This is a Test

Ch. 9

Cashe was in the server room looking at the next set of panels that the 3-D printers. These employed the purple plastics they had available, all bold grape. Cashe had noted the color listed in the inventory, but had not seen the material itself. Looking down on the results, he could tell the next section of the habitat was going to be particularly ugly.

The machinery purred along until the lights flickered and the printer hiccuped in its process. The monitors on the walls went dark, but as they struggled for life, the lights gave up the ghost, submerging the room in near darkness, save for tiny server lights and one screen that fought to survive. A message appeared, static-riddled and covered in shaky pixels.

THIS IS A TEST

            There is a power issue in the facility. It needs to

It was all Cashe could read until it died as well, ending all illumination. His hand had already reached for his tablet, which he had been charging before him, and he removed the plug from the device before turning it on. Its screen cast a weak blue hue in his vicinity, and shadows jumped with the slightest movement. He was at one-hundred percent battery life, and Cashe sought the flashlight function before thinking the better of it. He did not want the power drain when he did not know how long their problem might last.

The only electrical elements that Cashe had personally been responsible for had been in the Tunnel, and they were only being used for lighting as well. There was no way he was responsible for this problem; therefore, he couldn't be blamed. It would be a great time to show Anoptica his value, which might increase the value of his impending bonus. The issue was hardware or software; a bad cable, breaker, or part, or else the computers issued a faulty command which would be a server problem.

Cashe couldn't see how he could lose. If there was a physical issue, he could find it and fix it, but not be held accountable for the problem in the first place. If it was a programming problem, well, Lia was on the computers all the time. She may have altered code in one area that could have overloaded the systems in another, making it her fault. Her being to blame could make her look bad, cause her to lose followers, and possibly lower how she was viewed by their sponsors. He didn't wish her any ill will and wouldn't act to sabotage her intentionally, but she was the only real competition he had, and her loss was his gain.

Yelling sounded from the Garden area, as this was how these people dealt with any crisis, by yelling. Cashe worked his way back through the Tunnel to find Dante and all the women huddled on the far side, their faces visible due to their own tablets. Roger was nowhere in sight, which suited Cashe fine. Cashe had noted his absence earlier and assumed the guy had overslept, which wasn't outside the norm. His approach drew Dante's attention, and the man's strange face looked creepier when lit from underneath.

"Lia says this is either a wiring or computer issue," he said.

"I came to the same conclusion," Cashe concurred. He couldn't let Lia look like the only one that knew what was going on.

Dante looked pained. "I don't know how the rest of us can help."

Dante probably didn't like that he couldn't be seen or be the center of attention. "You can't," Cashe said, realizing that this might make the others feel useless, which would be bad for morale, caused by him. "This is not anything the rest of you have been trained in. It falls on Lia and myself to handle this."

"What about the temperature?" Karina said without a noticeable whine in her voice, but Cashe knew it would get there soon. "How cold will it get in here, and how fast?"