text: [Themes: Science Fiction, amnesia, science fiction]
  
  > describe your surroundings
  is fore.
  
  You gently push off from the wall and drift port.
  
  Node 4: Fore, Port
  Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.
  
  Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.
  
  Node 4: Fore, Port
  Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.
  
  Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.
  
  > examine the metal
  (the embedded compartment)
  It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is closed.
  
  > open the door
  You push the door's button with one gloved finger but nothing happens. The escape pod door is supposed to automatically open in the event main power fails, but something's clearly gone wrong. You spend a moment cursing stupid turn-of-the-century NASA engineers with their hipster sideburns and their iPods, since that's better than giving in to panic. Just because NASA's old ISS equipment was available at fire-sale prices doesn't mean it was a true bargain.
  
  > pry the metal
  (the embedded compartment)
  (with the prise bar)
  You can't slip the prise bar between the door and the rest of the compartment, not enough to get any leverage. The only way to open it is electronically.
  
  This compartment used to be with the others next to the experiments aft of here. With any luck you'll find the button that opens the compartment there.
  
  > look at the panel
  The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is secured by four screws.
  
  > examine the screen
  The screen should be lit up like a, well, a lit screen, but it isn't. Even though the main power's out the screen and door should have switched over to auxiliary power.
  
  > Aft
  Node 4: Aft, Port
  While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.
  
  The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.
  
  You carefully bring yourself to a stop before you reach the open end of the station. For one vertiginous moment you feel as if the remains of the station are above you and you are falling inexorably to your death.
  
  > look at the crack
  Plates in the floor have cracked open, revealing the station's underlying structure. Deep down you can see a length of chain.
  
  > get the chain
  You gingerly reach between the broken floor plates trying to pick up the length of chain, but it is about a meter down, and you'd likely tear your suit on the edges of the crack trying to get it this way.
  
  > Pry chain
  (with the prise bar)
  That doesn't truly need prising.
  
  Through the open end of Node 4 you see the Earth roll into view, throwing the jagged edge of the station into stark relief and revealing an external battery on the outside of the station. While you watch the Earth vanish again the very expensive programs in your head start estimating orbits and trajectories. You're slowly spiraling away from Earth while the cylinder of Node 4 spins about its fore-aft axis.
  
  > examine the compartment
  (the embedded compartment that is near the escape pod)
  It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is closed.
  
  > look
  Node 4: Aft, Port
  While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.
  
  The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.
  
  > examine battery
  One of the battery modules dotted around the exterior of the station. It's slightly larger than a loaf of bread. It's on the exterior skin of the station?you can just see it from here.
  
  > Starboard
  Node 4: Aft, Starboard
  There used to be four sleeping racks here, small coffin-like soundproof booths where you could have a little bit of privacy. Now there's just one left. Its door is closed. The other three racks must have been ripped away when the accident happened. The station ends aft of here in a ring of jagged, twisted metal.
  
  > Fore
  Node 4: Fore, Starboard
  You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior is fore.
  
  > open the door
  Node 4: Aft, Starboard
  There used to be four sleeping racks here, small coffin-like soundproof booths where you could have a little bit of privacy. Now there's just one left. Its door is closed. The other three racks must have been ripped away when the accident happened. The station ends aft of here in a ring of jagged, twisted metal.
  
  You open the door and a body falls towards you!
  
  Right, deep breaths, it's just an empty spacesuit.
  
  > look at the spacesuit
  (the empty spacesuit)
  The empty spacesuit is just like yours, except it has SUZAN HARRISON stenciled on it. It also has the screwdriver you've used for EVA repair missions strapped to it?
  
  ?wrestling with the empty suit, desperately pushing it into the sleeping rack, wishing the lights hadn't gone off after the explosion, not sure why but knowing you have to get the damn thing inside?
  
  For a moment you struggle with panic borrowed from a poorly-remembered past.
  
  > take the screwdriver
  You remove the screwdriver from the spacesuit and hold it in your gloved hand. You've spent countless hours on EVAs using screwdrivers just like this one, sweating in a spacesuit like the one you're wearing for up to eight hours. You had no idea those EVAs would end up being good practise for your current situation.
  
  You clip the screwdriver to one of your suit's D-rings to make it easier to carry.
  
  > examine screwdriver
  A low-torque powered screwdriver with a grip that's specially designed to be used while you're wearing these ham-hand gloves. It's clipped to your spacesuit.
  
  > Fore
  Node 4: Fore, Port
  Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.
  
  Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.
  
  > look at the panel
  The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is secured by four screws.
  
  > Unscrew panel
  You unclip the screwdriver and in short order have the four screws out. You let them drift away to join the rest of the junk while you gently pull the panel away from the bulkhead. With any luck you can fix what's wrong with the button.
  
  Behind the panel is a mass of wires held in place by a stick pad.
  
  > look at the pad
  It's a square pad about the width of three of your fingers. It's made of some super-velcro substance the boffins came up with. It's lightly tacky on both sides and sticks to most any surface. The pad is stuck to the mass of wires. Patricia always used one to secure her pens?
  
  ?dogging the hatch and looking through the porthole to see Patricia on the other side snap a salute even though she's never liked your dual astronaut and military roles, but she must have felt it was the most appropriate goodbye gesture she could make?
  
  > pull pad
  The stick pad isn't very strong?you give a tug and detach the stick pad from the mass of wires.
  
  > examine the wires
  Oh good grief, there are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, blue, yellow, orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got quick disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily. All of the wires are connected to the panel.
  
  > pull all the wires
  You pull the red wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the black wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the white wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the green wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the grey wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the blue wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the yellow wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the orange wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the violet wire loose from the panel.
  
  You pull the white-and-red striped wire loose from the panel.
  
  > examine the red wire
  The red wire is disconnected from the panel.
  
  > examine the panel
  The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires, and the stick pad.
  
  > attach the red wire to the panel
  You re-connect the red wire to the panel.
  
  > look at the stick pad
  It's a square pad about the width of three of your fingers. It's made of some super-velcro substance the boffins came up with. It's lightly tacky on both sides and sticks to most any surface.
  
  > put the pad on the bar
  You pick up the stick pad and stick the stick pad to the prise bar.
  
  > Aft
  Node 4: Aft, Port
  While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.
  
  The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.
  
  > get the chain with the bar
  With the stick pad on the end of the bar, you're able to snag the chain and pull it out from under the floor, even though the chain doesn't really want to stick to the pad. You coil the chain and attach it to one of your suit's D-rings.
  
  The enormity of the task in front of you, the unlikelihood of your escaping, nearly paralyzes you. You take a few deep breaths to steady yourself.
  
  > examine the chain
  It's several meters long and very similar to a bike chain. Both ends sport carabiners, small metal loops with a spring-loaded latch. One end of the chain is clipped to your suit.
  
  > examine the racks
  All of the experiments are in 19-inch racks, complete with protruding handles, that are bolted into the wall. The experiments often meant one thing: tedious checklists. You had to follow extensive checklists and write down the results at every step in a logbook because typing information into a computer would be too easy. It was so tedious that you made Quintin do it for you whenever possible. The logbooks were stored in nearby storage compartments. You got in the habit of writing all kinds of notes on the logbooks just because they were handy.
  
  Next to the storage compartments is a button that opens the compartment you saw near the escape pod.
  
  > press the button
  There's a gas line in front of the button, which you brush aside to push and hold the button. The compartment near the escape pod swings open, so you keep holding the button.
  
  > put the chain on the handle
  You find a convenient handle on one of the experiments to clip one of the chain's carabiners onto. You now have a chain that runs from the experiments to your suit, forming a tether.
  
  > Aft
  Before you leave you have to let go of the button, making the compartment near the escape pod swing closed.
  
  The piloting programs in your head plan your route. You take a deep breath and grasp your tether tightly. Ready, steady, go?and you jump, trusting your modified instincts to keep you safe. You soar out into space before the tether pulls taut and you land flat on the outside of the station, your boots grabbing hold.
  
  You cling carefully to the outside of Node 4. From here you can see that this is all there is: a small, ragged cylinder, spinning as it tumbles around the Earth. There is no sign of the rest of the station.
  
  You can see a backup battery here.
  
  The chain runs back into the station, tethering you.
  
  For a moment you consider unclipping the chain, kicking off of Node 4 and tumbling peacefully away. You giggle before you can stop yourself.
  
  > get the battery
  You carefully unclip the screwdriver and remove the screws from around the battery. You watch the screws float off into space and wonder if they'll eventually embed themselves in some random satellite. You then carefully lift the battery and tuck it under one arm.
  
  Your suit's readout flashes.
  
  > look at the readout
  Plenty of oxygen; no integrity issues. The suit's mini-doc warns you that your blood pressure and respiration have spiked. Oh, and you probably have a concussion.
  
  > examine the battery
  It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where wires can be inserted.
  
  > Fore
  You have a tether, but it's a short one, and you've no interest in playing Major Tom. The only place to go is back inside.
  
  > Inside
  Getting back inside is a little trickier than leaping outside, but it's nothing you and your fancy head full of kinematic equations can't handle.
  
  Node 4: Aft, Port
  While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.
  
  The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.
  
  One end of the chain is looped around the science experiments; one end is clipped to your suit.
  
  > remove the chain
  (from the science experiments)
  Unchained.
  
  > press the button
  You brush aside the gas line to push and hold the button. The compartment near the escape pod swings open, so you keep holding the button.
  
  > Examine button
  A simple momentary-contact button that some bright spark at NASA thought was an appropriate control to open the compartment you saw near the escape pod. Whoever designed that stupid button and compartment is probably in his seventies now, which means you might be able to look him up and punch him if you get back to Earth and can obtain a visa for the NUS.
  
  Dangling in front of the button is a gas line.
  
  > look at the gas line
  A nitrogen feed line for one of the experiments is in front of the button. It's a metal hard line that has an L-shaped bend right in front of the compartment button, with the threaded end of the line pointing away from the button. Partway up the line is the valve that controls nitrogen flow. The valve is closed.
  
  > put stick pad on the button
  You stick the stick pad and the prise bar to the single button.
  
  > Rotate gas line
  You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing slowly out of the end of the line, causing the L bend in the gas line to press gently against the button but not hard enough to push the button.
  
  > Press bar
  Nothing obvious happens.
  
  > press the button
  The prise bar is in your way.
  
  > detach the stick pad from the button
  You peel the stick pad off of the single button.
  
  > press the button
  It's already pushed down.
  
  > Examine button
  A simple momentary-contact button that some bright spark at NASA thought was an appropriate control to open the compartment you saw near the escape pod. Whoever designed that stupid button and compartment is probably in his seventies now, which means you might be able to look him up and punch him if you get back to Earth and can obtain a visa for the NUS.
  
  Dangling in front of the button is a gas line.
  
  > Rotate gas line
  You close the valve on the gas line. The cloud of nitrogen quickly disperses.
  
  > Rotate gas line
  You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing slowly out of the end of the line, causing the L bend in the gas line to press gently against the button but not hard enough to push the button.
  
  > look at pouch
  A small snap pouch for holding sundries.
  
  > open the pouch
  No need. You've long trained to open the pouch only long enough to put something in or take something out of it.
  
  > look at the gas line
  A nitrogen feed line for one of the experiments is in front of the button. It's a metal hard line that has an L-shaped bend right in front of the compartment button, with the threaded end of the line pointing away from the button. Partway up the line is the valve that controls nitrogen flow. The valve is open.
  
  > look at what you're carrying with you
  You're carrying a backup battery and you're wearing a flex spacesuit. Clipped to your suit is a length of chain and a screwdriver.
  
  > Fore
  Before you leave you have to let go of the button, making the compartment near the escape pod swing closed.
  
  Node 4: Fore, Port
  Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.
  
  Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.
  
  The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.
  
  > examine the debris
  A whole wodge of twisted metal jammed in front of the escape pod door like a ruined column.
  
  > connect the wires to the battery
  You'll have to specify which wire you want to plug.
  
  > connect the black wire to battery
  You plug the black wire into the battery's terminal slot.
  
  > connect the red wire to battery
  (first unplugging the red wire)
  You pull the red wire loose from the panel.
  
  You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot.
  
  > look at the battery
  It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where wires can be inserted.
  
  The red wire and the black wire are plugged into the battery.
  
  > look at the wires
  There are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, blue, yellow, orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got quick disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily.
  
  The red wire and the black wire are plugged into the battery. The rest of the wires are disconnected from the panel.
  
  > look at panel
  The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires.
  
  > examine the door
  The door to the escape pod is currently closed.
  
  > think about the wires
  You can mainly think about other the other spacestation crewmembers.
  
  > unplug the red wire
  You disconnect the red wire from the battery's terminal slot.
  
  > attach the striped wire to the panel
  You re-connect the white-and-red striped wire to the panel.
  
  > connect the red wire to the battery
  You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot.
  
  > think about Suzan
  Suzan's the mission commander. You've known Captain Harrison for years, having served together on three separate missions, one of which will remain redacted for a long time to come.
  
  > think about Patricia
  Dr. Patricia Morrison has authored numerous definitive papers on the effect of long-term space travel and weightlessness in space. You haven't had a chance to see what kind of hands-on doctor she is, but after today you'll hopefully get your chance.
  
  > think about Quintin
  Mission Specialist Quintin Davies, Warrant Officer and all-around skilled technician. His PhD is in physics, which means everyone made him deal with the station's plumbing and constant electrical problems.
  
  > look at panel
  The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling open, revealing the mass of wires.
  
  > think about yourself
  You can mainly think about other the other spacestation crewmembers.
  
  > Fore
  Since there are wires plugged into the battery, you leave the battery floating next to the panel.
  
  You can't go fore from here.
  
  > disconnect the battery
  You unplug the red wire and the black wire from the battery.
  
  You disconnect the red wire from the battery's terminal slot.
  
  > Starboard
  Node 4: Fore, Starboard
  You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior is fore.
  
  > Ride bike
  Riding the bicycle would be a feat and a half. Even a flex suit doesn't give you enough range of motion, and your survival backpack would get in the way. You can turn the pedals, though, which you do.
  
  > examine the bike
  This space bicycle doesn't look that much like a regular bicycle. It's a grey trapezoidal box held together by about twenty screws. Pedals stick out of it, and attached above it is a seat with very little cushioning. Next to the seat is a water line that you've sipped from many times before while exercising.
  
  > Unscrew box
  You unclip the screwdriver and painstakingly remove all the screws holding the bicycle's trapezoidal box together. You let them all float away?might as well, given the rest of the debris that fills the station?and fold open the bike.
  
  Inside, the bicycle is mainly a single small wheel about the size of your gloved hand with fingers stretched wide. The small wheel has holes all along its perimeter. The bike's pedals are attached to either side of the wheel, and stick out a long distance compared to the small wheel.
  
  > examine the water line
  That's hardly portable.
  
  A flexible water line. Someone's left their nozzle on the line post-exercise, a sanitary no-no. Probably Quintin. You'll have to scold him, assuming he's still alive.
  
  > look at the nozzle
  A nozzle with clear plastic on one end and hard metal on the other. The clear plastic end has a very small opening. Its large metal end is threaded and fits all standard tubing on board the station.
  
  > examine the compartment
  (the embedded compartment that is near the escape pod)
  It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is closed.
  
  > Rotate valve
  You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing quickly out of the end of the nozzle, causing the L bend in the gas line to press firmly enough on the button to open the compartment near the escape pod. Unfortunately the bend slips off of the button and the compartment closes once more.
  
  > put stick pad on the button
  You stick the stick pad and the prise bar to the single button.
  
  > remove the bar from the pad
  You peel the stick pad off of the prise bar.
  
  > Rotate valve
  You close the valve on the gas line. The cloud of nitrogen quickly disperses.
  
  > continue
  You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing quickly out of the end of the nozzle, causing the L bend in the gas line to press firmly enough on the button to open the compartment near the escape pod. The force is also enough to make the stick pad adhere to the gas line and the button, holding the gas line in place on the button.
  
  > Fore
  Node 4: Fore, Port
  Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4.
  
  Embedded sideways in a wall is an open compartment attached to a jagged piece of metal.
  
  The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires.
  
  You can also see a backup battery here.
  
  > look at the compartment
  It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a featureless door that is open. Inside you can see a logbook.
  
  > take the logbook
  As you remove the logbook from the compartment, the door swings back shut. It looks like you had just enough nitrogen to get the job done.
  
  > read the logbook
  Like all of them, this logbook has all four of your names on the front in order of rank: Suzan Harrison, Simon Mahil, Quintin Davies, and Patricia Morrison. It also has obsessive step-by-step instructions for running several of the on-station experiments and recording the results, because the space program is all about hiring the smartest, most capable people it can find, training them exhaustively, and then not trusting them to do their job.
  
  There are a lot of notes in the logbook's margins. Several of them are notes Quintin wrote when he made on-the-fly repairs to the station. One talks about the problems he'd had with the escape pod door malfunctioning, and how he had to disconnect the door control and computer from backup power to fix the problem. He noted that disconnecting only the green and yellow wires and connecting the two current-carrying wires?the white-and-red wire and the red wire?together would restore backup power. Normally the white-and-red wire and the red wire would run to the power source.
  
  > think about Simon
  You've been piloting EELV-boosted spacecraft for nearly a decade. As a reward for doing such a good job you got stuck onboard the space station for months.
  
  > Aft
  Node 4: Aft, Port
  While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are starboard.
  
  The stick pad is holding the single button and the gas line together.
  
  The floor underneath you has a large crack in it.
  
  You can also see a prise bar here.