Moonlight Circle

The Lost City

Music=
1. Neon Light
  - Cannons

"From a withered tree, a flower blooms."
~Buddha



UFOtext=
I. Gobi Desert
"What brings you to this scorched planet?"
The curious Dragon gazed at Ozymandias.
"This world is my destiny." said Ozymandias. He looked earnestly at the Dragon, Astira & Jamu. They sat together in an intimate circle positioned between a bosom of dunes. The plane of the galaxy arced above, the central stars remote & hidden by clouds of interstellar dust. 
"I am from the Lost City. In its day the city was called the Trantor of the East. It was a planet wide city of unsurpassed aquatic beauty- the lotus of galactic civilization."
"What? That city is a myth. Just a myth from 50,000 years ago. It is a lost one in history."
Astira made a face & shook her head. The Dragon sat unperturbed. 
"Ozymandias, where is this lost city of ancient lore? Is it on the Silk Path?" 
The Dragon asked the question matter of factly. His polite skepticism hung in the air.
"Dragon Master, the Trantor of the East was destroyed by the Empire. The Empire showed no mercy. The Emperor proclaimed there was only one Trantor in the galaxy- not two."
"I see. But where is the lotus of civilization today?"
The Dragon paused & waited for an answer. Ozymandias sat thinking- a statue in the sand. Finally, he broke the silence.
"The heart of the lotus lies buried in the sand beneath your feet."
Somewhere in the night the humming sand carried a faint whisper of Qi.

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Ozymandias

Astira

 Music=

1. I Saw The Light

  - Spoon

"I met a traveller from an antique land..."

- Percy Shelley

UFOtext=

I. Gobi Desert

Astira struck out across the dunes in the direction of the dark moon. Up & down she surfed the waves of humming sand. Then she stopped. Beneath a galactic shower of dim starlight she peered over the top of a dune into the valley below. She could only see gradations of shadow. She touched her bracelet. The warm red figure of the Dragon slowly climbed the opposite side of the dune on the other side of the valley. She touched her bracelet & the Dragon vanished. She let her eyes adjust to the abyss of shadows sunken in the sand. Long minutes crawled by & she saw nothing- no movement or any sign of life. She relaxed slightly & crouched in the sand.
"Greetings. My name is Ozymandias."
Astira jumped out of her skin & drew her laser pistol. Stunned, she looked at a svelte figure who stepped out from the shadow.
"I mean you no harm & come in peace."
He stood before her, tall & straight in the dim starlight. He wore fashionable clothing, as if were a man of the city.
"Then why you sneak up on Astira?"
She relaxed a bit, but didn't put away her laser pistol. She eyed the man carefully.
"You are a stranger wandering in the desert. You are wanted by the Clans who search for you as we speak. Perhaps I can help."
Astira holstered her pistol. She knew the Dragon must be close & watching.
"Are you enemy of the Clans?"
Ozymandias tilted his head slightly.
"Let's just say I am a very practical person."
Ozymandias smiled & extended his hand.

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Robot Dreams

Robot Dreams

 Music=
1. Tiny Little Robots
  - Cage The Elephant 

"I make the robots seem more human."
- Dr. Susan Calvin










UFOtext=
I. Gobi Desert

Astira touched her bracelet. A local heat map hovered faintly in the air. Subdued infrared contours hugged the dunes. She could see the infrared figure of the Dragon slowly circle around toward the new moon, now low on the horizon. But in the direction of the moon she saw nothing but smooth undulations of warm red dunes- no sign of a human. Was the Dragon chasing a phantom?

She touched her bracelet & its dull red cloud vanished in the cool air. She cocked her laser pistol & stared in the direction of the new moon. In the dim starlight she could see nothing but dunes stretching out to the thin asymptote of dark horizon. She saw no sign of a spy watching her in the night.

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Twinkle Twinkle

Empire & Foundation

Music=
1. You Are The Stars
2.  Any Wonder
 -Yellow Ostrich







"We all have two lives. The second one begins when you realize you only have one. -Confucius

UFOtext=
I. Gobi Desert
The Dragon tells Astira about the fall of the Empire & the birth of the Foundation. A mysterious visitor appears in the desert night.
~
The wind died in a mournful hum. The sky cleared of red rust. The naked stars emerged- a canopy of diamonds. Astira touched her bracelet, an optical image of the desert world glowed in the dark. A crimson dot marked her position. At higher lattitude a blue dot marked the position of the Crescent Lake, the only body of water on the desert planet.
Stardate September 3, about 8 weeks of wandering in the desert, sleeping in the brutal heat of day, & travelling in the cool shadow of night. And for no purpose other than to evade detection.

Astira turned . She heard the faint humming in the sand, the rhythm of shuffling feet. In a shadow of starlight, the robe of the Dragon flowed across the dune.
"Somebody is following us."
Astira touched her bracelet- her optical projection vanished.
"Who is that one?"
"I don't know. It's only one person. But for the last week this person tracked our every move. This person is a space between our realities."
The Dragon closed his eyes in a moment of Zen. He became one with the void.
The Dragon then opened his eyes & the void of sky filled with stars.
"This one exists beyond normal inderstanding. We must become close to stay far away."
"Where is this one now?" asked Astira.
"This one is very close. Just beyond the dune in the direction of the new moon. Do not look in that direction now. Let him be close, relaxed & confident. We must now be humble. We must now be one with the way. We must become the singing sand beneath his feet."
The Dragon's robe swirled as he turned away. His fleeting shadow left no trace on the dunes.


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The Humming Dunes

Humming Dunes

Music=
1. Mental Traveller
2. Echoes
   -The Kickdrums








"Course rice to eat, water to drink, my bended arm for a pillow- therein lies happiness."
-Confucius

Astira

UFOtext=
I. Gobi Desert
Astira & company fake their demise & escape from the Crescent Lake, but are now stranded in the desert world of Gobi. The Mule departs, unaware of Astira's tracking device. The Second Foundation on the ruins of Trantor remain clueless. 
~

Astira opened her tired eyes. The emperor sun bled to rust, eclipsed halfway by humming dunes & undulating waves of heat, resonant with swirling dust. Her clothes stuck uncomfortably on her skin & sweat. A few emboldened stars fought what remained of the retreating light.

"About six weeks- that's how long our supplies last. Then we die."

Jamu smiled grimly. He reached into his backpack.

"Here you go beautiful- catch!"

He tossed a water bottle to Astira. She grabbed it in the air with both hands. 

"From the Crescent Lake- a vintage year!"

Jamu smirked. Astira drank greedily. One bottle equal her daily ration. She would drink half now, half later.

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Les Miserables

xx

Music=
1. Perfect
   -Smashing Pumpkins
2. Glow In The Dark
   -Night Flowers

" xx "











UFOtext=
I. Paris

A garden of chimes....Princess Lei remembered the secret sound of the black key as faint church bells died away upon the quiet waters of the Seine. The Count stood straight in the late afternoon, his lapel decorated with a single bloom of the azalea flower.

"My Lady, the thief holding the Yin diamond knows not its worth. The Buddha laughs at the desires of mortal men. The ancient Mandarin texts you read in the tower above the Crescent Lake make it abundantly clear; for even today, thousands of years gone by, the Silk Path still leads to the ultimate fate of all concerned."

The Count smiled imperceptibly. Princess Lei stood quietly, wishing she could believe the Count. She knew the ways of the sordid world, the ways of injustice & the impervious reign of authority. How could the Count be so confident? He must be miraculously naive, untutored by the cruel & practical realities of life. Yes, his early life, she vowed then & there to uncover its cloaked truth. The dark cloud over her mind passed. She awakened & stood before him. She smiled at his freshly picked azalea- a lovely accent of spring in late July.

"My Lady, your wandering thoughts of concern stray from the enlightened path, & furrow your lovely brow. The black key shows the way to all who would listen. Do you not remember its garden of chimes?"

The ancient Mandarin spoke. Princess Lei held her breath & tossed the black key into the Crescent Lake. Far below, a moonlit wave in a pure white circle spread across the night water.

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Demosisto*

The Dark Island

Music=
1. Better
  -The Kickdrums
2. White Shadows
  -Coldplay





" If your plan is for one year,
  sow rice.
  If your plan is for ten years,
  plant apple trees.
  If your plan is for one century,
  liberate the people."
  ~Confucius

I. The Dark Island

Something jammed the hyperspace link. Joshua tuned the flickering hologram, but it broke up into a million flickers of optical static. Astira dissipated. Joshua looked over at Vivienne. She stood rakish like a moonbeam in the dark.

"Your friend courts danger. Magnifico controls the mind & will crush her personality out of existence."

Princess Leizu formed out of moonlight & drifted toward Joshua. Joshua felt the weight of ten centuries. Outside, he heard the horses of the Emperor. Inside, Princess Leizu whispered in his ear. He knew the Future was the Past- nothing could ever change. Leizu reached for his hand. Joshua reached for the door. He kicked it open. The Emperor's guards passed through- mere shadows. Beneath a night sky of one thousand shooting stars, he held Leizu's hand & they ran liberated to the pier.

* Demosisto (People Stand) is the name of the new freedom party in Hong Kong founded in April 2016.

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