Breaking Point

Chapter 6: The One Who Turned On The Lights

It didn't take long to figure out what was wrong.  This was a pretty standard fission generator system, not really different from the portable ones used by the United Earth Peacekeeping forces.  Everyone had to be able to assemble one.  The only obvious difference was the scale and shaping.  The air was moist because the superfluid water cycling pipes couldn't maintain enough pressure to stay superfluid, letting out ultra-slow leaks of superheated steam.  Replacing a copper gasket and retightening every bolt fixed the pressurization issue.  Nothing could be done about the broken reactor pillars, but the system was designed to be able to route around all of them with the turn of a few valves.  Some of the wires had been chewed a bit by the bugs but there was enough slack to cut the ends and retie the connectors.

And with that effort, the lights came back on and the air circulated.

The reactor room door had shut itself, but opened with the push of a button.  After Zaid exited, it shut itself again.  There was no button to enter again, just something that looked like a card scanner.  Makes sense.  Nobody wants anybody to just walk in to a reactor.

Zaid looked around.  He was right -- the boxes were color coded according to symbol.  And more, there was a computer terminal close to the door.  The interface appeared to be in the same foreign language as anything else, but appeared to be running the usual operating system with a graphical interface.  Out of habit, Zaid searched for connection ports and found one matching the connector on his wrist compartment.  He stretched the cable and plugged himself in, expecting the usual automatic preference change when he did that on other computers.  He wasn't disappointed.  The display language changed to English and the familiar text box appeared saying "Welcome Z-41D."

He checked through the file system, combing for anything interesting.  No network attached (probably a security risk since it's right there at the door), a program monitoring the status of the reactor (39% operating capacity -- service soon before mission systems fail!), various technical sheets and procedures for reporting problems and servicing the reactor (boring ) and finally an electrical layout blueprint that might be able to serve as a useful map.

Unfortunately the map didn't contain details outside the Medical Complex (so that's what this section is... I thought I recognized some of those instruments), but he could see that there were power connections to three other areas.  In one direction was something called the Source Complex; in another was a Storage Complex and the third was the Command Complex.

So if my goal number one is to reach out to Jesim, it's probably possible in the Command Complex.  Storage might be useful later.  I have no idea what Source is.  Command Complex it is.

He traced a path from the reactor room toward the Command Complex, memorizing each turn it would take to get there.  And off he went, pulling himself along the corner rails effortlessly, enjoying the experience of pulling himself around with virtually no resistance.  This was something he didn't get to do on the 21 Lutecia station; most of it was external to the asteroid, with each major segment being composed of concentric rotating rings with elevators to transfer between the rings, and centrifugal force providing the sense of gravity.  But pulling himself around in microgravity by handrails?  This was fun.

Until it wasn't.  Another one of those huge scorpions came charging at him from the end of the hall.  A shot of ball lightning ended that one's charge, but he could hear another one coming around the corner.  A shot and a miss as the creature zigzagged around the walls of the hallway with no regard for up or down.  A few seconds later another shot was ready, crippling it only a few lengths away from Zaid.  It was too late to charge another shot when he finally heard two more coming from behind him.

"Bloody bugs, how many of you are there?" Zaid shouted as he kicked off the wall and up another hallway.

The bugs were faster.  Zaid's momentum was cut off by a pincer gripping his foot.  His hand turned into a blade, which he promptly used to stab the creature right between the eyes.  A whitish sticky goo clung to the blade as the creature's pincer released his foot.

And there was that smell again.  Putrid, then lovely.  The next scorpion thing was spraying some kind of liquid from one of its tails.  It was much more potent than what he smelled before.  The scene before him melted away, giving way to a face.  A lovely, beautiful face with long pink and blonde hair and an unnaturally pointed nose.

No.  Stop it.  Stop it.  I can't.

"You can.  You can, and you will, Zaid, because I have faith in you," said the face.

Zaid choked on his tears.  "No.  No!  Just get away!  Run!  Run for your life!  I can't do this!  Not again!"

The face stared more earnestly at him, visible even as he closed his eyes and turned his head.  "You didn't do it the first time either, Zaid.  It wasn't your fault.  None of this was your fault.  And you need to stop blaming yourself.  And if you can't do it for own sake, then do it for mine."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!  I DID ALL OF IT.  ALL OF IT.  WHY CAN'T YOU JUST ADMIT IT TO YOURSELF?"

"Because, Zaid, I know you.  The only true monster within you is the one that won't let you forgive yourself, for things that you didn't do."

Zaid was silent for a moment.  Regaining his composure he replied "You're crazy."

She smiled.  "I know."

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Zaid woke up with most of himself lying on a bed.  It was much too small for him.  A man stood over him and started speaking in a foreign language into a handheld device.  The device said "I suppose you are the one who turned on the lights?"

Zaid looked down at himself.  Some of the chest pieces of his armor looked streaked with rust.  On his right leg from the shin down his armor was missing entirely, the pressurization lining having been ripped away.  His head had a splitting ache and he closed his eyes to fight it.

More foreign gibberish.  "I am amazed you are alive.  They hate when you turn on the lights.  For you to be one who turned on all the lights and survive that long, kill three of them all together like that, you must be a lucky man.  Next time you use your face cover, maybe kill more of them?"

Zaid passed out again.