Entry 7: Mapping the Moon

The day had finally arrived to begin my grand mission - scanning the moon in precise sections for untapped Lunite and, perhaps, a few surprises. Quicksilver was fully prepped, her scanners fine-tuned, and my snacks stocked to last me through endless hours of orbiting.

This just wasn’t about the hunt. It was about getting back to what I loved about this work - the thrill of discovery and the unknown. The moon didn’t have as much Lunite as it used to, but I knew there were still hidden pockets out there to find. So I took off and setteled into a low orbit, just about 12 miles above the surface. At this height, the scanner could pick up really precise readings while still covering plenty of ground.

It wasn’t a quick job, though. Flying this low meant I could only scan small sections at a time, and it would take about a week to cover the entire moon. But I didn’t mind. Watching the craters and ridges pass under Quicksilver was almost peaceful - like I was learning the moon all over again.

After the first few hours of scanning, I got my first ping - faint but definitely something. With the scanner locked onto a target, I dropped my first beacon and started to fly off, congratulating myself on sticking to the plan.

Then it hit me!

What if this was the find? What if the scanner needed a bit of calibration? What if I was leaving something amazing behind? What if, What, IF, WHAT IF! The excitement bubbled up, and before I knew it, I slammed the throttle and yanked Quicksilver into a hard spin.

Now, I’m no rookie, but let’s just say Quicksilver’s maneuvering was a little… overenthusiastic. For a good five seconds, I was spinning so hard I might as well have been on a carnival ride. The ship’s system let out a protesting beep, and finally straightened out, muttering to myself, “Okay, maybe a bit much.”

I swooped back to the beacon, landed with a plume of dust, and scrambled out of the cockpit. My excitement wasn’t misplaced. The scanner’s reading didn’t disappoint. Nestled in the powdery soil was a small cluster of Lunite - nothing monumental, but enough to prove the scanner was working exactly as I’d hoped.

“Worth it,” I said aloud, grinning as I grabbed the Lunite and stowed it in the cargo bay. With the Lunite secured, I retrieved the beacon since it wasn’t needed here anymore - and I climbed back into Quicksilver.

Blasting off again, I couldn’t help the grin spreading across my face. “Still got it,” I muttered to myself. Quicksilvers engines purred like she agreed.

**Turbo Surge**

To celebrate, I popped open a can of *Turbo Surge*, a gloriously over-caffeinated concoction with a bright neon green label that practically screamed, *This is terrible for you.* In fact, in some manner, this drink was actually made without any other label supporting or explaining what was in it! I didn’t care. I took a swig, turned on some music - and leaned back in my seat as the moon stretched out below me.

To celebrate, I popped open a can of Turbo Surge, a gloriously over-caffeinated concoction with a bright neon green label that practically screamed, This is terrible for you. In fact, in some manner, this drink was actually made without any other label supporting or explaining what was in it! I didn’t care. I took a swig, turned on some music - and leaned back in my seat as the moon stretched out below me.

With the first beacon a success and a little Lunite under my belt, I was finally finding my stride. The scanner pings were becoming almost predictable - small readings here and there, with a few anomalies to keep things interesting. Then, the scanner hit me with a reading so strange, it practically screamed “Hey look at me!”

This wasn’t your usual Lunite reading or mineral deposit. The signature was erratic, pulsing in a way that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I brought Quicksilver in closer, my eyes glued to the screen. The signal was coming from a shadowy cave, its opening jagged and dark.

Curiosity and common sense started an immediate tug-of-war in my head. Common sense said to drop the beacon and move on. Curiosity… well, curiosity had me flipping switches, dimming the cabin lights, and pulling on my helmet.

I landed just outside the cave, the dust settling in eerie silence as I powered down Quicksilver. The moment my boots hit the ground; the signal grew sharper. My visor’s illumination barely penetrated the surface of the cave’s entrance, but the scanner on my wrist kept pointing me forward. Step by cautious step, I made my way inside.

The air - or lack of it - felt heavier, the kind of silence that makes you second-guess every move. About twenty meters in, my visor’s light caught something reflective. I froze. At the far end of the cavern stood a massive arch-like structure, its surface smooth and glossy, completely unlike the rough lunar rock around it. Embedded in the arch was a small keypad, its buttons etched with symbols I didn’t recognize. They weren’t numbers, letters, or anything I’d seen before - just intricate shapes, almost glyph-like, glowing faintly in the dark.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears as I approached, every instinct screaming at me to stop. The arch seemed… wrong, like it didn’t belong here. It loomed over me, silent but somehow imposing, as if waiting for me to make the first move.

“What in the Void is this?” I muttered, my voice sounding small and out of place in the cavern’s emptiness.

I reached out, almost touching the keypad to take a picture of it, just then a faint hum emanated from the arch. It wasn’t loud, but it vibrated through the cave, through me, like some ancient machine waking up just enough to say, I see you!

That was enough for me. My curiosity slammed into a brick wall called logic, and logic was yelling loud and clear: Get out, Rex. Get out now!

“Alright, logic,” I said aloud, backing away slowly. “I hear you. Loud and clear. Let’s leave this one for later.”

I turned and hurried back toward the light, the hum fading with every step. But right before exiting the cave off to the right, I noticed a small box the size of a briefcase tucked away on the ground in between the rocks, without thinking, I grabbed it and took it with me. As I climbed into Quicksilver and sealed the hatch, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the arch was watching me, waiting. The scanner beeped softly as if to remind me to drop the beacon, and I did, marking the location on my chart as “The Arch.”

Blasting off, I kept glancing back at the cavern’s entrance until it disappeared into the distance. The moon had thrown me a lot of mysteries over the years, but this? This was something else entirely.

“Alright, Arch,” I muttered to myself, gripping the controls tighter than usual. “I’ll get back to you. But not today.”

With the beacon set and the arch still looming in my thoughts, I pushed Quicksilver forward, determined to keep scanning. Whatever that thing was, it wasn’t going anywhere. And when I come back, I’d make sure I wasn’t alone.

By Day 6, the excitement of dropping beacons and scanning the moon’s surface had dulled a bit. The thrill of the first few discoveries was starting to fade, and even the mystery of the Creepy Cave had settled into a quiet corner of my mind. Flying over the same gray landscapes, seeing the same craters, the endless ping-ping-ping of the scanner - it was all beginning to feel monotonous.

That’s when I decided I needed some company.

“Chris Knight,” I said aloud, hitting the comms panel. If anyone could liven things up, it was him. A moon-and-Earth hopper with more energy than Quicksilver’s thrusters, Chris was the kind of guy who could turn a dull day into a wild adventure just by showing up.

He answered almost immediately. “Rex! My favorite moon man! What’s shaking?”

“Just scanning the moon, one crater at a time,” I replied. “You busy, or do you want to ride along and see the moon?”

Chris laughed, the sound of his enthusiasm practically vibrating through the speakers. “You had me at ‘ride along.’ Be at the docking bay in ten.”

True to his word, Chris arrived with his signature flare - decked out in a bright neon jumpsuit that looked like it belonged at a retro nightclub, not in a rocket. He slid into the co-pilot seat like he owned it, his grin as wide as ever.

“Alright, Rex,” he said, clapping his hands. “What’s the plan? And please tell me it involves something more exciting than staring at rocks.”

“Well,” I said, adjusting the controls, “it’s mostly staring at rocks, but some of them glow. And if we’re lucky, we might find another odd anomaly or two.”

Chris leaned back, folding his arms. “Anomalies, huh? Like what?”

I hesitated. “Let’s just say the moon’s got a few secrets left.”

He raised his eyebrow, clearly intrigued. “Secrets, you say? Alright, I’m in. Let’s find some glowing rocks and crack a few mysteries wide open.”

As we flew, Chris peppered me with questions about the scanner, the beacons, and the process of finding Lunite. His curiosity was genuine, but his knack for turning every answer into a joke kept things light. At one point, the scanner pinged, and Chris leaned forward, squinting at the screen.

“That one looks promising,” he said, pointing to a small cluster of readings. “Bet you ten Credits it’s Lunite.”

“You’re on,” I replied, banking Quicksilver toward the location.

When we landed, Chris was the first out of the hatch, practically bouncing in his boots. “Alright, moon rocks, show us what you got!”

Sure enough, the scanner had picked up a small deposit of Lunite. Chris whooped, punching the air. “I knew it! You owe me ten Credits, my friend.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “You got it, your company’s worth at least that.”

As we loaded the Lunite into the cargo bay, Chris’s tone shifted slightly, his usual humor giving way to a hint of seriousness. “You know Rex, this moon is more alive than people give it credit for. Sure, it’s quiet, but there’s a vibe to it, you know? Like it’s watching.”

I paused, the memory of The Arch flashing through my mind. “Yeah,” I said slowly. “I know what you mean.”

Chris studied me for a moment, then grinned. “Alright, enough of the deep stuff. Let’s get back up there and find something weird.”

Back in the cockpit, Chris beamed a blueprint hologram from his wrist showing me concept art for his latest venture - a biosphere retreat that he had been dreaming up for years. “Picture this, Rex,” he said, his hands gesturing wildly. “Palm trees, wave pools, DJs spinning beats under a dome that feels like summer on Earth. It’ll be the ultimate moon hotspot.”

“You’ve been pitching this idea for years,” I said, laughing.

Chris smirked. “That’s because you haven’t seen the spot I’ve got in mind. It’s perfect - just a hop and a skip from the mall. Trust me, Rex. This could be the next big thing.”

I glanced at him, my curiosity peaked. “You’ve already got a location?”

“Of course I do,” he said, leaning back with a smug look. “And it’s a prime one. All it needs is a little backing, and we’re golden.”

I mulled it over, the idea starting to take root. “Alright, Chris. I’ll help back it. On one condition.”

“Name it,” he said, his grin widening.

“I want a spot on the edge of the property,” I said. “For something I’ve been thinking about for a while.”

Chris nodded without hesitation. “You got it, no problem. So, we’re doing this?”

“We’re doing this,” I replied, shaking his hand.

As Quicksilver soared over the lunar surface, the monotony was gone. The moon had its secrets, but it also had its opportunities. And with Chris on board, things were bound to get interesting.

By the time Quicksilver’s odometer ticked past the eleventh beacon, I realized something - I'd done it! The moon, in all its craters, caves, and curious anomalies, had been mapped. At least, to the best of my abilities. Chris and I flew back toward the mall, his excitement about the biosphere idea filling the cockpit.

“I’m glad you see the vision, Rex!” Chris said, slapping me on the shoulder as we neared his stop. “I can’t wait to bring this to life with you.”

“Well, you’ve got the drive Chris, let’s make it happen!”

I grinned, dropping him off near the edge of the mall’s plaza, right at the property that he secured for the yet to be named retreat, club, or whatever it would turn out to be. He asked me one last question before he got out “what is it that you want the edge of the property for anyway?” I hesitated in my response “well, let’s just say I’ve had my dream of building something for a while now myself, and let’s leave it at that!”

As I watched him walk away toward the mall, practically buzzing with energy, I felt something unexpected - a sense of excitement.

Flying back to my workshop, I leaned back in my seat and took it all in. The beacons were set. The map was made. I had just completed a project that spanned the entire lunar surface. Excitement buzzed through me at what lay ahead. Building projects, beacons to follow up on, maybe even answers to questions about that strange Arch!

I landed my ship back home, tired, but fulfilled and I started to exit the cockpit, oh yeah, that strange briefcase from the cave. I wonder what’s inside?

Entry 7 - Burn

Snacks & Drinks - 140,000 Moon Credit

Credits to Chris 😆 - 10 Moon Credits

The yet to be named retreat, club, or whatever it would turn out to be - 20,250,000 Moon Credits (Well that’s a funny number)

Entry 7

Entry 6