Mission Logs from Prospect

A fictional story told through mission logs.

[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.30

Hello,

Due to recent testing of our alternative fuel source part of our ship has received extensive damage.

Johnathan is optimistic about making full repairs using the supplies we have on board, though it will take a significant amount of time.

Furthermore, despite the destructive finale, our efforts have proven successful in proving that our alternative does function with our engine, fueling it efficiently. Though a few adjustments do have to be made in order to continue using it safely.

I have no doubt that Socks will continue to update you, if you’re out there, of any further updates.

- Captain Eric

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.29

Whoa, it’s been a good couple weeks since I could write one of these!

So let’s get a little caught up. For starters we’re gonna be running a short test flight of our actual ship to see what fuel consumption actually looks like with our alternative. Best case scenario is that it works better than our actual fuel and we can theoretically get home on less! The worst case scenario is that it actually doesn’t work at all, or that it works worse and we have a minor crash landing! BUT we’re trying to stay optimistic here!!

Next up the broadcast. So, after about 2 days we kind of blocked communication again temporarily because it was getting incredibly annoying. What we know is that we can get communications from Thesurn that aren’t related to the abandoners, which is fantastic! The bad news is that we don’t know how long really it takes the communication to travel from Thesurn to us. It could be minutes, it could be months, right now there’s no way of knowing. There’s also no way of knowing which…let’s call it a base, which base of the TSF is sending the broadcasts to begin with.

There is more good news, we think. TSF is a friendly face. They man most space missions on Thesurn, not exclusively, but they’re a known force down there. Odds are if we weren’t an FC mission, we would be a TSF one. Except TSF doesn’t really do this, it’s complicated and annoying!

I’ll let you know if anything else comes up in the meantime, for now this is Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.28

Hello, this is Captian Eric of the Prospect.

I apologize for the lack of upfront communication, provided the fact that anyone can read these logs. But I feel it important that you receive an update from the captain as well, rather than just Socks’ rambling all the time.

First of all; the fuel situation.

We have since come up with a solution, as I’m sure Socks has mentioned, and we’ve been hard at work, not only ensuring our survival on this strange planet, but also in an attempt to use our modified fuel source to possibly begin a journey home. For now that’s still a work in progress.

Secondly; this whole broadcast situation.

Socks has been working incredibly hard, alongside Johnathan, in an attempt to gain a communication link set up with any other party besides FC. Albeit not technically against orders, but that’s besides the point. The good news is that we can receive messages, the bad news is it’s not direct contact yet. So that will also become a priority in the coming weeks.

Rest assured we are all taking care of ourselves to the best of our abilities and looking out for each other. We’re all we have at this point. I hope that’s enough.

- Captain Eric

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.27

Okay…so, this is a lot!

We’ve received a broadcast (???) from someone on Thesurn, and we’ve tested that it repeats. Like it’s on a loop. So this is both fantastic news and also not great! It’s fantastic because it means I’ve at least in some instance unblocked our ability to receive messages, but it does mean that this broadcast is running periodically and not being sent in the moment each time. No one is actively manning the signal at any given moment, presumably.

Grandpa and I plan on telling the others later today…they deserve to know by now at least.

We’ll work out another solution later. Maybe.

Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.26

Holy shit…

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[prospects-in-space]

Broadcast 0.3

Hello, my name is Marcus.

I’m broadcasting from Thesurn to upper atmosphere, planetary orbiting craft. I am sending this signal to determine the status of those who are aboard craft in our upper atmosphere. If you are receiving this signal then please send a return communication stating the status of any crew aboard the vessel.

- Marcus, junior broadcaster at TSF ((Thesurn Space Foundation))

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[prospects-in-space]

Broadcast enabled

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.25

Update on the mysterious connection time! We have no idea what’s going on!

Okay so that’s a very blunt way of putting it, but it’s not entirely a lie. Whatever I’ve been doing has, at the very least, allowed a connection to reach us, but not much else. Which leads to think that there is a possibility that someone other than FC will be able to contact us. Which would be great!

If I could figure out how to actually allow them to do that. And we’re still supposed to be focusing on the fuel situation. And not this. Whoops!

I’ll keep fiddling with it in the meantime, I don’t want to get mine, or everyone else’s, hopes up if this isn’t actually a lead I can follow up on. So for now only Grandpa knows about it.

Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.24

So…we found uh, something. I was messing around, because how else am I supposed to accomplish anything? And a connection was made? I checked, and Grandpa confirmed it. There’s definitely something there, we just aren’t fully sure what. Or from who. Or if it’s a stable connection to begin with. The two of us both want to spend a few days really looking into it. So we’re going to keep a very close eye on all of it and dig through it, really see what we can accomplish.

See you soon.

Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.23

I’m bringing Grandpa over to double check. Make sure I’m not seeing things in my exhaustion…

Is that what I think it is?

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.22

I lied, okay. I can’t stay away, this work is far too boring and I need something to do in my spare time or I’m gonna lose the few marbles I’ve got left!! I’ve thrown myself into the code over the past week and discovered a block. Or well I think that’s what that is, it’s protected so I need to keep digging. See if there’s a way around it or to remove it entirely. It might be the reason we’d only been able to get messages from FC in the first place, but we aren’t sure.

Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Connection Established

Broadcast not enabled.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.21

Sorry I can’t send many logs. Or I’m “not supposed to” because we need to be all hands on deck trying to make more fuel. So that…sucks… But I’ll try to keep you guys updated as things progress!

Love, Socks

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.20

After over a week of testing we’ve concluded the model was a success! Eric has requested, and we all agree, that we want to test the engine a little bit more. Just to be certain, y’know? In the meantime we’ll be making extra fuel for the model and possibly for the engine itself. This of course, might take a while, and I’m getting nowhere with my other project. This isn’t goodbye though! We’re not giving up! Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.19

An agonizingly number of small tests later and we actually have an answer! Well, kind of anyway. The short and more enjoyable to read version is that sending logs out takes up perhaps the least amount of power out of anything the ship is capable of, which means that receiving should be about equal. Provided of course, I can figure it out.

I’ve been running with a theory, FC used to be able to send us like, progress reports, theorized results, corespondence, y’know? And though they are the last people in this entire universe that I want to even remotely talk to, I might be able to access that programming to be able to get corespondence from other sources. Ones less likely to try to kill us, in theory.

I’ll keep digging, in the mean time I have a model to keep an eye on. Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.18

Okay so I may have been a little overdramatic…but in my defense it really is incredibly boring! But at least I'm free from it for the time being, so I can work on an equally frustrating albeit more enjoyable task, coding the messaging system!

Grandpa and I have been looking internally, power supply and output levels, y'know? And we think, needs testing to ensure confidence, obviously, but we think that it doesn't actually require too much to produce an output. Or; sending logs out doesn't actually take up much battery so long as there's a signal. At least, that's the current working theory.

I'll keep you updated! Socks signing off.

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[prospects-in-space]

Log 2.17

Update: I survived, all is well.

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