‘Attention, Drone 72-A maintenance required’
“Not again” groaned Devin, ”How many times can these fucking machines break down?”
He pulled out his maintenance log and selected Drone 72-A.
… Possible electrical fault …
You’d think that they would send better drones than these, especially on such an important job. “Sigh” Either way it’s work and that’s what I signed up for.
The drone buzzed overhead and settled down next to Devin on the workbench. He flipped the protective cover off and linked his diagnostic pad into the data stream.
… Electrical Fault in Bi-Directional Navigation Unit …
It’s always the same thing he thought, poorly fabricated with low grade materials.
Luckily for him it was a simple fault to rectify, the drones were poorly made but they were easy enough to fix.
This expedition had given Devin access to more technology fabrication possibilities than he was used to. He turned back to his maintenance log and entered in a request for the new Navigation Unit.
… Order received …
… You are 27th in the queue with a probable wait time of 45 minutes …
… Your order will be delivered directly to your workbench …
Devin stood up and made his way out to the walk way.
This space station was something else, instead of being fully enclosed the lower levels looked down directly to the planets surface. A new transparent polymer mesh gave the impression that there was nothing between you and space, not a place for the faint of heart. Drones maneuvered back and forward in a frantic symphony of construction. Fabrication and Drone AI had revolutionized the space construction business, access to raw material captured in space by private companies had allowed a construction boom like no other. There were limitations though, drones had to be regularly maintained and supervised due to the technology being so new, but there was no choice, construction of this space station would have taken a lifetime a few years back but now with the use of 50,000+ drones the this part of the station would be ready in a matter of months. Where people need rest drones do not - 24 hours a day 7 days a week constant construction.
There were bits of work that needed a more hands on approach but that would be what was left for the next crew.
… Buzz, Beep …
… Buzz, Beep …
… Incoming call…
Devin looked down to his maintenance log.
… Anders - Station Control …
“I wonder what he wants” thought Devin.
With a click Anders appeared.
“Hey Devin, we are noticing some issues with the polymer in sector 7F, it looks like you may need to manually reset the energy matrix”
“You want me to walk out onto the polymer and reset it? Are you sure thats safe?” Said Devin.
“Absolutely man, I’ve done it hundreds of times, it’s an easy 5 minute job”
Devin sighs “Ok, Ok I’ll get to it soon - if I do this favor for you can you push my maintenance fab through? I’m still 27th in the queue and I don’t want to be waiting around all night again.”
“Sure man, I’ll see what I can do for you… Oh and don’t forget tomorrow night - were getting together for some of the genuine moonshine Richards brought with him. You know what he’s like if everyone doesn't show up.”
“Yeah, yeah I’ll be there. I’ll report in when I’ve reset the matrix”.
Devin ends the call and puts his log back into his pocked. Resetting polymer id a straight forward job but to do it you have to walk out onto it and to the nearest conduit.
Devin turned and made his way down the walkway outside of his office, the walkways were not fancy just a simple steel path with a safety rail, and the end was a single person lift that would take him down.
The lift was new, only constructed yesterday. He lifted the rail and stepped inside.
He flashed his maintenance pad over the receiver and the lift sprung into action smoothly gliding him down to the lowest walkway.
As it took him down drones maneuvered past analyzing the lift. This was how they were supposed to work, new variables in their environment were to be analyzed and shared with collective AI that governed their behavior. The more data the AI had the better choices it could make.
After 30 seconds the lift stopped and Devon pulled up the safety rail.
This was the very bottom of the space station, from where he stood there was nothing but empty space all the way down to the planets surface.
He took out his maintenance pad and pulled up the map of the polymer flooring.
“Locate polymer conduit 7F”
… Locating …
… Please look at floor for navigation directions…
Devin looked down and a path had suddenly appeared on the polymer.
I didn’t realize the polymer was also holographic, “Impressive”.
As he placed his first foot down, the polymer gathered around his foot as if it was reacting the pressure. The sensation was mildly terrifying and it didn't help that the floor was completely see through.
Devin slowly followed the path until it came up to sector 7F. He could see the issue as he approached, there was a disabled drone that had come to rest directly on the polymer. “Strange” he thought, “I would have normally had multiple maintenance warnings and errors about a non functioning drone”.
He opened his maintenance log again and pressed Drone Status Diagnostic.
… Diagnostic in progress …
… 74% …
… 95% …
… 1 drone inactive …
… 72-A …
… Awaiting Navigation Fabrication …
Odd he thought, all drones should be cataloged by the AI. Maybe the drone had malfunctioned and interaction with the polymer had caused the issue Anders was seeing from up in control.
Devin made his way out onto 7F, this section of the polymer felt a little different, harder underfoot, it did not react in the same way as before. As he got closer to the drone it seemed to power on.
… Pulse …
… Pulse …
… Pulse …
3 evenly spaced pulses rang out from the drone.
The polymer seemed to glow under Devin’s feet.
“Shit” he yelled and started to run.
The polymer flickered.
In the blink of an eye Devin went from looking down at the planet to looking up at the space station.
His maintenance log lay face down on the polymer with Anders wide eyed and screaming.
As the coldness of space closed around him the last thing he saw was the drone zipping back joining the other.