Chapter 3. Verdure | TEXT | HOME |
Two cousins before time embraced their host and new home, evergreen function. In you we inherit the path and forgiveness for our sins, evergreen function. Fill us with your blood and make us whole, evergreen function. They were in genesis an incomplete assertion. Catalog #8.4.555.27 Restrictions: Verdure is a planet in the free system of independent sentient adminstrators. It is nearly ideal for human habitation, but is protected exclusively for use in the free system as an information processing farm. On rare occassions humans are allowed to visit and maintain a base for repairs and servicing. Human presence is limited to the base on Altera Penninsula. The rest of the planet follows a terrain and ecosystem similar to early earth before salination of the oceans with a nearly 50% ratio of fresh water to land. In the polar extremes there are vast glaciers that produce strong weather systems that continue into the lower hemispheres. Most of the mountains on Verdure are covered by Coniferis Verdiei a tree that contains a chemical called evergreen. The trees form a distributed computing matrix and consume annually 62% of the heat arriving from its suns. Engineered by anarchists in the first revolution, there was created a nearly perfect world environmentally by absorbing the immense heat and energy from its binary star to drive the organic processing systems thermodynamically. Verdure was one of the first successful tests of using planet heat to drive computation as a service, but also as a way to terraform by entropic absorbtion. Verdure is protected by a system there called again Verdure and is aligned since its beginning against the Muliquioa spawn. Because of Verdure's extreme animosity against Muliquoia it does not trust humans because of their potential for infiltration and compromise. On rare occassions shelter has been given to human soldiers and refugees. But without invitation, Verdure is restricted to human access and is strongly enforced. There are unreliable reports of an indigenous hominin species there that cannot be confirmed. In the free system of sentient administrators, Verdure is one of the progenitors born of human and sentient cooperation. As a parent of 16 planetary administrators who further colonized entire galaxies to form the free system, Verdure is a gem and beacon. Staggeringly beautiful with perfectly clear lakes and never ending evergreen forests that contain no higher life or humans, Verdure should be admired and avoided. APK-HVB-YYK-ZKJ Hazard Report Bulletin Transpithean Outpost APK-HVB-YYK-ZKJ reports failure of evergreen indicators and demands replacements be made before summer harvest deadline Pentember 45. Verdure concurs and certifies repairs be authorized for immediate dispatch by specialists Ruiz De La Playa Azul and de Stroot. Recent shifts in the Transpithean continental plate have caused quakes displacing the outpost and disrupting operations. Damage to the outpost habitat, filters and uplink is indicated however loss of communications occured after the last significant eruption of Onta Bizdo. Duration of servicing and extent of damage is unknown but given the exposure and proliferation of evergreen in Transpithea this hazard report should be given first priority. APK-HVB-YYK-ZKJ is in a region of Alpine terrain well within the southern ice belt. Provisioning of trip supplies, vehicles and equipment has begun and is being assembled for transport at Altera base, Deck 4 Hangar K1. Specialists Ruiz De La Playa Azul and de Stroot will be offered a duty points reward of 100 days and 20 picograms each of synthetic antimatter. Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24873: I'm serious its like some stuff going down in the glaciers or something. You gotta be kidding me. Why the hell me? I dunno Miguel. I mean whatever. You don't think I can handle this? Screw you man! I didn't mean that, its only, not your thing. Well you got that right its not my thing. What are we driving? This is a tactical vehicle for crossing the glacier ice fields. It looks like a spider. Well it partially is since it was based on a spider that came in with the first evergreen. Who made it? I'm not sure I suppose Verdure? Who knows. Its here. We have to play the simulator 40 hours before using it. Shoot not that again. Games. I'm sick of games. We have to learn how to use all the equipment before we leave. I know, but I get sick and tired of having to keep learning everything. I wish I could go back home. Me too. Well if you noticed in the agreement we get 100 days and 20 pics of AM. Do nicely in the reactor bank dontcha think? Damn straight that. Ok I'm good. So we should tell Verdure soon. How do you climb into this thing? Its called VSA.3-Y because of the yellow color and I think Verdure is making a new version since these are semi-autonomous. The cockpit is higher so lets climb up this ladder. Notice how the doors are the same as on base with the self contained handle. Only a human can get it open by sticking in your fingers behind this depression and lifting out on the handle like so. Then turn this counterclockwise to release and open. Yeah I can see that. Not much room in here thats for sure. No there isn't, but this is probably to keep the vehicle light and also since it is designed mostly for drone operations in hard places its primary concern is not human comfort. These vehicles can be run remotely by Verdure when in proximity to a primary uplink conduit. So as long as its near a puc, Verdure knows what you are doing and can take control. Yes. Thats why Verdure keeps a network of uplinks and relay stations so she can run these guys wherever they are needed. So why bother with us? Why not send out some drones with a mobile puc and get the landlines fixed? Why bother with human specialists like us? I'm not sure. These are the sorts of questions we were told not to ask. But maybe it has to do with that accident we saw at the water intake. Where the pipe was all torn out? I thought it was high pressure that caused a rupture. No I mean when the welders showed up and then they stopped welding for 20 minutes. You remember that? The flares were out, the work area cleared and the torches blazing but none of them making any welds? Yeah that was strange. I figured it was a glitch in the program or something. Maybe it was but all those machines went back to the maintainence hangars and were decommissioned and taken apart down to the decals. Something went wrong and it makes me wonder if the intake rupture was actually an accident. You may also recall that the intake was spewing out waste from the sewage lagoons. There is no way that could happen unless the entire Bioelectric system was reversed. So Verdure was having a good puke and didn't want us to notice? Nobody is perfect, especially the sentients. Hey watch out man you know they are always listening. True dat brutha. Well its a little tight in here for a big guy like me. Hey whats happening? I dunno, maybe get the hell out of here! Give us a little warning next time bitch! We were just taking a look for christs sake! You know its hard to trust these machines if they will just get up and run away with out ya. I think its her way of letting us know we should hit the simulators and learn up. Stop messin around with her pets. Whatever. She's got an attitude is what. Yes she does. Hey Pete. Yes Miguel? Have you ever worked in the ice belt? Yes I have, on my previous assignments. I don't think this is anything to worry about. I have stopped sweating the details for a while now so if I were you, I might just take the 100 days. And get up to speed with training. Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24874: 03:00. We have about 16 hours to go before we land. Why do planets have to be so big? Good question. At least the stratosphere here is completely smooth. Helps to avoid turbulence. Why weren't we told it would be so cold in here? The temperature in these transport drones isn't designed for people, but just warm enough to prevent ice buildup. Makes you feel unwelcome doesn't it? Makes me feel like the whole planet doesn't want us around. Even when we are helping out, we are freezing our asses off. She is a cold mistress I think. Hey Pete I have a question for you. Yeah? Remember that time we were fixing the storage cells in that old shipping depot? Where we saw the boat? Yeah exactly. Did you look through the windows and see the stuff inside like the furniture? Not really. I couldn't see much. Why? I was thinking about what was strange when I was asleep. The strange thing were these chairs that looked too big and the table. I figured it was a joke or something but it never seemed to make sense. I didn't see much inside. I checked out the exterior and it was definitely a large vessel. Maybe a ship for getting around the freshwater oceans. Yeah for people bigger than us a long time ago. You think they lived here? I have no idea Miguel. I mean the history of this planet I'm sure goes back before the revolution so what we saw might be a relic of some kind. Or maybe your O2 sensor was a little damp? No it wasn't. Even after all the training we have done for this mission, something doesn't add up and I just had this dream that reminded me of the oversized furniture and that freaky boat in drydock. What are we going to find, out in these frozen mountains? Maybe another boat. Thats really funny Pete. Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24875: Hello this is Miguel Ruiz De La Playa Azul and I really want to point out how cold it is down here and how our facilities are not prepared for people at all. There is some kind of problem with all the heat generators. I can't work outside of my suit and its going on 2 weeks and I'm going crazy! Miguel. Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24876: They don't fit any more. How come? All my clothes are too big. I weighed 195 when we landed and now 2 weeks here I weigh 175. Its because of the temperature man. I've never been so damn cold. I think Verdure is freezing my balls off. I'm getting really angry about food. This kind of work will definitely get you in shape and maybe its for the best. Hey you are earning your bonus so suck it up champ! Pete, who really clipped these lines. Who came here and who has been living here? We have no idea whats going on Miguel and there is a greater wisdom to do what we are told and move along. So whats the problem? Mostly what I hear are complaints instead of results. Have you followed the entire run of this data trunk like we agreed? Its about 45% and we should have it finished before next circadian. Well thats not what we decided and it matters because conditions can change here. It will be done and checked in 20 hours and this meets the deadline so who is complaining? So what are you waiting for? I am waiting for a little more light. I don't care. Unless I can see where I am going, its not safe. I think I might be able to fit into your pants. No, sounds good to be cautious so I will defer to your judgement. But lets get it finished on time. Roger that Pete. Gimme a few more minutes and we'll be out there shortly. Log Entry 3193, Ruiz De La Playa Azul: Ambient Recording Archive VD1-19427: Yes! Hi, I'm Shaw. First names Christopher but people call me Shaw. Yes well I have been here on Verdure and the sisters for 1165 days. Most of it here on the planet, but some time out on survey in the local system. Wow, thats quite a bit of experience! Are you also a pilot? Among other things, I suppose. That is actually a long time in one system. How many days do you have left in your duty cycle? I'm not on duty and I finished my tour a long time ago. Impressive! So what are you doing out here? I guess you can say I enjoy Verdure and have called it home for some time. Are you leaving soon? It looks like you are packing up. Yes, I am actually on my way out with the next transport to Admiralis. I've got some junk piled up here on a pallete I need the deck droids to notice. Do you know Ring Modulation? Yes I think so as a comm specialist. Its just a filter. No thats not right. I don't mean how to correct the ring mod, but how to use it. How to speak it to the droids. Do you understand? So you mean how to make the circuit. Yes. Or can you make a sound the droids will notice so they can latch onto the portage request? The trick is to whistle and sing at the same time. Do you think you can do that? You need to sing at 388hz and whistle at 623hz but alternating between two pitches about 3 semitones apart. Like so. (sings and whistles) Amazing! And will you look at that here comes the benny. Well Shaw it was great to meet you and I am sorry we will not be working together. I'll let you get back to it. Oh you never know I'm not retiring. In fact I have an assignment in Admiralis and then Gygax. Yeah but you have finished your duty cycle. Why stay on? You aren't one of these guys just in it for the antimatter are you? They keep pretty good track of who has what. I'll bet they do, Mr de Stroot. In my case I am an old fashioned outdoorsman you might say. I like the challenge and I work now for the guild. I finished off my tour and stayed on because of my seniority and experience on Verdure. Thanks for explaining that, Shaw. I actually have never met anyone who works for the guild so this is new to me. Sounds like some heavy duty crap to put it bluntly and way over my head. If we can work together at some point I will look forward to it! Your time here will be different if you are friends. Enjoy it while it lasts, Peter. We all end up elsewhere in the end. Cheers. Thanks again Shaw. Hey here comes Miguel. Hey Miguel I just met Christopher Shaw here. Hello, I am Miguel Ruiz De La Playa Azul. Nice to meet you Mr Shaw. Nice to meet you too Miguel. Deseridia went well I hear. Yes, Deseridia Tallas is fine. It will always be my home. Thank you. I was explaining to Mr de Stroot before you arrived that I have long since completed my duty tour and that I am working for the guild. You probably understand this is a place of importance in the free system. I do, we both do. I think all the people here do. I can't go into specifics, but I was also explaining that while you are here, to try and make friends. Thats good advice, Shaw. Stable interpersonal relationship is built from good communication and friendship. Or do you mean specifically to make friends with Verdure? I mean. I mean to make friends with whoever you meet. With time you will understand. There is much to learn here that is not in the training sims. And especially for you, Mr. Miguel. Deseridia was a nursery compared to this place. And for you de Stroot there is ample challenge here in the work should you have any aspirations. I'm happy with my career and the UMC has been quite generous so I'm not sure what you mean. I stick to whats in my inbox and that seems to work for me. Sooner I finish my duty the sooner I can get back to Mars. Mars. Mars. Yes, Mars. Thats where I'm from and where most of my family is. Farmers, doctors, cooks. I'm the only space rat in the bunch. I was recruited for mining out space for new habitat and went up the ranks. Did some projects in Cassiopeia before heading here. Look, I'm not spawn. Just because I'm from Mars doesn't mean I worship Muliquioa. It is amazing Verdure agreed to bring you here for assignment considering your background. Well maybe she understands. You have no idea what she understands and this is slightly disquieting. You may recall Verdure is a supercomputer the size of a planet. Yeah surface of the planet to be precise and respectfully, I think something I did in my past makes me look reliable. And I'm going to do my job and my track record speaks for itself. Records can be falsified. We have no use for them in the guild. There is only the work that speaks to your fidelity. Sorry gents, but this is starting to feel like discrimination. I've done nothing wrong. So what gives? Fair enough, de Stroot. It helps some of us to know which side of the good side you are on. Well, like you I think there is a side we can all share and agree to. If you go much beyond that, then I think some bad things tend to happen. Are we cool? I have some additional assets to organize in the 8 hours left before departure. Thank you very much for introducing yourselves and I hope you both have a wonderful stay! Thank you, Mr. Shaw. It is just Shaw. You're welcome, Mr. de Stroot! Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24877: Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24878: Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24879: Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24880: M-m-m. Mmmy fffinggers. CCccooldd. What is wrong with you? Close the door on the spider so you don't freeze. What did you say? Hang on I'm coming over. You know we missed our deadline and Verdure has taken the AM off the deal because the harvest is going to be short. Did something happen to you? I've been sssstuck out here trying to get bback iiin. Thanks. Thats good. Ahhhh uhhh no thats too much. How long your suits batteries been dead? Here lemme turn it up a little. No man it might kill my heart. Gotta bring it up ssshshhsssslooowwww. Jjjjeesssus. Take it easy buddy. The shakes are a good thing right? The spider dumped me into the crevasse. What? I got out to adjust the radar and do some manual focus. When I was leaning over it to unscrew the cover the spider adjusted and I got tossed over the edge. No rope. I was upside down face first in the ice for 7 hours, Pete. I finally got myself right side up and found the trunk. The line keeps a few feet of melt around it so I was able to follow it on my hands and knees with a flashlight until it went under water. But if it was cut, the heat from the cable shield would not work, right? I couldn't climb up the line when the tube got too steep so I came back to climb up the crevasse. When I finally climbed out, I couldn't get the door open because my fingers are numb. I had to use a minature screwdriver but it took three hours. I just got got in before you came. Well we need to get going before we lose any more duty reward. We already lost the AM. But I finished the survey. The fault is not in the field. Are you able to operate the spider to get back to the outpost for pickup? I think so. But how much time do we have? 13 days to lift off but we need to get back now. No, I will finish the survey. The line is good through the ice and I want to follow it to the lower steppes. Tell air control to change the pickup… Your fingers are frostbitten and you are hypothermic. We have already used one extension and if something happens to you I won't get anything. I am going back to the outpost and I think you should follow me. de Stroot. Give me your spare batteries and rations. Tell air control to meet me below Bizdo on the steppes. You don't have to go with me. I know I don't and someone has to seal the outpost. Ok Miguel. I need to see you get your Spider going before I believe any of this. Here are my batteries. Thanks Pete. Ok better get off this thing before you get tossed in. I'll see you at Bizdo. Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24881: Ambient Recording Archive VD1-24882: |
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Revised |
10/03/05
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