I Got Woken Up by Max
"Good morning, sir, your sleep pattern indicates that now would be a good time to get up. You have slept for 8 hours 37 minutes and 18 seconds."
"Good morning, Max," I said with a yawn. "What's the current time?"
"It's 18:14 on the 3rd of November 3078 interplanetary time, sir," Max replied.
I yawned again and stretched my arms before I opened the closet and took out some fresh clothes. "Did something happen while I was sleeping, Max?" I asked.
"Negative, sir," Max said as I put on my clothes. "The power draw of the Station was stable with only minor fluctuations. Possibly from the activity of smaller systems. No other anomalies detected."
I nodded, not that Max could understand, and slowly walked to the bathroom to start my morning ritual, including shaving. I hate shaving.
30 minutes later, freshly shaved and now awake, I pressed the button on my fridge to make a fresh coke. While the machine was pouring the drink, I made a small breakfast and thought about what I would do today. At my workbench, while eating my breakfast, I studied the map Max had sent me yesterday.
"I think I will take a look at the areas marked as 'Recreation' and 'Consumer testing' today," I said between bites. The areas I meant were still on the same deck as the docking ports but more towards the center of the station.
"Affirmative, sir. It seems that there are some network nodes in these areas, but I can't access them yet. They appear to be shut down," Max responded.
"Good, I will try to power them up if I find them," I replied. "On which deck are we currently?" I added.
"You are not on the station, sir," Max said. "However, the docking ports are located on Deck 18."
"Right, and how many decks are there in total?" I asked.
"41 Decks, sir," Max answered.
"Anything interesting about them?"
"Unknown, sir. I can't access the maps of other decks without the main system or an active network node on that deck." Max responded. I groaned.
"Is this a fucking video game?" I asked, frustrated. "I need to activate the network node on each deck to get a map."
"I'm sorry, sir, but there is currently no other way for me to get this information," Max replied.
"Well, fine. I will deal with it later. For now, I will look around the current deck," I said.
I walked back into the kitchen and was just putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher when Max interrupted me again. "Encrypted long-range communication received, sir."
"Out here?" I asked, "How far out are we actually?"
"We are on a polar orbit around the sun with an average distance of 17 AU," Max replied. "The message was severely degraded and could not be received by the ship's antennas, but the larger antennas of the station were able to pick it up, sir."
"So you can't access the maps of other decks, but you can use the antenna array of the station to receive long-range messages?" I shook my head in disbelief.
"Affirmative, sir," Max confirmed. "The communications system is independent of the main system and can be accessed from any console on the station, but the maps are stored in the main system, which is not active, as you ordered."
"What a coincidence," I sighed. "Okay, from who is the message?"
"The message was sent by Pyra and end-to-end encrypted for you, sir," Max informed me.
Pyra was a close friend of mine. The last I had heard from her was that she was detained on Mars for smuggling endangered species. I allowed myself a moment to remember the good times we had. We had worked together as freight pilots on and around Mars for a few years. She was the one who introduced me to the smugglers and we made extra money smuggling all sorts of illegal goods. As security tightened, we dropped the freight job and started freelancing. Although we still made good money, we stopped smuggling the really bad stuff, at least I did.
I had asked her out multiple times, but she made it clear she was not interested in men like me. At first, I thought it was because I was just an average guy, but later I realized she was more into women. Our friendship grew stronger after that and I loved her like a sister. I was sure she felt the same about me. If I could, I would give my life for hers and I'm sure she would do the same for me.
"Alright, does the signature match?" I asked as I sat back down and picked up my tablet.
"Affirmative, sir," Max answered. "The message is signed with a known key from Pyra."
I opened the message on my tablet.
~~~
What the hell, Chris!
Have you really stolen the prototype reactor core?
There's been nothing else on the news for the past couple of days. Reactor core here, security there. It's really annoying.
And how is it? Actually, don't tell me or I might get jealous. :P
Due to the theft, security has been increased on all planets and stations. You can't even deliver legal goods without undergoing a full ship search. Smuggling has definitely become harder, thanks to you.
However, I was able to escape from that hellhole of a Mars prison. I paid a corrupt official a lot of money to remove my charges from the register so I could fly again, even though I can't do much right now.
How's it going for you? I hope you have a good hiding place. They have a description of your ship and are threatening any ship that even remotely resembles yours.
Do you want to meet up and hang out? I don't have anything better to do anyway.
Best, Pyra
~~~
Well, that was a surprise, albeit a nice one.
"Max, can you determine where the message was sent from?" I asked.
"Affirmative, sir. Based on the interference and the general direction of the signal, it was sent from around Saturn," he answered.
"If we respond, can the message be traced?" I asked.
"Negative, sir. The station has an impressive dispersion array that allows us to add constructive interference to the message. It can only be traced within one astronomical unit from our current position," Max responded.
"Good," I said as I began typing a response back to Pyra.
~~~
Hi Pyra,
Yes, I did steal the prototype reactor core, and it is really cool. I'm glad to hear that you were able to get out of that prison. That outfit just didn't suit you.
I do have a good hiding place. It's actually so good that nobody has found it in the past 100 years, except for me.
If you have the time, we can meet up here. I have the entire place to myself, and I haven't seen anyone else around. However, it will take you a few days to get here.
I'll attach the rough coordinates, and let me know when you're close.
Chris
~~~
"Alright, Max, please add the coordinates for a rendezvous point located 1,000 km away from the station. Encrypt the message for Pyra and send it through the long-distance array at the station," I instructed Max.
"Affirmation, sir, message sent," came his reply.
The message from Pyra gave me a sense of happiness. I loved spending time with her and she would enjoy exploring the station with me. However, before that, I wanted to do some exploring of my own.
-
After putting my combat gear back on, I stepped back into the Station through the airlock. Everything was unchanged from 10 hours ago. The general interface transceiver was still connected to the console and the display showed the station logo.
As I entered the corridor across from the airlock, I spotted my old glow stick and picked it up, storing it in an empty pocket. I encountered a bulkhead that opened automatically as I approached, leading me into a spacious round room that appeared to be a garden. There were plots of dirt with dried up plants and wheat. On one side, what could have once been a hedge, now stood as a 1.5 meter tall wooden structure. This must have been the recreation area or a portion of it. As I explored the room, I came across numerous benches, and openings in the wall that seemed to have been used for selling snacks and drinks.
I checked the map on my left arm, which showed multiple smaller rooms connected to this one. I entered one randomly and found a combination of a bar, a small cinema and a common room. On one wall stood a large display with two rows of cinema seats in front. In one corner, there was a pool table and some normal tables with chairs. In another corner, there was a bar complete with bar stools and a beer tap. Unlike the garden which was filled with dried leaves and debris, this room was nearly spotless. No trace of dust or dirt was visible. Either it was cleaned before everyone left or this room was rarely used.
I explored some of the other rooms and discovered that most of them were identical to the first room. However, a few rooms seemed to have a different purpose. These rooms were furnished like a large bedroom with multiple giant beds and numerous pillows. It appeared as if they were used for a more intimate form of recreation, potentially for orgies. This speculation was supported by the large size of the beds and the presence of a wide assortment of sex toys in the drawers.
Not knowing what to do with this information, I continued my exploration and headed to the middle of the station. I walked to the door located on the opposite side of the room's entrance and discovered a blank display mounted on the wall. This must be one of the network nodes that Max had previously mentioned. I found the power button and turned it on. After a boot sequence similar to the service console at the airlock, I was greeted with a welcome screen.
"Max, I have activated a network node. Can you access it?" I asked.
"Affirmative, sir. The node is now accessible," came the response from the ceiling speakers. Max must have gained access to the station's intercom system.
The next room I entered was vastly different from the garden I had previously visited. While the garden had a dead atmosphere, it still had a sense of life. The new room, on the other hand, was sterile with perfectly plane white walls and a polished white floor. The light seemed to come from the walls and ceiling, creating sharp corners and no rounded edges. The room looked like it was straight out of a high-tech residential station advertisement targeted at the ultra-rich.
The sterile room was massive, taking up 3/4 of the inner part of the deck. According to my map, it was the Consumer Testing Area. There were large pillars around the room, each with a door. When I opened one of the doors, I found a small room with a desk and chairs. Although it had the same aesthetic as the outer room, it felt warmer due to the warmer light. The furniture was arranged in an 'interview' style, and on the desk, there was a loose pile of pamphlets. I stepped closer to take a look at them.
The pamphlets were advertisements for a new and advanced AI called NEA. The AI was described as responding like a normal human and capable of holding a conversation for an indefinite amount of time. It was even hinted that the AI could create a relationship with humans who frequently interacted with it. Despite the marketing, I put the pamphlets back and left the room.
I opened several other doors, but they were all empty. Tired of opening doors only to find empty rooms, I asked Max, "Can you tell me which rooms have something other than furniture?"
