Overclocked -Ch5- (Patreon)

Wrench did a quick circuit of the open area that everyone would be in for most of the day. Surprisingly, it was larger than many of his previous Habs by a significant margin. They could fit a great many people in this Hab if they got everything sorted out.

On top of that, all the decorations and environment inside of the Hab was very high-end items from several years back. They were still in great condition, just no longer what was technically in fashion.

Including several actual enclosed buildings which provided a good bit of safety and security for the inhabitants. The grounds would need tending but could come back to life quickly enough with some care and the right oxygen mixture.

Whatever grass it was that Tongsta planted in this Hab, it was heartier than it had a right to be. All Wrench had to do was stick his finger into the dirt and peel back some to see the roots were intact and had a healthy white color to them.

The trees would take more work but they were alive, just desperately in need of water and carbon dioxide.

Satisfied with main Hab area and the treasure it’d be once it was cleaned and set to rights, Wrench set off to find the ducts. He wanted to check the pens, but those could wait for a bit.

Checking the condition of the main area, and what he’d need to do to restore it, was one thing and worth the time. That’d tie into his repairs in time.

The pens were just where he’d sleep and that could be messed with at a later time.

Thankfully, the ducts were actually near the exit point of the pens into the main Hab area. It would only be a single turn to enter them in the morning.

He was able to enter it without any concern or issue. The doors opening for him in response to his implant he imagined.

Entering, he found that there was a digital panel at the entry-point that would tell him the current of everything in the Hab. There was even a readout of expected scheduled items input elsewhere.

In fact, Wrench was fairly certain it was linked to something the Tongsta had control over and could control remotely. Almost akin to them being able to run some type of cleaning cycle or something along those lines.

Unfortunately it was unpowered, and in a non-operative state.

Whatever was wrong with the Hab, included the electronics and data communication between systems.

“Great,” Wrench grumbled and began working his way deeper into the ducts. These were quite a bit larger than he was used to and he could walk upright through them. More like a hallway than the ducts he was used to.

Looking to a square plaque on the wall ahead of him he curiously stared at it, wondering what it was.

When he finally got up next to it, he found it was a series of labels, directions, and arrows.

Markers.

Markers that designated which way he was going and what was all around him.

“Filtration slash Oh-Two slash H-Two-Oh,” Wrench mused aloud. “Reclamation slash Recycling. Waste Processing. Construction and Fabrication. Environmental. Security. Faculty. Loading Bay.”

Raising his eyebrows, Wrench was more than surprised. The amount of facilities that a Fixer would be responsibile felt more like it would require a family, rather than an individual.

Not to mention that he was fairly certain that each of those very simple labels, had far more going on with each one of them than their simple designation. There was no way they could be as basic as what was listed given the distance between the areas and what he’d already seen of the ducts.

Functions he’d probably never seen or heard of before.

“Hope there’s some damn manuals. They’re supposed to leave the manuals just in case. That’s why they’re on met-ape. They don’t turn into mulch,” Wrench preyed to no-one. “Going to be way beyond me. Way, way, beyond me.”

Shaking his head, Wrench headed for the Filtration/O2/H2O section. Following the indicated arrow and direction for it.

The sooner he got the oxygen mix and filters reset the better. After that he could work on the water systems since they were more often than not tied together. You could use the systems to make oxygen or water depending on the need.

All a Tongsta had to do was make sure the water reservoir was full.

Though… I wonder if the… Reclamation and Wastes… would be better able to handle putting that water back into the Hab. I know their was talk from a few people that there were Habs that could be almost entirely self sufficient.

Somewhat an amazing idea, but those were all supposedly designer-Hume breeds that lived there.

Demes always get the best stuff.

Damn shame I wasn’t born a Deme.

Too good looking, too smart, or too strong. Whenever one is around, they always completely dominate one aspect, damnit.

Entering the room, Wrench found his worst fears were correct.

There were no tools for him here. Nor had he seen any in the entry area, either.

Given how everything had a picked over appearance, he didn’t think there’d be any tools elsewhere, either. He’d have to do what he could with his hands, sticks, rocks, or broken bits of whatever else he could scrounge.

Walking over to what he was fairly certain was an oxygenator and scrubber dual machine Wrench suddenly realized that it wouldn’t matter if he had his tools. These were machines that didn’t need him to get into their gears, seals, and motors to get them up and running.

There was an input screen similar to what admini’s used, nowhere to access the internals of the machine, and no fastnerers to be spotted.

Clicking his tongue, Wrench peered at the screen before tapping it with a finger.

“Welcome,” said a voice as the screen flickered away from the default black idle and floating box screen and to a blue desktop instead. “Your implant has firmware that’s out of date. Updating firmware.”

“You’re what now?” asked Wrench a second before his eye suddenly crossed and he tipped forward. Only to catch himself from falling over at the last second. The vertigo clearing as quickly as it came on.

“Firmware update complete, access granted,” stated the voice, then went silent.

It’d been shocking to begin with that it spoke to him, let alone apparently updated the implant in his head. This wasn’t just cutting edge technology for a Hab, but more than likely black-market tech.

Stuff that normal Tongsta wouldn’t touch because the idea of meddling with the implant was something they avoided. Wrench had no idea why, but it was a reality.

A grunt, a sniffle, and a cough later, and Wrench got his thoughts back on the task at hand. Standing upright he found the blue-desktop waiting for him.

Reaching up he tapped at the only symbol on it with a fingertip.

Once more the screen changed and he found himself looking at a diagnostic window. It was showing him the internals of the machine and they looked exactly as he expected them to.

They were just being shown to him through a camera, instead of him looking at them in person.

Grimacing, he looked over what he could see and without thinking about it, reached up to move the screen aroudn with two fingers. Quickly panning the camera around so he could see more of what was happening.

The scrubbers were running as if they were at a full load, pulling in and pushing oxygen as fast as it could fill up. Peeling the carbon right out and sending the oxygen back out into the Hab.

That’s gotta be too much, right?

Glancing to the edge of the screen, Wrench wondered if there was a way to lower the output from here.

Along the side of the display was a series of diagnostic functions that were digitized tests he’d have run in person to confirm his hypothesis.

Except the tests had already been run the moment he activated the system.

There was simply too much oxygen being flooded into the system from what he saw in the readouts. It was all Oxygen, minimal amounts of nitrogen, traces of argon as well as methane, and no carbon-dioxide at all.

There was so much oxygen that it was literally poisonous due to how rich it was.

Operating at this kind of value means it’d have to have been supporting two-hundred or three-hundred inhabitants. Thats a lot. Way more than a lot.

I think the biggest Hab I’d ever been in personally was only like forty or so and that felt huge. This is enough for an entire community at that point.

As big as one of the resistance villages, in fact.

Bigger.

Damn.

Shaking his head, Wrench dialed down the Oxygen output, increased the amount of nitrogen to release, and then found that there was a storage function for all that oxygen he wanted to remove.

He also noted there was a very large water reservoir and it was quite full. As if the Tongsta had filled it before dumping him in or just afterward.

Then Wrench spotted an emergency activation command for his desired changes, rather than waiting for the next maintenance period.

Hitting that he literally felt a rush of air get pulled past him at high velocity. As if he were standing in the face of extreme winds. It lasted only for ten or so seconds but it left him feeling chilled and oddly refreshed.

Immediately the air felt much better to him. He could breathe easier. The dizziness and nausea that was growing faded away instantly.

Either from his body trying to repair itself at a better rate than normal or just how quickly having the right oxygen mixture, he was unsure. In either case he was glad for it.

“Alright… immediate problem fixed. Let’s hit the water system, reclamation, and filters. Those will probably be just like these. Check the program, diagnose, make corrections,” Wrench said with a full and easy breath. “Once it’s all settled, we can make sure there’s a proper day-night cycle programmed in, then go clean out some pens.

“Damn me if I have any idea what that Tongsta has planned but… best I can do is work with what I’ve got. Though… gonna get hungry real soon.”

Walking off while keeping his right arm pressed to his front, Wrench wondered at how this had all gone so wrong, so quickly. To the point that it was more akin to a tragedy or a comedy if he were to tell the story to someone else.

“So much for being a heroic gladiator,” groused Wrench.

***

Wrench was grateful that the Tongsta had at least gotten a Hume-travel-carrier this time. Sat down in a small cube and buckled into a soft chair, it was considerably more preferable to be taken around like this than just a plastic bag.

Or nothing at all. I’d rather not repeat that.

They were currently gathered in some type of bright green space with far too much light. An abundance of light that made Wrench want to hold a hand up over his eyes and close them at the same time.

Where everything felt wrong and it was a fair guess that he’d instantly pass out if he was removed from his small enclosure. He wasn’t really sure of that, but it felt about right.

There was a rumbling noise followed by Wrench being pressed down into his seat. Only for him to feel damn near weightless a second later.

After a short delay he felt the carrier get set down on something, then the front of it opened. The entire front door peeling away quickly.

The green light was still quite bright, but he now realized where he was. What was about to happen to him.

Grimacing, not looking forward to the series of things that were about to happen to him, Wrench undid the cinch that held him in into the seat.

As soon as he stepped out of the enclosure he knew he was correct.

A large area that was filled with things Wrench couldn’t even begin to guess at. Devices that went through Tongsta bodies, could make things become hot or cold, as well as make a Hume suddenly throw up or die.

These types of rooms were also where Demes had been created.

Or so Hab rumor held it.

This was a place that did a number of things to Humes and then returned them to their Habs. Sometimes it went well, sometimes bad.

It was different with every Tongsta.

“Xxhht had xxhht xxhht to him. I think there’s something wrong with him. Especially his arm,” murmured the Tongsta closest to him. The carrier had been wedged inside their body up until this point. This was the one that’d saved him so he was more than willing to believe that everything was fine.

That and based on their words alone it seemed they were here to care for him.

“Well. Let’s take a look and see what’s going on, shall we?” answered the other Tongsta. Wrench was rather pleased to note he understood everything so far. In fact, when he thought about it, it seemed he could understand more after that firmware update.

Wrench looked to the unknown Tongsta and waited quietly.

“Hm. Well. Let’s just get their temperature, a quick scan, then do a quick physical exam based on the results,” continued the Tongsta. “Just… hold still boy. This won’t hurt at all but it’ll be strange. Scary, even.”

“It’s okay. It’ll be alright, Wrench,” cooed the Tongsta that’d saved him. Mentally, in that moment, Wrench named them “Goodie” and made it female. Whether or not it was, he had no idea, but it’d help him in this new life. “If you’re really good, we’ll go over to xxhht xxhht and let you pick some things out, okay?”

“Alright,” Wrench agreed amicably, looking back to the unknown Tongsta.

“Did… did he just respond to you?” asked the unknown Tongsta.

“Yes. Yes he did. He’s my special little Wrench,” Goodie purred happily. She reached out with a tentacle and set it down on his back. “He understands me and listen. He’s a very good boy. Now… hold still, Wrench.”

The last time he’d been in a situation that was similar to this he’d broken free and made his great escape. Scurrying off and vanishing.

Fat lot of good that’d done me.

The unknown Tongsta had some strange thing floating around inside of them now. Moving right up to Wrench they were towering over him as the device oozed to the front of the alien.

They looked a lot like a pair of massive metal jaws and were about to scoop him up.

Standing there, Wrench just waited.

His eyes intent on the device as it slammed together loudly. Then did it twice more. There was a soft whine that accompanied it followed by the Tongsta spitting the device out of themselves and onto a floating column.

Quicker than he could follow the Tongsta grabbed another device and pushed it up against the front of Wrench’s chest. There was a buzzing sensation that ran from the top of his head down to his feet followed by a zip of static electricity as it came away.

It was more than enough to make him flinch, but there was no pain associated with it. With his shoulder still being angry and bitchy at him, he’d made sure that the signals of constant and never-ending pain weren’t reaching his brain.

That apparently included whatever had just happened to him.

“My oh my you really do xxhht have a xxhht. Such a good boy,” congratulated the Tongsta, pulling a box out from somewhere he couldn’t see and then depositing a food bar of some sort in his hands with a tentacle. “There you are good boy. A nice treat for you. Now we just have to wait a few seconds to see the xxhht and the results for it.”

Even as the Tongsta spoke, Goodie picked him and craddled him against her strange exterior. A chilled and slightly sticky texture that always felt strange to him.

“Good boy, good Wrench. I’ll xxhht my xxhht today and let you get whatever you want. Okay?” Goodie promised him. He didn’t get the details but it sounded like he was going to get to choose something.

Lifting up the food bar in his left hand he began to eat it quickly. The taste was quite good and he could use the calories to help heal himself.

“Oh. Oh no. His xxhht xxhht is broken. It isn’t terrible but it’s something we’ll have to correct. It’ll be quite painful for him, too. If it isn’t xxhht then he’ll eventually lose mobility in that xxhht. Or die,” warned the Tongsta. “Thankfully, everything else is in perfect working order.

“His reproductive organs are intact, his health is other than his xxhht xxhht being broken, his health is extraordinary. Everything about him is perfect. I’d even suspect he’s still growing despite his age.

“If it continues, he could easily go into some xxhht xxhht xxhht or just use him as a breeder. He’d be a wonderful breeder.”

“Oh! Oh how wonderful. Even if my little Wrench wasn’t so perfect though, I’d still want to make him whole. He did what so many couldn’t and he deserves to xxhht.

“With that said… xxhht xxhht. We’ll correct it. Now. I’ll xxhht him while you do it,” Goodie proclaimed, moving toward the other Tongsta.

“He’ll try to bite you. Punch or kick you,” warned the Tongsta.

“No, he won’t. He’s my Wrench-y. He’s a special Fixer. My special Fixer,” promised Goodie.

Wrench resolved himself to be the “good boy” that Goodie expected him to be. How could he not?

She was clearly operating in his favor and seemingly wanted whats best for him.

“Alright… I’m sorry boy, this’ll hurt,” warned the Tongsta.

Okay. We got this.

We’ll just make sure the receptors are blocked and…

Wrench’s mind blanked at the sudden and excrutiating pain that wracked his body. He managed to stay conscious, didn’t flail around, or lash out at Goodie.

Instead he just stood there frozen still as if he were made out of ice.

Even as the pain continued on and on as if it would never end.