Scanclock

By Ali Asnaam

"Scanclock" is a reworked, autobiographical work in a sciencefiction context.
In today's economy, employers demand full dedication from their employees. A trend which will only become
more extreme in the next decades.

The protagonist, Dylan Lichtberg, is the sole Customs Agent at his company's most important station.
When he has to solve crises at lightyears away from his employers, he will have to chose between his commitment and his heart.

All references contained in this book are purely fictional, but the story originates on the memoires of the author.

"Scanclock" is the first work by Ali Asnaam, and is a direct translation from the original Dutch version from and by the same author.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ali Asnaam
• Release date: Feb 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463244319

Ali Asnaam

Only a writer in my spare time.No experience, nor lingiustic education.Current day-time job: officer in the Belgian Armed Forces.Current night-time job: also officer in the BAF, but only if assigned.Enjoys fencing (both on épée as on foil), video-games, cooking (mostly desserts)and photography (action shots in the army or nighttime pictures).

Book preview

Hello, and many thanks for choosing my book out of all others out there.

The story is a combination of own experiences as a young manager, innovations and political satire from the beginning of the 21st century, science fiction/science facts & my own mood while writing.

Some aspects of the story are drawn from real life, but represented in a warped manner in order to protect my sources of inspiration.

There are two ways of reading this book: you can either read it from cover to cover without any spoilers or you can, before reading the main story, put yourself in the setting by reading all the chapter pages (up until Novoya Genetika). I advise Readers who are familiar with the usual science fiction-terminology to skip the table of contents and to start at page 7. Those who have trouble with science fiction (like my dear mother who assisted me for style) can devour this book in the second manner. This way you won’t find yourself lost in the story but be warned: some elements of the story get spoiled in the chapter pages. It’s your choice because you’re holding on to the book, I only wrote it.

One of my best mates also told me to warn you of the slow start.

The plot only starts around page 30 so please, be a little patient.

This English version is a direct translation from the original Dutch version (actually Flemish but yeah, semantics…). I’m not an English native speaker, but I’ve tried to maintain a decent level of writing.

Without further ado, I wish you much joy in reading Scanclock.

XXXXXXXXXXX_Contract_agreement_XXXXXXXXXXX

Employee: LICHTBERG D.

I.D.: 1101067

Marital status: single

Age: 27/31

Ethnicity: Germanic

Height: 1.75m

Net weight: 69,2 Kg

Net BMI: 22.59

BFI: 15.8%

Hair: Black

Eyes: Green

I.Q.: 127

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: INTJ-T (Architect)

Studies:Math’s-Sciences/ Canaria High (6 years)

Industrial Engineering/ Novoye Nachalo Institute (4 years)

On-the-job education, management/ BathyCorp (8 months)

The involved party commits himself to a rotation as a Customs Agent and engineer as cumulative function on Midway Station for a net period of not less than 365 Terra cycles.

Job description, CLA and detailed instructions can be consulted in file

NN-TLPT-MDW-FUNCTION.

Compensation: determined in personal file 1101067. Option to consult only by involved parties and administrators level SECRET.

Start gross rotation: 200900MAR18

Log_011932MAY22

Ok, how does this thing work (guh)? Ah, I see: you don’t have to type a single word. The program registers everything I say on-the-fly… and no option to delete this silly comment.

Great, well, my name is (cough, cough) Dylan Lichtberg and I feel like every other college student after partying the whole night long: numb hands, bile trying to make it’s (whuh) way up and a migraine that wants to knock me unconscious with every heartbeat. It’s a shame that there’s no voluptuous lady present to distract me from my suffering (houch).

According to my job description, I should install myself imm………

immediately and carry out a complete inspection of the whole station (to see whether my predecessor left everything neat and tidy behind). Sadly enough, I’m not able to hold in all the necessary fluids or to read words from a screen, let alone turn this whole place upside down. The dirty knickers will have to stay put for at least another day (oooh). No, make that at least for another week. Not exactly a nice start of my rotation, but the bigwigs back home will have to make peace with that.

[SitRep delivered performances]

And now this thing ask for my delivered performances. Well,

I’ve made it here in one piece and that’s what matters.

This was (guh, guuuuuh) Customs Agent Lichtberg, I.D. 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_021716MAY22

Hello, this is Customs Agent Lichtberg, here on the second day of my rotation. The good news is that I’m now able to keep in all necessary nutrients (below 33cl per hour, apparently the speech-recording technology on this device is advanced enough to put text between brackets, pending on intonation).

The bad news is that my throat isn’t fully healed yet from the journey, which leads to the necessity of blending all my meals into portions of 33cl or less. Every attempt in swallowing solid foods results into agony, from which in need around fifteen minutes to recover.

As for my job performances, I haven’t been able to deliver much. Most machines on this station operate automatically and many problems get solved immediately through protocols. It is beyond me why anyone has to be present on this station at all times. Not that I can complain: a rotation on Midway Station looks very good on any job resume.

At the moment I’m still not able to carry out a thorough inspection. My hand-eye coordination is steady enough to operate the blender and not much else. Hopefully I will be able to work on a tablet in a few days (after my eyesight has fully returned.)

Now, if you would excuse me. I have a box with personal belongings to move to my new bedroom. Normally I was going to clean up the mess I’ve made yesterday, but the puddles have mysteriously disappeared. Let us pray this will happen again, for you know, hand-eye coordination.

This has been Customs Agent Lichtberg, I.D. 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_031827MAY22

After four years of college I’m still the biggest idiot on this station. It appears that every Customs Agent has to spend a session in the Asclepiusmodule upon arrival. In 30 minutes you feel reborn. Eyesight, hand-eye coordination, digestion, balance, it’s all back. (Booyashakah!)

This concludes my sick leave. I have to get back to work now, just like everyone else. As any good IT-guy, I’ve immediately executed a full systems analysis of the server. The result: 47 anomalies detected!

At first I thought: In three days’ time, that’s impossible! According to the briefing in PDT, there are no more than ten passages per day. When I requested a list of the anomalies, then I realized what had transpired just before my arrival.

[OPEN_FILE_TLPT_MDW_ANOM_CURRENT]

ANOM_AARONSON_AARON_2003911_021300APR22

ANOM_GAVRIIL_JEKATERINA_2003951_022114APR22

ANOM_BULAT_SEZIM_2004104_061813APR22

ANOM_TAO_SHUI_2004108_091201APR22

ANOM_HATIZ_KIRAZ_2003151_101205APR22

ANOM_LINDBERG_BENJAMIN_2003202_111309APR22

ANOM_BERTA_JAN_2003243_151208APR22

We will stop the list here. And yes, indeed. My predecessor decided to exclusively work before noon during her last month here. On the one hand I can’t blame her: you have to write report after report, clear out your workspace, clean up everything, complete a full pre-inspection for a hand-over take-over and between all of that you need to pack your own stuff. It’s like a master’s thesis: starting one month before the deadline is way too late. So, thanks a lot for that! These next days I’ll be occupied with cleaning up the mess from my predecessor.

[SitRep mood]

Oh, f*ck off dude!

[End of Log]

XXXXXXXXXXX_Asclepius_XXXXXXXXXXX

MEDI_MOD_AUTO_MKIII

Code: Asclepius

Producer: BathyCorp

Height: 1.52m

width: 1.65m

Length: 2.60m

Weight: 3215Kg

Price: 22.599.999,95 TCR

Preventive medical care

Bacterial & Virologic infections

Inheritance of genetic disorders

Injuries type C

Tissue damage due to radiation

Curative medical care

Bacterial & Virologic infections

Injuries types A, B & C

Mutation of cellular tissue

Therapy for stress reduction

Self-maintenance functions

Disinfection of equipment and module

Databank of patients

The Asclepiusmodule is the third version of BathyCorp’s automatic medical modules. The first module (code: CURIE) was developed to trace and treat radiation sickness among BathyCorp’s employees. As the market got saturated with generic radiation modules; BathyCorp had reimagined its module by introducing preventive and curative care for all known diseases, syndromes and injuries. This MKII received the code Hippocrates. The MKIII Asclepius could not innovate in classic medical care anymore. Therefore, it introduced psychological support and practical functions to its service.

Included functions are:

Disinfection of equipment and module

Databank of patients

VR & AR support during care

Voice interface (standard inclusion of voices from Scarlett Johansson, Barry White, Hatsune Miku and James Earl Jones)

Therapy for stress reduction

Log_042215MAY22

Customs Agent Lichtberg, reporting in after a long day’s work. Without a doubt you already know the reason of this late log: namely that my predecessor dragged her feet during her last month. Not that I want to play the blaming game here, but I have confidence in the administrators when they’ll hand out the bonusses. Give credit where credit is due, amirite?

To make a long story short: I’ve succeeded not only in processing the 47 anomalies in compliance with the filter, but also in checking the automatic operations from these past four days (you’re welcome).

Of the 47 anomalies, there are 45 ghosts who may continue their journey. HQ will definitely be pleased by this.

[Warning! Term GHOSTS in context of passengers is inappropriate.]

Right, my apologies.

Regretfully, I had to put the two remaining anomalies in the fridge.

The signal of these gho… (cough) passengers fell below the 6-sigma standard. Those passengers are:

ANOM_AARONSON_AARON_2003911_021300APR22

ANOM_GAVRIIL_JEKATERINA_2003951_022114APR22

I can safely assume Restoration can help these passengers out. Their integrity did not drop below 80%. It’s a shame they’ll have to wait for at least five years before they can be restored. I wonder what went wrong during their journey. Does the problem originate from here, from Goliath or somewhere in between?

Anyhow, it has been a busy but rewarding day. Maslow would say we’ve taken it from the top (haha). I’ll start inspecting the workshop the day after tomorrow. Let’s pray my predecessor hasn’t burned out too many bits.

I wish you a very pleasant morning, afternoon, evening or night.

This was Customs Agent Lichtberg, I.D. 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_051209MAY22

Good news: today is a Sunday! According to the CLA I only have to work until noon each Sunday. This will be the first time I can make use of the station’s R&R-room.

Like the old warships from before, this room contains an expansive library of movies, music, videogames and even literature. It’ll take me at least an hour or two before I’ve found the right one. Like many other people, I need to have seen the whole collection first (how else are you able to make the right decision?).

Before crashing on my comfy couch, I should do some PT. Ever since the last holiday season I’ve gained a few kilograms which, in spite of all resolutions, haven’t disappeared yet. The fitness will easy make work of that (that is, I will, but in the fitness).

The server has processed five passengers today. Five souls who may continue their voyage to the promised land.

And now for the mystery of the day: my mess cleaned itself up behind my back once again. After dropping a bowl of cereal on the floor, I went looking for the nearest mop. When I got back, the floor appeared to be completely cleaned up. Spotless even, like nothing ever happened. Definitely to be continued.

This is Customs Agent Lichtberg, finishing up his first week on Midway. Signing off.

Ow yeah, 1101067! Signing off for real this time.

[End of Log]

Log_061900MAY22

Yet another long day’s work, but not as rewarding (not so much as the day before yesterday). Let it be known: the workshop was handed over flawlessly. All the tools were in their right place, the crates were in mint condition and the printer looked like it rolled straight out of the factory. The condition of the workshop makes you wonder if my predecessor ever set foot inside of it (besides to dust off the place).

Obviously my day didn’t end with the inspection. If only it had been. No, right after the inspection I began to move all the remaining crates to and from David. The hardest part wasn’t moving the crates, but to stack them up in an organized manner. Every crate is modular, which is a fancy way to say they’ll fit however you want. Everyone wants to apply their personal touch on their new work environment. Regretfully I haven’t brought any cool posters, neat paperweights or honorary certificates with me. This will have to do for now.

The server has received and processed two passengers today.

No further remarks about them.

One last entry for this log: each night during these past five days, I have only been able to sleep for about half an hour. Asclepius performed a quick scan, without result. No neurological disorder, no exaggerated amount of caffeine in my body and no chance on sleep apnea.

The NN-TLPT-MDW-FUNCTION states the following: "A Customs Agent may experience acute sleep disorders up until two weeks after arrival.

If these disorders last until the fifth day, get examined by the Asclepiusmodule and report to the Scanclock." So, there you have it.

I wish you a better night’s rest than I’ll have.

This is Customs Agent Lichtberg, I.D. 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_071536MAY22

Success! For the first time on Midway I’ve managed to sleep longer than one hour without interruption (1Hr 04Min to be exact). Who could have guessed it would only take one part of vodka mixed with two parts of orange juice?

Little side note for the boss: no, I haven’t violated the two-can-rule cheat day. I fully support this policy and unless proven otherwise by Asclepius, I do not have a drinking problem. I am aware that my next occasion for consuming an alcoholic beverage can only be next Monday and not a day sooner. Okay? Okay!

This morning I felt so guilty about drinking a screwdriver, that I’ve checked the integrity of the passengers in the fridge and I even oversaw the processing of today’s three passengers up in detail.

On hindsight it was a pure waste of time.

If you look at the raw data of the passengers, you’ll first see an immensely long binary sequence (type 01101001 01110011 01100001 01100001 01100011 00100000 01100001 01110011 01101001 01101101 01101111 01110110 etc.) and then, at the least, an even long quaternary sequence (ATGCGTAAATGCAATGGGC etc.). It’s impossible to see the whole profile of one passenger in a single day, but it helped me to cope with my guilt.

The experience is similar to the feeling you get when your team is winning a match. Your shouting on the other side of the globe didn’t contribute anything to the game, but they’ve won nonetheless because you were watching.

Technically speaking I’m at the end of my first week, but in good fashion I’ll consider a week starting from Monday to Sunday (the autistic part of me can live with that).

This is Customs Agent Lichtberg, I.D. 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log _081601MAY22

Sometimes it’s the simple things in life which make you truly happy: taking a long shower after work, drinking a cold milkshake on a hot day or strolling around the garden after commuting through the city.

In my case, I can only speak about that last example. It is amazing how much joy you feel when seeing a bit of nature in this place. Strictly speaking, maintaining the garden is also one of my responsibilities. Yet most of the work has been automated. Anyhow, the inspection has been carried out during the walk so… two birds with one stone.

The garden isn’t really varied. Most of the large flora consists of Ficus religiosa and Dypsis lutescens, while the smaller flora is mostly made up from Sansevieria trifasciata and Aglaonema. These plants are very effective in photosynthesis and purification, but they’re not a real eyecatcher like the Japanese cherry blossom. I’m grateful that these plants don’t require a lot of maintenance (I don’t need to rake leaves for hours on end, nor cut branches all day long).

To my surprise, I’ve found a teeny bonsai tree in the farthest corner of the garden. It was completely unkempt. Apparently my predecessor didn’t possess a green thumb (or motivation to grab some shears).

I’ve never had a garden of my own, but I couldn’t let this little tree be the way it was. Now it looks slightly better.

According to a mindless tabloid my mum always used to read, plants grow and blossom better if you talk to them. I know, this all sounds very scientific. Nevertheless, I gave the tree a name of its own: Kurt. With a little luck I can keep Kurt alive long enough to do my successors a favor.

As for the rest: two passengers and not a single anomaly.

Customs Agent Lichtberg, I.D. 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_092111MAY22

Maybe it was the oxygen from the garden or the inner peace from the walk/inspection, but last night I’ve slept for a whopping five hours. Five! Seeing the folds of my bedsheets, I even bet I’ve had a dream. Shame that I don’t remember what I’ve dreamed about, but maybe next time I will.

All dreams aside, back to business. Contradictory to the lush and green background of yesterday, today was gray, yellow and neon. I just came from a visit to Heavy Industry. This zone is so big and complex that it will take me several days for a thorough inspection (but not tomorrow, nor the day after tomorrow. Ooooh no.).

I usually always start with the hardest part first. In Heavy Industry this means the generator. In all honesty, the theoretical background on how these generators work never interested me.

Not in college, nor in this place. The application is rather neat though. This generator is much smaller in comparison to other commercial models, yet this one is just as performant. No matter what my personal interests are, I must see this installation in person at least once. If they had woken me up in the middle of the night for repairs, I would have stood there with my thumb up my ass without a proper pre-inspection.

Tomorrow I shall spend a calm day in the server room: next to overseeing customs I’ll also do some reading about the other machinery at Heavy Industry. If there’s time left, I will read up on how to tend to a bonsai tree.

[SitRep mood]

I’m tired, ok. Satisfied but tired. Heavy Industry is heavy man.

The server is most likely also tired: there were seven passengers today. And before you ask: no, no anomalies either. Satisfied?

Lichtberg signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_101652MAY22

People sometimes say: To err is human, to forgive is divine.

I’ve made a mistake.

[01Min passed without log. Question: do you want to continue or cease log?]

No no. Holding back this info would only make it worse.

Yesterday I reported that there were seven passengers without any anomalies. This is not completely true.

Right at the moment when I tested the automatic switch from main to auxiliary power, our seventh passenger was just arriving. Due to the temporary power cut of the switch, his or her profile only came through partly. I can’t even make out his or her gender.

There have been precedents of extreme low integrity and Restoration managed to save most of them. That’s not the problem.

What bothers me is that it’s MY first anomaly and I’m to blame!

At least it wasn’t a total loss: he or she has been successfully placed in the fridge according to protocol. It makes you think though.

Besides the fact there’s limited space in the fridge, I would never want to know what this person is going through (or will go through in the future). Here you have a poor soul who only wanted to travel to Proceba for a better life and because of my butterfingers, must wait at least five years for another shot (if he or she gets saved at all, who knows). That’s the reason I never want to become a passenger (yes, I’ve said it). I don’t want to wander around, for a significant part of my life, as a ghost.

[Second warning! Term GHOST in context of passengers is inappropriate!]

Yeah yeah, I know. Lichtberg, 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_111530MAY22

I’s not even 1536Hr yet and I’m already sick and tired of sitting here in the server room. Partly due to the fact that there haven’t been any passengers today at Midway. At home I would have kept myself busy with maintaining the communal areas. You can easily clear your mind while tidying up the place (and it’s more effective than sports because after a workout you still need to wash your clothes and towel).

Yet there is not a single bit of dust in this whole place. The only way I can clean up is to stock up all my equipment where it’s supposed to.

My box now lies in the bedroom, but it hasn’t been opened since I arrived here. Besides, I still need to fabricate some gardening tools. The day before yesterday I operated a pneumatic arm with shears in manual mode to trim Kurt a bit. We can do better!

I believe the printer is user-friendly enough to build simple stuff from scratch. Almost all templates for spare parts of Midway station are readily available, but creating something means to draw, fabricate, fail and repeat.

I wouldn’t feel so useless if there was at least one passenger today. Considering what happened yesterday and the day before.

During one of the briefings in the PDT, the men said you should treat passengers like numbers. It’s similar for doctors and nurses who practice triage in a large group of patients. Now I understand why: by treating them as people you would only wind you up depressed.

It is now 1536Hr, time to scan out and to unbox my belongings. Tomorrow I’ll consult the manual of the printer on how to build some garden tools.

This is Customs Agent Lichtberg, 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_121212MAY22

Reading the manual proved completely pointless. The software for drawing new components is exactly the same as the one I used during my modelling project in college. It’ll take me five hours to design everything I need (the hedge shears will require the most effort because it consists of several smaller components).

I’ve been thinking: could there be a better way, besides the fridge protocol, to prevent anomalies when the power gets cut? What would happen if I let the server run on auxiliary power only, which will get charged constantly by the generator? If the generator breaks down, then the auxiliary power would still be running.

It’s certainly not the time to act rashly. First I need to study the entire electrical circuit before programming a complete simulation of my suggestion. Afterwards I need to fabricate all the required parts and make some changes left and right to the software. The test should be carried out on a calm day as to not endanger any passengers.

But I won’t start with all that during my day off.

So if you ‘ll excuse me; I’ve got a date with a treadmill, a rope, a fitness mattress and a banana milkshake afterwards.

The quotas of the day: yesterday evening a single passenger came through and today, so far, also just one. No anomalies.

Customs Agent Lichtberg, 1101067, signing off.

[End of Log]

Log_131714MAY22

Finally a break: after several hours of technical drawing I’ve finally finished designing all the necessary gardening