"..." Speechlessness and loss assaulted a young boy as he woke up. The surroundings felt steady but one could tell that it was in a moving vehicle as a light humming could be heard from the outside.
"Hoo!" He breathed out as his black eyes cleared from its previous lack of luster. Tracing his black hair as to knead the emptiness in his mind.
It took him a moment to realize that he was within a cramped room. It was slightly dark but it was clear for him that he was thrown in here in a hurry. Like when a bully traps his prey in a certain locker of the school.
"This bully has gone too far." He muttered. The amnesia-like sensation may be attributed to this unknown bully but the pain of concussion was not there on his head. He may just have severe short-term memory loss or his memory had been wiped by certain powers or the last conjecture which was being knocked out by a bully.
"Whatever? I need to get out of here." He instinctively pressed a button and the door of the room slid open and embedded itself in the wall. It was not locked which crossed the bully out of his suspect list.
A long corridor greeted him. There were other rooms but the one he came out of was akin to a janitor's stockroom. He looked back inside and it was clear to see the brooms and stuff.
'I must be inside a cruiser. No sweat to my detective self.' He joked at his current plight, 'I am really at an identity crisis here and what about the other people on board. This should be a crazy situation for a kid like me to be at.'
He was panicked and calm at the same time. Panicked at the mental plight he is in but also rational enough to be collected. A contradictory assessment on his defective and at the same time smart mind.
It was eerily quiet for a relatively large cruise ship. Still, there were traces of distress that could be seen.
Wineglasses and a circular tray were wasted on the metallic but aesthetically pleasing floor. There were still rooms whose doors were open yet there was no one inside. Only bags filled with accessories were inside. By the end of his stroll on the corridor, he reached a cafeteria-like area that was ginormous for a single ship.
The disorder could clearly be seen at this point. The chairs were down but the tables were still standing, given that they were stuck to the floor. Food, plates, and utensils became littered on the ground while some are still perfectly placed in the tables.
"This is not looking good at all." The boy muttered as he became exasperated on what he saw.
'It looks like they all abandoned ship and somehow I am left behind. Just what scared them to abandon such a luxurious carriage.' His memory may have been wiped but it was clearly selective as the boy had a basic understanding and knowledge of the ways of society. He knew that he should have parents yet when he tries to picture them in his mind, it becomes blank. Such circumstances were similar if he were to think of his origins and how he got inside this ship.
His thought process, on the other hand, was above average compared to his peers. If it was any other six-year-old, they would be filled with snot and tears at the moment.
'It seems like my innocence and dependence became erased as well.' He thought as he analyzed, "Becoming nameless and lost is frighteningly scary. Knowing nothing would get me nowhere."
The only place to get even a little bit of information was from the control room, surveillance room, and functioning personal device.
It was hard to find phones and such on a huge and maze-like vessel with a lot of locked rooms and the surveillance room may be a secluded and secret location. His best bet was on the control room which was pretty conspicuous due to the map posted at a certain wall. The control room may be one of the attractions on this ship.
"Hope it's not locked." Taking stairs and certain turns, he reached the location with the sliding door completely open.
"Thankfully." He sighed in relief. The captain and his crew may have forgotten to follow certain protocols given that they were in a rush.
What came into view, as he entered, nearly crushed his will as the red light was flashing with an emotionless lady voice announced, "Fifty-nine minutes until self-destruction. Evacuation is a priority."
This was visually supplemented by the main screen with a red font of a timer counting down. The minute, seconds, and milliseconds were clearly diminishing.
"..." Speechless at the sight as the boy was too young to know curse words at the moment. Adults would be cursing the unknown at this point.
The countdown was a signifying doomsday in the boy's eyes as the seconds continued to whittle down and minutes passed. The monotonous lady's voice continued to sound for evacuation.
'If I remember correctly, this voice should be the ship's artificial intelligence!' He regained his composure and found another way of resolving the situation.
"Hey, computer. Do I have authorization?" This was his chance and he needed to take it, "End the self-destruct sequence and issue an announcement for it to be a false alarm or a drill."
The AI processed the words of the boy and followed through with its programming. When in self-destruct mode, it is basically without a person to take the helm and command it. By this point, it is an early bird that gets the worm situation. Given that the boy was the first human life form that commands it, he should be the ship's captain.
"Countdown terminated. Asterian Gold will resume its current course and would reach its destination in an approximate of 5672 hours." The robotic lady's voice did as told and the red flashes and countdown screen were gone. Normal white light returned to the control room as complicated charts and images were displayed on the screens.
"Should the announcement be about a false alarm or should we opt to use that the evacuation is a drill?" The voice sounded again to ask authorization on what to announce.
"Say it is about a false alarm." The boy responded with nonchalance and thanked his previous and remembered fascination with documentaries. When self-destruct mode is applied to a vehicle such as this Asterian Gold, it could be irreversible but given its luxury, there is bound to be a termination choice on the command. By this point, even if the captain and his crew held full autonomy, it becomes obsolete after a self-destruct sequence.
"The owner of this ship must be reluctant to have his prized possession become blown to smithereens." A saying of gratitude to the rich guy was offered by the boy. His reluctance was among the reasons for him being alive at the moment.
"Computer, mind telling me your name?" He asked and was given an answer, "I am a designate navigation AI of the Asterian Gold. Identified as AG-5321."
"I'll call you Navi. Would you mind telling me the reason for the passenger's evacuation and ship suicide? Even better if you could tell me some background about this ship." He decided to make full use of his current privilege as a man in command. Despite the AI's inherent superiority, they could never stray from their programming. Since he has zero context of the ship's turn of events, the best one to get answer's from the all-knowing ship itself. AI became a practical commodity to spaceships to give a detailed report on complicated works of engineering. They also help in management especially in a luxury cruiser such as the one he is riding in.
"Asterian Gold is owned by the Crand Corporation and is a recently launched spacecraft that caters to high-class citizens of the Solar Confederation. By following certain routes that showcase wondrous heavenly bodies of the galaxy, its passengers get to experience space exploration and entertainment at the same time." From this introduction, his assumptions about the entire ship being a luxury vehicle should be correct.
"It is a behemoth that can proudly host to about 3,000 passengers and about 400 highly trained staff. Asterian Gold is about 54% of its journey and the captain issued complete evacuation about three hours from current time." The newly named Navi explained in detail, "Stealth operations were undergone as well, unbeknownst to everyone. An underground syndicate had boarded the ship and is said to have been transporting controversial technology that is to be dropped off at a certain location within the Asterian Gold's route." Things became a bit clear to the information- deprived boy.
Indifferent to his epiphany, Navi continued to report, "Their operations became leaked but they were also informed beforehand of their plight. By hacking the announcement lines, the perpetrators issued a viral threat that is said to be able to take the lives of the passengers. Infighting between the security and the perpetrators ensued while the passengers were slowly evacuated via escape pods. The rumble eventually escalated and the vial containing the alledged virus was broken, ending the life of a hundred people including the perpetrators. In fear, the captain and CEO Allistor Crand fled as well. When the culprit died, a hacking was directed directly to the control room and a self-destruct was ordered to my processor."
That was essentially the summary of events. Navi also showed the surveillance footage of the fighting to further enforce evidence. Doubts eventually appeared on his head and could not help but voice out, "How am I still alive when the virus seemed to truly spook the chain of command? Is the perpetrator also dumb enough to set the self-destruct to about four hours? If I were him, I would set the ship to explode directly to erase evidence of the important syndicate package."
'I can't help but feel that I am in a ship sinking situation but instead of a hole in the boat. The reason for the sinking is dumb choices of adults.' The boy facepalmed at the chain of events that he could not help but disdain adults, 'My maturity seems to be the side effect of my memory loss.'
He was in a situation where he was nameless and lost in endless space.