Just Me And The Habitat Environmental Control Automator
20250414
That whining buzz again. Right by my ear. It’s impossible to sleep through. That’s why HECA does it. Ne’s learned that running the rest pod’s air filter at a specific speed creates that piercing whinge.
I swallow a groan. Fumble for the status panel. “Easy, Heccy. I’m awake. What’s wrong?”
Numbers scroll. Bars appear. Highlights are added. The data broken down until even my bleary mind can digest it.
Hydroponics leak. Crap.
“Cut the water supply to that row. I’ll be right there.”
The urgent whine fades to the usual soft whirr. Numbers shift, a diagram appearing to show where HECA has halted the flow.
Time for me to go to work.
The station is eerie with the lights down low like this. It highlights how empty the place is. A space designed for two hundred people left with a “maintenance crew” of one rattling around it.
But I don’t turn the lights up. I’m hoping to still be able to get back to sleep after this.
Cameras flick on and turn to track me. Doors open before I reach them. HECA ushering me to the emergency.
I’ll give those boffins this; you can tell someone’s created genuine artificial intelligence when the poor thing develops anxiety. HECA was designed to manage a full research population and then left with one technician during the switchover from building crew to staff. Ne can’t help micromanaging.
The status reports are getting ever more granular. The number of anomalies ne wants me to inspect grows by the day. And every time something slips through and we have a call-out like this that trend jumps sharply.
When I brought this up to tech support they told me to turn HECA off and on again. I asked if they could promise me that wouldn’t cause issues and leave me trapped in a semi-functional station on an uninhabitable planet.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand the message I got back, but I’m pretty sure it boiled down to “Our corporate asses are hereby covered”.
So here I am. Stranded months from the nearest hab with a computer that’s fretting nemself to bits. We’re so far from the Relays that communications have a two-day delay on them.
Do I unplug my life support and just trust that these bean-counting assholes are right? I mean, they decided to offer time and a half for one person rather than stump up the supplies to cover two!
Then again I was fool enough to bite, so can’t get too cutting.
Besides… selfish and stupid though it is, the idea of being stuck here for another two months without another personality to coexist with… of being truly alone… it’s terrifying.
The air ducts are rattling. They still when I pat the wall.
“It’s ok, Heccy. I’m on it. Most of the water should be recoverable. We’ll be ok.”
That cheery ping comes from the coffee machine. HECA figured out how to broadcast it. It’s nir “OK!”.
I manage a smile. We’re all we’ve got.
Prompt was “Your main character wakes up in the middle of the night to a buzzing sound in their ear.”