The Last Man

[Wayne23]

1/1/2069: 2-0 start in the Big 10.

1/15: 13-5, 6-0, #15, RPI #11. Tied for 1st with Michigan, 2 up on 3rd place.

1/29: 16-6, 9-1, #12, RPI #15. +6.7 PPG, +4.8 RBs, +2.2 TOs. Tied for 1st with #15 Michigan, 3 up on 3rd place. Sims leads us in everything except assists. He’s #7 on the Norton list.

2/12: 19-7, 12-2, #13, RPI #22, alone in 1st, 1 up on Michigan, 3 or more on the rest.

Sims is #8 on the Norton list.

2/26: We end the regular season at 22-8, 15-3, #14, RPI #24. +8.5 PPG, +5.5 RBs, +2.7 TOs. We wind up tied for 1st in the Big 10 with #16 Michigan. We’re the #2 seed. Sims leads us in points, RBs, blocks, and steals.

3/5: No one leaves for the draft.

Nate Sims is #9 on the Norton list.

[Wayne23]

3/7: #7 seed Penn ST, 16-14, 10-8, in the quarter final round. They won by 10 there.

3/8: 63-54. We led all the way. 24 for Rich. +11 TOs.

#3 seed, #22 ranked Indiana, 21-9, 12-6, in the semifinals. We won by 9 there.

3/9: 50-67. We shot 25.9% and had 18 TOs. Not a good night.

3/12: 23-9, 15-3, #16, RPI #27. 6 seed? 7?

#3 South. I’m thrilled. We play #14 Monmouth, 20-12.

3/17: 72-33. Our D was incredible. +14 RBs, +14 TOs. 25 for Jons.

#6 seed Boston College, 23-9, in the 2nd round.

3/19: 70-85. We let them shoot 57.7%. 21, 4, 6 for Rave, 16, 5 for Baro, 10, 9 for Sims.

This was a successful first season. We met all of our goals.

4/3: UConn won it all for the 6th straight year.

4/4: Awards: Nate Sims was a 2nd team All American. In conf., Sims was POY, Def. POY, and 1st team. Val Jons was Frosh OY and 2nd team along with Del Baro and Ry Rich.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. We got $21,500.

24-10, 15-3. Overall, I’m 1217-225, .844.

Looking forward to a great season.

[Wayne23]

January, 2170: Big trouble says it all. With no warning I felt what could be nothing other than an earthquake. Fearing a tsunami I raced to send the warning signal to the spacecraft even though I knew it would never get there on time.

Both Lacy and Amy were there and I had to at least try. I then did what I could in the few minutes I had. The long distance weather observation showed that indeed there was a tsunami on its way with an estimated arrival time of 9 to 12 minutes. In 8 ½ minutes I was strapped in.

The tsunami was huge. I saw it on the monitors as it raced toward me. It hit like an explosion. The ship felt like it was lifted completely out of the water and slammed back down into it. Then the ship was tossed around, turned around, turned over, and who knows what all. When it was over the ship was afloat but the damage was enormous.

I didn’t care about that. I gave very quick orders for the robots to assess, repair, and bail water, did the same for the 80 footer without even knowing if it had survived, and raced to get to the spacecraft, which I knew would take 45 minutes. There was no way my girls had received my warning in time so I was terribly worried for the entire 45 minutes.

Finally, I got there. As expected there was no one in any of the three chambers so I went into the HC and fired up the holohospital program.

The girls were both in hospital beds. Lacy was unconscious or sleeping, but Amy was awake and seemed coherent. I asked what happened.

“Why didn’t you warn us!”

I explained, and Amy nodded, then winced. I assumed a head injury the way she winced when she nodded.

“Lacy says I have to buckle in whenever I am sitting, working on something. She says, and boy was she RIGHT I guess, that some things can happen without a warning. So I make her do the same thing. It only helps if we’re working, not if we’re moving around or anything, but still. The chairs at the work stations are bolted to the floor, and that saved me. I know Lacy got hurt bad but it probably saved her, too.

“So anyway, we were both working when the… thing hit. Everything that was loose went flying around. I got hit by some stuff but it was mostly small stuff. I got cuts and all kinds of bruises but nothing serious. But Lacy got hit by a- I don’t know what it was, some kind of machine she used to measure stuff she got off the computer program. Anyway, it was big and made out of metal. It smashed right into her face and I think it knocked her out. There was nothing I could do until the storm thing was over, but I watched, and she got hit by the thing again, a few minutes later. In the back of the head this time, and she was bleeding. The robots tried to help but they were getting thrown around. One of them slammed into me. I thought my arm was broke but I guess not. Two or three of them slammed into Lacy. She didn’t feel it cuz she was knocked out, but it did even more damage. Finally, the storm thing ended, and I told the robots- the ones that weren’t broken, to get Lacy to the hospital, and they did.”

As it turned out Lacy had another concussion, but no skull fracture. Her nose was fractured, as was her right cheekbone. All of the other injuries were abrasions and contusions, some severe. The holodoctors were very concerned about the concussion, first because of the previous one, and second, because they couldn’t wake her from her unconscious state.

Day 2: Lacy is still unconscious. The doctors fear swelling in the brain area and are doing all sorts of testing. So far they haven’t found anything alarming but she needs to wake up.

Amy is in a lot of pain, given her age there are limited options regarding pain meds. The docs are doing what they can but I can see that’s she’s in a lot of pain. She’s handling it well, and she’s much more concerned about Lacy than she is about herself.

I need to get to the ship but I’m hesitant about going until Lacy wakes up.

Day 3: Lacy stirred several times today, and it looked like she was waking up, but she never did. The docs say that’s a good sign.

I made the trip back home. I had to. I was gone for four very long hours. I checked on repairs. The 80 footer survived the tsunami but it is in terrible shape. Repairs are being made but the estimate is a month before everything is fixed- if nothing else happens in the meantime.

The cruise ship is also in terrible shape. We lost lots of robots on both vessels, and new ones are being printed, but that’s a slow process. The ship is barely navigable, and it will be a few weeks before it is back to ship shape.

I got back to the spacecraft and nothing had changed. The medical holopeople were very concerned that if Lacy didn’t wake soon it would “be a problem.” They wouldn’t get any more specific than that.

Day 5: Lacy woke up. She is very confused, not sure who any of us are, or even who she is. The medical holopeople say this usually straightens itself out within a few hours.

Day 6: I had to go back to the ship again. I made it as quick as I could. When I got back Lacy knew me. She and Amy were talking so she obviously knew Amy as well. That was a huge relief. Amy is out of bed and able to do whatever she can tolerate.

The docs say Lacy will not be able to do anything that requires lots of concentration for several weeks, so we’re considering bringing her back to the ship. The docs say that’s not a good idea yet, but it may be okay within a few days.

Day 10: Lacy and the rest of us are back on the cruise ship. She understands that this makes sense for now, and I have promised that she can resume her work in space as soon as the docs okay it.

The ship is still under repair but it is able to cruise very slowly, 5 to 10 knots, and it is moving toward the destination we had set before the tsunami hit. That would not have saved us from the tsunami, but it will save us from severe storms for at least a while. The 80 footer is still being repaired and cannot move, so we left it behind. When it is fixed it will start moving in our direction.

Lacy is back to having severe headaches, but she is coherent. She sleeps a lot, and rests when she’s awake. She can’t read, and she can’t really focus on videos. She listens to music with the volume very soft, and she and Amy visit. I visit as well, of course. We need to keep our voices down and the room needs to stay dark, soft lighting at best.

This is so much better though. I am able to do the things I need to do without leaving the girls.

Amy is still in pain, but she’s getting better.

Next: Recuperation, repairs

[Wayne23]

5/1: We buy the national and international gold.

Preseason #9.

6/5: No one of interest in the transfer pool.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We need 3 bigs. Looking at 10.

8/7: 5 on the Norton list: SG Spin Purk is #8, C Nate Sims is #27, PG Neil Carn is #29, C Ben Sam is #47, and C Marv Griz is #49.

8/21: We offer to 3 Cs.

9/18: We get 2, lose 1. We get #9 and #16, lose #5.

No in season tournament this season. Lots of ranked teams on the schedule.

9/25: We get the 3rd recruit, #19.

10/2: 1st day of practice.

11/6: Here’s the lineup:

Frosh Neil Carn is at PG. Junior transfer Spin Purk is at SG. Soph Val Jons subs for both, and Gar Rave is looking for minutes. Jons and Rave started last season.

Senior Ben Sam is at SF.

Senior Nate Sims and frosh Marv Griz start inside.

Senior Del Baro, who eventually wound up starting last season backs up inside along with juco junior El Saw.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0. 91-62 over #16 Oregon. 77-55 over #24 Syracuse.34, 6, 5 for Purk in the 1st, 32, 4, 6 in the 2nd. Yeah, he can score!

All 3 recruits sign.

12/4: 5-1. #7, RPI #4. Lost to #18 North Carolina there, beat #10 Georgetown by 1 there.

Purk is getting 27.7 per game, and is leading us in rebounding as an SG with 8.0.

12/25: 8-1, #4, RPI #1. +12.5 PPG, +7.0 RBs, +4.3 TOs. Purk leads us in PPG, RBs, assists, and steals. He’s 2nd in blocked shots. And he’s our 2nd best defender. The guy can PLAY.

[Wayne23]

April, 2170: Lacy is recovering but it’s slow. The headaches continue, not all the time, but as soon as she tries to read or work she gets a headache. It is really frustrating her. The broken nose is healing but it’s painful, and it, too, is a slow process. She really wants to go back to her work. I catch her crying sometimes. The holodoctors can’t even tell her that it will get better. With this kind of brain injury, particularly since it’s the second serious one, recovery is not guaranteed, and there’s no timetable. This is a lot to have to deal with for a 17 year old.

Another issue is, of course, the fact that she has no peer group. Peers are important to teens. She has friends in the HC, and that helps a little, but no matter how real they seem while she’s in the HC with them, a part of her always knows they are not real. She has had a couple of boy friends in the HC but she winds up frustrated and says it feels make believe, which, of course, it is.

Amy’s recovery was quicker. She was fortunate enough to avoid any really serious injuries. At 13 she faces a lot of issues that are similar to the ones Lacy is facing. She has no peer group. She has no possibility of ever having a boy friend or a life partner.

Amy is more of a loner than Lacy is, and in many ways that helps. She spends a lot of time painting and sculpting, and that brings her joy and fulfillment. She works with the HC teachers and her art seems to get better all the time. It brings her so much fulfillment. Yes, she gets lonely at times, but lots of artists are loners, and she’s one of them, so mostly she’s okay.

Repairs continue on both the ship and the boat. The ship is still cruising toward the destination we were aiming for before the tidal wave. Max speed is now 15 knots, so it’s slow. We only travel when I’m awake, and not all the time that I’m awake. But we’re already out of what we consider to be the most dangerous storm track, so that helps.

The 80 footer is still back where we were when the tsunami hit. The word is that it will be ready to cruise within two weeks.

Next: Lacy’s health, the 80 footer returns, another earthquake/tsunami

[Wayne23]

1/1/2070: 2-0 to start conf. play. 10-1, #5, RPI #1.

Everything is falling apart. Of an estimated 9.5 billion people at one point in the mid 21st century, an estimated 3.3 billion have died. There are countries that have lost 2/3 of their population. Society is barely hanging on in many places, and the battle has been lost in others. Many parts of Africa and Asia have deteriorated into primitive lifestyles, tribalism… Some places in South America are also experiencing this.

Here, and in most of Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, things are better. By the same token, many of these areas are barely hanging on. The future is not bright.

My pickup truck is loaded and ready if I need to escape in a hurry. The conversion van has now been converted to where it can be driven by a robot. I’d like to take both vehicles. I have a route planned out that will take me to a remote spot in Wyoming. I will travel on only back roads to get there. The plan is to travel at night, slowly and without headlights or any other lights. I’ll hide during the day. Of course on moonless or relatively moonless nights I won’t get very far, but that’s the plan.

If I feel certain enough that the end of civilization is at hand I will leave before everything falls apart. In that event I can drive on highways and superhighways, even during the day, without much chance of running into trouble. This is not an exact science.

How close do I think this is? Anywhere from tomorrow to a decade from now. As I said, it’s not an exact science.

1/15/2070: 14-1, 6-0, #4, RPI #2. In a 3 way tie for 1st in the Big 10 with #6 Indiana, #15 Michigan. #17 Purdue is 1 back. This is a really good team.

1/29: 18-1, 10-0, #4, RPI #1. +15.5 PPG, +8.8 RBs, +5.2 TOs. Purk now leads us in all 5 major categories. He’s #8 on the Norton list and should be higher. We’re tied with Indiana for 1st. Michigan is one back. We play Indiana there this week, which will be a challenge.

2/5: We beat Indiana there, 73-64. Purk had 34 and 14. 20-1, 12-0, alone in first place. #3, RPI #1.

2/12: 22-1, 14-0, #3, RPI #1. 2 game lead in the Big 10 with 4 to play. Purk is still #8 on the Norton list.

2/26: We end the regular season 26-1, 18-0, #3, RPI #1. +17.4 PPG, +9.5 RBs, +5.8 TOs. We win the Big 10 by 2 over #8 Indiana and #9 Michigan, 5 over #21 Purdue, 9 or more over the rest. Purk still leads us in everything.

3/5: No one leaves for the NBA. Spin Purk is #7 on the Norton list.

[Wayne23]

3/7: #8 seed Wisconsin, 12-16, 8-10, won the play in.

3/8: 75-49. 23, 6, 4, 3 for Purk, 3 others with 11 or more. +10 RBs, +9 TOs.

#4 seed, #21 Purdue, 22-6, 13-5, in the semis. Their C broke his hand in today’s game and is out.

3/9: 75-62. 38, 8 for Purk. #3 seed, #8 ranked Indiana, 26-4, 16-2, for the title. Their best scorer is out with a broken leg. We won by 9 there.

3/10: 79-66. 18, 4 for Purk, who was doubled all night. 12, 12, 6 for Del Baro, 15, 8 for Carn, 12, 8 for Ben Sam. 39 RBs, 5 TOs.

29-1, 18-0, #3, RPI #1.

We’re a #1, but #1 overall?

#1 South, #2 overall. We play UL Lafayette, 16-16.

3/16: 77-58. 11, 13 for Griz. 5 guys with 10 or more. +11 RBs, 4 TOs (+17).

#9 seed Wake Forest, 19-12, in the 2nd round. Good team, but not as good as they usually are.

3/18: 67-55. 27, 7 for Purk, 10, 11, 5 for Griz.

#4 seed, #17 ranked Kansas, 22-11, in the Sweet Sixteen. They have a terrific SG, but then so do we. They’re C can play, too. This could be a tough matchup.

3/23: 91-66. Crushed them. 34 for PG Neil Carn, They doubled Purk so Carn took over. 50-32 at the half, and good D throughout.

#3 guard Val Jons hurt his wrist. He may miss our next game.

#2 seed, #5 ranked, #6 RPI Iowa ST, 30-6, in the Elite Eight. They’re very good at guard and they have a couple of big men who can bring it.

3/25: 62-50, and we’re in the Final Four! 18 for Purk, 14 for sub guard Bill Daws, filling in for the injured Jons, 8, 13 for Sims. 17 TOs, which did not make me happy.

We’ll play #1 overall seed, #2 ranked, Virginia, 32-2, in the national semifinal. Their SF is regarded as the best player in the country. We think we have a big edge inside. On paper we’re the better team but we need to play really well.

On the other side it’s #1 ranked UConn, 35-2, vs. #4 Oklahoma, 30-5. UConn is going for 7 titles in a row.

4/1: 84-65, and we’re in the title game. 28, 13 for Purk, 16, 10 for Griz, 9, 14 for Baro, 11, 8 for Sims. 52 RBs (+25).

It’s #1 UConn, 36-2, as expected. They have only a couple players who played for me. On paper they’re the better team. All we can do is play our best game and see what happens.

4/3: 64-75. Sims had 13 and 15, Purk 15, 4, Griz 13, 6, Baro 10, 8, but they held us to 25.7%, 21.4% on threes. We did what we could but they have one hell of a team, and 7 straight titles. Next year?

4/4: Awards: Spin Purk made 2nd team All American. In the Big 10, Purk was POY, Def. POY, and 1st team, along with senior Nate Sims.

4/16: I need to hire 3 assistants again. Dreading it. Not as bad as usual but not good.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. No.

34-2, 18-0, made it to the title game in only my 2nd season here. Good season! Overall, I’m 1251-227, .846, after 42 years. I turn 70 next week but I still look and feel mid 30s.

[Wayne23]

October, 2170: Lacy gets headaches much less often, and they are much less severe. But when she tries to work for more than a half hour or so the headaches stop her. She is beyond frustrated. She needs to do about six more months on the spacecraft to complete her Ph. D. research and that’s simply not possible until she can work without getting a headache.

Amy is 100% healthy, and creating art whenever she can, which is most of the time. She tries to help Lacy with her research and keeps her company at other times.

I try to round out Amy’s education. She’s okay with that, but she really wants to paint and sculpt, read, and work with her sister. She is least interested in history.

“It’s all about how stupid people were, and what bad, selfish decisions they made.”

She’s right, of course, but I still want her to know what came before.

The 80 footer is finally ship shape. It cruises faster than the cruise ship and has caught up to us. We are both about 150 miles from our destination, which means 1-2 days, if the weather stays clear. It has been fine for quite some time.

Day 2: I was awakened at about 3:30 a.m., when every alarm on the ship and on the boat went off. I threw a pair of pants on and checked what it was about.

There had been an earthquake nearby, which I had somehow slept through, and a tsunami was on the way. I had only minutes before it hit. I raced to the girls’ rooms, woke them, and told them to get to our designated safe spot and buckle in immediately. Don’t stop for anything. They did, and I did the same. From my secure seat I signaled all robots to take cover and secure themselves, and within seconds of that the tsunami hit.

It was not quite as bad as the last one but it was pretty rough. Our bolted to the floor chairs kept us safe. The safe spot is a small room I converted from the bar on the cruise ship. All that is in it is three chairs, as I said, bolted to the floor. So no flying debris can hit us. After every use we check the chairs and make sure the bolts have not loosened.

When we were able to get out of the chairs I did the usual checks, and found the usual extensive damage. This time, somehow a hole had been poked into the side of the ship and we were taking on a lot of water. I got the robots to work. A crew of aquatic robots got outside the ship and managed to put a temporary patch over the hole on the outside, and under water. Then some other robots got the water out, and then started working on a permanent fix, inside the ship. The patch was good for 2-3 days, so the fix would need to be done quickly. I had enough trained robots to get this done on time, so I wasn’t really worried. There was other damage, but all of it was typical, and easily repaired.

We lost more robots in this tidal wave than in any other, mostly because we had so little warning before it hit. The aquatic robots are stored safely when not in use, so we didn’t lose any of those. We had enough others to affect the repairs inside, but we’ll be printing robots for weeks before we get back to our full complement.

I then went to look for the 80 foot boat. I got to the side and looked out just in time to see it slipping below the water. There was nothing to be done. I watched it sink.

I hate the idea that our back up is gone, but I suppose that it was bound to happen, sooner or later.

I’m going to consult with some holoexperts to see if there’s any way we can build a back up boat. It’s too big for us to 3D print, and I don’t know what other options we have, but the experts may have ideas.

Next: Repairs, Lacy’s health, a back up boat

[Wayne23]

5/1: The usual reports.

#2 preseason, behind UConn.

6/5: No one in the transfer pool.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We need 3 guards. Looking at 15 recruits.

8/7: 2 on the Norton list: SG Spin Purk is #3, PG Neil Carn is #11. That’s the kind of team we have this year, lots of good guards, but thin up front.

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, a PF, and a C.

9/18: We get 2, lose 1. We get 2 PGs, #1 and #3.

Coaches Classic vs. Arizona ST. Challenging schedule.

9/25: Got 2, lost one. Got PG #2, PF #21.

10/2: Got our last guy, PF #4.

1st day of practice. We hope to stop UConn streak at 7.

11/6: Here’s the lineup:

Soph Neil Carn is at PG and senior Spin Purk at SG. Juco junior Jan Holt backs up.

Junior Val Jons starts at SF.

Senior El Saw, and frosh Rash Webb start inside. Soph Marv Griz and redshirt frosh Cris Arri back up. Griz started last season, and may again before it’s over.

We’re the #3 seed in the Coaches Classic.