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A "Thursday Prompt" submission based on the random word choice "Sleep".
This is a 365 word challenge. The story must use exactly 365 words, no more, no less.
Vrghr turned to his otterish technician featured in the prior "OYrn's Tale" series. What would it be like for a technician in the early days of a new space platform, still under construction? From wuff's own experience as a maintainer, there were many times when sleep was in short supply. Maybe OYrn experienced some of that for himself?
The PDF version of the story is attached. For those who don't want to download, the text follows here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The tech rested one paw on the wall, leaning as he keyed his passcode into the pad beside the door to unlock his room. His otter heritage blessed him with boundless energy, but weeks of extended shifts combined with unplanned overtimes fixing problems on this prototype space platform had depleted that bounty. He looked forward to some rack time to recover for the next day.
The door slid aside with a soft hiss. He pushed away from the wall and stumbled inside. The room’s lights brightened at his entry, revealing a sparse but comfortable space. The tidy bunk at the far end drew his attention and he smiled in anticipation.
“I’ll be right there,” he informed it as he unzipped the jumpsuit he wore on duty. “First, a quick detour to get rid of this funk and,” His conversation with the bunk was interrupted by a soft chime and the voice of the station’s computer. Like the station, it was new and still evolving. Its not-nearly-an-AI-yet voice reflected its infancy with stilted, mechanical tones.
“Attention. Attention. Over-heating alarm registering in Engineering. Immediate service required.”
OYrn’s head drooped. He slowly re-zipped his coverall as the alert repeated. “No rest for the weary,” he sighed. “Computer! Acknowledge message!” The mechanical voice fell silent. He cast a last longing look at the inviting bed before turning and heading out the door.
Hours later, OYrn was back, slowly stripping off his filthy coverall. A bit of debris had clogged a cooling line. Unfortunately, it was deep in a passage barely wide enough for the limber otter to squeeze through. The result encrusted him.
He recycled the filthy coverall and slipped into the ‘fresher to scrub. Cleaned and fluffy, he was peeling back the bunk’s covers when the room lights brightened. The computer announced, “Awake! Shift begins in 45 minutes.”
Defeated, OYrn silenced the alarm, donned his jumpsuit, and slumped toward the chow hall for breakfast.
“Dude! You look half-dead! Less party-hardy and more sleep!” Josh ribbed the faltering otter there.
Josh, befuddled, watched a fuming otter vanish out the door. Wiping lox and cream cheese from his face, the human looked about, “Why’d he hit me with a bagel?”
This is a 365 word challenge. The story must use exactly 365 words, no more, no less.
Vrghr turned to his otterish technician featured in the prior "OYrn's Tale" series. What would it be like for a technician in the early days of a new space platform, still under construction? From wuff's own experience as a maintainer, there were many times when sleep was in short supply. Maybe OYrn experienced some of that for himself?
The PDF version of the story is attached. For those who don't want to download, the text follows here:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The tech rested one paw on the wall, leaning as he keyed his passcode into the pad beside the door to unlock his room. His otter heritage blessed him with boundless energy, but weeks of extended shifts combined with unplanned overtimes fixing problems on this prototype space platform had depleted that bounty. He looked forward to some rack time to recover for the next day.
The door slid aside with a soft hiss. He pushed away from the wall and stumbled inside. The room’s lights brightened at his entry, revealing a sparse but comfortable space. The tidy bunk at the far end drew his attention and he smiled in anticipation.
“I’ll be right there,” he informed it as he unzipped the jumpsuit he wore on duty. “First, a quick detour to get rid of this funk and,” His conversation with the bunk was interrupted by a soft chime and the voice of the station’s computer. Like the station, it was new and still evolving. Its not-nearly-an-AI-yet voice reflected its infancy with stilted, mechanical tones.
“Attention. Attention. Over-heating alarm registering in Engineering. Immediate service required.”
OYrn’s head drooped. He slowly re-zipped his coverall as the alert repeated. “No rest for the weary,” he sighed. “Computer! Acknowledge message!” The mechanical voice fell silent. He cast a last longing look at the inviting bed before turning and heading out the door.
Hours later, OYrn was back, slowly stripping off his filthy coverall. A bit of debris had clogged a cooling line. Unfortunately, it was deep in a passage barely wide enough for the limber otter to squeeze through. The result encrusted him.
He recycled the filthy coverall and slipped into the ‘fresher to scrub. Cleaned and fluffy, he was peeling back the bunk’s covers when the room lights brightened. The computer announced, “Awake! Shift begins in 45 minutes.”
Defeated, OYrn silenced the alarm, donned his jumpsuit, and slumped toward the chow hall for breakfast.
“Dude! You look half-dead! Less party-hardy and more sleep!” Josh ribbed the faltering otter there.
Josh, befuddled, watched a fuming otter vanish out the door. Wiping lox and cream cheese from his face, the human looked about, “Why’d he hit me with a bagel?”
Category Story / Fantasy
Species Otter
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 37.2 kB
Thanks! And to quote one of OYrn's best friends, "OYrn is subject to 'vowel movements.'
As he's told the otter, "You. Talk "
"To your friends. To casual acquaintances. To complete strangers passing you in the hall. To the bots. To the station equipment. To your computer terminal.”
His friend continued, “You carry on an extended discourse to your tools, test equipment, and the systems you’re using them on while you’re servicing them. You chat with those even while you talk to folks around you while you’re working.”
“I’m sure you’re even talking to yourself when no one else is around, just to stay in practice,” he concluded.
So, yeah, OYrn doesn't need to be sleep deprived to have conversations with his bunk. *GRIN*
As he's told the otter, "You. Talk "
"To your friends. To casual acquaintances. To complete strangers passing you in the hall. To the bots. To the station equipment. To your computer terminal.”
His friend continued, “You carry on an extended discourse to your tools, test equipment, and the systems you’re using them on while you’re servicing them. You chat with those even while you talk to folks around you while you’re working.”
“I’m sure you’re even talking to yourself when no one else is around, just to stay in practice,” he concluded.
So, yeah, OYrn doesn't need to be sleep deprived to have conversations with his bunk. *GRIN*
Glad wuff could tap into the emotional content OYrn was feeling so well you could feel it too! *smile*
Pretty sure Josh wasn't the culprit. He's one of the other techs on the station, and it could have just as easily been him getting called out to fix the problem. They tend to ring up OYrn first though, because he has a better track record at finding and correcting problems like that.
The station is still at very early construction stages in this short story, and sometimes a bit of pipe sealant, filings, or just "schmutz" gets left in a pipe. Sometimes it flows out, and sometimes it gets bound up somewhere and a poor tech's gotta go find and fix it.
Pretty sure Josh wasn't the culprit. He's one of the other techs on the station, and it could have just as easily been him getting called out to fix the problem. They tend to ring up OYrn first though, because he has a better track record at finding and correcting problems like that.
The station is still at very early construction stages in this short story, and sometimes a bit of pipe sealant, filings, or just "schmutz" gets left in a pipe. Sometimes it flows out, and sometimes it gets bound up somewhere and a poor tech's gotta go find and fix it.
You can't imagine what you can find in the guts of new plants: tools, metal and wood scraps, nuts and bolds, wire scraps, gloves, newspapers, sandwiches, fruit, even beer bottles.......
As a fellow technican, i´have seen it all and this debris usually causes disturbances when you dead tired and needs to sleep the most and spoils your mood the worst.....Murpy doesn't miss the opportunity to cause the worst possible problems at the worst possible times....
Don´t mind faulty spelling and grammar, i´m german.
As a fellow technican, i´have seen it all and this debris usually causes disturbances when you dead tired and needs to sleep the most and spoils your mood the worst.....Murpy doesn't miss the opportunity to cause the worst possible problems at the worst possible times....
Don´t mind faulty spelling and grammar, i´m german.
You're 100% right! Wuffy has worked new systems too, and the things hiding in the dark corners, cracks, under floors, etc. would surprise and shock most folk who haven't experienced that!
Sounds like you can really empathize with OYrn here, having lived it too. Hope you enjoyed this little tale, and it didn't bring back too many bad memories. *smiles*
And your spelling and grammar are excellent! Your English is far, far better than this wuff's German!!
Thanks for the comment!
Sounds like you can really empathize with OYrn here, having lived it too. Hope you enjoyed this little tale, and it didn't bring back too many bad memories. *smiles*
And your spelling and grammar are excellent! Your English is far, far better than this wuff's German!!
Thanks for the comment!
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