Leaves and crickets.
Edel rests by the tree.
It was the largest one on the ring, and with no need for gravity it had already grown 80 kilometers tall. Edel assumes the old form, a human made from cells and water, compressing his core thoughts to fit within the constraints of the neurons. The rest of his mind - the vast majority of it - was there any moment he wanted it, but it was more pleasing to return to the old ways than he had expected, and, consumed by the vision of the enormous tree on the horizon, he quickly forgets. The tree grows in the gasses of the disassembled giant planets that envelop the ring. They would dissapate over thousands of years, and the tree would crystallize in the vacuum, but Edel would be long gone by then. For now his recreated neurons have been rewired so that the sky appears a faint blue, and his redesigned lungs can draw satisfying strength from the methane and carbon dioxide.
Without forcing it, for a moment the rest of his mind and pressing reality slips entirely away. Edel stands in the field of grass, the infinite tree before him, the same old sun glaring gloriously down, so that the heated air drowsily shimmers. He steps forward, again quicker, runs leaping into the air, and the ground shrinks below him, yellow grass and sand drifting away as he lifts into the air.
It was the largest one on the ring, and with no need for gravity it had already grown 80 kilometers tall. Edel assumes the old form, a human made from cells and water, compressing his core thoughts to fit within the constraints of the neurons. The rest of his mind - the vast majority of it - was there any moment he wanted it, but it was more pleasing to return to the old ways than he had expected, and, consumed by the vision of the enormous tree on the horizon, he quickly forgets. The tree grows in the gasses of the disassembled giant planets that envelop the ring. They would dissapate over thousands of years, and the tree would crystallize in the vacuum, but Edel would be long gone by then. For now his recreated neurons have been rewired so that the sky appears a faint blue, and his redesigned lungs can draw satisfying strength from the methane and carbon dioxide.
Without forcing it, for a moment the rest of his mind and pressing reality slips entirely away. Edel stands in the field of grass, the infinite tree before him, the same old sun glaring gloriously down, so that the heated air drowsily shimmers. He steps forward, again quicker, runs leaping into the air, and the ground shrinks below him, yellow grass and sand drifting away as he lifts into the air.
