>>5837169"Let's try and stay out of the limelight for now. Humanity as a whole is constantly staring up into space, looking for any signs of life... except for one spot, actually."
<span class="mu-i">["The sun?"]</span> SHODAN guesses.
"Right. Not good for your eyes, not good for your very expensive telescope. Keep the sun not quit directly behind us and we'll be a lot closer to invisible."
<span class="mu-i">["Planet is in sight, Captain. Early readings suggest an oxygen concentration of 21%."]</span>
Hoo, it's Earth. You're sure of it now.
<span class="mu-i">["Shall we make a landing, Captain?"]</span>
"No, not yet. Do you have eyes on the moon?"
<span class="mu-i">["Yes, Captain. There is an excessively large orbiting body nearby."]</span>
"Yeah, that's her. Alright. Get fairly close, and then slip behind the moon. We're gonna sit there for a while and try some shit."
<span class="mu-i">["Very well, Captain."]</span>
As planned, on approach to Earth, SHODAN keeps your ship positioned such that any telescopes would likely be avoiding your little patch of sky.
Then, as soon as you're close enough, you zip behind the moon and kill the supercruise. If anything caught you, it would barely even register as a blip.
It was just for a second, but you caught sight of a little blue ball zipping across the sky as you did so.
Now sitting on the far side of the moon, you're sure of it. Really, really sure.
Compared to the front, it's really not that interesting. Barely a scratch on it, no huge lava fields or anything... but that's her. That's Luna.
Seeing that, you stop thinking for a while. You lean forwards onto the instrument panel and just stare out at it for a while.
"Damn. We're really here, huh? So close to home..."
<span class="mu-i">["But not quite there."]</span> SHODAN finishes your thought.
"Yeah. Alright, let's slip around the edge, see if you can pick up some radio signals. Shouldn't take you long."
<span class="mu-i">["Understood."]</span>
SHODAN pulls the ship round, until the edge of the moon is no longer completely blocking the myriad of signals earth is constantly blasting out into space.
Once she's able to pick some up, it doesn't take her long to figure out how to decode them. And less than ten minutes later, she's got access to the internet by hijacking a starlink satellite.
The connection was only one way, but she was able to use that to point a more powerful dish at the moon and make a full and proper connection.
<span class="mu-i">["We are connected, Captain. What now?"]</span>
>Check some news sites. I want to know what's happened on earth since i got abducted.>Look for information on me specifically. Public records, obituaries, anything you can find.>Maybe it's best if you just... familiarize yourself with the web, first. What you've seen in my memories is just the tip of the iceburg.>Write-In? 