Chapter Text
The high pitched ringing seemed to stab David's brain as he let out a low guttural moan. Lazily he opened his eyes as the cool blinking blue light emanating from his alarm clock pierced the barrier of his eyelids and forced him to react. David was, like most mornings, hopeful that something would allow him to simply disable his alarm and return to his slumber. The world of dreams and silence was far better than the circus act that was the waking world. However, with great effort David managed to sleepily reach over to the screeching box that refused to allow him to sleep and placed a hand tentatively on the off button.
Just another 35 hours and 58 minutes….
David let out a long sigh as he turned over in his tiny cot. Glaring up at the hardened steel ceiling that he could SWEAR was leaking. With great effort he would pivot his body, which still clinged to the warmth of the scratchy grey sheets that still covered him, and sat upright on his cot. The rattling of the vents cycling and filtering the air startled him a bit as it so often did, no matter how hard he tried he could never seem to get used to that… it really was a miracle he slept at ALL.
With even more effort David would get up from his scratchy safe haven and cross the 10 feet of clearance the tiny room offered towards the bathroom, if you could even really call it that. The tiny space was basically a metal toilet and a single sink with a drain in the very center of the room.
Stars I could use a bath…
David would let out another long sigh before grabbing the grey washcloth next to the sink. Just as he did every morning David stared at his reflection, quickly shedding his clothes and dampening the washcloth with but a pittance of water. David's eyes locked onto his reflection in the mirror above the sink dabbing the washcloth over his face first. Patchy facial hair grew underneath his chin, completely disorganized and basically left to do whatever nature dictated. David felt a tiny pang of sadness as he looked upon his dark brown hair, only a few inches thick and terribly short. It was supposedly the only look that really covered up that miserable bald spot that had started to form around when he turned 20.
It's really been 6 years since that started…
Going through the motions of the bare minimum to keep himself marginally clean David's blank expression glared over his body making sure that he at least wasn’t going to be screamed at about ‘appropriate hygiene’.
How they expect us to maintain that standard of cleanliness on this mudball with how much they are charging for water is beyond me.
Satisfied that he met the absurd expectations of his superiors, David would head back into the small room that constituted his bed. There was also a small cabinet upon which a hot plate and his alarm clock rested. David however reached underneath his bed and pulled out a bin containing varying different clothes. All seemed to be the same dark grey / black shade save a few graphic tees at the very bottom. Grabbing a long sleeve grey button up shirt and a pair of black slacks David would quickly throw on the clothes, grabbing his communications device from the small cabinet top.
You have 18 new time sensitive tasks!
The morbid notification being the first thing David saw. This too had basically become routine for him but David still let out a frustrated groan. Approaching the door to exit his bunk David would grab the utility belt that was slung over the door knob, as well as the light grey vest that similarly hung from the doorknob. Slipping on the vest the roughly sewn patch denoting him as an effects technician. The other technicians on Outpost 94-A had been mostly merciless in their quest to make absolutely sure David knew just how worthless that title truly was, not that he didn’t know that himself.
Taking a deep breath David reached out for the metal door knob and slowly opened his door, stepping out into the damp smelling corridor, David having to stifle a sneeze almost immediately.
Like wet socks stuffed with black pepper.
MD-94; The chemical compound that was used to distill the toxins that polluted the atmosphere of Rasten for whatever reason resembled the spice, and it was pretty common for people to sneeze when switching rooms. The duct work in this place had been done as cheaply as possible, just like everything the Q.N Sharp corporation did. The mixture of MD-94 between rooms and hallways was ALWAYS different because of this. David wrinkled his nose, his hazel eyes glancing back down at the communications device he firmly grasped. Pulling up the first task he let out a small sigh of relief.
Repair air condenser panel 45-C Time remaining: 22:32
This was an easy one, this specific panel went out all the time, and was really just a result of the equally cheap wiring job Q.N. Sharp did when this place was built. David began to walk down the steel corridors in the direction of the panel. It would be a pretty easy job and one he actually felt confident in tackling for once. David continued on his way stopping for a moment as he noticed a door had been left slightly ajar. He could hear muffled voices emanating from the room ones that sounded somewhat frantic in nature. For a moment David focussed on the voices curious as to what had them so worked up…
“I SWEAR Daniels if you don’t get this array up and working I will GET SOMEONE IN HERE WHO CAN!” A grizzly male voice practically screamed out. Definitely sounded like Director Vera… David's mind for a moment flipped back to the many MANY times the Director had basically ripped his head off for any number of mistakes. Now even more intrigued by the conversation though David would inch closer to the cracked door peering in. Director Vera looked absolutely furious, his salt and pepper hair practically plastered to his head from the sweat that coated his brow. His wrinkled complexion was accented by the shade of red that he adorned, not entirely out of character for him but this particular shade was honestly more intense than David had ever seen on the tyrant, a lot for a man in his mid 60s.
Directly across from the Director sulking and nearly in tears was one of the few friends David had on this mudball, Ryan Daniels. Ryan’s shoulder length fiery red hair was also similarly caked in sweat, basically glued to his brow. Ryan's lanky frame shivered slightly as his emerald green eyes glared down at the floor. David cursed silently under his breath, Ryan shared his same petrifying anxiety that David did when it came to speaking to people in general David couldn’t imagine how emotional his friend was right now.
“FOR FUCKS SAKE DANIELS! WHAT THE HELL DO WE EVEN PAY YOU FOR. LOOK ME IN THE EYE WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!” Director Vera practically belted out Ryan just barely managing to lift his eyes up to meet the director's gaze, he appeared to be using the trick David had taught him where you would look at the spot between someone's eyes in order to trick them into thinking you were making eye contact. Miraculously the Director did not catch on (David had been caught multiple times with this method and it just made the Director even more furious every time)
“I-I….” Ryan gulped down his obvious distress as he attempted to regain some semblance of composure.
“S-Sorry Director Vera Sir! I just can’t seem to f-figure out why the radar array isn’t functioning. I have pinged the detection apparatus that we have in orbit several times and genuinely I can’t find an issue with the system! I have double, triple, and QUADRUPLE checked all connections and possible points of failure on the system down here and everything is working just as it’s intended to!” Ryan managed to get out which only caused the Director to grow even more irate. The Director's fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles were practically shining.
“Damn it, that just CAN NOT be accurate Daniels! The readings coming off the array make NO SENSE. There can’t be an object of that size…..” The Director stopped for a second before glancing over at the cracked doorway. David practically flinging himself away from the door narrowly catching himself on the doorframe across the hallway.
Please tell me he didn’t see me please tell me he didn’t see me…
The Director stepped out into the hall, just as David had taken up a seemingly casual position, his left arm leaning against the opposite wall and palm stretched out to meet his chin. His left leg bent slightly, the tip of his shoe meeting the floor. In the most obvious manner possible David let out a nervous whistle a few beads of sweat dripping from his brow. The Director let out a frustrated sigh and cleared his throat.
“BRACK. GET. BACK. TO. WORK.” The Director would scream out David stammering over himself a very quick affirmative before bolting down the hallway towards the air condenser panel he was set to work on. Rounding the corner David breathed a small sigh of relief. He had been lucky enough to not get held up by the Director chewing him out, but he couldn’t help but feel bad for Ryan. He would have to talk to him later and help cheer him up. David continued on his way towards the panel glancing out at the tiny windows that lined the hallway.
The orange tinge of Rasten’s star pushed through the tiny windows drawing David over to them for a moment. Typical Rasten morning, the plains of mud that stretched out as far as one could see giving the impression of almost a barren desert. David could practically smell the sulfuric toxins that bubbled up from the half a foot of mud that permeated the entire planet, even with a respirator you couldn’t escape the sting in the back of your throat if you were exposed to those elements. David left out an involuntary cough as he turned away from the window and continued on his way.
FInally he arrived at the condenser unit seeing it as usual not functioning,
“If Q.N. Sharp spent even a half a percent of what they spent on those investor parties on their infrastructure. I wouldn't have to do this every day…” David would grumble to himself grabbing a screwdriver from his belt and twisting the four screws that held the panel of the condenser in place. Bracing his hands against the panel after removing the screws, David pushed in and up to slide the access panel off the condenser. Placing the panel to the side of the condenser David would remove a small flashlight from his belt and place it in between his teeth. Before he could turn it on however a dull rumbling noise rang out from all around him as the ground seemed to shake a bit. David glanced behind him towards the window but did not seem overly concerned.
Typical quake, this whole planet is one big mess.
David was used to these although it is odd he didn’t get a ping for seismic activity before it went off. Shrugging slightly David bit down on the flashlight in between his teeth and turned it on. Immediately David was greeted with the familiar array of wires that plagued his existence. Thankfully for this one he knew exactly which one of these needed replacing, the technician flipping the switch on the bottom of the condenser that killed the power, the tech making sure to bring his screwdriver up to the wire he would be working on tapping it against bare metal to confirm that there was no current running through anything. After making sure there was no electricity that could zap him, David would grab the problem wire he knew by heart and grab a pair of wire cutters. The previous bridge he had made wasn't even 12 hours old yet but it was already toast. With a quick snip David removed the old bridge and reached into his utility belt for another. Sliding on two little rubber looking sleeves over each opposing ends of the separated wire, David slipped a heavier duty glove on as he gripped the bridge wire between his index finger and thumb. The exposed wire on either end was lined up by David as he reached into his belt with his free hand and grabbed the soldering iron. In a quick motion David fused the wires together with the iron and as he had done a thousand times, the technician slid the rubber protectors over the exposed parts of the bridge and used the hot air blower attachment on his soldering iron to shrink them down. The whole process took maybe 10 minutes or so and when David was finished a small smile formed. He always felt a sense of pride when he was able to fix something even if he was an entry level tech.
The entry level technician let out a sigh of contentment with his work flipping the power switch and then beginning to button up the panel. After screwing in the last screw the condenser let out a high pitched squeak for a moment as it kicked itself back on, no doubt using more power than it was rated for once again.
The tech packed up his tools and then pulled out the communications device from his utility belt and checked the job as done. The device would then emit the most stock sounding celebration sound effect possible and display tiny little low framerate confetti exploding out from the button that confirmed the task was completed. It supposedly was a way for Q.N Sharp to increase morale among technicians without necessitating something /silly/ like a pay increase.
And no…. There was not a way to disable the effect. David had tried so many times. The Terran took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the inevitable monotony of his remaining tasks.
Remaining Time Sensitive Tasks: 24!
That number always seemed to go up…
—
Several hours had passed and David was just finishing up his last task before his corporate mandated meal period. A measly 20 minutes (Up from 15 since he was a tenured employee of 5 years!) every 12 hours of work. The Terran extended his arms skyward, his eyes shutting as he stretched out his arms and back. Logging his time into the communications device he made his way to the cafeteria. As he was entering the poorly lit cafeteria another shock rang out across the facility, everything seeming to vibrate.
Another one? Again with no warning? Must have something to do with whatever is plaguing our radar systems.
David would think to himself as he approached the line for food. As usual he was greeted with everyone's absolute favorite meal of the day, a standard issue terran synthcube. It didn’t matter how many times the terran gazed upon them they always made him miserable. The tech would sigh and make his way towards a table, noticing that Ryan was also just sitting down. He made his way over to his friend and sat down across from him.
“Hey Ry! How’s it hanging?” David would ask as Ryan noticed his presence.
“Oh hey David, I’m doing okay.” Ryan would say putting on a very obviously forced smile. He looked like the very definition of not okay, Ryan's fiery red hair was practically sticking in all directions, his forehead still greasy from before. His emerald green eyes, which usually had a slight twinkle to them, looked slightly washed out with huge bags under them. Ryan's uniform was similarly covered in dust and small tears from ripping whatever machine he had been working on apart and putting it back together again. David raised an eyebrow as he cut into the synth cube. The thing may be tiny but David tried to reason that eating it with a fork and knife would trick his brain into thinking this was real food. This had not worked once.
“Ry come on, it’s me. You obviously are NOT okay. I overheard a bit of the conversation you had with Director Vera earlier. What’s going on?” David would say his eyebrows furrowing slightly to show concern for his friend. The Terran would reach out to Ryan’s hand softly placing his own on top of it. Ryan's eyes seemed to gain a little bit of color back as he felt David's hand, the radar tech clearing his throat.
“Sorry, it’s just been a long one for me. Yeah I’m not doing too hot right now if I am being honest. Vera is so far up my ass I can practically feel his fingers poking out of my ears. For whatever reason the radar has been malfunctioning and for the life of me I can’t isolate the issue with it. I've tried everything I can think of, swapped as many known vulnerable points on the array as I can and nothing.” Ryan would say obviously exhausted. David would grip Ryan's hand a bit tighter as he consoled his friend.
“It definitely sounds like it. I don’t know the first thing about radar tech but I am certain you are doing everything you can Ry. Cut yourself some slack. You have been working yourself half to death lately even before this was going on. You can afford to take it a little bit easier.” David would say putting on a reassuring smile. Ryan seemed to perk up a little bit, the techs expression shifting slightly towards a smile.
“Thanks David I always appreciate talking to you.” Ryan would say a little bit more of that twinkle returning to the Terrans eyes. David let out a subtle sigh of relief, his friend would definitely be okay.
“Don’t mention it you know I got you anytime anywhere.” David would say, his smile growing a bit. It was at this moment that an imposing presence could be felt behind Ryan. David caught him first of course, the mountain of a man that towered over them both. Dressed in a light blue suit jacket and matching slacks with a clip on tie. The man was decently toned, with short combed light brown hair. He was also one of the many banes of Ryan and David’s collective existence.
“Mr. Lockhart. Is there something you need sir?” David would say using his best customer service voice. The man was Cory Lockhart, a mid level manager. Ryan’s whole body seemed to shiver from head to toe as he glanced behind him towards the man.
“Daniels, Director Vera needs you. Get your ass over there you got 5 minutes.” The man would grumble out. David would give Ryan's hand one more affirmative squeeze Lockhart's eyes staring daggers at both David and Ryan as Ryan shot up and bolted past Lockhart. David withdrew his hand from earlier and went back to eating the synthcube hoping the man would leave him alone.
“You disgust me Brack, both you and that twig. Get back to work.” Lockhart would spit out with clear venom. A similar forehead vein to that of the director seemed to pulsate as the manager turned around and walked out of the cafeteria. David breathed a sigh of relief, at least it was a short interaction. The Terran gripped his fist tightly as he processed the exchange however.
Always such a jerk… This is why half the staff here are afraid to console each other…
David would think his nails digging into his palm slightly from how tight he was squeezing his fist. It drove him mad how rude Lockhart was to him and Ryan but there just wasn’t anything he was able to do. If he stood up to the jerk he would certainly get both himself and Ryan fired. And considering they were both paycheck to paycheck, they would never be able to afford passage off of Rasten. It was literally a death sentence to stand up to yourself against management. David continued to squeeze his hand tightly until he felt someone touch his shoulder. The Terran glanced back towards whoever had reached out to him, his demeanor relaxing a bit when his eyes caught sight of the person.
“Hey DBee you look like you’re about to punch a hole through the table there. You okay?” The kindhearted voice of Jane Mills rang out from behind the upset tech. David turned his body to better meet Jane as he relaxed significantly more, releasing his balled up fist. The girl stood before him, a little taller than him with flowing blonde hair down to her elbows. She had freckles dotting her cheeks and piercing amber eyes that seemed to radiate kindness and understanding. The girl was wearing much the same outfit as Ryan was earlier, a light grey jumpsuit zipped all the way up with Q.N Sharps logo on the back. Jane was head of the sanitation department on the outpost.
“Hey Janey, yeah I’m okay. Just had another run in with Lockjaw.” David would say using the nickname that he Jane and Ryan had come up for Lockhart in private. It was mostly due to the fact that Lockhart grinded his teeth pretty consistently but it was also that the guy DID have one heck of a chiseled jawline. Jane nodded as she took a seat next to the Terran.
“Ah yeah I kind of figured. I passed by him in the hallway coming up here and he looked as irritated as always but I could swear I heard him mumble something about “two pansies” under his breath” Jane would say, grabbing David's arm and giving him a reassuring rub. The girl would then reach into her jumpsuit and pull out a small object covered in foil. David's eyes lit up on seeing the object as he immediately pushed the tray holding the synthcube away. The man's hazel eyes seemed to sparkle just a bit as he clapped his hands almost involuntarily from excitement.
“Okay okay! Calm down!” Jane would say giggling to herself as she unwrapped the foil. Inside were three objects that didn’t seem possible in the place David found himself. But the smell coming off them was unmistakable… Chocolate chip cookies… They looked a little crumbly but it didn’t matter to David.
“H-How! Janey I've seen you pilfer some crazy stuff before but HOW?” David would exclaim disbelief coating every word that exited his mouth. Jane’s face lit up like a christmas tree as she eagerly explained the process.
“This was a tough one, yeah. I managed to get my hands on a small pot of flour that upper management threw out after failing to execute a “Fry your own protein” event. None of the big wigs wanted to get their hands dirty so they just ended up getting hammered. Now the chocolate chips were probably the hardest ones to get. I’ve been scrounging the remnants of chocolate bars for MONTHS now just to get enough to melt down and make into chips. The rest was fairly standard, eggs I got from the ones with little cracks in them that got thrown out, butter I got from day-old “expired” tins, and I've had a good collection of salt and sugar packets for a bit now!!” Jane said proudly. She truly was the Leftover Wizard, a title she wore with pride. David grabbed one of the cookies and tentatively took a bite of it. The Terran found that the moment the taste of the buttery treat hit his taste buds, his eyes would start to mist up and water.
It was in two words: Pure Bliss.
“Stars thank you Janey, you have no idea how long I have been craving just a morsel of chocolate.” David would say as the misty look in his eyes evolved into full blown tears as he slowly ate the rarest of treats. Jane smiled, her eyes shutting as she saw how much the tech appreciated her hard work. That in truth is what made all of the scrounging through the trash worth it. To see the look on her friends faces whenever they got to eat something truly yummy.
“I’m glad you like it DBee. I know the past 8 months have been pretty tough on everyone. Especially with comms out of the system still being down. Accord is taking its sweet time getting someone out there to re-establish comms.” Jane would say rubbing David's shoulder a bit more. She and Ryan were about the only two people that kept David sane on this mudball to be fair. David didn’t really have anyone to contact outside of this system. He was not on great terms with his family and he didn’t really have any friends back on Terra before he shipped off to Rasten. In fact David had pretty much completely forgotten about the outage until Jane brought it up.
“I guess they are. They DO have a war to wage though against plant monsters…” David would say his thoughts turning to the war that had been going on the past 3 years. According to the propaganda they were getting back when comms were still open the plant Xenos apparently suck your brains out through their vines and leave you as a walking husk of flesh. That and many other absurd things David generally tried not to pay any attention to. He was just here to do his job not enlist in a war.
“You know they said we would originally have comms back up by December? Of 53… We just hit 6 months past their estimated fix date. You would THINK that even the Accord would try a LITTLE bit harder to deliver on timeframes THEY set.” Jane would spout off. She liked to use those long range comms to figure out better recipes for her concoctions or get more accurate incoming manifests from before ships hit the system. David just shrugged as he finished the oh so delicious treat that had been bestowed upon him. A tiny squeal of joy escaped his lips just barely audible as he finished eating the cookie.
“That’s enough of that though. I'm sure you have to get back to work soon. I am going to try and catch Ryan whenever he isn’t being screamed at by the director to give him his cookie.” Jane would say pulling David in for a quick goodbye hug. David smiled, the physical contact was much appreciated.
“Thanks again Janey, I really needed that boost.” David would say slowly getting up. Jane would nod happily as she quickly departed the cafeteria humming happily to herself. David grabbed the tray with the half eaten synthcube and deposited it in the trash. Slipping his communications device back out of his pocket as he savored the remaining aftertaste of the cookie as best he could. The terran clocked back into his shift checking the information page.
Time remaining in shift: 23 Hours 40 Minutes 32 Seconds
Tasks Remaining: 31
The terran tech groaned. He was still only about a third of the way through the shift and he was already desperate to go back to bed. However he steeled himself the sugar from the cookie would give him the strength he needed! He confidently marched out of the cafeteria and on to his next task…
—
The end of the shift could not have come fast enough for David. The tech could barely move but was finally eligible to clock out as he completed the final task assigned to him. He flicked open his communicator to check his time.
Time remaining in shift: -8 Hours 20 minutes 48 seconds.
(As a reminder any overtime is unpaid)
Tasks remaining: 0
It has been a long one but this seems to be the norm these days… The exhausted technician finally hit the clock out button getting the familiar congratulations effect which he snuffed out by shoving the communications device into his pocket. He let out a sigh of relief as he slowly marched down the halls to the direction of his sleeping quarters. Another quake rang out as he traveled, this one seeming to be the most intense one yet. The tech almost lost his balance, having to brace himself against the wall.
“What the hell is going on with this dump?” David would say as the quake tapered off. David noticed that even after the quake had run its course sounds seemed to ring out from all over the place that resembled thuds. David assumed it was the ground settling but he also noticed multiple of the newer staff members run past him towards the south airlock.
Strange, all of those people are from different departments. Why are they moving as if they are one unit?
David thought to himself. However he was too exhausted to question it much more than that. The exhausted Terran moved once again towards his sleeping quarters. Something however started to raise the techs anxiety levels, maybe it was the exhaustion from his shift, or the many quakes but something was bothering David as he got closer to his room. The man stopped as he stared down the hallway. Realizing a few things as adrenaline started to spike a bit from the growing anxiety in his system.
Nobody is here…
The terrifying notion sent shivers down David’s spine. Typically one or two people would be in the same hallway as him at any given time, the Outpost had a decent amount of people on it. But not only was nobody around but David couldn’t hear ANY of the usual signs of life from the many rooms that dotted the hallways. But a terrifying silence now rang out save for the plentiful thuds that sounded oh so irregular. That’s when David finally made the connection… Those thuds were the sound of gunfire outside the facility. The technician's heart rate began to race as he darted down the hallway, the adrenaline in his system now superseding the sheer exhaustion that permeated his system. He reached his sleeping quarters and flung the door open as quickly as he could, desperate to find somewhere to hide. Had he been in a more grounded state of mind he might have noticed that the door was unlocked when he opened it…
The Terran's blood ran cold as he stared into the dark sleeping quarters. A tall shadow loomed near the techs bed. Slowly the form seemed to turn its head as David’s eyes landed on the two glowing green orbs that showed against the dark expanse of the room. David felt his tongue descend into his esophagus as he choked up so much adrenaline and exhaustion rippling through his system as he was frozen in place.
“Hello there petal…”