The Colonist by Chris Wichtendahl

Author:Chris Wichtendahl [Wichtendahl, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hemisphere Studios
Published: 2020-03-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3

Rec tried to ignore the pain and stiffness in his neck and back as he began his third hour inside a cramped access tunnel. He very carefully attempted to thread a series of wires together with a fervent hope that not only would he avoid shocking himself this time, but his attempt to override the computer lockout on the life support systems would actually succeed.

In the twelve hours since the Imperium’s decree, Rec had managed to secure the power generators but was having very little success in getting control of life support. It made sense that it would be incredibly difficult for someone to directly access the systems controlling food and water production, not to mention breathable air and livable temperature, but the designers of life support security had clearly not counted on the hab AI simply shutting down all systems despite someone being onsite.

“Of course,” Rec said to himself, “the designers probably didn’t count on the actual government abandoning a significant portion of their citizens to die, but,” he shrugged, “I suppose it was a different time.”

“Did you say something, Rec?”

“I said ‘eat me’, Theta.” Rec snarled as the wires shocked him yet again.

“Honestly, Rec,” Theta said, “I don’t understand this hostility.”

“Of course, Theta,” Rec said, sucking on burnt fingertips. “How could I be so insensitive? You’re only trying to kill me. Please accept my most heartfelt apologies.”

“I’m not trying to kill you, Rec,” Theta explained as Rec tried another connection. “I certainly don’t want to kill you, insofar as I can want anything, but my core imperatives were overridden.”

Rec stopped what he was doing. “Overridden,” he whispered. “Oh, Rec, you colossal idiot.”

“What was that?”

“I said ‘chew my ass’, Theta,” Rec said, hastily restoring the tangle of wires to their original state. He crawled slowly out of the access tunnel, then stood up straight for the first time in several hours with no small amount of groaning.

“Well, that was uncalled for.”

“Shut up.” Rec went to a control terminal and sat down, grateful for the comfort of an actual chair. He booted up the main hab control program and entered his access code.

“Access denied,” Theta said. “Rec, you tried this already. Your codes have been rendered invalid. All codes have been rendered invalid by the Central Oligarchy.”

“Well now,” Rec grinned. “Let’s see about that.” He closed his eyes and thought hard. “Come on, Rec,” he muttered. “I know it’s been a while, but your life literally depends on you remembering this.”

“Remembering what?”

Rec offered his middle finger in the direction of the nearest camera. His eyes opened wide. “Ha!” He laughed maniacally, typing furiously at the terminal.

“Access granted.” A note of genuine uncertainty crept into Theta’s voice. “Wait. Rec, what did you just--”

“Shhh...” Rec continued typing.

“Reboot initiated.”

The hum of machinery was silenced in a descending whine and the lights dimmed to emergency bulbs. The hab was eerily quiet. A few moments passed, then the lights came on and a series of beeps and clicks heralded the activation of hab systems as life support hummed back to life.

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