Sol 66

103 kTi

I'm not dead! That should be obvious, but it's still great to be able to say it. Plus, I got most of my haul from the Harinth back to Beta Base. I think that this is technically considered piracy since the ship was military, but everyone's written the ship off and it's not like anyone was trying to recover materials from it anyways. And either way, if I have committed some kind of crime then they'll probably agree to pardon me once I finish the terraforming.

And I will finish the terraforming, so help me god. I've gotten a lot farther than most people ever had. There's a small record available of the past actions of Planet Crafters like me, and very few ever got over the 100,000 hurdle, much less the 10,000 mark. I can at least claim that, if nothing else. I think that the only guy who ever actually ended up getting this far and failing was because of a gamma ray burst that basically wiped all his progress out in one go, and that one was just sheer dumb luck.

There were 18 other guys who were sent out when I was. Wonder how many are still around. For all I know someone else has been much more successful than me. It's not totally likely, but then again it also wasn't likely that I'd have made it this far.

The thought occurs to me that I really should figure out how to work out some more advanced form of communications. I mean, I can't really send outbound messages even if I did, but being able to get more in-depth forms of messages would be a major help.

So I'm scrolling into the blueprints I have, and I've got one for a communication antenna. It'll do the trick, I just need to boost my power output right now. I finally have enough in the way of uranium to get a nuclear reactor set up. The design is honestly kinda primitive. This is the kind of thing that homesteaders use when they're just starting out with colonizing a planet, not powering entire terraforming arrays. Ah well, needs must. It's marked as Tier 1, though, so hopefully I'll get better versions later.

Riley had been careful about logging into the communications array. He'd spaced it out, enough that anyone might just think it was a one-off mistake, maybe someone with actual credentials borrowing someone else's workstation. There was rarely anything to actually see, but it was still important to keep track of things.

Seeing that Asher had crossed the 100,000 threshold made him smile. It was always significant whenever a Planet Crafter got that far, so much so that the holonet was already buzzing about it. Most of it was speculation. It wasn't as if there were cameras following a Planet Crafter around or a lot of direct reference for people to look at, nor did Sentinel or anyone else make a big deal out of it. In another time, they might have turned the whole thing into a spectacle, but then again, terraforming wasn't the most exciting thing most days. A lot of walking around and putting up buildings to make a planet more liveable.

He decided to chance another login today. As usual, nothing major...but then, a blip. It was an automated message, indicating that a more advanced communication system had been set up on a planet and more advanced directives could be sent out. He had to stifle a smile as he quickly logged back out again. If he sent a message right away, right as Asher had gotten his antenna online, it'd raise suspicions. It'd have to come later.

For now though, Riley was confident that Asher was going to make it. Only a handful of Planet Crafters had ever gotten this far, and at this point odds were good he was going to make it. For the time being, he directed his attention back towards the planet information screen. Everything was progressing normally, as expected. Power output was nominal.

Or...wait a minute...

Sol 67

104 kTi

The antenna is up and running. The workstation I have in Beta Base is updated too, so now I can go through my messages a bit more thoroughly. I got a message right away, as expected it was purely an automated thing from Sentinel telling me the usual stuff. "Keep up the progress, you're being monitored, don't try to talk to anyone", yadda yadda. Either way, it's better to have the antenna around just in case. Luck favors the prepared.

Without a whole lot else to do to distract myself from the tedium, I decided to spend some time trying to make the inside of my base look a bit more homey. There's only so much that I can really do for that. There's a few bits of furniture in here, the bed being one, but interestingly there's also blueprints for a couch. That'll be useful for entertaining, what with all my guests just coming and going.

It's still nice to have something for the purposes of sitting, at least, and I have a good amount of fabric from salvaging the Harinth so there's plenty of that. I even took some of the spare fabric and made some ersatz curtains for when I feel like shutting out the world.

I also thought to try and draw something. I've basically never drawn in my life, because I'm terrible at it, but right now I really need to look out for my mental health, and any manner of creative outlet will help me feel grounded. I don't exactly have any art supplies, so I just got a square of fabric and a chunk of dirt. What came out was probably the closest I can get to a self-portrait without something more reflective, and even then it only looks like me inasmuch as a pile of small rocks can be said to look like Stonehenge. But hey, it's something. Maybe if I get something better to draw with I'll be able to make something a little more substantive.

It's weird to think, but right now things are going okay even considering my situation. I mean, I could feasibly just sit here and kinda relax. I've got enough food salvaged for 200 Sols, but more importantly I'm close to being able to grow more. I haven't even said the best part yet: I finally found some seeds when I was salvaging the Harinth. Bean seeds. Nothing special, but if I get those growing they can supplement the food packs practically indefinitely.

At this point, with the new drills up and running, I think that I should give more thought to trying to explore a bit more. If nothing else, the mental stimulus will be worth the extra calories expended, and I can get to know this planet a bit more.

There's obviously a bunch of ways that things can still go wrong, of course. Thinking about them is still good, because the more things I come up with that could possibly happen to me, the more that I can prepare for. It might be paranoid, but it's good to indulge in a bit of paranoia every now and again. Fear is what keeps us alive in situations like this. That and a bunch of other things, but fear is probably the most visceral.

Sol 68

106 kTi

Got a new message today. Don't think I was supposed to.

Planet Crafters aren't supposed to send outgoing messages or contact anyone. Apparently someone decided the rules were worth breaking.

Tᴏ ᴡʜᴏᴍ ᴡɪʟʟ ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ ᴛʜɪs ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ

I'ᴍ ᴀ 'Pʟᴀɴᴇᴛ Cʀᴀғᴛᴇʀ' sᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ Mɪɢᴏʀɪᴀ-III Pʟᴀɴᴇᴛ.

Iғ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴄᴇɪᴠᴇ ᴛʜɪs, ɪᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴs ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴇᴀʀ. Mᴀʏʙᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ 'Pʟᴀɴᴇᴛ Cʀᴀғᴛᴇʀ' ᴀs ᴡᴇʟʟ…

Tʜᴇ ᴡᴇᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ɪs ᴀᴛʀᴏᴄɪᴏᴜs ᴀɴᴅ I'ᴍ ʀᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏғ ʀᴇsᴏᴜʀᴄᴇs, ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪs ɴᴏᴛ ᴇɴᴏᴜɢʜ ᴏɴ ᴛʜɪs ʙᴀʀʀᴇɴ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛᴇʀʀᴀғᴏʀᴍ ɪᴛ

I ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜʏ I ᴄʜᴏsᴇ ᴛʜɪs, ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴀɴᴛ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛʜɪs ʜᴇʟʟ.

Iғ ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ ᴄᴀɴ sᴇɴᴅ ᴍᴇ ʜᴇʟᴘ, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴅᴏ.

The message was from Convict GP-8971-Y. I met him on the shuttle to this planet. He was going on to a planet beyond mine, which I guess was Migoria-III. I talked with him for a bit. Seemed like a decent guy.

He told me his name. I can't remember his name.

I wish I remembered his name.

I can't send messages. I can't send help. But I'm thinking of you, man. Even if no one else in the galaxy is thinking of you, one random bastard on a godforsaken rock in the middle of nowhere is thinking of you.

Sol 69

108 kTi

Carlos. His name was Carlos.