Sol 3

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I spent a full two sols wondering around the Hab before my brilliant plan came to me.

Ever since Chaos left for his own matters, I had not gone outside to do anything. When I looked outside, I could see that Chaos had provided a couple of dozen solar panels that were needed for the energy of the Hab - they linked together sort of like something you might see on a guitar amp: the Hab was the amp, the wires were the jackleads and the solar panels were the effects peddles. 

As I looked at the water reclaimer, I noticed that there was a limit reader on the surface of the huge metal cylinder - it basically told me how much was left in it. That was one thing that i would have to sort out - how to make more water for me to stay away from dehydration. I was sure that I would find an answer for that.

Problem two - food. I had maybe thirty six sols worth of food, so I had to make that food supply last me three hundred sols which I figured I could stretch to four hundred if I ration it carefully. So, I needed to find a way to keep myself fed until I can be able to get off this planet.

I went to the cupboard and opened up the food cabinets. Looking at some of them, I noticed that they were all labelled with different courses - mince meat; mixed veg; dairy products, you name it. Just because I was bored, I got out a packet of scrambled egg and placed it in the microwave. Once it was cooked, I sat at one of the desks.

So, I sat around in the living quarters eating a plate of scrambled eggs and stared at one of the Hab's many computers - this one was designed to measure the wind density outside and it lets me know when and when not to go outside. On the other computer was a analysis sheet of maps - where I was, where I could possibly go though how I could be able to get to some of those places I had no idea.

Never mind - my stomach started hurting so I ran straight to the bathroom and pretty much ejected my stomach out my backside (yeah, sorry if that sounds disgusting but cut me some slack  considering the circumstances of where I was and everything).

The idea of my plan came to me when I flushed the toilet. It made that whooshing noise as the manure was sucked out into Mars's open atmosphere. I frowned slightly because something was nagging me - did I forget something? 

Then it hit me. My eyes widened and a small smile appeared on my face. Running to the cabinets where the food was, I opened it up and I came to a massive white box. I cried out in excitement when I saw that there was a note on the lid of the box. It said:

Took you long enough. If you are reading this then it means that you really are smart.

                                                                                                                                     - Chaos

I opened the lid up and saw that there was several packets of potato eyes. Now, I have done some gardening before with the Demeter cabin to know that potatoes such as these take up to a few weeks to grow completely. However, they need a lot of water in order for them to grow and a lot of humidity in the air. Now, the Hab had it's own heating system from what Chaos told me but for these to grow I needed a big enough area where I could grow them and keep the humid air in place.

Now, I'm no gardener - first time I tried doing that I broke the shovel. But now, I was determined to get this thing done. I needed to grow food otherwise I was going to starve to death - and I'm not letting that happen anytime soon.

If you die you won't see Annabeth and Alan again, a nagging voice inside my head said.

Just so I could remember this stuff, I went to the computer solely for recording yourself. I've seen a lot of people do this when they want to document their thoughts and feelings, so I thought to myself that I might as well do the same because I couldn't just keep it all to myself. I would just go mad.

After setting it up, I pressed record and started to speak.

"Alright, let's do the math here. Chaos has supplied me with enough food to last me maybe thirty six sols. Now as a backup, he has supplied me with an additional eight sols of food just as a emergency package. Now, he said that I might be stuck here on Mars for over a year which sucks to be fair, so I have got to figure out a way to grow two years worth of food here on a planet where noting grows. Luckily, I have found a way to keep myself fed - I have several packets of potato eyes and I plan on planting them in soil that I will be collecting from outside the Hab. Under the circumstances, I am no farmer or gardener but with my enhanced brain and intelligence I do know how to use some botany to get some food done. I just hope I can be able to do it."

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Sol 7

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God it's hard work trying to scoop up several hundred pounds of martian soil into boxes. Plus, it's hard work trying to adjust to the feeling of my suit - I knew straight away that it would take some getting use to but I was sure that I could get over it. All around were several huge boxes that I filled up with soil. I was careful not to add in any of the small pebbles because would block any of the potato seeds from growing. After I managed to fill them up to the brim, I carted them inside the Hab and covered the entire main living space with it.

Now, before I did any of that I managed to build some sort main room that was one huge canvas. So I super taped several sheets of Hab canvas to the top of the main living space so that it was more or less a massive cylinder that I would fill up with dirt and soil.

I repeated this process of collecting and dumping soil for some time until I managed to completely fill the entire canvas. I stepped back and inspected my work - all in all I had 126 square meters of soil. For a potato farm, I had the say that was pretty impressive considering that I was in a Hab where anything could go wrong.

After downing a bottle of grape juice I went straight back to work. I started cutting the potato seeds and adding them into a bucket. Then came the part that was the most disgusting - adding my dried manure to a side portion of martian soil. Now at first it seemed like a good idea but when I cut open the pack that held the manure I completely gagged at the smell it made.

"Now I know why the Hunters of Artemis hate boys so much," I coughed and chuckled, glad that no could be able to make a joke despite my current predicament. I added the manure into the bucket and poured in a spare bottle of water which made the smell even worse. After that was done, I started planting the manure into the soil and covered it. Then I added in half a potato seed on top of the buried manure and covered that as well.

Great - only seventy six more potato seeds left to plant.

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Sol 8

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I lay in my bed, relaxing and calming my screaming back - it hurt badly from crouching and bending over so much from yesterday's work of planning. Now for the next step of the plan - the water needed for growing the potatoes. Now, as I said before I had created a farm that was 126 square meters big but for every cubic meter of it, it needs forty litres of water to be farmable so I need to create a lot more water in order to do that.

Good thing is though I knew the recipe thanks to Chaos. All the planning was right there in my brain and all I needed to do was put it to use. Now, to make water it's just basically simple: you take hydrogen, you add oxygen and you burn. Question is though: how was I suppose to get hydrogen?

Answer? Hydrazine - liquid hydrazine. Now, after checking the entire Hab I managed to come across this stuff somewhere near the back of the chemical cabinets. Plus, several pounds of some sort of iridium catalyst which will be used towards this experiment. The reason why it was needed is because of this simple theory running in my mind: if I run the hydrazine over this catalyst, it will separate into N2 and H2 and if I could just direct the hydrogen into a small area I could be able to  burn it.

After doing all this, I managed to erect some sort of canvas stand where I could be able to do this experiment. After safely building it I quickly surveyed my work - how I managed to build a machine like this with no idea if it was going to work, I did not know. I managed to connect a tube into a pipe line of where the hydrazine was going to come out. Below the end of the tube was a plate full of the catalyst needed for this to work. Now all I needed to do was find something flammable.

Which turned out to be extremely hard because everything here was fire resistant. I could understand why because it would be extremely dangerous for - I was living in a habitat made almost completely out of plastic and if it were to go up in flames it would collapse and I would be exposed to Mars's atmosphere. It would mean game over for me.

Luckily though, it seemed as if Chaos was watching me and seeing that I needed something to burn. Because when I looked into one of the cupboards underneath the dining area I found a small Christian crucifix. It was made out of wood for the cross but the Jesus figure was all but metal. Now, I'm not a Christian - I am a son of one of the Big Three, a Greek family. But I figured it would be the end of me if I were to completely destroy this crucifix.

Then again, I needed this to stay alive. I quickly prayed to my father, Poseidon, asking him to guide me and to give me courage and I started to shave the bottom part of the crucifix off, collecting the shavings into a small pile, bringing it over to my extremely huge Bunsen burner. Grabbing hold of two wires, I started rubbing them together which made them spark lively. I placed them on top of my pile of wood shavings and lit it on fire.

Now this was the tricky part: in order for this to work, I will need to wear a helmet because if I exhaled when doing this I could cause my rudimentary burner to blow up and I could very well kill myself. Now, if my math is right this should work otherwise I won't get any water to help grow my potato, and I'll be one hungry demigod.

Placing the burning pile on top of the Bunsen burner, I immediately started to turn the hydrazine tube on and let the liquid flow out on top of the catalyst which steamed and hissed as N2 was created and the flame sparked and pulsed more than ever which made it look more like a second sun.

"Phew!" I exclaimed. Rubbing the back of my neck, I felt a grin light up on my face. Thank the gods that I managed to pull that off. Now all I needed to do was wait until there's water coming off the canvas walls surrounding the farm.

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Sol 9

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Well success. There's water pouring down the canvas walls and all the water droplets are going into the soil below, soaking the dirt until it looked a darker colour - which to be fair looked almost the same as the soil that most farmers would use if they were planting seeds into their garden.

It is absolutely boiling in here. A quick scan of the whole interior and I can confirm that it was well over forty degrees in here which is hot enough to help the potatoes grow faster. By doing some math on one of the computers, I estimated that it would take few weeks in order for the potatoes to grow - maybe around seven weeks, roughly. All I had to do was ration the food supply I had by just one meal a day and just keep drinking water. Plus, I would be taking one of the standard nutritional rations to keep me going though I really wasn't all excited about that.

Those rations had no taste whatsoever so it was like trying to eat cardboard. Doesn't sound tasty, does it?

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Sol 17

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Gods. Seventeen days and yet I'm still here stuck on this freaking planet.

I was missing my friends and my parents. Every day I spend means another day away from them, but this time it wasn't like being at Camp. Every day was like a physical and mental punch in the stomach and head because at this point I was beginning to constantly worry about them.

Jason and Nico are like two younger brothers to me and if I could just have one conversation with them - even if it wasn't a long one - it would just lift my spirits up. Leo and Frank - two of my good friends and they would probably be worried about me right now. Piper, Hazel and Reyna - jeez, if I were to get off this planet, they would probably kick my ass for scaring them like that because by terms no demigod should do that to their friends. Calypso...damn, she would be trying to hold it together. I mean come on - that girl once had feelings for me and I can probably guess that she still has slight feelings towards me.

But the two people that my mind constantly drifts to are the only people that I just want to see - Annabeth and Alan. So much for trying to spend time with them - Annabeth gives birth to our son, we tried settling in together with our friends and just enjoy our new life; then, out of nowhere I get picked up by the Primordial of the universe and I ended up here on Mars. Knowing Annabeth she would be holding it in just for Alan's sake but I knew her well enough to know that she would be going out of her mind with worry.

Annabeth, if you are watching this, just know that I will do everything I. My power to get back home to you. I swear on all banks of the River Styx that I will.

Okay, time go get back to work. I need to check on my farm.

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Sol 17 pts 2

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I'm feeling hopeful now.

I just went into the farm and saw several small green plants come out of the ground. I think my plan worked reasonably well - now it was just a question of waiting for a few more weeks. I had enough supplies to keep me going for maybe fourteen weeks at most. I have plenty of water to hydrate an army and plenty of stuff to do to help me make another plan.

I'm feeling hopeful.