#scifi?

Which is an interesting take

Like I’m questioning if I know what qualifies as science fiction now

I always put the difference between sci fi and fantasy to be the explanation for why extraordinary things happen. Just clear cut magic vs science

But like magic for sure exists in Emily Wilde’s world. So is it sci fi because she’s a scientist and it’s fictional?

Sometime in the distant future, earth becomes almost uninhabitable, so ships are sent out with people put in cyro sleep to find new habitable planets.

The story takes place on one of these ships, about 100 years after its launch, when something goes horribly wrong, killing all the passengers, and waking up the mechanic and the AI (Sci-fi style, not LLM) built into the ship. It follows the mechanic as they grapple with the isolation while also trying to keep themself alive, and the ai realizing that the purpose it was made for will never come to pass.

“There’s a bounty, not on ro-androids, but I can cut you in,” She waved the documents in front of Mandy with a devious gleam in her eyes. “All you have to do is take the documents and say yes.”

“You’re asking me to jeopardize my living-”

“What living?” Kimber shook her head. Her eyes looked over Mandy’s head as a waitress appeared with a bottle of whiskey and glasses. “This industry is dying. It won’t be long until it’s dead. You might as well try something new.”

“If that’s the case then I’ll just go home.”

“Goodluck with that. They’re restricting the amount of people they’re allowing back into the cities. You’d be better off trying to be stationed on Mars.”

Mandy rolled her eyes at that. If this place was dying, Mars was dead and had been dead for a long time. Still, the people that were domesticating the planet cried about voting rights. She looked at Kimber before sighing. The Martians couldn’t vote. They were citizens of the world, more accurately citizens of a different world, it would be unfair.

“They might pass it. Allow those previously from here to maintain their voting rights while in space,” Kimber poured the whiskey into the glasses before sliding one of them toward Mandy.

“Still a bourbon girl, I see.” Mandy didn’t care what they did. Voting meant nothing. It was a cheap way of making the public feel heard. “It’s not like they’ll ever be back anyways. They knew what they were signing up for.”

Tiring of the talk Kimber pushed the documents toward her. “Just a fingerprint and then we can be on our way.” The documents shimmered.

If she had really wanted sex, Mandy might have done it, but Kimber had always been more to her than that. It was hard just fucking someone you knew you loved. To the other woman, it was simply a matter of business. That’s what really tore Mandy up inside, more than she would have liked to admit.

No matter how good it had been or could be, Mandy couldn’t do that to herself anymore. She swallowed what was in her glass and closed her eyes as it burned the whole way down. When she opened her eyes, Kimber was already pouring her more.

“Save it.” Kimber stared at her confused as she stood. Mandy pulled the scarf from around her neck closer to her mouth. The dirt was blowing bad outside and she didn’t feel like destroying her lungs. “Maybe, I’ll see you another time.”

“If you don’t accept this now,”

She pulled Kimber into a hug and gently kissed between her neck and collar bone, before pulling away. She didn’t wait to hear what the other woman said in response. Dust engulfed her as she left the tavern.

In trying to decide how much “magical” stuff exists in Aeniith...I’ve determined the following:

- Weird things happen sometimes that no one can explain

- The same is true for Aeniith

- There are definitely telepathic individuals

- These people are few and far between, and more common amongst some groups than others

- The Ríli as a species have the neurological ability to sense the presence of other living beings with working brains

- They can differentiate between sentient people and animals, and tell approximately how far away they are 

- There are telepathic/precognitives amongst all races, but they are much more common amongst the Bayë and Ríli

- Those of the above who are born amongst the Tosi usually have short lives (because Tosi society is rough on people who are “different”)

- The Selupa may be harboring a group of precogs somewhere in the inner parts of their kind-of shadow government, but this is not totally clear yet

- There is a group of Bayë (totally a splinter group) in Elta (normally no Bayë live on this side of the planet) that are essentially psychic vampires. They draw energy from the minds of other people (animals only offer a small amount of energy), which eventually kills the other person if they continue to feed from them. These psychic “vampires” are called the Clussimeth

- Unlike true vampires, they can’t “turn” others. They can only kill them. 

- The Clussimeth are a very small group, and until recently, no one really knew where their home base was

- The Clussimeth will feature in one of my WIPs

- Ghosts may be a thing

- The circumstances in which ghosts exist are fuzzy

- They tend to be attached to places

- And to strange situations in the past that have gone unresolved by those in the modern age

- Ghosts are particuarly attached to places still inhabited by any of their descendents