{"code":"frontier","collection_type":"theme","subroute":"frontier","title":"An Endless Frontier","header_1":"An Endless Frontier","header_2":"From the oceans to the stars.","description":"A collection of short stories on humanity's exploration. Read or download. Jack London, Ray Bradbury, H. G. Wells and more.","has_text":true,"quote":{"quote":"“Everything was as black as night outside, except where the beam from his light struck through the waters.” * In The Abyss","code":"in-the-abyss"},"image":true,"image_alt":"A pencil sketch of Bathosphere shooting a beam of light.","image_filter":"brightness(0.7) contrast(1.2) hue-rotate(194deg)","image_title":"In The Abyss - Sketch","image_code":"in-the-abyss","stories":[{"story":"the-night-born","description":"Was it merely the prospect of gold that drew westward the early American colonists? The rich had plenty of comfort staying in the East, or in England for that matter. And for the poor there was no guarantee of fortune, only of danger. One can not deny the call of adventure. That which called mankind to spread out of Africa and across the globe, that which called Abraham out of his tent, and that which calls us even today to set sail and leave our homeland. It may not be rational, it may not be self-preserving, but it is undeniably present when we think of the wild, wild chaos of unexplored territory.\nThe Night-Born centres on a woman who discovers that she cannot bear to live in her house while the call beckons her. What is scrubbing dishes and setting bread compared to hunting buffalo and wresting canoes from the wind? After the call becomes to much, she runs from her home and sets out without a plan, and soon finds herself meeting the danger and her destiny. "},{"story":"in-the-abyss","description":"Is there still a vestige of mystery within our blue planet we can dream of uncovering? Perhaps some, for if even with all of our submarines and sonar we are yet to capture sight of a fully grown colossal squid, what else could lay hidden in our deepest trenches? The opacity of the ocean grants us but a small opportunity to take naïve, charming guesses into what may remain unknown in nature.\n*In the Abyss* follows an eccentric explorers attempt to plunge into unseen oceanic depths. And fortunately for him, his efforts are rewarded with the magnificence of discovery. "},{"story":"rocket-summer","description":"Humanity assumed in advance the next several steps forward for quite some time. Neil Armstrong’s giant leap was dreamed of for hundreds of years before coming to fruition in *From Earth to the Moon* (Jules Verne, 1865), *The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall* (Edgar Allan Poe, 1835), *The Man in the Moone* (1638) etc. Of course, a journey to Mars has always been as clear a next leap as a second rung on a ladder. But with the journey mapped out so clearly one might begin to hesitate at where it is all leading.\nAs mankind prepares a trip to the moon, one man worries that mankind’s ever-growing dominion and control of technology will lead to war and tragedy as it always seems to. And in the end, William Stanley of *Rocket Summer* chooses to plant his heels in the ground in resistance to the idea of further exploration. But he finds himself alone in his desires and must contend with the public’s fervour in taking the next step."},{"story":"the-chamber-of-life","description":"Is there anything to be appreciated in the exploration of virtual worlds. While we are called forth to explore our boundaries on Earth, is there anything to find in screens and headphones, or is it but a narcissistic temptation to cover one’s eyes to reality.\nA man meets the inventor Melbourne who shows him a machine capable of surrounding him in a virtual world indistinguishable to the senses from reality. Soon he finds himself lost in the world, and never wants to leave."}]}