This is a Test

Ch. 10

Time dragged along as the 3-D printers and CNC machines crafted new pieces for the habitat. In the interim, Miranda and Lia conversed via tablets. Unlike the other simulation, nothing popped up as out of the ordinary. Dante and Miranda stayed sealed up in their office while Karina had to go to one of the decontamination chambers. From what Cashe understood, no one knew where Roger disappeared to, but none seemed all that worried about him, either.

The pile of new parts grew to a point that their equipment stopped producing more. The arm that stacked them could only reach so high, so the systems were to wait for a human operator to remove the panels and supports. Herein was Cashe's dilemma. In order to have the machines continue, he would have to place the pieces on the ground, which did not appeal to his sense of tidiness, despite the fact they were for new flooring. His compromise for now was to pile them on his desk.

In the interim, Miranda talked, Lia listened, Dante interjected, Karina whined, Roger was non-existent, and Cashe worked. In other words, nothing much changed. Lia typed away on her keyboard, and the few times he looked over at her, despite the mask over her face, he detected she was having fun trying to decipher this puzzle. There wasn't much he could do, so he assigned himself the task of providing her new oxygen bottles and re-filling the old ones.

Something was wrong with this scenario. Why did Anoptica end one test without letting it play out to completion, and why repeat an old one? Lia updated at times, stating the processes they used earlier were not providing any results, with nothing indicating some imaginary virus was flittering about. This went on for an hour when Cashe noticed rapid typing. Her face did not show any signs of victory or a breakthrough, but more of worry. He approached her desk and placed a new air canister beside her as a pretense for his approach. "Is there an issue?"

She leaned back in her chair, eyes affixed on her monitor. "The satellite is gone."

Cashe shrugged. "Okay...?"

She turned enough to see him while keeping her monitor in her periphery. "Our communications, data, updates... We are broadcasting,, but no one sees it."

"Like we don't have a strong enough Wi-fi signal."

A pause and a wince, as if the comparison didn't appeal to her. "Yes."

They both disappeared into their own thoughts. Cashe knew she was working on the technical problem; he pondered on the game, what Anoptica was playing at. Could this apply to a Mars scenario? Yes, it very well could. This is where he had to be careful. He had to speak as if they were on Mars, but not lie.

She noted his smile. "What?" she asked.

"So... we have been hit with a series of glitches setting off alarms. Maybe the power issue wasn't a real test..."

"Hmm." He liked watching her think. Cashe enjoyed associating with people smarter than himself; he ran into them so infrequently. She was following his line of thinking. "So the system may be malfunctioning to set off false alarms."

"That's one option." Or Anoptica was testing them that way.

"So do you think we need to keep wearing the masks?"

That could be a trap. If he tells them to remove them, as there was no real virus, then he could be held accountable for not following protocols, which might cost him. "I am not able to make that determination. I think that has to be left up to Miranda, as she is the doctor. Maybe you as well. I don't know the full details of how the last test was resolved. This is outside my purview."

Lia pondered some more before contacting Miranda, which meant talking with Dante as well. After the four of them conferred, a plan was developed. Lia would delete and reload the virus detection program to see if any biological entity existed. If not, they would declare the area was all clear for free movement.