Children's Control

18-06-2030

This morning, I'm very tired, almost to the point of breaking down. Alice comes in and takes me to the onboard dining room. There, she gives me a very small cup, filled with cold soup. It doesn't look very delicious, but Alice then puts a small tube right through my mouth and forces the 'soup' through it. I quickly try to take it out, after which Alice just puts it back in. I try to have a good look around the spacecraft, and out the window. I quickly notice the spacecraft starts moving to a large open area. Once there, it all of a sudden stops.

Then, I hear that long beep and Alice forces me right into my sleeping position. Ellen is finally back close to me, and I have a goo conversation with her, about what we've come across on Chentema Alpha, and about what the children forced us to do there. Then, all of a sudden, the spacecraft just doesn't want to take off. I run immediately to the front control panel, but when I press any key, it doesn't matter which one, nothing seems to happen. I also seethe power meter stuck at the top, and it almost seems like it will eventually burst right out of the scale. I try to adjust it, but after that, it starts peaking out again. Eventually, I decide to press the Emergency Stop button, and the meter goes down to zero.

Alice comes in quickly afterwards. I think she wants to thank me for helping her fix the issue, but then, she holds a hot metal block right against my back. She then forces me to have a look inside the engine room. I quickly see what went wrong: there's a small leakage inside the engine, causing it to get so much fuel it can't burn that amount effectively. That was noticeable, as the power meter went off the scale, but the spacecraft came to a stop. Alice actually helps me a little bit with repairing the leakage, and making sure the spacecraft can take of again.

When the spacecraft eventually takes off, I quickly again notice Alice coming very close to me. She takes me to a large laboratory, where I have to check if everything is in the right position, and to clear off the research table. Then, all of a sudden, I feel the spacecraft being pulled down by something. It then comes to a halt again. I have a look inside the motor room, and notice it isn't leaking, so I wonder what's going on. Alice tells me it is a large octopod trying to pull the spacecraft down, or perhaps several ones. They quickly release, and the spacecraft quickly seems to leave the orbit.

Then, I notice a small spacecraft just outside the window. I try to waive my hand to it, and it opens its own windows as well. I quickly see some octopods inside, but the spacecraft happily continues its journey. I then go back to my sleeping position, to a small nap. When Alice wakes me up, she takes me to a large broken window. I quickly notice why, as she forces me to put the shattered glass back together. I have to do this very quickly, as the artificial gravity will turn off if the glass isn't repaired in three hours.

Alice keeps forcing me to get the very small glass shatters and put them exactly where they have to go, but it seems like a very difficult puzzle to me. I don't even know where which piece has to go, and if I break one of them, the spacecraft has to make an emergency landing. Eventually, the last piece is put back in, and I have to very carefully put a special coating over it all, so everything could self-repair. Alice then forces me to hold on two opposite corners of the glass for one hour. I quickly get bored and fall to the ground, within only half an hour. Alice then immediately helps me up and puts my hands right back on. Eventually, they do seem a little stuck, but Alice carefully removes them from the glass.

Alice quickly comes to me, and takes me inside the kitchen. There, I quickly see some small boxes, which I'm forced to open up, and put the contents in exactly the right place. Alice seems gone, but when I once forgot to open one box within a given amount of time, she pops up out of nowhere, and whips me to the point of one of the scars starting to bleed. Then, she shows me even more boxes, which I'm also forced to open. I come across Izzy, and give her a deep hug, but then Alice slaps me right in my cheek.

Then, all of a sudden, the spacecraft seems to go to a complete stop. When I have a look outside, I see the smaller spacecraft also coming to a stop, and approaching ours. Alice immediately tells me to get as far away as I can, and I end up right in front of an entrance. Alice pulls me away from there, as the other spacecraft comes closer. I then immediately go to my sleeping position. Once there, I talk with Ellen about what will happen when the other spacecraft hooks on. She also seem to not know it, and just comes with speculations. I quickly fall asleep.