Mezo Station

A solo rpg journaling game I cooked up on the fly, using nothing but a deck of cards. 

Day 1

Arrived at Mezo Station. It is very peaceful here and very beautiful. The gas giant, Artella, fills the sky most of the day. From what I have seen, the moon's vegetation tends to have a soft purple or gray pigmentation.  I look forward to exploring, during my stay.

Day 2

The weather remains fine. I have spent most of the day familiarizing myself with the station and the androids. I must admit, despite the presence of the androids, it does feel a bit lonely here.

Day 4

Encountered a minor problem with the station's water system. It was easily repaired.

Day 5

Went for a walk today. My first outside the station. Took one of the androids with me in case I got into trouble. It was a very fine day. The air here is fresh and warm. Unfortunately, I walked through some grasses that seem to be similar to poison ivy. Medical scans stay I'll be fine, but my legs are itching like mad.

Day 6

Discovered that the previous attendant left a bit of a mess in storage. Spent most of the morning cleaning it up. Felt good when I was done. 

Day 7

My legs are still itching, but I ventured outside again. I have assigned one of the androids as a personal Companion. I call her Layla. We wandered through fields of tall gray grass that sang in the perpetual breezes that blow on Mezo. If I could paint, I would paint this place.

Day 8

I woke to a severe storm this morning. Apparently, these are very rare. Lightning struck the station multiple times. The water cycling and filtration system was badly damaged. I have notified the Company, but until replacement parts get here, I must ration my water use.

Day 9

Discovered additional water supplies in a storage bay. Stockpiled by the previous attendant. According to Layla, the station's water systems have always been prone to breakdown. I wonder if the Company knows this? I wonder if they care?

Day 10

A lovely day. Artella was in fine color today, all swirling pastel greens. The only thing spoiling my mood was my continued awareness of the water situation. I hope the resupply ship gets here soon.

Day 11

Windy and brisk today. Sat on the landing field at sunset, and watched the stars shimmer and dance.  It was very beautiful.

Day 13

I've been on Mezo almost two weeks. I thought I would be lonely but I find that I don't really miss people all that much. I love the solitude, the quietness of this place. I never got that when I was growing up, or living in the Core Worlds.

Day 16

A ship arrived today! The first since I took up my station. It was a Company ship, crewed by androids, with very limited social interaction programs, but I don't care. They had the replacement parts I needed for the water system! I will begin the repairs tomorrow! And then? A long hot shower! After eight days without a bath, I stink!

Day 17

I've gone from famine to feast! Another ship arrived today to refuel. Like the Company ship, this one was crewed by androids. They had even poorer social programs than the Company droids. I didn't think that was possible.

Day 18

The repairs to the water system have been completed. I enjoyed a long, hot shower this morning. It was luxurious and decadent and I'm going to keep my eye on the water system from now on. 

Day 21

An interesting day. An alien ship arrived to refuel. The crew were not humanoid and could not leave their vessel as the local environment was toxic to them.  Communication was formal and stilted. I don't think the translator systems here have been updated in some time. Just another thing to look into.  The alien ship refueled and departed with no trouble.

And I just realized I've been here a month already.

Day 22

Went for another walk with Layla outside the station. I made sure to wear long pants this time, so the itchgrass wouldn't bother me. The breezes kicked up lots of dust and I spent most of the walk sneezing my head off. Ugh.

Day 23

Somehow, I think I've managed to catch a cold. Medical scan said I'd be fine and the autodoc prescribed bed rest and lots of fluids. Good thing I got that water system fixed.

Day 24

Another alien ship docked today. The crew were humanoids and oxygen breathers but because I'm still sick I couldn't risk interacting with them. I avoided all contact and communicated with them via the coms. They seemed very nice. I wish I could have spoken with them in person. 

Day 25

I seem to be recovered from my moon cold. I wish this could have happened yesterday.

Day 27

Today, a ship crashed into the far side of Mezo. It made a bad transition from warp, smashed into space debris and slammed into the moon. We picked up the distress calls all the way down. I jumped into one of the station's ancient shuttles, accompanied by Layla and several of the tougher androids, and immediately went to investigate the crash site.

The ship had was breaking up before it hit the moon's atmosphere and it left a trail of wreckage for kilomothers behind it. We scanned the debris and, wonder of wonders, we discovered a survivor! A human teenager! A passenger? The son of someone on the crew? I don't know. He's locked inside a stasis pod for the time being.  We're transporting it back to the station, where, hopefully we'll be able to determine whether or not he's okay.

In any event, I've dispatched an emergency signal to the Company and the Authorities, to let them know what's happened.

Day 28

No response yet to the emergency signal from either the Company or the Authorities. The crash survivor remains in stasis. He might remain in stasis until someone arrives who can switch off the pod.

Poor boy. I wonder who he is?

Day 29

Got a comm from the Authorities acknowleding the ship crash and advising that a cruiser will be coming my way 'in the future.'  They did send a deactivation code for the stasis pod, but I don't know if I should use it? I don't know how long it'll be before the Authorities arrive, or what kind of mental state the boy could descend into when he learns that he's the only survivor.

Day 31

After some careful thought, I've decided not to unlock the stasis pod. I've had the droids move it into one of the storage bays and ordered them to keep an eye on it, to make sure it's systems remain powered up and online.  I feel like this is the right thing to do. Hopefully.

Day 33

An odd day. I'm feeling out of sorts. I keep thinking of that poor boy in the stasis pod. Still no word from the Company or an e.t.a. on the Authority cruiser's arrival. I wish the whole situation had never happened.

Day 34

An overcast day. Thin gray clouds obscured Artella all day. 

Day 35

Got a message burst from the Company today. Some personal messages and the usual company correspondance. Also got direct instructions regarding the survivor. I have been instructed to leave him in stasis as long as the pod is viable. The Company has been in touch with the Authorities and are coordinating efforts to remove the boy back to the Core Worlds as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Well, I suppose it's all out of my hands now, which is, honestly, an enormous relief.

Day 35

Mezo doesn't really have seasons, according to the Company literature. The moon's orbit around Artella is uniform, so there isn't much thermal variation. However, during one section of its orbit, the tidal forces of the gas giant do exert more influence on Mezo and microtremors occur more frequently and obviously.  

I felt my first moonquake this afternoon. It wasn't that bad, but it was unexpected. I asked Layla if they got any worse, and she said she had no record of any of them doing even minor damage to the station. So, that was reassuring. I think.

Day 36

Layla spoke too soon. There was another tremor this morning and during it one of the other droids fell and was badly damaged.  I've attempted repairs, but the damage is too severe. I've sent off a message to the Company, requesting a replacement, but I don't expect they'll be in any hurry to send one.

Day 37

A ship arrived today, the Percheron. Another vessel crewed by androids, but these were top-of-the-line models, with adaptive social programs.  They used the repair bay to fix a busted fuel cell. I spent some time chatting with their 'captain,' but despite all their sophisticated programming I stell felt, at the end, like I was talking to a very smart soda machine. Still, it was a nice change of pace.

Day 38

Another day, another android-crewed starship needing fueling. I know Mezo is isolated, but I thought I'd have seen at least one other human out here by now.  Feeling out of sorts, I left the station in Layla's capable hands, and took one of the flyers out.  Flew over the crash site, on a whim, and regretted it.  Such a terrible tragedy. Flew back home and realized that I'm now thinking of the station as 'home.'  I've never really thought of any place as 'home' before.

Day 39

Had the androids cut back the grasses growing along the edges of the landing field. It was a windy day and the grasses were making odd music. Felt a bit sad cutting them back, but if it's not done, they could damage the landing field.

Day 40

Damn. Something's gone wrong with the station's androids, some kind of malware infection they must have picked up from one of the ships that have come through. Had to physically shut them all down, which is harder to do than it sounds, then reboot them with clean backups.  Going to have to make damn sure they don't interface with any other systems in the future. The last thing I need is a station full of rogue, potentially murderous, androids running around.

Day 43

Been trying to track the malware down that infected the androids and I think it might have come in with that last Company message burst.  Sent off a warning to the Company, and programmed in some additional virus-checks for all future messages. Hopefully that'll be the end of it.

Day 46

Checked on the stasis pod this morning. Everything there is fine, so I went for a walk with Layla in the tall gray grasses. Artella was a poisonous green, filling the sky, and the sun seemed distant and subdued. It was beautiful.

Day 47

I saw a flower today. Or something that passes for a flower. Growing in the long grasses near the landing field. It was a white, transluscent blossom that sort of glowed. I checked the files, but no one has reported seeing anything like it on Mezo before. I think I've just discovered a new kind of plant life.

Day 48

The Authority cruiser arrived today. It was far too large to land on the field, so while they orbited the moon, they sent a big shuttle down to retrieve the stasis pod.  These were the first active humans that I've seen in almost seven weeks.  They loaded up the stasis pod with brisk efficiency, interviewed me about my experience with the crash, then left. It was only after they'd gone that I realized that I'd never asked them who the survivor was.

I have to admit, I was kind of glad to see them go.

Day 49

Ugh. Sick. Picked something up from the cruiser crew probably. I feel horrible.

Day 50

Feeling better today, so that's good. I wonder if I should start wearing an encounter suit when I meet new people? It's obvious my immunity is down.

Day 51

Sat in the late afternoon sunshine today, feeling like a spoiled old man. I literally have an entire moon to myself.

Day 53

Got another message burst from the Company today. Letters from home, mostly. Ran them through my new antivirus filters and they seemed to be safe. Good to know.

Day 54

The alien ship that passed through about a month ago stopped by again to refuel. The ship is The Idius and the aliens are from a planet called Tetheron. Humanoid oxygen breathers.  The last time rhey were here I chatted with them over the coms, this time I did it in person.  It was really nice. I wish that Authority cruiser's crew had been as nice.

Day 56

Damn. I've spent the last two days playing hide-n-seek from the station's androids. They got reinfected by malware and this time it was much, much worse. They tried to do me harm. I armed myself with a heavy wrench and incapacitated them one by one. It figured that the most dangerous one would be Layla, the most advanced of the bunch. She was the last one I incapacitated.  I'm not sure, but my initial scans suggest that the malware was introduced by the crew of The Idius.  Comms are down at the moment, but as soon as I've got them up again, I'm contacting the Authorities. This was ridiculous!

Day 57

The Authority cruiser is back. They have The Idius and her crew in custody. Seems they're anarchists or something trying to disrupt human expansion.  They're revisiting all the ports the ship stopped at, which is why they returned to Mezo so quickly.  The cruiser was able to help me restore the damaged systems and reboot the droids. The captain said they patrol this sector pretty frequently and would try to check on me more often.

I asked him what would happen to the Tetherons.  He said they've already been tried and convicted and would be shipped off to a penal colony on the Frontier.

I'd feel bad for them if they weren't a bunch of psychos.

Day 58

The Authority cruiser is gone and things have returned to what passes for normal on Mezo. The droids seem no worse for wear, and Layla apologized for trying to bash my head in with a wrench. I told her it was okay and then we went for a stroll along the perimeter. The little moonflower I discovered is still there, a dash of brilliant white against the grayish-purpled grasses. I made a mental note to do some scans and send them to the Company in my next message burst.

Day 59

And the water system went on the fritz again. Took a couple of tries but I eventually got it working again. I swear, I think the Company needs to seriously overhaul that system.

Day 60

Got the water system working again just in time for its thermal regulators to conk out. Took some doing, and a lot of swearing, but I managed to get it working again and spare myself a lot of cold showers.

Day 62

Spoke too soon. Water system thermal regulators failed. Can't fix them either, so it's nothing but cold showers until I can get replacement parts. Pheh.

Day 63

Forgot the hot water was off this morning until I stepped into the shower. Layla came running when she heard me shout, wanting to make sure I was okay. It would have been funny if the water wasn't so damned cold.

Day 66

A ship full of human colonists, bound for the Frontier, stopped today to refuel and run some diagnostics on their comms.  The colonists were all in stasis, for the trip, and the ship's crew were old hands. They said they'd done this run a dozen times over the years, and usually stopped at Mezo a few times. We gossiped. I told them about the starship that crashed on the far side of the moon and the Tetheron anarchists, and they told me about the latest news and gossip from the Core Worlds and on the Frontier. I asked if they had any spare parts for a thermal regulator and their engineer just laughed and asked me if the station's water systems were still dodgy.

Day 67

The colony ship left this morning and I was sad to see them go. But it was nice interacting with ordinary people again. After they left, though, I ran tripple diagnostics on all the androids to make sure they weren't carrying any nasty malware surprises.

Day 71

Got a message burst from the Company today. They've noted my contract is going to come to an end soon and are offering me extra incentives if I'll stay on.  Also got notified that a xenobotanist took a look at my moonflower scans and is coming out here to take a look at the thing herself. Cool.

Day 72

More microquakes this afternoon, according to station sensors, but I didn't feel a thing. Checked on my flower and found some more growing near it. Took some more scans to send directly to the Company xenobotanist per her request. Afterwards, went inside as it looked like a storm was starting to gather.

Day 74

Got an atypical rain shower this morning. Apparently, showers are fairly rare in this section of Mezo. Something about the air currents prevent cloud formation or something. Was shocked to step outside and see a faint rainbow in the sky. It faded quickly, but I've kept the memory with me all day.

Day 76

Damn. Went to check on the moonflowers this afternoon and they all seemed to be dying. Maybe it was the rain? I don't know. Took some scans and sent them off to the xenobotanist, Doctor Kaley. I wonder if she'll still make the trip if the flowers are all dead?

Day 79

Got a message via the Company from Doctor Kaley. She said she's still planning on coming to Mezo as the moon has obviously not been properly surveyed. Got the distinct impression she was very miffed with someone about that, which just made me grin. I wonder if I'll still be here when she gets out?

Day 80

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! A tradeship arrived today and they had replacement parts for the thermal regulators! I've got hot water again! Woohoo! I think the trader was sort of weirded out when I gave him a bearhug after he handed me the box with the part. I don't care. I've got hot water again!

Day 89

The Authority cruiser returned today with terrible news. The Authority is formally at war with Tetheron. At the moment, the war is just being fought in an isolated system in the Outer Worlds, but the Authorities think it could spread. So, with that in mind, they're evacuating all personnel from places like Mezo, back to the Core Worlds.  The station will be shut down, the androids mothballed until later.  Even if I hadn't already decided to leave Mezo, the decision would have been taken out of my hands.  

I leave on the cruiser tomorrow.

Day 90

Today was my last day on Mezo. I don't know if I'll ever be back.  When I first arrived here, I was worried that I would be lonely. This moon is fairly isolated. Weeks pass between the appearance of ships, needing repairs or refueling.

But I was never really lonely.  And as the days turned into weeks, I grew to appreciate the quietness and the solitude that permeates Mezo.  

And I certainly can't say that I was bored here. Between keeping the station going, dealing with the android problems, and assisting the travelers who stopped by, I got more than enough excitement.

Today, we closed the station. The androids were shut down and placed in storage. Layla was the last one and before we mothballed her, I took her with me for one final walk in the long, gray grasses beyond the station.

Overhead, Artella filled the sky, a swirling giant of pastel green and white clouds, that I've come to regard as familiar and nurturing. The breeze swept through the longish gray grass, which hummed and sang, like the strings of an exotic, alien harp.

I'll miss Mezo. I'll miss the peace it brought me, and I hope I can carry that with me as the future unfolds, uncertainly, before us all.

But it's time to move on.

We went back to the station, where I powered down Layla and placed her in storage alongside her fellows.  As I covered her inactive form with a plastic dust-cloth, I felt like I was burying a friend.

Then I went outside to the shuttle, and left Mezo behind.