Swear vengeance on Gentleman and his mechanical cannibalism.
You are certain this was Gentleman’s doing. You swear to loose your just wrath upon him for his unforgivable mechanibalism.
Examine stuff on desk.
You check out the desk. There’s a note, a small mug with some pens and pencils, a bank of memory chips, and some loose parts.
read the notes on the desk
You read the note.
Day 805
An interesting encounter today. One of the auxbots had reactivated and managed to locate me in the mobile lab. It wears a monocle, a top hat, and a fake moustache. All once the property of Les, of course – I told him to keep his old theatre memorabilia well away from the robots, but I suppose with the facility in the state it’s in now it could not have been helped. Considered wiping its personality, but the social-elite persona it has developed seems… proactive. This robot will serve better as an assistant than a blind tool. I have tasked him with finding any information pertinent to the location of the source, using whatever means he deems appropriate to meet those ends.
Day 806
My assistant returned with Rusty today. The poor animal was near-starved. Doing better now. He continues to sit at the base of the ladder, day in and day out. His master will not be returning, but he will never understand that.
Day 807
Today my assistant returned badly injured. He had been knocked into the sewage basin next to the freezer, which melted away his frame. Knowing the acidity of oculoid nutrient waste, it is no wonder we stumbled across a way to create an explosive from its fluids. I have instructed him to make repairs. I have no spare parts here, but I cannot afford to lose my assistant.
In his debrief he mentioned something most interesting. I had already heard that other robots were re-activating and wandering the lab idly, but this one had befriended one of the creatures and had even attacked my assistant in order to protect it. Most curious. A possibility here arises in my mind that I had hereto not considered.
Day 808
Slow day. Little progress on my experiments. The robot with the pet creature monopolizes my focus. A plan is forming, but I must know more about my subject first. I must meet this robot. I shall wait until my assistant returns.
Day 809
Assistant has returned, with another deactivated robot and several parts. Most of morning spent building a new frame. Not suited for handiwork. More Les’ sort of thing. Will call subject robot after lunch.
Day 809, con’t
Brought subject robot to lab. It is as I suspected – it has developed a somewhat childlike sense of justice and caring. Surely it would not understand my motivation. Its opinion was comically naïve. Was forced to quiet it just to ‘pitch’ my bluff. Nonetheless, have successfully sent him on an errand disguised as a quest of sorts. His description of the ship confirms my fears that it is out of backup power and fuel. My gambit is a great deal riskier now. I must finally abandon the mobile lab and bring my last amount of the chemical with me in order to power the ship. Preparations are being made. Once we have the co-ordinates I will proceed to the ship immediately.
Day 810
can’t sleep again. can’t calm my mind. every time i shut my eyes my mind wanders and the dark dreams bubble and i open my eyes and i’m drowning in a wind of ice and snow and it’s suffocating and i can’t breathe, i can’t breathe, i can’t sleep, i can’t... preston. god, preston, why? let me sleep, damn you. all i want is some rest. please, god. i’m so tired. let me rest. please. please.
Day 811
After all this time--
It's the core! The source is the core! We had ruled it out as too deep for such a chemical to hear the vibrations necessary to multiply, but somehow it has not only held out but in fact flourished! An astounding discovery - and yet one that in hindsight seems so obvious. How else could the planet keep so internally cooled? I will move to the ship immediately. My assistant has not yet returned – I do not know why. No matter. He knows my destination. He will have to meet me there by foot. And the subject robot… To think that such an emotional half-witted mechanism could help me make such a discovery. Such is life.
I leave for the ship presently. This then marks my final entry. I have spent nearly 27 months on this accursed planet. Earth, you need not wait for me. I shall only be a little longer.
Dr. C. Feringus, P.H.D.
grab the music box
You recover the music box. It has been repaired, as per Dr. Feringus’ promise. You decide to keep it under your hat for now.
Grab patches leg and keep it with us. Retrieve pen and paper.
Unfortunately, you’re rather short of places to store things at the moment.
search the lab for anything else of interest. Like any memory chips.
There are three memory chips in the bank. You check them out one at a time.
They all display similar things.
Upon activation, it stared straight ahead to watch Gentleman tear into its companions.
Two tried to flee, one tried to fight. None of the three had any success.
One of them was dragged on its back to the sub lab. For a moment, you see Feringus examine it.
Then the feed cuts out.
see if the sub controls make any sense.
There doesn’t seem to be any power on the ship.
e- tiiiny edit to throw Feringus' first initial in.
e- two typoes: first "anoter" to "another," then nearly-51 months to nearly 27 (how on earth did I end up so off on that? Oh well - 811 days still stands.