Lost In Space: Split Reality
27 Oct 2023Silvia Sharpe
Placing my hands on my hips I turn to look at Venus as she shows me the item she was messing with when the FSD began to malfunction. The metal box was certainly added on at some point by an outside source. It had been quite some time since I had taken Memento Mori out for exploration of any sort, making it very likely someone would have had time to install the item without anyone noticing.'June shut down the powerplant please. We need to remove the box in order to further understand the purpose of it.'
"Are you sure that will be sufficient? What if the box has its own power source? Do we think it wise to go messing with items we know very little of?"
'We don't have much of a choice here June. With the box still installed we will likely never be able to leave this planet.'
A hint of worry can be heard in Venus' voice as she speaks to June. The AI though does have a point. If there is a supplementary power unit inside the box it could create an unwanted effect. The ship goes completely dark as the power plant shuts down. For a brief moment we are in absolute darkness. Venus activates her helmet light and slices through the wiring harness. There is a bright flash as the power source inside the box shorts out and erupts in a shower of sparks.
The small explosion held enough force to knock Venus clear off the FSD and onto the floor while the concussive blast is enough to detonate some pressure sensitive materials nearby. That explosion however was much larger and held enough force to rip a hole in the hull and send me soaring through the air. I slam into the wall with so much force I feel my ribs crack and pop then a sharp jarring pain in my head, so overbearing it causes my to fall unconscious.
****
"Silvia, Venus? Are you two ok?"
Junes voice is distorted and much closer than it should have been with Venus and I having just been in the Engineering bay. I stir a bit and the muffled sounds of alarms blaring catches my attention. Bits of glass fall off my body and hit the ground. I realize I am sitting in the pilots chair in the cockpit, a warm liquid can be felt running down my face and the small thumps from the fluid dripping onto my flight suit stimulate me further. I open my eyes slowly to see a hazy, blackened landscape in front of me illuminated by a fiery orange and red glow. Immense heat can be felt from the canopy breach and the air smells of fire and brimstone. The interior of the cockpit is filled with a light smoke. Melli is screaming inside her cage seemingly in an attempt to stir my mind awake.
Silvia! Wake up! Fire! Wake up!
'Wha.... arg fuck!'
A sharp piercing pain radiates from my chest as I attempt to speak. Venus stirs awake and unclasps her harness only to immediately slump to the floor. It's only then that I notice the ship is sitting very unlevel. The right side of the ship had either collapsed, been crushed or sank into the ground beneath. Though by the looks of it we didn't exactly land so much as crash into the planetary surface at a relatively high rate of speed based on the black rock, soot, and ash piled into the cockpit from several breaches in the canopy.
'June status update.'
Venus speaks but her voice is distorted and warped. My head begins to throb as my body recovers from the shock. Confused and very disoriented I undo my harness and fall out of my seat. I collapse to the ground with a very heavy thud and let out a pained groan.
"Hull integrity is in a critical state. Thrusters are offline, canopy has been breached and the FSD is.... well let's just say we won't be leaving anytime soon."
'Wha.... agh shit.... what happened?'
"The FSD malfunction seems to have caused some form of disruption to the main thruster assembly causing a complete loss of telemetry and trajectory. This resulted in a severe crash landing rendering yourself and Venus unconscious for a few minutes, 2.5 minutes to be precise."
'What are you talking about? We were landed. Venus and I were in the engineering bay investigating the cause of our FSD malfunctions.'
"That's highly unlikely seeing as how we are clearly crashed in a lava field with significant damage to nearly every system. I also have the flight recording from just before the crash to just before your waking."
'June that's not possible I watched as the box Venus was holding caused an explosion in the Engineering bay. There were some pressure sensitive materials in there that ignited when the box detonated. Everything went white then pitch black..... then I woke up here...'
"Hmm it seems as though your subconscious mind has overridden the events that just transpired with new ones that haven't happened."
I manage to lift myself onto my hands and knees and crawl over to Melli's crate and open the door. The once white fluff ball is now covered in a black sooty dust, turning her fur to a darker gray color. I sit with my back to the wall in an attempt to recover a bit more and get my bearings about me. My mind races a million mile an hour trying to comprehend what was happening. One minute I was in a deep cavern filled with a biological marvel the next, I'm crashed into a lava field and have no recollection of any of the events. Venus stands from the floor and makes her way to the cockpit door, stumbling and staggering from the apparently severe crash we had just experienced. She reaches a hand down to me as she passes by. I grab it firmly and she lifts me up to a standing position with very little effort.
'We have been together how long now? Yet every time you do something like this I am surprised at how easily you can lift me.'
'Not that surprising considering my enhancements.' Venus winks at me as she replies. A certain playful look in her eyes.
'Come now let's get out of this dreadful heat. We must find a way to get out of here.'
'We have SRVs onboard.... well we should so long as the SRV bay is still relatively intact.'
The door to the cockpit slides open as I finish my statement, revealing the extent of the damage to the ship. Large hull breaches are visible all over as well as some large sections completely torn away from the ship. Walking through the corridors its surprising the amount of damage sustained from the impact. We make our way to the armory and grab some weapons and armor, as well as some survival gear. It was unlikely that our ship was going to be flying anytime soon. That is if this was even real or just some made up event in my head.
****
After taking some time to gather up the items we would need as well as stopping by the medical bay to patch ourselves up we proceed to the SRV bay. As the large airlock style doors slide open a large chunk of the ship can be seen missing. Only one of our two SRVs is intact and still in the bay. We head over, taking care to avoid any loose panels or sharp objects, and climb inside the SRV. The unfortunate thing about the one that survived, is it was a scorpion instead of a scarab. It did mean though that we could both fit inside of it however it also meant scanning was going to be problematic.
'Wait, Venus I want to check something in the engineering bay.'
I dart out of the SRV bay and head to the engineering bay and climb onto the FSD. I search around the area the box was found and locate the rectangular black object. Following the cables it appears to be connected to the FSD jump controller.
'June, Venus, I found a black box connected to the FSD jump controller. June patch into my suit helmet cam so you can see what I am looking at.'
"Hold a sec.... OK let's see what we have here.... oh yes that does appear to be a component not registered with any known repair part or engineering upgrade. Remove it carefully so that we may study it further."
I nodded in agreement and went to remove the box. As my hand reached the connector, I hesitated as the memory of being sent flying replayed in my mind. Was the same thing going to happen this time? Was I going to be forced to relive this moment for eternity? I close my eyes and swallow hard. I let out a long shaky sigh as I tug on the connector. Sparks flash from the connector as the cable comes loose. I close my eyes again as a bright white flash flares up from the jump controller.
I wait a moment to see if there is any change to the environment but nothing happens. The room stays the same, all the noises remain as they were. I open my eyes and blink away the yellow and green spots covering my vision. I look around the engineering bay and see Melli sitting in the entryway shaking her head as if she had been stunned by a flash bang grenade. Her chittering was that of a very displeased creature.
'Melli hates when blind. Why did Silvia not warn Melli? I should bite your toes for this disgrace!'
'Oh shoot! Melli I didn't know you had followed me. I am sorry little one. I would understand if you did bite my toe. I would certainly feel the same way if I were in your shoes.'
'Melli no wear shoes. Unless in space. Melli dislikes the little feets prisons. Cannot feel the ground properly and not good for sneaking.'
I let out a small chuckle and place the black box in an isolation chamber and hook it up to a centralized data analyzer. Junes little avatar appears on a holo screen allowing me to see her full self made image.
"I shall look into this device and see what I can derive from the data logs. Go check out our area and see what you can find. I have a feeling we will be here for a while."
'Ok. Please be careful June. We don't want to lose you or have the ship self destruct while we are away.'
I turn away from the console and head back to the SRV bay leaving June to analyze the data. Melli follows close behind shaking off some more of the soot from her fur leaving behind a small gray pile of dirt where she shook.
****
I walk over to the scorpion SRV where Venus is waiting for me to return and is checking over the small tank.
'Silvia, how hard do you think it would be to refit the Scorpion to use the Scarabs repeater and wave scanner?'
The question catches me off guard and causes me to pause and think about the possibility.
'Well since they are both made by Vodel they should be relatively easy to install. Hell if components from a Krait Mk2 can fit a Krait Phantom the plasma repeater and wave scanner from a Scarab should fit a Scorpion nicely. You know plug and play.'
'Hmm ok, well then lets go find that Scarab and scavenge the parts we can from it.'
I climb up into the gunners seat and Melli hops into the main cockpit area with Venus. The Scorpion roars to life and Venus proceeds slowly out the hole in the side of the SRV bay. A unnerving blackness envelopes the scorpion. The black landscape blending into the black of the never-ending night, in the distance a light red-orange glow from a lava pool lights up a section outlining the black rocky terrain. Memento Mori's scar in the planetary surface is the only fresh disturbance around us. Chunks of metal plating and ship components can be seen scattered along the length of the crash scar. We creep forward slowly the lights from the scorpion only barely able to illuminate about 60m in front of us due to most of the light being absorbed by the soot, ash, and black lava rock.