Blake Fisher woke up. The image of the on-coming car burned in his memory.
But he wasn't in a hospital, he didn't seem to have any of the injuries he would have expected.
Broken bones? Nope.
Cuts and grazes? Nope.
He did have a mild headache, but that was way down the list of pain and agony he would think was involved from being hit by multiple tons of speeding steel.
He was standing in a tube of some kind, transparent glass showed a control room outside. The glass infront of him slightly frosted on the outside.
He was cothed in a T-shirt and Short. Not the most comfortable clothing to be wearing in a mysterious situation, but a big step up from being buck-naked, so he'd take it.
A control interface hovered in front of him.
Literally in front of his vision. Turning his head showed it stayed centred at all times
Welcome aboard Repairman. You have been transported to this vessel after your life-force ceased on your previous world.
[Main Mission]
Repair And Claim Ownership Of This Vessel [ Aubrey ]
[Main Survival Quest]
Don't Die.
[Survival Quest Available]
Exit Stasis Control Room.
Oh is that all. Gee that's a relief. But just so I'm clear and have gotten my head around this, let me just run through what I was just told.
So I died right? Got transported here somehow, good so far?
And now I have to be a ship repairman?
Well that just tops this week off perfectly.
Lost my job.
Car broke down.
Eviction notice from my apartment.
If I had had a dog and a girlfriend, one would have left and the other died.
So really, this was actually more interesting than continuing his old life, which was a disaster.
So how to get himself out of this tube?
Oh, big red button down by my right hand. That's where I'd put it.
He pushed it. Nothing happened except a message flashed up in his vision, in a task bar band along the bottom.
Electronics failure. Repair Yes/No
Well I want to get out of here so Yes.
Blakes right hand glowed yellow, the glow spread to the red button.
10 seconds later, the tube slide open to let him out.
Repair Complete
Repairman Skill Level [White] - 02%
Blake looked around the metal walled room. Tubes lined the wall, all currently empty.
A control panel sat silent facing the tubes. His exit from the room lay behind the control panel, about 10 metres from him.
Only glancing at the darkened control panel, he approached the door, studying the door and surrounding frame till his eyes fell on the door sensor on the side.
Stepping up to the sensor and waving his hand over it, a familiar message flashed up.
Door Electronics Failure. Repair Yes/No
Yes
The glow travelled from his right hand to the sensor. The repair took longer this time, around 20 seconds.
Repair Complete
Repairman Skill Level [White] - 08%
Fatigue washed over Blake as the door parted at its centre, sliding into the metal walls on either side.
So these repairs ain't free it looks like. I use energy to fix things. So how do I replace the energy?
[Survival Quest Complete]
Repairman Skill level [White] 18%
2% for small repair. 6% for a door. 10% for a Quest.
[Survival Quest Available]
Repair Food Synthesizer
Well that makes sense. I need energy to repair things.
Except Blake didn't know what a Food Synthesizer looked like. Some kind of vending machine was his best guess.
Stepping out of the Stasis Control Room, Blake found himself in a hallway. Debris was scattered everywhere in both directions.
Wall and ceiling panels were missing, wiring hanging down from the roof.
This ship is junk! How can it even stay afloat!
Come to think of it, I don't feel any rocking from waves. How big is this "vessel ".
Blake headed left, being the direction he was facing. Closed doors occupied the hallway, but he didn't want to waste any energy on repairs until he found the Synthesiser.
The debris strewn hallway continued until an open door appeared ahead on his right.
Getting closer he could see partway into the room, which looked much larger than the Stasis Control Room. Reaching the doorway, he stared at what looked like a school dining hall.
A school dining hall full of bodies.
At least 20.
All virtual skeletons.
Wearing what appeared to be space suits.
Ahhh fuck me! I'm an a fucking spaceship!
How fucked am I now. A ship of the sea could at least given me a chance to find land. Although the creep message did say "Your previous world", but still!
"The bodies ain't all gooey and smelling, so I guess I should count myself lucky for that"
But how long has this ship been a derelict for the bodies to get to this condition. There can't be a lot of bacteria floating around the ship, so just what came from inside. They're one step away from being mummified.
Along the side of the dining hall, or Mess being more literal and accurate, was a line of machines built into the wall, four to be exact.
That should give me an idea of crew count. Four machines seems far too many for the bodies here. So did some escape and not return?
a cafeteria style bench in front of them thst just screamed "Synthesizer".
Walking around a table of Dead, he approached a machine nearest the door.
Food Synthesizer Electronics Failure. Repair Yes/No
Yes
This time repairing the machine took a full minute. The fatigue he felt almost dropped him to his knee's.
[Survival Quest Complete]
Repairman Skill level [White] 28%
Food Synthesizer Is Running On Emergency Power. 168hrs till depletion.
How longs that? About a week? But power will deplete fast as I repair things. I have food now though, I think?
A screen above the machine had lit up on repair to show a menu
The menu however consisted of Emergency Rations and chill, cold or hot water.
Blake chose the Ration and chilled water.
A slot opened after the machine hummed for a moment, producing a ration slab and a bottle of chilled water, about a litres worth.
The Emergency Ration didn't really taste like anything, maybe very slight sweet flavour.
It did wash away his fatigue though, surprisingly rapidly. Drink some water did much the same.
[Survival Quest Available]
Find A Complete Pressure Suit.
Repair If Necessary.
Turning around and looking at the bodies scattered through out the Mess, he didn't see anyone wearing what he would call a pressure suit.
Leaning over to touch the clothing gave him information.
I.V.A [Intravehicular Activity] Suit.
Provides Limited Emergency Decompression Protection.
Worn Under E.V.A Pressure Suit.
Minor Damage. Repair Yes/No
As disgusting as the idea is of putting on a Dead person's clothes, I need something better that shorts and shirt. Shoes too.
The IVA Suits did come with a kind of slip-on boots that attached to the suit.
Being a fairly average sized human, he didn't have to skeleton-shop for long to find a bodies in his size. He took the time to carry the remains to the opposite side of the Mess. Skeletons really don't weigh much he found.
Taking the Suit off the skeleton was far from pleasant, having to figure out how the opening seam work. Having to figure out how to shake bones from the legs and sleeves. That kind of unpleasant.
Minor Damage. Repair Yes/No
Yes
A quick 10 second repair this time. And the repair also seemed to have cleaned the IVA Suit as well.
Not sure what I would have done if it hadn't been cleaned. Dead person bacteria hasn't been the main ingredient in any skincare regime I've ever heard of.
Repairman Skill level [White] 30%
More comfortable dressed now. He drank the rest of his water, then got two more Ration bars and a bottle of water and headed up the hallway in the direction he was originally going.
10 minutes walking and he had discovered very little.
More closed doors so far, though he did check them to see if they were functional. None were, so he left their repair for later.
Energy was always to be saved till he was sure he wouldn't need it for something more important.
He arrived finally at two hatches.
The one to the left was clearly an airlock. It stood open, a compartment also open displaying space suits. Blake walked to just outside the airlock and touched the control panel.
Airlock control malfunction. Repair Yes/No
Yes
Repairman Skill level [White] 36%
Blake watched the glow spread over the control panel for a full minute, the fatigue coming just after the repair was complete.
No way I was walking straight into an airlock that was dangling the prize in front of me. Seen the movie. Read the book.
Confidently walking into the airlock, he looked over the space suits, gently touching each to gauge their condition. All needed minor repairs, likewise the the bubble-faced helmets.
He picked up the pressure dust and helmet and exited the airlock, pressing the control button to safely close the inner hatch.
He then repaired the pressure suit and helmet
[Survival Quest Complete]
Repairman Skill level [White] 50%
Another Quest down. Now to check this mystery hatch.
Engineering/Cargo Bay Hatch Malfunction.
" WARNING! AREA BEYOND HATCH NOT PRESSURISED! "
" And that door can stay closed for now, thank you very much."
Blake decided to go back to the Mess and check the doors around there first. He wanted to find a bedroom actually.
Although he could sleep on a table in the Mess, it wouldn't be what you would call quality rest by any standard.
Maybe an empty storeroom to put the bodies for now.
He briefly considered the airlock, but it wasn't that close.
And besides, he somewhat cold-heartedly considered the IVA Suits to valuable to just eject into space.
Returning to the Mess, he decided to call the direction of the Engine Room South.
An arbitrary choice for sure, but he needed some kind of logical stability at the moment.
Which put the Mess on the West side.
He chose the door opposite the Mess on the East side.
Door Malfunction. Repair Yes/No
No warning about unpressurised area. But you know what, I'm gonna put this spacesuit on anyway.
Getting the suit on was remarkably easy. The helmet slotted down and locked with a twist. Suit screen on his left forearm showed green lights and oxygen at 100%
He moved back to the door and initiated the repair.
60 seconds later the door was fit for purpose. He pushed the pressure pad and the door opened.
To an empty bedroom.
No swirl of debris being sucked into the void.
No scream of oxygen escaping.
I'm almost disappointed. Almost. Safety first though.
He removed the suit and lay it by the door while he looked around.
Kind of nice really. Double bed. A closet. A set of drawers plus bedside drawers. A bathroom with a toilet and shower. Even a lamp beside the bed.
" I think I could live here" Blake said to himself.
[Survival Quest Available]
Repair Main Reactor Core.
Just can't get a minutes peace can I.