Sol 114

770 kTi

Two new developments. The first is that the slot canyons are a lot smaller than I had initially expected. The second is that a whole fucking space station has crashed here.

At this point I'm entirely convinced that there's something sketchy happening here. Something is making all these things crash, and Sentinel sent me here because of it. Maybe they found some alien civilization buried under the surface here, and they want to make it easier to investigate it. At this point I don't even care as much about terraforming anymore. I want to know what the hell is happening.

So that's my main goal. I have access to some blueprints for seed spreaders, so I'll put those around as I travel. The lirma will be perfect, it won't grow well in these circumstances but it will grow and that's still something. Once the plants get going it'll be a positive feedback loop: the plants liberate gases that help the atmosphere take shape, which helps plants grow better, and so on.

That's the latest plan, until then I'm going to start exploring. When I do, I'll probably start understanding what the hell is going on here. I don't have a plan for where to go, but I do know where I can go from here.

Sol 115

793 kTi

There's been an update. I've spent the last two days poking around in the data blocks of this station, and I was able to pull out something useful: a schematic for a rover. It's a piece of shit rover that can't go very fast, but its primary virtue is that I won't have to walk as much anymore. That'll save me calories. It also has basic life support systems, so that means less oxygen used. In all, it triples my travel range.

If there's anything else I can get out of this wreck I can go back for it later. I've got more than enough of what I need right now, and more importantly I have a mission.

I can't explain what it feels like. I don't think I'd realized just how much of a fugue I'd gotten into, with how dull everything was even after salvaging those data files to have something to entertain myself. But now I actually want to do something and it's making my brain tingle. Almost like it's ready to dance.

Today I'll head back to Beta Base, and once I do everything will be focused on getting the rover up and running. I think I can break down one or two redundant systems, and once I do then it's all good from there.

Sol 116

813 kTi

Alright, the upside: I got the rover built. I did have to end up using my only other unit of uranium for it, but it's worth it. Four wheels, a roof, and a door. It's an immediate improvement over walking.

The downside: this rover is a piece of shit. It turns out I was wrong about the life support systems. It doesn't even have oxygen support built into it. I'm sure I could eventually rig something up, but it means that everything is limited by oxygen supplies again. That being said, it's still a step up. Not walking means using less oxygen anyways. And if nothing else it's got a basic nuclear battery, so its range is effectively infinite without having to worry about charging.

For once I'm not completely put out by things falling short of my expectations. Because honestly, this is still leagues better than anything else I've got. Even if I do have to carry oxygen with me, I can drive without having to walk. That's honestly kind of a shame if I'm honest, because my thighs are spectacular right now.

Once I was able to fabricate the rover, the rest of the day was spent just driving it around and getting used to it. There's a bit of extra space on the back of it, so I was able to load up a chest. I could have just dragged around the same a-frame that I'd been using like a trailer but the more drag this rover has the slower it goes, and at this point everything counts. So I'll drive it like a pickup truck.

Sol 117

830 kTi

Another test today, this time across the lakebed where I'd landed. Alpha Base is still there, obviously, so it was a nice little visit back to when I was condemned. I still remember the landing process. That spot where the bruise was is still a little sore.

The rover did just fine. It can handle the rockier terrain, and the incline into and out of the basin was well within its ability. Tomorrow is a much longer trip, I'm going out to the base by the crashed warp gate. I forgot what I called it...

Sol 117 (2)

831 kTi

Had to go back and check, I called it Eta Base. So tomorrow I'm going to drive out to Eta Base, which should be doable in a single Sol now that I have this thing. I won't have to stop to rest, or get food, or even really stop to swap out oxygen canisters. The logistics of travel just got so much easier.

Once I get to Eta Base I think that I'll go north. Haven't explored that direction yet. I do remember seeing something big that way, but the dust was getting in the way. So now I'll finally be able to get around to it.

Oh also, one more interesting bit. When I was going across the lake bed, my rover left tracks behind it. Not like marks in the dust, but like it was sinking into the dirt a bit. That wouldn't be too notable if it weren't hardpan clay, left behind when the lake dried up. The soil is getting softer, which in this case means that there's water slowly starting to leach into it. Still not nearly enough to actually refill the basin, but I am getting closer to rain being a thing, at least.

That having been said, when I came back outside the rover was covered in a thin film of ice. Condensation. I'm starting to get close to the threshold for Rain at 875 kTi, and the closer I get the more saturated the air is getting. I'm starting to get morning dew now.

Ghillie had managed to sneak out another few bits of data, data that Riley was busy sorting through. The topographic data was useful, if nothing else, because it helped him to understand the general layout of the planet. He could manage to sort out most of it, but there were inconsistencies all over the place.

This planet was unusually well-surveyed for being just a random rock in the middle of nowhere. He'd come to expect that by now. Right now, everything surprising was expected. What he wanted to know more than anything was why Sentinel was so focused on this planet.

Today, at least, he'd managed to find something innocuously labeled as ᴛᴇʀʀᴀɪɴ_3(ғɪɴᴀʟ), which would make the process of actually collating everything that much easier. All the data was maddeningly incomplete, something that he'd never known to happen. He knew why, at least, all that remained was to figure out what exactly it was they were trying to hide.

With the data imported, he let the program collate the two other files and put out a complete package of data...and then it didn't. Somehow, adding more data had meant that certain parts of the template were suddenly missing again. Very specific points, at that. So even if he didn't know what they were, he did know where they were.

"Alright, Sentinel, let's see what we've got here." He cracked his knuckles and got to work going after the corrupted data blocks in the file. Picking one at random, he started to sort through it and put the different bits back in the correct order. It was somewhat shoddy file blocking, but then again he supposed that anyone who did have access to these files wouldn't have needed to block them off that much.

Although it was taking far longer than he'd expected it to. And once it was finished, his computer crashed. This was either intentional or just the data being so screwed up. Even then, though, he had managed to pull a few bits of useful information. Or it seemed useful, at least, but it was extremely odd. The readings for pressure, temperature, and life content were all wrong.

It was probably just an error.