Welcome to day 26 of Fyretober! I hope you’re all enjoying a month of flash fiction as much as I am. Enjoy today’s writing challenge from Fyrecon’s Fyretober!
Tara enjoyed the quiet working off shift on this report granted her. Not that her domain was every noisy. Comprised of a counter, three computers, several more tablets, and a locked closet behind her the room was little more than a closet, but it was Tara’s. Outside of the labs, the mess, and other common rooms it was downright spacious for Farfell Station.
She glanced behind her to the fused silicate window. Compared to the empty space surrounding the station, her library was miniscule. She could have done without the window and that reminder. Still, she wouldn’t trade her post here for anything. Even if all she did was compile reports and pull research for scientists too busy to do it themselves.
The door whooshed open, and she looked up from the computer that served as her workstation. Visitors were rare, where most people pulled data from their personal pads. The man striding in thinned his lips looking at her.
“Lieutenant,” she said smiling. “How can I help–”
He waved her hand away moving directly for the station facing out on the right. Twitching her nose, Tara dropped her eyes back to the current report she was working on. Not that there weas much for her to do until the system finished compiling data from several government, contract, and private research studies.
She was drumming her fingers lightly on the counter when the lieutenant straightened from his computer and walked away without a word. Tara rolled her eyes at him and returned her attention to her report.
Lines of code scrolled across her screen, but a word jumped out.
Recompiling Record 10T29479.
“Recompiling?” she said filling the sudden silence of the room. She scrolled back, grabbed the notice, and expanded the message.
Data changes in report necessitate reupload and recompile of all corresponding reports.
Tara shook her head. Record 10T29479 was the base agreement upon which the station had been founded. There was no reason for that record to change.
Opening the report, she ran her finger over the column of numbers: costs, space loads, personal, and more. Detailing every bit of what comprised the station when it was constructed. Her finger reached the library row and she frowned as her brain screamed wrong.
The weight assigned was enough for her, the workstations, counter, cabinet, and the standard personal belongings crew were allowed to bring. Nothing more.
Turning Tara pushed away from the counter and pulled the key out from her pocket. The lock clicked open, and she took a deep breath as the smell of books washed over her. Yes, she’d had all the items listed, but she’d pulled every string she could for this cabinet and the books she’d crammed in. Getting the extra weight limit wasn’t something she’d forget.
She pulled a binder from the top shelf, an original version of the Record 10T29479. She found the printed line with her weight allotments, and there were the numbers for the books she’d brought.
She glanced at the station the Lieutenant had vacated. What had he been doing?
The report was a secured record. Secured through the library which archived all information once it was finalized. A fact which had annoyed several scientists to no end when they hadn’t spent enough time proofreading before their final submission.
She carried the binder back with her to the desk, opened a blank report, and began the slow process of comparing numbers manually. This project had just gotten interesting.
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“Fyretober isn’t for just writers or just artists. It’s for everyone who loves to create, and this month we’re looking to see your flash fiction, poetry, and illustrations every day. We’ll be providing daily prompts for the month and want to see what new concepts and wonders you can make with them.
Join the creation fun and share your work with us.
This isn’t a contest. But that doesn’t mean we won’t be giving out random prizes for amazing work.”
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