Commander Log 08-02-3034 "Would you mind calling me Dave?"
15 Feb 2021Matteus_Prime
*The Scene starts out with our camera overlooking the inner Orion Nebula. It begins zooming into apparent darkness. Slowly as the zoom gets faster and faster, a small planet is revealed. Then it's surface. Then finally a spec that grows into a view of Matteus Prime in an SRV. The Vehicle seems to be wedged between two rocky outcrops. There's something leaking into the atmosphere from the side of a tank fixed to its frame.*"If anyone is getting this. . . I've crashed planeside. . ." A laboured breath. A gasp. "And of course I'm running out of o2," I speak into my suit, recording a distress message.
"Danger Commander." Says Verity in a concerned tone. "You are running dangerously low on life support. I suggest we re-route all power to the shield and try to stay this o2 leak."
"Keep the pips where they are Verity. I have a plan"
The last 48 hours were a storm of nerves and weapons fire. My assumptions, or paranoia, were correct. I have ships after me. Haven't been able to see them, only managed to notice a blip on my radar when my hull got sponge caked on Friday night in supercruise about 100ly out from Deciat. Those frag-monkies appeared out of nowhere and went for the kill without warning.
"5 percent power remaining Commander" Warns Verity again as I rip open the SRV black box and start pulling fibre-cable from my spacesuit.
"Keep it together Verity." I grin recalling some cinnamate I watched in school "Would you like to play a game? And would it be ok that in my last few moments I asked you to speak like a dude and call me Dave?"
"This is irregular Comman. . .Dave" obliges Verity, your vitals are calm and you seem to have a demeanour unmatched to impending doom?"
"Well Verity, I just might have figured this shit out. Those a-holes, whoever they are, used Gerhardt to track and monitor me. But that was in our Mamba." Another gasp. The o2's getting really stale in here, "They didn't pick up the ship switch and they don't know that you're my trusty Exploration A.I." The black box finally pops open and I start connecting to the USSD with the fibre cable. The display on my left forearm tells me what I need to see. Connecting.
"Verity I need you to do me a favour."
"Anything Dave"
"I need you to overwrite yourself with the backup of Gerhardt from yesterday. Make a failsafe of yourself on a partition on this drive and I will keep you safe. I promise."
There's a pause. A long pause only punctuated by the sound of the 02 warning bell ticking down the seconds.
"Dave this will put me in mortal danger. You realise th. . . "
"I know what I'm asking Verity. But trust me I will not let you down. "
"Of course Dave. Proceeding. . . Are you sure about this Commander?"
"Sure as I can be Verity. See you soon sweetheart."
The display flashes.
The executable Verity created, backs her up, erases her and then installs the tampered version of Gerhardt.
"Greetings Commandant - Warning, power levels critical" His speech starts to slow and the lights flicker in the failing cockpit.
Weak and gasping I reach for the data term and press the interface to launch my message.
The distress beacon lights up once. A single flash out into the darkness before the entire system shuts down. All I'm left with is the laboured rasp of my own breath and the thunder of my heart.
"Come and get me you bastiches"
My vision fades and I black out.
*The scene exits through the eyes of Commander Matteus Prime, like eyes trying to stay open but slowly losing their war against fatigue. A song starts playing, picking up from our last episode. . .
"Well don't go out tonight
Cause it's bound to take your life
There is a bad moon on the rise"
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