Log #78 – Scanning Job

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I started collecting data for an analysis company. And something went wrong again.


Before I travelled to ArcCorp for the Invictus Launch Week, I discovered an interesting company in New Babbage on Microtech. Marsden Analytics. They collected all kinds of data, analyzed it and sold the insights they got from the data. Now they wanted to find out where the best spots were to mine Quantanium. They offered money for scanner data. I decided to scan all the moons in the Stanton system and to sell the data to Marsden Analytics.

I used the time during the fair at ArcCorp to scan the moons Wala and Lyria. In the morning I went to the fair for a short time and then started to the moons. My plan was only to scan and not to mine any ores. Unless I should find something very valuable. I was curious what I would find.

After I had scanned Wala intensively, I concentrated on Lyria, It was a monotonous job. Ping, ping, ping. When I found a rock with ore, I’d run a detailed scan. Without the breathtaking landscape of Lyria, the monotony would have been unbearable. It was lonely. But I loved the quiet. No one bothered, there was no rush. No fights, no stress. Nobody who wanted anything from me or put pressure on me.

I yawned and stretched in my pilot seat as I scanned another stone. I had been on the road for too long. My eyes became tired and heavy. I was about to fly further when I looked again at the scanner data. This could not be. Quantanium in an incredibly high concentration.

I couldn’t leave that rock there. There was too much money in it. The green window for the energy levels was very small. But there was a big payoff in it. High risk, high gain. Those were the rules in the verse. I rubbed my hands, took a deep breath in and out and clapped my hands three times. Then I grabbed the sticks and started mining.

Slowly the energy level approached the tiny little green area. Sometimes the energy level went down, only to jump up quickly. I kept regulating the power. More, less, more again. I had the feeling that I was losing control. 

I activated the Optimum Consumable to increase the green zone. But it was too late. The energy level shot into the red zone. Red lights flashed, an alarm went off. I tried to boost the forward shields. Then the stone exploded.

I was lucky. I thought so, but I hadn’t realised the full extent of the explosion. There were some fragments with 100% Quantanium lying around. I extracted it all and immediately made my way back to ArCorp.

When I landed, the full extent of my misfortune became apparent. I was able to sell the Quantanium for more than 100,000 credits. But my mining laser was damaged. I needed a new one. Frustrated, I left Dumper’s Depot. Here I got a Helix Mining head again, but I had lost all the money I earned bofore.

I wandered through Area18. My frustration was great. The smells of the food stand and the loud advertising were only vague to me. I stopped at one stand and ordered. The guy said something, his voice seemed to be miles away. I looked past him on the sky train that was coming around the corner.

Then I noticed a small office window with an inconspicuous writing: “OFF THE RECORD”. Then I heard the distant voice again. It was the salesman, my dinner was ready. I asked him if he knew what “Off the Record” was. He told me it was a small newsroom. It would publish the little stories that would go down in the big news of the corporations and orgas. The editor-in-chief would stop by his place sometimes. He handed me my food and sent me the link from “Off the Record” to my Mobiglass: https://sternenwanderer.org/