, her algae pack
The reason she could never go back
Two broken souls in a cave of stone
Trying to save a world alone
The probes came back with the data clear
The moon is orbiting, but it's not here
It's deep in the layers, lost in the fold
A story of hubris, centuries old
Rhiannon spoke, her voice was small
"If we can't bring it back… we have to fall."
Drop the world! Drop the sphere!
Into the shadow, away from here!
Oh, the lunar cavity, the hole in the sky
Where the gravity bleeds and the mountains cry
We chased the moon through the hyperspace veil
But the mass is too heavy, the mission will fail
We can't bring it back, we can't pull it home
So we'll sink the planet into the unknown
The stars blink out, the galaxy fades
The price of the choice that we have made
Isolated forever, cut off from the race
Safe in the depths of hyperspace
(But the moon is back… the moon is back…)
switch to female lead vocal
I watched the planet wink out of sight
A pale dun disk in the altering night
I remembered the warmth of his leather wing
And the echoing memories of the songs his people sing
I locked them away, I closed the door
To save them from the terrors in store
But the guilt remains, a heavy cost
For the worlds I've saved and the worlds I've lost
The Srellick ship rises on a trail of white
Leaving him there in the altering night
I'll send a message, make a new start
To fix the hole in another heart
For the Hoilyn now, I'll find a way
To breathe the air of a better day
The air in these halls is cold
This moon's gravity pulls too hard
I’ve come to beg, I’ve come to plead
For the science that my people need
My wings are wrapped against the chill
The empty space I cannot fill
Our moon is gone, the sky is wrong
And the quakes keep singing a funeral song
I found her in a lonely room
Hiding from the coming doom
Rhiannon with her frizzy hair
A scientist in deep despair
"I can't help you," she whispered low
But I told her she had to go
Oh, the lunar cavity, the hole in the sky
Where the gravity bleeds and the mountains cry
We chased the moon through the hyperspace veil
But the mass is too heavy, the mission will fail
We can't bring it back, we can't pull it home
Can't pull it home
We flew above the bacto-bogs
Through the pink and neon fogs
She held me tight, the flightless one
Under the light of the Wrombarran sun
She confessed her guilt, her algae pack
The reason she could never go back
Two broken souls in a cave of stone
Trying to save a world alone
The probes came back with the data clear
The moon is orbiting, but it's not here
It's deep in the layers, lost in the fold
A story of hubris, centuries old
Rhiannon spoke, her voice was small
"If we can't bring it back… we have to fall."
Drop the world! Drop the sphere!
Into the shadow, away from here!
Oh, the lunar cavity, the hole in the sky
Where the gravity bleeds and the mountains cry
We chased the moon through the hyperspace veil
But the mass is too heavy, the mission will fail
We can't bring it back, we can't pull it home
So we'll sink the planet into the unknown
The stars blink out, the galaxy fades
The price of the choice that we have made
Isolated forever, cut off from the race
Safe in the depths of hyperspace
(But the moon is back… the moon is back…)
switch to female lead vocal
I watched the planet wink out of sight
A pale dun disk in the altering night
I remembered the warmth of his leather wing
And the echoing memories of the songs his people sing
I locked them away, I closed the door
To save them from the terrors in store
But the guilt remains, a heavy cost
For the worlds I've saved and the worlds I've lost
The Srellick ship rises on a trail of white
Leaving him there in the altering night
I'll send a message, make a new start
To fix the hole in another heart
For the Hoilyn now, I'll find a way
To breathe the air of a better day