Welcome To The Neighborhood

The door to the hab block opens with a hiss, stepping out of the airlock is Minerva, no longer constrained by her suit as she walks along the steel grated floor of the hallway.

Habitation blocks are most often built like apartment buildings of old, this one in particular housing only one floor.

The hallway opens up into a small reception area, sitting behind the desk is a bored looking young woman, doodling away on a small notepad, she glances up at Minerva as she approaches.

She’s a curvaceous one to be sure, wide hips and a bust that strains against her shirt, red hair frames her face and a pair of glasses rests before a pair of green eyes.

“Oh hey… you’re the new Administrator, right..?” She asks, leaning forward to cover the notepad with her arms however on a corner of paper that isn’t covered rests a doodle of what appear to be a pair of tits, well drawn even.

“I am, yes, I was looking for my room… if you know where that is..?” Inquires Minerva, folding her hands behind your back, making no mention of the doodles.

“Oh… yeah you’re room 28 I think, down the hall on the left… oh and watch yourself around my boss, Ms O’Hare, that ladies a fucking cougar, man..” she says, her voice remaining the same, slightly bored tone.

“I see… I’ll keep that in mind…. And… what’s your name again…?” She asks, cocking a brow in interest.

“Oh, right, I’m Jenna, Jenna Keyes.” She says with an almost tired smile on her face before qualifying. “I run reception in this block… which… is cool…” she says, not putting any effort into selling it.

“Oh… and speaking of… you’ll need this to get into your room… you might need to swipe it a few times…” she says, rifling through a desk drawer before pulling free a key card, sliding it across the table to Minerva.

“Oh right, thanks..” she says, scooping up the keycard, turning it over in her hands a few times.

“Alright… do let me know if you ever need anything…” As Minerva turns to begin heading down the hall as instructed, little does she know that Jenna at the front desk has begun a new sketch, one depicting Minerva’s chest in particular.

Down the hall Minerva walks, heels clicking against the grating as she passes door after door, each one baring some vestige of personalization, a welcome mat, a sign, a flower pot, small things the company has deemed appropriate decor for the hallways.

Finally Minerva arrives at her door, number 28, one of the only doors in the hab block to not display any kind of decoration or personalization.

Approaching the card reader by the door she swipes the card down the narrow slot to no effect, then again and again, each time generating no response from the reader or the door.

There’s a hiss behind Minerva, the sound of a door opening and resealing, followed by a voice, deep and husky, unmistakably belonging to a woman.

“Oh darlin, you havin trouble with the reader..? I had the same problem when I moved in..!” States the voice, carrying with it a strong southern drawl.

Minerva turns to identify the voice when she sees her, the voice matches the woman indeed, and that’s precisely the word to encapsulate her; woman.

She stands over a head taller than Minerva. Her body curved and pillowy, just enough meat on her bones to draw the eye and not an ounce more, her golden blonde hair is wavy and wild running down the woman’s back like a river, her face marked with age, laugh lines and crows feet but neither detracts from her beauty.

Most surprisingly, the woman wears makeup, a relatively uncommon trait amongst those on the frontier from what Minerva has gathered thus far.

“Here sug, let me get that for ya, needs a special touch…~” says the woman as she holds out a hand, her words holding a flirtatious undertone.

“Oh, ok..” replies Minerva as she hands over the keycard and stepping aside to allow the older woman access to the reader.

She steps across the hall, card in hand before placing the bottom edge of the card in the readers slot before angling it to the left and swiping downwards.

To Minerva’s surprise the door creates an electronic chirp before the door opens with a hiss, allowing access to the room.

“There, problem solved! So, introductions, my name is Doreen O’Hare, I am responsible for takin care of the building, you could think of me like a landlady you don’t need to pay..~” She says her voice sugary sweet but still host to a noticeable huskiness.

“Minerva Chambers, I’m the new Administrator for this colony, if the block needs anything in terms of renovations or resources, stop by my office.” Minerva attempts to keep things friendly but professional.

“Hmm… you know, I might just do that sug, I’ll be sure to keep a close eye on on you..~” she says her lips forming an almost conspiratorial grin before she turns on her heels and strives back into her still still open door.

Stepping through the door to her new room, the door seals itself behind Minerva, straight ahead is a hallway, half way down the hallway to her left is a door leading into a bathroom which holds a toilet, sink and shower.

Further down the hall, the hallway opens up into the primary living space, immediately to her left sits a kitchenette, holding everything one might need for most meals, though none of it is of high quality.

Past the kitchenette sits a combination of a living room and bedroom, a small terminal rests on a coffee table sandwiched both front and back by small sofas.

A bed rests pressed against the wall, just large enough to fit two adults, at the end of the bed, resting on a table is a television a heavy, blocky decide clearly placed to allow the use of it in the most comfortable piece of furniture in the room, that being the bed.

No windows exist in the room, no other entrances either, only the singular door leading out into the hallway. No decorations exist in the room as well, every item in the room bares some form of utility, hygiene, food preparation, relaxation, but none of it aesthetically pleasing.

Minerva spends a moment imagining how she’ll be able to build on the foundations that comprise the room, before finally she turns and leaves the room behind, there’s still much work to be done before the day is through, more people to meet.

She leaves her room behind, continuing on down the hall back to the reception desk, she takes note of a second corridor to the right, leading away from the hall of apartments.

“Jenna..? What is down that way..? More apartments..?” Inquires Minerva, as she peers down the empty, comparatively lifeless hallway.

“Nope, there’s nothing down that way right now, just a bunch of empty rooms… I think they’re supposed to be for recreation or something down the line..? O’Hare is looking to set up a bar or something…” The woman says, once again leaning forwards to cover her bored scribblings with her arms.

“I see… also.. do you happen to know where the hydroponics farm is..? I need to make an assessment.”

“I thought it was somewhere in the command building, some lab or something… hey if you get the chance can you tell them to start growing some strawberries..? …fucking miss strawberries..” she says, slowly trailing off.

“I’ll see what I can do… good day, Ms Keyes.” And with that Minerva retreats back to the airlock, donning her suit and stepping out into the cold, headed back to the command center, the all in one municipal building of the colony.

Stepping into the hallway of the command buildings first floor, stepping past the comms office, venturing down the winding halls of the facility, peeking into every door she comes along.

Along the way she comes upon a water treatment room, various pipes, valves and tanks dominate the room taking up nearly 80% of the floor space, it may be able to support the colony for now but before long water management will likely demand a building all to itself for proper operation.

Minerva walks past a generator room, the back wall taken up completely by a long row of generators, a fine temporary solution but more sustainable methods will be required in the future for keeping the lights on.

Finally she finds it, the hydroponics farm, the instant she steps inside, Minerva understands why fresh produce makes up so little of the colony’s food supply, in total three rows of grow tables are in place, in each row sits two individual tables that rest beneath lamps that mimic the properties of proper sunlight.

Standing at one such table is a woman who slowly harvests a small batch of 6 potatoes that had grown beneath the light before placing them in a small metal container.

The woman is mousy, long frizzy brown hair, freckles peppering her cheeks, sparkling blue eyes hide behind a pair of thick, goggle-like glasses.

Her form is petite, matching that more of a scientist then a farmer, and as everything below the neck is covered by a white jumpsuit, a Weyland-Yutani logo on the upper back.

“Just a moment… I need to seal and secure these…” she says, her voice carrying a distinct accent, Eastern European by Minerva’s estimation.

She presses a button on the side of the contain, creating a hissing sound as the lid seals closed, almost like the container was meant to hold toxic waste or contaminated materials.

“What was wrong with those potatoes..? They looked fine to me…” states Minerva, arms crossed as she glances along the grow tables, wondering what else is suspect.

“They’re contaminated… the growth accelerant I’ve been putting in water solution doesn’t work the way it’s meant to for potatoes…. They begin to rapidly sprout once contact is made with potassium chloride… potassium chloride can commonly be found in stomach acid… this wouldn’t be so bad but… the sprouts… they don’t seem to dissolve in stomach acid and so they grow and grow until….” That’s a big fucking problem.

“Then just stop adding that growth accelerant in the solution then.. or just stop growing potatoes all together!” Suggests Minerva though these suggestions are soon shrugged off.

“I’ve considered this… I can’t just take solution out, it’s all that is making sure this entire facility not a waste of time and power, if I took it out we could expect smaller yields, less frequently and as for dropping potatoes from list… that would be catastrophic at this stage, potatoes are rich in potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6… we simply don’t have materials to replace potatoes..”

“But we’ve already dropped them from the menu with you sealing them away, why not pry out the seeds and plant bananas or oranges or something…?” This seems like a very easy problem to solve at least to Minerva’s mind.

“Because we do not HAVE bananas and oranges, and certainly not enough to make up for lack of potatoes..! No, I need time to figure out what’s gone wrong with potatoes… if all else fails, maybe I could try to get hands on a different growth accelerant…” she looks away, seemingly pondering something before returning to her work.

“Hm.. very well… if you need assistance with this then be sure to inform me…” After a few moments it occurs to Minerva that the woman has no idea who she is. “I’m the new administrator, Minerva Chambers.”

The woman doesn’t move much from where she stands, leaning down to examine a few stalks of celery.

“Katya Romanov… I am horticulturalist and botanist…” she says little else not so much as glancing in Minerva’s direction, merely focusing on her work.

With that Minerva takes her cue to leave, with all major tasks out of the way for now she chooses to return home, to her apartment in hab block 1… soon to be 1 of many.

Finally after a few minutes of fighting to find a suitable position, at last Minerva finds herself in the arms of sleep, this time not forcibly induced by a hypersleep pod.