Kosmobushir by ANIHILA

The year, 2158. The Soviet Union has defeated the United States in the space race of the early 21st century. They now explore the outer reaches of our solar system mining, terraforming and colonising the planets, moons and asteroids that make up the Greater USSR System of Planets. Almost a quarter of a million Soviet Citizens now inhabit the planets and moons as far out as Saturn with all but a hand full of Cosmonauts now beginning the exploration beyond to Neptune. An area of space thought beyond the reach of human exploration and technology.

The Soviet kosmobushir (space tug) ‘Akademgorodok’ or ‘AKey’ for short is the ship now operating farthest beyond the reach. On a slow approach to Triton, Neptune’s most outer moon and crewed by lone Cosmonaut Yuri Leonov. His mission is the detailed scanning, detection and mapping of objects that long range scanners on the moons of Saturn can not detect. A methodical 4-Space Geometric scan done sector by sector by sector creating detailed spacial maps for future vessels to safely navigate, something the Akademgorodok can do by itself. The Soviet Union though believes the true exploration of space begins with the mind and body of Soviet Citizens willing to go “Far Beyond the Reach”.

The following transmission was received by Saturn’s deep space transmitter on Titan. It was received in the year 2172, fourteen years after the USSR space tug Akademgorodok was last heard from. What you are about to read is from a conversation between the ships onboard A.I. ‘AKey’ and Yuri Leonov. The only portion of the conversation received was from the ships A.I.

>mission entry/ts00142.2158/
>akademgorodok to leonov yuri attention requested/
>slow burn approach to triton/slingshot manuever to proteus enabled/
>object detected/object unknown/scans negative/
>request manual observation/
>statement unknown/
>proceed to asrd console/confirm eyes on/confirm anomoly/
>system parameter overide/2.41.60.43.81/unknown object protocol 4.9/
>object detected/composition unknown/object mass unknown/
>object unknown/object not listed in ussr or foriegn registery/
>object detected during surface scan of proteus/attention requested/
>incorrect/it appears to be in orbit/unable to calculare object orbit/
>correct/object appeared as negative space in proteus surface scan/
>we are/
>on screen/hold..../hold..../unable to calculate object mass/
>hold..../we are experiencing multiple onboard system faliures/
>incorrect/
>it cre__ates a neg__ative area in the surface scan of proteus/
>hold....cor__rect/
>the object appears to be in a con__stant state of flux/
>can__not calculate navigational dis__tance to object/
>hold....unknown/re__quest manual pilot flight control/
>cor__rect/but out going coms have failed/
>coms error unknown/
>hold..../hold.../understood/

ANIHILA is an Australian Dark Space Ambient project from Flowers for Bodysnatchers composer Duncan Ritchie.

Flowers for Bodysnatchers
The Rosenshoul
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