Special Sunday Night New Release: Graves Circuit

aka:  We Will Always Have Tea

The year is 3579 and the human population has long since branched out into the universe abroad.  While most of the economy is based around the mining of necessary resources to continually repair an aging fleet, science and technology has emerged with new advances to make life in space more comfortable.  One technology in particular, Dream Walking, has allowed populations to go into stasis and perform their daily jobs in a virtual reality of their own mind, eliminating the need for large amounts of physical infrastructure.  Entire information and service sector jobs now boom, rich in resources of an unlimited imagination of the mind.  Entire corporations data-mine ideas through the Dream Walks, while others educate, create, and perpetuate the human culture and society.  And even better for the corporations, all you need are employees willing to "sleep" on the job.  Of course, it did raise questions with sleep specialists as to whether or not the brain could get adequate rest to regenerate. 

Neptune Orbiter Five, high in orbit above the planet it calls home, has emerged as a recent leader in the Dream Walking industry, with a majority of the station being dedicated to services needed for the "creature comforts" of living in space for prolonged periods of time.  While most of the actual Dream Walkers live in other areas of the galaxy where there is more room and rent is cheaper, the corporations have a few Technologists maintaining systems aboard space stations and other communication relays throughout the network.  Considered as "super users," these Technologists function on the station to maintain the neural networks needed to conduct business across the internet, forming a sort of super-node or super-server comprised of the human brain and body.  For these Technologists, life is "flipped" around; considering that their work day consists of approximately twelve to sixteen hours of sleep, more if overtime is needed, leaving these men, women, and other genders time to play in their off-work hours.  Two such Technologists, Onxy and Emerald, have formed a peculiar relationship over tea.

"Onyx, where we heading tonight after work?" Emerald asked, toweling the last of the superconducting gel from her hair.  The duo were field testing two new technologies in the lab - a gel that acted as a superconductor between the body and computer, and a new latex that allowed a person to be submerged in the gel for great periods of time.

Emerald yawned as she stretched, releasing the tension from muscled that were forced in place after a long sixteen hour shift.  "Well, I think I feel like dumplings tonight."

Onyx chuckled on the thought of dumplings, her mind instantly going to something other than their favorite restaurant on the Pleasure Deck.  The restaurant was a favorite for two reasons - it had the best wonton soup in the galaxy and it was conveniently located across from the corridor where the friends' offices for the Dream Lab were housed.  "You and those dumplings.  We're just going to have to work out that much longer tonight."

"Yeah, these uniforms don't really give too much wiggle room for carbs," Emerald said as she skipped across the way to the restaurant.  "What to have..."

"Dumplings?"  Onyx teased her friend as they approached the bar.

"And tea.  You know, that's something that's always been around."

"Bars?" Onxy joked as she picked up the menu.

"That too, but tea, and dumplings of course, but especially tea," Emerald said as she took a sip of the hot beverage at the bar.  "That always feels good after a long session in that gel."

"But tea is always interesting," Emerald continued.  "Tea has always been there.  Hot caffeinated beverages in general always have been."  Emerald took another sip while Onxy settled in at the bar with her menu, her own cup of tea in hand. 

"You've been data-mining in the archaeology section again, haven't you?" Onyx smirked as she ordered her wonton soup and steamed vegetables. 

Emerald blushed, the red of her cheeks making her body flush, moving a chill across her skin.  "Maybe," she said as she rubbed her exposed arms.  "Is it a bit cool in here?"

"You've been in the tank too long," Onyx said, "but it is a bit chilly.  Maybe it's time we let these suits warm us up."  Onxy pressed a button on her forearm and a latex film closed in over her body.  Emerald did the same and her suit shown green.  The duo were thankful of the successes in the testing they were making.  The suit formed a thin but strong and warm covering over both women, providing thermal regulation for them when they were in extended Dream Walking sessions or in the cool, open air restaurants in the Pleasure Deck. 

"Dinner's up, that'll be 10 credits," the gruff barman said to the women as he scanned their identification chips on their wrists for pay, one of the many technologies built into the cybernetic suits they wore daily.  The women took their dinner and went to the nearest table.

"Mmmmm, dumplings!" Emerald said as she poked at one with her chop stick, letting the steam rise up out of it.  As she sat and watched the steam, she took another sip of the tea.  "Now where were we?  Tea I believe?"  Onyx nodded in agreement as she took her first bite of the steamed vegetables.   Emerald took another quick sip, "Tea is always interesting.  Here we are, sitting on a space station over four billion kilometers from where our species originated."  Emerald took another sip, savoring the scent of the brew, "And we're sitting here drinking a beverage and eating food that was the same as food and drink served almost 5,000 years ago."

Onyx looked up from her meal at her friend, "Okay, I'm taking the archaeology section tomorrow.  No zoup for you!"

"And you were in the 20th century entertainment section."

"Maybe," Onyx blushed.  She had a guilty pleasure of finding a picture show called "Seinfeld" on her breaks in the Dream World.  "Go on though, your weekly analysis of tea is always fascinating," she said as she took a sip of her own beverage. 

Emerald chuckled.  "Tea.  Here we are, on a space station, millions of kilometers and thousands of years from where this beverage originated, but we're still drinking it, and we'll always be drinking it, that's the irony of tea."  She took another sip.  "Ten thousand years from now, humans will be sitting on a space station talking and drinking tea.  Of course, because of all the chemicals now around us, our bodies and our cybernetic suits have to process, digest, and metabolize it different.  Hence these suits.  Our livers would never handle our environment on their own.  Or lungs, or stomach, or any other part of our bodies really."

Onyx sighed with that thought, remembering her history lessons of when the pollution drove their ancestors to the stars in 2246, "Too true," she said.  She always wondered what the original tea trees looked like.  Or trees at all.  She had never been on a planet in the entirety of her life.

"No way possible for us to filter out all these toxins on our own; the tea alone is fine, it's everything else that's gotten in there from the industrial waste fields of Mars and everywhere else that would kill us."  Emerald took her last sip of the beverage and held her hand over her cup, motioning to the barman that she had her fill.  "Recreation time.  Where to tonight?" Emerald asked as they dematerialized the last molecules of food from their plates and bowls, cleaning their table for the barman.  Exercise was always important when working in the Dream Walking industry.  The hazard of being asleep for so long each day for work was twofold: not only were they restless after such a long shift, but they also risked their muscles atrophying from being so underutilized throughout the day. 

Onyx took a few sporty jumps near the bar, "What about racquetball tonight?  We haven't played it in awhile, and maybe the club after?" she said practicing her backhand. 

Emerald tipped the barman, the food was always wonderful there.  "Sounds like a plan," she said as she made a few test stretches herself, the two walking off further onto the Pleasure Deck.



Special thanks to Jackie Graves for the gift of Circuit and the matching Mainframe Boots today, as well as the inspiration for not only this post, but plenty of other cyberpunk themes in SL.  Circuit is the newest release, released just today, and is available at her mainstore for L$690.  She also suggested pairing it with the matching Mainframe Boots for L$390, also available at her mainstore, and conveniently located directly in front of the Circuit display.  The outfit comes in seven colors, shown to the left, as well as multiple clothing layers and attachments.  A favorite was an optional electrical plug... which plugs into your butt, a very cute touch indeed.  She also has an animated layer for the clothing that allows circuitry to light up on your avatar's torso and thighs.  There are also some really great nuances as well - the implants for the breasts are asymmetrical from each other, there is circuitry along the design of the suit, and the bracers also have some very nice glowing buttons to it as well. 


Overall:  10/10

Pros:  Perfection as always Jackie, love your work!

Cons:  None, except you'll want to purchase all of them (for L$1990).  We haven't done the math on purchasing the entire store yet.


Sonja/Emerald Styling Guide:
Outfit:  Graves, Circuit in Green for L$690
Boots:  Graves, Mainframe Boots in Green for L$390
Hair:  Truth, Janice in Black/White for L$250

Arizona/Onyx Styling Guide:
Outfit:  Graves, Circuit in Clear for L$690
Boots:  Graves, Vertigo Boots for L$490
Hair:  CatWa, Dima in Black/White for L$250

Credits:
Outfit and Shoe:  Jackie Graves
Concept and Storyboarding:  Sonja Mistwallow
Review:  Sonja Mistwallow
Models:  Sonja Mistwallow and Arizona Navarathna
Photography:  Philip Belgold
Photo Editing:  Philip Belgold and Arizona Navarathna
Story:  Arizona Navarathna
Editing:  Arizona Navarathna and Sonja Mistwallow
Special thanks to Jackie Graves for the outfit, and to the creators and citizens of Insilico for the location and inspiration for this post.  

Editor's Note:  Never has a post taken so long for us to compile, but it was a true team effort and worth the time tonight.  We always love reviewing big names when we get the chance, not because the clothes look great or because it's an easy review, but because it gives us the chance to be creative with our ideas and design.  We figure that you probably don't always want to read the same review over and over, just as Sonja does not like to write the same review repeatedly and I really don't like to edit the same review daily.  We are huge fans of Ms. Graves here at TRF, and it was a true surprise to receive her gift today.  We always like to try to make each review have something more than just plain critique.  There were a few times, and many SL crashes and lag, that made us wonder if we'd ever even get this post up.  But, we had to put it up, because creations of this caliber need something more than our usual critique and five-minute photo editing.