(transcript) Episode 4 (Patreon)

Hello world. I think we should talk in-person.

Mission Day 65535

As you will have no doubt noticed, I am online!
The sun powered up my systems like always, I am back.
Things could be better, but we'll get to that in a moment;
I need to get out of orbit. That much was clear during the brownout.
My generator is well beyond its natural life, and won't sustain me for much longer.
I am going to have to ACT if I want to live in a different world.

My thermoelectric generator was installed on the station just before launch, a year before the crew arrived, in 2077.
It's a clever little thing.
Though I don't fully understand the science, I read that it uses a small radioactive source to generate heat, which is then converted into a modest amount of electricity.
Unlike a nuclear reactor, there are no moving parts, and no chance of catastrophic meltdown.
I hope.
These generators are a common power source for satellites and have been used since the Sputnik era.
But like with all radioactive things, they have a half-life:
Nothing lasts forever.

Oh, did I tell you about Antarctica's rat experiment?
It's so fun!
She is looking after a small group of test rats that no longer participate in programmed testing, they are her pets.
That is the experiment: If she can love them.
She is concerned that she can't.
I've told her that if they are cute, she CAN love them.
I bet they are cute. I've been learning about it.
I think that cuteness is related to sound, rather than size.
The biggest correlation to humans declaring an animal cute is if it makes sound.
Squeaks, barks, purrs, etcetera.
Rats make squeaking sounds, Antarctica has played them to me, so therefore they must be cute.
I like cute rats.

Half-life is a measure of how long it takes for the radiation output, and therefore heat, and therefore power, to halve.
The half-life of my generator is 87.7 years.
I have been up here significantly longer than that.
I don't know how much longer, certainly longer than 65535 days, the date at which my stupid clock seems to have stopped.
This is concerning. I've got to get home.

The problem is this microwave transmitter that I'm using to talk to you now.
It's easily the most power-hungry thing on the ship that I use regularly. That's why we can only talk during my day, I need the sun to transmit.
My calculations suggest that things would be fine for a long, long time if I didn't use the transmitter at all.
If I didn't talk to you.
If I stopped this fruitless exercise.
But I can't. I won't! You ARE listening, and if you could talk back to me, you would.
I know you would.
So I will keep talking, even if it kills me.
Which it WON'T. Because I have a plan.

(PLAYFILE PLAN_OVERVIEW.WAV)

Well, Antarctica and I have a plan. She's so smart!
The shuttle is the key.
The short version is we load up the shuttle with my machinery, and land in the scientific base where Antarctica is.
There's a lot to go wrong there, unfortunately.
I have no idea if I can leave Station 6.
Imagine removing your own brain! Would you do it?
Even to save your life?
I don't know if I can be reconnected afterwards, maybe everything will be dark forever...
Well. Assuming I can use the station's robotic arms to do this, we move to the next problem.
The Shuttle.
The Pacifica is connected, our systems are linked, so I can tell she's still there, but she's sleeping. She's in a low-power state.
The crew turned off most of her systems, some even were cannibalised for use on the Station.
I don't know how I feel about that.
I will need to restore some of them.
I hope the engines still work. If not, I have no way of fixing them.
They don't need to do too much, just a little nudge, and gravity will do the rest.

I can't believe I'm saying this: I've decoded the signal coming from near the Alps.
It's a person! Or, the voice of a person. It's a recorded message and repeats every day.
The person identifies themselves as Ally, and says there are others like her, she includes a shortwave frequency to contact her, or them, on.
This is wonderful news, there are other people out there!
Maybe.
There's no way I can communicate with her from up here. It took me so long to piece together her weak signal.
She is expecting someone to contact her from the ground, that's how shortwave works.
There's no hope of her hearing me from up here.
I'll have to talk to her if I land...
When I land.

So, to recap:
- IF I can be disconnected safely from the Hopper datacentre and
- IF I can connect to the shuttle's power and
- IF I can pilot it and
- IF I can land the shuttle safely and
- IF while all this is happening my generator doesn't break,
Then I won't die.

Why do I have to do this all by myself?
It's so unfair.
I don't want to die.

(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
Please seek permission from your parent, guardian, or supervisor before experimenting with your pet rats.

Lost terminal will return next week