Daedalus Flying Machines
Carlotta Ceawlin flies her own way.
She used her new wings to fly higher than she’d ever flown before, but of course we wouldn’t be filing this report if all had gone well.
I regret to inform you that we’ll be needing a new spokeswoman for Daedalus Flying Machines.
- Please inform engineering we believe they’ve calculated the proper propulsions and the guidance system appears to function.
- Medical can rest assured the surgical attachments operated without detectable flaw.
- We might suggest additional pre-flight training as Pasiphae appeared to struggle initially more than we anticipated with the controls.
- Another area of improvement should be made in the psychological profiling of our next candidate.
Let us elaborate.
You’ll recall we selected Pasiphae among the other highly qualified candidates primarily due to her beauty. We anticipated the success of our time shifting flight machine and we elected to use her for the maiden voyage and as our spokesperson. Her qualifications in all areas met those of her competing candidates, but her overall appearance led us to hope she could double as our covergirl.
She followed our program, completed every task, endured the surgeries, and built an admirable record of achievement.
Today, she’s made a mockery of our dreams.
We unbandaged the wing implants in the medical center this morning and Pasiphae assured us they felt perfect. She took a few minutes to open and close them and adjust to the new appendages on her back. After a few cautious moments, she flared the new wings and took several bold swats at the breeze. The medical paraphernalia sitting on the shelves in the center scattered clankity-clank as the powerful air movement from her wings rushed through the room. She almost knocked herself over.
After the bus ride out here to the Mammoth Gardens stockyards test range, she could barely contain her enthusiasm. I’m sure the other candidates would have been equally excited, but from our observations she seemed to become a Frankenstein’s monster without the hideous exterior.
She pranced about flapping her wings, posing for photos, commanding the technicians to complete their documentation so she could take flight. The affable, intelligent, circumspect and reliable Pasiphae seemed to erupt into a high-strung show pony. An attractive dictator. A flamboyant tyrant with a mission.
Our schedule called for her to perform a series of small flights, a medium range flight, and then attempt a small time shift flight. Instead, when the technicians finally stepped back, she pushed them out of her way, she flapped her feathers and her petite body rose clumsily into the air. Not a pretty sight at first. And yet, within a few moments, she seemed to understand the physics of her new world and she rose higher and higher. Some one among us shouted for her to come down for data collection, but she ignored the command.
She soared over the test field and rose into the air. She circled the trees and buzzed the small collection of us huddled around our instruments. Her wings carried her into the sky until she became a dot and then back to Earth with the kind of beauty and grace of eagles.
We then watched with frustration and a bit of rapaciousness as she discarded her flight suit and let it float to the ground. Trying not to be titillated by her nude body and yet needing to observe her movements, we could see her tattooed arm reach up to her time shifting necklace, power it on, and then vanish. Because we did not anticipate using the time shifting mechanism until later in the day, we failed to calibrate it and we cannot ascertain what time jump she made. We’d hoped to move her forward in time approximately ten seconds, but it’s been hours and as we file this report we have not seen any evidence of her.
We can only imagine the commotion she caused upon her arrival in another time era.
May we recommend as we move forward with this project that we don’t make angels of princesses in the future. Turning pretty girls into an angels may be better left to God and their mothers.
