Futuristic Into the Dark

[Alite]

"I don't see why I would mind". He looks out the window, and quietly says to himself "I understand him being hesitant about sending us to a planet, but we don't have much choice. On top of that we will have issues with theft soon. The kids are the only ones complaining for now, but how long...". He shakes his head violently, "I seriously need to work on that habit". He stands up and turns to Islia. "Bye for now, I also have something I want to work on". The door opens with a quiet hiss. "I don't need reminded". He walks rather quickly towards the shield generator room. "I should probably get that done first".

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

Will-o'-wisp

If anyone would have bothered to check deeper into the energy distribution of the ship they would have noticed a most curious anomaly. A portion of the failing generator's energy output was being re-directed to a particular section of the ship classified according to the diagnostics as F-3/RM7B. Which was, when one thought about it most odd for F-13 stood for floor 3 and all that floor was happened to be the cargo hold. Even more curious was that the 3rd floor only had on the basic schematics 7 rooms. 7B was the designation for a area of space converted in half to be made another room.


But. . . there was no door down there that anyone had discovered leading to a separate room or at least that no one had announced finding. Controls to divert the power oddly enough, were not available from the main control station or engineering. Power would have to be shut off manually from said room. The amount of power that was being re-directed to this room at first was miniscule, which is likely as to how it had gone unnoticed but due to the dwindling supply of fuel and the appalling conditions of the Engines, every bit of energy was precious and what was once insignificant was now extraordinary in the newly balanced scale. The only question now was how long would it be before someone discovered this seemingly horrendous waste of power?

 

[iTrinity]

​

Sebastian sighs. After a few hard moments of thought, he places both hands on his head with a heavy sigh. He pulls at his hair with a self-created inner agony, trembling. What Adalric had said was right. It was crashing them into a planet with a slight chance of survival, or drifting in space with no chance of survival. He drops his hands from his head, walking to one of the panels on the flight deck. He taps on the monitor with his glasses propped up on the end of his nose, letting him view the monitor with clarity.


Again, the familiar crackling of white noise is heard before Sebastian's friendly voice comes over the ship. This would be hours after their last meeting, so hopefully there wouldn't be any inconvienence for those he calls. "Islia, Caitlyn, Adalric and Adele, please report to the flight deck," Sebastian pauses, "And er... Alex Samson, if you have a moment," He also murmurs a similar sentence in Deutsche, though with some variation. "Bitte kommen Sie zu dem Flugdeck. Es tut mir leid für den Druck, den Sie gehen, um unter sein wirst,".


The announcement fades away with white noise again, and Sebastian is left waiting in the flight deck, leaning upon one of the consoles.

 

[Floodwater31]

Alex briefly cocked his head to better hear the static filled message, he would have sat up he wasn't on his back in a crawlspace. I'm getting called up? Crap. In Alex's experience special attention was usually a bad thing. Alex chose to temporarily ignore the message as he spliced the last wire together, to which he was congratulated with a small hum. Alex then preceded to extricate himself from his small hollow, crawling out legs first on your back was not an easy process. When he at last stood he surveyed the now lit hall. Faulty wiring had caused a small fire in the previously mentioned crawl space, blacking out several lights and a console in a secluded hallway. The job had been deemed not worth of the time or effort to fix it and forgotten about, especially since a perfectly good console was a short walk away. Alex had chosen to do it so he could forget about the meal he had planned on missing, using the tedious work to distract himself.


Alex replaced the gloves he often wore and began his way to the flight deck, making sure to check his pocket for his key ring. He was only a short distance from the flight deck so he shouldn't be too late

 

[Alite]

Adalric looks up from tying the wires to various sections on the shield generator. "A decision he doesn't want everyone to hear. I can guess what it is, but I should probably get down there". After a deep sigh he stands up. "Well, I'll get all my jobs finished sometime I'm sure. I wonder why I haven't yet" Shrugging, he starts walking out and suddenly stops. "I wonder if I could set up a program to automatically counteract that turret's error. Hmm I'll have to look into that". He continues walking to the flight deck.


He walks into the room and sees Sebastian leaning against one of the consoles. "Hi Sebastian, so I'm the first one here. I even dropped everything just so I wouldn't end up late, but the others probably aren't far behind". He walks over to a wall, and sits down on the floor, back to the wall. He pulls out a lot of twist ties from his pocket and starts to tie them together in strips ranging from ten inches to eighteen inches.

 

[Lenchan]

Sleeping had always been a necessity for Islia Bulvardo. This was the nature of the lives most of Earth’s final survivors endured: little sleep, even less food and water, though there was always plenty of fatigue and anxiety for everyone to have - more than their fill. And there were always those who wanted more than their fill…





Islia’s eyes opened in a jolt at the sound of the intercom transmitting again. She inhaled deeply and slowly released her breath in a steady line, feeling her heartbeat start to slow to something resembling its normal pace. She bit down hard on her bottom lip and stared at the void constantly watching over their vessel from the small window and waited for Sebastian’s voice to fill the room.


Another meeting of the same individuals he called for this morning. She made note to remember their first names this time. If she’d planned to live or die with these people, and she did. For now. What choice did she have? “Irrelevant.” The word was sharp and poignant, echoing in the confines of the small quarters. She ignored the chill it gave her and stood to leave. The others would be waiting.

********
​

The door to the bridge fizzled pathetically slow, showing its age. Islia smiled briefly at it, always finding some strange affection in the ship’s antiquity. Her smile darkened into nothing as the thought flourished. Across the deck, Sebastian was being greeted by Adalric. Islia stepped tentatively over the threshold. “Captain, may I join you?”

 

[Ironrot]

Arthur leant on the wall beside the food cupboard. They had hung a sheet above the doorway to prevent people from seeing the depressing stores inside but it did little good for Arthur. He had been tasked with keeping and distributing their food inventory, given that his trade was all but useless right now. He checked off a refugee's name, robotically spooning them their serving of spagetti for lunch.


There was a tug at his trouser leg. A little face peered up at his through mess hair.


"I don't want spaghetti," Sally complained, "I want a lolly."


Arthur gave her a sad smile. "I don't have any more." That was a lie, he had 6 hard candies in his pocket, but if she knew, Sally wouldn't let Arthur have a moment of silence until she had eaten them all. "We'll go looking for lollies later if there's time." He said, ruffling her hair.


Arthur checked over his list of names. All except two had seven neat marks beside their name; Alex Samson and Adalric Sturge. Arthur looked at the last two tin cups of spagetti sitting on his table. Where were they? Arthur closed the cupboard's heavy door, clamping a padlock through the handle. The intercom buzzed. To Arthur it was mostly white noise until he heard Sebastian request both Alex's and Adalric's presence on the flight deck.


"Want to come for an adventure, Koneko?" He asked, Sally. 'Koneko' had been Mary's pet name for her daughter. Arthur had never really used it until Mary's death, but now it made him feel better. He had never asked Mary what it meant. Sally motioned to be picked up. Arthur reached down and scooped up the little girl, still holding her cup of luke-warm spaghetti. "Then you've got to finish you lunch" He said with a smile.


Collecting the two rations, he walked to the flight deck. He saw small group forming.


"Adalric," He called across the room, "You missed lunch" he said, walking to them and holding out one of the cups. "And has anyone seen..." He stopped moving when he saw the worried look on Sebastian's face. It was worse than normal. "Have I walked in on something?"

 

[Maki]

(Wow. I didn't get any notifications. Sorry.)


Caitlyn was startled by Sebastian's voice suddenly playing through the ship, as she had been resting her eyes. "What does he want now?" She thought, but not in a rude way. The door to the med bay hissed quietly and slid open allowing Caitlyn to leave. She walked through the ships corridors to flight deck, where she noticed that the others were already there. "What is it Sebastian?"

 

[Floodwater31]

Alex rounded the corner and saw he was the last to arrive, which was not a good impression to leave on the captain and other high ranked members of the crew. Alex began to wonder why he was called down here, the flight deck has an air lock and we're low on food. Na, if that were the case the engineer and the nurse wouldn't be called down. "Sorry I'm late. What can I help you all with?"

 

[Vii]

Opening the door softly, greeting the other navigators with a slight nod and a somehwat shy smile and silently make her way towards her desk and preparing the maps... It all seemed to be like just another ordinary day at the headquarters for her, despite the tense meeting at lunch.


Sebastian's words still rang inside Adele's head, making her chest thighten ever so slightly at the thought of the smile he said as he delivered them to her. It was not just him that was counting on her to do her job, everyone was. All she wanted was to scream into the sky of why of all people was she the one to have that weight on her shoulders. But that would be childish, no to mention unfair. It was what it was, nothing more, nothing less. She simply had to what she was told. If not, only a grim scenario would pose before all of them...


The voice of the intercom quickly reached where she and the other navigators were, to which the latter all turned to look at her. She had recognized her name in there but the rest of the message slipped from her comprehension. It was only when it was translated that she reacted. Impulsively, she stood up, pushing her chair with a loud sound. There it was. There she was. So soon...? No, no, who cared about that?! Her feet add their way across the room, her lips letting a "Excuse me" escape from her throat before leaving the quarters, echoing through the hallway as if announcing her arrival at the command room. Ignoring her pounding heart, which drummed incessantly in her ears, she set foot inside. "...W...Was ist los, Sebastian?" Adele spoke up at long last, approaching him somewhat hesitantly.

​

 

[Lenchan]

Islia stepped aside at the sounds of feet pattering and the door to the deck pinging again, announcing someone else’s arrival. The others – Caitlyn, Adele, and…..Alex, was it? She remembered there was a matter she needed to discuss with this man, and made a mental note not to forget again – all entered the deck with such informality and kinship that it finally began to truly bother her how disconnected she was from everyone else abroad. She knew there was no reason to be distrusting of this group, however the very nature that had allowed her to survive this long resisted hard against foolish ideas like friendship. Comradery her mind could allow, but she knew nothing of these individual’s personal history before meeting them. I barely know my own… Her mind’s duality visibly showed in annoyance. She ran a hand through her hair absently – her bangs matted enough to slick back momentarily before falling aside – and turned to the gathered crew, walking over to join them.


“Sebastian, if I may, I’d like to say something before you start…” She trailed off, and then continued, deciding it was important enough to speak this opinion without permission. “With all due respect to our current technician,” she nodded gratuitously in acknowledgement of Adalric, “I would like permission to acquaint myself more thoroughly with the ship’s mechanics, particularly with the engine and propulsion systems. In consideration of the task at hand, it’s best that there be more than one person on board familiar with the operation of the ship.”


“Additionally,” her eyes scanned the room, looking for someone to dissuade her next utterance from escaping. There was resolve in each of them, fortifying her own. She looked to Sebastian directly and continued. “Additionally, though the final decision is yours to bear, I speak for myself in saying you do not need to carry the weight of it alone. Though it often abrasive, whatever council I can offer, however I can be of assistance, and when you make the final decision I’ve decided to stand with you on it. Whatever it may mean, you have my full support and all the skills I can offer to accompany it.” She cleared her throat, looking away and folding her arms loosely across her chest. A common human gesture of closure. “I can’t rightfully speak for anyone else here, but my intuition is they all feel the same…” She looked to the faces of the others, adding. "Do correct me if I'm mistaken."

 

[iTrinity]

Sebastian folds his arms over his chest, laughing nervously after Islia speaks. His chin leans down a bit. The glasses that rest on the bridge of his nose slide down slightly, barely hanging onto his face. "Whatever respect you have for me is misplaced, Miss Islia,". He looks up at her and sighs heavily, "I just happened to have picked you all up. I'm nothing more than a space-taxi driver,". He chuckles and bobs his head up and down, "I thank you. You may familiarize yourself further with this flying heap of trash,". Sebastian pushes up his glasses slowly, before gazing around the room with a determined glare. "We're going with Islia's plan. This option will be extremely unappealing to those aboard the ship, so I request you keep all information you're told during this meeting confidential. Islia, do what you must to prepare the ship to er... Land,". He says the word 'Land' with a slight shake of his head and a smirk. "Adalric will assist you in all operations necessary,". Sebastian turns his gaze to Alex, "You'll be looking for a passenger who even remotely understands agriculture. After you do so, or if you do so, begin moving crucial supplies to where Islia specifies,". Again, his eyes shift to the next person in the room. "Caitlyn, pack up all of our medical supplies. Have Alex move them to where Islia wants them,".


Lastly, he looks at Adele. His voice turns softer and his glare fades into a relaxed smile. "I'll be assisting Adele with navigation. At least, insuring our ship is piloted to our destination,". He repeats this to her in German, though again it might be noticed he uses a few extra words. "Ich werde Ihnen helfen, zu navigieren. Bitte fahren Sie hier Ihre Geräte so können wir zusammenarbeiten. Ich werde hier für emotionale Unterstützung als auch, wenn Sie es brauchen,".


Sebastian then bites his lower lip, staring at Islia nervously. "I have faith in your plan. I hope it is not misplaced,". With this Sebastian waves his hand toward the door. "You're dismissed. Please go with Islia if you were directed to do so,".

 

[Maki]

"Yes sir." Caitlyn said, nodding to him. Packing up medical supplies sounded easy enough, as they didn't have a ton to begin with. She glanced at Alex quickly before heading back to the med bay, where she started packing up supplies.

 

[Lenchan]

((sorry in advance about the dragging length. I tagged sections of import in case peeps eyes began to glaze over))


Counter to what he said, Sebastian’s command over the situation exuded the exact authority and compassion that had earned her loyalty in the first place. Commenting on this was unnecessary, so she remained silent, looking tentatively over to the control panel behind him. She’d start with comparing the digital schematics of the ships layout with those that she’d drawn up herself. Generally, though her knowledge of composition was secure, she was sure there’d be gaps to fill. This would be the least overwhelming place to start.


And then Sebastian deferred the fate of the ship to her. She’d meant what she said, both earlier about the limited chances they had at survival and now about her fealty, but she would admit to herself as he spoke this is the burden one bares when offering responsibility to others. As he finished giving the others directives, Islia’s mind raced. Do we really have the resources to fortify the med bay enough for survival in the likely event of a hull breach? Do we even have enough fuel to maintain oppositional altitude? We could just go colliding into the planet…


Th silence after Sebastian’s assignment hung over her, stretching out into an infinity she was meant to catch. And so she would. “Adalric, I want you to give a crash course on navigating whatever A.I. is on this ship. In addition, make a mental inventory of the ship with shield fortification in mind. We’ll focus there, as it will be imperative for prolonging incineration from atmospheric gas. We’ll work on bracing the med bay for impact after Caitlyn’s group completes organization and relocation.” @Kayzo


She drew her eyes to Sebastian, expecting him to pick up on her desire for his mediation, then turned to the navigator. “Adele, have confidence in your intuition. Your educated guess for a viable planet will be far greater than anyone else’s abroad this ship.” She turned back to Sebastian. “Once you find the target, please let me know so we can begin calculating orbital decay and entry. Also,” she chuckled darkly, “if there are any others you know of in addition to myself and Adalric that have any orbital mechanical or physics background, please have them report here to assist you both with calculating the probability of success, both of physically making it to the target and relative descent. Otherwise, after helping me get oriented, I suggest you commandeer the skill of technician Sturge for your efforts.” @Alite @iTrinity @Mine

 

[Alite]

"Understood". He had finally finished making the strips, and gathered them up and put them in his right pants pocket as he stood up. Adalric turns to Islia. "For now, you wanted a crash course on the piloting AI. We should get that done first since it may take a while to get anyone with a background to fit our needs to get here". He doesn't even feel nervous, and he knows he should be worried. He simply had no feeling about it, and his face probably still showed no expression. To him it was success or failure. Survival or death. No middle ground. His only goal was to help to the best of his abilities.

 

[Floodwater31]

"Got it", Alex went over what Sebastian had said in his head and prepared a checklist, find a farmer, then help Islia move supplies, which will also include moving medical equipment for Caitlyn... Alex's first thought was whether or not a farmer was on the ship, but then again, Alex was here, and he wasn't exactly from the highest pedigree. "Islia, I'm going to look for a farmer using the console, when I'm done I'll find you". Alex noticed Arthur for the first time, "Oh, say hi to Sally for me Arthur", Alex commented as he began to make his way back to the console he'd fixed earlier. Where to find a farmer?

 

[Lenchan]

Islia nodded to Adalric in acknowledgement, running hand along her cheek and down her neck in attempts to push back the pang of her stomach and the fatigue of her mind. She began to consciously catalog all the observations she’d made regarding the ship, preparing to map them onto whatever waited in the ship’s antiquated computers. At least there’d be a bit of time before they reached a planet to land, even if Adele impressed them all and found something right away. “Alright then. Lead the way, sensei.”

 

[Ironrot]

Art stood a few paces back from the group, his mouth open and a dumb look on his face. Had Sebastian just said that he intended to land the ship?


When Alex addressed Arthur, all he could do is half-heartedly hold out one of the who cups of spaghetti which he was balancing while he made a draw own 'aauuhh..?'. Arthur was snapped out of his shock by a little giggle from Sally, who quietly pulled a face, mocking Arthur's expression.


"Wait!" He half-shouted to the room in general. He turned around to face Alex, who had walked past him. "I'm your farmer but...", He turned to Sebastian, "What? We're landing? I thought we were in the middle of nowhere? What... What's this planet?"

 

[Lenchan]

Alex. She suddenly remembered she'd need to confer with him, but now she couldn't even recall. As if he could read minds, he spoke her name, relaying his directives. She nodded in agreement as he reported his plan of action, prying her mind for what she'd needed from him to no avail. Though he did mention Authur, the agricultural specialist, reminding her of an additional point of business she'd forgotten. She looked over to the worn man in appreciation. "Agreed, Alex. Excuse me. Adalric - I'll join you at the panel in just a moment."





With that she made her way over to Arthur, trying on a new face. The smile felt so unnatural, but she did her best to make it warm, though brief, first at Sally then to him. “Arthur, I understand your concern, but you are more aware of our ration supply than anyone. It is," she paused carefully considering the right word to choose in front of Sally, "We have an ultimatum. We can chose to stay here, where we are what what we currently have and wait or venture elsewhere in search of a dark possibility. I believe Sebastian's decision, via our council this morning, is the best..." She smiled a real smile at Sally and felt a warmth she hadn't in a while take shape. "..for posterity's sake." Looking back to Arthur, she breathed out heavily in a sigh. "That said, please prepare your talent. We will survive and we will need you in order to do so. Also, unrelated, would you happen to recall if there is any baking soda, cream of tartar – anything with a sodium bicarbonate base – in our food inventory?”

 

[Ironrot]

Sally leant backwards, hanging off Arthur's open shirt collar so that she could see Islia. She give a slightly startled expression and crawled a further up Arthur's arm.


"Her hair's blue" She whispered, somewhat loudly. Arthur put the spaghetti cups down on the nearest flat surface.


"Sorry. I'm not saying it a bad idea. I'm just... Shocked." He stroked the back of Sally's head and whispered "It's okay". Arthur gathered himself.


"Yeah, I think there is some. I'll take you in a second. What do we know about the planet? What is its atmosphere or ground chemicals? Is there Any life?"





Sally leant back again, slowly extending her arm to touch Islia's hair. Arthur turned a little, moving her further away.

 

[Alite]

Adalric watches as Islia goes over to Aurthur and Sally to explain the discussion that he had just overheard. "Sometimes I feel sorry for the poor guy. I wonder if I would be able to set up a quick simulation program to help teach her how to use this. Hmm, if I had about seven hours maybe". He sighs deeply. "Well guess I'll just have to do it the harder way". He stands there waiting to begin teaching Islia, staring out the window.

 

[iTrinity]

Sebastian slowly holds his chest for a moment, breathing somewhat heavily. He slips into a chair located near the many monitors, holding his head in his hands as he awaits for Adele to return to him with coordinates.







((Sorry for short post, simply waiting for @Mine.

 

[Jarkov Malachai]

Something stirs

Generator 3 suddenly ‘hiccupped’ in its firing sequence and disrupted Generator 4 in its next sequence creating a chain reaction which had the entire line of Generators misfiring and creating power fluctuations all throughout the ship as the Engine groaned under the stress of having to cycle back through its own fail-safes to force a re-sync on the Generators.


Lights throughout the ship flashed on and off, twinkling madly and throwing the inhabitants into perpetual darkness then blinding them with radiant florescent lighting which seared their eyes from their having used to the dim lighting of having the energy output across being at only 1/4th to save power. Now having the lights rapidly change voltage and amps blinded most of those who were unlucky to be staring at a light when a power surge hit though it was only temporary.


However, as breakers were flipped, fail-safe protocols coded in the ships mainframe were activated, the power grid was disrupted long enough for no power to have been sent to a certain room for longer than the original owners ever wanted and or anticipated for they likely never in their wildest dreams imagined their star ship in such a state.


Warning and Hazard signs blared up all across the Hidden rooms equipment as the Cryo-tank began to thaw and shifted the priority requests in the ships A.I which then lead to the room sucking pretty much everything the poor Generators were able to create for about 10 seconds leaving everything else without power before the ship’s automated systems were able to sort out the problem. But Engine 3 was still hiccupping under the strain of the power drain and continued to do so despite automated attempts at fixing the problem. It wasn’t long before it might shut down for good if problems were not solved and if one shut down then the domino effect would begin as the strain of having to pick up 3’s work load would only deteriorate the remaining Generators efforts.


If anyone had been in that room during those seconds of total darkness, in which the lights, air vents and all were off and it was nothing but complete void of all sensation save for self awareness… they might have heard what appeared to be a single screech of steel being scratched with something reminiscent of a sickle or nails on a chalkboard, muffled by distance but transmitted through metal. A long drawn out sound which echoed through the frigid air, that shattered the silence before slowly fading off into the black. But the lights did come back on and power returned… and so all was well once more.

 

[Lenchan]

((Sorry guys, for some reason my thread wasn't updating. So weird))

 

[Lenchan]

Islia laughs audibly at the gesture, and at Sally’s bluntness. A child’s honesty, so innocent and unbounded, was definitely motivating. Islia was honestly surprised that the girl had remained so spritely in all the turmoil amongst them. Most of the other children onboard the ship shared the same looks of agony as their parents, bored and hungry, waiting for an end, good or bad. The warmth in her spread a bit further. Hope remains… She leaned forward, towards Sally, tentatively, letting her latent playfulness show. “And some think it is cold as ice! Would you care to find out??”


Islia listened to Arthur’s concern, enjoying this strange, familiar feeling of airiness. She just wanted to pluck Sally from his arms and embrace her. The thought brought her back to reality and she stood upright again before Sally could react. “We haven’t found a planet yet. Adele and Sebastian will be working on finding a viable planet nearby. As far as the soda, please just set it aside. I’ll be by when there’s time to talk with you about another matter. I will collect then. Excuse me,” She smiled at Sally one last time, “Next time?” then stepped back away from the family, returning to Adalric.





“I’m prepared. Teach me the basics and I’ll take it from the-“ Islia’s sentence was cut short by the sudden flickering of lights and sounds of something sputtering to a halt. No… The prayer was more of a command. When the lights flickered back on, the panel blared red with successive alerts and warnings about engine failures and system reboots. Islia looked from Sebastian to Adalric and declared, “Adalric, where are the system readings for the ship’s power? What’s the status??” She looked again to Sebastian. “Let's make it quick so Sebastian can address the passengers once we figure out what the hell that was…”