Chapter Two

A Chapter by Emily

21 February 3160

Which Log would you like to view?

[1] Opening Day – February 20^th, 3160

[2] Day Two – February 21^st, 3160

[3] Day Three – February 22^nd, 3160

[4] Day Four – February 23^rd, 3160

[5] Day Ten – February 29^th, 3160

[6] Day Fifteen – March 5^th, 3160

[7] Day Thirty-One – March 21^st, 3160

[8] Problem – June 3^rd, 3160

[9] One Year! – March 1^st, 3161

[10] Evelyn – April 19^th, 3161

[11] Two Years! – March 1^st, 3162

[12] Three Years – March 1^st, 3163

[13] Engine Shutdown – October 28^th, 3163

[14] Technical Issues – December 24^th, 3163

[15] Four Years – February 29^th, 3164

[16] Celebration – March 15^th, 3164

[17] Disease – July 30^th, 3164

[18] Revelation – September 23^rd, 3164

[19] Deaths – December 31^st, 3164

[20] Five Years – March 1^st, 3165

[21] Last Log – April 3^rd, 3165

Accessing Day Two – February 21^st, 3160

“Alright,” Adam says, looking at the camera. He appears to be in a nice office, with paintings on the walls and potted plants spread around. The camera is sitting on the front of the desk, and he’s leaning back in a chair. The laser-keyboard is visible just off to one side. “The first day went perfectly. Everyone settled into their rooms, and we convinced them to save their exploring for today. That they should focus on settling in on the first day.

“They all eventually gave into our persuasion, though some took longer than others to come around. Anyway, they should be getting around now.”

Smith plugs the camera into his computer, so that the log shows what he sees through it. He logs on with a speed only given with long-time experience, and then accesses the cameras spread around Oasis. The first view is of a marketplace, where most of the immediate resources are stored. “As you can see,” Smith says, “the marketplace is full of different kinds of food. There are certain things that we won’t be able to make on our own down here, like spices and other specialized cooking supplies, so those are held back until later.

“Frozen meats, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products are available in all stores, while bread and other grains are in back storage. If needed, they are passed out. We also have processed foods that will give a person all the nutrition he or she needs for one day. Those will be saved for later, when we have to start rationing, before the farms have started up.

“Each resident of Oasis has a card that is unique to him or her. That card records how much he or she eats during the first week. After that, it will only let them buy how much they normally eat. That way, if a person comes in to shop everyday, he or she will be able to get less than somebody who only comes in once a week. It works a lot better than money, which really has no value down here.

“Most of the stores will be working like that. Now here,” the screen changes to show a water processing plant. What looks like a river flows through machines that churn it and inject chemicals. The water coming out the end looks significantly cleaner than that going in. “This is where we get water from under the Earth, and clean it so that the citizens of Oasis can safely consume it or use it as they will.

“As with the stores, the first couple of weeks are for observation. We will monitor how much water each person uses over a period of two weeks, and then record that. Once we reach a state where we are required to ration everything, the residents will only be allowed this much water every two weeks. Any on top of that will not be given.

“When the heat evaporates all the water on the planet, our water source valves will cut off, and a plasteel shield will be incorporated, keeping Oasis safe from yet another area where heat could come in.

“This,” he said, flipping the screen again, “is our main farmland.”

The farmland was a house with a lot of processed land around it. Sprouts were poking out of the ground, and sunlamps above kept a constant level of light and heat on them. “This is where we grow our food. While the rations we have now will last out for a few years of comfort, this will keep us going much longer.

“We’re growing a lot of different vegetables and fruits, with varying degrees of ‘sun’ light. The crops are automatically watered based on what makes them grow best. Every ‘autumn’, they are automatically harvested, preserved, and put in storage for when they’re needed. It’s all very precise and efficient.

“Finally is the entertainment spectrum.” Yet another screen popped up at this point. Televisions, live broadcasts, a radio station, and a game zone were all visible. “This has everything from television to video games to holographic chess. There’s even gambling, for those who really care.” To prove this point, the camera zoomed in on a table where a card game was going on. A couple people were around it. “Like I said, there’s no money, so the games are purely for fun.

“Anyway,” the view is again on Smith; he’s unhooked the camera from the computer. “That’s all I have to say for today. Nothing’s really happened yet in Oasis, but as things get running, these logs will no doubt get longer. Second transmission is over.”

What would you like to do?

[1] View log again.

[2] Return to log menu.

[3] Return to root menu.

Loading log menu… Please stand by.

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© 2008 Emily

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Reviews

wolframdioxide

This seems interesting.
Three questions:
1) What happens if amount of food needed changes - for example, due to a birth? Can the card amounts change? If so, how?
2) Couldn't someone game the system by buying up more food than they could need in the observation period?
3) Who's the audience for these logs? I don't see any in-story reason for him to soliloquise about things everyone already knows.
Finally, a comment. Things don't seem to have changed much in 1150 years. In fact, if there weren't a date on it, I'd say that this was from the near future.