Sender: <licyane@uma.edu>
Recipient: <alaroballister@uma.edu>
Esteemed Professor Alaro:
Hello. My name is Cyane Li and I am a student in your 8:00am MWF lecture hall for Martian History and Sociology. This past Friday we covered the basics of the planet’s history with the humming sound deemed “Thrum”, and even after carefully reviewing my notes (as well as the assigned readings CH36-40), I find myself with questions and points of debate that I was hoping you could answer.
Firstly, I understand from your lecture that the hum is something we’ve reported existing on Mars since the colony ships landed and the mining efforts began. Our predecessors understood the noise in much the same way we did — a very low-frequency droning sound, sometimes described as a “constant hum of thunder” or as a “purring” sort of noise in the earlier reports.
However, the material was unclear on when the knowledge of this hum transitioned into the idea of “Thrum”. Thrum seems to have more religious connotations amongst harriers (despite their obvious secrecy on the matter) and is tied closely to the hovercores they use to power their sleds. That said, the word is also sometimes used colloquially by Martians in general, whether or not the significance they attribute to it is religious in nature.
Do you have any information to clarify this transition? Or the distinction between harriers and regular Martians and their usage of the word/what it means to each group? I understand if this is difficult information to come by given harriers and their secrecy.
Also, do we have any records of “Thrum” and its existence before the colony ships? Were those some of the records ARNEN may have kept that are no longer accessible to the public?
Secondly, the lectures and reading material never clarified what is generating this hum. As far as I understand it, hovercores are a smaller source of this hum, or at least resonate on a similar frequency to it, and require stabilizing mechanisms in order to be safe to be around. Many deaths and severe illnesses have been attributed to hovercore proximity from early hovercore miners, as was discussed in class.
Core stabilizers seem to be doing a fine job of protecting miners and harriers from any danger from hovercores. However, we, the wider public, have no inbuilt protections from the greater Martian hum. If these hums are similar or the same, should we be concerned for our health? Or are we considered too far from the original source to be affected by it?
If the current answer is the latter, it might be time for my third point: Martians and their supposedly unique relationship to the hum/Thrum.
I’ve never met a Martian that could distinctly explain what it felt like to them as opposed to anyone else, but the unified front that Martians feel Thrum in a different way than offworlders do is worth investigation. Again, there are very few formal investigations that have been done, but I did find reference in your textbook to the disaster you and your team experienced in the Vogel Excavation.
I’m aware this is purely speculation, but between your account and other accounts publicly available at the library, I found a few interesting parallels. You and your other offworlder colleagues reported some level of confusion, but generally on a scale of forgetting tools and misplacing notes. There also seemed to be a rampant paranoia developing the longer the team stayed at the excavation site, eventually culminating in the unfortunate tragedy your team experienced.
However, your Martian colleagues reported something different. Their accounts revolved heavily around the presence of two “lochsled graveyards” in the vicinity, and the draw they felt towards them. They discussed the feeling of “Thrum” radiating off of the graveyards and the excavation site several times, and reported disturbed sleep, dizziness, and even irregular blood pressure on medical exams. By the end, their notes are unintelligible (at least, the scans of their notes on file were). Their only recounts of the incident were filed months after and written with the sort of disconnect attributed to hearing something second-hand.
Of course, each of the accounts credited different things towards their symptoms. Several assumed food poisoning or an oxygen leak in the biodome, or just pinned it on stress. Perhaps it was. However, I do think it is worth looking into that there were two lochsled graveyards in the area. My understanding is that these natural wonders may be occurring in areas of high “Thrum” concentration, or something to do with the quasi-magnetic field that hovercores are interacting with.
If you have any further insights about what happened at the Vogel Excavation, I would be very interested to hear them.
Lastly, and perhaps controversially, I wish to debate your arguments over whether or not the Martian/Offworlder tensions are founded in science or just a product of the political and social atmosphere of Martian history. Frankly put, I do think there is enough information available to question the assumption that Martians are simply xenophobic towards others not born on their planet. Unfortunately, this topic is poorly researched, so I cannot cite official studies. However, I would like to hear your thoughts on these points:
Martians seem to be able to identify Offworlders with frightening accuracy, and even be able to guess if someone is first generation Martian, second generation, half Martian and so on even at first glance. What traits are they detecting? Clearly this is not a social distinction, as complete integration into Martian society still doesn’t stop a person from being noticed and flagged as an offworlder.
As discussed previously, it does seem like Martians (as seen in those involved with the Vogel Excavation) are affected in a more severe or different way than offworlders by the presence of high concentrations of “Thrum”. Why? How?
I’m aware this is only a single test subject and hardly enough to confirm anything, but I do have an interesting data point to add to this conversation. My mother is second generation Martian, and my father is third. My name is of Martian origin, and I grew up here. However, I was born during my family’s brief return to Earth to see distant relatives. Though my genetics are Martian, and I would hazard a guess that I would look Martian to anyone on a first glance, I am never mistaken for one. In the eyes of every Martian I have met, even if they do not know my story, I am an Offworlder.
I know that there isn’t a lot of concrete evidence, and I don’t mean to question your teachings or insinuate anything about the conclusions you’ve made. I am well aware of how difficult it is being an offworlder in Martian academia and have followed your work closely. I just can’t shake the idea that as offworlders ourselves, we might be missing something.
If you have any answers to my questions or are open to suggestions for possible research and experimentation to investigate these ideas further, I can be reached at this email or in person before or after class.
Regards,
Cyane Li
Undergraduate, University of Mars Ascraeus
Reply from recipient <alaroballister@uma.edu>
Very busy rn. See me b4 class tomorrow we’ll talk
(Sent from my mobile phone)
END
Hello and thank you for reading the seventh release in this anthology series based in the universe of The Cardinal Directive! This one is based partially in my desire to talk more about thrum and the Cardinal universe, and to poke fun at a very common interaction between students and professors.
The wider universe can be found [HERE] if you want to know the main storyline! Otherwise, check out the other installments of the anthology!
Story 1 - “Ole Girl”
Story 2 - “A City to Die For”
Story 3 - “A Dragon’s Choice”
Story 4 - “The Price of Research”
Story 5 - “The Last Letter”
Story 6 - “Risking the Dead”
Remember to toss a like if you liked it, leave a comment, share, and subscribe if you want to see more!