Dark branches fan out above her head, creating patterns to encircle the stars above. The tree creates a tapestry of spirals and stars, mimicking natures Fibonacci sequence. The vision covers her immediate line of site as she lies upon the grass, welcoming the night. A light breeze caresses her face, bringing the scent of burning embers to haunt her with memories of Earth. A blink of the eye brings her back to reality, realizing she is only gazing at a sensory program displayed on the screen embedded in the ceiling of her cubicle. A sign of resignation escapes her as she turns from the vision and returns her gaze to the white walls of her cell. For this is the prison she knows, with no escape.

Dear sister,

Another seven day cycle has passed in this place and I have tried to fill the empty hours by starting a narrative of my daily thoughts. It seems to help with the odd feelings I have been experiencing and also to ground myself in the here and now, no matter how tedious that is. If my circumstances do not change, I will include excerpts from this meditation at the beginning of my conversation with you to indicate where my state of mind is at the moment. It may only be random thoughts or meditative insights, but I might be able to push myself into some meaningful study by doing this exercise. It also seems to keep the strange presence at bay, allowing me once in a while to record some independent thought on the nature of the Anomaly. Even delving into our research subject within my own thoughts seems to call the odd presence to the foreground. This muddles my chain of deduction until I have lose the original starting point completely. I am hoping if I start my process with a short narrative about what I am thinking and what I want to accomplish, then the progress follows a more logical path without the added interference from the unknown source. I also found a way to continue my leisure reading using a similar method. I found if I give a short response to the inquiry, it seems to satisfy the questioner to the point where I can continue the story. This seems like I am giving into the madness, but it is working. I also found if I remain calm, no matter what is happening in the story, this seems also to reflect on the response of the invading personality.

I have seen little of my captors in the last period and the interrogations have not continued.  This is a welcome absence since the questioning created the greatest disturbance to the presence I feel.  It was impossible to stay calm during these sessions, so the reaction from my mental guest was reciprocated. When or if the inquisitions recommence, I will try and use some of the meditative methods you taught me to keep my emotions at bay.  An added benefit to this will be the aggravations that it is bound to cause my captors. 

I have done some troubleshooting on my wrist activation tattoo, so I can now access the music in my files. This repair has allowed me to continue my daily meditation mantra that is embedded in the program cube. It was only linked to my activation tattoo, so up to now I was not able to access it. It is amazing how much more effective this internal signal source is when sent directly into by brains sensory system. Since my captors are supplying me with visual entertainment not of my choosing during my forced stay here, I can at lease supply my own sound track. The sound and music included with the onboard programs are not to my taste and the quality is also poor, so it was ideal that you taught me enough about embedded application to repair my own internal system. It only required a hard reset of the embedded tattoo on my wrist and a reconnection to the external wrist unit, but I would never have known the correct order of this sequence without your knowledge. It is now working perfectly! I only wish the rest of my life was working as well. I so wish I could utilize my running program. It can be assured there are no exercise facilities on this industrial monstrosity. This unchanging daily routine will be the death of my ambition and sanity.

At times my brain actually welcomes the thought of a disastrous occurrence, just to break up the tedium.  I do not welcome the chance of crashing head on into the satellite spinning below, but at least that would be something new.

I could say I will write to you when something exciting happens, but the chance of that seems to be negligible.

Love always,

Annalis