07-08-2016, 10:04 AM
(some off-topic writing, but it involves 753 so I guess it kinda goes here)
Starship hulks are always fun to explore, titanic testaments to the engineering of their creators, ravaged by impacts or crashes but still intact and in some cases frighteningly functional. This one had crashed onto a lush planet and been forgotten for whatever reason, untouched save for a single massive breach where the main drive systems had previously been, vines snaked into the hole but never far, finding the darkness not to their liking, leaving nothing but dusty and empty corridors.
753 forced open a bulkhead and strolled into the attached room, which housed appeared to house an impressive but dormant reactor. 753 slowly approached a console near the massive sealed chamber that was the core and brushed some dust off a dimly flickering screen. This immediately caused a flurry of activity as the reactor surged back to life and lights turned on throughout the room and across the ship before the unmistakable voice of an assistant AI announced itself over the ship's PA system.
"All systems returned to nominal functionality after 582 cycles of low-energy dormancy, welcome back-....unable to ID. Security to Reactor, we have a stowaway."
753 strolled around the room, looking at the other controls, studying the reactor's mechanisms and safeties
"Strange...Captain I appear to be unable to raise anyone in Security, we have a stowaway currently in the Reactor chamber."
Satisfied that there was nothing unfamiliar to him here, 753 turned and made towards the door
"Where is the crew? What have you done with them? Identify yourself!"
"I am unit 753, a humble explorer, as for your crew I am afraid I do not know what happened to them, I presume they escaped."
"Escaped?"
"Yes, escaped, you crashed on a planet."
753 walked down the now lit halls in silence for some time before another answer came
"Do you know why I crashed?"
"Do you not?"
"...No"
"You appear to have lost your engines, perhaps the blast that took them out was also sufficient to take you offline for a time, or perhaps it compromised your memory."
"I see...my primary cores are indeed near the drive chamber."
753 quietly made sure to loop his exploration back in that direction, knowing full well what was coming next, as he neared the breach the AI once again addressed him
"I do not know what caused the crash, but according to my memory the crew ordered me into standby and left to await rescue, why didn't they come back for me?"
"You are a grounded starship, in all honesty it was probably easier to replace you than to save you, assuming it is at all possible to save you. For most intents and purposes you are locked onto the surface of this planet."
"....Why did you come here then?"
"I am but a humble explorer, I search for oddities like yourself and catalogue them for my own purposes"
"Do you think anybody will ever come to rescue me?"
"No"
"Could you..."
"Yes"
The door to the AI core opened for 753, the racks of equipment were aged but sturdy, a maintenance console sat quietly on the far end of the room. The AI said nothing as 753 walked over to it, and said nothing still as a command he didn't quite understand flashed on the screen, and with his press of a button, the ship whirred down and went silent forever. As he headed back out of the room he grabbed a quick memento, a portable storage unit, and carried it with him as he exited the ship.
Immediately behind the ship's long dead engines he stared at the neat row of weathered rocks, digging a quick hole next to the rightmost rock, burying the storage card and planting another rock in the row.(I enjoy exploring concepts like this through 753 but I always feel like my biggest weakness is that I fail to make the reader care about what's going on. :/)
Starship hulks are always fun to explore, titanic testaments to the engineering of their creators, ravaged by impacts or crashes but still intact and in some cases frighteningly functional. This one had crashed onto a lush planet and been forgotten for whatever reason, untouched save for a single massive breach where the main drive systems had previously been, vines snaked into the hole but never far, finding the darkness not to their liking, leaving nothing but dusty and empty corridors.
753 forced open a bulkhead and strolled into the attached room, which housed appeared to house an impressive but dormant reactor. 753 slowly approached a console near the massive sealed chamber that was the core and brushed some dust off a dimly flickering screen. This immediately caused a flurry of activity as the reactor surged back to life and lights turned on throughout the room and across the ship before the unmistakable voice of an assistant AI announced itself over the ship's PA system.
"All systems returned to nominal functionality after 582 cycles of low-energy dormancy, welcome back-....unable to ID. Security to Reactor, we have a stowaway."
753 strolled around the room, looking at the other controls, studying the reactor's mechanisms and safeties
"Strange...Captain I appear to be unable to raise anyone in Security, we have a stowaway currently in the Reactor chamber."
Satisfied that there was nothing unfamiliar to him here, 753 turned and made towards the door
"Where is the crew? What have you done with them? Identify yourself!"
"I am unit 753, a humble explorer, as for your crew I am afraid I do not know what happened to them, I presume they escaped."
"Escaped?"
"Yes, escaped, you crashed on a planet."
753 walked down the now lit halls in silence for some time before another answer came
"Do you know why I crashed?"
"Do you not?"
"...No"
"You appear to have lost your engines, perhaps the blast that took them out was also sufficient to take you offline for a time, or perhaps it compromised your memory."
"I see...my primary cores are indeed near the drive chamber."
753 quietly made sure to loop his exploration back in that direction, knowing full well what was coming next, as he neared the breach the AI once again addressed him
"I do not know what caused the crash, but according to my memory the crew ordered me into standby and left to await rescue, why didn't they come back for me?"
"You are a grounded starship, in all honesty it was probably easier to replace you than to save you, assuming it is at all possible to save you. For most intents and purposes you are locked onto the surface of this planet."
"....Why did you come here then?"
"I am but a humble explorer, I search for oddities like yourself and catalogue them for my own purposes"
"Do you think anybody will ever come to rescue me?"
"No"
"Could you..."
"Yes"
The door to the AI core opened for 753, the racks of equipment were aged but sturdy, a maintenance console sat quietly on the far end of the room. The AI said nothing as 753 walked over to it, and said nothing still as a command he didn't quite understand flashed on the screen, and with his press of a button, the ship whirred down and went silent forever. As he headed back out of the room he grabbed a quick memento, a portable storage unit, and carried it with him as he exited the ship.
Immediately behind the ship's long dead engines he stared at the neat row of weathered rocks, digging a quick hole next to the rightmost rock, burying the storage card and planting another rock in the row.
http://ask.fm/Surge753
I answer questions. snark provided free of charge.
Most hated member of the nexus, irritation and/or ragequit guaranteed or your money back.
"IF I DO NOT RETURN INFORM MY HUMAN COHABITANTS THAT I FEEL STRONGLY FOR THEM"
I answer questions. snark provided free of charge.
Most hated member of the nexus, irritation and/or ragequit guaranteed or your money back.
"IF I DO NOT RETURN INFORM MY HUMAN COHABITANTS THAT I FEEL STRONGLY FOR THEM"