Beyond Neptune, Beyond Reason series

  Late Night in the Nebula Nook (SOUND: Low, steady REACTOR HUM. A single fluorescent light above the counter flickers slightly. The Jukebox is silent.) BARRY: Nav-AI, are you monitoring the recreational channels? NAV-AI (Smooth, low baritone): Affirmative, Barry. Currently processing a 1940s Earth comedy routine. Statistical analysis of human humor is ongoing. BARRY: Good. I want to run something past you. A test. It's about the station's crew manifest. COSTELLO (From under the counter, where he's polishing a synth-ale dispenser): Oh no, not the joke! Barry, don't break the brain! It charges me double for repairs! BARRY: Relax, Finn. Nav-AI, who's the supervisor of Cargo Bay One? NAV-AI: That would be Unit Nav-AI . BARRY: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the supervisor of Cargo Bay One? NAV-AI: I have supplied the answer. The supervisor is Nav-AI . BARRY: Look, let's try a different approach. Let's talk about the baseball team. COSTELLO...

  . Foundational Memory 1: The Case of the Spilled Synth-Ale and the Scapegoat Bot Radio Style: UK Comedy (The Goon Show) (SOUND: The rhythmic, grating SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK of a cloth wiping glass is loud. Distant, warped Glenn Miller jazz from the Jukebox.) COSTELLO (Rapid, high-pitched): Look at this, Barry! Look at the state of it! The disgrace! You pay the inner-ring tariffs, you buy the finest orbital equipment, and what happens? Dirt! I tell ya, dirt is the only thing that travels faster than light in this sector! BARRY (Quietly, sipping his recycled coffee): You’ve wiped that same three-inch section of counter for four minutes, Finn. It’s clean. COSTELLO: Clean? Ha! That’s what the machines want you to think! (He steps back, clutching a mop handle, his voice rising.) The moment you let down your guard, the filth—it moves! It shifts! It... (SOUND: A heavy SPLASH, followed by the clatter of a metal vat hitting the floor.) COSTELLO: Sweet Mother of the Asteroid Belt! (...