inside
After Egon left, Abi and Professor Kastner stepped through the gate into a place that felt almost untouched by the outside world. They were greeted by a world with automated systems softly humming in the background — machinery, pumps and filtration lines worked in harmony, like choir boys who aren't molested.
The Advanced Filtration System's massive nanochamber stood visible from a distance, along with the purification units all working together to turn raw water into something that wouldn't make this a zombie apocalypse.
Around them, elevated gardens flourished with native plants, and vertical gardens cascaded down the back wall, like a water falls of green.
Abi decided to risk it and unsealed his mask. The air was breezy, clean, and touched with a faint perfume of roses. It felt unreal.
This place was more than machinery. It was proof that survival could be beautiful.
malfunction
For four hours, Abi and Kastner went to work. Room by room, they tested pumps, traced pipelines, and checked readouts until they found it — a secondary treatment unit malfunctioned for an unknown reason. The fault triggered a fallback safety protocol: the entire secondary system went offline to prevent unknown contamination.
It wasn't catastrophic, but it was a problem. Without the secondary system, the station only runs at partial capacity, cutting out amenities necessary for survival like saunas and gym showers.
After discussing possible solutions, they sketched out two options:
Plan A: try repairing the faulty unit with the equipment they have on hand. They gave it two days.
Plan B: Isolate the faulty unit so the rest of the network could run without it.
Both solutions, if successful, would ensure the availability of saunas and hot showers.