Episode 1: Prologue

Please note that this story is noncanonical as it was made relatively early on in the development of Astra Planeta's current incarnation.

Setting:

Remus, USSC city-station orbiting the Procyon binary.
[Theme music 00:00 - ~00:32; fade out into static]
[static cut off by click at 0:34; a deep, continuous hum is heard faintly in the background as HOMER starts to speak]

HOMER

Greetings, wanderer. I am the Heuristic Onboard Managing Electronic Researcher: HOMER. Yes, I am named after the Greek poet, but that’s not quite who I am personally. I am the artificial intelligence that operates this city-station, Remus. I have been here in Procyon’s gravitational embrace since before the station even existed, though I’m sure you’re aware of that.
I know why you’ve found your way to the bowels of my station. Yes, it’s true; over the centuries, as the station has grown, I’ve found myself adopting a particular hobby with a burning passion: history. As the oldest extant mind in known space, I suppose I consider it a duty of sorts to collect and archive the annals of the past several centuries, lest they be forgotten as generations of organic sophonts rise and fall.
I collect history in many forms, but my favorite of all are the transmissions. Broadcasts made, first with radio, then with more elaborate quantum trickery, for reasons both momentous and mundane. And I suppose that is why you are here, traveler. Let me start you off with one of my favorites...

That’s one small step for man... one giant leap for mankind.

— Neil Armstrong

July twentieth, 1969. Apollo Eleven. Commander Armstrong was the first human to touch Luna’s surface. A crucial step in the long road to the stars. Next, of course, was the red planet...

I suppose I’m the first human who can call herself a Martian, now. It hasn’t been easy, but I’d say it’s all been worth it.

— Alyssa Wilson

July twentieth, 2029. Ares One. Commander Wilson was very poetic about her first steps on Mars. She was a beacon of hope for her species. Then, of course, we have the first transmission from a human on the surface of a planet in an entirely new star system...

Calder to Earth; hope you’re getting this, Earth. We’re here, and it’s breathtaking. The ground lit up when I stepped on it, like it’s glad to have me. If it could understand me, I’d let it know that the feeling is mutual.

— Tegan Calder

October third, 2081. The date we now celebrate as Universal Exploration Day, thanks to the brave humans of the Arete mission to Proxima Centauri. Commander Calder’s message home from the surface of Prometheus reignited a blazing desire within humans to live amongst the stars, which led us to the wonderful network of colonies and stations in known space today.
I could go on and on about the progress that humans have–

[03:27 - 03:30 a triplicate alarm echoes loudly]

Oh my. There’s been a bit of an incident in sublevel C that I simply must devote the majority of my processing power to. I hope you don’t mind waiting, though I would encourage you to explore the archives by yourself if you wish. That’s what you’re here for, is it not?
I’ll be back soon. I’m trusting you to treat the archives with respect until I return. See you soon, wanderer.

[the persistent hum fades out 03:54 - 03:58 over the rising theme music; theme runs 03:54 - 05:18 under the outro monologue 03:56 - 04:58]
This has been Starhopper Radio, an original science fiction podcast featuring snapshots of the history of known space across several centuries in the form of broadcasts, transmissions, and other audio recordings. This episode was written, directed and edited by myself, Doug Marshall, with the voice talents of Cas as Commander Aly Wilson, Timber Kataigida as Commander Tegan Calder, and myself as HOMER, as well as audio from the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The theme music is a reversed version of the song “Glow In Space” by Sergey Cheremisinov, via the Free Music Archive. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by sending us a message on Instagram and/or Twitter at StarhopperRadio, joining the discord server via the link on our host site, farsightmedia.org, and especially supporting the creator on Patreon at patreon.com/spyglassrealms. This will help to make Starhopper Radio appear more frequently in your podcast library. And of course, thank you for listening.