Thrown Away

[Geno]

entry_02.bxp

Log entry numero dos. Sunderlake speaking, as per usual. You would not believe this. But I was today years old when I found out I can connect to this ship's security subnets through this console and take a peek into the major hallway intersections through the security cameras installed around the corners. Check this out. [ VID_003.bms ] [The playback of the recording shifts into what appears to be a static-spangled grainy footage in vivid saturated colors of a corridor within the exploration vessel. The video showcases an intersection within the ship which points in four different directions. The dim lighting from the feeble ceiling lights exacerbates the state of disrepair of the ship itself; the floors appear somewhat battered and rusted, and the equally unkempt and misshapen steel walls feature exposed colorful circuitry innards from within the ship, likely left open purposefully for maintenance purposes.] [After a few more moments, Sunderlake switched out the video footage over to different hallways and several other rooms as she showcased her brand new security access violations.] [ VID_004.bms ] [ VID_005.bms ] [ VID_006.bms ] [ VID_007mensa.bms ] [The footage moved over to what resembles a large cafeteria. If one was to dine and drink on those steel tables whilst surrounded by hundreds of rusting ship wall panels in different stages of decay, they could even call the establishment 'rustic'. The blurry footage featured two young men sitting by the tables, eating together in relative silence and privacy. They appear to be eating what looks like a simple steak and oven chips meal.] "You said you knew how to cook, Trevor." "Ah, well. I might have lied on my resume... ermm... what... was your name, again?" "It's Johann." "Oh, nice to meet you... erm... Jo-hann?" "Nonono. It's pronounced Yo-han. Like, yo, han." "Ah, I see. Man, your language is so weird. But it sounds really cool!" "Ahaha, oh, believe me, Trevor. Not even we Rheinlanders know how it works half the time..." "...What's wrong?" "I... I don't think I could eat this, Trevor. Are you sure you warmed up the steak well enough in the oven?" "Oven? But I used the microwave... wait, was I supposed to leave it in the oven? Look, I don't know how to pre-heat an oven. How do you even pre-heat an oven?" [The shorter blonde boy looked at the gunner with a stare of mild concern and disappointment.] [Shortly after witnessing the exchange, the appended footage was interrupted.] Well, look at that. They seem to be getting along. It's nice to see these two becoming friends. Oh, right, I guess I'm supposed to talk about what we're doing out here, I think. Well - here we are, in the Omicron Pi system - a desolate backwater in the middle of nowhere. I had some major concerns about this place, since Ricky mentioned there were going to be Nomads around these parts. I asked Eli to cut the new gunner boy some slack, and he agreed. Wensdale can probably handle a bunch of flying squids, provided he has a steady hand and we've got enough hands on deck and in the engine room to get the fork out of there. But I'm putting my trust in him. A few hours ago, we've deployed our first beacon - Beacon Alpha. It sounds really lofty, but it's just a stick with an argon lamp on it and a GPS tracker. It's somewhere in the Hotel-Five quadrant of Pi, we've flown for a while just to get here. But this is actually where the fun begins, because Doctor Okasa and Doctor Muller have both agreed that if we're to retrieve some valuable information out of where we're going, we'll have to go far - like, very, very very far, and slowly, too, so that we don't lose out on valuable H-Fuel. While our cargo capacity can definitely put that of most transports to shame, we still need to be careful with our overall resource consumption - which is why I've been hired in this position. Our goal is to pretty much chart out what lies beyond Sirius. This is usually the job for which unmanned probes were made for, but some eggheads in Eleven insist that there were some planets suitable for organic life, like, far, far away from here. We're not the first to make this leap into the void, and we will definitely not be the last. But it's kind of exciting to leave everything behind - and I mean, everything. Liberty, the Edge Nebula, all the pretty colors of the Sirius cluster becoming smaller in my metaphorical rearview mirror. To this end, Eli and I pooled some creds together to scrounge up some exploration gear, should we ever be insane enough to go for a landfall expedition, which should net us a ton of money if we ever get to it. I'm willing to bet my left leg that some nerds from the Confederacy are salivating at the thought of a detailed report of habitable planets with remarkable alien life forms. In our hold, we have the materials to assemble our own probes, a small shuttle to ferry supplies to and fro the Dunlin, and plenty of repair materials for our scanner satellite dish - this thing cost a fortune, by the way. Finding something that can reliably glance a planet for breathable atmospheres by passing long range carbon spectrometer scans was such a pain in the ass, and Eli and I aren't even sure if we got scammed by the vendor in the first place. But, we could always make some modifications, provided our techie nerds know their deal - I asked if they're both EVA trained, and they said "yep" while nodding, so that's probably a good sign. And hey, we can just send Gappy for outside repairs. He doesn't need to breathe air like the rest of us puny mortals. Oh, yeah. I'm supposed to also note down here that we're down some ration packages due to our daily consumption. The boys in the cafeteria just felt like going for a midnight snack, so I gave them a pass. They're both lanky, so they need to eat to get tall and strong. I gotta say... when I mentioned how... exciting it feels to journal down how leaving behind all the colorful nebulas of Sirius... I wasn't totally honest. With myself, I guess - some scans I received from Haley showed me that there are no nebulas... at all, for... forever. It's like... it's all empty out there, it's just an ocean of stars. It's a little ominous, honestly. I guess today marks the real first day of the expedition. We've planted our flag at this quadrant, and we're slowly trekking our way into parts unknown. However long this is gonna take. Eli must've lied to them all. This is not going to take months at all. It'll take years. I think I need to sleep this off. Sunderlake, out.