Below Absolute Zero

[DeletedUser28032]

Harriet
"No that’s alright I probably should look at cleaning up some of the mess, wouldn't want to step on anything during the night" she said getting up off of the chair so as to leave Peadar to his work.
She was halfway through the door of Peadar's room when she stopped and spoke over her shoulder "I appreciate what you did for me not many people would have stood up for me but...but you and Ethan should probably stay away from me or I am liable to get the pair of you into a lot of trouble" although she liked the Irishman or perhaps even because she did like him Harriet didn't want to see him get into trouble with that fascist of a security commander because of her.
With her piece said she walked back to her room and began the task of cleaning up all of the mess knowing that she wouldn't be getting any sleep this night.

Day 1, 5:45AM

Isaac
Dressed in the dark blue uniform of the base's security team Isaac walked down the corridor of Charlie block, his eyes searching for Ethan's door number before stopping and rapping his knuckles loudly against the wood.
Yawning loudly he checks his watch briefly before knocking once again, the two of them had to escort Miss Lynch to the Science lab before starting their own shift so they would have to get a move on if they were going to make it.

(OOC: I'll let the rest of you write your own waking up and going to work posts)

 

[DeletedUser13682]

"If I was afraid of a Limey, I wouldn't be able to return home," Peadar said to the leaving Harriet. He would have helped her clean up that mess of a room, but this printer still had to be supervised, though the technology was over 100 years developed. Maybe someday, these machines would become reliable and quick enough to be utilized in mass manufacturing.

These thoughts were just distractions from a different problem, that of why he was helping Harriet, much less interact with her. A few months ago, maybe even a few weeks ago, Peadar wouldn't have talked to the Limey. Maybe it was space. In space, everyone was equal (except Orange Irish). But back at home... Peadar wondered what the people back home would think of Harriet. Five years. Wasn't that a David Bowie song? It was, about the end of the world (foreshadow?).

When Peadar woke up, he had a slight headache. Nothing a couple aspirin, a bacon egg and cheese biscuit, and some Thin Lizzy. As Whiskey in the Jar greeted the morning, Peadar set to work installing Harriet's new door parts. After that was done, Peadar grabbed a breakfast sandwich and reported at his locker to gear up and begin his day.

 

[DeletedUser35174]

Ethan was woken up by the loud knocking on the door. Quickly getting out of bed he opened the door and and was met by Isaac. "Hey man, just give me 10 mins yeah" he said.
he ran to the shower and brushed his teeth while he was at it. After he had put on in his dark blue uniform Ethan stepped out of his room a new man. Memories of the first day he wore the multicam uniform of the marines came to him. He felt proud. "Alright, what are we doing first" he eagerly asked Isaac the sleep already out of his system.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Never a late sleeper, Xenon had woke at 4:30 and prepped for the day ahead. He wasn't sure how receptive the people he was now in charge of would be to a new overseer. If they were smart, they'd quickly become subservient. However, he doubted it'd be that easy, and he knew he'd likely have to rely on the head miners and other such authority figures, if for no other reason than to learn the day-to-day operations of the facility. With plenty of time to spare, he departed 113 and headed for mining station Alpha.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Sara awoke and applied some normal lipstick and other such cosmetics that the company had seen fight to provide. She suited up in a nice suit, one of the latest fashions there was, she liked to look current and good looking, besides, it was never to be underestimated how distracted guards could get looking at nice women... She grabbed a pen and attached her optical camera, it was basically a contact lense that was virtually impossible to spot unless you knew exactly what you were looking for. She had hidden the grappling device and her Hallucinogenic Lipstick and she had the pocket computer on her. It was the latest model, and it was less of a pocket computer and more of a wrist computer. It was a computer that folded out on her arm, touch screen but with a slide out keyboard that she could use at any time. She was going to sync it in with her work account this morning so that she could send emails at any time and also get access to the mainframe so that she could possibly find out some useful stuff, but she'd think about that later. She left her room with all her prep done and was right on schedule. She got in the elevator and began to head to the room where she had met Mr Weiland the previous day, as she had read in her pack that that was where most of her work would be taking place.

 

[Apelatia]

Ragnar sat up in bed slowly, stretching himself. Today was going to be the start of a new adventure for him! The kitchens were where he had been told to report in to, so that would mean catering probably, but you could never be sure in this place. Putting any thoughts of yesterday's events behind him, Ragnar did all the usual waking-up activities: showering, brushing teeth and getting dressed. Once that was done, he packed the few cooking utensils he had bought with him into a small bag that he had found the previous night in the desk drawer in his room. Before leaving he sat down on the edge of his bed and took a moment to calm himself. If he got too excited, he would make blunders and mistakes, and he didn't want his new boss to doubt him first he saw him.

Donning the memento of his brother, Ragnar opens the door and strolls off to where he thinks the kitchens are, only stopping once for confirmation that he was going in the right direction.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

The "Bus Station"
The daily trip from El Dorado to Mining station took the better part of an hour through the twisting tunnels carved into the ice and rock only lit at the tiny maintenance posts along the way; tiny steel platforms with a pair of floodlights and a pair of concrete sheds to store tools and electrical equipment.
Although it was far quicker to go across the planets surface; a mere fifteen minutes though that particular journey had its own perils most notably freezing to death and so unsurprisingly the tunnels were the preferred route.
The station itself comprised of a long concrete platform along the edge of a large cavern carved into the ice with a pair of large hangar like sheds in which the trucks were stored over night. Along its length there several small bus shelter like constructions in which there was a bench and a heater. It was within one of these sheds that Stieg was stood warming his hands before the heater, his breath misting out despite the insulated overalls and gloves he wore.
Meanwhile outside the sound of heavy duty diesel engines could be heard as the first of the large six wheeled trucks positioned itself in front of the platform with the word BRAVO stencilled upon its surface though no doubt the one for Alpha would be along shortly.

Isaac
"Aaah he yet lives" Isaac said with a grin as the ex-marine opened the door "Well first job is to wake Dirty Harry and escort her to the labs, now seen as she's your responsibility you get to do the waking" he continued with a grin, Speer had informed him of the situation early this morning making it clear to Isaac that Ethan was being punished by given exactly what he had asked for, how long he'd actually have the job of being Harriet’s minder was yet to be determined.

The Office
Only two people were within the half illuminated office when Sara arrived; Mr Weiland and the middle aged receptionist the latter of whom smiled as she arrived "I see you've been lumbered with his hours then" she said with the slight chuckle of one who knows "The kettle is over in the corner if you'd like a drink oh and my name is Margaret" she said nodding her head to the small tea station comprising of an L-shaped counted top a small water boiler and a sink "Don't worry about the mugs there all the same and if you have any problems feel free to ask, though most people are pretty friendly around here"

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Sara smiled sweetly at Margaret. A nice person, now Sara might feel slightly worse if or when she took advantage or used her. "Thank you very much. I read the pack but it wasn't that clear on what I'm actually meant to do. Any specifics I should know? Any habits of Mr Weiland that should be mentioned?" She asked the question with a smile, if she was going to do her job then she'd do it well so as to avoid suspicion later on. Also, Margaret might be a gossiper or a rumour-monger, and as Sara liked to say, rumours always had to start somewhere and anything she could dig up to blackmail people with was always a start.

 

[DeletedUser]

Arriving back at Harriet’s room, Isaac, Peadar, Ethan and some other guy began to converse rapidly, eventually reaching the agreement that Peadar would take care of her.
Safe in the knowledge that all was resolved, although a little bewildered, Doemenic went to bed.
His alarm snapped his eyelids open at six am. Doemenic rolled out of bed, rubbing his eyes and groaning. He had a slight hangover.
Throwing on a black suit with dark blue tie Doemenic stumbled out of his room several minutes later, PDA in hand. Locking it behind him he went to the lift as he checked that he had his company ID.
The lift doors slid open seamlessly as he reached the admin block. Moving over to the receptionist, he flashed his ID, before speaking. “Morning, which one is my desk? And has Mr, um, Weilland sent me a work schedule?” He said, rubbing his eyes.

 

[DeletedUser35174]

"Aaah he yet lives" said Isaac with a smile. He must know what happened the night before. "So you know huh" replied Ethan with a smile. "Well first job is to wake Dirty Harry and escort her to the labs, now seen as she's your responsibility you get to do the waking". As Ethan figured the night before, his life on this big globe was not gonna be as quiet and eventless as he thought it would have been. "right let's get to it" Ethan said with a loud sigh. Ethan strolled to Harriet's room and knocked gently on the new door Peadar had made. "Harriet, it's Ethan" he added with the knock.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

The Alpha station train wasn't there yet. Already Xenon was underwhelmed. This station was years away from Earth, and yet they STILL couldn't keep things on time. Not at all inclined to mingle with his soon to be charges, he leaned against a wall, analyzing everything he could see in the station, and inferring as much as he could from the visible. He had to know this place inside and out if he was going to commit any crimes without anyone noticing, and that meant analyzing everything he could analyze.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Arriving at his locker, Peadar donned his PPE, a standard hard hat, overalls, leather welding gloves, goggles with removable tinted lenses, and steel toed boots. Throwing some tools, his printer, and a sack lunch into a tool bag, Peadar headed to the bus station, which was close to the lockers, thank Eris. When he arrived at the station, only Stieg, one of Peadar's fellow newcomers, and the bus headed to Bravo were currently present. Ignoring the other guy (he reminded Peadar of one of those dealers who conducted business on both sides of the border), Peadar headed over to Stieg. "Morning to you, boss," Peadar said, warming his hands at the heater along with Stieg. "I take it that work takes us to Alpha today?"

 

[DeletedUser28032]

The Kitchens
Situated behind the canteen the kitchens were large, modern and immaculatley clean in appearance with both a pantry and cold storage area situated at the rear. No doubt during the day the place would be chaotic as the chefs prepared meals for the staff however at this hour it was completely deserted save for a two men in chefs whites who seemed to be doing an inventory of the recently arrived stock.
Looking up from out of the crates a large man of African-American descent smiled upon seeing Ragnar "So you must be the new guy huh, the names Nate and I have the unfortunate job of being head chef...I mean look at this I order mixed fruit and what do they send me? Lemons! what in gods name am I going to do with a months supply of lemons?" shaking his head in despair he walks over to where Ragnar stood leaving his colleague with the lamentable task of comparing what they'd ordered with what they'd received "Right well I've read your CV so there’s no need to go over the whole orientation meeting" he said throwing inverted comma's in the air as he spoke "I am sending you down to Alpha for today to covers breakfast and lunch, simple stuff sandwiches, toast so on so forth...now its a little rustic down fair and it'll only be you and an Andy but it beats the hell out of waiting around here" he said indicating the deserted kitchens "you'll need to be back here early for evening service but other than that I think we're golden, Questions?"
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Stieg
"Work always takes us to Alpha...If you wind up in Bravo you've taken the wrong bus" the large Norwegian said with a smile, briefly glancing over his shoulder as a group of workmen climbed aboard the bus to Bravo whilst meanwhile more and more people filtered their way onto the station.
"Where you headed for slick? You realise these only go to the mining facilities right?" he calls over to Mark noting that he was the only person not dressed in thermal overalls and gloves, it wasn't the first time that one of the office monkeys had been sent here either by mistake or through some cruel practical joke.
Before he had long to dwell on the point the roaring of a diesel engine signalled the arrival of the first bus to Alpha; pulling up next platform almost exactly in front of where Stieg was stood "Hi ho, off to work we go"
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Margaret
"What other than starting work at the crack of dawn?" the receptionist said with a wry smile "You'll mainly be dealing with Mr Weiland’s paperwork and phone calls, that and other work associated with the company...you know red sticker saying classified" before she could go into any further Domenic made his arrival into the office.
Noting that the man appeared to be sober this morning she patiently listens to what he had to say before replying "There’s a free desk over in the corner you can use, though you'll ne spending most of your time in the command centre..." the woman rolled her eyes as if to say that she knew it was as silly name and that she had nothing to do with its choosing "...its down the hall and on the left, you'll already have a terminal set up there waiting for you, just place your thumb on the biometric reader and it should turn straight on"
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Isaac
Smirking, Isaac watched as Ethan gently knocked on the door to Harriet's room waiting a couple of minutes before speaking with a grin "Is that how they woke you in the marines? boy did you guys have the sweet life" rolling his eyes Isaac proceeds to pound on the door hard enough to shake it within its frame, shouting as he did so "Wakey wakey rise and shine, its time to get your..." the door opened with such sudden ferocity that Isaac only stopped himself from tumbling inside by catching hold of the door frame "What!" Harriet hissed with undisguised hostility, glaring daggers at both Ethan and Isaac, the shadows around her eyes making it clear that she hadn't slept a wink last night.
Despite the look of murder in her eyes Isaac managed to recover quickly, speaking in a polite voice "Ethan is here to escort you to work Miss Lynch" Harriet glared once again at Ethan before slamming the door in their faces only to open five minutes later once she was dressed in a pair of jeans, a red vest top and a lab coat growling "I am ready lets go" as she closed the door behind her, making it clear that she was in a bad mood and was going to make the rest of the world suffer because of it.

 

[DeletedUser35174]

Is that how they woke you in the marines? boy did you guys have the sweet life" said Isaac causing Ethan to clench his fists. Isaac started pounding on the door, a little bit too hard in Ethan's opinion. Suddenly the door opened quickly causing Isaac to tumble forward. He would've fell face first if he hadn't held on to the door frame. Ethan chuckled lightly. "you have a great sense of balance" he added. After Isaac regained his balance he informed Harriet that Ethan is to escort her to work. "That i am" said Ethan hoping to make small talk with the woman. The looks she gave him told him he ough to stop it. She slammed the door in their faces and came back five minutes later dressed in a red vest top and a lab coat. "I am ready lets go" she growled. "Okay. Isaac you may lead the way" gestured Ethan.

 

[DeletedUser]

The receptionist informed him that he would be doing his work in the ‘command centre’. Great, that should give him easy access to company records. Nodding, he turned and walked down the corridor in the direction she had pointed. A short while later he arrived, heading into the room, he took a brief look around at the other workers, before finding his desk. Sitting down he pressed his thumb against the scanner, and waited until it beeped and the terminal powered up.
Excellent. Time to get digging.

 

[Apelatia]

Ragnar had finally found his way to the kitchens, after endless searching and asking questions to the few people who were around. People were rather hard to find, since the place was nearly deserted at this time of the day. Ragnar hurriedly rushed into the room, thinking that he was going to be terribly late, and that some kind of punishment would ensue, but sure enough, as he stepped into the kitchen, it was deserted, save for two men in chefs whites, who were pouring over crates of newly arrived stock. One of the men had looked up as he walked in, and introduced himself as Nate, the head chef. Ragnar chuckled as Nate told him about the mix-up which had occurred in the deliveries. "I'm sure those lemons will be useful somewhere," Ragnar remarked sarcastically to the man, who seemed altogether rather friendly.

Nate went on to inform him that he was sending him down to Alpha for the day to do the breakfasts and lunches. From what he heard, Ragnar managed to decipher that he would be working alone with only one other man. The staffing levels here really were quite low. No wonder they were so desperate for more workers. The man told him that he would need to be back here early evening to help with the evening service, going on to ask him if he had an questions. "Sounds easy enough! I'm sure I'll get on just fine down at Alpha! I've got a couple of questions. Firstly, what time exactly do you want me back here? Secondly, how do I get to Alpha block? This is only my second day here haha!" In truth, Ragnar was glad that he would be working alone with only one other man at Alpha block. That would give him a chance to become friends with someone here. After all, he had got off to a rather bad start yesterday night.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Isaac
"Sure thing Ethan… Follow me darling and I’ll show where the lab is" Isaac spoke to Harriet with mock sweetness, ignoring the evil look she gave him; her hands clenching into fists as she did so, not that Isaac was worried he'd seen far scarier people than her whilst in the Rangers.
Walking down the corridors the three of them threaded their way through the early morning crowds of people on their way to work taking the exact same route that Ethan had taken with Isaac the following day to meet Speer.
Stepping into the lift Isaac punches the number for their floor "Once we've escorted Miss Lynch here to the labs you and me will have to suit up pretty sharpish for our patrol...probably in and around either Alpha or Bravo" he said in a conversational tone of voice as he watched the numbers tick down, completely ignoring Harriet and the evil looks she was giving him as he did so.
The labs transpired to be only a short distance from where the security section was so they weren't required to rush quite so much as the pair of them had feared, and just as Isaac had predicted they were told by a grinning Captain Speer to patrol Alpha.
Opening his locker Isaac pulls on the heavy duty coat and gloves both in standard military arctic camouflage pattern along with a white balaclava and a pair of tinted goggles which he stuffed into a pocket just in case they needed to make a trip to the surface.
It was just as the pair of them were about to leave that Speer stops the pair of them in the corridor “Isaac make sure Ethan knows how we do things around here whilst you’re out there I want him to be on the same page as the rest of us as soon as possible” he speaks to the ex-Ranger in a low voice so that Ethan could only just hear him before continuing in his normal pitch “Oh and if you see that G.I I want to know what the hell he’s up to”
“Yes sir, will do… Come along Ethan we’ve got a bus to catch”
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The Command Centre
The command centre as it was referred to somewhat jokingly by the other members of staff was something almost akin to the bridge of a starship; with several large work stations arrayed around the room in a U-shape with which to monitor all of the stations power outputs, oxygen, radar and communication frequencies allowing those within the room to be one hundred percent up to date on what was happening throughout the entire facility.
As he tries to start digging into the company records it pretty soon becomes apparent that he wouldn’t be getting very far as the machine he was currently working on was on a completely different server to the one he would require for snooping.
With his plans for minor espionage thwarted for the time being Domenic notices a faint shadow passing across one of the monitors for the orbital satellites before disappearing entirely. Whatever it had been if anything other than a glitch had been large, very large but surely something that big couldn’t be hidden from the advanced radar systems employed by the satellites? Perhaps it was simply just a glitch in the server?
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Nate
“If you leave Alpha around half five-ish then that should give you plenty of time to get here and get prepped” Nate replied before providing Ragnar with detailed if slightly confusing directions to the “Bus station” that would transport him to Alpha, not that he’d get there in time for the first bus.

 

[DeletedUser]

What the hell? A shadow passed over one of the satellite monitors. That had to be a glitch. Opening up a terminal he began to type in commands, accessing the satellite server he began to search for inconsistencies in the code. Meanwhile in another window he accessed the satellite database, searching for the shadow so he could play it back and be sure of what he saw, or what he didn't see.
It looked like digging through the logs would have to wait until he could access the correct server.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Sara smiled at Margaret before making her way to her desk and logging onto her computer. She logged in and began to have a quick root around company files, looking for any keywords in titles that would give away any secrets. She was just doing a quick scan now but she'd get more in depth later in the privacy of her room. "Any outstanding jobs at the moment then?" She asked Margaret whose desk was across from hers.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Command Centre
Replaying the satellite log Domenic once again saw the faint and somewhat hazy shadow pass over the screen that was not all that different from an old sonar scope in style although a good deal more complex.
After scanning through the computer code he could find no perceivable fault nor could he detect the shadow on any of the other satellites or re-find with the current satellite. Whatever it had been, if it had been anything at all in the first place had completely vanished.
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Margaret
After a quick search of the computers database it soon became clear that if there was anything of value hidden in amongst the run of the mill office data then it would not only require her to hack several passwords but also more time and privacy than she currently had at the moment "Oh yeah there’s a ton of back logged paperwork that needs doing; Lizzy just upped and left after the accident without warning...Mr Weiland was furious when he found out she'd done that though by that point the ship had already left orbit" Margaret replied, speaking of Sara's predecessor for the first time.