The LUNA Project

by The Equestrian Gentlecolt

Personal Email File - Daniel Rogers

Personal Email File - Daniel Rogers
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From: David Lee
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: October 16, 2156
Subject: Re: Welcome to Project LUNA!

Thanks for the chance and the kind welcome, Dr. Rogers! I see what you mean about people being abrupt, but I won't let it get to me. I promise I'll do the best I can for the project.

David

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From: Dr. Anthony Harris
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: April 6, 2159
Subject: Re: Second System's Power Requirements

Yeah, Dr. Morrison has been talking to me too. I know gene splicing is out, but we really don't have the time frame to wait for a newborn human to fully mature. I've been thinking, maybe if we didn't use a human at all. There are plenty of other creatures with much shorter time-to-maturity. With some of the most brilliant minds on the planet here, I'm sure we could finish the research you were doing on non-human sentience back in the 40s. What do you think?

Anthony

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From: Joshua Williams
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: July 17, 2160
Subject: Re: Celestia Project Proposal

Daniel,

You and I both know how short we are on resources, but I trust your judgement. If this is what you feel we need to do meet the requirements of the Second System project, we'll do it. I still want to leave a skeleton crew on the Human Genome project, so you'll have to pull some of the talent from Second System. I'm going to make the Celestia project a sub-organization of Second System to help facilitate that. We'll meet tomorrow morning to discuss exact staffing changes.

I still don't quite understand why the creature you're proposing has to have such a... unique anatomy, but again, I trust your judgement.

Joshua

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From: Megan Rogers
To: Dad
Date: July 24, 2160
Subject: You're making a pony???

For me? Seriously?? You're the best dad ever!!!!!!!

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From: Dr. Daniel Rogers
To: Everyone
Date: July 20, 2162
Subject: Welcome Celestia

Everyone,

It is with great pleasure and no small amount of pride that I announce the birth of our very first alicorn, Celestia. When we started this project, I had hopes well beyond my expectations. I'm not ashamed to admit that even I wondered if a human-designed life form of this scale was possible at all. Yet here I am, almost exactly two years later, typing this message with that very life form sleeping peacefully in her bed near my desk. (For those not familiar with the Celestia Project laboratory, I use "bed" as a very loose term to describe our modified medical table-turned-cage and its associated array of machinery. But rest assured that she's quite content there. Her eyes have been tracking every movement the machines make, and she even tried to touch a hoof to one when it came near.)

This moment comes as the culmination of the hard work and dedication of everyone on the Celestia Project, and the much-appreciated support of the rest of Project LUNA. We wouldn't have been able to do it without all of you. It's truly a testament to the quality of character found in this organization, and a ray of hope for humankind (in whatever form it may take in the future), that we continue to work together as a cohesive unit despite all of the pressures put upon us. So, thank you everyone, on behalf of myself and all of us.

We still have a long way to go before we reach our new home, but I know we can do it together.

In hope and fellowship,
Dr. Daniel Rogers, Ph.D.
Project Manager, Celestia Project

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From: Joshua Williams
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: July 20, 2162
Subject: Re: Welcome Celestia

You did it! I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but even for you and your team, this is an accomplishment for the history books. Well done, my friend. Well done indeed.

Josh

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From: Kathleen Martinez
To: Everyone
Date: May 23, 2165
Subject: Recent Outages

All,

The reason for the recent outages has been confirmed to be more chewed-through network and power cables. We even lost a cable bundle in the server room. I'm still not sure how a nest of rats got in there. If you see any sign of animal infestation, any at all, contact Facilities immediately. We need to put a stop to this ASAP, before it puts a serious dent in our infrastructure.

Kathleen Martinez
Information Systems

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From: Dr. Anthony Harris
To: Everyone
Date: December 7, 2166
Subject: Bad News

Everyone,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I know it seems like that's the only kind we've been getting lately. Mercury is officially no more, and the sun's growth is showing no signs of stopping. Facilities is in the process of permanently sealing off the surface world, as there's no longer any chance of finding other life up there. We've got about a decade or so at most before it gets to be too much for our systems down here, but with the progress the Second System project has made, it doesn't sound like we have anything to worry about there.

If there's a silver lining to this one, at least the output from our solar generators is at an all-time high...

Tony

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From: Joshua Williams
To: Dr. Daniel Rogers
Date: December 8, 2166
Subject: Re: Continuing the Celestia Project

Yes, absolutely. You've got the go-ahead from me to start the next one whenever you're ready. Celestia has proven to be everything we hoped, so I have high hopes for her future brothers and sisters.

Josh

Comments

[Saphroneth]

Hmm... "Megan"... can't be a coincidence, surely?

Nice story.

[Simple]

I'm looking at these comments...
All of them being over 208 weeks old...
...
...
HOW LONG HAS THIS STORY NOT BEEN READ BY A HUMAN BEING??!?!

[LostArchivist]

Good catch there with the name...

I like how the "I trust your judgement" is followed by "Best Dad Ever". Yup, no hidden motives here.