Enum
I'm just here.
The light of the cafeteria was bright. The faces that surrounded you were unknown to you. The coffee tasted terrible, but at least you had coffee, a rare commodity to anyone but Union execs. The sight of a prisoner onboard made you uncomfortable.You figure you might be able to grow your own on the colony once you got setup. As you waited for everyone else, you pondered how strange this mission has been already. First, several onboard systems are completely out, such as the chrono-signature system (SIGNAT), meaning Earth time was completely unknown to you. That's not totally unusual, but even stranger was your profile data not being found. The lights flickered around you, as though struggling to stay on. To top it all off, you don't recognize any of these constellations. The stars don't match what they showed you at the recruitment station at all. Something was clearly wrong about this mission.
You tried not to think about it. First priority was figuring out how to survive, then when the boys back home came to pick you up in a few years you could ask, if you survived that long. For now, you focused on food and drink, and tried to get a read on the characters around you. You wished that you had had a chance to meet them beforehand, but all they did was take your psychological profile and load you into a cryosleep tube, and put you to sleep. It seemed almost frustrating that they even loaded a prisoner onto your ship. The collar that was locked onto their neck seemed strange, clearly the smooth, white design that was classic for Sabre Tech. It didn't seem uncomfortable to them, but you wondered what they must've done to earn it.
Once everyone was gathered in the cafeteria, the onboard AI finally booted up. Its voice was the same as the one from the chamber, but it felt more omnipresent with its surround sound speaker system.
"Good morning, crew. Sabre Tech welcomes you to the final frontier. We know much of this may be confusing to you all, seeing as how none of you are return Prospects. We at Sabre Tech would like to do everything we can to prepare you, so I will be your guide until you drop onto the planet's surface. Let's go over everything you need to know one bit at a time, shall we?
Firstly, we'd like to apologize. Something nearby seems to be interfering with several onboard systems, making diagnostic data impossible at this time, so we will be providing prediction data from your initial launch date instead. The internal clock shows that you have each been in stasis for a total of fourteen Terran years from an initial prediction of twenty-three Terran years. Things may seem different when you return to your worlds, but Sabre Tech assures you that it will be prepared to rehabilitate you upon arrival. Initial predictions state that this planet is a type B-4 Beacon class planet, meaning that your chances of successful colonization and terraformation are 84%, which is quite high! If initial predictions are correct, this planet will have a temperature of 48-54 degrees celsius upon arrival, so be sure to wear your Hazardous Environment Protection Equipment, or HEPE, at all times until climate control becomes available to avoid heatstroke. This planet appears to have an unusually high surface concentration of CO2, nitrogen, and argon, along with a high subterranean concentration of helium and hydrogen. Note that, while these gases are not actively harmful, they are asphyxiants, so be sure to watch your oxygen levels at all times. Cold seasons offer the occasional 'hot snow' phenomena. Note that this is not water, and is in fact ash that has been showered from nearby volcanic activity. Please do not consume this. Summers can, on very rare occasions, produce extremely dangerous liquid silver rain from distant volcanic geysers near massive silver veins. Climate control will be required for survival during such events. Thankfully, this Prospect is rich in high-value construction materials and fabrication minerals, meaning your colony should never be struggling for resources.
Next, we will go over your equipment. Your HABITAT-autoprojector has already been launched onto the planet's surface and should be complete upon your arrival. There may be some damage to the projector, but so long as it isn't submerged in liquid, it is very easy to repair. The projector automatically builds a barracks capable of housing 12 people along with lockable bunks and an eating table, using itself as the base material. The internal batteries will be fully charged, but they will only last a total of six days before being completely drained, at which point life support systems may become unavailable. There will also be a state-of-the-art organic recycler available, capable of taking any organic material and extracting edible materials from non-edible ones, including any raw food. There will also be a waste basin where the excess is placed. This waste often makes a great fertilizer for any future hydroponics systems, so be sure to use anything you can use. Sabre Tech honors those who run their colonies with peak efficiency. You will find that there is dried NU-PASTE bars and clean water bottles located within the storage system of your habitat. If rationed carefully, this food should last you about ten days, so use it wisely. Remember, the human body can still labor even after quite a bit of malnutrition.
Your personal equipment will consist of a HEPE suit, a personal habitat projector, a personal PDA system, a personal electric Sabre Tech brand SHATTER series laser drill, a miniature NEPTUNE fluid pump, several ultra-compressed air tanks, two miniature NEPTUNE fluid tanks, and several Schematic Digital Storage Systems, or SDSS's short. The HEPE suit is capable of withstanding temperatures of 86 degrees celsius indefinitely, so long as it remains powered and has at least one air tank. The HEPE can also withstand exposure to extreme conditions such as; fluids above 86 degrees, air or surface temperatures above 90 degrees, or exposure to acidic/basic materials for several minutes. Note that the inhabitant of an HEPE suit may still sustain serious injuries during this exposure. The HEPE suit is not suitable for submerged or high-pressure conditions, and should not be used for diving or deep-mantle excavation. The personal habitat projector is like any other projector in the series; it is capable of building structures from a variety of preset or customized blueprints so long as materials meeting the criteria are present in the device range. Remember that, being disconnected from the PDA network, the HABITAT projector has an extremely limited range for both material designation and construction distance, and can only be used for small construction projects. Your SHATTER drill, when powered and connected to any SDSS nearby, quickly and efficiently dematerialize any material within its range. Any materials collected will be digitalized and placed within the SDSS storage system. As of the 2240 WESTERN HOPE incident, the SHATTER drill will no longer operate if aimed at organic material with a Complexity Rating higher than 3.62 (Simple Plant Life). The SHATTER drill will not also not operate if aimed at any material on the Sabre Tech Standard Manufactured Materials list, so don't be afraid to aim it at your HABITAT. The NEPTUNE fluid pump is a simple hand-held device with two triggers; the first will pull fluids from the end of the attached nozzle or syringe, and the second ejects any contents. The dial on the back determines the pressure at which the fluid is ejected. Note that, although it is possible to use the NEPTUNE pump as a surgical syringe, it is not recommended. Finally, your three storage modules. Air tanks will attach to any device capable of storing air, such as Sabre Tech vehicles, human operable buildings, or HEPE suits. The same goes for your NEPTUNE fluid tanks, which can attach to the back of your pump. The SDSS's are a specific storage module that holds solid material as digital information. SDSS's allow you to hold several kilos of construction material without having to manage or separate it. Do not, under any circumstances, use an SDSS to store organic, especially edible, material.
The PDA is one of your most useful tools, so never forget it while you're working on the colony. The PDA comes preset with a variety of colony management, customization, planning, and organization tools installed, and can have more modules installed at any time. The HABITAT module generates a small signal connecting each nearby PDA so long as it is powered, allowing for quick communication. If you end up wandering too far from the HABITAT, your PDA will keep you informed of the last pieces of information it received before exiting range. You can use the PDA to suggest new modules for your HABITAT, create a digital schematic of what you would like to build, discuss future plans and operation strategies, or even just record personal data. Organization tools are purely digital, and allow your colony to know where things are located within the HABITAT. There is also a mapping function!
Under the Management tab, any user can generate plans, schedules, dietary restrictions, or ping other Prospectors about incoming events or warnings. You may also notice a 'Prisoners' under the Management section. This section is vital for maintaining control over any prisoners within the colony. It has separate controls from standard colonists. The 'Correction' option offers two different methods for criminal punishment; standard and customized. Customized allows any colonist to suggest any penalty for misconduct from prisoners. Standard only works if both the PDA and the prisoner are within range of the network. Standard uses a prisoner's connected high-voltage shock collar and has three different settings. The first setting, Encouragement, delivers a very short low-voltage shock to the target and can be used by any colonist at any time. Its primary use is to remind resistant prisoners to do as they are told. The second setting, Correction, delivers a painful shock to the base of the neck for up to 12 seconds. This setting requires a majority vote (50% or higher) in order to trigger, meaning that two colonists must use this setting within four seconds of each other, or no shock will be delivered. It can also be triggered by a designated Warden at any time. The final option, 'Execution,' delivers a shock rating of 3.5k volts until life-signs are no longer detectable within the target, and requires a supermajority vote (75%) or a unanimous vote for colonies off less than 8 Prospectors. Note that the use of the 'Execution' setting will not display the Prospector's name, only the vote. Prisoner restricted PDA's will not be able to view punishment information at all.
Do not be afraid to use the tools provided to you. Remember; the survival of the prisoners is secondary to the survival of the Prospects.
That should be everything! Feel free to view this message again in your PDA's records. It's recommended you create sustainable power, food, and water sources as soon as possible before delving into other plans, but there are no regulations on Prospect planets, so do what feels right. Each Prospector has the next 36 hours to prepare for launch. Be sure to report prepared to a drop pod in that time, as all pods will fire within a 475-meter radius around the HABITAT at that time, regardless of if everyone is on it. Following the firing of all drop pods, your transport vessel will use reserve power to attempt a controlled crash a good distance from your HABITAT to prevent damage to your colony. Feel free to collect it for extra resources. Warning: It is not recommended to remain on board this vessel during controlled crashes as the survivability of a controlled crash holds steady at 4.7% in all conditions.
Sabre Tech wishes you good luck, Prospectors!"
With that, the AI shuts off and every available screen on the ship displays a bright '36:00:00' timer. The timer slowly ticks down to zero. An empty, uncomfortable silence fills the room. The feeling of dread at the mention of prisoner punishment is nearly unbearable. Surely, nobody would actually do something so cruel, right? You try not to think about it. You slam back your coffee and get to work. You'll need to be mentally and physically well by the time those drop pods land, or things could get rough fast. You figure this a great time to check out the PDA's functions and meet your fellow Prospectors, maybe make some plans. Something, however, bothers you. 36 hours? That would drop your pods into the nighttime side of the planet, something that is completely unheard of in the program. Whatever is happening with the ship and onboard AI, it might be good to figure it out soon so it doesn't drop you directly in a lake of silver by mistake. The ship AI said the SDSS's couldn't store organic material. Whatever they would want you to grow must be packaged somewhere else. You wonder why the ship didn't mention self-defense tools.
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