‘I – ugh.’ Jane rolled her eyes and grabbed her pants from where she’d thrown them the day before. ‘All right, I’ll look.’ She was real tired of having to fix shit. She just wanted to get out of there.
Owl followed her down the hall and it was so annoying. Jane looked up at the kitchen ceiling. Yep. The light was flickering. Woohoo. She got herself a cup of water and threw some dog on the stove. While it sizzled, she checked her to-do lists.
The to-do lists were written on the wall with chalk rocks (Owl’s word for the white stones scattered all through the scrapyard dirt). Owl could’ve kept records of what Jane needed to fix (and probably did), but Jane liked being able to look at what still needed doing. There was so much that needed doing. A big list on the wall kept her from going crazy over it.
TO-DO
fix water filtration system (IMPORTANT)
rebuild aft propulsion strip
replace fuel lines
figure out what’s wrong with navigation
artigrav system – does it work? how to test?
repair cargo bay hull (rusty)
repair power conduits (hallway)
repair bedroom air filter (totally broken)
repair back left stove burner (not important)
repair fucking everything always always always
get off this stupid planet
make new pants
SHOPPING LIST
fabric (tough)
bolts bolts bolts all the bolts
new circuit couplers
motherboards (any condition)
gunk traps
tape/glue/something???
thick plex
cable coatings
T junctions (fuel)
wire that doesn’t suck
some kind of siding for the hull
WORK GLOOOOOOOVES
dogs (always)
mushrooms (always)
snap beetles (be fast!)
CHECKS
water filtration – going to break soon FIX IT
lights – good
heater – good
stasie – good?
Owl – good
hatch – good
decont. flash – broke
airlock scanner – going to break soon
med scanner – good
scrib – buggy
Jane rubbed her eyes. There would always be something on the list. It was never going to end.
She forked the meat onto a plate, and ate it even though she knew it was going to burn her tongue. In the sims, they always had such amazing-looking food. She didn’t know what any of it was or what it tasted like, but holy shit, she couldn’t wait to get some of that. She swallowed a burning mouthful of dog, which tasted like it always did.
‘Don’t forget to take food with you today,’ Owl said.
‘I know,’ Jane said, shoving more dog into her mouth.
‘Well, you don’t always know. You forgot yesterday.’
Jane had forgotten to bring food yesterday, and it sucked. She hadn’t realised until she got hungry, but she was an hour out from home by then and had her hands full of some really tricky circuits she’d ripped out of an old stasie, and she had to finish that before coming back, and by then, she was so hungry she could’ve eaten a dog without washing it first. But even though all that was true, Owl’s reminder bugged her. ‘I didn’t forget today,’ Jane said. She grabbed some jerky from the box on the counter, wrapped it in a cloth, and stuck it in her satchel. She gave the nearest camera a look. ‘There.’
‘That’s not enough for the whole day. You’ll get hungry.’
‘Owl, please, I know what I’m doing. If I take more than that, I won’t have any tomorrow.’
‘It would be a really good idea to make some more jerky soon.’
‘I know. I haven’t seen any dogs in a while.’ She pulled on her footwraps and filled her canteen. ‘See? Water, food, all good. Can you open the airlock?’
The inner hatch slid open. ‘Jane?’ Owl said.
‘What?’
‘The light panel?’
Stars. ‘I know, I’ll find something.’
‘You didn’t even open it up.’
‘Owl, it’s a light panel. It’s not a fucking pinhole drive.’
‘I really wish you wouldn’t talk like that.’
‘I said I’ll find something. Light panels are not that hard.’ She walked through the airlock to the outer hatch and picked up the handle for her cargo wagon. Owl’s face was real sad. Somehow, that made her all the more annoying. Jane sighed again. ‘I will. Seriously, I’ve done this before.’
She had. The scrapyard was as familiar to Jane as her own face. Probably more than that. She spent way more time looking at scrap than at herself. She’d thought once, years ago, about marking the piles she’d already combed through, but there was no need. She knew where she was. She knew where she’d been.