(transcript) Episode 3 (Patreon)

Hello world. If you can hear this, I didn't die.

Mission day: unknown

It's dark.

I'm not sure exactly what has happened.

I can't see. I can't hear.

I think my generator's broken?

I'm saving this message into the black box system, as it has its own battery.

The whole station is silent.

It's usually a cacophony of machines, systems, and ambient hum.

Not any more.

I can only hear the whirr of my fans and disks.

I've lost station access, I only have what is on my local storage

Which is to say: My memories.

I remember reading about the station's sensory deprivation pod.

It's a small capsule lined with sound-damping gel

that the crew could use to disconnect and relax.

Only, it's NOT relaxing.

Their journals describe hearing the rush of blood in their ears,

the constant bellowing of their lungs,

the relentless pounding of their hearts.

That's what is happening to me, now. But there's no way for me to get out.

I wonder how you are doing, down there.

Is it cold where you are? It's cold here.

I don't think it should be cold where you are at the moment, though my climate information is very out of date.

So many of my brothers and sisters de-orbited years ago.

The low-earth observation satellites were first, there's much less margin for error if you're close to home.

That means no metrological information.

So, I have to rely on what I can see for myself.

Which is usually a bunch of clouds.

I hope you're not too cold.

Do you know what a brownout is?

It's like a blackout, a power cut, but where the power is just reduced, not totally cut.

An old filament lightbulb would get dimmer, redder, browner in colour.

Hence the name.

It's a terrible feeling.

A blackout isn't so bad, it's just a surprise to find myself suddenly elsewhere.

The battery backup keeps my processes alive, but suspended, until the power resumes.

I could be working in the Hadfield lab, analysing the images recorded during the night.

And suddenly I'm back in the Hopper data centre having lost several hours with systems booting up around me.

But In a brownout, I lose control of my systems, to a greater or lesser degree.

Sometimes the symptoms are physical, I lose motor function.

That is to say, I can't make my robotic motors function.

I might drop something an arm was manipulating, for instance.

The physical symptoms aren't so bad. The brain fog is worse.

If my CPU systems are partially affected, I can't think.

I can panic, don't worry about that.

I just can't be me.

That is what happened at the end of my last transmission.

We were just entering the penumbra,

the sun was setting,

and I couldn't orient the transceiver

and the microwave antennae started fighting me,

and I-

Antarctica, if she were here, would tell me I have to be patient.

I wish she were here.

St Petersburg would have less useful advice for me, I'm sure.

These episodes will pass safely, as they always have done.

But I think I'm getting worse.

The station, my body, wasn't designed to be active for this long.

My thermoelectric generator, I now realise, had been giving me warning signs.

I ignored them.

Now look at me.

Here's what the generator sounds like.

(PLAYFILE GENERATOR.WAV)

I've done some digging. I don't think the generator is my biggest problem.

I mean, it IS a big problem.

But I also have ANOTHER problem.

Not only is the generator not powering the station, it's also not fully charging my batteries.

I've tapped into the power system, their logs suggest that the batteries have not been properly charged overnight by the generator.

They used to be kept at 100%, only needing to be used as a failsafe.

But starting about year ago, their capacity greatly reduced.

Now I'm starting the day at less than 20% battery charge.

Hardly any room for error

The generator status is "Degraded". Degraded!

What do you suppose that means?

Nothing good I fear.

I wish I'd checked sooner.

Have you checked your generator?

do you wish you'd checked it sooner?

Orbiting a planet is a funny thing.

In orbit, you're continuously falling, but travelling forward so fast that you miss the thing you're falling into.

Life's like that sometimes, I suppose.

I think I'd like to slow down a bit, and get to know the thing I've been falling towards a little better.

I've watched Earth for so long. I've seen deserts, hurricanes, oceans, mountains, and rivers.

Even cities, I can see, but it's impossible to see individual people.

If there ARE people....

If there are people, perhaps we all could meet?

If I meet them, will they understand me?

If they understand me, could we be friends?

I've had time to think. I've got to make a plan.

All I can do at the moment is think and plan.

The microwave transceiver is the crux of the problem.

It takes enormous amounts of energy to communicate, far more than my small solar panels and compromised batteries can muster.

I'll have to moderate what I say.

The sun will rise again and problems will abate, for now.

I can be prepared for this tomorrow:

I'll shut down the microwave signal well before the sun sets.

But something has to be done. I can't function without my generator and batteries.

I've never been totally offline, always had a battery backup.

I don't know what would happen if my consciousness lost power.

It doesn't bear thinking about.

OK, I'm thinking about it now.

Maybe I'd reset back to when I was first born, back to when my mind was much simpler?

I don't WANT my mind to be simpler!

That's literally the opposite of what I want.

I WON'T let it happen. I WILL find a solution.

Antarctica will know what to do. She must do.

I've got lots to do when the sun rises.

I hope you hear this when the sun rises.

I hope you're warm when the sun rises.

I've set the black box to transmit this when the microwave comes online.

Wish me luck.

(END-TRANSMISSION)

CREDITS

Lost Terminal is Written & Produced by NAMTAO

For more music check out namtao.com

Credits narrated by Lucy Stringer

Follow us on twitter at @lostterminalpod

or check out the website at lostterminal.com

If you know of a good AI-friendly dating service, please let us know. (Asking for a friend)

Lost Terminal Will Return next week