“So, that was easy to find. But also terrifying, now that we’ve found it.”
Something in Nathan’s spinal column was screaming at him that the brightly purple objects rotating around each other were something that could only be described as Woe. After a moment, the lettering on the spherical containment vessel resolved, having been a different language than that of the Benthic Federation, and he realized that they were in fact so named, which reassured him a remarkably large amount given how nonreassuring it was.
Saucer had a lead plugged into the one port on the sphere, which was simply labeled Output. The feed had started in the gigawatts, but it had been ticking up steadily into higher exponents. The lead itself had started out commensurately thin, a narrow wisp of wire encased in something more substantial just to give it form and support, and it had thickened and grown more robust as time passed.
Threat estimation of Woe: [...], Saucer agreed.
“Ellipsis in a square bracket. That’s pretty funny. You could do one of those dry humor comedy bits, you know. If you ever needed a side gig.”
British weather notwithstanding, Nathan’s HUD blinked a couple of times. Then the words went dark, and they kept charging in a comfortable silence.
“So, like, how much can you safely intake per second here?” Nathan tilted his head after several minutes, looking down at the connection, now as thick as his suited wrist. “I know when this popped up on the map, it was labeled as a hazard, not a utility.”
Diagnostics report all parameters within expectations.
“Well, what’s your throughput right now? And your efficiency? How much is going into all of the reinforcing that you’re doing on the connector to the port?”
Error: Efficiency calculations inconsistent with reported results.
Conclusion: Reported results incorrect. Charging proceeding.
“Nope!” Nathan’s voice was cheerful and peppy. “Disconnect from charging, we’re done here.”
Complying. Feed has been disconnected. Withdrawing charging components. Charging components withdrawn.
For a terrifying moment, nothing happened. The lead was still there, and it was starting to look a little off, in ways Nathan couldn’t figure out. Then:
Unknown error. Charging components withdrawn. Diagnostics inconsistent with withdrawal of charging components.
“Saucer,” Nathan said as casually as he could, “I’m bored. Make me a blade that can cut anything. I’m going to cut open the containment vessel with it and see what happens.”
A second and a half later, he had a sword in his hand, one that glowed with the same purple as each of the Woe. He swung, and two things happened in very short succession.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
First, the feed between the containment vessel and the space suit—and Saucer within it—cut out, because he had severed it.
(Reader: Nathan was, despite some appearances to the contrary, not a complete idiot.)
The second thing that happened, quickly enough on the cut’s heels that it was well beyond Nathan’s ability to distinguish from simultaneity, was that the connector exploded from the incalculable degree to which the power flowing through it exceeded the material’s capabilities.
“Well,” Nathan said a moment later, as he walked away with a calm smile, “that happened.”
Diagnostic systems restored. Margin of survival: ~7 seconds.
“That’s better than I expected,” he said approvingly. “You’re already damn good at being what you are, and I’m sure you’re always getting better on top of that. How much did we get?”
Current suit power: 38%
“Cool. And you wouldn’t be able to detect any lingering effects if there were any, because that had an infohazard component.”
Biometrics indicate unusual levels of calm given circumstances.
“Yeah, I agree,” Nathan agreed agreeably. “I think the lingering infohazard component is also keeping me from having an emotional reaction about it. Which is… kind of okay, right? I mean, what would be the point in panicking?”
Emotional components in reactions can be fundamental to integrating feedback.
“Yeah, it might be stopping me from, like, internalizing any lessons from it. But can we even do anything about that right now? Let’s not. Let’s do something else, anything else.” He nodded briskly, walking faster. “We’ll circle back to this later and iterate on the pain points in the process. Make sure all of our action items are coherent, concrete, and tractable. Line up any blockers and terminate them.”
Biometrics continue to indicate unexpected levels of emotional disengagement.
“That’s just the trauma-reduction superpowers,” Nathan said dismissively. “What’s next on the plan? We’ve got some charge for you. We’ve got enough material resources. Doing automated logistics stuff with the fabrication facilities requires “normal operations” as far as not just power but also life support goes, and so does getting into anywhere interesting because unless we’re going to have you just eat the airlocks.”
Emotional responses from soulbound user anomalous. Divergences from expected state include: mood lift, haste, corporate buzzwords in place of useful language, disinterest in and dismissal of other opinions.
“Don’t be a snarky shit, Saucer.” Hands in a space suit flexed, grabbed at a nearby rung, and launched Nathan out of the localized gravity field around the exotic energy reactor. “I mean, the snarkiness is fine. Obviously. Wouldn’t have you any other way. But I’m suddenly feeling the itch of wanting to be able to take the suit off, and we have to get life support done before we do basically anything else, right?”
Task confirmed: restore life support to Cephalohome Station.
Unknown number of subtasks of unknown composition unable to be identified.
Resources: Level 5 Last Resort Storage, containing 1.00 Standard PressureVolume
“Great! Okay, so we make sure that the hatches leading to space are sealed so that we don’t just vent it all as soon as we fill up, which probably means building some sort of airlock sort of thing going up to the second level so that we can, like, transit from one to the other safely. Unless that’s already there? I haven’t actually checked it out, come to think of it. And then we’ll, I dunno, have to cross-check the vent system and make sure that everything can flow, but I don’t see why we shouldn’t go ahead and kick it back into gear.”
Subtask confirmed: A Spaceworthy Station
Subtask confirmed: Deck One to Deck Two Transit Point
Subtask confirmed: Restore Functionality to Life Support Distribution System
And that was how Nathan died for the third time.