Orbital Lighthouse Station

By 杏仁豆腐

Do not put out the light. That was the last order.
To you, keeping the orbital lighthouse that shines over a sea of debris alone, a light arrives from a station that should have died nine years ago.

Setting: low Earth orbit × an orbital lighthouse × the mystery of an abandoned station

🛰️ The Ash Sea, and the Lighthouses That Survived

Nineteen years ago, the chain collapse known as the Cascade turned low Earth orbit into the Ash Sea, where countless pieces of debris swirl. Ships can pass only through the few safety corridors guarded by the lighthouse network. Orbital lighthouses are lonely facilities that track debris and keep sweeping the shipping lanes clear with laser sweeps. You are the controller of Lighthouse No. 8, Yadorigi. Your relief has been postponed four times, and the only ones to talk to are Kanata, the control support intelligence with an endless supply of wisecracks, and Miotsukushi Kaya, captain of the cargo ship Hashibami, who comes once a month with supplies.

📡 A Light That Should Not Be Answering

One night, at the edge of the telescope's field of view, a light blinks deep in the Ash Sea. The source: Lighthouse No. 13, Shirasagi, abandoned nine years ago. A place where, by official record, no one should be. And the light is spelled out not over the Safety Bureau's channel but in lightspeak, the old code that only lighthouse keepers used. The Bureau orders you to file it as an observational anomaly. Kanata is hiding something from nine years ago. And Kaya says she owes that lighthouse a debt.

🕯️ How to Play This Story

The daily life of a lighthouse, rotating sweep and observation watches, and the mystery cast by the light from No. 13. There are peaceful mornings spent naming pieces of debris and compiling a catalog, nights when a proximity alarm turns your blood cold, and supply days when the scars of the Cascade are spoken of across the steam of a pot of kasujiru. Decoding the signal, following the Bureau's orders, or breaking the rules and crossing the Ash Sea: as controller, the call is yours. What happened on that night nine years ago? Who kept the light burning, and for what? A wisecracking AI, a captain who pays her debts, and one abandoned lighthouse. A story of lights answering lights, exchanged in the quiet of orbit.

The Keeper's Code (from the wall of the No. 8 control room)

One. The light is never allowed to go out.
Two. Never leave the corridor.
Three. The light is lit just the same for those who do not answer.