A sudden tremor, more violent than before rippled through the station, shifting Orion around in his seat. That combined with the sudden sound of the master alarm and a drop in lighting filled him with utter dread. Was the station finally about to shatter itself to pieces?

Tanya managed to keep calm, or at least, her outwards appearance did. “I’m seeing a redundancy alarm. Sounds like the backup plasma manifold failed a test.”

"I didn't know there was a test? And if it is just a test failure then why does the station feel like it’s about to fall apart?" Orion considered what to do. He could attempt to manually shut down the plasma feed to the singularity or just out right kill the fusion core. Both were extreme options though. Without a constant power input to the singularity, it would quickly evaporate in a flash of hawking radiation. Any data and simulations inside it, would be destroyed. Completely.

If the auxiliary manifold couldn’t be closed though, he could decouple one of the mag-pipes that feed plasma to the manifold that might be easier. He’d have up and outside the station. He could manually disengage the magnetic interlocks and just let the plasma leak off into space. It would be a waste, but it would keep the station and the data intact.

Tanya's gaze glazed over as more of her processing power went to analyze the situation at hand. "Plasma was fed through during the test… Maybe minor damage to the confinement systems at the valve, there’s some leakage. Quantum integrity is stable though."

“What about Asher, what does he say?” He hated to ask, but it was protocol. Technically, without the commander the AI was in charge.

Tanya’s features returned with an annoyed expression. “Nothing. He’s not talking to me. I think… He might be offline?” The flickering of the hololense showed how confused his AI companion was.

“Ok, so we’re going to have to go out decouple the mag-pipes from the damage manifold.” He didn’t want to say it, but a part of him felt energized and excited by the sudden development. For the past two years, almost nothing had happened on the station. At least nothing he could do anything about. The thought that he might finally be able to actually do or fix something, what’s more, be a hero while doing it, felt good.

A reluctant nod from her confirmed his assessment. “You’re going to have to go EVA. Be careful.”

Orion smiled back and jogged off towards a nearby service hatch next to the inoperative elevator. Inside of which lead to a ladder that would go up to the center of the giant wheel like station. The climb up got easier the further he went up, as gravity became lighter and lighter. It would drop from one half earth g down to naught three near the end of the ladder, in the inner most ring.

The station was made of three ring like structures, like interlocking wheels. The outer ring was known as the habitat ring or hab-ring for short. It’s where the crew was expected to spend most of their time. It consisted of three floors, only one of which was fully complete. Large spokes connected to the second ring. These spokes contained the elevators and service tubes Orion was now crawling through.

The second middle ring that he was currently climbing through was the so called processing ring. This is where the forges and foundries would have been if they’d ever been installed. Instead, it was mostly just empty unpressurized space. Aside from the one unit that was installed, and the medical wing.

Finally, he reached the inner ring, was really more of a long a cylinder. This held the major parts of the station infrastructure, the docking bays, fusion core, and of course the singularity processor. The station was supposed to have a second set of rings at the other end of the extruded cylinder. Instead, there was just a framework skeleton jutting out that side.

Back when the crew was around, they had nicknamed that part of the station, the dead wheel. In response to its skeletal look that would never be completed. That side was also where the singularity was housed. In the place that would have been the second set of docking ports that were never completed.

Orion would have to make it down thru this center part of the station, and EVA out to that section. There, outside along the housing were the magnetic conduits that ran a plasma feed to the singularity directly from the fusion core.

Dropping down in the center of the station, he could barely feel the gravity. To his left was the dock, to the right, was the fusion core and his destination.

"Orion, I still haven't been able to get through to Asher." Tanya appeared on the wall screen near him. This area didn't have hololenses, so this was as close as she could get to him.

Technically, neither of them was supposed to do anything without Asher's approval or the approval of the commander. But neither were exactly available for talking about the situation at the moment. For all he knew, Asher was already destroyed. If the singularity wasn't being feed plasma anymore it might have already evaporated off.

"Sounds like I get to go for a walk then!." Orion bounded through the hallway, watched by his AI companion. Throughout the station, other AIs and systems observed. None of them engaging, or truly caring. A series of radiation symbols, and heavy bulkheads marked the entry to the fusion core. Next to it where the EVA suits he was looking for. Designed with a bit of extra shielding for doing EVA near the plasma conduits and mag-pipes.

However, before he could even put the suit on, the alarms when silent, and the station lighting returned to normal. Minor vibrations continued but were quickly damping down. Orion stopped before he even had a chance to get his leg in the unwieldy clothing.

A third voice echoed in empty space. It was Asher, “There is no need for that. We have it well in hand, please return to the meeting.”

“Asher, I understand but if the primary manifold goes down, the singularity will collapse. It will kill all the data stored on it… not to mention seriously damage the station. If you need help I can-”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Orion, you are quite a skilled technician and very good at your job. I appreciate the input. But the situation is in hand.”

Orion wasn’t a technician; he was a full-blown engineer and a scientist. It always felt like the AI was belittling his abilities. Like this AI didn't see him as anything more than an annoyance, and a minor one at that.

"He's right, all the sensors report the plasma has been shut off. I'm seeing robotics in the area too. I think they're repairing something." Tanya's voice came over the station's speakers, the same ones Asher used and repeating what Asher indicated.

"Remember, I am also stored just above the singularity's surface. If it was to collapse, I would die as well. This was merely a mistake, one of the pipes accumulated damage from underuse. Exactly the thing the test was designed to find. Please, return to your meeting." As if to reinforce the point, the nearby air lock shut down it's interface panel, effectively sealing it shut and preventing any hope of an EVA.

With nothing left to do here, Orion hobbled back to access way back to the hab ring. At least the elevators were back online. As he entered the tube like transport a screen lit up next to him.

On it was meeting he didn't care about. It was like Asher was rubbing his face in it. Dr. Boltzeman or Theo as he liked to be called, was talking about something involving this station. "The singularity in orbit has been stable for the past five years thanks to the effort of the valiant crew on board it…" Something about the video made him feel a sick pit in his stomach. They always seemed to talk about the station and the work they did up here. So why then did none of the messages he get mention anything about it or praise him either?

It was hard to place why, but something about these videos always felt off. Of course, if what he was thinking was true, why wouldn't the messages be changed too? Maybe he was just going insane out here. That seemed the most reasonable answer.

As the elevator passed into the second ring, he told it to, "Stop the lift."

There, in the processing ring were the remnants of the medical ward. Closest to where it might have been needed, in another timeline anyway. Orion banged his head against the back of the elevator as he thought about getting out. He could just stay there, inside the elevator until the universe finally froze and ripped out of existence. Not like he was doing anything of value in it.

Tanya could sense and see him though the station sensors. For that matter, so could Asher, but he didn't seem to care.

"Orin, are you ok?" Tanya's voice came through the elevator's speakers, interrupting the useless meeting on the screen.

"Fine. Just thought I check in with the crew. That's all." Leaving the elevator, the stale medical air hit his sinuses. The faint aroma of isopropyl wafted through space. Mixed with the subtle scents of people. Robotics watched and followed him as he walked. Taking vitals and measurements, preparing for a medical issue that wouldn't come today.

Passing deeper into the medical bay, light flickered around him as he came in range of a working hololense. The fox spirit Tanya began to walk with him. Like an angel might walk with a soul through purgatory. Behind a set of doors, were an array of pods. Thirty in all. They were emergency stabilization pods. Designed to interface with the human body. To keep it alive by any means necessary. Each one was built with a neural link jack.

Inside the pods were the other crew. Plugged directly into the quantum frame and singularity. They’d been like this for the past few years. At first, they would just plug in daily in the hab-ring, then it became hourly. Finally, Ross just didn’t leave one day. After all, what was the point? The station ran itself, and they were effectively trapped up here. Earth would never send a replacement crew. No one wanted to go out here.

When the others forced Ross off the connection, the damage became evident. In only a few days, Ross had lost the ability to walk, even his hands didn't work right. A side effect from over stimulation of the neural link. They took him to the medical bay for treatment, but there wasn't anything that could be done. Maybe back on earth, but even that was doubtful.

The neural link technology was a miracle. A bio-mechanical implant that could simulate electrical and bio-chemical signals, neurotransmitters mostly. Your brain couldn't tell the difference between its tendrils, and your own. Over stimulation from over use, and eventually, your own brain would lose connection to its own stem. Both would continue to function, for a time anyway. But eventually, you'd end up with locked in syndrome. Normally, it took a lot to get to that point though. Years in fact. Which is what happened.

Ross should have been a warning to the rest, but he wasn't. Asher was the one who recommended putting him in the pod. Alive, but dreaming. Forever. Said when a relief ship finally came they could send him home. But that never happened.

One by one, they each plugged in somewhere and just never left. Adrian in particular was hard for him. She was the last to go in. Unlike the others, she walked herself to the pod and plugged herself in. He felt something for her and he thought she did too.

Before she plugged in, she asked him, one last time "Join me?".

Orion shook his head, It didn't matter anymore.

Their bodies were still, technically, alive. Skin and hallow bone, with no muscle mass left. They had each physically passed the point of no return years ago. Even if they could reconnect their brain to their body, their body wasn't there either. Now they were just cyber skeletons, floating in space. Medical scans also showed changes to the neural mass over the years. The frontal lobes were still alive and active, but the brain stem showed sever atrophy.

Sixty years ago, the same effect had even killed one of its early champions a billionaire. A person, Orion couldn't even remember the name of.

A beeping noise from Ross's pod caught his attention, a medical arm from one of the robotics was attached to his chest already.

"He's fine. No worse than last week." Tanya shook her head, hoping to alleviate some of his worry.

A few months ago, Ross had suffered a serious cardiac event. For all intent and purposes, his heart was dead, well 85% of it anyway. The ventricular assist device was keeping him alive and would for several decades most likely. He wasn't even away of what was happening to him. Eventually, it was likely to happen to each of them. As their brain stem further decayed, they'd experience a-tac and v-tac behavior, followed fibrillation, and without the medical bots, death.

Orion came to Adiana's pod, and he swallowed down some tears passed a lump. "How is she?"

"I'm seeing elevated dopaminergic neurotransmission, some decreased serotonin and activations of…" The hologram blushed lightly. "I think she's having a good dream." She smiled at Orion.

No small part of him wanted to join them, to join her. He knew it wasn't real, but that didn't matter to them why should it matter to him?

He was their junior though. He felt a responsibility to watch over them, being the last one awake. Maybe that was just the excuse he used to keep from going over that edge. The final threads of his own safety reflex that kept him from drinking the sweet poison.

Orion stroked her bony cheek. Even if she was awake, she wouldn't feel it. But he did, and it felt like death.

Orion collapsed on the floor. A useless pile of human.

Tanya did her best to comfort him. Kneeling next to him, wrapping her arm around him, only to watch it phase through him. Part of her knew that was wrong, arms don't phase through people. Sometimes she forgot she didn't really have arms. Sometimes her own memories confused her.

Her mind was everywhere at once, but her focus was here, on him. At least, she thought it was. Voices in the back of her synthetic brain tried to focus on everything, even as she tried to force them back to him.

"What the hell is wrong with us?"