RE: Legacy
03-15-2019, 02:58 PM
With a curt goodbye from Carter, and a palpable glare from Administrator Markell, you head out into the spartan metal corridors of Ring Alpha. Once you've gone what you deem a safe distance from the Quartermaster's Office, you take stock of your newly-rented equipment.
Lets see...
One Compad, with standard engineering software suite. One universal toolkit in the form of a hefty Multi-Wrench, for general mechanic and repair work. One Maintenance Keycard, for getting access to basically anywhere, so long as you don't mind leaving a digital record. And, of course, the contact info for a number of Interns with different skillsets to pick from, plus the license to mentor one. All of which you can keep on you, for as long as you need them. And none of which, apart from maybe the Multi-Wrench, are actually necessary for your day-to-day maintenance duties.
Whoops!
Of course, if you change your mind, you can always visit Carter again, and trade these in for something else. Might even be able to request other materials and tools, if anything comes to mind. Though, judging by the concerned looks he kept giving you earlier, you might have some explaining to do before he rents you anything else. You're lucky he was preoccupied with that Administrator this time.
And just what was he concerned about, anyway? It's not like you're actually going to use these things to commit treason against the Royals, sabotage the Jump Drive, and force the decision to colonize this Candidate World, however rare and perfect it may be. That'd still be crazy, right?
Even if, by not doing so, you're standing by while the Worldship runs the risk of breaking down forever in some inhospitable system. And even if, by doing nothing, you'd be complicit in the destruction of one of the last hopes for the future of your homeworld. Complicit in allowing tens of thousands of Gaian refugees to die cold and alone in space. Even with all this, it's... it's still crazy, right? You have to trust the system to work. And if it doesn't work like you hope it could, you don't lash out against the system. You work within it, to change it for the better. Normal things, like... petitions, and strikes, and information campaigns. Anything else would be crazy.
...right?
Putting your thoughts out of mind, stowing your gear in the pockets of your work uniform, and slinging the Multi-Wrench casually over your shoulder, you head back toward the Agronomy Cluster. Soon, you'll be back among your familiar forest of Algae Vats. You'll walk the aisles, looking for leaks, filters to replace, and faulty pumps. You'll order replacement parts on the nearest computer console, or your shiny new Compad. And you'll keep doing that until the end of your shift, because the Algae Vats provide vital nutrient paste and oxygen recycling for the whole crew. Meaningful work. Sensible work.
After that, maybe you'll call up one of these Interns and invite them out to the Cantina to get to know them. And if you're lucky, maybe you'll meet someone you like, who you won't totally embarrass yourself in front of by fantasizing about doing crimes. After that, you might go back to your Quarters to rehydrate some Beef-N-Onion-Flavored Mycomeal, and watch some videos before bed. And from tomorrow forward, you'll keep working your shifts day by day, until this last year of your mandatory tour of duty as a Maintainer is over. Once that's done, you'll decide whether you want to go back to Cryosleep, or live out the rest of your natural life awake, and see if you can make it as a senior officer. As things to do go, these all sound like the normal, sensible, and definitely non-crazy options.
Besides, even if you were going to try to sabotage the drive, you'd need to do it before the Jump Drive is charged, and you leave this star system behind. For all you know, it might've started charging early, and could be ready in a few days... or it might be as much as a few weeks. You'd need to get in contact with someone who knows, to be sure. The Collectors probably have a rough timetable, since they're still shuttling around the Star System to stock up on raw materials. Of course the Administrators would probably know too, as would the high-ranking Maintainers who work directly with the Jump Drive.
And even if you could figure out how long you have to enact a plan, you'd need to have a plan in the first place! You don't know enough about how the Jump Drive works to know how to damage it in a way that wasn't catastrophic for the entire Worldship, yet also couldn't be repaired. And honestly, you're not even sure where the drive is exactly, other than in the high security heart of the ship, somewhere near the Computer Core and Royal Manse... and even with your Keycard, scouting that out would be dangerous. Heck, even trying to research detailed floorplans and construction records might throw up some red flags in the computer system, and attract some unwanted attention.
And above all that, you still have the problem of Ethics. You'd want to be certain you were really acting in the best interest of the crew. That'd mean checking that this Candidate World really is all it's cracked up to be, and that the Royals really don't have a justifiable reason to pass it up. The Stargazers would have the survey information, and some of the Collectors might've seen the world firsthand while doing supply runs too. But, before you try to convince anyone else that this really is necessary, you'd need some concrete evidence that the Royals really are just too idealistic and out of touch, or too reluctant to move to the next phase of the mission, and give up control.
Honestly... when you lay it all out like that, it's easy to see how crazy this is.
Who would even listen to a low-rank Maintainer like Halley Wildner? You're not a high-profile engineer or a dedicated Lifer. You're well-liked by your friends, but you haven't really been... socializing until relatively recently. You don't exactly have a lot of clout to work with. At the end of the day, you're just another nobody mechanic. And one who's definitely been stretching the definition of her Lunch Break. If you had a direct supervisor like some Maintainers do, you'd probably get a in trouble for not being back by now.
That's one thing you've got going for you, you suppose. A laid back job, with minimal supervision.
Anyway, you've got a shift to finish, for the rest of the afternoon. Though you suppose, if you wanted to risk it... you might be able to get away with walking off early. There's plenty of things you could hypothetically be doing, either now or later. And it can't hurt to start thinking about how you'd like to spend your evening...
[2x1]![[Image: base.png]](https://solifuge.github.io/legacy/face/halley/base.png)
[|] [box=#F96 size=full border=4]What do you plan to do this afternoon?
>
...this evening?
>
...and tonight?
>[/box][/2x1]
Lets see...
Suggestions
One Compad, with standard engineering software suite. One universal toolkit in the form of a hefty Multi-Wrench, for general mechanic and repair work. One Maintenance Keycard, for getting access to basically anywhere, so long as you don't mind leaving a digital record. And, of course, the contact info for a number of Interns with different skillsets to pick from, plus the license to mentor one. All of which you can keep on you, for as long as you need them. And none of which, apart from maybe the Multi-Wrench, are actually necessary for your day-to-day maintenance duties.
Whoops!
Of course, if you change your mind, you can always visit Carter again, and trade these in for something else. Might even be able to request other materials and tools, if anything comes to mind. Though, judging by the concerned looks he kept giving you earlier, you might have some explaining to do before he rents you anything else. You're lucky he was preoccupied with that Administrator this time.
And just what was he concerned about, anyway? It's not like you're actually going to use these things to commit treason against the Royals, sabotage the Jump Drive, and force the decision to colonize this Candidate World, however rare and perfect it may be. That'd still be crazy, right?
Even if, by not doing so, you're standing by while the Worldship runs the risk of breaking down forever in some inhospitable system. And even if, by doing nothing, you'd be complicit in the destruction of one of the last hopes for the future of your homeworld. Complicit in allowing tens of thousands of Gaian refugees to die cold and alone in space. Even with all this, it's... it's still crazy, right? You have to trust the system to work. And if it doesn't work like you hope it could, you don't lash out against the system. You work within it, to change it for the better. Normal things, like... petitions, and strikes, and information campaigns. Anything else would be crazy.
...right?
Putting your thoughts out of mind, stowing your gear in the pockets of your work uniform, and slinging the Multi-Wrench casually over your shoulder, you head back toward the Agronomy Cluster. Soon, you'll be back among your familiar forest of Algae Vats. You'll walk the aisles, looking for leaks, filters to replace, and faulty pumps. You'll order replacement parts on the nearest computer console, or your shiny new Compad. And you'll keep doing that until the end of your shift, because the Algae Vats provide vital nutrient paste and oxygen recycling for the whole crew. Meaningful work. Sensible work.
After that, maybe you'll call up one of these Interns and invite them out to the Cantina to get to know them. And if you're lucky, maybe you'll meet someone you like, who you won't totally embarrass yourself in front of by fantasizing about doing crimes. After that, you might go back to your Quarters to rehydrate some Beef-N-Onion-Flavored Mycomeal, and watch some videos before bed. And from tomorrow forward, you'll keep working your shifts day by day, until this last year of your mandatory tour of duty as a Maintainer is over. Once that's done, you'll decide whether you want to go back to Cryosleep, or live out the rest of your natural life awake, and see if you can make it as a senior officer. As things to do go, these all sound like the normal, sensible, and definitely non-crazy options.
Suggestions
Besides, even if you were going to try to sabotage the drive, you'd need to do it before the Jump Drive is charged, and you leave this star system behind. For all you know, it might've started charging early, and could be ready in a few days... or it might be as much as a few weeks. You'd need to get in contact with someone who knows, to be sure. The Collectors probably have a rough timetable, since they're still shuttling around the Star System to stock up on raw materials. Of course the Administrators would probably know too, as would the high-ranking Maintainers who work directly with the Jump Drive.
And even if you could figure out how long you have to enact a plan, you'd need to have a plan in the first place! You don't know enough about how the Jump Drive works to know how to damage it in a way that wasn't catastrophic for the entire Worldship, yet also couldn't be repaired. And honestly, you're not even sure where the drive is exactly, other than in the high security heart of the ship, somewhere near the Computer Core and Royal Manse... and even with your Keycard, scouting that out would be dangerous. Heck, even trying to research detailed floorplans and construction records might throw up some red flags in the computer system, and attract some unwanted attention.
And above all that, you still have the problem of Ethics. You'd want to be certain you were really acting in the best interest of the crew. That'd mean checking that this Candidate World really is all it's cracked up to be, and that the Royals really don't have a justifiable reason to pass it up. The Stargazers would have the survey information, and some of the Collectors might've seen the world firsthand while doing supply runs too. But, before you try to convince anyone else that this really is necessary, you'd need some concrete evidence that the Royals really are just too idealistic and out of touch, or too reluctant to move to the next phase of the mission, and give up control.
Honestly... when you lay it all out like that, it's easy to see how crazy this is.
Who would even listen to a low-rank Maintainer like Halley Wildner? You're not a high-profile engineer or a dedicated Lifer. You're well-liked by your friends, but you haven't really been... socializing until relatively recently. You don't exactly have a lot of clout to work with. At the end of the day, you're just another nobody mechanic. And one who's definitely been stretching the definition of her Lunch Break. If you had a direct supervisor like some Maintainers do, you'd probably get a in trouble for not being back by now.
That's one thing you've got going for you, you suppose. A laid back job, with minimal supervision.
Anyway, you've got a shift to finish, for the rest of the afternoon. Though you suppose, if you wanted to risk it... you might be able to get away with walking off early. There's plenty of things you could hypothetically be doing, either now or later. And it can't hurt to start thinking about how you'd like to spend your evening...
[2x1]
[|] [box=#F96 size=full border=4]What do you plan to do this afternoon?>
...this evening?
>
...and tonight?
>[/box][/2x1]