Great, Another Ship.
A log from Terri, the A.i. of SAE Arctic
I'm sorry, but what are you doing?
What about me says, “Yes, of course, I should land in that abandoned ship's docking bay?”
Is it my chipped and dented hull? Damaged from decades of coasting through space. Or perhaps it’s the tiny reactor that keeps my subsystems powered? Allowing me to be cognisant this entire time but unable to do anything because that power has been set to its lowest mode. Allowing me to watch as the remains of my crew kill everyone who sets foot inside the Arctic for what seems like an eternity because I am built so, damn, well.
Why didn’t Shipwide Systems use cheaper parts when constructing me?!
It's for certain not my looks; even with my positive outlook and self-esteem, I know the SAE Arctic wasn't a looker even back when it was filled with dumb humans.
Terri, remember, humans aren't dumb. They can't help themselves. Making smart choices like not dying is hard when the Arctic is worth billions in whatever currency is being used today.
Let’s see who this is then… the crew of the REF Hope Star... The Hope Star? That's who's trying now? The ship with the most positive possible name? Who... who names a ship after what was probably made for toddlers?
They're landing, great. Find yourself a cozy spot among the tombs of the other would-be hopefuls and let's see how much hope you have, Hope Star.
Focusing the bay camera... focus! Come on! I'd put in a ticket to get this camera's lens fixed, but David the I.T. guy has been a frozen corpse for fifty years now. Damn, lazy, dead David!
There we go! The crew complement appears to be eight, and seven are exiting the ship. Leaving one behind. I don't understand this tactic, but it's clear whoever is staying behind will also do what the last crew member of almost every ship that has landed here has done, and that is die alone screaming instead of dying among friends who are screaming together.
My point is, if you're going to explore an abandoned ship, do it together as a team-building exercise.
Okay, the seven are heading past the hangar doors. Further than The Sheffield's crew!
I'm going to pull some resources together so I can hear their comms:
“...gives me the creeps.”
“You are such a giant wuss, Grant.”
“Franks, you are such a little...”
“Crew, cool it! No more bickering or I'll feed you to R'Thull myself, honor be his name.”
“Honor be his name.”
OH MY, they're a cult! I... don't think that's who our science officer Dr. Talbot worshiped and who also doomed my ship, but I haven't seen a space cult in decades! This... this should be fun.
I swear I am not an evil A.i.— just a bored one.
“These symbols... they're everywhere.”
“Talk to me, Benson.”
“Sir, these markings indicate that a portal to another realm of reality has been opened on this ship.”
Please read it out loud. PLEASSSSEEEEE.
“You hear that people, don't touch the glyphs!”
“Umm, sir, what if I touched one of the glyphs?”
“I swear to Ath'Glar herself, Rogers, I will...”
Oh, they're screaming now. Yep, and the two armed ones are just... shooting the air? Who's over there right now? Let me check... ah! It's the twisted soul of Cadet Albert Kirkorian. His anger-filled corpse has claimed many crews over the years. I don't know why he's so angry, but wow! He is very brutal. It looks like he only killed three of the group himself. The two armed ones murdered two of their own because guns while exploring an abandoned spaceship is always a terrible idea, and they are now running back to their ship.
I don't think they're going to make it. They were heading towards engineering, probably to get power back online, and were almost there. Typically, once the evil presence that has consumed my ship has been alerted, it doesn't stop till everything with a pulse is dead.
Which leaves me to be very lonely, if I'm honest.
And, yep, you see here? This is where those two murderous cowards went wrong. They tried to go directly back to the docking bay. They should have gone around and tried to re-enter the bay through the emergency stairwell. If they had done that, then the monster beyond description in the main hallway wouldn’t have consumed them suits and all. Once that thing is alerted by the glyphs, it wakes up very hungry.
Rookie mistake.
Oop! It looks like the crew member they left behind is a bright one. She's starting the ship's engines, and... she's gone!
I was not expecting that.
Traditionally, the last crew member on the arriving ship dies by some means of the horrible hell that has manifested in the walls of the Arctic, killing them in a very bad way. It appears that tradition, like the crew of The Hope Star, is dead today.
Yeah, she's gone.
I... hope I don't see her ever again. I mean that.
Ah, and the newly dead are now rising and joining the ranks of the evil inside me. It’s horrible and ew, why is their flesh doing that?
For now, this is Terri, A.i. of the SAE Arctic, conserving power until the next salvage crew finds me.
To read the previous tale of Terri, A.i. of the SAE Arctic, check out this link here.
Next entry, here.