So I've been fidding with writing up stories based around the Entropia Universe. I've got two I'm working on at the moment but felt since this was the "fresher" of the two I'd give this one out to the community. Wellp, here goes: Input Code? *********** Loading Video Diary: Sia Sandasky “Greetings from wonderful Calypso! I’m loving this place guys. There’s been a lot to see and do on my first month here. I’m glad I made the trip with the colonists from LOCATION: CLASSIFIED. It was a long trip but I met plenty of nice people on my way. There was this one guy who was so hyper to land when we finally did he threw up all over the place hehe. I’m not one to brag but the captain said he’s never seen a new settler with nerves like mine. Must have been all the training from dad I got before coming here. I even got a job right before we touched down; Just the usual system support I learned in school. It’ll be at some outpost near a town called LOCATION: CLASSIFIED, UNSAFE. I don’t know how much help I’ll be but I’ll do my best!” End of Diary… It was a rather humid day, the bedsheets were sticking to me, wrapping me up like a mummy in the middle of the night. I rolled myself from my linen captor and made a beeline to the showers; you’d have to be the first or you’ll get zero hot water in the barracks. Luck I was as I grabbed the stall farthest from the door, the one with the only working locks. Sometimes the other women here liked to play tricks and sneak in some weird bug I’ve never seen before and laugh as I yelled for my life. I’ve complained to the bigwigs but they just brushed my reports in the bin. “Jerks..” I muttered remembering how everything changed for me after the first month here. After my shower I put on my standard work suit, a silvery white jumpsuit. I looked at myself in the mirror, my eyes lingered on my badge, a golden emblem, proof I’ve gone up in title and rank. I nod at my mirror self and put on my cap as I head out. “Sigh.. Another day going through all this computer junk and for what Sia? Just so some scientists can figure out what gleep-O alien on this stinking planet is trying to eat us. Oh wait, I know! It’s all of them.” “Geeze Jeff. I’m not even in my chair and you’re already complaining about working here?” Jeff, a man in his twenties but acts like he’s still ten. He’s been here around a year more than I have and he’s never changed. On my first day here I remember him shaking my hand and it was covered in grease and sweat; the grease a product of him fooling around with old gun parts and salvage. “Sia I’ve had it I’m telling you. I’m going to enlist in the global patrol and make something of myself on this planet. Maybe head to Port Atlantis and sign up at the nearest station. Kill me a few of those ‘bots that are terrorising the populace. Real hero of the day type stuff.” “Sure, sure, and then all the female colonists will fall head over heels for you and you’ll live in one of those apartments right at the top.” Too early in the day for his daily quitting speech. “Yeah! I’ll be eating steaks every night and drinking the best wine this side of Livas” He laughs, his eyes shining with hope for the future. “Okay, we’d better get to work, the doc wants us to examine these files by lunch, I’m sending half to your computer now.” “Got them, Boss.” He smiles at me, and I smile back but mine feels hollow somehow. It’s only been a week since this promotion but I already hate it. The jealous eyes of others passed up for this position hurt me. It’ll get better I tell myself, and at least I’ve got Jeff. “Ahem. As you can see from this video capture, since approximately zero-five hundred, the daily patrol discovered a robot beacon. In this portion of the video you see it send out a light blast towards one of the men on duty soon after the rest of the platoon open fire and disable the beacon. Cut the video.” Doctor Palliano looks so cool when he talks about robots. He’s a totally different person when he is in front of the board. Usually he’s a walking tornado of files and words but when he’s here, he’s so put together I love it. The board rarely meets at this time so I’m relegated to note duty, the doc is nuts about notes. Always using paper instead of tablets and video communicators. “Sia? Make note of the compression blast at minute seven of the video. The captain may be using contraband equipment again.” A grumble from the far side of the desk definitely belonging to Captain Harrod. “You know for a fact we’re underfunded and ill-equipped Palliano, we’re out there keeping you safe from gleep-O’s every day, now we’ve got ‘bots to deal with? “Gleep-O’s, I’ve asked you not to use your gutter slang around me Captain Harrod. They’re Unknown Genetic Organisms. My goodness at least call them something like U.G.O’s” The Captain’s face turns bright red and I can’t help but snicker. a big mistake as this sends him right over the edge. “Fine! I’ll call them whatever the damn hell you wish but I’m telling you this ‘doc’, one day those ‘Unknown genetic organisms’ are going to bust through the defences and make a meal out of your damn liver and I’ll be laughing my head off.” He storms off furious, breaking an unfortunate screen that he passed by. “Well then, shall we proceed?” The doctor motions to the rest of those present and nods to me so I can start the next clip. “Here we see the robot beacon has been dismantled to the extent our equipment can handle. We are unaware at this time what if anything the beacon has transmitted but I can say with certainty it is inoperable.” I walk with the Doctor down a long corridor, part of my new duties is to be at his side when needed and he requested I be here today. In the back of my mind I remember Jeff, I didn’t get a chance to talk to him this morning so I can’t help but wonder how he’s doing alone. Ever since the daily patrol came in with that robot beacon work has tripled for everyone. The UGO’s have become more violent and we had our very first casualty, a private Wensly. I never met him personally but Palliano requested I be there for the autopsy. His reasoning was it is part of the job to study all life, in all it’s forms. I shake my head, dislodging the unnecessary thoughts. Today is a special day. “Can you feel that in the air Sia? The exhilaration of everyone around us as we finally discover what the robot beacon was transmitting. It’s palpable” The Doctor has changed in these past weeks. The beacon became his fixation, a place I once thought I could share but now this new thing has become so much more to him than I ever could. “Yes, but isn’t it dangerous? I’ve had Jeff look into the logs and large portions of data are missing. I don’t even know why the board has approved of this” A dry mirthless laughter erupts from the doctor’s mouth. It’s unsettling to say the least. “Danger? The danger is in the unknown, the indefinable Sia. No, today is going to be an incredible day.” We reach the research facility and there before us as unresponsive as ever is the beacon. The hard exterior was barely dented by the rifle blast of the patrol and it feels warm to the touch but it does nothing. All the research and development crews are on standby, typing a storm on the consoles and examining every wire and cable. The doctor moves up towards the main console and begins to input commands at a staggering speed. His personality changed so drastically these few months, a man who seemed so passionate now looks possessed by the unknown. “Sia? Come, stand next to me, I need another pair of hands as I input these final coordinates.” “Coordinates? Why would you need to type in this location?” I feel a hand press hard against my chest shoving me down to the ground. “Useless. Too slow. I’ll do it myself.” I look up at the doctor my face flushed red from shock. What on earth is going on with this man and why will none of the other scientists stop him. I look around the room, the rest of them are all glassy eyed. “It’s not real. You are not doing this, It’s not real.” I keep talking to myself, my hands covering my ears from the humming, when did it start? why is it getting stronger I wonder. What is the doctor saying now. I can’t hear anything but the humming, until suddenly; Silence. I’m screaming as the world turns inside out. Input Code?
I read this last night! Very good, I hope it continues. Reminded me of one of my earliest bits of Caly fiction which was a letter to a friend about the first arrival.