The Adventure Begins PDF

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS... vii  It took Alia three long weeks to reach the Pulsar nebula where she was sent to repair one of Deep Space Industry’s communications satellites. The satellite was orbiting a small, barren planet named Eniac. These satellites were incredibly compli...

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS... vii  It took Alia three long weeks to reach the Pulsar nebula where she was sent to repair one of Deep Space Industry’s communications satellites. The satellite was orbiting a small, barren planet named Eniac. These satellites were incredibly complicated and Alia was the only engineer skilled enough to repair them. Ever since Alia was a little girl, she’d always dreamed of becoming a space engineer. She loved to create new things and she was fascinated by science. She also loved adventure. Space engineers had the chance to meet other life forms and explore far-off places. Alia’s only companion on the mission was R.E.N., a helper bot Alia built to help with the repair. The bot ran an artificial intelligence system Alia coded herself. It was one of the best, but like all AI systems of the time, it just wasn’t very...well...intelligent. What was missing? Alia spent years searching for the solution. In fact, she pondered this very question as she and R.E.N. prepared to exit their ship and repair the broken satellite... 1  We made it! Our navigation systems parked us in Well, R.E.N., I orbit around Eniac made a few adjustments to right next to the your AI code. Hopefully things broken satellite. go better this time. A F F I R M AT I V E ! Either way, I sure am glad to have your company! Ready to fix that Alia secured her suit, took a deep breath, satellite? and entered the airlock with R..E.N. 2  Tethered to her ship, Alia leaped out of the airlock, floated through nothingness, and landed gracefully on the surface of the satellite. That was always her favorite part. R.E.N. followed. Ok, R.E.N., let’s knock this one out quickly and get home. ACKNOWLEDGED! Unfortunately, the helper bot’s flawed AI took her literally, It fired its aft thrusters at full throttle and slammed into the side of the satellite. Alia dodged as twisted pieces of metal flew past her. She’d have to fix the satellite manually - without R.E.N.’s help. Let’s get back to the ship and then go home, R.E.N. Alia was relieved that the satellite was repaired, but she couldn’t shake her disappointment in the AI she built for R.E.N. She’d have to start from scratch, but this time she’d-- 3 WARNING: SHIP'S HULL IS O V E R H E AT I N G Huh? Are you su-- Loud warning beeps from R.E.N. startled Alia out of her thoughts. Still on the surface of the satellite, Alia turned to look at her ship, which was engulfed in white light. Alia squinted to see three beams of blindingly bright light focused on her ship, leaving red hot trails behind them as they moved across its surface. Suddenly, all three lights converged directly over the ship’s computers! Come on, R.E.N.! We need to get back to the ship, FAST! 4  The emergency return winch strained as it yanked Alia back to the ship at top speed. She threw herself into the ship’s airlock, not sure what damage she would find inside her ship. 5 The beam of light melted a hole through the ship’s hull and disappeared as quickly as it came. !! The radiation shield is compromised! The Phew! ship’s computers We made it scramble under back. What radiation! was that? Quick, R.E.N.! Override the navigation systems before-- It was too late. The ship was off course and beginning to lose speed in the planet’s thick methane atmosphere. It was falling out of orbit fast. Too fast. Hold on, R.E.N.! We hit the atmosphere! 6  Put the shields up, R.E.N.! We’re falling out of orbit! ACKNOWLEDGED! With alarms blaring, Alia attempted to override the navigational computers as the ship dove towards the planet’s surface. C RA S H Alia struggled to manually land the crippled ship on the cold, rocky surface of planet Eniac. I made it in one piece, but the ship wasn’t as lucky. Ok. Think, Alia, think! I need to assess the damage and repair the ship. It’ll take weeks for anyone to reach me out here. 7 Alia turned her attention to her ship. The ship’s computers were down, which meant no navigation and no communication. Life support was also down and...no oxygen! Alia knew she would need to find ice on the frozen planet. Then she could use the ship’s electrolysis module to resupply her oxygen. Only 8 hours of oxygen left. She’d have to move fast. Alia jumped in her hover speeder and scanned the planet’s surface for signs of ice. Stay here, R.E.N.! I need to find some ice. 8  Alia searched and searched. One hour went by, but she found nothing but a rocky, barren surface. Another two hours passed. Still nothing. Alia began searching further and further away from her ship. Four more hours passed.... Only 1 hour of oxygen left......and still no sign of ice. There’s nothing on this blasted planet but rock! Wait... scanners are picking up atmospheric vibrations up ahead? Computer—put the vibrations through so I can hear them! Pshhhhhhhhhh h h hh h h h h Pshhhhhhhhhh h It sounds like... rushing water!! h hh h h h h 9  But that’s not possible! It’s –76° outside! The water should be frozen! The sound emanated from a massive, black building. The tallest building Alia had ever seen. What is THAT?!? Where did it come from? This planet is supposed to be uninhabited. It’s magnificent! 10  The sound is coming from inside. I need to find a way in. Alia reached out and touched the wall. As she did, a massive section of the wall slid open. Inside, Alia saw that the walls were lined with millions upon millions of panels—stretching up as high as she could see and down deeper than she could make out in the darkness. 11  clack On closer look, Alia saw a complex cascade of small, metal marbles rolling across the surface of the panels,click flipping a myriad of switches as gravity pulled the marbles downward. clack clack click click click clack clack click Alia stood in awe amid the roar of billions of click-clacking marbles. Hopelessness washed over Alia... Incredible, but......there is Marbles that reached the bottom were pushed to the no water here! top by a geothermal pump at the planet’s core. Alia picked one up. The marble was still warm to the touch. Alia summoned her courage. Well, *sigh*, no point in feeling sorry for myself... I have 27 minutes of oxygen left. That’s 27 minutes to explore humankind’s greatest discovery! Not a bad way to go. 12  This all looks like some sort of massive computing machine. Huh? But what was its purpose? Alia wandered a maze of hallways lined with panels from top to bottom. She drew shallow breaths to extend her oxygen... She tried to decode what she was seeing: Intelligent life, a massive, mechanical computer system... I suppose in this intense radiation, silicon-based computers couldn’t function. All of this must Alia stumbled across the remains of an alien being. It was a have been their type of alien Alia had never seen before. solution. Alia guessed that the missing parts were meant to slow the marbles down. Without Was it them, the trying to fix these marbles were panels? falling down too quickly, causing them to sometimes bounce out of the panels and onto the floor. It looks like these panels aren’t working properly. I bet the alien was trying Near the alien, marbles and parts were strewn to repair the machine. I about the floor. It looked as though they came wonder if I can fix from the panels above them. it... 13