episode 03

Dismantled

The mission had gone well, for what it was: a one day sweep, southeast of Meladin. Jupiter squad was to become familiar with the surrounding area and establish something of a perimeter. It was busy-work. Until Meladin HQ was resupplied with some real convoy equipment and personnel, there was not much else that could be done. For that matter, they had little in the way of weapons, no airships, and very little manpower if there were any non-friendlies about. In any case, the long-distance strider was a wonderful find, indeed, and the technicians should be able to recover whatever messages or intel the courier might have been carrying.

The six-man Jupiter squad sat in canvas-backed chairs soaking in the cool Oxygen-enhanced air of the debriefing tent. In the center of the tent, three technicians tediously dismantled the sandblasted droid before them. The constant whir of a small belt or fan streamed out of the metal skeleton-like body.

“Where the hell is his fourth storage drive?”

A second technician leaned back from a soft-lit monitor and said, “Keep following the power supply, Kestle. That’s all I can tell you.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that they put this E-unit so close and I don’t wanna disturb that thing with him still running … we may have to turn him over and come in through his back.”

The fact that the technicians seemed unsure of what they were doing made Jupiter One a little uneasy. This was the first intact Holman-model robot he had laid eyes on, and, for all he knew, he would never see another. The legs of the long-distance strider vibrated slightly, imparting a metallic hum to the table on which he was lying.

“Is he alright, Aiche?” Kestle had taken a step away from the vibrating table.

“Yep, he’s just running some diagnostics on his legs is all. Just get to that last drive, quick as you can. His power supply is getting a little unsteady.”

Jupiter One read the tension in Aiche’s voice. “He going to die, Aiche?”

“Die? Well, he can’t exactly die. His power might go out, but we can always reboot his system.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that Holmans will sometimes … well, panic, essentially, and they’ll send their last bit of power as a surge through their components. Now, their core processors are guarded from such a surge, but some circuit boards and storage drives usually aren’t. If we don’t get to them before he cuts out, they might be damaged. Once we have access to his stored data then we can continue to work toward restoring his full functionality, but those storage drives are first priority.”

Jupiter One nodded. Aiche was just as excited by the long-distance strider as Jupiter One, but the mission always came first. The whole of Casiadin might well be mapped out already, saving the humans years of exploration: underground bunkers, weapons caches, hidden storage lockers, geo-strategic information – even local weather patterns would be of priceless import. There may also be information on native animal and plant life.

And all information would lead them one step closer to their simple mission: discovering what happened here and why.