Murbellass

Here's a quick short chapter just to put out what I have that I've been staring at off an on in my Google doc.  Better to publish something short and move on, than to stare at it thinking it's not long enough and not actually add anything for weeks😜

September 10th, 2032

    So now the human public knows the Biosphere is there and it weirdly seems like they are taking it in stride. I didn't take well to the news. My anxiety was already up with spiraling worries about my future with Sylph and all the other people I cared about with how much change I was going through, and that bombshell didn't help. We said our goodnights to a confused Lilly and Cairn, who are likely still wondering why that news bite was the one that got to me, and signed off for the night.

    Thankfully Sylph was able to calm me down from having a full panic attack. She made a lot of good points and was right of course. This still isn't a cause for urgency. All we had was a grainy image of a half lit greenish blob against the backdrop of space from one of the few satellites in high orbit. It would be a year or two before anyone got a better camera close to or pointed at them, and even further out to visit it with a human or some remote/AI drone. And even then, no one expected me personally to do anything about it, so any anxiety I was having was all just me. I could choose to just move on from it.  

    There were some things I could do though… I could start growing a human Consensus

    I decided today would be a work day regardless of a little extra chaos going on in my head. I wanted to be with my family while I started putting thought into how we could go about bringing my family into the Consensus. Cairn and Lilly would be here tomorrow and would likely love to be our lab rats… that is if they could get over the shock that aliens are real, Sylph is one of them, she infected me with my new buddy Fungie, and we wanted to infect them as well… Yeah, might be a harder sell than I thought, but I was still more excited than I was concerned.

    Sylph also decided to come with me to work today. Her idea was to sit down with a bunch of books while also bouncing ideas off The Consensus as to the sociological, biological, and logistical loose ends of bringing more humans into the fold.

    After a quick breakfast of omelets for us and kibble for Badger, the three of us headed off to the library. Upon arrival we found the triad and a few library regulars gathered around a TV.

    "We go now to Margot at our science desk for an update on the unidentified orbiting object, UOO as some have been calling it, Margot…"

     "Thank you Phil. We still don't know that much about the object beyond the picture that was leaked or some details about where it was found."  

    The well circulated image popped up on the screen. There wasn't much detail to it compared to The understanding I've gained through sharings from Sylph and knowledge conveyed to me through Fungie. Really, it was just a large greenish hazy looking blob, only partially illuminated by light from the sun. From all the provided insight I've been given, I knew the haze surrounding it to be an intricate network of leaf like structures to collect energy, but in this low quality picture from a camera not designed to focus on something at this range, it gave the biosphere a mysterious ethereal quality as if shimmering into an out of reality.

    "From the image we can see that the object isn't really uniform and likely some collection of smaller objects held together in some way around a central mass. We know where the object is, likely the second Lagrange point as it's the only stable orbital position that would make sense for how long it has been observed for, according to the leak only the past week or so."

    Phil, the news man spoke up, "Now Margot, the word Lagrange point has been thrown out a lot recently, could you go over what that is?"

    The camera switched back to Margot the science lady who was now standing between a digital moon and earth as they orbited each other. "Certainty Phil. This is the orbit of the moon around the earth." The map gained lines showing the orbital path as she pointed and turned following the moon. Then she snapped her fingers, "and this is a representation of the pull of gravity from both the earth and the moon deforming space around them." The map now showed the gravity wells of each with topographic lines of potential. A few spots were highlighted. "Now you see these level spots here, if we set an object very carefully in the center of these spots…" Margot plucked a digital coin out of the air and set it down on the flat spot of the curve behind the moon. "...it'll stay in line orbiting on the "dark side" where it can't be seen from earth. There are 5 of these flat spots and the one behind the moon is the second Lagrange point or L-2.  

    "These same points exist for every combo of two orbiting bodies with enough mass. For instance the Octavia E Butler space telescope we have in orbit at L2 for the sun-earth combo. While others have used the earth-moon L2 point before, there isn't anything there now with a camera that can get a better look at whatever this object is."

    "Thank you Margot, what else do we know?"

    "Your welcome Phil. We do know roughly how big it is given its size relative to the moon and the angles and distances involved, about 50 miles across which is about the size of the state of Rhode Island. Finally according to the leak, we also know that a few days ago NASA had started sending a signal directly to the object using a laser beam mounted to the communications satellite that first discovered the object. This communication is a standard first contact message in use by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence project SETI. As of now, sources at NASA have declined to comment on if the object has given any indication of response."

     "I see, so no jumping to conclusions that we are being visited by little green men. Thank you so much for the explanation Margot.  

    "We have also recently received word that the person responsible for the leak was this man," the newscaster turned to a graphic that appeared over their left shoulder depicting a very attractive smiling curly haired man wearing a rainbow NASA t-shirt. "Dimitris Elilis, an astrophysicist and Greek national working for NASA on a temporary visa."

    "Oh shit! I think I know who that is!" Everyone in the room turned to look at me. "He's trans and shares nerdy thirst trap content that get spread all over queer social media." There were several giggles and confused looks directed towards me and I began blushing furiously. "What!? He's hot and knows very well how to make use of a sexy foreign accent when talking about heavenly bodies." The giggles intensified…

    "We have also received reports that he's recently been taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security under charges of threatening national security. NASA's press secretary, Nina Shellford, has commented on the issue saying "While we regret and disagree that Mr. Elilis chose to reveal confidential information, NASA's lawyers are following his case closely and pushing for his speedy release from custody.” Several human rights and governmental transparency groups have begun calling for protests and are pursuing legal action to bring about Elilis' release.”

    "Now to Frank with the weather"

    Jessie let out a grunt and shut off the TV, "That's such bullshit arresting him. NASA is a civilian agency and should be actively sharing this information with the public. Just goes to show this whole thing has a government scared, barely holding on as it is."

    "There will be protests," Larry exclaimed, "you can't just lock up a hot queer man who releases proof of aliens and not expect protests."

    "I'll agree, this doesn't seem like the wisest decision ever… it is the government though so I'm not surprised." David added and then turned to Badger, Sylph, and I. "Sylph, Marin, lovely to see you this morning." He walked closer and pulled us both into a wonderful pancake smelling hug and then squatted to give Badger some scritches. “how are the three of you doing?”

    Sylph and I turned to look at each other with a look that I’m sure the triad couldn't quite read. How was I feeling at this moment? Turns out I too was a hot queer who had proof of aliens, but I selfishly kept that to myself. I guess it wasn’t really selfish in that I was respecting Sylph’s wishes and the alien’s whole prime directive of non-disturbance. Well now everything was on its way to becoming so very disturbed with how the news was going, but as Sylph poignantly pointed out that wasn't some urgent problem that was just mine to deal with. All that considered, I could truthfully say, "We are all pretty amazed by the news, but mostly just super excited to go pick up Cairn and Lilly from the airport tomorrow."

    "Oh fuck! That is tomorrow. We can't wait to meet them as well finally." Larry gave me a playfully judgemental look as he elbowed me in the side.

    "Yes Larry, I know I should have had them over here at some point." I rolled my eyes at the parental Twink. "But I'm fixing that now and of course we will all hang out, maybe dinner on Sunday?"

    David smiled as he poked the smug look off his Twink husband's face.  "That would be lovely.  You know I'm always happy to cook for however many people you want to bring over."

    Sylph, Badger, and I all smiled back basking in the love.  Dinner might also present an excellent opportunity to reveal a secret that I've been feeling extra bad about keeping from them with all the news.

Murbellass

I kinda love subjecting people to fun science diagrams.  This particular one comes from the wikipedia article on the subject.  The diagram I used in particular is extra interesting as it's only valid for objects in the same plane as the moon's orbit and at the same rotational velocity as the moon around the earth.  This makes it so all the forces are constrained to that 2D plane.  Anything orbiting at a different speed would have a completely different plot, and anything above or below the elliptical would have pulling things back in line.  

Even more interesting is the James Webb space telescope, it's in a fun halo orbit around the earth-sun L2 point.  They do this so that it's never actually in the shadow of the earth and can get solar power.  If an observer were at the sun and rotating to keep the earth in sight, the telescope would appear to be circling around the earth in an ellipse and never directly behind it.  Orbital mechanics are neat.  I also changed the name of the telescope due to the fact he was in change of NASA while they were actively kicking queers out of the organization.