~~~~
START
LOG
We've made a horrible mistake. I
thought the nebula would be the safest and surest way to avoid those pirates.
While we haven't seen hide nor hair of those punks since we steered the ship into
here, it is most certainly not safe. It seemed fine at first, the ship's
systems acted up a little, but we soldiered through fine. It was only when a
dozen mega-cycles[1] passed and we were still in the nebula that we
realized our mistake.
At first, we thought that the nebula
was simply larger than expected, that was only part of the reason. The ship's
navigation had malfunctioned at some point after we had entered the nebula.
Nobody had realized until it was far too late. It appeared to be fine, but the
system had silently frozen, which meant we had flown blind for lord knows how
long. Whatever caused the system to crash was from an interference that
originated from the nebula. So, not only had the navigation gone down, but it
refused to come back online. Then surveillance went down and then security.
We were blinded both inside and out.
We had no idea where we were, nor where we were going. Our only condolence was
that nothing else went wrong. Which provided a degree of comfort, but that was
a deca-cycle[2] ago. To conserve power we
shut off all unnecessary systems. Everything else was set to more economic
levels of power usage. Despite how conservative we've been, we will not last
much longer. We've got maybe half a deca-cycle at best. Of course, that's only
if another important system doesn't malfunction. All we can do is wait and hope
now. It's been so quiet it's begun to fray the crew's nerves, it's only a
matter of time before someone snaps.
END
LOG
~--~
"Captain, can I speak with you
about Johnson?" Dr. Jane asked me.
"Go ahead," I answered.
"All this time in the nebula
has finally taken its toll on his mental health," she explained. "I
think you should speak with him before he does something we all regret."
"Alright," I agreed.
Johnson was always a little paranoid so this experience has likely damaged him
the most. "How bad is it?" I pressed for details.
"It's best you see it for
yourself," Dr. Jane stated solemnly. That's a red flag. I immediately set
out to speak with Johnson with Jane in tow.
"Hey, Johnson," I knocked
on the door to his quarters. "The doctor told me this nebula experience is
not treating you well. You mind if I come in to talk to you about it?"
"Come in," he muttered,
with his confirmation I entered his quarters. It was a standard one-man
arrangement, a simple one person bed, and a desk. He was one of the lucky few
to receive a window, just above his bed. Although the view was currently filled
with the thick "fog" of the nebula. Johnson was seated in his desk
chair, but he had pushed it into the corner away from his window.
"How are you doing
Johnson?" I took a seat on his bed and faced him while Dr. Jane remained
outside.
"Not well captain," he
admitted, "I've been sleepless lately."
"What do you mean?" I pushed
the subject.
"I've been seeing and hearing
things out in the nebula," he explained. "At weird times I'd hear
this scratching on the hull of the ship. It got louder and louder every time I
heard it. Eventually, I started seeing shapes out in the nebula, usually three
or four at a time. I just saw one last night, scratching the hull right next to
my window. It scared me so much I fell to the ground when I went back to look
it was gone."
"I see," I nodded,
"how long have you been seeing these things?"
"Not too long after we found
out navigation wasn't working," Johnson revealed.
"Okay," I scratched my
chin, "have you ever seen such things before?"
"No never," Johnson
exclaimed. "I've dealt with horrible creatures following me before, but
nothing like this."
"I understand," I assured
him, "can you describe these creatures in detail?"
"No," he muttered,
"I've only ever seen silhouettes, even that one time I got close."
Johnson covered his mouth with his hand and shivered.
"Alright then," I stood
up, "do you want the doctor to prescribe you anything for your
nerves?"
"No I need to stay sharp,"
he rejected my offer.
"Fine then," I began to
leave, "be sure to keep a lookout then."
"I always do," he declared
as I left the room and shut the door.
"Dr. Jane I want a complete
mental health checkup on Johnson when we get out of this nebula," I
ordered. "In the meantime, I want somebody to be watching Johnson at all
times. I don't need him going through a complete mental breakdown. Also, on the
off chance he's right I don't want any nasty surprises."
"Understood," she made a
note of my order and we went our separate ways.
~--~
START
LOG
The rest of the time in the nebula
was thankfully uneventful. Johnson made more than a handful of complaints about
the "creatures outside." Thankfully, nothing came of it. About a
quarter of a deca-cycle after my talk with Johnson we finally left the nebula.
Much to everyone's relief. I thought that would be the end of it, but Johnson
still insisted he heard more scratching on the hull. I'm afraid I'll have to permanently
bench him from the crew for mental health reasons. Although, I'd be remiss to
not mention I had a nightmare about the scratching shortly before we escaped
the nebula.
Surveillance and security still
aren't completely functional. However, we have yet to be notified of any
intruders or stowaways. The crewmembers I sent to watch Jonathon haven't seen
anything either. Hopefully, we'll convince Johnson nothing is wrong when we
reach the next space station in a mega-cycle. This has been an arduous time,
but it'll be over soon.
END
LOG
~~~~
I have an extreme fondness for FTL: faster than light and its soundtrack. The horror track was cut from the game, but it was meant to be used for the game's nebula sectors. One of my most potent memories from playing FTL is from the nebula sectors, specifically the empty beacon flavor text. You see, each sector in FTL consists of a series of beacons your controlled spaceship can jump to, which are usually occupied by enemy ships. In most sectors an empty beacon has a simple flavor text that can be summed up as, "you encounter nothing, what a relief." However, in the nebula where electronics and scanners malfunction, the game goes to great lengths to describe how paranoid your crew gets. Although, it amount to nothing, I find it funny how the safest beacons in the sector are where the crew is the most jumpy. As though they assume a space pirate vessel will come flying out of the nebula any second. It draws on the same feeling one has when they're alone in a large house at night, and creak and shudder in the building sounds like an axe murderer (or is that just me).
So, today's story was created by drawing some inspiration from FTL and placing it in a general sci-fi setting. Except, I wanted to add a bit more shape to the crew's fears. I'll leave what Johnson actually saw up to your imagination. Also, remember to check in next Saturday for the next story.
Until then, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
So, today's story was created by drawing some inspiration from FTL and placing it in a general sci-fi setting. Except, I wanted to add a bit more shape to the crew's fears. I'll leave what Johnson actually saw up to your imagination. Also, remember to check in next Saturday for the next story.
Until then, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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