Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Day #1: Forever Here
HE WAS STOPPED before he could slam the car door.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?” He responded to the driver.
“Take care of yourself, will ya?” It was suffocatingly quiet out there other than the idling of the car. Past the entrance gate was a gravel road lined with street lamps heading down to the Alpha root base, giant satellite dishes dotting the canopy of pine trees. It was magnificent. He chucked wryly.
“Yeah, don't worry about me, Ken.” He replied. Ken was his closest friend and coworker.
“Kel, if you get hurt out here, I'll beat your ass.” He said playfully.
“I won't, alright? Promise.” He gripped his suitcase in his gloved hands, his red suitcase covered in stickers. He closed the black car door.
“See you in a year.”
Kel approached the booth and the guardrail, walking around it. He looked back at the black car for a moment before Ken pulled out and drove away. He glanced over at the booth - the windows were smashed in and no one was inside.
Huh. I wonder what happened there. It didn't bother him at all. He held his suitcase tightly and headed down the path towards the base underneath the dim street lamps and the stars gleaming in the night sky. It was hauntingly beautiful.
I wonder what the base is going to be like. He was curious and full of life. He wondered if it would be hard, being out here for so long. I'll have the computer, He thought. I won't be alone, my coworkers will email me every day. The darkness consumed everything around, yet the streetlamps and Kel's flashlight punctured through it like the stars cut through the darkness of the sky. His boss, Dr. Bao, had only vaguely mentioned Kel would be alone. He started to hurry down the gravel road, his footsteps echoing through the void of silence. He wanted to get into the base already and get settled. He slowed to a stop as the base came into view.
Wow, that's neat! The building was magnificent, sporting a nostalgic logo near the top of the base and a giant radome on the top. There was a parking lot and a giant radio tower off to the right of the lot. He spotted the door in not much time, walking up to it.
Okay, so..... He shuffled around in his jacket pockets before pulling his ID out. He slid it down the ID slot on the door lock - and it released a disapproving sound; the color shown red didn't change. He was immediately left clueless. Well how the hell am I supposed to get in? There was a note on the side
Password. here we go. He read the password in absolute awe. 1111? that's the password? smart. He typed the password in, and it released another sound, this one different, an approving sound as the red light flashed green. The door suddenly slammed open, spooking Kel.
"Ack, Geez!"
The first thing that caught his eye was the filth. So much filth inside. trash was not only piled on the floor, but smeared on the walls, stuck to the chairs in the lobby, and god knows what liquids dripping from exposed pipes on the ceiling.
It looked completely abandoned.
"Hello?" He echoed. No one responded. He flipped on the lights in the main entrance. There were two chairs, a table, some vending machines, and what looked like and empty check-in window. There was two beautiful paintings on the walls - but Kel wasn't focused on that. He stepped into the hallway, peering down it. There was another vending machine and a supply box at the end. To the left, the signal room, and the right, the garage. further to the right was a storage room and a break room. It was so dark.
He slowly walked down the hall, entering the doorway to the upstairs dormitory area. the silence of the base ominous. He followed the roundabout hallway upwards, looking out of the giant overlook windows on the right at the starry night sky. Kel was disappointed at all the filth. He entered the dormitory, looking around. it was still trashed, all of the bedframes empty, the only one with a mattress in a corner of the room. There was what looked like a balcony door, a kitchen, and another door to a bathroom. He slowly approached the bed, tossing his suitcase to the side. He was, admittedly, exhausted. He laid down, the mattress stiff and uncomfortable. Kel took off his glasses, letting out a sigh.
My first day on the job.....
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FOUR DAYS LATER
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Kel woke up in the filthy Alpha base. He lay awake for a moment, staring at the metal frame of the bunkbed directly above him. He rested his arm on his forehead as the sunlight flooded in through the window beside him, stunning his still half-asleep eyes. He sat up and stretched, yanking the analog clock nearly off the outlet. It was six in the morning. The first thing he thought of was coffee, and then dealing with the signals and servers. He shuffled across the carpet and to the doors, which were automatic doors, and opened by themselves. He looked out the upstairs overlook window and sighed. The sky was warm shades of yellow and purple, it was still slightly sunrise. He could see all of the pine trees in the forest and the massive satellite dishes in the distance glowing an ominous red.
Nothing like starting off the day to a beautiful sunrise, is there? He made his way down the gray roundabout hallway with a painted stretch of lines like a rainbow, except missing green and purple; the ASO colors. He stopped to look at the near-faded writing on the wall.
I'm changing the world? I sure don't feel like it. He headed to the signal room, where all of his work things were. The room wasn't claustrophobic, but the building was. It was like a concrete vault that kept things in and didn't let go.
It's just dirty, it needs a fixer-upper is all. To the left of the room was the server room, containing the root console and all of the servers which connected to the satellite dishes. To the left was the sonar radar, a coffee table, and a huge map of the Dunkletalor park. It included firewatch towers and the park’s borders. In the center was his huge desk. It wreathed around a black office chair. There were four consoles in total; The signal triangulator to the further right, signal denoiser to the closest right, signal downloader to the further left, and the polarity and frequency adjustor closer left. Kel yawned and stretched as he turned on the computer and aligned both the polarity and frequency on the signal receiver panel. He was figuring out the system quite well, at least he thought so. He searched for a signal, triangulating it when he spotted it. He ripped open an MRE and ate the contents, canned sardines and dried apricots.
What should I do today? Of course, besides the daily tasks. Kel usually spent the whole day working, from cleaning up the base to monitoring the servers. The computer chimed with a familiar sound, His employer, Dr. Bao, sent in the daily task. He snatched up his notebook from the desk; writing down the daily task. He grabbed a floppy disk from his desk to transfer the hashcodes.
“Alpha, Oscar, Tango.” He gazed out the window at the sky again, assessing the weather. He got up and slipped through the cluttered lab, tripping on a collapsed cubicle and slamming into the automated door.
“Ow.” He said loudly, standing up and scratching his head.
I have got to clean this place up. He enters the garage, staring at the smoking ATV - its orange and red paint coat glistened like resin in the sunlight flooding in through the open garage roof. Last time he went to repair a satellite server, a calm float down the road led to a crash that nearly blew him and the ATV sky-high. Of course, Kel would have learned to drive if the parameters of the job described the need to know how to drive.
I suppose an ATV doesn't count as a car. He grabbed the toolbox from underneath the workbench and went to examine the damage; it appeared the back tire’s suspension was damaged and needed replacement, and it was steadily leaking oil. He growled in frustration, not knowing how to replace a suspender, or fix the oil drip problem, let alone making one from scrap. Kel had always considered himself to be crafty, figuring out a simple fix for complicated problems - however cars were not his strong-suit.
Repairing isn't needed immediately, maybe I could still go get those hashcodes quickly. He hopped on the ATV and started it, pulling out of the garage and driving across the bridge. He pulled his compass from his jacket pocket without taking his eyes off the gravel road. The compass flicked off to the left towards satellite Alpha. He drove left off the path and towards Alpha, glancing around at his surroundings. It was a brisk summer day with only a few scattered clouds. It was bittersweet to be here alone, as it made him a bit uncomfortable. It was a sixth sense in the back of his mind; he didn't like the energy here. Alpha seemed to come flying at him as he recentered his gaze ahead and yanked on the handbrake. He surprised himself - the ATV was barely touching Alpha’s cement foundation.
It seems I haven't learned my lesson yet. He makes his way up the metal staircase, the sound of his footsteps on the rusted metal reverberating off of the dish of Alpha. He inserted the floppy disk into the server console, typing in the command into the computer console. “sd.request.” Making note of the hash code, He snatched up the floppy disk and makes his way back down to the ATV. He checked his list again for the next dish.
Oscar, right? He took out his compass, gazing across the forest. Oscar was closest to a lake just off the river, but Kel never actually investigated. It was, after all, his first few days at Dunkletalor.
I would at least like to get settled and comfortable with the job before I go and investigate all the forest has to offer. He came to a compromise with himself and put away the compass. Hopping back on the ATV, he drove through the forest and along the river - satellite Oscar and the lake were coming into view.
The air smells nice today, Kel remarked. It was a clear, sunny day, with the birds chirping and the soothing sound of the trickling river never too far off for him to hear. He repeated the process, requesting the hashcodes to the floppy disk and heading back out again. He approached the ATV and mounted it, but as he started the vehicle, something caught his eye. Near the concrete foundation, something is buried under the corner. Kel left the ATV idling as he approached the buried object. He cleared away the dry soil around the object and successfully loosened it. In his hand was a dirty cassette tape with a single piece of painter's tape barely sticking onto it.
“My name is Dr.” The rest has faded beyond recognition. Kel was determined to listen to the cassette, however - he didn't remember seeing a tape player in the base.
Maybe I can find something in the ASO shop. Or the tech could play it. The cassette was small; nearly the size of the commonplace drives used to save signals.
He stuffed the dirty drive into his jacket pocket, showing little care of dirtying his jacket. He looked back at Alpha and further to the windmills.
Was that tape……meant for me?