iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 18h

[1/3] “I realized I was surrounded by ghosts – yes, ghosts! – souls of those who had died. They were flitting through the darkness around me – Warriors, Alates, Workers … I could see them as one sees the threads of web-weavers, with the palest glimmer coming through them. … #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

#1linewed [1/3] “And ‘One of the Twelve will bring about the death of the Champion…’ ” But Da’sask’ni’a interrupted me sharply. “Why are you so obsessed with stripping the shadows from Ki’shto’ba’s death? …

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

#SciFiSat [Robbie engages in a metaphysical discussion with Banyat Thaksin …]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

#SciFiFri When the Captain’s announcement came, Kaya squealed and knocked over her nearly full bottle of cherry fizz. The bubbly liquid cascaded off the #edge of the table and into Mark’s lap. He jumped up, swearing.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

#1linewed “Oh, Za’dut, you make the World Beneath sound so humdrum and #meaningless,” said Ra’fa’kat’wei. “You take away the magic,” said Is’a’pai’a. “Are we not allowed to have magic sometimes?”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

#1linewed Without warning A’zhu’lo banged its head once on the stones and surged forward. “I cannot let a Champion die so #meaninglessly!” it cried. “A rescue!” And it rushed down the rocks in a series of prodigious leaps.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

“I say we head west for at least a day’s #sailing. The wind is holding easterly and the tek’a| [“sail”] will take us out quickly. If we do not come to any land after a day, we will furl the wind-catcher, turn around, and row back. How lost can we get?” #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

When we arrived at Krin’shka’chet and sailed into the busy #harbor, we were pleased to find Dei’jul’zei rowing out to meet us. Dei’jul’zei was the friendly trading ship we had encountered when we were searching for the Lonely Island after losing Za’dut. #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

#SciFiSat [1/5] [Capt. Nikalishin returns to active duty.] Robbie was ushered into the precincts of the Chief of Staff of ESC and promptly found himself in front of a broad desk behind which stood a sixtyish man with iron-gray hair, a lined face, and a practiced smile.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

#SciFiFri [Robbie has to cope with the death of his mother.]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#1linewed Halrab had strong legs and good aim from incessant playing of ridge ball with his cousins in childhood. The pouch flew into the air, trailing a spurt of flames that #showered the shrieking observers. The pouch itself landed against the breast of the High Elder…

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

#SciFiSat [Here is another example of Dr. Lazare Yow's puckish sense of humor. Capt Nikalishin gets sick during a flight.]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

#SciFiFri [Our Champion Ki’shto’ba and the intercaste Warrior Thel’tav’a engage in a “friendly” competition.]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

#1linewed That plant – the vine-tree, the host of the mother-net of the Golden Fungus – had very large leaves, as long as my body and #drawn out to a point. The lowest ones were visible as separate entities even from this distance.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

[The final line of v.7 (the sequel)] And so perhaps after we are all reunited and made whole again in the World Beyond, we can #embark on yet another voyage, this time across a sea of stars. #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Then he flew up, circled over our cowering heads triumphantly, and beat a path southward, disappearing quickly from our sight. Sa’ti’a’i’a exclaimed, “What was that?” “The Storm-Wing,” I said unsteadily. “He seems to follow us everywhere.” #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

#SciFiSat [This sequence is dedicated to @the_egghunter. One of Capt. Robbie’s Medical Officers was a real practical joker – Dr. Lazar Yow from Sinnapor. If you know nothing about durians, look it up!]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

#SciFiFri Krai’zei was continuing, “If Vai’zei’a’parn still lives, he will be appalled that his Lieutenant kept his old friends standing in a drizzle nattering about identities. But perhaps the Lieutenant was hatched too #late to know what happened six years ago.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

#1linewed [1/2] Simone #restarted the animation. The Ariana disappeared, popping back into view some distance from the star. It then repeated the process, rematerializing near the big gas giant Epsilon Eri b. Simone wrote, “7 days.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

#SciFiSat [1/8] [A lighter moment – young Robbin Nikalishin and the one-and-only real true love of his life.]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

#SciFiFri Merol nodded but spoke no word of comfort. “We saw many of our kinsmen flee, but we stayed and tended our flock and waited. Then the #invaders came and seized our barley and fish and potatoes, and surfeited themselves on our wine, and set fire to our storehouses.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

#1linewed [Our Capt. addresses the King of Birds] “But, Garuda, you big, strong, glorious raptor, with your man-arms and your pleased expression … I’d think you would at least be capable of flying out here to see what’s going on! Dammit all, I was particularly #counting on you!”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

#SciFiSat [1/6] “Perhaps this is the End of the World,” said our Captain. “Our Eyes report that it is woodsy and hospitable. Perhaps we will find Ek’dai’daim’a’s fortress in this very place. We did not, but it was indeed a fine island, worthy of a fortress.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

#SciFiFri Robbie was called in and was required to account for every one of his #actions aboard the Hilo. This took some time and was not particularly pleasant, because the Mission Director Adm. Teeter appeared determined to find every possible fault with Robbie’s behavior.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

#1linewed “I am sorry, Or’the’tas,” said Bu’gan’zei. “I was weak & my mistake was fatal. I lost the chance to take you back to the World Above – the only chance I will ever have.” “Oh, Bu’gan’zei, I forgive you. At first I was bitterly #disappointed, but I have accepted our fate.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

#1linewed “Is’a’pai’a has already sought gold once. It entered the lair of Yak’roit’zei in Gri’fum’at’u seeking to retrieve a Golden Fungus capsule, but the attempt was unsuccessful, for there was none there. It was a great #disappointment.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

#BraveWrite “It occurs to me that all communication contains a degree of #manipulation. A psychotherapist manipulates his patient into working out his own problems. And isn’t most education #manipulation? Especially if topics are presented with a bias?”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

#BraveWrite “Doc, I’m due on the Bridge in … well, less than an hour now.” “I have to do some #manipulation to align the bone before I can zap it. That would best be done under mild sedation. I wouldn’t recommend you make any command decisions for about six hours.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

#SciFiSat [1/4] [First contact!] Now the khokék of the planet Krisí’i’aid were entering the air lock. Robbie gawked through the window open-mouthed; for a moment he was eight years old again, gazing through bars in the London Zoo’s Bird Pavilion at the long-suffering eagle Survivor.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

#SciFiFri Located in gravitonics in the aft section of the Engineering Bay, the master chronometer was a delicate piece of equipment, with complex programming designed to compensate for the minimal #gravity of deep space.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

#1linewed A Remembrancer should always finish what he has begun to tell. That is the trouble these days – you young ones are in too much of a #hurry, impatient to be finished. You have never learned how to pay attention, and words do not have the fascination for you that they shd.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

“What’s he blathering about?” said Brooke into a gauze #sponge. “Kaya, that’s who I’m blathering about!” shouted Mark. “She was my woman and you seduced her, you filthy hunk of rotten garbage!” And Mark lapsed once more into Griek obscenities. #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

On the sea and the rivers the Siritoch fished in small boats with flaxen sails and nets of #cord; in the meadows and woodlands they ran their sheep. But at the mountains’ tremendous and unscalable wall, all things stopped. #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

#SciFiFri “What worries me the most is how nothing seems to matter to him now. And he’s lost that wonderful sense of humor!” Winehandle chuckled. “I don’t think he’s lost it – it’s in there somewhere with all the other elements of his character & history he’s trying to #reject.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

#1linewed And so we lingered and we healed. In fact, we were still in Ei’tot at the beginning of la’nol|, that dry, pleasant season that comes after the Cold Time and before the warm rains begin. It marked the first full year of our wandering.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

#SciFiSat [And so my future history continues (final post next Saturday). The following section contains one of the most important statements I’ve made, pertinent to our present time. See Ch.14 of The Termite Queen, v.1 ]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

#SciFiFri “You have an excellent service #record, Lieutenant.” “Yes, sir. People have always told me I’m reliable. Good old dependable Fuyushiba…let’s make him chairman of the refreshment committee – he’ll get the job done.” The young man sighed & wagged his head fatalistically.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

#1linewed [1/2] Our redoubtable young Champion found itself dangling by its foot above the water, and Ki’shto’ba had to haul it to safety. Is’a’pai’a felt like a complete fool – here it was, a hero bent on the noble goal of liberating its home fortress from an evil tyrant,

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

#SciFiSat [And so my future history still continues (probably two more installments after this). See Ch.14 of The Termite Queen, v.1]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

#SciFiFri [1/3] Emmie outdid herself with the mission’s first official meal. The young tradition of serving pineapple at that meal was honored with edible centerpieces made out of fresh pineapples – boats filled with berries, citrus, and melon and adorned with mint leaves.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I just received an awesome review of my whole Ki'shto'ba series! Check it out here! audreydriscoll.com/2026/08/02/a... I'll probably post excerpts here as time goes by.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

#SciFiSat [And so I continue my exposition of future history: The Mythmakers] [Termite Queen, ch.14]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

#SciFiFri And then there was Fedaylia’s remark after she had slapped him – how she and her father would never be eaten up by guilt, because “we’re normal people, with normal, #healthy egos …” Clearly that implied she thought he wasn’t normal.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

#1linewed The message read: Dear Robbie: All of us here at home are thinking about you and #anxiously awaiting your return. I hope your recovery is progressing – remember there are so many who understand what you’ve lost and who want to share your grief, so don’t despair.

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Gilzara shook his head, a smile trembling across his mouth. “Those realms – those realms, I think, are even less attainable than the #summit of holy Zhinthá.” “Has any human ever climbed there, do you think?” “No. The Starbell has never been climbed.” #vss365

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

#SciFiSat [1/7] [So how does my future history describe the recovery from this newly dystopian world? Read more of Ch. 14 and learn the term “Underground Archivists.”]

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

#SciFiFri [1/5] “I’m not convinced this is the right course, Ian. Are you sure you’re all right with doing this?” Ian licked his lips. “I have to be. I’m the Chief Engineer, responsible for the safety of the ship. It’s my job and I’m not going to let anyone else take the #risk.”

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Lorinda J. Taylor @termitewriter.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

#1linewed He jerked awake, seeing two men in #fatigues similar to his own standing in the doorway. They looked half-familiar, half-alien, like people from one’s dimmest past. “What? Is that…?” They advanced & saluted & one of them said, “Cmdr. Geffry Norman reporting for duty, sir!”

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