Location: Discussion Chamber, Dysnomia (orbiting Eris)
Local Time: 101 AFL, Day 344, 11:13 hours
Earth Date: 2252, August 25, 6:40 PM UTC
Evidently time has passed, but Laurel doesn't appear concerned about it, other than the slight headache. In one hand is what's left of a cup of tea, and in the other hand is half of a vanilla synth-donut (a delicious and inspiring combination of food and musical expression). She is reclining in her favourite chair: not too close to the door that she is bothered by noise outside, but far away enough from the center of attention (which in here is naturally the starboard).
Laurel is about to charge up a twirl and see how many times she can spin her chair around with one push, when somebody finally raises their hand to signal a demand for global interruptions. Laurel recognizes her as an old mentor-professor back from Laurel's Earth University days, when she started her fourth degree. What was her name again?
"Hello, everybody! Welcome to the counter-official Naming Party," begins Dr. Sharp 'Heister' Dene (ah, that's right) after she judges enough respectful silence had come into being. "Now, as you all know, we've held a ballot for the past two minutes, letting people put in names for the spaceship-to-be. I've drawn up the results and, well, they are all tied-"
"This is an outrage!" "What are we supposed to do now?!" "This could become official if we must find a way to break the tie!" "Never!!" "I will not accept such a thing!" "I agree, this is ridiculous." "Well I didn't mean to suggest 'ridiculous', just-" "Absurd, really." "Hey, who swapped my tea for hot chocolate!?" "Petty!" "Yes, absolutely." Cheers, jeers, and such jests erupt around the room.
After a several minutes of this normative means to find a mutual agreement through crowd thought and influence, the intense crackle of a cup of tea being poured into the dough-wiring of a synth-donut. "Ahem. Hello. It behooves me to point out," says Jaz Yulip, "that our own Dr. Sharp 'Heister' Dene has not finished her opening statements. Are we all to let it remain unheard?". In face of their tone, silence falls onto the room, harsher than before.
"Kindly thanks to you, Yulip. Indeed, I was unfinished. However, I decided to use the time during the group discussion to think on what I would say next, which I have not yet finished." Dr. Sharp 'Heister' Dene fiddles with her synth-donut for a few seconds, working out a rhythm. "Hm, I should try to remember this one. Well! I will announce what suggestions have become tied, and- perhaps somebody neglected to vote?"
Laurel chokes slightly on a gulp of tea as she accidentally makes eye contact with the doctor. Damn her, she could always tell when somebody skimped on their coursework and tried to rely on learning through osmosis. Or, in this case, decided to record their vote with a blank piece of paper.
"We shall proceed by reverse alphabetical order, as is currently in fashion." Dr. Sharp 'Heister' Dene begins flipping through the papers in front of her. "First off is 'Sword of Xena'. Some of you old-schoolers are still around, it seems." A few knowing chuckles from the audience. "Next is 'UB313'. Now, there's a name I haven't heard in a while!" This time the loudest sound is a sigh. "Finally, we have 'Gregorbly'. Well, that's a bit direct..."
Realizing that her cue has been passed on, Laurel stands up, causing her chair to scrap against the floor loudly, immediately drawing great attention. Another reason it's her favourite chair- she makes sure to never oil it, just for moments like this. "Thank you, doctor, for allowing me to cast the final vote. However, I feel like I'm not going to be able to help break it. 'Sword of Xena' is too unofficial, whereas 'UB313' is nothing but official. Also 'Gregorbly' is just rude, we haven't named a ship after a scientist in 57 years for a reason!"
Laurel suddenly realizes her view is slightly blurry, the apparent cause being some grime that she hadn't noticed before, in the utmost corner of her glasses. "Now, since I've made my position clear...", Laurel tries to continue while cleaning her glasses. Improvising some tea and the corner of her shirt, she sets to wiping it smooth. "Perhaps it could" squeak squeak "be opened for calm discussion, or-"
"Why I never!" "I think 'Gregorbly' is a fine name personally-" "Who else is going to stand for this?" "Well I don't see anything wrong with a nice cultural reference." "When I find out which of you damn sticklers voted for you-bee-three-" "Um Why did nobody count my entry for 'A Parade of Lightbeams?" "Nobody can stand that poetic filth, we are trying to be serious here." "-one-three, why, I'll give you a mean look!!"
Sighing from boredom of the yammering from the gathering, Laurel concludes, in an off-hand voice meant just for herself, "- or, I suppose I'll have to come up with a new name." She looks around the room, hoping to find some inspiration either in her sights, or her thoughts. Hrmm. Perhaps something reflective of the goals if 5DT would be quite suitable?
Annoyed by a disturbance in her own vision, Laurel takes her glasses off to wipe them again, despite the thorough cleaning they had already faced. Despite her best efforts, it seems a small grain of dirt or somesuch has made itself home in her right lens, causing her great annoyance even though it is so hard to notice. Yes... something that is known to be there, that cannot be easily seen, but is powerful in effect all the same!
Quite in need of immediate attention, Laurel stands on her chair, and twists the amplifier in her synth-donut to create a loud shriek (a classic way to make sure the entire room shuts up right now and listens to you). "Hello again, everyone," Professor Laurel Gromm calmly begins. "The ship shall be named...
Location: User Defined Entry: "5D Space"
Local Time: 5 minutes, 23 seconds since arrival
Earth Date: [GIVEN UP LOCAL TRANSLATION ATTEMPTS]
"Begin recording statement of hypotheses," requests Professor Gromm to her voice-activated diary bot. "There are many things that have in precious minutes I have already discovered regarding my understanding of the fifth dimension. Many of my ideas are so far bearing out, but there are many consequences nobody had imagined...".
She tries moving her eyes around to test out her vision, and finds that not only is she unable to close both or either one again, but also that nothing will stop her left eye from replaying a past event, while her right side struggles to process everything actively occurring.
"How we understand the application of quantum energy holds the same. Launching such a ship is like tearing a piece of cloth. You can either use your own energy to tear the fabric, or you can destabilize the sheer atoms so that it shreds itself apart. But, what has happened here is greatly unexpected- instead of sending myself down a false and true reality that just barely are unable to cancel each other out, instead both of these possibilities have occured simultaneously."
Taking a pause from speaking aloud to focus more of her strained input-processing on the field she exists on in the moment, Professor Gromm steers the ship into an elongated beam of negative energy. She only knows what it is because while she was focused on the past, her ship drifted through several, slightly refilling the fuel tank. Reaching more of these will be necessary to complete the journey.
"This has led to me having a, let's say, out-of-body re-experiencing. Like I thought, the fifth dimension has always been able to affect us- for instance, I have now found it to be the source of a headache I had experienced after giving a speech several years ago. It is definitely a view disconnected from my own senses, however. I am unable to affect change in this seen past, which is probably for the best, but a bit of a cause for confusion while trying to pilot this spacecraft."
A small gap of silence as the Professor tilts her head to the left, trying to reflect on the discussion she is hearing again. "You know... I don't remember hearing Dr. Sharp 'Heister' Dene so clearly during this meeting, because of these interruptions from the outspoken crowd. Yet, here I have no such problem. Further suggestion that, although this experience seems to be centered on me, I truly am looking into the past... How curious!"
With her focus diverted so, the spacecraft accidentally bounces into a free-floating chunk of negative energy. As the retractor claw was not engaged in the correct direction to collect it, the ship is rattled somewhat, and there is a gargling sound followed by a spit as Professor Gromm spits the tea tube out of her mouth from shock.
"Damn it, it is so difficult to follow two streams of reality simultaneously! Hm, I remember quite strongly almost spitting out my tea at that moment in the past. How unpleasant that the feeling would be re-experienced too. Perhaps this experience here in 5D contributed to my over-reaction in the past? It feels so... wrong for me to have nearly made such a horrible blunder as to spray hot liquid across the social table, despite the strength of stress that Dr. Sharp 'Heister' Dene's knowing glare can cause."
"I am sure the crew in Advanced Temporal Linearity are going to have a real field day when they try out sending some recording devices into 5DT, but that is not my concern for now. Ah, I've managed to blabber on past my own self- right on Laurel, I completely forgot some egotistical punk tried to name my own ship after himself!"
The spacecraft lurches as it begins a sideways evasive maneuver, avoiding a wormhole that just blasted itself into existence. Professor Gromm is taking it very carefully, as the filth previously bothering her glasses keeps rapidly appearing and vanishing into ether again. About thirty seconds after getting a safe distance away from the dangerous space-time anomaly, her glasses have become wholly clean again.
"Oh, there is so much to learn of this dimension still! Event Log Statement: it seems that hyper-reality dangers that we fear in our normal fourth dimension are well possible here. I had hoped that they would, if not removed entirely, be at least replaced with new and exciting to explore threats, but oh well. I suppose I must occasionally have an incorrect assumption!"
"End recording of hypotheses. Open personal diary, page... where did I leave off again? Ah, yes, page 1,482. Begin summation:"
"It's cold, and dark, and lonesome here in the fifth dimension, but I am joined by my own prescence! I'm re-living, out of one side, one of my greatest moments of my life, while still in the first day of what likely is an even greater moment."
"I do not know for how longer my experience will be split in two, but I think I'm getting used to it. I believe in self-reflection for personal improvement but... Oh!"
"Re-route output to sensory input line. I want to have this saved, now that I'm being given a chance to re-record it, my favourite phrase: