FYS: To Climb the Highest Mountain
Sep. 2nd, 2014 09:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalThe Groupmind continues to Not Get It.
* * *
Levar hefted his pack and looked up towards the top of the peak. The escarpment was black, a bit rounded, with promising white snowfields nearer to the summit. He drew in a deep breath, feeling the dry, slightly cool air. Perfect for a long climb.
“So that’s the tallest mountain on the Ring?” he asked Lhamo.
His llama morph, dressed similarly as he was, in tough adaptive hiking boots and vented clothing that could adapt to a variety of weather conditions, nodded. “Yes, sir. Exactly 6,103 meters tall at the highest peak.”
“Huh. Shorter than Mt. McKinley,” Levar said, trying to hide his disappointment.
“Yes, sir. The Groupmind’s reasoning was that it would be safer if the peak didn’t require supplemental oxygen to reach.”
“Figures.” Though given the death toll taller mountains like K2 and Everest had racked up, he could understand the Groupmind’s caution on that score. “Does it have a name yet?”
“Currently it’s simply 330 Adalberta, after the asteroid it was carved from. Once we reach the top, you can name it anything you want.”
Levar grinned, some of his cheer returning. “Good as reason as any to get started. Let’s climb.”
Climbing up the gentle slopes of the grassy foothills was a joy, and Levar found it easy to moderate his pace, enjoying the feel of the sun, the ground under his feet, the simple pleasure at being over two hundred kilometers from the next nearest human being, with only Lhamo as his company. He was in no hurry to get to the top. With the Groupmind watching over humanity, there was no more job to go back to after he reached the summit, no deadlines, no reason to hurry at all. Just the mountain and him, for as long as he wanted.
The grass gradually turned to gravel, the sparse trees disappearing as he hiked up past the thousand meter tree line. Once the slope reached the point of requiring climbing gear Levar intended to stop and rest up through the evening, to start his climb in the early morning. As he approached his goal, his eyes narrowed, following an irregular, but not quite irregular enough, zig zagging line, a bit lighter than the mountain’s black granite, that seemed to reach up from the top of the foothills to the peak itself. He paused, unclipping his binocs from his belt to take a closer look. Then he began to softly swear under his breath.
“Lhamo,” he asked, trying to keep his voice moderated. Damn it he’d grown to like the silly bot, once it had gotten over a tendency to hover. Yelling at it for something the Groupmind had done would have been unfair. “Why are there stairs carved into the mountain?” He checked his binocs again. “With safety rails.”
“Well, the Groupmind wouldn’t want to risk you getting hurt while you climbed, sir.”
“Of course not.” Levar sat down on the gravel, and sighed.
Lhamo looked at him in genuine confusion. “Aren’t we going to climb, sir?”
“No point. No point at all.”
* * *
Levar hefted his pack and looked up towards the top of the peak. The escarpment was black, a bit rounded, with promising white snowfields nearer to the summit. He drew in a deep breath, feeling the dry, slightly cool air. Perfect for a long climb.
“So that’s the tallest mountain on the Ring?” he asked Lhamo.
His llama morph, dressed similarly as he was, in tough adaptive hiking boots and vented clothing that could adapt to a variety of weather conditions, nodded. “Yes, sir. Exactly 6,103 meters tall at the highest peak.”
“Huh. Shorter than Mt. McKinley,” Levar said, trying to hide his disappointment.
“Yes, sir. The Groupmind’s reasoning was that it would be safer if the peak didn’t require supplemental oxygen to reach.”
“Figures.” Though given the death toll taller mountains like K2 and Everest had racked up, he could understand the Groupmind’s caution on that score. “Does it have a name yet?”
“Currently it’s simply 330 Adalberta, after the asteroid it was carved from. Once we reach the top, you can name it anything you want.”
Levar grinned, some of his cheer returning. “Good as reason as any to get started. Let’s climb.”
Climbing up the gentle slopes of the grassy foothills was a joy, and Levar found it easy to moderate his pace, enjoying the feel of the sun, the ground under his feet, the simple pleasure at being over two hundred kilometers from the next nearest human being, with only Lhamo as his company. He was in no hurry to get to the top. With the Groupmind watching over humanity, there was no more job to go back to after he reached the summit, no deadlines, no reason to hurry at all. Just the mountain and him, for as long as he wanted.
The grass gradually turned to gravel, the sparse trees disappearing as he hiked up past the thousand meter tree line. Once the slope reached the point of requiring climbing gear Levar intended to stop and rest up through the evening, to start his climb in the early morning. As he approached his goal, his eyes narrowed, following an irregular, but not quite irregular enough, zig zagging line, a bit lighter than the mountain’s black granite, that seemed to reach up from the top of the foothills to the peak itself. He paused, unclipping his binocs from his belt to take a closer look. Then he began to softly swear under his breath.
“Lhamo,” he asked, trying to keep his voice moderated. Damn it he’d grown to like the silly bot, once it had gotten over a tendency to hover. Yelling at it for something the Groupmind had done would have been unfair. “Why are there stairs carved into the mountain?” He checked his binocs again. “With safety rails.”
“Well, the Groupmind wouldn’t want to risk you getting hurt while you climbed, sir.”
“Of course not.” Levar sat down on the gravel, and sighed.
Lhamo looked at him in genuine confusion. “Aren’t we going to climb, sir?”
“No point. No point at all.”
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no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 03:07 pm (UTC)More seriously given the amount of time the Groupmind, engineering a brand new piece of granite isn't entirely out of the question.
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Date: 2014-09-02 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 04:12 pm (UTC)Given that, I would think they would either (A) warn him ahead of time that there would be no risky climbing, or (B) allow him the ILLUSION of risk, through any of a number of means. They're not stupid, simply badly constrained by their FYS programming.
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Date: 2014-09-02 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 04:39 pm (UTC)But yes, we shouldn't take their engineering skills for granite!
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Date: 2014-09-02 05:26 pm (UTC)More likely he'd be hounded by safety morphs all the way to the top, but I think I read an Andre Norton novel with that as a plot point in the beginning...
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Date: 2014-09-02 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-02 11:43 pm (UTC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Fuji#mediaviewer/File:Mt_Fuji_Summit.jpg
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Date: 2014-09-03 01:29 pm (UTC)