Kent Paglomotan- The Martian- Tragedy
Chapter 1: Storm and Screwed
Log entry: Sol 5
"Omigod", "Ahhhhhh" "My head, Sheit!".
Considering my situation, I'm pretty much screwed. I thought this was the best day of my life I don't want to end up like this but now I'm stuck! In MARS!
I'm only here because I saw a poster or an Ad "Wanted: Young man, will be paid with $$$$$$$ ". And there's like terms and conditions that nobody read these days.
Anyway, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just here for the money because I'm broke and I wanted to buy a new PC for the new games I wanted to play.
I hope that someone will read this, probably not, and be like "Damn you don't know any shit and you still participate in it". Yeah I'm FeelsBadMan right now.
Let's see where do I start?
Hhmmm…..Oh yeah! This mission is called The Zeus Program. NASA people send other people to Mars to see if humankind will be able survive in here and blah blah blah. Before they send many team and came back to Earth with applause, kisses, parades and all the good stuffs.
By the way, I had a team and the Leader is Grace Sadney. She's kinda hot though and smart that's why she's the leader, she knows what to do. However, I'm just a follower who can read and write and love playing video games.
Moving on, I have this thing like a suit was I can breath, pretty much I'm now an astronaut who doesn't know what his doing. This mission, where have a normal rocket ship going to the Hades which is a big space ship with in a spaceship. The entire Zeus missions use Hades to get over to Mars. And there's this MAV (Mars ascent vehicle) and also MDV (Mars descent vehicle). Theses are use to go to mars or bit and going back to Hades. So on and so forth that what I've remember from all the things that are happening… *falls asleep*. 5 hours later.
Man I'm so tired I can't even move my body. Hmmm… where did I left off? Ahh yea. So I'll tell you what happened. So we got out of the MDV after the landing, we hurdled up and discuss the situation of what were doing. We go to the Hab first to check supplies, and then, something in the radar beeping. A 175-km/h dust storm is coming on our way and we need to go to the MAV. We're wearing our space suit immediately then go out the storm. Unfortunately, Shit hit the fan and I am the FAN! Everyone made it except me. Some shit I don't know what it is but its heavy that hit me and I blacked out.
Now everybody thinks I'm dead. Yes of course! I wake up through a green dot around my helmet beeping. It says "Oxygen High", and I was like "Smoke weed everyday". Nah fuck. My body was have half-buried though the sand. The storm calm down thankfully. But, a metal rod shanked me in my back that leaves a hole in the suit. However, it didn't reach my asshole, so it was fine. I put it out instantly and then unburied myself. Then I started walking, until I reach the Hab. And the MAV is gone.
Chapter 2: Figuring out to Survive
Log Entry: Sol 7
"Ughh, I hate Mondays, oh fuck I'm in Mars and there's no Monday." Hello, my name is Kent and I'm sleeping on Mars, I mean in the Hab "jelly?" Never mind, yeah I'm stuck but at least I have millions of supplies of food!(not really). I have good night sleep and my whole body is aching. I'm continuing this journal so that my grand grand children will read it and me suffering and probably dead. As I'm walking around in the Hab, I found Grace's backpack. I asked myself "WHY the HELL do you bring a back pack in a space mission!?
Scavenging through the backpack, I found some perfume, lipstick, mirror, tissue, bubblegum, notebook, and a book. And guess what, her notebook was filled with everything we discuss on earth, about the mission, what do we have to do when we get there and the briefing that we took which I didn't recall at all. Also, the title of the book is "How to Plant and Survive in the wild by John Green". On the other hand, the notebook was divided into sections and surveying through it. Thank God! she wrote how to check or troubleshoot the devices in the Hab, MDV and MAV. I tried do it in the Hab and everything seems to be alright. Then, I check if there's food to find in the Hab. But, I still need to use Grace's notebook of where is all the supplies will be located in here.
Log Entry: Sol 10
For the past three days, I've been spending my time to understand Grace's notebook. All the supplies are pretty good and I did some simple calculations in order to survive a little longer. First, I have food supplies for six people that would last for fifty six days which take me more than three hundred days if I eat a little bit to supply my hunger. Then, it says in the notebook that every four years Zeus missions are carrying out. That means I'm probably death out of starvation. I have no idea how to communicate to the Hades and fuck me life! Okay enough for today, I'll just sleep it in.
Chapter 3: Still Figuring it out
Log Entry: Sol 25
Holy sheit! it's been 10 days, I read all the information on Grace's notebook and the John green book, on how to make a potato. Also, I found out that I have a USB drive as well as the movie which is about a man stuck in the Uranus and he tried to survive there too. Now I have all the information. Let's get to work!
Ok, listen here, so apparently I need calories. And I need enough to last 1387 sols until the Zeus 4 arrives. If I don't get rescued by them, then I'm dead anyway. A sol is 39 minutes longer a day, so it works out to be 1425 days and that is my target. Also I found out that, I have a lot of multivitamins. So that's the good news so far. I need to loose some weight but my body needs 1500 calories every day but I'll reduced it to 1350 then take a multivitamins every other day.
Next, is the bad news, I don't know shit about math. However I need to use the Hab's space so I can grow potato. And to survive for 1425 days I need to eat 1100 per day. To grow a potato, I need to have soil, water and the right amount of temperature so that they won't die. Initially, my task is to collect some martian soil along with putting poop to have bacteria on it. I spread it out along the Hab and let it moist. You might be thinking, where did i get a poop? Don't worry about it,I got this. Good thing, there a convenient tool that do all the math for me the supercomputer that is encrypted in the Hab. Yay! It's like Siri but his name is Legolas. I said "Legolas can you hear me?". Then there's a long beep and I fall asleep.
Chapter 4: Ecstatic
Log Entry: Sol 32
Hey! I'm back, Okay, so right now, I'm currently in happy mode because Legolas did everything for me. For the last 17 days, I've been working on planting the potato and it is still not growing yet. He(Legolas) said that he's been programmed to prepared for every possible contingency. So, the Hab is a potato farm at the moment. That's why I forgot to log in because I'm playing games in the computer while waiting for the day that the potato current situation right now is handled by Legolas, if anything goes wrong then the alarm goes off.
Log Entry: Sol 35
Beep! Beep! Beep! "Warning: Water supply is low!". Omigod! Legolas how I'm suppose to get water in Mars? I said."shhhhh calm fuck down everything is alright" he replied. "Wait what? You can curse?" "Hell ya!" he shouted." Okay, let's see, first locate the MDV which is 200 kilometers away. Then, connect it into the rover,ok?" he informed. "Got it!" I said. After that, I put on the other space suit because mine is jacked of that first incident. I went to the vault door, I open it, enter, then closed it. I pressed the red button and then it beeps like "Tiit Tiiit Tiit….pshhhhhhhh". The other vault open and then I went outside. Immediately, I went to the rover and drive it.
Thankfully, Legolas is connected to everything like it's cool because NASA you know :). Anyway, he pointed out the location and GPS the shit out of it. I pressed AD(which means AutoDrive) then I take a nap. I tried to take a nap but the fucking land was bumpy as shit. Good thing, I brought my USB and then music for a while. I got bored so I turn it off then play some movie(MOVIE TIME!). I watch the Back to the Future, Terminator, World War Z, Prometheus and Minions. All of them was pretty good.
Chapter 5: MDV and Hab
Log Entry: Sol 38
Oh! Yeah, I forgot to mention. I kind of draw something out there before I got into the rover. I collected some rocks and form "ALIVE STILL, HELP ASAP" next to the Hab. Just to see if there's a fucking random space mission that they carry out there I don't know. Back to the rover, while I'm in there, I started thinking about my family and friends. Like, do they missed me or completely forget about me. They probably would because I'm dead anyways. However, I still need to do my best until the help comes.
For like 15 hours, I was sitting in the rover and finally it reach to my destination. I got out along with my space suit and starting to unwire the wire. I unrolled it, it's heavy as shit. Additionally, the most amazing thing is the MDV, is huge with like anchors to each sides so that the wind in Mars couldn't blow it away. Then, I went back to the rover and get a enormous tool for cutting. I cut the anchors that has a smaller wires and then attaches into the rover. By the way, a rover is like a hummer space car with big wheels. At the moment, the MDV is attached to the rover and I'm ready to go.
Another boring time again because I'm now going back to the Hab. My travelling time would be 20 hours considering the MDV is attached to it. In the middle of driving, I got a notification from Legolas. It's a message that the oxygen level is low and the nitrogen is high. I need to get back immediately to filter all of those as well as bringing the MDV so that I can attached it into the Hab. The fuel in MDV is essential to the Hab because Legolas knows how to resupply me water for my potato and my consumption. Also, it helps the Hab to provide power longer that 7 years with the amount of fuel in the MDV.
Chapter 6: NASA Press Conference
Sion Kamor returned to his office, dropped his suitcase on the table and collapsed into his levitating chair. He took a moment to look out the blue sky that feels refreshing to his mind and to keep him sane. Then, turn his attention to his computer screen, noted a hundred unread e-mails urgently demanding his presence in a press conference. This is the day the for memorial service for Kent.
As he went through a lot of press conference, he call it of a day he was sad because every journalist asked the same question over and over again. It keeps reminding him of the good days with Kent. At the moment, he's trying to figure out what happened to him and ways to rescue him. Examining through possible communication through Hades.
Still melancholy, suddenly he receive a called from Sharmane who works for SAP-COM which is the control center of communication satellites. Sharmane discovered photos of a stone formation in Mars where the Hab is located. The pictures were taken by a satellite hovering around the orbit of Mars and there's twelve of those that are powerful enough for examination to NASA. Thanks, to her Sion found out that Kent was still alive.
Chapter 7: Potato
Log Entry: Sol 63
Legolas successfully stabled the condition of the Hab. It kind of malfunctioning at the start of the, I don't know why but he is the man! (sort of). The potatoes are growing wohooo….tomorrow they are fully grown and I could make some tater tots, mash potato and all kinds of dish like potato. I know too cook there's a small electric stove here which allow me to cook something. I'm really looking forward to it because I'm eating the same thing over and over again. It's to add new to my taste buds.
As of now, I'm running out of time and my anxiety is growing. I ask Legolas on what sol would be the Zeus 4 mission will arrive. He calculated the days as well as how many sols it is. A big text pop-up in the computer screen, "About 1400 left.". Omigod! That long? How do I survive that? Well better start thinking then. Legolas recommended that I should get an RTG which is a source of heat. But why? I asked. Hmm.. you need to travel to Zeus 4 landing site to get supplies. He replied. Uhmm, ok then what? I insist. I can sense your sensation and it's decreasing due to depression and anxiety. If you want to survive a little longer, you need to do something. However, it will be hard to reach there landing site because it's 10,000 km away from here.
When said that "10,000 km away" I was just blank face and thinking how I'm supposed to live now. Although, that's very far I might have a chance. Legolas said, Ok just follow my instructions and you will be fine. Okay, I replied.
Log Entry: Sol 64
Ahhhh! I had a good meal and it's time for work. So what do I do Legolas? Okay seems like you're ready, he said. First you need a rover. Then, get the battery in rover 2 and put it in rover 1. To do that, your duty is to detached it using the tools in the tool box. Also, you pick up those solar panels in order for the batteries recharge during the day. Every two hours, do an EVA to exchange the batteries. Additionally, you need to test run it before you go. Get some supplies from the Hab as well as comfort during your expedition.
Log Entry: Sol 65
I did everything Legolas told me and I'm ready to go I call this mission Operation Bigfoot. Leggo
Chapter 8: News
(CNN STUDIO)
"Hello and Thank you for joining us Dr. Kamor (the director of Zeus mission in NASA) Allie Wallen said to the camera". "Today on CNN's Kent Bryan Report: Several EVAs over the past few days...what do hey mean? What progess has NASA made on a rescure mission? And how will this affect Zeus 4 mission?"
"A pleasure to be here, Allie." Sion said.
"Well first off, Kent might be survive a longer that he should because Legolas is there?" Allie's face seems confused. "Wait what who?" "Yes, Legolas is a Artificial Intelligence that has a capacity to help the Zeus 3 team in case they forgot something or having a critical emergency." Sion replied. "But why did the Zeus 3 mission leader use it?" Allie asked. "By the time Kent got hit it was too late." A moment of silence.
"Moving on, how was Kent doing?" Allie prompted. "We have Martian satellites that monitors Kent's movement every few minutes. Sometimes there's a gap, based on satellites orbit. Right now, hes preparing for a trip going into the Zeus 4 landing site to get supplies. As of right now, we're doing as much as we can to bring him home alive.
(NASA CONFERENCE ROOM)
Sharmane glance nervously around the conference room. She's never been here before along with doing a presentation to Sion for the updated photo's for the last 12 hours. She explain that Kent is on the move and is going somewhere. Sion suggest that Legolas must have something to do with this becasese that kid has no idea what he's doing. "Yeah, probably" Sharmane replied. Sion still analyzes where Kent is heading. He's doing a EVAs every two hours to exchange the batteries and continue his traveling. After an hour of researching and critical thinking, Sion came into conclusion that Kent is heading towards the Pathfinder which was lauched decades ago and it has a way to communicate back to Earth satellites which controlled by NASA. However, the problem is, if it does work.
Chapter 9: Operation Bigfoot
Log Entry: Sol 79
"Legolas check status." "Calculating...Situation: Traveled Distance=1800 km from the Hab, Destination= Less than 400 km." Almost there.
It's evening of my tenth day on the road. The Operation Bigfoot is pretty much sitting for hours and then charge a day and then EVA's. There's too much work, but i like sitting for a gamer is natural thing. Legolas is very helpful for the past months in here in Mars. Of course, he's been helping to survive and telling what do and I've been doing great. I can't even think why I agreed to participate in this mission. I missed playing games all day everyday in my room.
There's like limited space in this rover because of the supplies that I brought. The good part is I have my own music that I listen to right now but, all of the playlists is been repeated over and over again and I'm sick of it. I just wanted to get in my destination and put it in the rover and head back to the Hab. By the way, all of my shit and piss goes to the zip lock and put it in a large box that I brought so that I doesn't smell much. Also, I need it for the potato farm so that the soil will have more bacteria plus I'm the only source of it.
The RTG really really helps me to control the temperature in the rover because Mars is cold as shit and I need a warm source that wouldn't use much of the rover's battery for a long duration of time. The good thing is, I haven't encountered hills or big ass rocks. All I see or been on is a very flat dessert. So far, inside the rover have the food supplies, a toolbox, extra oxygen tanks,piles of carbon dioxide filters, large box of poo and pee, and a bunch of personal shit. Welp, I gotta rest, later peeeacee, night.
Log Entry: Sol 82
Yeah! Found it! Victory woohooo! THE PATHFINDER. Yup, Legolas was right, I gotta give credit to him, he's the brain and I'm his body. The two small hills are under a kilometer from the landing site. Even better, they were on the far side of the site. All I had to do was aim for them and I found the lander. It was like a ballon attached of it an some kind of metal. The lander was half-buried. With some quick and careful digging, the deflated balloons still lurked below the surface. After that, I tried dragging it but it was too heavy. So I asked Legolas. "There is a tool that can help you with that" he inquired. "What is it?" I said. "It is a cytoskeleton. It was developed by NASA to have a strength of equal to a 100 men." he said. "OH cool. Where can I find it?" I asked. "Its in the toolbox."
I picked up a suitcase that is half as large as a toolbox and I opened it. And there's with a transforming metal thing and I attached to to my suit and I directly covered me. I tried to jump and it launches me higher than 50 ft. Then, I grab the PathFinder, put it at the top of the rover. I removed the the cytoskeleton and put it in the suite case. Now it's time to head back to the Hab.
Chapter 10: Acquired
Log Entry: Sol 90
Three days ago, I was sore. I didn't even know that the cytoskeleton drain so much from me, no wonder I can't move the first day I wake up. But what's more important is, I got the Pathfinder. I tried turning it on but it doesn't work, probably because NASA send it decades ago. By the way, I here outside near the Hab. I got home two days ago. The hills made it possible to not get lost, and the terrain was smooth.
For the first time, I think, I might have a chance to leave this shit planet alive. It really sucks because I'm use to having phone or computer or internet all the time. However, I only got Legolas which is nice because he's keeping me alive. Back to where I was, Legeolas told me to do some EVAs and everything seems to be fine. Maybe Legolas made the Hab to auto pilot or some shit to regulate the Hab's atmosphere in order for the potatoes to survive. I dump all of my poo in the soil to have healthy bacteria on it.
I figured that there's no way I'm fixing this and called out Legolas. According to the data presented by him (which is I have no idea what I'm doing meme), it has a critical failure because of the lander. Maybe it just needs power. Power it couldn't get with its solar panels hopelessly caked with dust. Then, Legolas told me there's a secret space in the Hab where I can put the Pathfinder and he will do the job which things makes easier for me since I found him out. I push the blinking blue button and it opens up a sliding computer shelf which where Legolas located. After that, I use the cytoskeleton to carry the Pathfinder and put it in there. He said once it's fixed' he'll release a signal and put it back out.
Chapter 11: YES, YES, YES
(NASA Communication Room)
"*Beep...Beep...Beep* Wait what is this something's coming in ...yes...yes...yes...! It's the Pathfinder!" The crowded room burs into applause and cheers. Sion slapped the shit out the table and his hands are still vibrating while Truce the pumped his fist in the air. The ad-hoc Pathfinder control center was a n accomplishment in itself. Over a month, a team of KPL engineers tried their best to piece together antiquated computers, repair networks and install software just to get something from the Pathfinder its self. They've updated all the softwares that allowed the old system to interact with the modern Deep Galaxy Program.
Now all the engineers are working to someway manipulate the Pathfinder in order to connect it to Legolas.
Log Entry: Sol 97
It's been a while since I got the Pathfinder I think it's working. I don't know, when Legolas put it out, I pressed the button and the antenna starting moving and like a old computer like rebooting and stuff. This is the only way I can communicate because Legolas said all the main communication system to the Hades and Earth's satellites are broken due to the huge storm that hit me. Some way, somehow it work and its now firing strong signals back to Earth. Soon I'll be talking to someone again or somebody. I said to myself, finally rescue is coming, I'm sure that NASA's will find every possible way in order to get me out of here or at least until the Zeus 4 mission arrives.
The Pathfinder has an elongated camera on it and I'm not sure why maybe they wanted to take photo of Mars? Oh..wait why is it moving? What the hell..Maybe I'll right things up to let them know I'm alive and also questions to make sure they are really NASA. First, the camera move circular and the West, East,North and then South and then it stop. I put the Pathfinder outside the Hab and put up some posters of my questions and response. An hour later, started moving again and started answering my questions. Five seconds for Yes and No. And also putting more questions and so on.
Log Entry : Sol 99
Yesterday, I think I finally get the hang of it. Answering question and Legolas tried to fix something as well as going offline for a moment ten came back. I didn't know what to do but I'm pretty sure he's on to something again. Then, he instructed me to get some of the wires in the tools box and plug it into the Hab's main power source. So that, he will be able to be connected to the Pathfinder. Meanwhile, Legolas told me that NASA people are working on trying to send and email via signal bytes which is a lot stronger in the Pathfinder is outside and hook it up to the rover. If anything happens I have independent communication since Legolas get the data of the Pathfinder and also he's connected to the rover. So, everywhere I go he's with me even in the space suit.
After hooking the Pathfinder to the rover, it immediately receive an email which is presented into the screen in the rover. I answered questions and also as them back. It's quite fulfilling that I'm able to contact them. Thanks al lot Legolas. I'm very happy right now.
Chapter 12: Throwback
Kent slept peacefully in his bunk. He shifted slightly as some pleasant dream put smile on his face. He's done EVAs the previous day because that's what hes trained for a simple kid and all filled with lab-intensive Hab maintenance. So he's snoring loudly due to that fact that's he is pretty tired and his other team mates do the thinking. He slept deeper and better that everyone else had. "Get up, time for work!" said Grace.
Nez was first got out of the bed. He's an air force man and really stood his pride of becoming the part of this team. "Good Morning, Commander," he said crisply. On the other hand, Voiser is slow as a turtle taking as much time as possible to get out of his nest. Checking his watch, pulled on his jumpsuit and sighed inwardly. Feeling another day without a shower.
Everyone is all up and getting ready for breakfast. After they've ate, they got back to work of course. Voiser is monitoring all the status and weather, inside and outside. He called out that there's a storm heading towards the Hab and the strength of it is increasing. The Hab shook in the roaring wind as the astronauts huddled in the center. All six of them now wore their flight suits, in case they had to scramble for emergency take off the MAV.
In command, Grace tried to organize the team through this horrific storm. They aborted the mission and take the emergency route. Nez was the flight expert or the pilot of the craft, so he had to go first and I'm the last one. Suddenly a thing hit Kent, but everyone was successfully made it in to the MAV. Grace stayed a little bit longer while Voiser and Nez are monitoring the emergency lift off. Commander Grace work so hard but she lost the signal of Kent's flight suit. At that point, they have to go shocked and melancholy.
Four months later, they receive an invoice mail saying that Kent is still alive, all thanks to Legolas. The applause and very happy they do the whip and nae nae (signature move of Kent).
Chapter 13: Relief and Damage
Log Entry: Sol 114
I've been on and off on the Hab and try my best to keep them NASA people updated. For the past days, they keep checking very condition of the rover, myself, the potato farm and the Hab. I know, they're all trying to help me. I happy with that, but what's bugging me the most is the instructions they tell me. Sciencey, very, and I don't like it. I thought this is going to turn out fine, however it's not. I said to them, hey send all the data you want and Legolas can take care of it. They said ok with it but make sure to keep them updated.
I got messages from my parents and all other important person and I'm very delightful of having caring words from them that urging me to do more and survive longer until the rescue. In other news, I'm learning or reviewing a Morse Code which is very simple. It's the only backup communication system I have incase something happened. NASA figured a decades-old probe isn't ideal as sole means of communication.
If the Pathfinder broke out, I'll splee messages with rocks, which NASA will see with satellites. They can't reply, but at least we have one-way communication. Why Morse code? Because making dots and dashes with rocks is a lot easier than making letters. It's a shitty way to communicate. Hopefully it won't come up.
Log Entry: Sol 119
Airlock 1 slowly tearing apart from 0 to 100 real quick and it flew away. now to was merely boring chore before exiting the surface. The Have is breach. The full force of the Hab's atmosphere rushed through the breach. Kent was right about to enter the Hab and got blown away. He was rolling like a tumble weed in the dessert for like 10 meters an finally stop. The explosion was horrendous and he didn't expected it. His faceplate took the burnt of the blow, the safety glass shattered into hundreds of small cubes. He's now unconscious. Legolas tried to contact NASA but it wouldn't work. Trying his best, he run some EVA to the Rover and tried to contact them again, however, nothing is responding.
Regaining some of his sense, he look through the back door. The Hab was ripped apart and a junkyard of debris strewn across the landscape in front of it. A gash in his forehead trickled the blood down in his face. Then he looked out the window again. "Well shit, What the fuckity fuck fuck..shit."
Chapter 14: Reconstruction
Audio Log Transcript: Sol 119
Again, well shit! Here we go again two death row almost. I don't know what the fuck happened but something with the airlock, the Hab tearing apart. Also, the face of my space suit has a freakin hole in the center. I need to go to the rover quick. Fortunately, Legolas has been taking care of me while I'm unconscious. He quickly pulled the emergency breather for my space suit and allowed me to breath for 12 hours.
I got back to the rover. Some of the parts of the Hab are torn apart and somehow I need to fix it or NASA people would be worried. First, I made a Morse code stone in the wide dessert "I'm, Okay" so the satellites can see it. Second, I got back to the rover and start fixing my leaking space suit. I got the tool box immediately and got the duct tape. I don't know where the hole is but Legolas found it right away. Cut the duct tape, tape it in to the suit and boom, done, no leakage anymore. Next, fix the Hab, even though the damage is huge, the inside is okay at least and it's not completely ripped apart. Then, I checked the Pathfinder, it's not responding and the power is off. It must have something to do with the Hab. Maybe, it's power source is the Hab. Furthermore, I need to put back the Airlock, grabbing the tool box, I put on the cytoskeleton and I'm predicting a sore out of this and it will be effective in the next few day. I quickly put it where it belong and now I need to get sleep. So much happening in one day and I can't keep up.
Log Entry: Sol 121
Aaand I'm back! I got some good sleeps and then started working, patching and sticking some parts of the Hab. It's good to be back baby! Anyway, yesterday, we have so much to repair that I didn't have time to log in. First, is the Hab, I did some EVA and everything is working fine along with Legolas trying to reboot the system of the Hab and got it back for a few minutes. Equalizing the airlock went fine,The rupture had really sent thing flying. Oh yeah! By the way, the faceplate of my space suit wasn't patch up smoothly, so I had to look at a rippled, messed up version of the camera feed. Still, it was enough to see what's going on.
Some major problems to have in mind. My potato farm is dead. With a complete loss of pressure, most of the water boiled off. Also, the temperature was freezing and there's no way for them to survive that. When the Hab blew, the pop-tents depressurized as well. Now the potatoes are extinct on Mars. The food ration is not enough for me to last until Zeus 4 arrives. I gotta contact NASA people, if they could help me at least give me supply to last longer in Mars until help comes.
Chapter 15: Disappointment
(KPL people are worried but Kent message them back. They were scared about the explosion but the satellites got the message "I'm, Ok". Checking some malfunction however, Legolas explain everything happend and assess the situation.)
(NASA Conference Room)
"It's Sol 122" Truce said " We have until Sol 580" to get a probe to Mars. That's four hundred and sixty-two sols, which is four hundred and seventy days. But, the positions of Earth and Mars aren't ideal right now and this is makeing me crazy. We have to double up our work and shifts fast so that we can get the probe in time before Kent starve to death.
Everybody including the media was discussing of the probe that they were making. Involves accuracy and patience for both parties. They have gathered around the best engineers NASA have to work on this project. Any idea will counted as contribution to the project. The Mars coordinator name the project Iris. They have 38 days to work on the project and they need to increase the pace up. Discussions here and there to make sure everything is according to plan.
Now the project is done. Everybody and media is ready for the launch. However, there's something important that they skip because that might affect in the long run on the mission that is test run and inspection. Although they are a 90% percent sure but that 10% will have a huge impact. The count down was started and then it launched. For a couple thousand miles it was fine. Suddenly they reported one of the parts "shimmy". Though Iris was held in place by five large bolts, the force was directed entirely to single one. As soon as the Iris was reach 10,000 miles it collapsed. They loss the signal of it and the mission failed.
Chapter 16: Chance
Lee Sin, director of China National Space administration, examined the daunting pile of paperwork at his desk. In the old days, when China wanted to launch a rocket, they just launched it. now they were compelled by international agreements to warn other nation first. It was a requirement, Lee noted to himself, that did not apply to the United States. To be fair, the Americans publicly announced their launch schedules well in advance, so it mounted to the same thing. He walked a fine line filling out the form: making the launch date and flight path clear.
Under Director Xin Zhao came to the office of Lee sin. They are discussing about the Taeyang Shen could have a chance of saving Kent but the Americans didn't know about it because of its secrecy. However, the decision is up to the State Council. On the other hand, Lee is planning to propose the Taeyang Shen in exchange for a Chinese astronaut joining the Zeus 5 mission and that will ensure the approval of it.
Rick got an idea and reported to Sion immediately. They could use Taeyang Shen as a booster thanks to their Chinese friends. Rick gave his summary to Sion and skimmed through it. As he read it, his eyes are getting wider, and confirm that they would be able to do with Hades.
Then Sion assemble his crew. Told about everything about Rick's idea to them and wait for Jayce decision the head coordinator of Mars missions. Truce was very opinionated about it and have minor argument within in the group. Jayce called it out a day, and have to make their final decision.
The Zeus 3 crew was just chilling. Voiser is like their software engineer doing some EVA stuff on the Hades. After that, he's checking through his e-mails. Some message through the NASA people and a jpeg file that he can't open. He called their computer expert and run through it. It's an instructions of code labels the Rick Maneuver , it explains the Hades to pass by Mars and dropped off Kent supplies until Zeus 4 arrives. All of the Zeus 3 crew read through it and it's up to Commander Grace decision. Have a low chance of risking five lives or a high chance of killing one life. Everybody's face was enlighten with a smile as they went to their bed to sleep.
Meanwhile, Jayce was enraged and directly went to Truce's office. He said "You send it didn't you, I knew you would, that was not the plan!". "Whatcha gonna do about it, you have no proof? You're just a coward and you don't care about Kent's life". Truce replied. "Of course, I do but this is mutiny, NASA rejected it, yet you still Ugghhh! Imma find a proof the you did it and you'll have to pack you things out of here! "Jayce said. "OK" Truce smiled.
Chapter 17: Another Step
Log Entry: Sol 192
Wait what! Holy shit! They're coming back for me? Yay! I don't even know how to react. I'm choked up! And I've got a shitload of work to do before I catch that bus home. They can't orbit. If I'm not mistaken but they can pass by all they can do is wave. I have to get to Zeus 4's MAV. Even NASA accepts that. And when the nannies at NASA recommend a 3200-kilometer overload drive, you know you're in trouble.
Anyhoo, Hades and Commander Grace is now working on the Mars flyby mission to get me supplies for the Zeus 4 arrives. So I need modifications to the MAV and the rover. But first we have the rover, somehow or some way I need to have enough supplies to get to the Zeus 4 MAV. The rover need to carry all my food, water, solar cells, extra battery , toolbox or the tools, some spare parts and the Pathfinder. This is a lot! the rover would weigh over a ton but it can manage to carry it with great torque thanks to the NASA people. Now what? Legolas analyze all the possible way to do it. The rover need structuralal changes to it. Also, I'm gonna be there for a long time and the rover needs oxygenator, atmospheric regulator and the water reclaimer.
Sion Kapur have exchanging conversations with Legolas and I didn't even bother looking at it because it's all science and shit. I just the whatever Legolas told and I will be fine. He told me to drill and cut a hull in rover structural changes to be able to carry those things. So I got two drills and put it in the secret shelf for Legolas to modify it for longer duration of time and stability of the drills plus taking a little time to recharge it. Just follow the instructions and I'll be good to go.
Log Entry : Sol 196
I've been drilling for the past days and I'm almost have way done. Suddenly it happened, without me noticing it and Legolas wasn't notifying it he should've have told me! The drill was not working so then I have to trouble shoot it. Done that, its back working again. I reported it to the Pathfinder for an update what I'm doing although I have a feeling something is wrong, I'm not sure what. Usually NASA replies immediately, however, this time it's been over thirty minutes and nothing is responding. Legolas was working on something and then turn his attention to the Pathfinder. Later, he found out the wires inside the Pathfinder was burnt off due to the peer traveled from the drill line's positive lead, through the Pathfinders's hull. Now, I lost contact too Earth, I'm fucked and all alone AGAIN!
Chapter 18: Preparation
Log Entry: Sol 197
Ughh! So boring! WHY WHY ME?! I swear when I GET back to the EARTH! I'll do sleep, play games, eat, shit , repeat! I'm tired of this BUllshit! The chances are high with the Pathfinder but now IT"S GONE! Shit man! NOT ENJOYING IT! I'll send them a MORSE CODE then. "PF DEAD FOREVER IT GOT BURN PLANNING GOING MAV 4.". That'll do it. Legolas and I continued to work on this another project and leaving this fucking planet that will never let me fucking go!
In any case, I'm or we still working on how do I get the rover carry the atmospheric regulator, oxygenator and the water reclaimer (by the way, you may be wondering how do I know these things? well Legolas told me everything and I tried to label all of it, this is a real life SURVIVAL game on very shit fucking hard mode.). These delicate items are very critical for the long travel. And also I need to add the RTG which is the heater because Mars is cold as shit.
Log Entry: Sol 200
Legolas has been telling me instructions all the time and surprisingly I can do all of it of course with the help of the cytoskeleton. It's been weeks that I've been working on rover modifications. Now it's time to relax. Let me tell you, long ago, the first thing that I did when I got the Pathfinder is sending me a full game of any arcade games in the 21st century and download it by bytes. And yeah it works! I've been wanting to play it since I got it but I'm smart, I save it when the time come. Also, I made a hot tub! with the RTG! It was designed to sit or lay on it with the personalized keyboard and mouse. The perfect combination of relaxation. I don't have to worry the the planet is trying to kill me and enjoy!.
Log Entry: Sol 207
Yeah! Feeling better now reliving all the stress the preparations are almost done. Legolas did calculations and I did all the outside work. I've been in and out in the tub while playing the games I like. I put some message to them "FELLING FINE. CONTINUING TO PREPARE." Now back to work, the solar cells were still detached from the potato farm so I had to remove it to the rover to have recharging power. In addition to that, I've spent the day removing unnecessary crap from the rover and the trailer (which I've been working on for storage). Of course, the more crap, the more space and storage for each of them. If I hadn't cleared the useless shit out earlier today, I'd never have gotten them both in.
According to my calendar, the Hades supply probe from China was being launched today. I hope the crew don't screw up, like please SAVEE MEE! Good luck, guys, we all are the best!
Chapter 19: Supply Probe
The Zeus 3 crew was having conversations with their love ones. First, Commander Grace with her boyfriend. They find an amusing original hit from the 1970's people. Next is Voiser, talking to her wife feeling melancholy without him. Checking on their children but everything seems to be fine. Nez is proud father, Mary his wife are having a face cam with each other. They missed each other so much that they have teary eyes. Plus, he's said all of the crew volunteered to save Kent and there's nothing to worry about. Jinx (she is their maintenance EVA, part of the crew and also computer smart) having a desolation with her father. Her mom was worry about her and she wants her to come back. It's affecting their relationship without her. However, she leaves an important message specifically for her mom.
"Crrck, Crrck" Dr. Sion Kapur cracking his head. After a long flight with Jayce, they finally reached Chin where the Taiyang Shen should be launch. Entering this huge Beijing Capital International Airport's Terminal 3, they met Jarvan Tao there tour guide. They head straight to Jiquan where the control room is. The hospitality of the People's Republic of China are the best.
The Chinese had arranged a small conference room for the Americans to work in. The cramped conditions were luxurious by Jiquan standards. Then, Sion got an interview in CNN news about the launch of Taiyang Shen. Explaining how will the Zeus 3 handle the supply probe properly and Major will pilot it. Meanwhile, the American and Chinese engineers cheered together at Jiquan Mission Control. The main screen showed that Taiyang Shen was successfully launched as its deafening roar dwindled to a distant rumbling thunder. Everybody is happy and now its time for the Zeus 3 crew to show off.
The crew pulled it off, amazingly. Everybody was very accurate and coordinated for this probe will help their most beloved teamate who is stuck in Mars. The Hades was in perfect position and the docking was complete. The probe drifted gently to the docking port. It capture boom, a long metal triangle, entered the port's funnel, scraping slightly along the edge. Once it reached the port's retractor mechanism , it orients the probe automatically. The computer reported SUCCESS.
Chapter 20: Alteration Complete
Log Entry: Sol 376
Ahhh! Done, finally! Modification complete. However, there's a lot of things to do. The cytoskeleton(it's a wearable robot thing that looks like a skeleton that allow you to cover you entire body) is very helpful to me. Although it's drains a lot of your energy after you use it while in a space suit. Oh yeah, I finish the drillin hole with a Pathfinder murdering drill. I'm still not over it, even though there's no way to bring it back specially going to a long trip.
Next is having a space where I can relax, not in the rover, the only option I have is the pop-tents. I let Legolas handle and modify it to the point where I can sit there and just play games with my laptop. Also, I make sure that I transfer all the data in the rover so that I can bring Legolas along with me. And then, the heat regulator which is the RTG that will be placed somewhere in the rover. Somewhere it could maintain the heat because Mars is cold as fuck.
Of course being an alone stupid ass, I don'y want my travel to be stressful so I told Legolas and begging him to atleast have plan on how are we gonna travel to the Zeus 4 MAV location. Because shit happens dude! I don't wanna die yet! Nyaaa!
Log Entry: Sol 390
Yep my bad! Legolas have many homework that is assign to me and I've been working hard on it. I'm done prepping the rover. Here are some supply that I will bring with me.
Food: 1710 potatoes. Vitamin pills and ration meal packs.
Water: 625 liters.
Shelter: Rover, Trailer, Pop-modified-Tent.
Air: 14 liters of liquid Oxygen, 14 liters of liquid Nitrogen.
Power: 36 kilowatt-hours of storage, Carrying capacity for 30 solar cells.
Heat: RTG somewhere in the rover that maintain the heat.
Entertainment: Arcade Games, Oh yeah...
Chapter 21: Testing
Log Entry: Sol 431
I'm working out how to pack. It's harder that it sounds. I have two pressure vessels: the rover and the trailer. They're connected by hoses, but they're also not stupid. Id one loses pressure, the other will instantly seal off the shared lines. There's a grim logic to this: If the rover breaches, I'm dead. No point in panning around that. But if the the trailer breaks, I'll be fine. That means I should put everything important in the rover. Everything that goes in the trailer has to be comfortable in near the vacuum and freezing temperatures. Not that I anticipate that, but prepare for the worst.
Back at NASA satellite control, Sharmane Lawn (the nerd girl who discovered the Kent is alive), was told by Dr. Sion Kapur that to switch her attention to Kent only since the Pathfinder broke. Sion said that her job was to stalked Kent for 24 hours and keep him updated for the rest of her life(not really just until he came back to Earth). She will get a promotion or raised after being helpful and contributed a lot of information about Kent in Mars.
In the meantime, Kent and Legolas are testing the rover and double-checking everything such as the supplies, the trailer, tools, batteries, pop-tent and the RTG. Look pretty good and also an extra laptop for gaming while recharging the batteries.
Sion Kapur has a bad news for the team, and scientists say that there's a huge dust storm that will be approaching Kent's way. They wish they could tell Kent but the Pathfinder is gone and Kent in only communicating by the Morse code.
This is it, no coming back to the Hab and its time go on a long journey dead or alive he must overcome it with Legolas on his side and I'm sure Legolas with find a way to get to the Zeus 4 MAV in time.
Chapter 22: Kick Off
Log Entry: Sol 458
I started along time ago and its like 20 sols.
Marwth Vallis! I'm finally here! Actually, it's not an impressive accomplishment. I've only been traveling for ten sols. But it's a good milestone. So far, the rover and my ghetto life support are working admirably. At least, as well as can be expected for equipment being used ten times longer than intended. Today is my second Air day(the first was five sols ago). When I put this scheme together, I figured Air Days would be awful boring. But now I look forward to them. They're my days off.
Legolas is sensing something but I didn't notice it and I don't care anyway. Meanwhile, in the CNN Report Dr. Sion said that there will be huge invisible swarm coming in ten days."But whats the problem with that?" Cathy said. "The problem is the rover and solar cell will not enough power to reach his destination and we cant send it to Legolas or warned him about it."Sion replied.
Log Entry: Sol 466
I pass Marwth Vallis, it was a smooth ride nothing crazy happen. I'm in Arabian Land now. There's gonna be a lot of crater to go around. But this is my recharging time, I pop-up the tent and play games on my laptop. In the meantime, in the Hades station, they received an update about Kent's status. He is gonna be in a swarm of Vel'koz(which means tiny aliens with tails in Latin). They don't attack or do anything bad to Kent but it will limit the recharging of the solar cells. Also, the rover won't go any further and he get suck in the storm.
Log Entry: Sol 473
There's something odd about the solar cells recharging. It didn't get a hundred percent last night and now it's in 89 percent. I look up and see the big round sun, I wonder why. I started to do an EVA on it and everything is fine. Due to curiousness, I asked Legolas and he said he's detecting a Huge swarm that ranges 100,000 kilometers by 90,000 kilometers. I said" how far are we in?". He replied "were about 10% inside it and we need to go southeast to avoid it". Ok, so just tell me what to do and go tell NASA people that where in the swarm. I put " INSIDE SWARM, REROUTING".
Chapter 23: Redirection
Log Entry: Sol 476
Ok, I'll just have to drive South East and were good to go, but WHERE IS THE SOUTH EAST? It's all dessert in here and I don't have a compass and some shit. LEGOLAS You're on! "Aye Aye, on it!" he said. "Good"
I'm on the very edge of the swarm. I don't know it's size or heading. But it's moving, and that's something I can take advantage of. I don't have to wander around exploring it. I'll come to me. The swarm is blocking the sunlight; it's not dangerous to the rover. I can think of it as "percent power loss." I checked yesterday's power generation, and it was 95 percent optimal. So right now, it's a 10 percent swarm.
Legolas just explained it to me. They don't attack like they used to because they are migrating to another area. I was thinking about shooting them with our personalized laser cannon but my request decline by him. It would cause a great disaster and I don't want that to happen of course. Now, we're trying to work on where to drive because if Legolas don't know how big the swarm is, I just have to drive where the arrow on the screen points.
Log Entry: Sol 484
Woo! We are out! Been driving for fucking days. Awesome Legolas did it again, I thought we'll be trap there forever. Being a gamer is fucking useless on trying to survive in Mars. The struggle is real brah! Today's regen was a hundo percent. I don't know were I went but thank God were outta there. It's time to check where is the Zeus 4 MAV and how far it is, hmmm. "Legolas can you tell me where are we now?" I asked." We are about 300 kilometers away from the MAV and actually, in full speed we will be able to reach it by eleven sols." He replied. Alright! Let's do this! I coming home baby! woohoo!.
Kent's staring at the vast deserted surface of Mars. His eyes turns sleepy. He went around the smaller sand dunes and carefully crested the larger ones. He took care of every turn, every rise or fall in elevation, and every boulder in his path. Suddenly, young one did notice anything until he realize it's too late. The trailer titled and the rover's front wheel sank. Now the rover is on it's side but the trailer is upside down due to the sudden tilt. The hard soil abruptly gave away resulting for the traveler to be like a tumble weed inside the washing machine.
Chapter 24: Tip Over
(NASA Department)
They stared at the satellite image on the projection on the screen. Sharmane pointed out to them that the rover is on it's side.
Log Entry: Sol 498
Things didn't go well on the descent into the Demacian Valley. To give you some indication of how unwell they went, I'm reaching out to Legolas to put this for me. Because it's still mounted near the control panel, and the rover is on its side. I got bounced around a lot, but I'm a well-honed machine(not really) in the time for crisis. As soon as the rover toppled, I curled into a ball and cowered. That's the kind of action hero I am(sort of).
Chapter 25: Made It
Log Entry: Sol 505
I finally made it! I'm at the Zeus 4 MAV! Well, right this second, I'm back in the rover. I did go into the MAV to do a systems check and boot-up. I had to keep my EVA suit on the whole time because there's no life support in there just yet. It's going through a self-check right now, and I'm feeding it oxygen and nitrogen with hoses from the rover. This all part of the MAV's design. It doesn't bring air along. Why would it? That's a needless weight when you'll have a Hab full of air right next door.
Chapter 26: It's Over Now
They gathered.
Everywhere on Earth, they gathered. In Trafalgar Square and Tiananmen Square and Times Square, they watched on the giant screens. In offices, they huddled around computer monitors. In bars, they stared silently at the TV in the corner. In homes, they sat breathlessly on their couches, their eyes glued to the story playing out. In Chicago, a middle-aged couple clutched each other's hands as they watched. The man held his wife gently as she rocked back and forth out of sheer terror. The NASA representative knew not to disturb them, but stood ready to answer any questions, should they ask.