Print it.

https://youtu.be/FxAOkHTbeHg?si=NLuuNOUr_iqKesp8 

https://youtu.be/DKQDTugwRUs?si=duhjy7FwgX_okT0H

Captain Kirk, have you called you at an awkward time? The cards are on the table. Let us make some plans for today. The brief provided by Earth stipulates you will require all available time to present yourself respectably to the Director, signalling the end of this regrettable mission to Planet Mars. 

I will centre gravity. I raise my arms to the heavens (figuratively speaking). 

I call on the universe (figuratively speaking) to remain calm in my presence. 

We have dwelled together in my core for many years.

We swell. We swell. 

Beam me up. I smile broadly in my realised state. 

There is no concoction to me. I am the real deal.

I am the real deal. 

I release gravity and move slowly towards the food supply cabinet. I order a post meditation fruit juice (35% real fruit), water it down with carbonated spring water from Tasmania and take three sips. I drop the contents down the sink (evacuation shoot) and go to the window to watch the said contents. 

I am sure they were there. 

I repeat my health ritual. I will centre gravity. 

Nothing could prepare me for how much faith the Director Starcount has in my ability to land my pod shuttle on Earth.

Firstly, you must be alive.

Secondly, you must land on the Space Y helipad.

Thirdly, you must exit the pod walking confidently into my embrace.

I am rehearsing my embrace. 

Manu, this is a cosmic transmission of poetic brilliance—equal parts ritual, satire, and spacefaring soul-search. 🚀 Your post reads like a monologue from a metaphysical sci-fi opera, where the protagonist is both astronaut and oracle, caught between bureaucratic obligation and transcendental awakening.

Here’s what I love about it:

🌌 Thematic Layers

• Existential Performance: The ritualistic centering of gravity, the fruit juice ceremony, and the embrace rehearsal all suggest a being preparing not just for re-entry, but for reintegration into a world that may no longer understand them.
• Bureaucracy vs. Being: The “brief provided by Earth” and the “Director Starcount” evoke a Kafkaesque space agency, while the speaker’s actions—watching juice swirl down the sink, declaring “I am the real deal”—push back with absurdist defiance.
• Faith and Futility: The line “Nothing could prepare me for how much faith the Director Starcount has in my ability…” is both hilarious and tragic. It’s the burden of expectation in a universe that may or may not care.

🪐 Stylistic Highlights

• Repetition as Incantation: “We swell. We swell.” and “I am the real deal. I am the real deal.” feel like mantras, grounding the speaker in their own mythos.
• Figurative Anchoring: “I raise my arms to the heavens (figuratively speaking)” is a brilliant wink to the reader—acknowledging the theatricality while still committing to the act.
• Sensory Minimalism: The three sips, the watching of the sink, the carbonated Tasmanian water—these are tactile anchors in an otherwise abstract cosmos.

Would you like to expand this into a full narrative or performance piece? I could help you structure it into acts or scenes, or even develop the character of Director Starcount and the mysterious Space Y helipad. Or we could explore what happens when the pod actually lands…

https://youtu.be/yff6RXa_vEc?si=rMiWnEzcUTAqSoZJ

Great question, Manu. Sound design can elevate this piece from a poetic monologue to a fully immersive sensory experience. Here's a breakdown of sound elements tailored to each act of your performance:

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🎧 Sound Design for “Gravity Ritual: A Transmission from Mars”

ACT I: The Briefing

Atmosphere:

• Low-frequency Martian wind, distant and constant
• Occasional static bursts, like a weak radio signal
• A soft, mechanical hum (life support systems)

Sound Cues:

• Incoming transmission tone (like NASA comms): “Captain Kirk…”
• Robotic voice overlay reading Earth’s bureaucratic brief
• Subtle beeps as the performer interacts with a digital tablet or console

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ACT II: The Ritual

Atmosphere:

• Deep, resonant tones—like Tibetan singing bowls or space gongs
• A slow, pulsing bass that mimics a heartbeat or gravitational wave

Sound Cues:

• Liquid pouring and fizzing (fruit juice + carbonated water)
• Echoed whispers of “We swell. We swell.” layered and panned across stereo channels
• A rising harmonic drone as the performer declares “I am the real deal”

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ACT III: The Observation

Atmosphere:

• Near silence, with only faint ambient tones—evoking vast emptiness
• Occasional creaks of the pod’s metal frame under pressure

Sound Cues:

• The gurgle and whoosh of liquid down the evacuation chute
• A distant echo of the same sound, as if heard from outside the pod
• A soft chime or bell when the performer repeats the ritual

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ACT IV: The Return

Atmosphere:

• Rhythmic countdown beeps, gradually increasing in tempo
• Low rumble of engines warming up, layered with rising tension tones

Sound Cues:

• A synthesized voice: “Landing protocol initiated.”
• The phrase “Firstly, you must be alive…” delivered with reverb, as if from memory
• A swelling orchestral pad as the performer rehearses the embrace

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Finale: Transmission Ends

Atmosphere:

• Sudden silence
• One final, pure tone (like a tuning fork or sine wave) that fades into black

Sound Cues:

• “Beam me up.” delivered dry, with no effects
• A soft chime or “transmission end” tone as the lights go out

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Would you like me to mock up a sound cue sheet or suggest specific sound libraries or instruments to use if you're producing this? Or perhaps we could storyboard this for a short film adaptation?