Chapter 1:6: Winterfest

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Nacho: meow!
Stuart: (yawning) okay, okay I'm awake, you see?

Even today, although I could have slept all day long, this feline decided to wake me up at dawn. Sometimes I just don't understand him...

Why am I not at work today, you may be wondering? Well, it's Winterfest. Not even I would go to work on a day like this, obviously. Actually, I don't have any real plan for the day, I was thinking of just taking a look at the data I  collected yesterday during that measurement on the...

Knock knock!

Surprised, I turned to the door. I wasn't waiting for anyone, who could it be?

Sylvia: Hi, Stuart!

Stuart: (puzzled) Sylvia?

Sylvia: I went to see how Nacho is doing. You're treating him well, aren't you?

Stuart: You can judge it by yourself, here he comes.

While she picked up Nacho and cuddled him, I took a few moments for reasoning, I needed to understand the situation. 

Usually people spend Winterfest with their family, don't they? Why did she come to my place then? Did she, just like me, have no one else to celebrate with?

Stuart: If you don't have any other plans, you can remain here. I mean, if you want to...

Sylvia: well, why not!

Sylvia seemed to have quite clear ideas about how she wanted to spend her day, and she immediately decided to decorate the kitchen with a large garland ("I was sure you hadn't put on any decoration!", she commented). Nacho seems to like it too, don't you agree, my dear diary?

Stuart: So, what do you think about it? Is the garland okay there?

Sylvia: Yes, the atmosphere has already improved a lot, don't you agree?

Sylvia: Well, I also brought a bit of roasted ham, I cooked it yesterday. I always had it at Winterfest when I was a kid, so...

Stuart: (impressed) seriously? Probably it took forever to cook it!

Sylvia: but it's Winterfest! Didn't your family do that?

Stuart: (vague) ... well... It wasn't really our style.

Sylvia: (cautiously) you never talk about your family... Are you on bad terms or something like that?

Stuart: Always straight to the point, huh?

Sylvia: I was told so.

Stuart: Well, there isn't much to say. I'm an only child, and my parents divorced when I was a kid. We haven't celebrated together since when I went to college. Not that we cared much before, anyway.

Sylvia: ... I see...

Stuart: (cautious) what about you instead?

Sylvia: well, it's a quite similar story, after all.

I thought about it for a moment. I had never seriously celebrated that holiday, to the point that I always ended ignoring it altogether. But she seemed to really care instead, she had even cooked that roasted ham! Most likely, the thought of celebrating that day alone made her sad...

Stuart: Well, during Winterfest people exchange gifts, don't they?

So we spent the afternoon singing holiday songs and exchanging gifts. Singing Jingle Bells out loud made me feel stupid as never before but, all in all, it was also funny. And, above all, Sylvia seemed much happier than she was that morning.

Stuart: Probably it was a quite unconventional Winterfest, but it was quite funny, wasn't it?

Sylvia: Yeah, that's true...

She hesitated a moment longer, before hugging me tightly and adding:

Sylvia: (whispering) thank you.

I already wrote that when I'm around her I just lose my train of thought, didn't I? Well, at that moment I simply couldn't compute anything anymore. And I just...

This morning I certainly didn't expect the day to turn out like this. Winterfest is not so bad, after all... Don't you agree, my dear diary?

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Chapter 1.5: Doubts

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Nacho likes to stay on top of the fridge and keep an eye on the whole house from up there.

Wouldn't you feel observed too if you were me, dear diary?

Meanwhile, at the laboratory, we continue to work on the strangest projects.

I do not recognize this reagent, what could it be?

Lab rule number 1: when in doubt, write it down. A lab notebook is essential, even freshmen know it!

Chapter 1:4: Nacho

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Stuart: Hey, were you cheating or something?

Sylvia: (laughing) no cheating! You're the one who got distracted, that's all!

Today I met Sylvia again, she was playing chess alone in the park. What could I do if not join her for a chess game then?

Sylvia: So, have you found out something new about those aliens in your lab?

Stuart: (thoughtfully) Since I arrived, I haven't heard of them even once.

Sylvia: yet that's what you do, right? Research on extraterrestrial life forms!

Stuart: Well, in theory, yes. But, in practice, I still haven't figured out exactly what all the work we do is for.

Sylvia: I keep thinking that there is something shady about that place, what is the barbed wire for, for instance?

Stuart: ...

Sylvia: couldn't you just ask your colleagues?

Stuart: As if I hadn't tried it yet... But they just refuse to explain anything!

Sylvia is really a strange girl, no doubt about it. She's bright and curious, to begin with, and she's certainly not the kind of person who stops at appearances.

Sylvia: (suspicious) but what are exactly your work tasks in there?

Stuart: I don't think I can talk about this, even the brand of toilet paper in the bathrooms is top secret in there.

Having said that I took my queen, moved her two squares to the right and...

Stuart: checkmate!

Sylvia: wait, it's not possible!

Stuart: This time it was you who got distracted, I guess.

The match lasted longer than expected, and I hadn't even noticed that small crowd that started following us. Probably, there isn't much else to do around here.

In any case it was getting late for the both of us, so we just left the chess table and headed back home. I was about to say "goodbye", when she asked me another question:

Sylvia: Stuart, can I ask you a favour?

Stuart: Sure, no problem.

I've already written that Sylvia is a veterinarian, haven't I? Well, she asked me to help with a stray cat at the harbour next to her vet clinic. She says it's a big and furry cat looking very sad all alone in there, and she said she needs some help at taking him to her clinic.

Stuart: honestly, I'm not very good with cats...

Sylvia: don't worry, it will be easy! Oh, look, he's over there!

Indeed, a big and furry cat was dozing in the middle of the dock. To me he seemed to be doing quite well, but she just didn't agree with me on this.

Sylvia: let's try to approach him, come on!

As if it was easy, the big cat didn't seem particularly willing to be bothered during his afternoon nap.

Sylvia: try to hand him some food, surely he will love it!

Still a little hesitant, I did as she said.

Stuart: Well, he seems to have changed his mind a little, that's true.

Sylvia: you see what a good boy he is?

She immediately managed to pick him up, did she really need my help for this?

I don't remember exactly what happened after that. I must have been distracted for a moment, that's the only possible explanation... Quite often I just lose my train of thought when she's around, to be honest. 

The point is that now I have a cat who lives with me in my dump-home. I'll introduce him to you, my dear diary, his name is Nacho.

He doesn't seem very convinced about it either.

I guess I'll have to be more careful next time...

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§HermioneSims§ corner

Can I just open a small parenthesis on the impressive expressiveness of Nacho the cat?

The moment I saw him I just thought: "I want him in my Legacy NOW". XD

Chapter 1.3: Riddles

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Dear diary, It has been months since I moved here. I keep going to the lab every day, working on weird inventions and so on.

For now the only, um, thing I get along with is the AI ​​of the invention machine, I have nicknamed it Sophia. We work great together, you should see our latest invention!

Meanwhile, my superiors asked me to prune the bonsai tree at the canteen. What a useless task, I'm not a gardener! And, above all, how much longer will I have to wait before starting to search for alien activity, I wonder?

Chapter 1.2: The FutureSim Labs

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Dear diary, finally here I am! FutureSim labs are opening their doors to me!

Doesn't this place seem majestic and top-secret at the same time? We also have the barbed wire and the guards at the entrance, who knows why.

Apparently, these laboratories are extremely multi-disciplinary: my bosses expect me to do chemical analyzes, to work at the microscope, to invent new strange devices and so on. It is not easy for me: after all, I have only dealt with astrophysics and observation of non-solar planets up to now, for Jupiter sake!

I'm pretty sure this is called Erlenmeyer flask. Or was it a Schlenk one? It's been so long since the general chemistry class... 

Yet I'm sure I had a great idea! Don't you think too that cooking is just a great waste of time? Wouldn't it be easier to have all the nutrients you need in just one serum, drink it, and get on with your day?

I'm not sure if those sparks are a good sign, what reaction could be causing it? And now who is brave enough to test this serum? For sure I'm not drinking it...

The invention constructor is far more congenial to me. Whoever invented this machine that assists us in the construction of all our projects are true geniuses, that's for sure! I'd love to meet them someday.

The machine also has a very respectable AI. It's actually quite funny too, you know, my dear diary?

Today we invented something simple but at the same time brilliant, take a look!

A momentum conserver, look at how it spins! It may not be perpetual motion, but it comes very close!

The laboratory also has an admirable telescope, I can't wait to be able to have a night shift to be able to use it properly. I also noticed that it has an absurd resolution in comparison with the size of the mirrors, it would be very interesting to give a look at the projects they used to build it.

Finally, to close the day, my engineering colleagues also showed me the rocket they're working on! I don't know about rockets in general, but doesn't it seem to you that this one is extraordinarily compact? Do they really plan to reach the space with this? The questions are piling up already but, for today, they just let me screw in some bolts.

Chapter 1.1: My name is Stuart Miller, nice to meet you!

Dear diary, on this first page I should probably write something to introduce myself. My name is Stuart Miller, I'm 28 years old and just got my PhD in astrophysics. So, from now on, you should call me Dr Miller, isn't it cool?

I recently moved to this small town, it's called Oasis Spring. We are in the middle of the desert and it's summer too, so I'm sweating already. I hope to be able to afford an AC soon but, for now, I have to settle for this pre-built small house whose walls have not even been painted yet. Why did I move here, you may be wondering? Simple, to work at the famous research laboratories of the city, I recently signed a two-year Post Doc contract with them.

Why was I so keen to come here? This is a long story, dating back to the last recording at the observatory during my doctorate. You'll never believe it, but we definitely saw something anomalous in our measurements that night. It was an object, it was flying and it was also unidentified, so you can call it whatever you want but, to me, it definitely remains a UFO. And since that night I haven't been able to get those few lines of instrumental output out of my head.

This is the only UFO laboratory in the country, the only place where scientists try to find signs of alien activity and communicate with them. I contacted them immediately after our discovery, we have been in touch ever since. They agree with me, we weren't measuring just background noise, something really happened that night. And when I discussed my thesis they asked me to join their research team, to work on it in person. How could I answer no?

I have a few days off before entering the new laboratory, so I decided to take the chance to explore this place a bit. As expected, they're just fixated with anything space-related in here!

I don't know much about rocks, but there are some pretty unique specimens around here. I should ask Simon, my geologist friend, for his opinion on this. Is there any clue to alien activity even among these rocks?

Some other scientists in the lab even say that aliens may be hiding among us, unbeknownst to everyone. I struggle to believe in this hypothesis, it would be extremely unlikely. But I can't deny that some of the people who live here are at least singular, who knows if they really hide something...

Thinking about it, they could probably think the same about me too, don't you think?

Tomorrow I'm starting with the real research, wish me good luck, my dear diary! For the moment I present to you my lucky charm, Dr F!

He helped me to pass all the exams, and I'm sure he will help me even now in this new challenge!

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