Naked Reporter / Hanlons Amatoria Bd.126 (ePub)

The conference room was now darkened by automatically descending blinds and the leader started the first video from her Tablet PC. She explained: »Here you can see the working area of the ship. We've found that a large number of tropical plants, high humidity, and a high room temperature are ideal for wellbeing of the crew.« The room that appeared on the video seemed relatively large, as it was not clear where the end of the premises could have been found behind the green plants. The controls and computer consoles nestled between the plants, like natural rocks of a landscape. »You must understand that the main task of the crew on such a long journey is to check the proper functioning of the spaceship and to avoid boredom.« In the final thought, she seemed to grin involuntarily, which somehow caught the journalist in their otherwise very dry businesslike manner. At that moment, a woman came into the picture, went over to a computer terminal and made some input. »That's Lea« the leader said. »She's been in the lab for 463 days now, living there in conditions the same way as in a spaceship.« »She's... completely naked« stammered one of the two journalists, visibly irritated by the performance and the lack of clothing of the practicing astronaut. »Yes, of course. Didn't I say that?« the the project manager commented, unmoved, turning her upper body to the journalist. »We're investigating the possibility of all astronauts being naked during their entire journey aboard the spaceship. We have indications that people feel happier and better and also interact more positively with each other when they are completely undressed.« »This means... all the people in your lab are constantly naked?« »Yes« the project manager explained. »Why not? Isn't it our natural state? The sense of well-being in your own skin is the greatest in any case.« »And you? Do you actively participate as a leader in the investigations?« »Of course! I am the scientific director of the project and also live most of the time in the lab environment. I left the laboratory only today to receive you here.« »And you are...« The leader just chuckled and turned back to the video. She already knew the question and the journalists already had their answer. (from 'Interstellar')