Log 0071—Day Cycle 44
I found something. I was reading through Bart Torgal's records to keep my mind off my impending death. I can't understand most of it, but one thing I could understand – there is a cure. Or part of one, at least. Bart was studying Peepers of all things, those little fish. Some of them seem to exude some sort of fluorescent enzyme trail, which is too complex to synthesize with emergency supplies. Most importantly, it seems to inhibit the infection. And they had a handful of them swimming in the Alien Containment tank.
I couldn't stand. But I dragged myself over to the specimen container, opened the tiny airlock, and fell inside. And then I lay there, half-conscious, breathing through the Ultra Capacity Air Tank, for hours. I woke up again when the tank buzzed that it was running low on air, and felt better. Significantly better. My head wasn't spinning as much, the pustules seemed to have shrunken somewhat, faded into a duller green.
I climbed back out, able to move more or less normally again. We took scans, and the virus is definitely still there, but it's suppressed, at least for a while.
This is my new world now, everything measured in relation to how far away it is from this tank.
The Degasi crew still had supplies here, some nutrient blocks in case of emergency, which this definitely qualifies for. I'm going to take an inventory of the base now and think on my next moves.
Log 0072—Day Cycle 45
A new day, and with even this faint hope I'm back in action. I spent the rest of yesterday thinking, followed by a big meal and another bath with the Peepers before sleep.
They won't cure me, but all indications point to it being able to keep the virus from getting worse for as long as I can keep getting that enzyme.
I've done a full inventory of the Seabase. Because they couldn't grow enough food to keep up with their rate of consumption they'd been relying on fishing extensively, so there's not much in the way of grow beds. Even if there were, it all would have died when the base was punctured. They do have two Water Filtration Machines though, which is perfect. The science equipment isn't going to be of much use to me, so I'll clear out that section and use it for grow beds. The Nuclear Reactor is still good, and the living quarters are serviceable.
All in all, this will be a good base.
I've also done more thinking about the bigger picture. After thinking long and hard, I've come to a realization. The weapon system guarding this planet – it's not really a weapon, it's a Quarantine Enforcement Platform. It didn't fry me when I got close to it because it's not designed to hurt people, it's designed to stop anyone coming or going. The thing that grabbed my arm and probed it was checking to see whether I have the disease or not. That suggests that I might be able to shut it down if I don't have the disease.
Now I know this is a long shot, but the pieces are starting to make sense. The Alien facilities aren't multiple facilities, they're all one massive facility. The thermal power station powered the Quarantine Enforcement Platform, as well as the research facility and the Containment Facility. They were trying to find a cure, possibly researching this very same enzyme.
Even the weapon designed to blow up most of the solar system – it's a virus containment measure of last resort.
So that's what we need to do. We found records that the main research center was around eight hundred meters down. That's the next big picture goal.
In order to get there, I'll need to secure this base, set it up for longer-term habitation, and then find a way to make the Alien Containment mobile. As for the base, I'm pretty sure all those Crabsquids are around because they're eating the remains of that Reaper. If I can find it and get rid of it, that should prevent them from coming back. That should secure this area. Step one.