Whispers in the Dark

with Ellie Navarro

Submission by C. Zverev

Addy

The game was fun, addictive even. Project Eden had a very simple premise. Get your ship from earth to a new frontier planet as fast as you could, with your bioload intact. Spend a few minutes getting your bioload settled. Cash in your XP for new funds and start the next mission.

Addy had been playing for years now and currently held the high score. But someone new was on the scene. They had the username SpaceCorp. Addy swore that they must be cheating or something. She had min-maxxed this game. No one was better. No one could compare to her.

But SpaceCorp’s ships seemed to just be faster. They had access to a newer model that, try as she might, Addy couldn’t seem to find anywhere in her menu options. It was sleek, small, and fast. Addy watched as SpaceCorp pulled ahead of her. They used smaller ships with lighter bioloads, but they sent more of them. Not all the ships made it, but when you looked at it, they had higher speed scores overall. If they could manage to get an entire fleet to a frontier planet intact, Addy’s high score would be blown to smithereens. 

Addy picked ten of her smallest ships. She filled them up with fuel and began looking at her bioload options. There were three options: Frozen, Active, and Seeding. Frozen was her preferred method since it was the most stable, even if it was a bit boring. Active could be fun, but was very unpredictable. And Seeding took much longer to settle during the planet side phase. She’d tried skipping it but it would cause an autofailure of the mission if she did.

What if I mixed them? She thought to herself. She’d experimented early on with little success, but there had been several patches since then. She opened the XP bonus menu and excitement bubbled up. Times 5 experience for successful Active Bioload missions. It was the highest bonus she’d seen in years, if ever. 

She definitely needed Active bioloads on her ships. It was a big gamble, but it could pay off so well. She could secure a high score that SpaceCorp couldn’t dream of beating. Addy looked at the interface and noted SpaceCorp’s current mission contained Seed and frozen bioloads. Next she checked the timer on the XP bonus. SpaceCorp wouldn’t be able to send out any ships until their current mission was over. She was poised to make her personal best. 

———-

Selene

Selene refreshed the page, waiting for the next announcement of ships heading for the new frontier. Anything was better than this life where you had to fight for oxygen on a starving home world. Even living on a ship for the rest of her life. As long as she was able to breathe. She’d heard that some ships even had showers. 

An alert popped up on her wrist holopad.

Project Eden  Announcement:
Initiating offworld settlement. Reserve your place in line now. Reservation does not guarantee a seat on an AD13 ship.

This was her chance. Selene tapped the link and began to fill out the extensive form. She’d have to go to a clinic and have her health verified, but the cost was such a small price to pay. 

———-

Addy

An idea began to form. Addy moved quickly, she needed to get her ships out and heading towards planet 367 in the next ten minutes or she’d miss the XP bonus window. She decided to add three massive cruisers to her fleet since Active bioloads fared better on larger ships. She filled the smaller, faster ships with Frozen and Seed bioloads and had them en route in the first two minutes. They would arrive first and begin the planet side process, prepping it for the Active bioload’s arrival. 

The cruisers took longer to prep and fill. Addy watched the progress bar slowly fill. A small ding rang out when one of them finished assembly. Then it was time for filling the ship with the bioload. The process was unpredictable. The bar moved slowly at first, but at any point it could jump to near 100%  unexpectedly. You had to watch it like a hawk and be ready to hit launch anywhere between 90 and 100% full.

After six minutes, her cruisers had all finished assembly and entered the filling stage. They hovered near 0% for another three minutes. Addy stared, each second ticking by as dread filled her. She’d used almost all her funds on this mission, gambling it all. 

———-

Selene

Selene waited in line. A massive cruiser loomed ahead of her. She had been selected. She had passed her health screening. She was leaving this dull, dying planet behind. The trip would take years. Her health indicated that she would likely survive the trip to Planet 376. She could live out her days able to breathe, able to live comfortably and maybe even have a family.

She scanned her wrist holopad’s ID and nodded politely at the guard who let her pass through the security checkpoint. She was wearing only the paper uniform she was given. A laminated photo clutched tightly in her hand. It was all she had of her family. All she was bringing with her to this new world.

She jumped as a loud shot rang out. Turning, she watched the guard behind her slump to the ground as a surge of people rushed for the ship, desperate to board one of the final flights. She broke into a run up the stairs. This was her only hope of survival. Reports warned of decreased oxygen levels and overpopulation. This world was dying and Selene did not want to die with it.  She boarded the ship as the swell of people jostled behind her. 

With a start, Selene realized she’d lost her photo. She pressed on, fighting her way towards the group of fellow passengers dressed in paper clothes. She feared what came next. She had passed all the health tests and was quarantined for two weeks in the AD13 facility. The people rushing in had not.

———-

Addy

As the final minute started to tick down, the bioload indicator for all three ships suddenly jumped to the high 90s. In quick succession, Addy selected the launch button for each ship. 

Just as she selected the final ship, the bioload fill indicator jumped to 110% and panic set in. She’d already hit launch. That ship was heading out towards disaster. 

What to do? Addy opened up the manual to see if there were any suggestions for this scenario. Scanning through the table of contents, she found the ‘Active Bioloads’ section and opened it. The manual went into great detail on Active Bioloads. There were several chapters on ‘psychology’ alone. Ugh, that was the part Addy hated the most about Active Bioloads. You could keep all systems in the green and out of nowhere Psychology would tank. If it stayed in the red too long the bioload would take a hit, affecting her score.

At the end of the last chapter there were a few paragraphs on overcrowding. The manual suggested increasing the food production early with a focus on greens to help offset the strain on the oxygen system. There was a complicated equation for rolling blackouts to help preserve enough energy for propulsion. The ship would have to work harder to get to the destination planet. Psychology was also extremely sensitive and likely to go red in populations past 103% of capacity. Just her luck. The final sentence gave her pause. 

“Active bioloads are to be preserved at all costs. Active bioload losses greater than 10% of original mass will result in an XP penalty. Losses greater than 20% will result in a Major Loss.”

Her high score was at risk. She hadn’t run a ship at 100% in over three years, much less 110%. She had to get the bioload mass down or she was going to suffer a Major Loss. Not only was her high score at risk, but her ability to play the game altogether. Users who experienced a Major Loss never played again.

Addy brought up the menu for the third cruiser. The psychology meter was yellow already. She checked the other two ships and noted they were green. One ship was at 94% capacity and the other at 91%. She wasn’t worried about these two ships, she could handle them. It was the third that worried her. How to decrease the bioload without causing it to sink too drastically or trigger a game audit. Those were exceptionally annoying to deal with. She’d had one early in her career and did not wish to repeat the experience.

Addy considered the oxygen system and the rolling blackout equation. The equation suggested power blackouts but keeping the oxygen reserve systems live. What if she cut the O2 system along with the power for part of the ship. That should stunt the bioload in that particular part of the ship without harming the rest of the load.

Addy acted quickly, implementing a fast rolling system. She chose the loading bay. This section indicated a higher than usual bioload activity. She locked the doors to the room and set off the blackout. Five minutes without power and O2 contained to a single section of the ship.

———-

Selene

The crowd rushed at the door, pushing and pressing in. Selene felt as if she couldn’t breathe. Panic set in and she tried to steady her heart. A loud, blaring alarm sounded and the door to the outside began to shut. She looked away as people shoved, trying to fit into the hanger as the ship initiated takeoff procedures.

Selene was close to the seats for takeoff. A man in uniform with a taser gun was helping those with paper uniforms and threatening those without. Her panic did not subside. Even when she was buckled in. She tried to block out the sound of people screaming and begging as the ship took off. There weren’t enough seats. People were going to be injured. Some might even die. 

Selene chewed nervously on her lip. The quarantine had been broken. Those people could bring sickness or disease with them. What would they do to them? To her? Would she be stuck in this hanger bay, possibly exposed to sickness. She wasn’t wearing her mask, it hadn’t been necessary after the facility cleared her. 

The ship reached space.. Shouts and crying filled the air as adrenaline ceased to cover up pain. Several individuals were unresponsive, unable to withstand the force of takeoff. Several individuals nursed broken bones. A group of guards with tasers were forcing the stowaways back, keeping a clear separation from ticket holders.

There were two distinct groups now. Ones who belonged, who followed the rules and deserved to be here, and those who did not belong, who had forced their way onto the ship. They had put the entire ship and new planet at risk of their possible sickness and disease. It wouldn’t matter.

The room went black. From her seat, Selene could see a single point of light from a hallway. The room was eerily silent. No machines whirled, no vents whoosed. People breathed. And then it became harder. Each breath not quite filling lungs. Selene focused on the light while taking deep breaths. Her vision blurred before darkness overtook her.

———-

Addy

Addy watched as the capacity of the ship slowly lowered. The plan seemed to be working. When it reached 102% she stopped the blackouts and focused on the food system, pushing it to its limits. Psychology seemed to improve, in her experience, when the food system was working at above optimal levels.

Addy monitored the levels for each system on the cruisers for the first half of the flight before turning her attention to the smaller ships. They were approaching the destination planet and would need her attention for a short period. Surely the cruisers could handle themselves for a bit. Addy let the AI preservation system take over.

The Seed ships touched down on the planet and a bar popped up indicating distribution was initiating. The Frozen ships landed, but Addy waited to start the initiation procedure. Frozen and Active always fared better after a successful Seeding. The manual even suggested it for new planets. 

Another alert dinged. Addy checked her dashboard and let out a frustrated sigh. Cruiser one had jumped to 97% capacity. This happened rarely on flights with Active bioloads. It was like the bioload had a mind of its own. It was called ‘active’ for a reason. It simulated life on the ships. Life was unpredictable, which was why Addy preferred Frozen and Seed. Surprisingly, the psychology on cruiser one was deep in the green territory. Should she do a blackout on this ship?