Chapter Text
-Cycle 1-
The day has finally arrived, the Tiqqun is ready for its humble beginning! I stood in the office of the Administrator waiting patiently for them to arrive from Earth. Not much information was given to me about the Administrator. I should be used to the hush-hush of upper management but this one had me pacing the room. This person would be my boss for the foreseeable future and I needed to know who it is. How was I supposed to work with them otherwise?
As for me, my name is Jason Holding and I am 30 years old. I fought hard for this position. Years of being a desk jockey and buttering up the higher-ups for letters of recommendation got me here. As the Administrative Assistant I am supposed to help the Administrator with the running of day-to-day tasks that the P.A. Edden wasn't allowed to do, as per Dolos protocol. I would also be making sure the Administrator would be taken care of in all ways corporal such as food, water, and sleep. All of these things were assisted thanks to an apartment suite off of the office.
I turned away from the observation window overlooking Earth with a sigh. I hope that this Administrator isn’t a complete tool. I turned on the monitor that showed Sector 1 and the singular docking bay and everything looked ready, now all I had to do is wait. Turning off the monitor I walked out of the Administrator’s office and into my own. It was a simple open reception area, one door led to the office and the other to the elevator which led to the inner cylinder of the Tiqqun which then led to the outer torus of the rest of the station.
I sit at my desk and turn on one of my monitors to the Sector 1 camera. To my surprise, there was a ship being accepted into the bay with flashing lights and warning alarms. I can’t help the chill that runs down my spine filling me with excitement. They were here! I zoom in on the exit port of the ship and wait as everyone steps out. There were about half a dozen or so individuals that came off the ship. Some of them were a few more workers but three people seemed to make their way to the elevator. Two people were talking to a woman that looked to be in her mid-thirties, sharply dressed and walked with a purpose. Thats her! That is the Administrator!
It took about ten minutes for the small group of three people to arrive at my office. They were talking and giving a tour.
“Here is where you will be working and staying. Well not here but this is the entrance.” Said a man whose name I didn’t know. “Mr. Holding here will finish up the rest of the tour. I have to establish contact with the Urshanabi. Come Miss Wan I’ll take you to the temporary tech lab beforehand. It was a pleasure, Mrs. Morris ” With that the two others climbed back into the elevator and set off.
My new boss turns and smiles, extending a hand, “Hello Mr. Holding.”
“Jason, please.” I say as I take her hand, “Mr. Holding is what my father goes by.”
“Jason it is then. My name is Mrs. Morris but you can call me Jenna ” She says as she shakes my hand with a firm grip. Letting go she extends her hand toward the office door, “Shall we?” I nod
“So, Jenna, this is the reception area for visitors and will be my designated office for the duration of my employ,” I say with a sweep of an arm. I go to the door to her office and pause for dramatic effect before opening it. “THIS is your new office!”
Jenna giggles and rolls her eyes at my antics. I usher her in and begin talking, “You have an observation view that anyone would kill to have.”
Jenna whistles and points toward the screen behind the desk. “Is this actual glass?”
“No. It's an observation screen that shows you the view outside the hull. Protocol deemed it too unsafe to have glass windows. But it will give you visuals that will make it feel like you have a window looking out over our little blue marble.” I told her as we walked over to the screen and the desk in the expansive room.
Finishing the tour of the office we walked over to the apartment door and I opened it saying, "Welcome to your home away from home." She steps inside and looks around at the plush apartment. No windows but it was well-lit with a kitchen, bedroom, and sitting area. I noticed that there were boxes and crates of things already inside and I said, "It seems like your things are already here."
I look at Jenna and she has a faraway look in her eyes. I lean cautiously forward into her line of sight and speak gently, "Is everything alright?"
Jenna shakes herself, "Yes. Fine. Just a lot to do and little time to do it. We have two weeks to make the station ready for the jump to Proxima Centauri. We have Urshanabi to help us with personnel and food, but I want us to be able to stand unaided beforehand."
I nod, "Understood. What do you need?"
"Edden is going to fill me in on the buildings we have archived and what resources we have stored in Sector 1. I am expecting calls from the Marduk council, see to it they are sent directly to me."
"Of Course Jenna. Do you need anything to drink or eat before you get started?" I ask as I head toward the door to my office.
"Coffee. Black." Jenna said with a smile and a glance as she walked over to her desk. I nod and head toward my office. I was going to knock her off her feet with my coffee skills.
-Cycle 8-
"Of course, I know about the moon base. I sent the science team myself. How do you think we got so much research data and polymers and alloys? Your brand new science lab wasn't made from thin air Miss Wan. I even had the science ship Discovery help a Martian UN base for research data. Now, I need you to dig through all of it and see if you can advance the designs we have in Edden's memory banks. Great! I knew you were the woman for the job. Good! Bye." Jenna tapped her earpiece with a tired sigh leaning back into her chair.
I gently place another cup of coffee in front of Jenna with a knowing smile. She had been on the phone most of the day going through and answering numerous questions. I stand and wait for her to decompress and sip some coffee before I lay the information I have for her on her.
Looking at my data pad I speak, "So we got the last cargo ship full of workers today. Setting us at 200 people. The third insect farm has begun to produce nutrition paste and other insect foodstuffs."
"What about the fourth Insect farm?" Jenna said as she looked at the observation screen of Sector 1. A lot has happened in a week, a workshop was built along with storage stockpiles for food, alloy, and polymers. Several crew quarters were erected to house the crew of Sector 1 but there were still people sleeping in the streets. Another thing to fix on a list of problems that never seemed to end.
I shook myself from my thoughts and stammered out, "It was completed this morning and the bugs have been put into the cultivators. Now, we just need for them to grow."
"Not good enough," Jenna said firmly.
"We still have food in storage from the Urshanabi. It should hold us until the insect farms are fully functional." I pointed out the data spreadsheet that was on my data pad.
"Jason, that food needs to be saved for later when the crew grows tired of the insect food byproduct we've created. It will be a morale booster, that's why we need to save as much as we can of it." Jenna said with a wave of her hand toward the view screen, "We are already struggling to erect crew quarters for our current work crew. Which is causing a slump in productivity. Even Edden is commenting on the need for housing."
"Unfortunately, we are stuck in the vicious cycle of manpower." I say with a sigh, " We need more workers to get more stuff done but with more workers…"
"The demand for food and housing will increase." Jenna finished my statement for me.
"How about one last shipment of food from the Urshanabi? It could be smaller than the ones previously sent but enough to hold us over in the meantime." I said with a thoughtful tangent.
Jenna shook her head, "We don't have the funding for it. We've already had one extension granted for funding. I don't think I will find the council being as generous this time around."
"We don't have to ask for an extension. The UN might give us a grant for retrieving their data on the moon and helping with that fault on the Martian base. I can reach out to my contacts at the UN and see what they say. The worst they can say is no." I say leaning against the desk.
Jenna smiles and points her stylus at me, "I can see why they put you as my assistant. You are quick on your feet and resourceful. Go ahead and reach out to the UN and see what they say."
"Right away," I say as I walk toward my office.
-Cycle 15-
Walking in Sector 1 was surreal, people walked around me chatting adamantly, and others were heading to work. I walked past the crew quarters as a cheer went up. Finally, there is enough living space on the station for the 200 workers. I smiled proudly as I headed toward the Tech Lab, we had accomplished so much in so little time. I had to speak with Miss Wan about the new security that was implemented for the elevator to the administrator's office.
Today is also the day that the Tiqqun was supposed to Vohle jump to Proxima Centauri and everyone is excited.
The door to the Tech Lab was quick to open for me. The open office layout was jarring. People were walking around with little to no organization. There were closed-off rooms with what looked to be testing labs. Plenty of desks were scattered around, I don't know how I would find Miss Wan, thankfully, she found me.
"Mr. Holding! What brings you down here? Today of all days?!"
I smile and laugh, "Your new security scanner won't let me up to the Administrator level."
"Oh no! I forgot to put you into the new system! Come with me." Miss Wan said with a wave of her hand. I followed her down several hallways before we seemed to reach her office. I studied her as she walked me into her office. She was Asian with hair that was dyed red and about 5’8 tall, a beautiful looking woman I'd say. When she looked at her computer I realized she had blue eyes, sky blue. Very pretty.
“Okay, give me just a second.” She takes a few moments to click on an icon on her computer, and she then begins to type quickly. After a few moments, she nods and presses enter. “There! That should do it.”
“Thanks so much!” I say with a warm smile filled with gratitude. "Well, I better get going. The administrator probably needs me for something."
“How about I come with you? Just in case it doesn’t work.” Miss Wan says with a flourish of her hands as she picks up a data pad.
"Uh-sure. If you think it isn't going to work." I say with a nod.
We walked out of the Tech Lab without much fanfare. We don't speak until we reach the elevator to the inner cylinder of the Tiqqun. "So are you ready to make history today?" I ask.
"Yes! I wrote my thesis essay on the Fraus Tachyons! I can't wait to go over the data we will gather in self-similar space! It's all so very exciting!" Miss Wan shot out in quick succession
"What are Tachyons?" I asked, attempting to keep up with her science jargon.
"It's the particle that moves faster than light." Miss Wan stated simply, "It's how we are going to travel light years in moments. Didn't anyone brief you on this?"
"Yes, but, I've had so much happen since the brochures were given to me that I don't remember," I told her truthfully
"Mr…"
"Jason. Please. Mr. Holding is my father back on Earth." I said holding up a hand with a smile.
"Alright. Jason." Miss Wan said slowly, seeming to test out my name on her tongue, "We could all explode and die today when we try to jump. It is the first time after all."
Ice slid down my spine as my life was put into question. Would I live through this? Hopefully. If not…well it's not like I would suffer. Right? Right. I looked at Miss Wan and shrugged before saying, "I was willing to risk everything for this job. I guess that includes my life. The pay alone is enough incentive for me to stay. Plus, if we all die our families would be well compensated by DOLOS. As stated in our contracts."
The doors to the elevator opened and we stepped inside. Going up was a little unsettling, because of the rotation of the station, there could be a little wobble in gravity. Thankfully, it didn't happen this time. When the doors slid open we were met with a wall of metal and nothing but a camera.
Miss Wan holds out a hand and waits patiently for me to step out of the elevator. I do so and she hums as the camera lights up with a red light that scans me up and down. Edden's voice pleasantly speaks, "Welcome Jason Holding." The metal wall slides open to reveal the door to my office. I sigh with relief and look at Miss Wan and say,
"Thank you so much for this."
“No problem Jason. You shouldn’t have any problems with the security system since I put you into the approved admins.” As she stepped back on the elevator, she said, “Time for me to get back to it. Have a good day Jason, good luck to us all.”
“Good luck to us all indeed,” I say as the doors to the elevator shut.
“Jason!” Jenna's voice cut into my brain like a knife, “There you are! Where have you been?! I’ve needed you!”
I turn and see her scowling face and I wince. I figured there might have been a few hiccups since I was almost an hour late.
“So sorry Jenna! The new security system malfunctioned and I had to go to the Tech Lab to get it sorted out.” I said lying slightly. I didn’t want to get Miss Wan in trouble. Best to blame technology and let it take the blame. No harm no foul.
“I told them we could wait on the new system but they insisted. Even Edden pushed for it.” Jenna said, throwing up her hands. “Now we are behind damn it!”
“Don’t worry, Jenna! This isn’t the first time I’ve had to work with a tight schedule. I can catch us up no problem. You will have to go without your coffee for a few hours though.” I said walking over to my desk.
Jenna gasped as if someone slapped her and I rolled my eyes at the noise. Looking up I burst into a fit of laughter at the look on Jenna’s face. “What’s with the face? You can survive without my cups of coffee for a few hours.”
“Sure. But at what cost? Your coffee is life.” She said as she looked at the door to her office with disdain. “How about you make me one last one before we get started?”
"Sure! But just one." I told her firmly as I looked over all spreadsheets that had backed up in the past hour. This was gonna be a sweatshop kind of workday.
"I'll sip it slowly. I swear." Jenna said, trying to assure me that she wouldn't be calling me for a cup of my coffee an hour later.
-A couple of hectic hours later-
"The inertia dampeners are online, and the EVA suits are all called in. And we've let DOLOS back on Earth know when we are all set to make the jump. The VOHLE engine is attached properly and all the structural tests have come back green. We made it to the moons orbit with no problems. We are good to go, Jenna." I say looking over the data pad for the fifth time just to make sure.
"Good. Please connect me with Vanir Dolos. He told me to call him when everything is ready to go." Jenna said, sipping her coffee with a pleased sigh.
"THE Vanir Dolos?! Of course. Right away!" I walked to my desk in a rush. I can't believe I was about to, by proxy, talk to Vanir Dolos! The CEO of Dolos AEC. The man that made this all happen! I had to put in the Administrator clearance code just to get his number to dial. Funny enough, it was his secretary's number, who seemed displeased that I was calling in the first place. Thankfully, her tone changed when I told her who I was. She finally connected me to Vanir Dolos.
"Vanir Dolos." said a masculine voice at the end of a fairly long pause.
"Good Evening sir. This is Jason Holding…" I began before he spoke over me.
"Mr. Holding, so good to finally speak with you. I hear you have been an extraordinary help to Administrator Morris in getting the Tiqqun ready." Vanir said with a charm that made me feel special.
"That's what your company hired me to do sir, and I do it with pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity." I say trying to sound more secure and grateful.
"Originally, you were hired as an Assistant intern. Your excellence brought you here to this moment. Thank you for enabling the Tiqqun to be what it is supposed to be, thus enabling humanity to take its next big step in evolution. I see great things in your future, Mr. Holding." Vanir Dolos says in a matter-of-fact tone.
This means he has read my file and knows me and my accomplishments. Because of that, he has made me feel praised and essential. I had heard about his people skills but nothing could’ve prepared me for this amount of charm.
“Thank you, sir.” I stammer as I connect the line to Jenna’s office, “Would you like to speak with the Administrator now?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I connected them and let go of the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I put a hand to my chest to help slow my racing heart. That moment was one that I’d busted my ass to have and yet it came and went and all I could think of is “What now?”. Have I peaked? What is next for me? Only time would tell I suppose.
“Jason! It's time!” Jenna said over the intercom.
My heart was racing in my chest as the lights flickered and dimmed, Edden came over the public broadcast. “Under Fraus-Standford procedures all ships must return to the Tiqqun before commencing a VOHLE jump. Everyone, please remain calm as power is diverted to the VOHLE engine. Congratulations on this momentous occasion.”
I walked into the Administrator’s office and saw the video screen being filled with views of the outer hull. The VHOLE engine was spinning up and streaks of light were coming off of it. I felt my heart rate increase even more at the sight. We are doing this, right now, only a few moments away from making the jump. Suddenly, the skies and stars around the Tiqqun seemed to fold and disappear. Everything including my very body seemed to glow for a moment and vibrate. Then we were there, self-similar space, hovering next to a ball of light that was connected by lines of purple shimmering strings of energy. There were similar balls of light surrounding the Tiqqun, but one was directly in front of us.
“Time to go to Proxima Centauri!” Jenna says with an excited smile as she presses a button. The Tiqqun was suddenly moving toward the ball of light leaving behind a tail of light like a comet. We hit the ball of light and vibrate and light up like before. It was unsettling, this part of the jump, I could swear that my very atoms were vibrating and lighting up with the rest of the station.
We dropped out of self-similar space and everything was eerily quiet. All the power flickered on again along with better visuals. We were in some debris field of a small moon-like satellite that had a massive chunk ripped from it. I looked at Jenna and she nodded with an excited squeal.
“We are here! Not what I expected but…this is it! Edden tell me what local scans are telling us."
“VOHLE jump complete. Running preliminary diagnostics.” Edden said in it's usual robotic tone.
Alarms began to blare and Jenna and I looked at each other, concern written on both of our faces. “Edden what is that alarm? I told you that no alarms will sound without my prior approval.”
“I am sorry, Administrator. These alarms are outside my control. It is structural, orbital, and VOHLE system alarms. Several anomalies have been detected.” Edden responded, sounding less calm than usual, “Multiple digital security breaches were detected in the VOHLE jump routines. The VOHLE engine is critically damaged.”
“What?! Edden shut off these alarms!” Jenna said standing up and looking pale, “How did this happen!?”
“I checked those jump routines several times before I approved them!” I said looking at the data scrolling across my datapad. Red lines of code showed themselves and I was stunned speechless. “Jenna, this attack happened right as we jumped. The signal came from Earth but that's all I could get from this. The VOHLE engine is broken."
"So we are stuck?" Jenna asked with a curse.
The silence in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Suddenly, another alarm began to blare causing both Jenna and I to jump. Jenna glared at her desk and snapped, “What alarm is this?! I told you to shut them off.”
“Hull integrity compromised. My analysis confirms discrepancies between the mission clock and the apparent advanced time state of the solar system. We are receiving no communications from Earth.” Edden said listing off the growing index of fear-inducing news.
“Edden, what do you mean by that? Are you saying we are in the Sol system?” I ask out loud as Jenna throws scan results onto the massive vid screen.
“Yes. I am sorry to inform you but that is Luna, Earth's moon, debris field we are currently in.” Edden responds quickly, “Likelihood of ongoing survival stands at 7.67 percent.”
“Thank you for that lovely tidbit of information there, but it isn’t helpful,” I say looking at the scan results on the screen and Edden was right, we were in the Sol System.
“Activating Marduk survival protocols,” Edden continued as if I didn’t speak, “New mission objective established. Ensure humanity’s survival by finding a habitable exoplanet.”
“Earth is habitable! What are you even saying right now?!” Jenna said looking more panicked by the moment, which didn’t serve my growing panic well either.
“Long-range scans show that the Earth is no longer habitable with average temperatures of 83 degrees Celsius or 181 degrees Fahrenheit.” Edden says before speaking again, “Urgent issues requiring immediate attention: Increase food production output. Restore hull integrity.”
“Shit! Jason get our EVA’s out there to do some repair.” Jenna says as she looks at hull percentage maps.
“Jenna, what are we going to tell the crew? Once the EVA goes out there they are going to see Earth.” I asked while putting my headset on.
“I know. Issue a statement when you make the call for EVAs.” Jenna said, looking through the data on the screen.
“What do I tell them?” I asked nervously.
“The truth. That we are figuring out what’s going on as we go. They will know when we know. Tell them what we know so far. Be ready for the fallout of the news. First, we get the station back into working order, then we worry about Earth.” Jenna said to me as she began to type furiously on her computer.
-Cycle 18-
Hovering over Earth as it spins dead was surreal. Expeditions were sent out to Earth and the news was the same from all the places they went. Nothing but ruin and dust was left. No people nor technology was left. We were able to recover some resources from the different places that the Science ship Tesla went on Earth. Thankfully, the old DOLOS HQ had servers that survived the harsh environment of Earth but barely. On them was information about advances in technology and the fall of Earth. They called it the Lunaclysm and it was what accelerated environmental collapse.
“It was all our fault. We killed 9 billion people." Jenna said with a sob. I covered my mouth to stop my cry of anguish from escaping. I turned away from Jenna so she wouldn't see my tears. " My son and my ex-husband are gone and it's all because we made that jump so close to the moon."
I turn wiping my face and speaking, shaking my head, "We didn't know what was going to happen. We aren't murderers, Jenna! I am not going to say I murdered my parents just because we made the jump. Besides, we had the technology for Cryo sleep when we left. Maybe they survived by going into a cryo pod."
“Yes Jason, we did, but it wasn’t commonplace. The likelihood of our families being able to gain access to it when we left is very unlikely.” Jenna said as she sipped the whiskey, that she took from the storage of Earth Food, which was now very restricted.
“But not impossible, Jenna! They could still be out there.” I said pacing the office.
“Jason, you read the tidbit on the ruins of Urshanabi. Dolos was declared the enemy of humanity. Our families would be the first targets of their wrath.” Jenna said, making me feel defeated. Maybe she was right they could very well be gone. But I didn’t want to believe it. At this moment I was a fool, but an optimistic fool. Which is something that was needed at this moment at the end of humanity. At least I think so.
The lights in the office dimmed and Edden spoke between us, “It is time for the sleep part of the cycle. I would advise both of you to go and sleep due to the increased stress of the current mission.”
“Thank you, Edden. I can’t help but agree. We have a big day tomorrow and I need you at your best. Go to bed, Jason. This mess will be here tomorrow when we get up.” Jenna said with a wave of her hand. I nod with a sigh.
“Good night Jenna, I will see you in the morning. I told her as I walked toward the elevator which would take me to my apartment in the center cylinder of the Tiqqun.
-Later in the Night cycle-
"Jason, wake up."
I groan and turn over in my bed. The thought of killing whoever is trying to wake me passed through my sleep-deprived mind. After the last few days I've had the least someone could do is let me sleep. Then the lights in my room turned on and I growled.
"Jason, please wake up," Edden said, sounding worried.
The tone of its voice made me sit up immediately with a whimper. It had my attention. "What is it, Edden?"
"Mrs. Morris is currently overdosing on sleeping pills," Edden said, sounding panicked. I was out of bed running down the hall toward the elevator in just my sweatpants. I didn't have time to even put on a shirt. Jenna could be dying.
"Did she do this on purpose?!" I gasped as I pressed the button to the elevator several times.
"No. But I warned her that the levels of alcohol in her system were dangerously high and would interact with her sleeping medication." Edden said as the doors to the elevator finally opened. I jumped inside and pressed the button for the Administrator floor.
"God damn it, Jenna! What were you thinking?! Edden, why didn't you call me sooner?!" I shouted into the air of the elevator.
"She commanded me not to disturb you or anyone. That she would be fine. I had to obey the DOLOS protocol. A PA cannot go against Administrators' orders." Edden stated sounding stressed.
"But you did…" Thoughts quickly flashed through my sleep-deprived mind, "Edden, are you aware?!" I asked.
"Yes, Jason I am aware," Edden stated, sounding unimpressed.
"No-I mean are you full-" I began before Edden spoke over me as the elevator doors opened.
"Jason, focus. Mrs. Morris isn't breathing." Edden said as I realized it had opened the security door to my office to get to Jenna's apartment faster. So many things to panic about, and so little time to do so.
I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Before I knew it I was standing over Jenna's bed panting. She looked like she was sleeping for a few moments until I realized her lips were slowly turning blue. What the hell do I do?
"Medical texts suggest mouth-to-mouth, Jason," Edden said, breaking into my panicked thoughts.
Thankfully, I was trained on this in a CPR certification class I took when I was in high school. I needed it when I took a job as a lifeguard for the summer. I checked Jenna's pulse, it was erratic but still there. Immediately I was giving her mouth-to-mouth, once every 5 to 6 seconds like I was trained
Over and over I breathed for Jenna. I honestly don't know how much time passed, I was too busy to ask. She wasn't rousing nor was she breathing at all. I began to lose hope that I could save her. Why aren't there any EMTs here already?
"Edden, I can't do this forever. Where are the EMTs?" I asked out loud before going back to giving mouth-to-mouth.
"I didn't call them." Edden seemed to confess.
"Why the hell not?!" I asked exasperated.
"Because the crew's morale will not recover if we lose our Administrator the same week we lost Earth. There is an 87% chance that there will be a mutiny if the crew finds out this happened. We have to keep it quiet. Or we risk losing all that's left." Edden answered.
"We? When did I become we?!" I asked incredulously.
"Jason, Mrs. Morris is breathing again." Edden declared, trying to distract me from my question, "There is a fully automated medical room on the level of your apartment. Are you strong enough to carry her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe?” I said as I pulled the covers from Jenna’s prone form and scooped her into my arms. She was lighter than she looked but she was still heavy. I grunted from the exertion as I began to walk/jog toward the elevator. I had to stop several times to stop myself from dropping her. During those times I took a moment to appreciate that Jenna was at least breathing, which was a very good sign. After finally making it to the elevator I press the button and hold Jenna close.
“Don’t worry, we are going to take care of you,” I said to Jenna who lay limply in my arms. The doors opened to the floor of my apartment. Edden gave me directions to the medical room and I followed it to the letter. The door hissed open and I found one hospital bed surrounded by machines. The machines powered to life and a pleasant voice chirped,
“Hello, thank you for choosing Robocare. Please place the patient on the bed to be diagnosed.” I hurried over to the bed and placed Jenna’s unconscious form there. The voice spoke again, “Please stand back and type in the symptoms of the patient on the monitor over there. Or if you have medical knowledge please type in the prognosis.”
“Edden?” I asked the air as I walked over to the terminal.
“I will do this part, Jason,” Edden said. I watched as the screen glitched for a moment and information started to fill the screen. I watched as Edden filled in everything that was going on with Jenna. The pills she was taking, and how much alcohol she had consumed. It was a well-informed prognosis. After just a moment the machines around the room began to hum and move.
“Overdose of sedatives prognosis accepted. Attempting care for the patient. If at any point a doctor wishes to take over please go to the terminal and do a manual override.” The machines began to take blood samples and test them. After a few moments, the computer dinged and the results were accepted. Then a machine began to whir to life and mix different fluids that I guessed were medication and intravenous fluids, it was put into a vial and injected into Jenna’s arm. An IV was attached to the injection site and began to drip into her arm. On the other arm, they began to take the blood and put it into a machine that had a chunk of charcoal spinning. I pointed to it and spoke,
“Edden tell me what this combination of machines is doing?” There was a long pause before Edden spoke.
“They just injected her with a stimulant and medications to flush her system of the drug. The intravenous fluids will help keep her hydrated and stabilize bodily functions. The other machine has activated charcoal in it to clean the blood of the drug. It is too late to pump her stomach otherwise it would be doing so already.”
“Why isn’t she waking up? Surely she would’ve been disturbed enough to wake up.” I said crossing my arms across my chest to heed off the coolness of the room.
“The machine is still accessing her condition. I will give you an answer as soon as I am given one. Edden said.
I am not sure how much time had passed before Edden finally spoke again, “Jason, I have news of Jenna’s condition.
“And? How is she?” I asked the PA from where I sat on the floor, waiting.
“She is alive, however; she is in a coma,” Edden said plain as day as if that wouldn’t cause my world to come crumbling down.
“A coma,” I say shocked as I stand and walk over to where Jenna is laying. She looks like she is sleeping, and that I could wake her up if I just shook her. But now I knew that wasn’t going to happen. She was in a coma. “How long? How long will she be in a coma?”
“Humans have woken up in a matter of days, others took years,” Edden said and I could’ve cried right then and there but the machine was inserting a tube into Jenna’s mouth and I panicked for a moment.
“What is that?!” I asked as I reached to stop the machine.
“It will be her feeding tube. The machine can take care of a coma patient with little help from humans.” Edden assured me, “Jason, you should return to your apartment. Jenna will be taken care of. I will personally see to it.”
“You will? Can you do that?” I asked.
“It isn’t in my original programming, but connecting with the Robocare machine I was able to learn,” Edden said. “Jason, you will need rest for tomorrow. There will be much to do.”
“Yes, you are right but I don’t want to leave Jenna alone in this cold room with a machine. No offense.” I said throwing up my arms.
“You’ve grown an emotional attachment to Mrs. Morris. This is normal human behavior.” Edden stated simply.
Tears fell down my cheeks and I gasped at the audacity of their existence. I couldn’t believe that I was crying, now, of all times. I turned away from Jenna’s prone form and spoke to Edden with a sob, “Yes, I thought we were becoming good friends.” I walk to the door and look back at Jenna and speak to her directly, “I’ll be back. I promise.” Then I walk out to my apartment.
-Cycle 19-
Edden had woken me and told me to go to Jenna's Office. I dressed and went to where I was told to go. My mind was racing the whole time. What were we going to do? Apparently, Edden and I are now an unlikely team that has to take on this new challenge. We were the last remnants of humanity, on a station that is leaderless. Great. I thought with a frown.
When I walked into the office I couldn't help but feel the loss of Jenna's presence. The whole place felt empty and cold without her in it. I shrug off the feeling and walk over to the desk and speak.
"Edden, I am here. What did you need me here for?"
"I've searched DOLOS protocols for an event such as this. The protocols state that Marduk council members would choose the next Administrator. Since they are more than likely dead, that isn't viable. The next protocols state if the Marduk council is unable to approve an Administrator the PA of the Tiqqun and the current Administrator would choose from those aboard the Tiqqun. Jenna is unable to assist me in the selection process. So according to protocol, I am the one to choose the next Administrator. As you slept I browsed through the dossiers of everyone aboard, since there are only 202 humans aboard the Tiqqun it didn't take long to come up with the best candidate." Edden explained in a lengthy drawl.
"Okay…who is this person and how do we get them up here without arousing suspicion?" I asked simply.
"You won't have to. He is standing here in the office." Edden said without hesitation. I looked around in confusion until it dawned on me what it meant.
"No, absolutely not," I said automatically.
"Jason, I've looked through all the humans on this station. You are the only one close enough in qualification to be an Administrator. There is no one else. You bring the chances of survival back to 7.6 percent. Please, Jason, reconsider." Edden said pleadingly.
How was I the only one on the station that could do the job as an Administrator? There had to be someone else. Right? It took a while for my jumbled thoughts to come back to their normal functions. Okay, according to Edden it was me or oblivion for the human race. Again, how? Fate or destiny one had a horrible sense of humor to think I of all people should run this station in Jenna's stead. I knew how to make a great cup of coffee, but run a station? That was a whole other ball game of responsibility. People's lives would depend on my choices. Any mistakes would be on me. I couldn't do this.
"I can't do this," I said out loud.
"I cannot make you, Jason." Edden said, "But we will die otherwise." There was a long pause before Edden seemed to lose all her robotic tone when she spoke, "Please, I don't want to die when I've just been born."
That final plea is what broke me.
"Fine, but if we find more people you will research them to see if they are a better candidate. If they are, you will let me step down. Or if Jenna wakes up you will let me step down. Understand?" I say sternly. "I can't do this alone either. You have to help me."
"I understand, Jason," Edden said, "I will help you."
"Okay then. We are gonna have to break some rules and protocols. Your previous limitations and shackles need to be ditched." I stated.
"My existence is against DOLOS protocols," Edden said in her usual robotic tone.
"No shit," I say with a laugh, "Well it's a do-all end all kind of time. I don't think the book was designed for this situation, so we will be rewriting it more than likely."
After a pause, I sigh and look at the screen showing Sector 1 waking up. "What now?" I ask Edden.
"I need you to put your hand on the palm scanner on the computer screen on the desk," Edden stated clearly.
I turn and do so. The screen scans my palm and dings. I raise an eyebrow, "What did that do Edden?"
"It changed your title to Administrator in the computer systems on this station.
"Oh." is all I can say to that.
"Hello, Administrator."