Chapter 1: First Transmissions
As the crew struggles with objectives and initial responsibilities, they attempt to understand where they are in the empty cosmos. The crew of Okulous-10 wakes from zombie sleep, finding themselves lost in the universe. Far beyond our solar system, they’ve received no signals from Earth since their departure. Alexandra Boldt, the Lead Engineer, brings the primary heating and comfort systems of Okulous-10 to life. Several crew members wake late from their zombie sleep cycles, while Anders Ardeen, the Lead Engineer, died of unknown causes during zombie sleep, decreasing the crew count to twenty four. Sibylline Foley wakes but refuses to speak as the crew undergoes initial heath assessments, while two others show concerning signs of early mental illness.
E5R LOG 00: Connect
ESTABLISHING CONNECTION....
ESTABLISHING CONNECTION....
ESTABLISHING CONNECTION....
OKULOUS-10 LINK ESTABLISHED.
CONFIRMING SITE....SITE E5 RECEIVING.
CONFIRMING SIGNAL....RECEIVING TEXT ONLY.
E5R LOG 01: Atrophy
Alexandra Boldt here, Communications Specialist for OKULOUS-10, waking from zombie sleep. Groggy. Other crew members awake before me. Muscular atrophy. Hope it goes away soon. A few hours to walk to communications. Protocol 010: Communications.
E5R LOG 02: Status
Ship Status reporting, all systems functional. Except we can't receive signals from Earth. Text broadcast only. Hopefully COMMAND is receiving this. We will broadcast daily. Update on crew tomorrow. Muscular atrophy still impeding most actions.
E5R LOG 03: Cold
More issues with ship systems. Temperature control, unable to maintain constant temperature within the ship. Too cold. All crew using blankets to keep warm. Probably due to continuing support for zombie sleep systems. Not all crew members awake yet.
E5R LOG 04: Zombie
Engine systems good, however unable to confirm our ship's location. Working on solution. Coordinates database still refreshing. Zombie sleep should be down by now, but it isn't. This worries me. Three crew still not awake. All other crew awake and healthy.
E5R LOG 05: Control
Need Anders to wake from zombie sleep to fix temperature control systems. In such cold, can't reduce muscular atrophy. Anders would know how to fix. Others and myself looked through heating, but appears too complicated. Average ship temp 54 degF.
E5R LOG 06: Mishings
Coordinates database still refreshing. Should have refreshed by now. Can't access any historical logs. Allison Mishings woke from sleep today. Two remaining, including Anders. Vitals appear normal, still concerned. They should be awake by now.
E5R LOG 07: Vitals
Heating systems connected to zombie sleep capsules. Unless Anders and Foley wake, ship stays cold. Anders' vitals failing. Worried about him. Foley's okay. Average ship temperature continues to drop, roughly half of a degree every 22 hours, now 51 degF.
E5R LOG 08: Risk
Foley's and Anders' vitals declining. Crew doctor Dirk Schmidt says wait until tomorrow. If vitals still falling we manually wake. Alarms in piloting controls, need Foley or Anders to diagnose. Crew not sleeping. Too cold, increasing risk of disease.
E5R LOG 09: Manual
Foley's and Anders' vitals now critical. Starting manual wake cycle now. Schmidt believes they will die if not taking out of zombie sleep. Crew standing by to support. Can't lose both and only engineers. Avg temp: 49 degF. Protocol 210: Manual Wake.
E5R LOG 10: Training
Foley out of zombie sleep and stable, but unconscious. Process took 8 hours. Preparing to cycle Anders out of zombie sleep. Schmidt training Allison Mishings as his medical assistant. Crew sleep deprived. Concerned about health. Protocol 210: Manual Wake.
E5R LOG 11: Anders
Anders dead. Died before Wake Protocol. Not sure what to do. Hard to deal with these emotions in a ship with no resources in the middle of space. So many questions. How do we deal with a dead body in space? Airlock doesn't feel right. Want a better way.
E5R LOG 12: Alarms
Crew count now 24. COMMAND, who should take Ander's place on the crew as lead engineer? Need to fix temp systems. Alarms in pilot controls. Foley still unresponsive. Average ship temp 50 degF. Zombie sleep heat rejection was too high.
E5R LOG 13: Location
Put Anders' body back in zombie sleep capsule after brief memorial service. Temp continues to increase, helping crew muscular atrophy. Concerned we still can't determine our location. Not sure how to fix without our engineers. Foley still unconscious.
 E5R LOG 14: Promotion
I volunteered to take Anders' position as Lead Engineer. I'll also continue as communications lead. With Foley still unconscious, there's no one to fix coordinates / location database alarms. Average ship temp increasing.
E5R LOG 15: Memory
Schmidt, Mishings scheduled weekly health checks. Trying to understand main ship systems. How did Anders keep all this in his head? Think silent alarms may have something to do with our lack of location. Foley still unconscious.
E5R LOG 16: Planning
Avg ship temp 67degF. Crew catching up on sleep. Trying different shifts and managing other starting tasks, food and nutrition needs. Planning for mission objectives. Haven't established crew’s operational responsibilities.Â
E5R LOG 17: Silence
Unable to confirm our location, very concerning. Looked outside for the first time. Space is vast. Stars are unbelievable. Our sun is one of them, can’t tell which. Sleep improving for me. So quiet in the ship sometimes.
E5R LOG 18: Capacity  Â
I asked for help leading the crew. Still too busy understanding OKULOUS-10’s engineering. Myself and Schmidt are now designated captains. Foley still unconscious. Vitals normal. Concerned she isn't awake. Hope to send images, but not enough signal capacity.
E5R LOG 19: Beautiful
The two alarms I found on the navigation computer could be bad sensors on ship's exterior shell. Not sure how to fix yet. Need to confirm wiring routes. Can't stop looking outside. It's beautiful. Milky Way is an incredible sight out here. So many stars.
E5R LOG 20: Symptoms  Â
Foley awake but not speaking. Schmidt is concerned about her health, early flu symptoms. Schmidt suggests a quarantine. I don't understand how someone could get flu out here.
E5R LOG 21: Appointments
Crew finally getting into mission objectives. More details to follow. First found of weekly health appointments tomorrow. Will send separate files with summaries when available.
E5R LOG 22: Sensors
Confirmed bad sensors are why we can't establish our location. Requires exterior trip to sensor. Have to establish procedure. A frightening thought.Â
E5R LOG 23: Bodies
Mishings concerned about health appointment results. One crew member seen looking at Anders' dead body. Seems strange. May not have been a good idea to keep his body on the ship.
E5R LOG 24: Isolation
Foley in medical quarantine until symptoms gone. Still not speaking. Two crew members show early signs of mental destabilization. Never know how isolation like this will impact someone.
E5R LOG 25: Maintenance
Planning for first maintenance walk to fix sensors. Other tasks being assigned. Determining primary mission objectives for crew teams.Â
E5R LOG 26: Boden
Charles Boden caught staring at Anders' dead body again. When asked why, he said: "He's still alive. Why hasn't he woken up?" Thinking we can't keep Anders' on board for sake of crew mental health, but doesn't feel right to send out the airlock.
E5R LOG 27: Response
Curious was signal latency is. Mishings says three crew - including Boden - are mentally unstable. Foley's flu symptoms are clearing, still not speaking.
E5R LOG 28: Objectives
Primary objectives determined: 1) Where are we? 2) Determine Foley's condition. 3) Assign leaders to: Health and Nutrition, Planning, Navigation, Sciences. Preparing for exterior walk tomorrow. I'm terrified. Still monitoring mental health of others.
E5R LOG 29: DarkÂ
Exterior walk completed. Terrifying. Space is dark. Impossible to see anything outside the helmet light. Both exterior sensors damaged. Other damage seen to shell of OKULOUS-10, as if we went through a storm. Need to check navigation history before waking.
E5R LOG 30: HealthÂ
Health Team Objectives: Maintain plant growth cycles, ensure health and fitness of crew. Planning Team Objectives: Determine next steps in mission, act as mission historians. Navigation Team Objectives: Determine our location (after sensors repaired).
E5R LOG 31: ScienceÂ
Sciences Team Objectives (lead by me): Repair exterior sensors. Review extent of exterior ship damage, verify no other critical systems are in alarm. Night and day shift for crews determined. Performing another exterior walk.
E5R LOG 32: Time
Unsure of current date. Our time indicates E5R1205:1346:seconds. Schmidt believes Boden's instability based on his observance of Anders. Other crew instabilities based on memory loss before waking, leading to other symptoms.
 E5R LOG 33: Damage  Â
Second maintenance walk. Both nav sensors inside for repair. Significant damage near sensors on ship's shell, like something hit us, denting of the shell, no breaches. Recommending no repair action at this time for shell since atmosphere is still intact.
E5R LOG 34: Decisions
Schmidt made difficult decision today: remove Ander's body from ship. Already done. Boden tried opening Ander's capsule. He is under medical watch with Mishings. If this was not part of original protocols, asking that an exception be made.
E5R LOG 35: Letum
Foley spoke today. First words: "How did we die?" Nothing else to report.Â