The Beaded Tapestry

Dear Victoria,

How can I describe the feeling of being in contact with you once again after such a long period of one sided conversations.  As I write this, you should be speeding back to your studio and the full influence of the creature we both are obsessed about.  I am sorry for the worry I have caused you by my delay, but since you were out of communication range at the research station, I could not contact you upon my arrival at the Phycoduras 8, and no Louvre currier was available to personally travel with my news. I will relay to you in a more detailed letter the cause of my delay,  although I myself are still unclear about what occurred during those lost months. I have been informed it had to do with stasis complications, but I doubt this conclusion.  Multiple theories about what occurred and why have been swimming around in my head, but I want to sort them out myself first before trying to explain them to you. I also want to utilize a more secure communication system.  Even with the encryption here on the station, I do not feel safe to share my concerns.  Even a trip in person may be warranted to discuss this information, so I may wait until I have a natural break in my work before arranging a trip planet side. I am allowed two planetary visits during the duration of the project.  I think this reason warrants one of those precious commodities. It will also allow us to be together after our long absence and that is a welcoming thought to get me through the next year.  I was planning to make my first visit two years into the project, but I may use an opportunity to escalate the timeline thanks to professor Simona’s project.  I will inform you as soon as I know more.

My sincere apologies for the cryptic conversation to start our first real contact in three years.  I myself am not sure what has happened to me and what results will come from it.  Let us just say it is all about time and how we perceive it.

Love Annalis.

Dear sister,

The snow covered hills are flying past, drawing me nearer each second toward the full influence of the Equine and the close of this chapter of the project.  I have so missed the creative spark provided by the creature as I open my carriage window curtains to the morning and the vision of my New London companion. The isolation from the influence has been hard to bear, but the work I performed at the research station and the conclusions that were made will be paramount to our work.  I now know which gaps need to be closed in the current rendition and the technical challenges that must be overcome. I hope once I am back under the full enchantment of the Equine, that I will completely solve the short comings of the interpretive piece. This will open the doors to the next stage of the project.

As I draw nearer to the studio, my hopes are that the weather will improve.  It has been cold throughout most of the return journey and I can feel the bitter temperatures during this leg of the trip biting through the glass.  The outside world is dead and bleak as only the winter world can be and I long for the temperate environment of the equatorial zone. I am still fourteen hours north of the Medici train station so as soon as the train descends into the desert valley the weather should become more climatic. Addison will meet me at the station to convey me the remaining kilometers to the studio site.  It will be good to be home and give me time to concentrate on catching up with you on your adventures. I know from the messages sent from the Louvre representative that you have finally arrived at the Phycoduras 8 after a delay of almost four months, but she was not forthcoming about the nature or cause of that delay.  The total communication dead zone near the research station was something I knew about, but was not mentally prepared for.  I am hungry now for news of you and the outside world. During these last isolated months I would like to know more about the current situation than the little I could delve out of the monthly Louvre courier who supplied me during my stay. I feel like I was isolated on a desert island.  I know this was what was planned out for this portion of the project, but as I said, I was not prepared.  The news that you had finally arrived only reached me during the first leg of this train trip, and no other details; nothing about the nature of the delay or the state of your being.  I hope all is well with you after your long slumber and also the functionality of your new limb.  I assume if something was wrong the Louvre rep would have informed me in the message, but I am not certain. 

I cannot wait until I am back in my studio to finally connect with you after all this time and to catch up on all the messages you have sent since my departure.  It makes me wish we had arranged a more timely way of sharing updates.  It would have been an astronomical cost for that type of communication method, but waiting over a year to hear what you were up too on Earth before you left has been torture. I can’t imagine what it has been like for you.  At least I know you were safe on Earth for part of that time. 

Now we can concentrate all our attention on the next phase of our project.  The anticipated (but still disappointing) results from the study of the current production away from the influence of the Equine has given me many ideas on how to improve the technical workings of the material. I believe that if I increase the concentration of natural materials in the paint elixir, it should improve the saturation of the equine experience. As I reported to you in earlier letters, I used as much nature products as I could, but I might need to change the proportions of off world sourced material. Even as far as eliminating them all together or waiting until these imported materials have been under the Equine influence longer. This will mean additional study needs to be carried out for new local sources and alternative material or a delay in the next production, but it will be worth it.

The first thing I will do is try and clear my pallet of the preconceived ideas that I brought with me from Earth.  Not exactly starting from scratch, but opening my mind to new ideas and perspectives.  I wonder if you have encountered any material under study on the space station. I believe during my brief stay there, someone mentioned that there is an entire lab dedicated to material studies. 

It is getting so hard to wait. Only a few more hours and I will be home.

I cannot wait to hear from you.

Love Victoria