Chapter 2: Lancetech

 

"Insufficient energy. Energy redirected. 15/15 MJ/s used."

'What the…'

It seemed that 'A' has found out he has fifteen megawatts of energy for him to utilise.

'Fifteen megawatts?! That's so low!'

Indeed, for a spaceship, it was a very low energy output. Pitiful levels even. There were steam engines on earth that gave more energy output than that.

"Energy needed to operate all cameras, 16 MJ/s"

'What kind of cameras are these?! Why does it need so much energy?! That's enough to provide for an entire village!'

Another thought then came to his mind.

 

Required Usage:
Lancetech Outer Omni Camera(350° view), low energy mode = 6 MJ/s
Lancetech Absolute Nightvision and Infrared Cameras, low energy mode = 2 MJ/s per camera. Total on ship = 5. 

Total energy required: 10MJ/s

 

Current Energy Usage:
Lancetech Omni Camera(350° view), low energy mode = 6 MJ/s
Living Core = ???????? Energy Usage
Life Support Systems, low energy mode = 5MJ/s
Lancetech All Purpose Drone x 1(Night vision equipped) = 4 MJ/s

Total usage = 15MJ/s / 15MJ/s

 

'What are these cameras using?! Atomic photon capturing technology?! Damn you Lancetech for making such a terrible product! I'll never buy from you again!'

Though it wasn't as if 'A' has ever bought from Lancetech before. At least, he now knows why he couldn't activate the other cameras on this ship. He was already at max capacity. In order to activate those cameras, he will need to redirect some of the energy to the camera system.

Letting out a metaphorical sigh, 'A' looks again at his current energy usage. He then saw the Life Support systems using about one-third of his total energy output. His mind raced back to his old captain, sitting peacefully on his chair.

'It's alright for me to turn off life support, right? The old Kapitan is dead, after all.'

'A' fiddled around with himself and turned off the life support. He didn't notice any difference in the ship, but he did feel slightly liberated. It was as if he became more energetic.

Total Energy Usage: 10/15 MJ/s

'Looks like I freed up some energy, but… I still need one more megawatt.'

There were five night-vision cameras in total on this ship. Two of them were on the all-purpose drone. One of which he is using to see the empty cargo room. The other one… there was no need to activate that drone just yet.

While trying to think of a way to get or free up more energy, 'A' got a good idea. Since the outside of the ship was pure black, might as well turn off the omni view cameras for now. He felt himself again to turn off the omni view systems. His vision disappeared, the only thing remaining was the green filtered image.

He then went to turn on the three wall-mounted cameras. He could feel his consciousness and energy splitting away from him to power these cameras.

"I. Have. Control." The drone voiced out.

And then, three images came into 'A's sight. One of them was the image of the cockpit— ye old Kapitan just staring out into a blank screen. The second camera showed the image of an empty room, inside it contained a bed, a desk and a few bookshelves. The room was probably the captain's quarters. The last image was the sight of an eerie green orb mounted inside a transparent cylinder, it has wires running in and out of the orb. Beneath the orb seemed to be a complex array of machines. 

It was a power generator. His engine. His reactor.

'A' could feel it. He knew that it was a part of him. It wasn't exactly him, but he knew that this object was important to him. 'A' felt mesmerised at the object, as if he's never seen anything as beautiful as this thing before.

Yes. This was his heart.

This was good news for 'A'. His reactor was still functioning! He was not stuck here, he can redirect the powers to move around somehow.

Thrusters! He could feel the engine connected to a pair of thrusters on the back of himself! This was a glorious day! He can now do the one thing he always wanted to do! Explore space! Immediately, he searched the system— himself— for such a thing called a thruster.

Sure enough, this small ship contained one— the propulsion device that allows him to move through space!

'Activate Thrusters!' He yelled within his mind as soon as he confirmed the fact.

It was then that his mind was filled to the brim with an error of sorts. Unable to handle the load, he immediately blanked out. His conscious fading away for god knows how long when he suddenly reactivated.

"Insufficient energy. Energy redirected. 11/15 MJ/s used."

"Energy required to operate: ‘Lancetech Antique Thrusters Mk1’ = 300 MJ/s."

"Lanceteeeeeeeecccccchhhhhh." Was the first thing 'A' yelled out with his text to speech program after he regained consciousness.

 

* * * * *

 

'My heart is useless!' 

‘A’ started to panic as the reality set in. His heart, the engine of the ship was depleted. It was an old nuclear reactor that has long since worn out its uranium rods. It was no longer at its best capacity and was currently running on the decaying energy of the depleted rods. It was basically running on fumes. He was in no danger of immediate termination though, as his systems told him that the engine could theoretically keep running for a few hundred more years.

But what is the point of that? That just means he would drift alone in space for hundreds of more years before eventually dying of old age from a heart attack! That's a horrible way to die!

He needed a way to get thrust at least, something to push him along in space. He doesn't even need it to be super strong, just enough for a slight push— the kinetic energy gained will handle the rest. If his mediocre knowledge of science was right, he would be travelling along space without stopping.

N***on's First Law states that an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. 

This was his only chance, lest he be stuck here in space until his eventual doom.

Just one second of thrust will have to do right? He just needed three hundred megawatts and the thrusters should activate.

'Is there a way for me to store energy into something. To get my reserves at three hundred megawatts?'  

"No such system found."

However, the act of asking was futile. He IS the ship, after all; he knows what's going on in or out of it. The only thing he could do now was just to wait and see how fate would treat him.

'What about our current speed, are we moving?'

"Current speed: 2 km/s."

'Least I am moving at least… Do we have a map? What is the nearest object that we can expect to visit?"

"Not enough information to calculate a response," His machine-self said to him.

'A' couldn't take it anymore and burst out in tears. He was robbed of his life on earth and left here to suffer for hundreds of years. 

"I. Hate. You. Lancetech. Uuuuuuu. Aaaaaaa. Eeeeee." 'A's sad sobs came out of the text to speech as he cursed Lancetech Corporation.

If he was a man, he would probably look pretty pathetic right now. Too bad he is just a ship.