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Studio, New London

Dear Analis,

It has taken almost two weeks but finally I have achieved a workable balance between the scientific focus I require to continue my investigation and the overwhelming draw of my art. The creative brain within me revels in the night view of the Equine so I give my full attention to my painting during the darkest hours of the planet’s daily rotation. The remaining time is split between the needed research i strive to continue and the required routine of daily living.  The construction activity is now focused on the far side of the studio site as all work has been completed on the central residence and studio structure.  I can easily block this distant activity from my routine as there are few interruptions that need my attention.  The lab equipment is fully functional and the environmental tests have produced results well within the required parameters. I struggled for several days with the neurology units as they were last used on Earth.  The wave scanner was out of calibration and needed to be completely retuned after I checked the initial numbers.  I have done as you directed and conducted a third readout of my brain spectrum to compare to the baseline scan we performed on Earth and the second performed in your new lab on the  Phycodurus-8. Since your instructions specified that the calibration parameters were to be as narrow as possible before the test was conducted, I believe this is why the setup took me so long.  I will perform one more scan in just over a month on myself and I will then send the information to your database. The data from my Earth scan and the test done on my visit aboard the station are already uploaded and waiting for your perusal.

As you have directed, I did not conduct any type of comparison between the three test.  You were very mysterious about this point but I deduce it has something to do with tainting the evidence with my own perspective.  Hopefully by next month I will have pictorial scans from one of the New Britannians to add to your database. I have been unsuccessful in securing an agreement with any of the locals for this process, but I still have hopes of making contact again with Katryna.  My first visit to Medici last week was very interesting but did not produce the expected contact with her  that I had hoped for.  All I discovered was that she lives east of the village and only comes into town a few times a month.  I have left a message at the village hall and hope she will not be long in responding. If I have not heard from her within the next month Addison has offered to transport me there on his next supply run.  There is a clay source used for the build located in the general area of her home and he is willing to make a short detour. I hope it does not come to this as I hesitate to be away from my work at this time.

During my short visit to Medici I was able to explore the east part of the village.  The majority of the structures are constructed of the local clay blocks and the architectural arrangement  hints of the communal concepts used by the followers of Arcasanti.  Although it deviates from the societies that have popped up on Earth over the last century  the similarities between eastern Medici and these territorial saving villages are evident.  The eastern section of Medici consists of one large structure of interconnecting buildings arranged in a compact octagon surrounding a central village community hall. One side of the structure is bordered by the river and the remaining seven  sides by food and energy farms as mandated by the New London planetary charter. Residential units and shops are equally mixed as you move around the structure and all surround the central building housing the community hall.  This structure built in the center of the octagon is the only building with windows on all sides.  The surrounding buildings only have windows facing the center.  I am sure it has some purpose but I will have to do some investigation as my driver did not say when I asked. It is logical that there is a security aspect to this type of arrangement but I am not certain this is the case. The entire top of the structures including the town hall are covered in thick turf for insulation and oxygen production per the planet regulations and it makes for a very colorful display. I saw quite a variety of businesses within this part of Medici and it seems I will be able to purchase most of my necessities from local sources.  I was able to pick up the custom tapestry cushions I ordered for the window seats during my time there along with a few other white goods for my sleeping room.  One of the things I did to create my work balance was to move back into the residential part of the studio.  I realized in order to sustain any level of concentration on the research side of my work, I would need to return to a normal sleeping arrangement and not dream surrounded constantly by my renditions of the Equine. Even a simple thing as arranging a shopping trip for linens removes me from the overpowering stimulus of the studio and allows me to refocus on the required plans to move forward.  

Tomorrow I will begin the sustainability test on the sage and copper. These two substances have shown the most promise for wave carriers within the painting and I hope their wavelength characteristics show they are able to sustain the signal for the required timeframe we have allowed for.  I left these tests till now as the environmental stability of the studio is so critical to the end results.  As I said,  the lab is now at optimal conditions for the instruments and I can focus my full concentration to the last leg of testing for these initial substances.   I will be using one of my first equine renditions produced here for the test subject since the acrylics have had the most time to stabilize.  It is not my most accurate portrayal but I want to rule out erroneous readings from the possibility of molecular instability in the newer works.  My perception has shifted significantly since I produced these earlier works and I am fascinated with what my brain has added to the more recent Equine images.  We were so convinced that once my brain began to adjust to this new world my explicit memory would take over and I could train myself to relate what I see to my pre-existing experiences. Instead my brain is reverting to its implicit memory. Unconsciously pulling comparisons from my past that are instinctive and involuntary.  I am excited to see how my scan has changed between the three readings but as your instructions forbad this I am hoping you can make sense of the changes that are occurring within me.  Since I am not a Perceptual Neurologist as you are I will have to wait for your input. At least by that time I hope to have a native scan for you to work with.

I await your arrival with less patience each day.

Love

Victoria