| Generated by Google Gemini Pro text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3 |
If you don’t know what a flume is, it’s a waterslide. I mean, it’s a certain
type of waterslide, but who am I to get bogged down in the intricacies
of linguistics? Oh, that’s right, I’m a linguist. I suppose this rolls off the
tongue better than Waterslidedome. Or Waterslidome. Well, hmm.
Waterslidome. Yeah, it should be that, but pronounce it like
slid. Whatever, it doesn’t matter what the name is, people! Waterslides
is the name of the game. I don’t even know how many there are, because I did
not read the prospectus. I saw that word, then saw the main picture, and I was
hooked. I’ve loved waterslides ever since I was a kid. I remember going to the
waterpark every summer, but just once per year. Oh, I would beg my parents to
take us more than once, but they wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t about the money, it
was about keeping it special, and learning delayed gratification. Parenting is
a crapshoot; when I had kids, I learned that myself. I don’t fault them for
their line of reasoning. I still wish I could have gone more, but we’re all
immortal now, so yay, I have all the time in the universe! Back to Flumendome,
this is the best park I’ve ever seen by far. Since it’s contained in this
dome, its engineering limitations are a lot farther away from the ground than
its Earthan equivalents. So are the slides themselves. The best one starts at
the zenith, and goes all the way down to the surface. Again, I didn’t read the
prospectus, so I don’t know how long it is, but I know it’s more than 41.5
kilometers. It could be double that, or more. I don’t have any friends so I
shared a raft with some lovely, kind strangers. They calculated that it was
probably close to 120 kilometers, which is insane to me. I grew up in the
2080s and ’90s; we didn’t have anything anywhere near this scale. It takes
just an hour to get all the way down, and there is no escape. You’re moving
too fast, and trying to fish you out of there would just be unsafe, for you,
and anyone you’re with, or behind you. If you don’t think you can handle it,
then absolutely don’t try. Fortunately, you can start small, with some regular
waterslides, and work your way up. I told you, we’re immortal, baby, don’t be
strict about your time. There is another that starts at the top, and goes all
the way down, but it’s not as steep, and not as fast. It takes about four
hours to get to the bottom, and if it’s a desperate emergency, a rescue drone
can reportedly extract you, but only during lulls, so again, proceed
with caution. I don’t think they’ve had to do it before, but I did hear about
someone needing to get off this next one, which sounds like that wasn’t hard
at all. The slide is the craziest one of all in some respects. It also starts
way up there, but it’s even longer. We can’t even begin to estimate its
length. It takes a full 24 hours to get down. They can extract you because
you’re moving so slowly. It’s like being on a river, except if you climbed
over the edge, you would fall off and die. Fortunately, that’s probably
impossible, because the sides are so steep and wet, you’d have to be a tree
frog, or something. And why would you? I’ve been talking a lot about extremes,
but this place has a slide for everyone. Its prospectus is one of the most
comprehensive (which is why I didn’t read it), but if you’re unsure, I suggest
you take a look at it, and find what you’re looking for. It’s a lot of fun,
for people of all ages.
No comments :
Post a Comment