A Lone Vessel Floating In The Depths Of Space...
Sid
Corwid of the Free Join Date: 2003-01-28 Member: 12903Members, Constellation
Corwid of the Free Join Date: 2003-01-28 Member: 12903Members, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">"Computers feel fear, too." Series.</div> Hello, everyone - I've been "Working" on this on and off. Hope you enjoy it - don't worry, I have a lot planned for this, and things WILL get more interesting, I assure you.
---Introduction----
The depths of Space – so barren, so empty, so… noiseless, where few creatures dare to go – only the most foolish ones: one species, for instance, we call “Humans” – they divide and conquer, eventually destroying everything in their path.
Drifting aimlessly through Space was the TSA “Bumpy Betty III”, an immense research vessel; it’s main crew long since vanished.
One lasting member, however, was peacefully sleeping in a stasis-freezing chamber, somewhere in the depths of the spacecraft.
This ship was built before the discovery of the Alien race known as the “Kharra”, and had the most advanced artificial intelligence available at the time of the ship’s construction. It took a grueling 11 years to construct a ship of this size.
The ship itself was nearly 180 years old, and would now be considered a relic; it’s AI vastly outdated. What made this craft stand out from the rest of the TSA fleet, was that it carried onboard a prototype “warp drive”, but was only to be used by the crew in emergencies.
Due to the ships “advanced” AI, it needed no human aboard to fully operate itself, but the TSA placed the crew aboard as a “secondary pilot” – if the AI were to short circuit, or fail, the crew could manually override the computer’s intelligence and take control of the Research Vessel.
Bumpy Betty was large enough to house and sustain a crew of 350 for a full decade; it consisted of 13 decks, The Bridge, an observation deck, and a remote/automated 125mm magnetic Nano chain-cannon mounted on a turret that was attached to a 360 degree pivot on the top of the vessel, this defense system could travel the length of the vessel, from fore to aft, on a small rail, much like a small train. They constructed the turret on this vessel due to the fact that they had little knowledge of what was really out there in the emptiness of Space.
This was one of the first “long distance” vessels sent out by the TSA, in search of other life, recording data of possible inhabitable planets along the way in it’s journey.
But the crew aboard the vessel was in for a shock…
A horrid accident left the ship in it’s current condition: the vast majority of the crew died in a fatal engine failure, which sent the ship spinning into a Planetoid, this ruptured and breached the hull, forming a giant hole which spread across all 13 decks of the ship.
Those whom died on impact were lucky.
Anybody that was not in a stasis-freezing capsule was literally sucked out of the spacecraft; as soon as their bodies hit the depths of Space, their blood would start to boil, and their skin would pop as if it were a balloon.
That was nearly 11 years ago. Since then, Nano bubble technology which was built into the armour plating of the ship had popped; sending a packet of microscopic Nano droids towards the nearest breach in the hull; these bots soon formed a new plate of armour, and eventually sealed the spacecraft. Amazingly, life support was still intact after the impact; and the subspace engines had steered the sip back onto it’s course – somewhere passed the eighth closest galaxy away from the Milky way – this space was uncharted, not even the TSA of today dared to venture this far from Earth.
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But wait, there's more!!
---Introduction----
The depths of Space – so barren, so empty, so… noiseless, where few creatures dare to go – only the most foolish ones: one species, for instance, we call “Humans” – they divide and conquer, eventually destroying everything in their path.
Drifting aimlessly through Space was the TSA “Bumpy Betty III”, an immense research vessel; it’s main crew long since vanished.
One lasting member, however, was peacefully sleeping in a stasis-freezing chamber, somewhere in the depths of the spacecraft.
This ship was built before the discovery of the Alien race known as the “Kharra”, and had the most advanced artificial intelligence available at the time of the ship’s construction. It took a grueling 11 years to construct a ship of this size.
The ship itself was nearly 180 years old, and would now be considered a relic; it’s AI vastly outdated. What made this craft stand out from the rest of the TSA fleet, was that it carried onboard a prototype “warp drive”, but was only to be used by the crew in emergencies.
Due to the ships “advanced” AI, it needed no human aboard to fully operate itself, but the TSA placed the crew aboard as a “secondary pilot” – if the AI were to short circuit, or fail, the crew could manually override the computer’s intelligence and take control of the Research Vessel.
Bumpy Betty was large enough to house and sustain a crew of 350 for a full decade; it consisted of 13 decks, The Bridge, an observation deck, and a remote/automated 125mm magnetic Nano chain-cannon mounted on a turret that was attached to a 360 degree pivot on the top of the vessel, this defense system could travel the length of the vessel, from fore to aft, on a small rail, much like a small train. They constructed the turret on this vessel due to the fact that they had little knowledge of what was really out there in the emptiness of Space.
This was one of the first “long distance” vessels sent out by the TSA, in search of other life, recording data of possible inhabitable planets along the way in it’s journey.
But the crew aboard the vessel was in for a shock…
A horrid accident left the ship in it’s current condition: the vast majority of the crew died in a fatal engine failure, which sent the ship spinning into a Planetoid, this ruptured and breached the hull, forming a giant hole which spread across all 13 decks of the ship.
Those whom died on impact were lucky.
Anybody that was not in a stasis-freezing capsule was literally sucked out of the spacecraft; as soon as their bodies hit the depths of Space, their blood would start to boil, and their skin would pop as if it were a balloon.
That was nearly 11 years ago. Since then, Nano bubble technology which was built into the armour plating of the ship had popped; sending a packet of microscopic Nano droids towards the nearest breach in the hull; these bots soon formed a new plate of armour, and eventually sealed the spacecraft. Amazingly, life support was still intact after the impact; and the subspace engines had steered the sip back onto it’s course – somewhere passed the eighth closest galaxy away from the Milky way – this space was uncharted, not even the TSA of today dared to venture this far from Earth.
---------
But wait, there's more!!
Comments
Meanwhile, in the most armoured part of Betty, where the drone of sirens could be heard though out Deck 6, the siren’s wailing noise echoing off of the cold metallic walls incasing the freezing chamber of the vessel. The flash of a read alarm-lamp reflected off of a plexi-steel case, where Gordon slept in a peaceful eternal frozen-sleep.
Until now.
The stasis tube folded open, screeching as the rusted metal pieces scraped together. Gordon flopped out and lay motionless on the floor; his skin was white and pasty; his arm hairs were covered in a thin, fine layer of frost. A long brown beard and bushy mustache slowly took control over Gordon’s face. At first look, one would think he was dead.
He continued to lay on the cold steel-grated floor for about an hour, until the repetitive moaning of the siren eventually awoke him from his blissful slumber. He took a deep breath and winced in pain – it has been a while since his lungs took a breath.
Gordon crossed his arms against his chest, and held his naked body, shivering. “What… the HELL?!” He tried in vain to remember what happened, where he was, and who he was. Amnesia was a typical side-affect of long term Freezing. It’s cutely dubbed as “Freezer burn.”
He clutched his aching head with a clammy hand, grasping a metallic railing with the other hand. Gordon attempted to lift himself up, but he was drained of strength. During his hibernation, the AI had been injecting vitamins into his system. But the emergency override had been activated automatically, which suggests that the AI had shut down and stopped feeding him for a short time.
This was why he was awoken. He was needed by the Computer to reactivate the ships AI; if he failed to do so, the ship might simply collide with a foreign object in space and implode.
Gordon’s legs wobbled. He gazed down at his body with blurry vision, amazed at how much weight he had lost. He couldn’t be any more than 120 lbs. When he entered service on the Bumpy Betty, he was nearly 250 lbs; mostly muscle. He began to get his bearings; he began to remember… he began to figure out what happened…
“So, Gordon – oh man, isn’t this just so exciting? I mean… out here in space… exploring strange, new worlds… I can’t WAIT to go out and walk around on a planet…”
“Yeah...sure.” Gordon simply replied to his fellow shipmate’s remark…
A rumble could be felt through out the whole ship. Betty whined as it literally bent under the vacuum of space…
It was then that the AI short-circuited across the entire ship – it was then when the ship hit the Planetoid… rocking the decks through out the ship, shaking the entire crew aboard. Gordon was on his way down the steel plated stairs when it all happened… the hole… he remembered watching helplessly as his friends, family and crew were sucked into the depths of space. He did what he was trained to do – preserve the ship at all costs – he ran for the freezing chambers, which were bolted into the frame of the ship itself, and could not be sucked into the depths of space. Once he reached the Stasis chambers, he immediately grasped the rail, feeling his body slip from under him – he was about to get sucked into space!
Using his whole strength mustered up in his body, he pulled himself into the chamber and clutched the comfy fabric that clad the interior of the Stasis pod with a death-grip. He held his own body in place as he felt himself slowly get pulled out of the entrance of the stasis pod impatiently waiting for the automated door to close and seal him inside. The shield finally closed in front of him, and soon incased him in a frozen sleep.
Gordon was with the media; and not affiliated with the TSA in any way, shape or form. Before this mission, he was given a brief overview of the ship, and it’s systems. He didn’t even receive any weapons training.
After many years of drifting through space as a giant metallic hulk, the AI finally reactivated itself and began the slow process of self-repair. It was a good thing; too, because Gordon was on his last supply tank of Oxygen, and was on low supply of Vitamins, which kept his system alive.
Flash back to now…
Gordon sat helplessly on the floor in front of his freezing tube; he stared at it with a blank expression, his back slumped against the railing.
He peered around the room; it was a giant hollowed out metallic box. On this deck laid exactly 360 stasis chambers, just big enough to accommodate a full-grown human male. The chambers were bolted in side-by-side and back-to-back; this was easily the largest room in the ship. With multiple sub-decks existing in this single deck, there was just barely enough room to fit in a small walkway between each row of chambers.
Gordon staggered to his feet. He muttered to himself, not being able to talk… his words were indistinguishable. He clasped the rail as he wobbled along the pathway, gently lowering him self down a nearby ladder; his foot slipped, and he toppled down 6 feet onto his back. He moaned in pain and squirmed at the landing. He once again found his strength and regain himself.
This time he stood up, reaching out in both left and right directions with his arms, stretching. Numerous cracking sounds were heard. He began to walk a bit more accurately; his striders further apart, much more confidence in his step.
This shaggy human lurched down a long, straight, boxy-looking corridor, he gazed lifelessly up at large text engraved into a heavy metal blast door. “Bridge” it read. He lifted a bare droopy arm and pushed. The door did nothing but lurch. Gordon was drained; he placed both his palms on the metal door, and applied what body weight he had left into opening it.
The door slid open with a loud creak. The lone man made his way into the large cockpit of the spacecraft.
His eyes darted about the display board. Nearly everything was offline, and the computer AI system was clearly shutdown.
The ship’s computers were made up of gauges, buttons, switches, and levers.
Gordon approached a glass-covered button; using a nimble index finger, he lifted the glass, which cracked at his touch.
Underneath the glass was a red button. It seemed to stand out in an awkward fashion. It looked somewhat important…
This would force-restart the ship’s AI system. This was the sole reason Gordon was awake. Yet again, the TSA’s glitchy system had short-circuited, and the automated “Freezer assistant” had awoken Gordon from his nap.
He had second thoughts. Gordon felt as if he was a puppet to some Artificial Intelligence. It was then that he realized that it was dark – his vision was coming back, and he found that the ship’s interior was a dull red hue from the glowing lights that accompanied the sirens that still wailed in the background.
He sneered and smashed his fist down on the button. A moment of silence followed as the whole ship shut down; the sirens stopped, the lights went out – a low, moaning… or lurching sound was heard and echoed throughout the whole hull of the ship. What is happening?! Is Betty breaking up?! thought Gordon. The whole sound echoed and bounced off of every object and deck… it was as if some unknown presence lingered deep in the belly of the ship.
He felt as the bridge began to get a bit stuffy. The oxygen flow was cut… Gordon would suffocate in a matter of hours. Strange sounds were echoed and through the whole ships interior. Gordon realized that he had just shut down the whole ship. Everything.
It was just then that the lights flickered on, illuminating the whole spacecraft – interior and exterior. Lights spanning across the outside of the hull illuminated various symbols, numbers and logos plastered onto the ship. Among them was the proud, glorious (yet worn) TSA logo, brightly shining in the newly activated hull light.
The whole bridge lit up, and was accompanied by a warm hum of each and every operational computer.
“Subject: Goh-don. Sex: Male. Species: Homo Sapien. Age: 23 Earth years. Welcome, Goh-don.” Said a robotic voice from the ceiling of the bridge.
“Oi! Who is this, then?!” spat Gordon, breaking the silence; realizing that he could speak again.
“This is AXDJ1703 TSA Artificial Intelligence. How may I serve you?”
“You’re not going to be serving ME with that name! And my name is Gordon… GORDON. Not Goh-don!!”
“Than which name shall I better serve you with, Gordon?”
“From now on, your name is… Frank. I am Gordon. Nice to meet you, Frank.” Gordon didn’t realize how lonely he was.
“Greetings.” the computer, which was now aptly known as Frank, simply said in return.
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Comments are VERY welcome!
P.S. Don't expect the next CHapter to get done /soon/ - I'm a slow writer. And - don't expect the next chapter to be as long and/or as good as this. XD
Thanks for your time,
-Sid
I started this one a month ago - and never felt like finishing the first chapter - until last night.
You may even want to read through it again... <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
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The massive "Bumpy Betty" research vessel lumbered through space on it’s newly activated “ICARUS” main engine. Betty blasted forward through space at maximum throttle toward its unknown destination – for a large ship, it was pretty nimble. Before the reactivation of the Ship’s main systems, the immense spacecraft had been drifting though space on the minimal power of the thrust engines.
Gordon smiled. The affects of the “Freezer” had finally worn off. It had been about a week since he awoke from his sleep, he now sat in the Captain’s chair, fully clothed in a full out TSA standard Uniform. Gordon kicked his feet off a nearby computer console, which sent him spinning 360 degrees. Gordon loved his new swivel chair…
He had spent the last week resting and recovering from the Stasis Pod’s affects.
“Frank!”
“Yes, Gordon, how may I serve you, sir?” It was obvious that Gordon taught the AI system some manners and appropriate grammar.
“Frank, it’s time to get down to business. I have spent a week just sitting here, exploring the Ship, learning the hallways, understanding how it operates – now it’s time to go home…”
“Home, sir?”
“Yes, Frank. Home. Terra Firma. Earth! You know…”
“Sir, I am unaware of the Terra Firma’s co-ordinates. I may have lost my previous memory in the full system restart which you activated 6 days and 17 hours ago.”
Even after a whole week, Gordon still did not realize exactly how long he had been asleep in stasis. Even still, Gordon was learning how to control the ship through the computer system. But this was only one way to “Drive” this spacecraft; in the unlikely case of a full system shutdown, the ship could be controlled manual from the helm, with the simplicity of a single flight yoke.
“Frank?”
“Yes, Gordon?”
“Will you marry me?”
“I am not authorized to answer that question. I am sorry, Gordon.”
Gordon chuckled and spun around in the Captain’s chair again.
“Alright Frank, seriously this time. We gotta get this ship back up to snuff. Run a full system scan, scan for life, damage – anything. Then go through a full Engine check, followed by a subsystem scan and subroutines. Find ANYTHING that needs fixin’ and fix it!”
“At your will, Gordon.”
Gordon simply smirked to himself. This ship needed a lot of repairs – but just minor things, like coolers to keep the water and food rations frozen, and he also noticed that some lamps built into the walls and ceilings were flickering and sparking. He sighed – these were things that the computer couldn’t fix. So, he got to work.
Gordon lifted himself up from the comfy command chair, and wandered toward the lift that connected the bridge to all of the lower decks. The only thing the lift did not travel to, was the Observation deck and Turret control, which were above the bridge, accessed by a ladder.
He was at the topmost part of the ship – the only other higher decks were the observation deck, and turret control. The turret, however, was automated, and had a supply of Nanocharged ammunition.
Gordon would do some repairs while the Computer scanned the ship. And this would be a good opportunity to explore, more. During his week since awakening, he mostly slept, trying to regain his strength and fight off the affects of the freezing chamber.
The now-trimmed and well-fed Gordon stood awkwardly in front of the lift (the only elevator on board the ship). Beside the lift’s entrance (which was big enough to accommodate four fully-clad heavy amours), was a Holo-minimap built into the wall.
The Minimap listed the Decks upon Gordon’s command:
-Deck 1: Restaurants and Entertainment.
-Deck 2: Hygiene facilities and water storage.
-Deck 3: Engineering and Machine shops.
-Deck 4: Armoury and Arms lab.
-Deck 5: Crew Quarters.
-Deck 6: Auxiliary Command.
-Deck 7: Unfinished Prototype lab.
-Deck 8: <Locked> Do not Trespass.
-Deck 9: <Locked> Do not Trespass.
-Deck 10: Shuttle bay and Hangar.
-Deck 11: Cargo bay.
-Deck 12: Cafeteria and Frozen food storage.
-Deck 13: Communications.
-Bridge
-Observation Deck
-Turret Control
In order to do his simplistic repairs, he would have to travel to Deck 3. Perhaps he would take a quick stop to deck 4 and arm himself – during the week he had spent in the bridge, he heard inhuman screeches which seemed to echo from somewhere deep within the ship – he decided to stay in the higher decks, fearing whatever might be down there…
Gordon cocked his head and Decks 8 and 9. Off limits? Well, since he was the only person aboard the ship, he would certainly go explore those floors. He stepped onto the activation pad for the lift, which politely opened for him. He stepped in, the contraption creaking under his small weight. He couldn’t remember when he used it last week… when he lurched out of his pod… last week was a blur… a distant image in Gordon’s mind.
Gordon punched in the appropriate digits into the keypad, the elevator’s doors slid closed with a small screeching sound – Gordon simply waited as the lift lurched, buckled, and slowly made it’s way down the shaft of the spacecraft.
“Greetings Gordon!” said an overly enthusiastic voice from above, “I am so glad that you have chosen to ride the XLN350 Turbo Lift from Microsoft! You have chosen Deck 3, and I really hope you enjoy your ride! Shall I play some comforting music?!”
“Bite me.” Gordon simply said – he never liked Microsoft anyways.
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Chapter 3 is in the works. ENJOY! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.natural-selection.org/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->