The moment my eyes adjusted, I found myself looking at something I had only ever seen in images and movies. While the area around me was a mess of wreckage and furrowed dirt, everything else was pristine. A vivid blueish-green long-stalked plant grew across what looked to be a relatively flat surface. Scattered here and there was something akin to a tree, though not one that I recognized.

A little ways off, the flat land turned upward. Mountains pierced the clouds high above. The tallest of which looked to pierce the heavens. Only one side was without mountains. Even from where I stood, I could see the white-capped water far, far below. A soft wind blows in from that side. The sound of stalks rustling against each other fills the air as a faint smell of salt hits my nose.

“Hey! Where the hell did you go?” The voice called from inside the very damaged structure. It was the only structure made of metal as far as I could see. Which was odd given the few memories I had from before. Where were other humans? “You went outside, didn’t you? Well, don’t go anywhere.”

I had no clue where I was, why I was here, or how I would get back. My mother would be worried sick if I didn’t get back soon enough. The only one who could help me was the voice and whoever it belonged to. So, reluctantly, I listened to it. Well mostly. As I bent down, I dug my hands into the ground.

“Look,” the voice continued, “I get that you don’t remember much and that most of what we have is destroyed, but you have a mission. Hell, if anything, the mission is more important now than before.”

“What mission and for whom?” I asked, “I didn’t join the military or something, right?” I mean, I wouldn’t. Would I?

“Not really. You were drafted for the…” It stopped talking for a second. Likely as the lights turned off yet again. “Well, damn. And here I was hoping that none of my systems were affected. Hopefully, I can piece everything back together.”

“Your systems?” I stood up and started for the nearest patch of plants.

“Yeah,” it scoffed. “Some of those systems are vital for my survival. Well, and yours too I guess.”

“What systems?”

“My blueprint data banks and purple power…wait, why did I just say purple? That doesn’t…damn it. Yet another thing to fix. Hell, what is working without any issues?”

“Are you okay?” The voice stayed quiet as it did…something. Oddly enough, something about what it had been talking about had caused something to squirm in the back of my head. Yet, no matter what I tried, I couldn’t place my finger on what it was.

As my mind tried to work out what it was, my hand reached forward and plucked one of the stalks. It broke fairly easily. The surface feels oddly smooth, if slightly moist, between my fingers. I watch in fascination as a teal liquid starts to ooze out of both of the broken ends. It smelled pleasant. So much so that I found my hand lifting the liquid to my face as my eyes drooped.

“Ah, crap!” The voice cried in the distance. “Ernesto Russo. Drop whatever you have in your hand and return to the ship.” I didn’t want to. The voice couldn’t make me. Yet there was something about its tone. “I am ORDERING you to drop the item and return to the ship NOW!”

My hands released the stalk as if it burned me. Within moments, I found myself leaning against a wall back inside the dark hallway. Heart hammering in my ears, I demanded. “What the hell was that?”

“Whatever you were touching was having a sedative effect. Do you know what it was that might have had that effect?”

“No, I was checking out a plant.”

“Define checking out? You were following protocol, right? You didn’t touch it, did you?” Protocol. What protocol? There were no protocols for plants on the ground because none of us spacers got to step foot on a planet.

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“Wait,” I stopped as I finally realized something obvious. “How did I get on a planet?”

“Because it is part of the mission. Now answer my questions.” The voice sounded annoyed at the fact that I had ignored its question.

“I plucked one of the stalks. It is not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal? Not a big DEAL!? Are you INSANE!?” The headache that had been fading came back with a vengeance at the sudden screaming. “You have no idea what traces there might be found in anything nearby. There are procedures put into place to test anything and everything as you go.”

“Why?” I demanded. “What are we doing here? What is this mission you keep talking about? When can I go home?”

“Most of the data related to the mission has been lost.” It rushed to continue, “but only temporarily. I am trying to rebuild the damaged sectors now.”

“Well, what do you know?”

“No matter what the mission was, we need to figure out how to fix the ship. We need to find and collect some resources. And by we, I mean you. After all, it’s not like I can leave the ship.” It sounded scandalized by the very idea of leaving the ship. Which I found odd because out there was much better than in here.

“Why not?”

“And how do you propose…wait. You’re serious.” Of course I was serious. Why wouldn’t I be? “You do know that I am an AI right? You know, an artificial entity. One with a ship quite literally built around it.”

That couldn’t be right. No one in my home station was right enough to afford anything more than the basic AI system on the market. The hardware it used was just better used elsewhere. After all, a mining rig would feed you. What could an AI do for you without other, even more expensive, equipment?

Wait. Why did I know all this random stuff about AI and equipment, but recalling important information was impossible? The more I tried to squeeze my brain for information, the more it hurt. Eventually, I had to give up. I had to just hope that what was locked up in my head would come back in time for me to use it.

“So, what do I call you?” I asked as my stomach let out a loud growl.

“I had a name…I just…cant…remember it…screw it. Call me whatever you want.” The AI said. Something about its tone had me picturing someone throwing up their hands in exasperation. “But, for now, let us get you some food. There should be something in the Mess Hall.” Before I could ask where that was or even what it looked like, the AI continued, “Keep going down the hall and take the next right. There should be a working system in there. Just select a meal and it will produce it for you.”

As I followed its directions, I asked, “And you? Do you need anything to eat?”

“Power…of which we are running low on. Honestly, it is probably the first thing we should fix.”

I stopped in the doorway. As my eyes took in the mess that was the room beyond, I asked “Should I work on that first?” The room before me had probably been nice and organized at some point but there were smashed boxes and scattered pouches everywhere. All of the lights in the room were out. Light from the half-covered windows provided the majority of the illumination. Even most of the screens were either busted or without power.

The one that was working had a crack that traveled from one corner to the other. While seeing the crack on the one good screen sent a chill down my spine, I realized that, even from this far, I could see that none of the words looked even a little distorted.

“Nah, we should have enough power to last a couple of days, maybe a week if you do some things manually. That should be enough time to get the solar panels set up.”

I didn’t even bother to try and figure out if I knew what it was talking about. I simply asked the question as I picked an option on the screen at random. “What do I need to do?” A soft tinkling sound was quickly followed by the screen disappearing into the wall. Steam wafted out of the space behind it. Sitting there was a plate filled with food.

Something fluffy and off-white covered the plate. A piece of some sort of meat sat on top of it. All of this was covered in a dark sauce. If anything, I could at least say that the food here was much better looking than what we had back on the station.

I didn’t bother to move to a table. I left the plate where it was as I cut off a piece of the meat. It sliced with little resistance. The moment I placed it into my mouth, my tongue was overwhelmed by the explosion of flavors.

“Good isn’t it?” The AI asked. I hummed in appreciation as I took another bite. “Well, before we can set anything up, we need to clear out the foliage. Given how you reacted to the stuff last time, I think that will have to be a job for the drones.”

“Are they even designed to do that?”

“Not really, but meh. With them so close I can give them direct orders.” As I took bite after bite, I wondered if every meal would be like this one. “So, your first job will be to open at least one of the cargo hatches.”

Something about how he said that gave me a bad feeling. “And where is the nearest hatch?”

“Well, the nearest is below you.” Yeah, that wasn’t happening. Lucky for me it continued. “However, the best option is a mile above you. Wait. That. Hmm. That’s not right. Give me a minute.” As if the length of time without the lights going off had just been a fluke, the place went dark.