Something Missing

Orion Edwards || Single || Scotland

[orion-edwards]

keniabrathwaite‌:

Right.. you and your girl… 

Can you tell me about her?

What would you like to know?

[orion-edwards]

checkmatesimon‌:

Where did you move to Scotland from?

Los Angeles. Quite a change as you can imagine. 

[orion-edwards]

eittiedouglas‌:

Oh! Yes, my colleague was talking about the meteor shower, it was recently the peak was it not? He was very excited to take his kids out to see it. He studies a lot of ancient classical mathematics as part of his PhD, particularly the Babylonian tracking of comets and meteors. Perhaps one day I should introduce you both. I’ve heard the view from Iceland is incredible, perhaps I will have to plan for my first trip to be in October. Where is your favourite spot to view them from?

Is the meteor shower, nebula or mythology your namesake?

Really it doesn’t matter as long as it’s dark, clear skied, and within the right hemisphere. I wouldn’t mind speaking with your colleague. It would be interesting to see the similarities and differences of converging fields of study.

None of those. My parents didn’t think that far into it. They found it in a baby book.

[orion-edwards]

Orion & Cristian | October 1st

[orion-edwards]

cristian-rosasco‌:

I wish I could offer some advice, but there is hardly anything else that is more personal that processing something like that so I wouldn’t want to just make things worse for you.

I doubt I would listen anyway. I tend not to listen to other peoples advice unless it lines up with my own rational. 

[orion-edwards]

Do Parallel Universes Exist?

Parallel universes have typically served as a plot device in science fiction films and novels for as long as we can remember. However, a recent study reveals that they could very well be present and may challenge just about all of our beliefs of reality.

Are there parallel universes in which we’d find an alternate version of what exists around us today? Well what was once of science fiction may very well have been confirmed by a study conducted by two astronomers Durham University published in the scientific journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

A galactic lacking which raises questions

What provoked the claim of the existence of a multiverse is a “cold spot” the two scientists observed measuring nearly 1.8 billion light years across. This massive area could, according to certain theories, be the result of colliding universes, which essentially bruised a part of the cosmic map. The collision of two universes may be the culprit of the bizarre lack of thousands upon thousands of galaxies and ensuing interstellar vacuum.

Could we be living in the darkest timeline?

“We can’t entirely rule out that the Spot is caused by an unlikely fluctuation explained by the standard [the Big Band theory],” claims author Ruari Mackenzie, “But if that isn’t the answer, then there are more exotic explanations. Perhaps the most exciting of these is that the Cold Spot was caused by a collision between our universe and another bubble universe.”

If even for the moment the research carried out by the British team remains not yet validated by the scientific community, the initial findings may prove to advance some potentially exciting theories and advancements: “If further, more detailed, analysis … proves this to be the case then the Cold Spot might be taken as the first evidence for the multiverse,” Mackenzie states.

The British team are not the only scientists who are investigating such events. One cosmologist, Ranga-Ram Chany from the California Institute of Technology, believes he may have captured the first ever glimpse of a parallel universe.

Chany used data from the Planck telescope found at the European Space Agency, and subtracted cosmic microwave background models from Planck’s picture of the universe.  What he found were regions that were much brighter than they should be, almost 4,500 times brighter. This finding is consistent with the idea that bumping parallel universes leave behind a so-called “bruise” in the form of a ring of hot photons during a collision.

Cosmic microwave background research, analyses, and interpretation are extremely difficult, and Chany admits that there is a 30 percent chance his findings are just background noise or space dust.  He hopes to have more results in the next few years, but he likely won’t have proof of his hypothesis until the next generation of space scanning technology is complete in 15–20 years.

The advancement of space scanning technology could also help prove the existence of not only parallel universes, but other hypothesized forms of multiverses.  How many other theories of multiverses could there be?

1. Infinite Universe

An infinite universe is one that is flat and stretches infinitely in space and time.  Since there is a finite number of ways particles can be arranged in an infinite universe, eventually these arrangements will repeat.  This means that if you were to venture out far enough, you would run into infinite versions of yourself, some living the exact same life as you right now and others that are completely different.

2. Bubble Universe

A bubble universe is based on the idea that after the Big Bang, the universe expanded by inflating like a balloon.  The theory suggests that some parts of the universe stop inflating while others continue, resulting in bubble universes that may have completely different laws of physics.  According to the theory, our universe has stopped inflating which is why we have stars and galaxies.

3. Daughter Universe

Daughter universes are hypothesized to be a product of outcomes or choices, meaning each choice we make spawns a new universe.  For example, say you get acceptance letters for two different universities A and B, our universe would then create daughter universes: one where you go to university A, one where you go to university B, and one where you do not go to either.

4. Mathematical Universe

Mathematical universes are ones where mathematics is a physical reality, and the mathematical structure that makes up our universe is not the only structure that exists.  Separate universes are formed by different initial conditions, physical constants, and mathematical equations.

Will the proof of other universes continue to remain just beyond our grasp, or will we one day find the key to unlock the door separating us from the secrets of the cosmos?

[orion-edwards]

Orion & Victoria | 14.05.19

[orion-edwards]

victoriajonsdottir‌:

I think you’re not noticing it, there’s just no way it’s not happening. I’m sorry about you losing someone you loved. I’m a firm believer in people taking root in a person. It’s probably why I’m so particular about how I approach commitment.

Well, everyone likes different things… maybe you’re not into fringe or lace or silk… I was with someone who only let me wear velvet. That didn’t last long, but I’d never really worn it before that and I’m a bit obsessed now because there’s something so nice about running your hands across a velvet minidress or bra and then your fingers meeting the soft skin at its edges. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. If anything I just like to make people happy. I’m not the prettiest or smartest, but I think I’m attentive and a good listener. I always aim to please.

I know I’m not always the easiest to talk to. It’s likely people speak to me and then lose interest.  How do you approach it?

I don’t really know if i have a preference for a certain type of fabric. I’m sometimes extra sensitive to touch though. Did someone tell you that? That you weren’t... You’re a very beautiful woman, Victoria. Anyone telling you otherwise is wrong.

[orion-edwards]

eittiedouglas‌:

We’ve had some clear nights recently, have you been able to get out and see anything?

I have actually. I’ve been out capturing the Orionids. 

[orion-edwards]

jettwilder‌:

Not to your face. 

...you’re making fun of me.

[madeleine-scott]

Orion & Maddie || 14-Sept

[orion-edwards]

madeleine-scott‌:

Oh gosh, no. See, here’s the thing… and maybe it’s my endless need to be optimistic, but I don’t feel that people only have one person in the world. I think that there are a handful of people that one could consider their soulmate, and it’s only a matter of meeting those people. Each one will touch you differently. Honestly? I think that perhaps I’d done that, met more than one soulmate. I don’t think that you’ll be alone for the rest of your life, I honestly don’t.

I suppose really only time will tell. 

[jakecautheret]

Orion & Jake

[orion-edwards]

jakecautheret‌:

Jake nodded. “Have you been thinking about getting out of Scotland for a city or did you have enough of that in Los Angeles?” Jacob didnt blink at the correction from soccer to football. He had lived so long in the US that he hardly missed a beat with all of the other pronunciations and words. He even found himself using some of them when he was at work. “Do you have a favorite part of London yet? Ive always preferred Camden. But maybe its my travel bug that loves the diversity of the place.” Jake flipped through a menu and made a selection and ordered a beer. “Are you trying to get into football now that youre on this side of the Atlantic?”

“I live in a city.” Orion corrected as he looked at the menu. “Inverness is the capital city of the highlands. It just happens to be quiet and away from anyone who would have pity me. Which is why I chose it.” His finger tapped at the edges of the menu. “We were leaving Los Angeles for Boston when she died. If LA had caused me to have enough of cities we would have chosen somewhere more rural.” He got up to order his own drink and something to eat before settling back down with the drink. “Camden is noisy and dirty and there’s always too many people for me. Obviously London in general has too many people but... I mean they all cram into one place. Victoria isn’t too crowded. The Victoria palace theatre is beautiful if you’ve ever walked past. Chelsea is clean and tends to be somewhat quieter. It’s not that I don’t enjoy sound I just don’t like sudden noises.” He pressed the pads of his fingers against his glass. “No I’m not a spots person. I partake in boxing but I don’t watch anything. Plus... sports fans...” 

[orion-edwards]

Orion & Elias | September 19th

[orion-edwards]

elias-navarro‌:

Do you need help with it? I can always lend a hand.

Your company will be more than enough, thank you.

[orion-edwards]

Orion & Cristian | October 1st

[orion-edwards]

cristian-rosasco‌:

I think in a situation like this there really is no acting badly. In the grieving process I would think a person does what they need to, to come to terms with the situation. A passing is one of those things that will always have unpredictable reactions, I believe.

I suppose I believed by now I shouldn’t be living so much in the past. Every time I make progress or I think I’ve made progress. It turns out that I haven’t really gone anywhere. 

[orion-edwards]

jettwilder‌:

I’m sure that looks… well… good luck with that. 

I’ve never gotten any negative comments.

[orion-edwards]

eittiedouglas‌:

Are you always up so late? It seems most of the people I have met so far through the Lattice prefer the early morning hours but I’ve always preferred the Witching Hour myself. There’s a lovely stillness to the world once you reach 2am, especially when you have a lot on your mind. The silence seems to make space for you to spread out your thoughts and arrange them better… at least for me. 

I’m always up late. I’m lucky if I sleep through the night. I suffer pretty badly with insomnia most nights so I stay up do things rather than just lying down and getting frustrated. I spend many of my nights either alone at home or out in the dark hoping Scottish skies will clear so I might see stars.

[orion-edwards]

checkmatesimon‌:

Of all the people I could have run into in London, I managed to bump into my first high school girlfriend. Ever since the Lattice opened up, I was sure it would make it even harder for people to meet up. I know it was meant for convenience, but it also pulls people long distances, into different time zones. Have any of you just had massive coincidences happen since the Lattice?

I haven’t been really been in a similar position. All the lattice did for me was made it easier to move to scotland. 

[orion-edwards]

jettwilder‌:

Yeah some dudes just don’t have the bone structure for it.

The most I really manage to get to is a goatee of some kind.

[orion-edwards]

Haunted by the Ghost of You | September 24th/25th

He hadn’t slept. When the 24th of September had rolled around he’d been somewhat dreading night to fall like all his ghosts would rise up and haunt him. Instead what happened is he sat in bed watching the numbers on his clock change. As midnight passed and the early hours of the 25th rolled on Orion felt a numbness wash over him. How had it been a year already? How could it still feel like he had lost her yesterday and yet twelve months had passed since he’d held her in his arms. He had been told time would make his grief a little easier to carry but here he was buried under the weight of it and unable to move. 

3am ticked around and all he could think about was that last moment. “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art...” He whispered into the quiet of his home as if speaking too loud might scare her spirit away. “Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night. And watching, with eternal lids apart, like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite...” 

She wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving. She lay limp and heavy in his arms, the machines she was linked to raising alarm and all he could do was hold her. She looked like she was sleeping and in that moment his grief forced him to believe she was because how could she be gone? She was there in his arms how could she be gone? 

“The moving waters at their priestlike task, of pure ablution round earth's human shores. Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask, of snow upon the mountains and the moors...” His bed had never stopped feeling empty, his home never quite felt like home. Home was suppose to be a house in Boston. One he never actually ended up living in. How could he when the future he had planned to live there was now ash scattered around the globe. 

He could hear voices. Someone had tried to take her from him and he’d lashed out. If they took her then he wouldn’t get to see her again. “Orion...” He knew the voice. It was the voice of a friend but still he was scared and the world was caving in on him. “She needs to go back to her bed.” She was still warm but there was a stillness about her that unsettled him. She was just sleeping. She couldn’t be gone if she was still in his arms. “You need to do what’s best for her. She needs to be back in her bed. Can you do that?”

03:01. The clock glared at him with red letters through the pitch black of his bedroom. Nothing happened, the night was no different, the air wasn’t anymore chilled than late September was usually. He wasn’t a superstitious man but he’d never wanted to believe in ghosts more than right then in that moment. Logically his mind was telling him that he was in the wrong time zone for it to even be the same 03:01 am. His heart ached nonetheless. “No. Yet still stedfast, still unchangeable, pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast. To feel for ever its soft fall and swell, awake for ever in a sweet unrest...”

He was careful not to pull any of the wires attached to her as he lay her down. He brushed her hair from her face and gently kissed her before stepping back. In hindsight he would be unnerved at how it felt to kiss someone with no breath and no pulse. For the moment he was focused on only one thing. Her. He had barely stepped away when suddenly she was being detached from machines and then she was gone and he reacted. What happened next was a blur. Too much emotion. Too much everything. He knew he broke something, he just he threw someone. He knew he was tackled by at least three people and then... darkness. 

Orion leaned over to the table by his bedside and opened up the drawer. He didn’t fumble around in the drawer like most would in the dark. He knew exactly what he was looking for and where it was. The small velvet covered box fit too easily into the palm of his hand and it felt like a mockery. He’d been such a coward. Originally planning to propose when they got to Boston and then too scared to give it to her while she was in the hospital. She had died without ever knowing he was going to propose, died without ever seeing the ring in his pocket. “Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, and so live ever or else swoon to death.”

He didn’t sleep that night. Deciding to get up that battle with a restless mind. He wandered through his dark home and settled in his library till dawn. Once the sun had risen and light filtered in he got up and went about his day as best he could. Orion walked the grounds of his home, he took in the cool Scottish morning air and imagined the life he wished he had. Married, maybe even a baby on the way. She had made him believe he could be a father and his heart still ached for opportunity lost. He had hoped it wouldn’t still be this hard to go on without her. He’d tried his best over the year. He’d made plans. He’d gone on a date. He’d even slept with other women. For all the progress he made it felt like it had all been a lie. 

Around noon he received a phone call from her grandmother, checking in to make sure he was okay. He felt guilty that he was the one that needed to be checked up on. They spoke for a while, remembering small things like her smile and the way her hair looked in sunlight. Before the call ended Orion was reminded again of something he had been told at the funeral. He had been the love of her short life, that didn’t mean she was his. “It’s okay to move on.”

When dinner came around he’d never really gotten a confirmation on who would show up. He’d made his address readily available but for a moment was worried no one would show. First to show up was Luca and he settled the tall man in the living room with a glass of Whiskey. Reyna showed up with music she had received in the will and that was put on before she wandered off the the kitchen to see what he was cooking. Rafael and Aurelie arrived soon after and then Elias for moral support. For the first time since he had moved into his gloomy home in the Scottish highlands the rooms and falls were filled with conversation and music. 

It didn’t quite lift the empty feeling that had settled over him but it reminded him he had people who remembered and people who cared. As he stood in the doorway of his dining room as people helped set up the table he felt gentle breeze blow past his ear. Reaching up he ran his fingers over the shell of his ear mimicking a gesture that use to bring him great comfort. He closed his eyes for a moment and allowed himself to believe in the impossible, that she was still with him just in a different way. Brushing away a tear he smiled sadly to himself and turned to walk back into the kitchen to get the food.