Assorted Ancient Texts

The Surveyor Corps

*** Someone's been playing a lot of Metro, Fallout 4, and reading Roadside Picnic. Abandoned this for a more grim alternative story based on similar principles. *** 

The alarm clock buzzed and blared its terribly familiar cry into the frigid, empty room. He sighed, not wanting to open his eyes so soon. The air was cold, dusty, and uninviting compared to the thick wool blanket of his bed. But it was daybreak - he didn't have a choice.

The clock chirped as he pressed a button, silencing the device. He shrugged the blankets off and climbed down the small ladder on the side of his bunk to the hard plastic floor below. The floor frigid to his feet, but he already knew it would be. The cold was a welcome and necessary wake-up call to his tired bones.

The lights flickered on as a robotic voice calmly spoke from the intercom in the corner of the ceiling, "Good morning. Today is November 23rd." The android's voice was clean and clear - a youthful melody for the morning crew.

It continued as he walked over to the locker room and entered the showers, "Local time in today's Drop Zone, 04-Alpha, is 0437. The local weather is Rain. Prepare your NPHE Suit accordingly."

The showers were communal, although there was no one else in there but him. His underwear flew across the room with a toss as he pushed the touchscreen under the shower nozzle and closed his eyes. He held his arms out to his sides and held his breath as the shower chimed and let loose a blast of hot water. The nozzle beeped as it switched to detergent mid-stream, covering him in suds, and then switched back to hot water to rinse him off. The nozzle beeped and shut off. A roar of air blasted through him from the ceiling, drying him off in only a few seconds.

He opened his eyes and sighed, walking back to the locker room and opening his locker. The thin nylon shirt slipped over his chest, its form-fitting and stretchy nature immediately adjusting to the heat of his skin and tightening over his torso perfectly. He pulled the likewise thin nylon pants over his legs and up to his naked waist. The clothing automatically tightened from his body heat and fit perfectly. Like a second skin. Thin, durable, waterproof, and thermally insulating, he couldn't imagine wearing his NPHE suit without it. It also eliminated chafing, so that was a plus.

The nylon pants extended to his toes, doubling as socks, and the shirt's long sleeves ended in gloves. Every inch of his body was covered in the material up to his neck. He walked out of the locker room and into a hallway. The walls were plain metal, the floor a pleasingly smooth plastic. The door at the end of the hall opened with a hiss as he entered the equipment station. An android, human-shaped but unmistakably made of metal and plastic, walked by with the dull thumps of its footsteps gently echoing in the cramped room. It had a number painted on its chest: ME5-14.

"Good morning, Walton." The android said in its dull and emotionless digital dialect.

He grumbled and walked over to the vending machine in the corner of the room, slapping the touchscreen with his hand. A protein bar popped out of the little machine and into his waiting hand.

"What's up, Messiah?" he asked the machine.

"Preparing myself for the drop. Weather is Rain; the sun hasn't risen yet. Are you feeling optimistic about today's expedition?"

He crammed the entire protein bar in his mouth, "Long as they're paying me."

He walked over to the equipment racks and picked up a NPHE Suit, slipping into the rubber and plastic protective suit with ease. He zipped up the zipper from his crotch to the neck and checked the holo-display on his left wrist. The suit chimed to life as the power switched on. The plastic band around the suit's left wrist flickered as a hologram display powered up. He tapped a holo-button and grunted as the suit hissed. The Nano-Protective Hazardous Environment suit was an armored, adaptable, and dynamic protection system capable of being reprogrammed in the field depending on its user's specific needs. He grabbed a helmet from the nearby shelf and slipped it over his head. It connected with the suit at the neck and formed an airtight seal.