We are midway through the 26th Century, out at the edge of Human space, in the Teegarden system.
John B, a humble repairman and ”former human” (having lost his legal status as such), has left the Earth for mysterious reasons. He is perhaps the unluckiest being in the galaxy.
He has wound up at the Human Exchange Concourse, or the ”HEC,” once the site of Humanity’s First Galactic Fair. It was the biggest flop in Human history. ”The Fairgrounds” is perhaps the unluckiest place in Human space. You don’t go there, you end up there.
John’s luck seems to have changed when he gets a good apartment at an amazingly reasonable price only to find his roommate is Althaar, an Iltorian, who is determined to befriend a Human (Iltorians are the kindest, nicest species in all known space, and natural diplomats, beloved by almost all, but their slightest presence causes Humans to instinctively respond with panic, fear, disgust, nausea, and loss of bodily functions).
Can a Human and Iltorian live together without one of them driving the other crazy?
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We are midway through the 26th Century, out at the edge of Human space, in the Teegarden system.
John B, a humble repairman and ”former human” (having lost his legal status as such), has left the Earth for mysterious reasons. He is perhaps the unluckiest being in the galaxy.
He has wound up at the Human Exchange Concourse, or the ”HEC,” once the site of Humanity’s First Galactic Fair. It was the biggest flop in Human history. ”The Fairgrounds” is perhaps the unluckiest place in Human space. You don’t go there, you end up there.
John’s luck seems to have changed when he gets a good apartment at an amazingly reasonable price only to find his roommate is Althaar, an Iltorian, who is determined to befriend a Human (Iltorians are the kindest, nicest species in all known space, and natural diplomats, beloved by almost all, but their slightest presence causes Humans to instinctively respond with panic, fear, disgust, nausea, and loss of bodily functions).
Can a Human and Iltorian live together without one of them driving the other crazy?
Once again, there is a delay in the release of the next episode of Life With Althaar.
Sorry about that, listeners.
Ian & Berit have some words on the subject here, with the help of some unexpected visitors to the Gemini CollisionWorks Radiophonic Workshop.
In which John B finds himself in apparent danger, and for once, it‘s actually unexpected. Dinorbiax and Fracottiverx, the strange-talking Fugulnari enforcers, have dragged him into an interrogation room to discuss some of his recent behavior, which, despite John‘s actions as a double-agent for the Resistance, are mostly explainable. Mostly. Meanwhile, life goes on at The Fairgrounds, as thought is given by Dee and Xtopps to future plans for after the conflict is over (one way or another), Stella and H.F. consider a rescue mission, Frall and Torianna discuss garbage and less-appealing things, and Frondrinax, in an attempt to distract Althaar from John B‘s unavailability, challenges the Iltorian to a little game of pool.
In which Ian & Berit, the co-creators of LIFE WITH ALTHAAR announce the postponement of episode 33, and make a polite request for donations (and tell you how to do that).
In which we meet Drew, who is full of hate. Drew hates the Fugulnari, with very good reason. Drew hates John B, for what appears to be good reason. Drew is full of hate because he has had his love taken away from him, and is now on a journey of revenge and discovery across the Fairgrounds that might be far more dangerous to his allies than to their common enemy.
In which, for the good of his friends, Xtopps decides he has to kick his peanut butter habit, and we experience the horrors of a Xybidont in withdrawal from the cursed legume. Meanwhile, Vert accidentally stumbles upon the Resistance's secret domain, and must choose between joining them, or probably being blown out an airlock, if you call that a choice.
In which the various groups and people of the Fairgrounds opposed to the authoritarian rule of the Fugulnari over the Humans seek out alliances with other species to aid their cause. For Torianna, this means a most-unanticipated meeting with the Dilurians. For John, it means a history lesson on Robot/Human Labor Relations. For Xtopps, it means a slight return to his aristocratic roots. And for Althaar, it means a surprise visit from some Gendarans.
In which the documentary on the Fugulnari occupation of the Fairgrounds is broadcast, and all of the residents who hoped it would show the truth of what is happening there are indeed amazed at what can be done in post. Meanwhile, with most of the station distracted by the documentary, the Resistance attempts to take advantage of a temporary glitch in security to install monitoring devices in the brig, allowing them more direct access to the political prisoner, Dee.
In which tension, apprehension, and dissension have, if not begun, continued apace. As Frondrinax attempts to secretly guide an official fact-finding mission around the Fairgrounds, doing all she can to avoid showing the Fugulnari oppression of Humans, the Resistance and Commander Torianna do all they can to subvert her efforts, being aided in this by the sudden arrival of a delegation of surprisingly-disturbing aliens. Meanwhile, Althaar receives advice on his concerns about John B from a noted, if exceptionally drunk, actor.
In which we return after six months to a Fairgrounds both very different, and somehow much the same. Life under the Fugulnari Occupation has become a nightmare of new restrictions and bureaucracy, but somehow the Human Exchange Concourse remains running in the same dilapidated way it always has. As Torianna, Frall, and Althaar attempt to thwart the Fugulnari through diplomatic means, Stella Reyes's Resistance fights them on the ground. And John B, caught in the middle as a secret double-agent, must seek out information to help the Resistance while being publicly hated as a Fugulnari collaborator. And how is Dee sneaking her recordings of protest songs out of her cell in solitary confinement?
In which the kettle boils over. As the Fugulnari's repressive "suggestions" are given the force of law by the occupied League of Humans, making life on the Fairgrounds even more unpleasant than before, the Human residents and their allies try to find ways around, under, over, or through the edicts, believing still that the occupation may just fail on its own. But it becomes clear the Fugulnari are not stopping. And then the violence comes. And everyone on the Human Exchange Concourse -- John, H.F., Stella, the command staff on the Bridge, the denizens of The Electric Egg, and, yes, even that lovable peacemaker Althaar -- all must decide where they now stand, and what moves they will make in the future.
In which Christmas comes again to the Fairgrounds in the form of dueling parties from two of the station's least-likely proponents of the holiday, Mrs. Frondrinax the Fugulnari and Althaar the Iltorian. While everyone wishes, or at least would prefer, to got to the lovable Althaar's party, most of the crew is mandatorily required to attend Frondrinax's - one of the benefits to being part of a fascist take over of the station. However Althaar and Chip Frinkel have a plan to steal Christmas back, or at least, destroy the Fugulnari's Christmas plans. Meanwhile, new Ensign Candy Cameron lives out her life as a character in her very own traditional Christmas movie.
In which the Fugulnari "advisors" impose strict restrictions on movement for all Humans on The Fairgrounds. Very literally. To increase efficiency and decrease unnecessary movement, all Humans must wear pedometers and walk no more than 4,000 steps per day. However, between shortening the length of the "day" to not quite four hours, and also increasing the amount of alcohol that must be in the drinks at The Electric Egg, their efficiency campaign proves hideously misguided. Meanwhile, after a group of Fugulnari bullies dognap Miss Sophie, H.F. and John B attempt what should be a classic daring vent-crawl rescue, as long as they use the correct vents and only get a little damp, rather than boiled alive.
In which the citizens of the Fairgrounds try to figure out the rules and limits of living under the new "suggestions" from the Fugulnari Advisory Committee. While Fugulnari agent Mrs. Frondrinax has her own problems in a new assignment creating a trade deal with the Bee People, Commander Torianna finds herself in a now mostly formal position, John B and Stella rarely get to see each other because of interference in their work schedules by the new management, drunk and arrogant Fugulnari cause problems at The Electric Egg, and H.F. searches desperately to find a safe place where Miss Sophie can now do her business.
In which John tries to share the Halloween tradition of watching scary movies with Althaar, and only succeeds in truly terrifying his friend with the mere idea that Humans could rise from the grave, as zombies are a completely and literally alien idea to all non-Human species. Meanwhile, controversial broadcaster Beaux Several arrives on the Fairgrounds after damaging several other civilizations by "just asking questions," and promptly charms and angers the locals in roughly equal amounts, while causing more trouble by promoting the Mrs. Frondrinax-created rumor that Humans actually can control the dead. And the other species on the Fairgrounds begin to form some Human-hating angry mobs.
In which A Murder Is Announced. A homicide in a cheap lodging turns out to have important and personal ramifications for Commander Torianna, who takes on the investigation personally. Meanwhile, Althaar, having binge-watched hours of 20th-Century Earth mystery TV shows, on discovering that Mrs. Frondrinax is implicated in the crime, decides to do his own sleuthing, dragging the hapless John B along on what may or may not be a wild goose chase. At the same time, a redecoration of The Electric Egg makes everyone uncomfortable for undefinable reasons, Sherlock HolmesBot is disabled, evidence is stolen by a dog, and Mixology is only a red herring.
In which Chip returns to The Electric Egg after a quick errand to find an immense booze fight in progress among just about everyone we know on The Fairgrounds. In attempting to sort out how the fight began, we are presented with eight flashbacks from amongst the crew, none of which actually in themselves do much to illuminate how the fight happened, but all of them revealing much about each character and how they see everyone else on The Fairgrounds and how they believe they are see and treated by all the others.
In which John B, on yet another boring and routine EVA mission to fix a very small wire on the outside of The Fairgrounds, is sent hurling away from the space station by a chance explosion. As John and the bridge crew attempt in vain to find a way to bring him back (that won't kill him), all of his other friends on The Fairgrounds show up on the bridge to say hello (for no logical reason), and John suspects that, despite their assurances, it's really to say a very final goodbye. And for some reason or reasons, neither Frall nor Althaar seem to be around.
In which the "Steves" from an annoying but highly motivated and skilled capitalist species, the Dilurians, come to The Fairgrounds, renting a downshifted and unused level, from which they proceed to wreak havoc across the entire space station. As their new business, Cadabra, expands rapidly from selling personalized smells, they begin, in less than a day, to gentrify across the station, wiping out all the beloved homegrown businesses and replacing them with more-convenient apps providing far worse service. On top of it, Commander Torianna discovers she will have to avert an actual massacre as the Dilurians attempt to expand into the sector of the Pudendar, a proud and exiled species of warrior artists uninterested in and offended by the commercial offerings.
In which Drop Time comes again to The Fairgrounds, though several newcomers to the station have no idea what this period -- when the station drops a certain amount of days from the calendar to get in line with Earth's -- means for them. For John B, it means his birthday is getting skipped, for Dee, it means a cruel prank regarding a non-binding contract, for the energy being Lt. Frall, it means trying to drink coffee and pouring it on the floor, and for most of the crew, it means a time to slack off and ignore all rules. An angry John B searches for the hidden Timekeeping Central department, to discover the secret of The Algorithm that decides when Drop Time occurs, while H.F. takes Dee on a tour of several secret places on the station only available to the public during Drop Time.
We are midway through the 26th Century, out at the edge of Human space, in the Teegarden system.
John B, a humble repairman and ”former human” (having lost his legal status as such), has left the Earth for mysterious reasons. He is perhaps the unluckiest being in the galaxy.
He has wound up at the Human Exchange Concourse, or the ”HEC,” once the site of Humanity’s First Galactic Fair. It was the biggest flop in Human history. ”The Fairgrounds” is perhaps the unluckiest place in Human space. You don’t go there, you end up there.
John’s luck seems to have changed when he gets a good apartment at an amazingly reasonable price only to find his roommate is Althaar, an Iltorian, who is determined to befriend a Human (Iltorians are the kindest, nicest species in all known space, and natural diplomats, beloved by almost all, but their slightest presence causes Humans to instinctively respond with panic, fear, disgust, nausea, and loss of bodily functions).
Can a Human and Iltorian live together without one of them driving the other crazy?
