Today I start my new life as a member of the Primate Observation Club. My uncle, may he rest in peace, had a lifetime membership to this esteemed club and with his passing bestowed this lifetime honour unto me. May I prove worthy of this inclusion.
As a member of this club, there are a few rules I need to abide by:
- I must never uninstall the Club's program from the computer
- I must purchase a set number of new cameras within a timeframe
- I must not disclose any information about the Club or its activities
- I must not interact with the "monkeys" I am watching
It all sounds straight forward enough and I am pleased to accept the terms and conditions.
Settled into my new apartment — a shoddy place run by some very unpleasant landlord-aliens — I install everything required onto my new computer and am ready to begin my work.
The Club has allowed me four cameras to begin my work with but I must purchase all future ones. I'm going to have to make more money to buy access to these cameras and to afford my rent, but luckily there are a lot of odd jobs in the city.
My gaze is instantly drawn to Camera #2. A woman appears to be working on a robot, which in itself is normal enough, but then she starts talking, thinking aloud to the robot she's rebuilding... she is a fugitive. A fugitive from what? I wonder.
After a few hours she leaves the room. All the cameras are inactive. Nothing is happening.
Bored, I decide that now is the perfect time to pick up one of those odd jobs available. There were only three to choose from, all of which offered a paltry sum. One offered just over 100 credits for 8 hours work... I was loathe to leave the cameras for that long, but I could buy two new ones with that money.
Perfect.
After finishing my shift, I head back to the computer to see an email from my Club leaders. They're interested in learning on which planet the woman on Camera #2 is located. Possibly because she's a fugitive. I could help!
I watch her all day. Eagerly awaiting tidbits of information from her I could use to discover her location. She talks about her granny a lot, and the legends surrounding the constellation in the sky above. She says that it's diamond shaped.
I quickly research constellations and their legends, then learn of their shapes. Apparently a diamond-shaped constellation can be seen above the planet of Yumgum 3. There were two other planets the constellation could be seen from, but... I had a feeling about Yumgum. I eagerly send forth this information to my Club leaders and await their praise.
Suddenly, a knock at the door.
Answering it reveals a strange man who forces himself into my apartment and places a gadget beside my fridge. Apparently the gadget will measure a bunch of gobbledygook in the air and he will check on it again later. There is no refusing him. Hopefully the device isn't a bomb or something.
With the strange device watching me, I notice there's nothing in my fridge and I'm starting to get a huge rumbly in my tummy. I haven't eaten for hours, an entire day... I would need to rectify that.
While awaiting appreciation from my Club leaders, I ran to the store and bought a bunch of protein shakes. That'd sustain me for another day or two.
Upon my return an email from my Club leaders flashed in my inbox... informing me that the information I had given them was erroneous. I had been wrong about the location of the fugitive. I had failed.
Luckily, they didn't expel me and gave me another observation job to accomplish for them. Camera #5. Someone was coming to the location every single night and doing nefarious things. Could I work out who it was for them?
Yes. I would. And this time I would not fail!
Buckling down, I ignored my tired eyes and my rumbling stomach and stared at Camera #5 until my eyes bled.
Until next time! 🐵