We have finally completed the air filtration upgrades, and
Yuda and Zariah have successfully installed the newer crystal core into the
computer system. I had hoped, when they returned to the shift for a very late
meal with the rest of us, that we would suddenly feel Rabbah come to life,
shuddering beneath the ship. I had hoped to hear a rhythmic whiiiiirrrrr of
fans and siphons through my bones, but nothing happened. Still, they both
looked pleased and calm, if exhausted.
After lunch, we helped them run a large cable down into Rabbah’s core. We have little battery on the ship itself to spend, but both Araboa women think we can spare enough to power the computers on and turn on the air system. We decided we would all take extra turns on the exercise equipment, running to recharge the ship’s batteries, and hope that the extra exertion would keep the ship going long enough to revive our new home.
Once plugged in, the computer system slowly revived, lights behind buttons turning on first, then the screens, then a few small lights throughout the main computer room. I stuck my head down the corridor, and more and more lights were coming on across the colony. The air filters still did not kick on, but after manipulating the computer a little, Zariah told us that the entire system was rebooting and checking its power levels, and would not initiate anything else until it had concluded there was enough power to turn more systems on. And so we wait.
We also discussed transferring the algae into the air system, and the rest of our plants and animals into the large bay designated for agriculture. There is a bay door there, and at some point – when we have enough oxygen that we no longer have to use our helmets – we will modify it so that we can have a flow of water through the area. I am tempted to set up another water wheel-style system, but I’m not sure we have enough extra material for me to print the parts I need.
Of less importance, we wandered about and picked rooms for ourselves. We’ve been living in the same few rooms, clustered together, for a month now, and I think we were all excited by the idea of a little privacy. But, we also designated one of the container areas as both storage and meeting room. Samira said, timidly, that she would like to restart the knitting group as soon as possible. I think Budur has been prancing a little ever since Samira said that.
I cannot wait to start disassembling this ship and building onto Rabbah. We’ll fix the waste management system next, although (please don’t think too hard about this), much of our waste will be transferred into the garden and, well, out into Europa’s waters. I assure all of you readers that Breathe Easy has amazing filtration systems. They’ve been mining Earth’s trash-filled, radioactive, rising oceans for a few years now, and we’ve all had a bottle of their water or hung out at one of their oxygen bars at some point.
We’ll also build a kitchen, and I have been ravenously thinking of the meals that Ghadir can create for us, limited though our current resources are. Our seaweed is doing well – it needs larger containers to roam, for sure – and our bivalve larvae are almost large enough to release into the oceans. I might head that project, and I will see if I can get Samira to help me with netting to enclose the meaty settlers onto Rabbah’s walls.
We still have no octopuses. Perhaps their container is too small, and the genetics deep inside the eggs are telling the potential creature to wait, wait – don’t gestate, there’s nowhere to go. I will try releasing some of these eggs into the waters of Europa to see what they do.
Oh.
Wait!
I feel it!
It started! Rabbah is alive! It shook to life just as I thought it would. I can feel it, vibrating my bones through the console, through the chair I’m strapped to. The City of Waters is pouring vibrations up into our skeletal ship. We’re going to be alright, our air filtration system works!
After lunch, we helped them run a large cable down into Rabbah’s core. We have little battery on the ship itself to spend, but both Araboa women think we can spare enough to power the computers on and turn on the air system. We decided we would all take extra turns on the exercise equipment, running to recharge the ship’s batteries, and hope that the extra exertion would keep the ship going long enough to revive our new home.
Once plugged in, the computer system slowly revived, lights behind buttons turning on first, then the screens, then a few small lights throughout the main computer room. I stuck my head down the corridor, and more and more lights were coming on across the colony. The air filters still did not kick on, but after manipulating the computer a little, Zariah told us that the entire system was rebooting and checking its power levels, and would not initiate anything else until it had concluded there was enough power to turn more systems on. And so we wait.
We also discussed transferring the algae into the air system, and the rest of our plants and animals into the large bay designated for agriculture. There is a bay door there, and at some point – when we have enough oxygen that we no longer have to use our helmets – we will modify it so that we can have a flow of water through the area. I am tempted to set up another water wheel-style system, but I’m not sure we have enough extra material for me to print the parts I need.
Of less importance, we wandered about and picked rooms for ourselves. We’ve been living in the same few rooms, clustered together, for a month now, and I think we were all excited by the idea of a little privacy. But, we also designated one of the container areas as both storage and meeting room. Samira said, timidly, that she would like to restart the knitting group as soon as possible. I think Budur has been prancing a little ever since Samira said that.
I cannot wait to start disassembling this ship and building onto Rabbah. We’ll fix the waste management system next, although (please don’t think too hard about this), much of our waste will be transferred into the garden and, well, out into Europa’s waters. I assure all of you readers that Breathe Easy has amazing filtration systems. They’ve been mining Earth’s trash-filled, radioactive, rising oceans for a few years now, and we’ve all had a bottle of their water or hung out at one of their oxygen bars at some point.
We’ll also build a kitchen, and I have been ravenously thinking of the meals that Ghadir can create for us, limited though our current resources are. Our seaweed is doing well – it needs larger containers to roam, for sure – and our bivalve larvae are almost large enough to release into the oceans. I might head that project, and I will see if I can get Samira to help me with netting to enclose the meaty settlers onto Rabbah’s walls.
We still have no octopuses. Perhaps their container is too small, and the genetics deep inside the eggs are telling the potential creature to wait, wait – don’t gestate, there’s nowhere to go. I will try releasing some of these eggs into the waters of Europa to see what they do.
Oh.
Wait!
I feel it!
It started! Rabbah is alive! It shook to life just as I thought it would. I can feel it, vibrating my bones through the console, through the chair I’m strapped to. The City of Waters is pouring vibrations up into our skeletal ship. We’re going to be alright, our air filtration system works!
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