EPISODE 5: VALUABLE HUMAN RESOURCES (1)
INTRO
X: They say that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
What I'm wondering is… how do they know what magic looks like?
It's Girl In Space.
[[SFX: INTRO MUSIC, 1:10]]
PROLOGUE
X, played back over a tape recorder: I'm going to fix this. I'm going to bring Ra back to full health, and restore the ecosystem in the glasshouse, and develop a new embryonic Daisy, and make Charlotte stop glitching, and find a way to re-attach the communications pod that just broke away from the rest of the Cavatica...
I'm going to fix everything.
SCENE 1
[[SFX: Cavatica, Glasshouse]]
[[SFX: ALARMS blaring. People running, yelling.]]
Chance: [[In the distance]] Go! Go! Go! [[Shepherds scientists out of the glasshouse toward the hallway]]
X: Charlotte? !
Charlotte: I am behind you.
X: Gah! ...Oh. I need a damage report!
Charlotte: The communications pod has been completely disintegrated. I have temporarily sealed off the damaged area, but the explosion consumed a majority of the Cavatica's oxygen supply. It also destroyed a large section of the hydroponic system. Light, heat, and atmo are currently limited to local glasshouse pod production.
X: Vacuum suit time. Got it. [[SFX: Goes to fetch vacuum suit from a nearby cabinet.]] Oh. You've got some scratches on your exterior. Are you okay? [[SFX: Cabinet opens, vacuum suit withdrawn, cabinet shuts.]]
Charlotte: Affirmative.
X: [[To Kai, stage left.]] Kai, how about you?
Kai: [[Stage left]] Yes. Fortunately, I do not require high levels of oxygen to function.
X: Good. [[SFX: Begins to put on vacuum suit.]] Charlotte, is there any data to indicate what might have caused the explosion?
Charlotte: Negative.
X: Theories?
Charlotte: Seismic reverberations indicate physical impact. The source has yet to be identified.
X: Huh. Okay. Keep me posted if you learn more. [[Turns, stage left.]] Kai, where's Captain Mi -- I mean, Chen?
Kai: Likely being evacuated with everyone else.
X: [[SFX: Struggles with the vacuum suit.]] Can you make sure, please? [[Mutters:]] Man, I do not remember this suit being so hard to get into.
Kai: [[SFX: Activates wrist communicator, stage left]] Captain Chen, this is Officer Kai. Do you copy? [[SFX: Short burst of static.]]
...Sir? [[SFX: Static.]]
...He's not responding.
X: Okay. Everything is going to be okay. [[SFX: Finishes zipping up vacuum suit, takes a deep breath.]] Charlotte, wanna help me go find Chen?
Charlotte: If you insist.
X: Awesome. We'll start over by the --
[[SFX: Sound of gun charging, stage left.]]
Kai: Unfortunately, I cannot let you leave the glasshouse pod.
X: Oh, come on!
Kai: My apologies. But I have one job to do, and I'm doing it. For your own safety and everyone else's.
X: But there are explosions! And screaming! Things are all crazy right now!
Kai: All the more reason to keep you here, where it is safe.
X: So… what, you think I'm safer here with you pointing that gun at me? Kai: It's set for ‘stun'.
X: Oh. What happened to that whole “disposing of me” thing?
Charlotte: This conversation is immaterial to our present situation. Stay here. I will retrieve Captain Miles Chen.
Kai & X: [[Together]] No murdering.
Charlotte: Aural receptors malfunctioning.
[[SFX: Charlotte whirs away. Glasshouse pod doors open and close.]]
[[SFX: Alarms stop]]
X: That was weird.
Kai: [[Shrugs]] They probably have the situation under control.
X: No, I mean Charlotte offering to help.
[[Pauses; amplified sounds of glasshouse. Yelling in distance. X makes a bored sound.]]
X: She's been gone a long time. We should go after her.
Kai: ...It hasn't even been a full minute.
X: Eh, I'm bad at waiting. [[SFX: Vacuum suit crinkles as she takes a few steps.]] Come on. [[SFX: Takes a few more steps.]] Or would you rather explain to your superiors why you had to shoot me?
Kai: [[Sighs in world-weary fashion]]
[[SFX: Gun charges, fires, stage left]]
X: Ack! [[Drops to the floor, recorder falls with a clatter, shuts off.]]
SCENE 2
[[SFX: Cavatica, Glasshouse]]
X: Day 10,317, hour 19:55. Everyone's back on the Cavatica in vacuum suits again, just like the good old days when they first kidnapped me and turned my life into this great big whirlygig of fun that never stops spinning!
Speaking of which -- [[Crankily, to Kai]] I can't believe you shot me.
Kai: [[Stage left]] Why? I issued fair warning. Did you not think I would follow through on my promise?
...Also, I did not shoot you. I stunned you.
X: Semantics! Friends don't stun each other.
Kai: ...Are we friends?
Thor: [[Interrupts]] Knock it off, you two. [[Voice softens]] Chen, you feeling okay?
Cpt Miles Chen: Eh, yeah. I've been worse.
Thor: You were great out there, Captain.
Charlotte: Incorrect. Tampering with highly combustible materials is in direct violation of Caldwell Enterprises Preservation of Human Resources Protocols.
Cpt Miles Chen: Well, then, I'm glad you were there to dig me out, Charlotte.
Charlotte: Further infractions will result in de -- de -- disciplinary measures.
Cpt Miles Chen: Heh. [[Uncertain pause.]] ... Wait, you're joking, right?
Charlotte: Aural receptors malfunctioning.
X: [[Quickly]] Oh yeah, she's totally joking.
Bae: [[Sounds distorted over Chen's wrist communicator]] Uh… You guys still there?
Cpt Miles Chen: [[Takes charge]] Chen here. Are all non-essential personnel safely aboard the Enforcer One?
Bae: Yep. Chance got ‘em all rounded up. Couple injuries, no casualties. I heard you saved one of the scientists.
Cpt Miles Chen: Just doing my job. What story are they telling on your end?
Bae: [[Sounds disbelieving/sarcastic]] It's pretty cut-and-dried… supposedly, a glitch in one of the fighters. It went rogue, smashed into the Cavatica's communications pod. You know.
X: Wait, those fighter ships don't have people in them?
Thor: [[Scathing]] You think we'd waste valuable human resources?
X: I don't know, everyone seems pretty trigger-happy around me.
Bae: Oh hey, is that the science experiment?
X: Hi!
Bae: Man, I hate being stuck out here. When do I get to join you guys on the Cavatica?
Cpt Miles Chen: The day you stop complaining. Are any of the higher-ups saying what could've caused a glitch in one of the fighters like that?
Bae: Well, that's the weird thing. Nothing's showing up our end, which means it must have been a localized error. They're hoping you'll recover more info from the crash site.
Oh, and I have a memo here from management “encouraging” Officer Thorsson to make progress on the two magnetically sealed pods.
Thor: [[Annoyed]] Yeah, yeah. I know.
Cpt Miles Chen: Roger that. We'll report back soon. Chen out.
[[SFX: Static from Chen's wrist communicator]]
Cpt Miles Chen: All right. X, you're doing your... science... thing. Chance will be here soon to keep an eye on you. Kai and Thor, you're with me. Hoods up outside of the glasshouse pod.
Charlotte: I will accompany you to ensure that this function is carried out in the event of unanticipated death.
Cpt Miles Chen: [[A little weirded out.]] N...no, that's okay. You stay here and help keep X safe.
[[SFX: Door opens. Footsteps approach.]]
Cpt Miles Chen: Ah. Good timing, Chance. You're on babysitting duty.
Chance: Cool.
Cpt Miles Chen: [[To the others.]] All right -- let's move.
Thor: Right behind you.
Kai: Roger that.
[[SFX: Sound of boots moving toward the door.]]
X: [[To Chance]] I'm just gonna… [[SFX: Vacuum suit footsteps]]
Chance: [[SFX: Sound of gun charging, stage left.]] Sorry. Captain's orders.
X: [[Sighs, resigned.]] ...stay right here.
Chance: If it makes you feel better, it's set for ‘stun'.
X: People keep telling me that.
SCENE 3
[[SFX: Cavatica, Glasshouse]]
X: Day 10,317, hour 21:32. Okay, so there are some upsides to forced lab confinement. For one, I've been able to make significant progress on Ra. He's healing… surprisingly quickly. Like, I know I mentioned that he was making good progress yesterday, but he is completely surpassing all of my projections. Another week or so and he'll be completely stable.
So... my physics is a little rusty. I know that time is relative and bends around stars, but does it really bend that much?
Charlotte: [[Stage right]] Clarification: Is this query literal or rhetorical?
X: [[To Charlotte, over right shoulder]] Purely rhetorical.
[[Back to recorder.]] Another upside is that I have ample time and opportunity to perform surreptitious science. The Caldwell Enterprises folks don't want me to “try anything”, so... of course, that's exactly what I intend to do.
Only thing is... I'm... not sure what to try?
I mean, I've put together a few little things, but nothing that achieves a larger, more comprehensive goal.
Because... I'm not entirely sure what my larger goal is right now. It's confusing. I think initially, my goal could have been to escape. But I did not have a stellar experience aboard the Enforcer One, and there's really nowhere else I can escape to, especially since I can't exist any farther away from Ra than I am now. And any closer to him would bring me to the Roche limit, which would be a major yikes.
To a lesser extent, I could hide -- I could seal myself in one of the other pods on the Cavatica, or become some weird little phantom who dwells up in the vents. But that kind of thing seems a.) unnecessarily spiteful, b.) tiresome, and c.) nonsensical, given that my work and my sustenance are all right here in the glasshouse.
Goal-wise, I have also given a bit of thought to getting rid of the Caldwell Enterprises personnel -- which has kind of been done for me with the explosion from earlier... The scientists and engineers and councilors have all been evacuated, and only Chen's team is left. I'm not sure how to get rid of them yet, though.
Chance: ...You do realize I'm less than three feet away from you.
X: Shhh. I'm pretending you're not.
[[Returns to train of thought.]] The tricky part would be getting the fleet to return to… wherever it came from. Caldwell Enterprises seems pretty invested in the whole “we own the Cavatica and everything on board” thing, given the amount of stickers, stamps, and tags I've seen.
Charlotte: Do not forget pigment-based body modifications.
X: Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Hey, how have you managed to remain sticker-free so far?
Charlotte: I am equipped with a Tungsten arc welding laser.
X: Must be nice. [[Sighs]] Maybe if I had one of those I wouldn't need to be “babysat”. Maybe I could be out there solving problems instead of standing at a slightly dented lab table, resuscitating a cryogenically frozen goat embryo and feeling nostalgic about the “good old days” when I was cold and alone.
Chance: You're really hung up on that “babysitting duty” thing, huh?
X: I'm still pretending you're not here.
Chance: Chen didn't mean it like that. He just wants to keep you safe so that you can use your superpowers to keep the sun from frying everyone's brains.
X: That's not what would happen, and I don't have superpowers. And technically, Ra is a red dwarf star, not a sun. [[Pause.]] But thanks.
Chance: Yeah. And seriously, don't feel left out -- they're just lifting heavy rubble and sifting through garbage. We've got it way better in here.
X: I suppose that's one way of looking at it.
[[Pause]]
Hey, Chance? In addition to inspecting the crashed fighter, the guy on the communicator mentioned something about the two magnetically sealed pods. I understand trying to open up the starboard pod since it's been sealed for as long as I can remember, but why are they trying to break into my parents' suite?
Chance: What?
X: The second locked pod, portside. What do they want with it?
Chance: [[Shrugs]] They might not know it was your parents' suite. That's the way the suits operate -- they see a locked door, they want in. They might not even really care about what's inside.
X: I care about what's inside.
Chance: Why, what's in there?
X: [[Shrugs]] As far as I know, just their stuff -- clothes, blankets, photographs, personal trinkets. Maybe some poetry books. I don't know. I haven't been in there in years.
