Challenge #02502-F312: In a Minute
A: not exactly “capture” more like take a moment and put it on a pixelated screen. Here
B: is something supposed to be on this slate?
A: what? It’s right here can’t you see?
B: see?
A: when light passes through ya eyeball
B: light? -- Anon Guest
There were moments like this all over Galactic Space. One participant in a conversation would realise that the other they had been communicating with freely until this moment did not possess the same sense-set as the first participant. They are the speed humps in Galactic Alliance life. Or, in this case, an unexpected brick wall across the highway of life.
Human Pim seemed to freeze in space as if some cosmic entity had hit their personal 'pause' button. They remained like that for enough seconds to give their companion, a Pterop named Thaang, a small period of concern. Then, like pressing another button, Human Pim returned to motion with, "Sorry, I completely forgot you don't use sight. Where's your data-reader?"
Pterop Thaang gestured with hir tactile display unit. "Er. Are you well, Human Pim?"
"Yeah, I just need to be sure you have AllShare. It's a bit of a pain in the butt to transfer files all the time, but it does mean nobody misses out on anything." Bip bip beep. "Okay, we're cool."
Pterop Thaang had to remind hirself that this was not an indicator of temperature, but rather a state of 'okayness'. There was a new file from Human Pim.
Light-to-depth technology had taken more than a little time to wrangle, especially for species who understood colours and kept their assorted media as colourful files. Simply desaturating the hues didn't work because darkness could easily be a state of hue, and not of depth. Needless to say, the translation algorithms were almost needlessly complicated.
Yet, because Humans would pack-bond with anything, because Humans seemed pathologically incapable of not sharing a treat, because Humans were -to put it roughly- crazy... functional experience-sharing apps could exist.
The moment became a simulation that Pterop Thaang could perceive. A passage of a minute or less, yet packed with more story than many four-hour epics.
"Amazing," Pterop Thaang cooed. "What do you call these again?"
"Vines."
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / EuToch]
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Vines are so last year (or so), all the cool kids are doing Tiktok now XD
Did the Pterops evolve in a cave or some far outer world?
The Pterops are one of two known [mostly] eyeless species that did evolve without light. At this point, I forget whether they're the bats or the moles.
*Also, Tiktok is basically Vine with a fake moustache.