A small talk at the back of beyond

A small talk at the back of beyond is a stand-alone, short Scriptwelder title.

Plot
A small talk starts of in a dark confined room. The player wakes up, all alone, with a computer attempting to communicate with the player.

The computer introduces itself as an AI named LDAC (Long Duties Automated Coordinator) and explains that you are in an underground bunker, after a nuclear war had broken out. A number of survivors, among them the protagonist, were corralled into shelters and put into a dormant state to wait for the radioactive fallout to subside, but due to structural damage, everyone except for the protagonist has died in their sleep. LDAC claims that going outside is not an option and will instead offer different activities to pass the time. One is reading a novel, the other, playing a game of chess, and another looking at photos. All of these activities result an early Game Over, as a tide of heat consumes the room in the following hours.

The protagonist can interact with the environment, by asking LDAC for remote activation, for example turning on the lights, as well as further question the AI for more information regarding the situation, their equipment and the AI itself.

The protagonist immediately suspects that LDAC is hiding something and should they choose to look around the room, they will notice certain things that imply they are not in a bunker. LDAC also begins acting strangely, hesitating when responding or using, for an AI, untypical vocabulary. LDAC will at first ignore or make blatant excuses for these talking points, oftentimes stumbling over its words, casting more doubt on its story. Confronting LDAC with enough of its own verbal slips and the unusual terminology and labeling used for the interior and its items will eventually make the AI crack under the proof and admit that the player is indeed on a spaceship, that the player was awoken from hibernation and that the ship's navigation system is damaged, resulting in an impending collision course with a nearby red giant star. The computer will open the window to prove this.

After learning the truth, the player is given two options by the computer: They may use the escape pod, but the computer states that the pod is incapable of interstellar travel, meaning that they would have to wait for a rescue team to picket them up, and that the pod has limited resources, estimating a 3.7% of survival. The player can decide to stay on the ship with the computer, which has developed a fear of dying, and eventually meet their certain death, in company of the computer.

If the player asks enough questions, LDAC will explain that the ship was struck by a small meteor shower, resulting in the ship's damaged navigations, as well as the deaths of the other crew members who were hibernating.

The game serves to illustrate a philosophical dilemma, as there is no "good", i.e ethical choice to be made. Staying with the AI, which shows obvious signs of sentience and thus real distress at the thought of ceasing to exist, leads to them comforting it and facing a quick death, yet also has the protagonist give up on their, albeit slim, chance of survival and instead succumbing to fatalism. Escaping on the other hand has the player take their fate into their own hands and rejecting the idea of hopelessly accepting death as the only option, but not only has them leave a sapient entity to die, scared beyond belief, unconsoled in its last moments, but also take the high risk of torturously dying of thirst and starvation rather than being painlessly incinerated by cosmic heat in a split second. The question is whether or not artificial beings' consciousness and emotions are to be equated to those of biological ones. LDAC's behavior additionally shows that it was willing to withhold knowledge of their situation and hiding the option of escaping from the protagonist, actively denying evidence until it became overwhelming, and whether this ruse can be forgiven as an instinctive act based on the natural desire to face death in company, or considered deceitfully putting its own content over the potential survival of the protagonist. Indicatively, the projected low chances of rescue arriving if the protagonist takes the escape pod can also be called into question and may have been a lie to sway their decision.

Trivia

 * The escape pod heavily resembles the one on the UEFS Horizon.
 * The concept of a food dispenser is similarly used on the UEFS Horizon.
 * LDAC makes mention of onboard hibernation, apparently to wait out long interstellar travel distances. Given the similarities the vessel has to Sidereal Plexus' line of spaceships however, it might be referring to emergency sleeper pods to be used in case of inevitable catastrophe.
 * LDAC is referenced in Don't Escape 2. The Gas Station has a a book shelf in its backroom, with one row having been authored by someone named "L. Dac".
 * The silhouette of the protagonist seen in the endings bears an uncanny semblance to that of the nameless Traveller.