As a part of paid, I will now be sharing an ongoing space adventure. The first few will be free.
INTRODUCTION
My name is Ash Raymond James, and I am a Junior Space Explorer for the Universal Worlds Federation. I have a lot of issues with the company name, so I will be referring to them as the UWF because that is much better. As a Junior Space Explorer, it is my duty to enter unknown locations and record my findings vocally. The permission of videos and photos is a whole thing with the federation right now. The trouble with my directive is that I cannot enter the field without my senior, who has unfortunately died. As has the captain, the engineer, the science officer, and my hopes and dreams.
I am not alone, however. I have my best friend, my childhood robot buddy Pep, to keep me company. My dad invented him from spare parts and mostly soda cans, hence the name. I have been upgrading him slowly over the years, and his main responsibilities include driving the ship, being my friend, and playing pranks. They don’t always go well. Let’s just say we have run out of accident report forms and Peps’ left eye can’t see colour right now.
The guidelines state that in an emergency, we must reserve. Low lights, low food intake, and low everything. There is even an instruction that all machines must not be charged unless necessary, but I classify Pep as necessary, and the UWF can suck it. The realisation that I might die in space is dawning on me more and more every day. The guidelines essentially tell you to accept it, but I feel like there are better options. If you are wondering how you are hearing me right now, let me tell you a fun story.
When they started hiring explorers, they created these wrist devices called S.T.A.R. There was S.T.A.R.-1, which had a mass number of problems, but S.T.A.R.-2 was even more dangerous. Luckily, by S.T.A.R.-5, they worked out all the kinks and made it look like a standard smartwatch. STAR stood for “ survival tracking and recording device’’ because it can track lifeforms, take atmosphere readings, be used as a walkie-talkie to communicate with the ship, and it maps your steps, meaning if your vision is compromised, then you could make it back to the ship. I, however, fought the system and convinced the UWF that my NAV-1 was better suited. NAV-1 was another one of my dad’s inventions. It did everything the S.T.A.R did, but it was heavier, bigger, and damn near indestructible. It also had a music function, a detachable microphone, a detachable camera, a torch, and PEPLINK. PEPLINK was like a walkie-talkie, but it connected straight to Pep. It also had a beacon feature that made the torch flash red and the device practically scream endlessly. It was a terrible feature, and I think I would rather remain stranded than use it again.
I lied to you when I said ‘fun,’ and I am sorry. Now that I have bored you to death, here is the exciting part. We have decided to throw out the guidelines and go exploring on our own. We will record our findings and eventually make it home. I have gone ahead and promoted myself to Engineer, Science Officer, and Captain. Luckily, I like hats because now I wear a lot of them. We see a planet ahead, so I have to get ready. If I have missed anything, I can fill you in later. Welcome to day one of Ash & Peps narrowly avoid death.
DAY ONE
Sometimes, Pep lets me land the ship even though he’s not supposed to, and today I landed in a cloud of dust. Impressive if I don’t say so myself. Even Pep made a proud beep. The entire planet we are on is rock. Not a singular other thing. We conducted our usual planet checks: gravity, atmosphere, and life, with good news! I didn’t have to spend half an hour getting the damn spacesuit on. On our first exploration through the valleys, we stumbled upon something quite spectacular. On one of the cliff faces was grass, but not just ordinary earth grass; it was rock grass. It swayed in the wind like you’d expect grass to, but I assure you it was rock. I got Pep to bite it, and the damage was unbelievable. It practically shattered his entire mouth. We took a large sample back to the ship and ran some basic tests; it shares all the qualities of earth rock, but on steroids. I wish the scientist weren’t dead because I have no idea how it moves the way it does. Pep told me the name Sterock is stupid, but Pep is stupid, so we are calling it Sterock, and that’s the end of it. Days here are roughly seven home hours.
DAY ONE CONT.
We have been on this planet for two of its days now, and I swear something is changing with the cliffs. Pep needs charging, and I need sleep. I haven’t named this planet yet, but to make it less confusing, I will report everything in accordance with Earth days, represented by the abbreviation (e). Best stick to home time, or I am sure to go mad.
Songs stored on NAV-1