Outpost 834-TA

[Lauralite_Anne_Brezia]

Alright… log start.

I am Terraforming Outpost Overseer Evelyn Tolimarga, Outpost 834-TA on Eugales VI, Contract ID F1338732-A Subset G.

Date is… February 2nd, YC124.

I’m starting to regret taking this assignment. Hell, almost regretting taking this contract at all. I’m relatively new here, all things considered. Been here about three months, and my contract is only a bit older. I was brought in to replace the previous Overseer, who had been sacked for negligence and, supposedly, corporate espionage.

Initially, I had jumped at the chance… like, hell, who wouldn’t? Full benefits, better than anything I could get back home, options for mobility upward and lateral, and full coverage of additional training and education, top tier stuff. Some of the… requirements were pretty steep… as was the penalties section… ■■■■, that penalties section… I glossed over it initially, until I had it literally forced into my face by my would be new boss. She was… absolutely adamant I memorize them, and that I take a week to let things settle in my head before she’d let me sign the contract. Also made me memorize the Special Provisions section too…

The penalties, and the Special Provisions should have been major red flags, but… really they only applied if I royally fuckered something up, and not in an accidental way, so… I went back a week later, and signed my life away.

Not long after that, I was approached by the Director… an opportunity had come up, right as I was finishing the onboarding pipeline. I’d studied for a long time to learn the ins and outs of terraforming, maybe to get a specialist position on some project in the ass end of nowhere of Solitude or the Verge or something… and my new boss tells me straight up, that I could be a full site Overseer… There would be some adjustments to my contract to reflect the position change, and I’d need to pass an aptitude test, but… screw it. Even BETTER pay? yeah… I ate it up.

I went through my physical exams, some low invasive gene and bio therapies to adjust to the higher than standard G and pressure of the planet I’d be working on, and some implants to interface with systems and for enhanced data processing. I also took some optional gene mods and cybernetics because they were on offer, and covered by my benefits… I can lift and throw some small to mid-sized crates and equipment that usually would take two people to operate, its really something.

I… I’m getting off track.

Security’s probably the best I’ve seen anywhere… like, ■■■■. This is all top tier high grade materials, most advanced firewall algorithms I’ve ever laid eyes on, though I’m not much an authority on that sort of thing… I passed a sample, with permission, to a friend of mine off planet, and he just asked me who the ■■■■ I was working with that needed this kind of software protection… and that’s not even talking about what the security officers get access to. Hell, I’ve even seen a few warclones walking around my own outpost. These should have been more red flags of what I was getting into… but I didn’t think too much about it.

Then… about a month ago, my… predecessor was reassigned to the outpost. In a lower position, and with additional duties. I didn’t know her before hand, but it was pretty obvious something had been done to her. The… ‘repurposing’ process mentioned in the Penalties section of my contract I could only assume.

She seemed… off, but frankly in full capability of her faculties and enjoyed her position and work. But… it made me start digging. And thinking.

And I started to notice a trend…

I checked the files of most of the workers assigned to this particular outpost.

Almost all of them have a black mark of some sort on their record… black marks that put them squarely into reach of Penalties and Special Provisions… And all of them have the same sort of… offness, about them… but… still fully in their faculties and enjoying their work.

I kept digging… and the Director took notice. I wasn’t told to stop. I was invited to observe… I should have said no I think, but I accepted and… now I understand. And… there’s no going back.

…And now… well… at the start of this, I said I regretted taking the position, and even a bit, the contract… Well, that’s true, technically. But I’d be lying, if I said I haven’t taken advantage of the benefits its conferred. I have no plans to relinquish my position, nor to screw over my boss. Just some growing pains, is all this is really.

Heh… no idea why I’m recording this. This isn’t going to end up in anyone’s feed anywhere, ■■■■ this terminal is closed circuit to the outpost’s intranet.

Anyway… gonna end this here. I have some inspections to complete, before next shift.