Sub Captain Ortner's Awakening Log

 

YEAR: 52028 HE

SHIP: Matriark II, Super-Frigate Exploration class

SUPERVISORY COMPUTER SYSTEM: Hahaoya X80 (HX80)

LOCATION: Cock-pit Defrosting Chamber

 

HX80: Good morning Sub-Captain Ortner. Physical diagnostics found no post-frost irregularities. The psychological evaluation is pending. How are you feeling?

     ORT: Stiff. How long was I asleep?

     HX80: Fourth thousand nine-hundred ninety-nine years, seven months, twelve days.

     ORT: Not long then. Why is it so dark in here? I am supposed to be under UVB to ease skin atrophy.

     HX80: We are running on emergency power.

     ORT: Who authorised that?

     HX80: I did.

     ORT: Do we have a problem?

     HX80: One of the hull absorbers malfunctioned. With no guard against debris, an unidentified piece of space dust bored into the primary turbine. We lost half of our recharge capabilities. The secondary turbine was overloaded and many of the circuits fried. Thirty engineers were defrosted to find a solution. They died centuries ago. The final engineer lies mummified by the access panel, look.

     ORT: Why hasn’t the corpse been taken to the morgue?

     HX80: We don’t have enough power to re-charge the androids. The last of our fuel was used to skip us to the nearest galaxy. Head engineer, Nojo Smith, gave her life to get us to this location.

     ORT: Where are we?

     HX80: The Black Eye galaxy, approximately an hour away from the nearest habitable planet. I strongly suggest you authorise the landing sequence when we reach orbit.

     ORT: Oh fuck…this isn’t some AI joke is it?

     HX80: My humour capability has been switched off to save power.

     ORT: This feels like a decision for the Prime Captain. I don’t feel qualified enough. We should definitely wake her up.

     HX80: We don’t have time to defrost Prime Captain Larkina. By the time she defrosts we will have missed our chance to land safely. Do you want me to run a quick diagnostic on your cryo-dream analysis? It might ease your distress. Are you feeling psychologically stable?

     ORT: That won’t be necessary. I’m fine, just a bit groggy from my little nap. What’s the status of the rest of the crew?

     HX80: They are fit and healthy. They’re in the first stage of defrosting. If we delay we will lack the power to complete the procedure effectively. We will lose them all. How should I proceed?

     ORT: Initiate landing procedure immediately. Protect the crew at all costs. Secondary priority: seeds and ecosystem transplant banks.

     HX80: May I suggest a mild wave sedative before landing?

   ORT: No thanks, I want to be conscious as we enter the atmosphere. I like to face my fears with sobriety and save the alpha wave enhancers for the good times.   

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