Scratch that. He was probably in a lot of trouble, actually. Shortly after realizing that his current situation was not perhaps the most appropriate time for celebration, he had asked the ship’s computer for an analysis of all the damage. About halfway through the list, he had ended up just asking for what was working.

  So, as it turns out, the Capricorn had experienced a cascading power overload which had destroyed a number of important systems, something that the system was supposed to be designed against with automatic cutouts. Systems caught in the aftermath of this overload include the primary, secondary and even part of the tertiary computer systems. Additionally, there was no damage report whatsoever from the main power units, and backup power nonfunctional. The entire ship was currently operating on solar powered batteries. Part of the reasons it had taken so long for him to wake up was the power limitations on any repair efforts, along with the relative inefficiency of the ship’s computer. Life support was down, obviously, not that it really mattered at this point anyway. Along with various other miscellaneous damage throughout the ship, such as to the repair system.

  There was some good news, however. The FTL drives, which were irreplaceable in the current system, were completely intact. This thanks largely due to their not being energized at the time, and not a target of the attack which had put the Capricorn down for the count. Likewise, a large portion of the secondary systems were intact and merely lacking power. One system in this category was their shield system. These were an essential component of any spacecraft, not just military, because they redirected meteors or rapidly moving objects. On the one hand, they just drew on power 99.9% of the time. On the other hand, that 0.1% of the time when you needed them, you absolutely needed them.

  So, in recap, shields are important but not immediately required. Power limiting factor to anything Josiah might want to do. Backup power nonfunctional, and repair equipment not at full capacity. Basically, Josiah had a choice to make. Did he prioritize getting backup power online, which was delayed by damaged repair equipment, or did he use repair facilities on themselves for optimum efficiency down the road? His being awake would increase power demand, and it would always be the limiting factor. At the same time, repairing the repair equipment would provide long term benefits. But then again, so would increasing the power supply.

  “Only children make choices,” Josiah finally declared after a moment of thought. “Please optimize a plan to repair the repair facilities and backup power units simultaneously.”

  ‘Warning, overall efficiency diminished by simultaneous repair efforts.’

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Oh, now you decide to be helpful” he grumbled to himself. “I guess that plan’s out the window. Oh well, as a mature and grown-up individual, it’s necessary to make compromises sometimes of course. Naturally, I can make choices on my own too.” Josiah wasn’t sure who he was supposed to be talking to, but it was not like anyone was going to call him out for it anyway. No rules!

  After a moment of thought on the impacts of being free of all societal norms and expectations, he refocused on the impending choice.

  “Prioritize repair to back-up power units” he finally decided.

  ‘Prioritizing repairs of back-up power units now’ the Capricorn’s computer responded promptly.

  It was rather anticlimactic as far as his first decision as the new commanding officer goes. After all, 40 years had already passed so what was the difference between waiting a few months for that or a few months for this. Shortly after this, Josiah made his next discovery.

  He was bored. After rapidly adjusting to his new reality, there wasn’t much happening. It would be a while before he even knew how long it would actually take to repair the back-up power units, let alone complete the initial repairs.

  Naturally, Josiah decided to act like any normal person would.

  “Is there anything for me to do?” he asked Capricorn’s computer. A lesser person might equate his behavior as a child whining ‘I’m bored’ to their mother. Josiah, of course, would fervently deny any such allegations.

  ‘Affirmative’ was the reply. Josiah bit back a sigh as he saw that the computer was back to being its normal, bubbly and effervescent self.

  “Please list out the options.”

  ‘Activity options for onboard cyber citizen include communication with other vessels, communication with crew, internet connection, review of archives, simulations navy type, simulations communal type, drone occupancy, sleep’ the Capricorn responded.

  Most of these were self-explanatory. Review of archives was essentially another way of saying to read downloaded books. Simulations were something that Josiah had previously experienced through equipment that established a neural connection. Communal was basically open servers available to anyone. They were most commonly used by cybers, experiencing human form in a digital manner. Navy was more along the lines of simulations and scenarios used for training.

  Drone occupancy was something that he had seen but never experienced before. Basically, it allowed cyber citizens to interact with the real world by use of a humanoid drone. Given all resources were involved with repair efforts, he shelved that one.

  “Are any communication systems online” he asked.

  ‘Negative.’ As expected, it was worth a shot he supposed. Given he had no intention to sleep, that left the archives, internet and simulations.

  “Hmm. I guess I will check the archives first.” After all, Josiah had just become a cyber citizen himself and he was sure that there was probably some information he should know about.

  ‘Retrieving archives.’