Dear Victoria,


I sometimes wonder how different my life would be without the innovative advances in epigenetic research. If these mechanisms for the information mapping had never been defined, I would not be a complete organism at this point in my life. Regeneration was a giant breakthrough using this innovative approach, and I thank them for their tenacity in solving the process of limb formation at the cellular level. Imagine a blueprint of life embedded within each cells chemical makeup. The final mechanics for this ability still are not fully known, but the capability of activating it within a specific cell location was a major step forward to understanding the entire system. Every time I flex my new hand these thoughts interrupt my current focus. I wonder sometimes if my limb is trying to tell me something.


Mother is coming up in the next few days to transport most of my personal belongings back to London. I do not have many items left here with me in Oxford, but there is still too much things to transport by mail carrier and also some things are too fragile. For one it would be entirely expensive and also most are irreplaceable if lost or damaged.
Grandmother’s tea service is on this short list, along with my collection of exotic plant specimens. Mother and father will tuck these away in our old room for safe keeping along with the items you have left. I think I will miss the tea service the most. It would be completely worthless to take this with me to the research station. It will also be impossible to find an alternative once I get there. I will have to forgo this daily ritual for the extent of my stay, since there is no practical way to replace the tradition in space. I hope you have found a suitable surrogate on New London. The pleasures of an elaborate tea ritual every afternoon is something engrained in us since childhood. I do not know how I will cope without it. I will have to find another vice for this calming activity; some replacement to realign the mind before beginning the afternoon routines.


I will keep the bare minimum of personal items for the remainder of my time here. It will hopefully prepare me for the years ahead and help me clear my agenda for the trip to come. Although my departure is still many months away, I must start the process of separation from the life I have known. For you it will not be as drastic a step since your final destination is the planet surface and a planetary life. For me I will be transitioning to life on the research station. A near military life if you think about it. Weekly safety drills, refreshed air and dispensed rations. Let us hope that is all I will need to adapt to. I will not even adventure into the lack of privacy I will encounter. I am trying not to think of that. I have a feeling the craving for wide open spaces like those I encountered in New Zealand will be higher on my wish list than any other amenities. Dreaming of a future where the dangers of a total vacuum are only a few centimeter away are gone. But the thought of being in close proximity to the Anomaly overwrites all these programs. It will be worth every inconceivable occurrence to be close to my subject.


Enough of these thoughts! As I have always said, it will all be worth the final realization of our dream.


Love, Annalis