Some ten hours later, we reached the Pitstop Station, a space station in low moon orbit. Our spaceplane docked, and we were about to leave it when Einstein told us to put on our space suits, as we'll need them on the moon. They were a lot harder put on compared to the dummy space suits from the academy, as the real ones were somehow even heavier, probably because of the filled oxygen tanks and extra equipment. After that, we left the spaceplane.
- Okay, children. Edward will escort you to the Shackleton Moon Base by piloting the lunar lander. I will stay up here and coordinate your mission from above," said Captain Nigel. I was confused. Who was Edward? Soon enough, I found out that was Einstein's real name.
- Let's get in - Said Edward, aka Einstein.
We flew (using the lack of gravity) into the lunar lander. The lack of gravity was strange; however, we were prepared to deal with it, as that was a part of our training. The lander resembled a rocket, with the bottom half and side thrusters removed, replaced by a four-legged structure that would be deployed to land on the moon's surface. There wasn't much space in it, but luckily, there were five seats in there, one for the pilot (Einstein/Edward), and four for the passengers. Again, we went first.
Our module quickly detached from the station and started drifting towards the moon. Soon, the ion thrusters were activated, and our spacecraft turned around by 180 degrees, so that the bottom would face the surface. We began to descend as the Pitstop Station above us was shrinking.
- Look, it's the base! - Claudius exclaimed, looking through the tiny window. We all turned in that direction and peeked out our windows. Beneath us were several domes connected by hallways. We were getting closer swiftly, and we started seeing various details. There was a mine in a neighbouring crater, with several vehicles moving back and forth. Further away were several other buildings, including the Russian and Chinese Moon Bases. Some ten-ish minutes later, we landed on the moon. The door opened quietly, with stairs emerging from the same side, connecting the door to the ground. Einstein went first, followed by Sebastian and then the others. My first step on the moon made me feel like Neil Armstrong in 1969, when he took the first steps on a celestial body other than Earth. The low gravity felt like walking on the bottom of a pool, without the ability to swim.
In front of us was an obelisk with the American flag on top. Beneath it was a map of the base, labelled with a plaque that had the words "The establishment of this base on the 6th of January, 2028, marks a historical moment as humanity embarks on a journey to explore and colonise a new frontier" written on it. We took a closer look at the map and found out that we were facing the main airlock.
We entered through it and decontaminated to get rid of the pesky moon dust. After that, we took off our space suits and entered the Central Room, where we immediately noticed a massive cube with a screen on it. A simple face (two white eyes and a white line for the mouth on a bright blue background) appeared on said screen. A female robotic voice welcomed us.
- Hello, visitors and scientists. Welcome to the Shackleton Moon Base, where we do important experiments to elevate humanity to a new level and bring back cash... - the voice glitched - ...science to the United States of America. I am LunAI, an artificial intelligence model created to maintain and control the moon base, as well as give out tasks to the people that live in it. Your room is the first room in Crew Quarters A. Please go there and leave your belongings. After that, come back here, so that we can activate the initiation protocol - After that, LunAI's screen turned black. A compartment opened beneath the screen, and five identical keys fell out of it. Each of us had a key to our room.
We left the Central Room to find our room in the Crew Quarters, which were on the left of the Central Room. The search didn't last long, as we just had to find the door labelled "1A", which was a number also present on our keys. We entered a pretty small room with four large cabinets sealed by glass and a TV on the wall, with a sofa that was attached to the floor by screws. In the right corner of the room was the smallest table I've seen in my life so far. To my eye, it could only fit a single plate. The microtable was also attached to the floor. Upon opening the cabinet, I found out that it was a sleeping pod with an old blanket on it. The other ones were similar. Sebastian opened the metal door on the right wall to find a bathroom with completely pale walls.
- Wait - I started - There are four sleeping pods here. Where will Eins... Edward sleep?
- Oh, I will sleep on the Pitstop Station to assist Nigel. Don't worry, we will have a permanent communication channel. I must go, so put on moon base uniforms and come back to the Central Room afterwards - With that, Einstein handed out walkie-talkies, so that we can communicate. After doing that, our caretaker left the room, presumably to come back to orbit.
We decided that Amber would get dressed in the bathroom while we changed our clothes in the main room, or moon dorm, as it was called. The uniforms were black jumpsuits with moon base logos attached to them. Mine was pretty comfortable, compared to the bulky spacesuit. When we finished, Amber walked out of the bathroom.
- I'm ready, let's go! - She exclaimed happily.
- Not really, you forgot your shoes - Sebastian noted. It was then that I noticed Amber was only wearing black socks, aside from the jumpsuit.
- Oh, right. I'm a little overwhelmed since I'm on THE MOON. It's easy to forget something in this state - she closed the door to the bathroom and quickly came back, now fully dressed. We left our moon dorm and returned to the Central Room, passing by a few adults along the way.
LunAI was already up and running when we came in. Suddenly, the cube rotated to face us.
- We're happy to welcome you as young volunteers in the Shackleton Moon Base. Your roles will be visible on your ID cards that I'll hand out - the compartment beneath the screen opened again, spitting out four ID cards. I noticed that we all had fake names.
I was now George Williams, for some reason. My role was to operate the machines in the ice mine and load chunks of lunar ice onto the Lunar Express, a train passing between various buildings for resource exchange. Amber, now known as Emilia Mendoza, will work in the garden to monitor crops. I saw Amber roll her eyes upon reading this. Claudius, now Cameron Brown, was an electrician tasked with conserving and repairing the electrical grid in the base. Finally, Sebastian was Carter Anderson, a resource specialist who would analyse lunar dust for construction purposes.
- Okay, young adepts. It's time to get to work! - LunAI shouted with simulated happiness before turning off.
- I got the most boring job possible - Amber whispered to us.
- You can at least handle yours. I have no idea how to analyse moon dust...! - said Sebastian.
- Mine is easy, as I'm a mechanic - Claudius was satisfied.
- I'll see how those machines work. Maybe I can spot something suspicious outside? - I wondered.
- Yeah, we must focus on the mission - Sebastian said with confidence.
After that short conversation, we split up and got to work.
ns216.73.216.13da2
and then Add to home screen.