Flash.
“ So, your saying they skimmed on the shielding for the electronics ? “ Anthony asked as Maggie reported her findings. He had fallen asleep within Labs, and was surprised to wake up to his bowl having been empty, not recalling to have eaten it all himself. And had it not been for Maggie revealing to him that his, pet, as she put it, had used his sleep to get herself a second serving, he would not have realized.
It was amusing to think about, and even more to watch it as Maggie could provide him with a recording of the incident. Something he might just use to gain the Vixens trust, and maybe, he could actually allow her to move about the ship then, least, a few limited sections of it. Though he would still prefer if the enclosure could be activated for Ina.
“ Assumption. My Limited schematic of the Hope suggest that electronics where heavily shielded against any known form of radiation, however, core electronics where located deeper within the ship, and it seems to have been assumed that external radiation sources would not effect these. Their shielding was less effective. The close encounter to a strong stellar event may have flooded the whole ship in radiation and destroyed these systems. Systems closer to the hull exterior have been effected to a lesser degree. “ Maggie corrected.
“ I see, and your saying some of the Android units where effected as well ? “ Anthony, leaning over the navigations console on the INC hope’s bridge while assuming that her systems where left mostly unscathed because she was located attached to the Hope’s hull, likely to have received heavy shielding to her systems as well.
“ Affirmative. I have access only to two Industrial units, One Medical, one Lab Assistant. All else remain offline until repairs can be performed. “ The AI reported.
“Likelihood of it having affected living organisms ? “ Anthony would ask, concerned as it may explain the headache that had been resurfacing every now and then. And it may even be just one symptom of a greater issue.
“ Currently there is no indication of any influence on living tissue. A closer examination will be required. However, the Medical-bay will require significant repairs before a closer examination can be performed. “ Maggie summarized.
“ And did you find out anything about the incident in the Research Lab ? “ He demanded to know, worried as the firefight he assumed to happen seemed to have originated from there.
“ Negative. I am unable to recreate the incident. I can only propose assumptions. “ She responded.
“ Give me your best guess. “ Anthony, leaning to take a seat back into the navigations chair.
“ The crew has experimented on organic matter or some form of robotic unit, the subject has broken containment and the crew had tried to contain it. There are no signs of fatalities on the crews side, but four of the ten available combat androids have been crushed by something.
No organic traces have been left behind on any of the affected area’s or the androids. Attempts to use the damage caused and the firing arcs to recreate the subject where inconclusive. “ Maggie explained, and then displayed the result of her recreation onto the navigation consoles display, showing something that looked like a sphere, then a misshapen cross slamming into the wall, and finally a mess of tendrils exploding into every direction.
“ Yeah, that wont help us. “ He agreed, wondering if Maggie could give him more information if she had more information available, both about known living organisms and robotics, but all she knew was what she had available on the transport. And with the database on the INC Hope fried, neither Logbooks, nor security recordings could be collected or recovered to get a sense of what happened exactly. And worse, they had no timetable in which order the interior damage to the hallways had been caused. The only true indication that it started in the research lab was the fact that one of the containment facilities had been destroyed from inside.
“ Is there any sign that, whatever this was, is still on the ship ? “ He asked while massaging over his chin, feeling the hint of a beard sprouting, which reminded him that he should probably tidy up a bit.
“ Negative, Two life-signs detected, One Human, one classified as Animal. Current Scans and search patterns have given no reason to believe there’s any robotic entity on the ship.
“ Very well. “ Anthony mused for himself as he tried to figure out his next step. Maggie had already reported on a variety of issues on the ship, such as the lack of fuel for the fusion cores, and various other problems. It seemed that, least in case of the fuel, there had been an emergency purge, likely as a result of system failures.
The cores could still run for about three years at the current rate, which could be extended up to 7, if they shut down most non essential systems. That was not possible however, not for a while, they had to perform repairs to the remaining systems, and they needed the fabrication assets for that, which too had to be repaired again in the first place.
Problem was, if he repaired anything else first, he would not have enough resources for the other facilities. Recycling the broken down components could then cover some of the needs for other systems, but still not everything he needed for the ship to run on its own. As it stood, he could not even use the sleep-Capsule system.
“ The Sleep Capsules. “ He mumbled and looked back up. “ The colonists sleep capsules. Taking them apart and disabling the system in those transport pods. Prioritizing repairs to recycling and production facilities, would that suffice ? “ Anthony asked, assuming that they would not need those sections for the foreseeable future.
“ Calculating. 34% of available material can be retooled into System repairs. 20% can be used for hull repairs of the Aluminum composite armor. Remaining material can be stored in Storage for later use. Remaining materials to be stored, Silica, plastics, metals including copper, gold, platinum and various others. Possible repair priority's expected to be filled. Remaining 3d printer system, medical bay, Bridge and navigation systems. Insufficient resources for further repairs. “ Maggie reported.
Anthony leaned forward to rest his forehead against his right hand, sighing as he had hoped for more, but the amount of electronic components alone was staggering. The INC Hope was so heavily Dependent on the automation system through the AGI. And without, distant travel as the crew had envisioned would not have been feasible.
“ And the beacon ? “ Anthony asked, hopeful that his hope to reach the rest of the colonists was still available, worst case, he would have to abandon the INC Hope.
“ I indeed detected a beacon signal. It is located about 0.3 Light-years from our current location within a System featuring a red dwarf. However, I can not identify the system, or any other star-system visible from our current location without access to the star-charts, and my own system was not meant for system to system journeys. “ Maggie summarized.
“ Yeah. “ Anthony noted, closing his eyes as he tried to calculate in his head how long the journey would take with the NH 03, assuming that it would take about fifteen to twenty years. The INC Hope could do the journey in about eight to ten years. Given the state of the fuel however, they would have to reduce the thrust time, and allow for a longer drift through space. So, perhaps twelve years ? No, they had the fuel in the NH 03 as well, so they should be able to just about manage it.
“ Connect all of the NH 03 systems to the Hope and use the refuel lines to connect your Fusion core to the rest of the ship. The moment you get navigational controls back, set course for the system the beacon is located in, maximum speed that allows save arrival. “ Anthony decided, finally getting up from the chair.
“ Acknowledged. Consumption projections indicate that the fuel will last for about 11 years. Projected arrival time, 8.7 years. Warning, I will not be able to engage the sleep-capsules aboard the NH 03, processing power insufficient to guaranty occupants safety while in control of the INC Hope. “ Maggi reported, eliciting merely a shrug from Anthony.
“ That is fine. Lets get started. “ Anthony responded, heading off the bridge while the AGI started preparations to recover much of the basic industrial capacity the INC Hope held, just so it could start repair operations on more complex systems. An operation that would take nearly a month before the Hope could start its Photon Drive again.
Anthony would try to get back into a more, humane sort of rhythm in the meantime. Daily showers, proper sleep cycle and a sort of, entertainment routine for one, simply needing to feel like a proper human again. His entertainment routine, aside from watching the Vixen struggle to approach him for food, was an endeavor to explore private possessions of the crew, hoping to find one or the other item that may help pass the time. Lucky enough to find an old displaying device that had an assortment of movies and musical pieces for him to enjoy whenever he felt the need for less involved recreational needs, as well as some books and drawing materials.
There was a lot he had no use for, and even some items that could be recycled for additional resources, something that he contemplated for a while before he would collect them for Maggie to process for other projects.
He also started to explore the ship properly now, in part hoping to find someplace on the ship more suitable for the Vixen, still feeling that the cage was no place for an animal on a longer term, especially if they where going to be traveling for years. Keeping her holed up in there simply felt cruel to him, and she had really grown on him by now.
He did make it a habit of pushing her boundaries though, no longer serving her her own bowl of food, but to have her come to him to get her share, something the Vixen was very hesitant to do. But he tricked her by pretending to sleep the first few times, so that she grew evermore daring, until the day she was actively eating from the bowl in his lap, even while he was awake.
And two days after the INC Hope had ignited her photon drive, Anthony would try to touch the vixen, causing her to freeze up in fear. But Anthony was glad to see that she did not escape, so that he could run his fingers gently through the fur on her back for a few moments. She remained still and tense for the entire duration, and soon as his hand moved away, she would dart off to the side and carefully watch what he would do, only to judge the situation save again and resume eating minutes after.
Ina kept amusing him even after they where one month into their journey. Aside from trying to draw her, he provided her with a few toys, hoping to have her occupied and perhaps even play, like he imagined a dog might do. Yet she seemed to hold very little interest in such activities, even when provided with a, somewhat, lifelike bunny he hoped her to chase, but she would merely lay on her blanket and watch as the robotic creature walked by, only providing Anthony with questions about the validity of using vat-grown animals to populate another world.
But the trust of that little creature grew so well that Anthony invested time in enclosing a larger area with mesh-wiring, sealing off part of the command hallway, up to the crew quarters, and all the way up to the bridge, where the vixen could freely move about. A new freedom she used to replace her blanket with one of the crew’s bunk-bed’s to rest upon.
“ Anthony ? “ Maggie would speak, trying to get his attention. It had been four month by then, and Anthony was currently on the ships bridge, playing a game of chess against Maggie over the ships main screen.
“ Yes ? “ He responded, leaning up after having spoiled Ina with some attention, the vixen having taken to following him around just for the chance to steal some affection. His left hand raising to his forehead as he could feel that dammed headache growing stronger again.
Ina had grown accustomed to Anthony by now, and while she still showed very little in feral tendencies, she had come to enjoy being petted, so much so, the moment he came by, she would walk up to him and see if he had a moment of time to attend to her. Seeking every opportunity she could get to jump into his lap where she awaited his attention, even going as far as to nip the skin of his hand lightly if he failed to attend to her when clearly he had nothing better to do.
She was smart about it too. When he was busy, trying to program, hoping to further advance Maggie, or grant more control capacity to the one remaining Vita system, she would at most sneak into his lap and be content with it. But if he was occupied with anything that she deemed pointless distraction, she would make her demand for attention known.
“ I am reading a strange energy fluctuation. I may have.. “ Maggie explained, but then paused. Only for the emergency lighting, which had been turned off now for months, to flash on.
“ Warning, emergency Reactor Shutdown ! Engaging break thrusters, brace for impact !“ Maggie warned, the whole ship suddenly going dark until emergency power kicked in moments later. Though Anthony did not witness the switch of power as the sudden force of the emergency break send him flying against the navigations console, rendering him unconscious.