Dissolution (draft)

ACT I - Space Wanderer. Chapter 1 - First Recording.

Vik walked down a long corridor. Metal plates, disguised as wooden finishes, lined his path. From the cells, also decorated to look like wood, echoes of working departments could be heard.

There was no day or night in this world. Each department could work round-the-clock cycles as long as there were staff members available and their desire to work at a different time from the main crew.

"Is there ever silence in this area?" he thought, and turned the corner. In the time that Vik had been visiting Professor Gennady Zernov, he had never once heard silence in these cells.

The professor's office was located in the industrial district, behind number two. "Will the new districts, filled in as the expedition progresses, also transition to round-the-clock cycles?" Vik wondered.

At the moment, construction of district number five was finishing up in the winged section. Vik was also curious about how many districts would eventually be formed by the end of their "journey," if up to twenty-five such districts could be built in one such section.

Reaching the door, which was carved from real wood, he knocked with the tips of his fingers. The so-called wooden finish, serving mainly as decoration, was mostly made of metal.

"Yes, yes, come in," a slightly robotic voice came from behind the door.

Vik put his hand on the doorknob and hesitated for a moment before pushing it open with a little effort. This was an unusual movement for him, as in his twenty-two years of life he had only encountered one door that opened in this way. On the ship, everything, or almost everything, taking into account this or possibly other doors, opened automatically, removing the "partition" itself that prevented faster or unauthorized access to the areas called rooms. The door opened with a quiet, melodic creak.

"Hello, Professor," he greeted the anthropomorphic robot sitting on a sturdy wooden chair. "I still can't get used to this type of door. And it creaks sometimes, maybe you should leave a request in the maintenance department to oil it? Then there wouldn't be any creaking." Puzzled and offering a solution to the problem, as he thought, Vik entered the office.

"Take care of yourself too. " The professor replied with the same robotic voice. "And about doors like this, I proposed the idea thirty years ago. To increase their number even in residential areas. And when we arrive at our destination and start settling in nature, we won't be making all doors sliding, and we won't be able to immediately provide electricity for automation everywhere either. "

Vik closed the door behind him and slowly made his way to the therapeutic chair. And Gennady Semenovich continued:

"So the council said. Majority of the doors should be standardized! So that in case of emergency they can be easily opened. Just what if something gets jammed and there are no proper tools at hand, how will they open this door? They won't be chipping away at a solid sheet of metal, will they?" A smile appeared on the robot's interface. "But regular doors that open into or out of the room can be broken through, whether they are made of wood or their metallic substitute. We leave them hollow inside so we can feel the real weight of the object, and not adjust to it upon landing. "

In this society, "podobiya" refers to items traditionally made from plant-based materials. However, due to a shortage of resources, these items are now created to look and feel similar to the traditional ones, but with different materials, weight, etc., in order to ensure that the feeling of using them is not lost.

"If there is an accident and any door in the corridor is open, it could create obstacles for the emergency response teams," Vik supported the council's decision.