PART V
Ghost From The Machine
2044
???
@0fWhatRemains
So that's how this old thing works. I'm surprised on so many fronts! A marvel this thing can connect all the way out here, much less run anything stronger than minesweeper. Even had a handy bookmark ready for me. I was just looking for something to log the last days of this ship.
Ahem.
Mission Log 143.256.500 — Maintenance on the external bays has been successful. I had to work at the old residential bay to clean out the remainder of the...remains. No signs of the Credonins which is a positive sign. At least, if they're also not in the food reserves...
Which I didn't! It's been pretty uneventful here. What else can I say...I almost am at a loss for words now that I have the chance to get them out. This character limit is going to be something to get used to, but if I were afraid of limitations...well, I wouldn't be up here.
I think that's all I really have to report now. I'm sure I'll forget everything I didn't mention, but I'll just get it in the next log.
Stay safe under the stars.
-WH
End Report.
Mission Log 143.256.501
AUTM-2044
Hello! WH here reporting in for another log. I have to say, I was pretty excited to wake up knowing I was able to be on the lookout for new things to discuss. It’s one thing to have a responsibility but then becomes something totally more exciting when there’s the chance with connecting with others about what you do. And especially after the bad job I did last time I wanted to redeem myself. I guess you can say I was literally at a loss for words to explain how finding this thing floating around in space was.
Which brings me to this! I finally found a way to beat those nasty character limits. At last! I am victorious! It’s been really quiet up here. You learn to take small victories when you can get them. And with that—
I can finally discuss my day from beginning to end. If mission control were still out there I’m sure they’d be harping on my overall lax nature. Something something confidentiality agreement something something.
The Colonel would probably actually kill me if he weren’t…anyway. I still don’t know how open I really should be about all the classified information. Technically it’s not a zero percent chance that everyone else that would care wouldn’t be able to see this…I dunno. We’ll see. I guess I’ll just wing it from here and I’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it.
I totally forgot to introduce myself last time. I have an auto signature thing here that added the initials there which I would have preferred it not, but thems the breaks I guess. That’s my bad.
My name’s…uhm, you can call me…hm…what to have you call me? I don’t know if I’m really comfortable just tossing my name out there to the void right now. Could be dangerous. Don’t think it’s smart…how about green? No, or like, Turbo. No, that’s lame. Ugh, I didn’t know this would be difficult to get a good name off the ground so easily.
Well…I did kind of sign off last time…so why don’t we be consistent? WH. We’ll go with that. It’s not fancy, but I figure it’s no use trying to cover it up. Will work for now—least ‘til I’m more comfortable. Maybe it’ll be a goal for me or something. That’d be fun, right?
My day starts out quiet—the kind of quiet where you can hear the ringing in your head. It’s a real nasty sort of ringing like it’s echoing in your ear drums. You get used to it after a while, but that’s after you’re up and at it for a few hours.
First thing’s first is confirm that I’m not on a crash course with some rogue star. It sounds like a joke, but when it’s just me out here who knows how to pilot this thing—being away from the controls means anything can happen. And, of course, that being the fact that the engines are actually dead doesn’t help with that fact. So, I check on this about three times a cycle—that way if anything comes into view I can pull just enough weight one way or the other to project a path where I avoid collision. I can’t help much if I come into an oncoming path with a planet, but that’s a bridge I’m hoping I won’t have to cross.
Once that’s done and I confirm I’m not moments away from certain death, the next thing I got to check is the stability in the nine sectors I have on board here. I think it’d be easier to show you first and then explain it afterwards…
[COCKPIT: STABLE — ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED]
[SECTOR 1: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 2: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 3: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 4: UNSTABLE — TWO FOREIGN BODIES DETECTED]
[SECTOR 5: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 6: UNST ]
[SECTOR 7: SHUT DOWN — UNKNOWN]
[SECTOR 8: STABLE — ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED]
[SECTOR 9: UNSTABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
Okay, so, this is what I look at to see the current status of my whereabouts. I’m here in the cockpit, that’s where I’ve propped up this old computer I found floating in the vastness, managed to have enough knowledge to rig up a power source for this old brick. So the one life sign right there is me.
Sector 1 was the propulsion zone—it’s primarily where the engine was held and is currently why I’m…well, here. That’s a story in itself why it’s not here. I'd like to get into it, but my time here to type is limited right now. You noticed that Sectors 4 and 8 have life signs sighted in them, right? Well, that is why.
I’m the last remaining person alive on this ship. And those…things are looking to change that. I don’t know where they came from, and they’re not all the same. The two of those in Sector 4 like to group together. They’re the ones that are the biggest threat to me right now. I call them the Reachers. They have decrepit looking moldy bodies. Skin stretched to its absolute thinnest you can practically see through to whatever foul liquid boils in their bodies. They have these long-disjointed limbs that…well, you can guess based on the name. Their grip is immensely powerful and if they’re excited they’re liable to try to cause heavy damage to the ship. I cannot allow this to happen.
My ultimate goal is to keep them out of Sector 3 at all costs. That is my food supply. I’ve wired it up so if they enter the sector I get an immediate notification from a motion sensor I set up. If that happens I need to go and lure them out and make it to a safe zone unharmed.
Sector 4 is our archives—you can think of it like a great library. I took with me a vast array of books and documents that are crucial to our preservation. Of all our sectors it’s not the most preferable location for them to be. The amount of damage they can cause there is highly concerning, but overall sacrificable if it is in place of the food storage.
The being in Sector 8…I’ve only actually run into it twice. Both times I’ve had nightmares about it in the immediate days after. I say the Reachers are a bigger threat to me now because of the damage I can see them do. I don’t know what this one wants. It’s in the residential sector. First time I saw it…I was on detail—cleanup services. That was quite a few cycles ago. Around 143.254 or so. Longer it gets the harder it is to keep track. Should be easier now, though.
It was about…two cycles after the cleanup of Sector 8 was confirmed. We had secured the contagion and removed the infected—that was when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. Like a stalking shadow just staring into the window of a house that belonged to an old family I was friendly with. As soon as I caught wind of it, its head turned so fast. I saw the dead eyes that looked like cavernous holes wanting to suck in everything around it…and then it was gone. As soon as it was in my front vision…gone. But you know who showed up just out of the edges of my peripheral vision?
You guessed it.
I’ve decided to call this one the Shadow. It’s thus far not been violent, but it is no less a threat. It is an active source of radiation and if it is left to roam to its own devices, I will run out of living space. I fear it is the cause for Sector 6 acting so strange on the heads up display here. That’s where I saw it last—about seven cycles ago. I was attempting to lure the Reachers over in that direction—6 is our Storage Unit. Anything and everything miscellaneous hangs out there. I was attempting to investigate our storage numbers to see if there was anything that could be of current use to me and again I saw it—the Shadow on the edge of my vision. It was just over my shoulder, and I’m embarrassed to say I freaked. Ever since that cycle the Sector has shown as it does now on the display here and…I’m honest I’m afraid to investigate it. I know I’m going to have to eventually, but I’m trying to delay that until I absolutely need to.
Sector 7 is…well, it’s a lot. It is our Weapons Bay. Obviously a very essential place for me to secure and maintain, but I am walking in blind there. This one here is as important for me to keep the Reachers out of as the food.
And…that’s the current status of everything to the best of my abilities. The Reachers are the biggest obstacle for me right now. I’m going to attempt to drag them over to Sector 5. That’s our Cold Storage. Obviously separate from the miscellaneous storage. We keep frozen food in reserves here, but the cold really lowers the Reacher’s chance of wreaking havoc. They tend to sleep for longer periods if I can get them in there. Those are the good cycles.
I think I’m at my limit here. I’ve got to get to it. I feel better about explaining more and not letting me get the better of myself. I’ll report back next cycle.
Stay safe under the stars.
-WH
End Report.
Mission Log 143.256.502
AUTM-2045
WH reporting in. The previous day’s efforts have been…well, I guess they can be considered successful, but we’ll get to that. First thing’s first, I should mention that I am thankfully not hurtling toward my imminent doom. Looking out my viewfinder now I see….I think I see Earth. It’s small, so it’s not in harm’s way.
Aside from that, this cycle has started out okay, but I guess before I get to that I should tell you how the rest of last cycle went. I admit, it could have gone better. I freeze up whenever I get near those Reachers—they’re absolutely terrifying.
Okay, center yourself, you’re not making any sense. So, my goal was going to pressure those Reachers toward Sector 5 since it was so close…here, let me just show you the results of my labors.
[COCKPIT: STABLE — ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED]
[SECTOR 1: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 2: STABLE — ONE FOREIGN BODY DETECTED]
[SECTOR 3: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 4: UNSTABLE — ONE FOREIGN BODY DETECTED]
[SECTOR 5: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 6: UNST O ]
[SECTOR 7: SHUT DOWN — UNKNOWN]
[SECTOR 8: STABLE — ONE LIFE SSIGN DETTECTEDED]
[SECTOR 9: UNSTABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
So, few things have changed. Sector 1 story coming soon, I promise. It’ll come on a less busier cycle. I’m already behind as it is with the four cycles I blanked out on before starting these logs. Don’t become electrical engineers for underground space programs, folks. Do not recommend in hindsight.
After signing off last cycle I had a pretty brilliant idea to venture off to Sector 2 in order to nab some doohickeys I could use to persuade the Reachers to follow me back with. Sector 2 was the Mechanics / Engineering Bay so practically my little home away from home. Said doohickey was this armament developed by one of the engineers on board before he passed. It’s a retractable drone fit into an arm band here that lets us do repair work up high in the rafters without the need for ladders and complicated pulley systems. It was really cool. Back when it was shown off I called it Dootie, kinda like “Duty”, y’know? Well, Dootie here was perfect for a plan I had to lure my fine grabby friends to the cold storage.
So, remember how I said that I freeze up when dealing with the Reachers? Well, it’s almost a little funny, but that was exactly my problem. So, I gathered Dootie and went back to the central hub—it’s this circular platform that rotates to give access to the other Sectors on command, and it only does so if a personnel ID is scanned. This means that if anything is going to move between sectors it’s going to:
A:) Need to know that it needs an ID card to call the center station
and
B:) Have said ID card in its possession to scan.
I’ve done my best to confirm the destruction of any ID card I come across outside of my own so that this doesn’t become a problem, but I haven’t been able to confirm a full list of casualties as some bodies are still missing out there…going to have to make a list of that and soon. It still hurts…though.
Anyway, back on topic. I scanned into Sector 4—though I didn’t go in. I opened the doors and let Dootie head in for me. The armband has a display that wirelessly connects to the camera on the center of Dootie’s cute little face. It’s not really a face, but you can kind of make one out if you scrunch hard enough.
I navigated through the halls and saw the hideous forms of the Reachers inside the Annals. One of them was clinging to one of the walls that extended about forty feet high stacked shelf to shelf with books on various topics (I wasn’t kidding when I told you we stacked up.) I shot it with the surgical laser that Dootie’s equipped with normally to cut through metal.
It didn’t like that. The bulbous skin that covered it in several layers thick started to melt and smoke and it screamed a bubbled sort of gurgle. It was enough to catch the attention of the second which had been sleeping in the corner of the room. I can only imagine what the first one had been trying to do by climbing to the top.
They were massive creatures—I don’t think I fully impressed how large they really were. They were at least ten feet tall and maybe five hundred pounds each. Their skin was sickly pale and covered in cankerous sores that looked like they could blow at any second. Their large jaws opened at a joint and revealed terrifyingly razor-sharp teeth. They didn’t have any eyes to speak of, but their hearing was immaculate it seemed. It looked like they at one point did have eyes—as they did have sunken features that resembled them, but it seemed to be filled with more sores.
I led the Reacher that I had shot with the laser out of the depths of the annals. I had hoped I had stirred enough of a commotion to bring the second one behind it—but you can see from the results of my labor that it instead decided to fall back asleep.
When I saw I only attracted one Reacher I knew I couldn’t have Dootie swing back around to pick up the second one. Any chance that it could get to grab Dootie and rip her to smithereens was a chance it would take without hesitation, and for the moment she was just out of his grasp.
I led it toward the central bridge and…this is where I fucked up. I tried to stop the bridge as it started to rotate—but I froze up. I saw the monster’s maw and we went past Sector 5. I had to slam my hand into the turnstile to avoid sending us to Sector 3. I just narrowly got it and…now the Reacher is hammering away at Sector 2. It’s undesirable, but infinitely more so than getting access to the food reserves.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
After I sealed it down and acted as the Colonel to reprimand me for my cowardice I rounded back to the two other points I noticed on the status screen—Sector 6’s display looked like it was starting to reboot. If that was the case then I’ll wait until it boots back online before visiting it so I can get a handle on what I’m walking into. Unfortunately—I think Sector 8 is starting to corrupt much in the way that Sector 6 had before it. This is vital information, though. I can reason that a corrupted sector hopefully will not remain so indefinitely. So if I steer clear of the Shadow I should be able to avoid its ill effects. I do not yet have an answer if it chooses to take a hold of the food storage.
Once that was done I headed toward Sector 3 and had a pretty boring meal alone. All my meals here are alone.
Today’s mission is recon. I’m going to send Dootie in Sector 8 to get eyes on the Shadow. I wonder how it’ll react to seeing it—hopefully not violently. If it does I’ll have to go in to retrieve it. I’m hoping I can trust its behavior to not vary based on past experience. Once that’s done I’m going to grab enough food for tomorrow and the next day.
One part about my schedule here I didn’t explain properly—this ship—the Lumina—is running on reserve power. I don’t have enough power to operate the bridge full time. I’d love to keep it running and just ram those Reachers into cold storage permanently, but that just isn’t feasible. Based on current energy output I can afford to move the bridge twice per cycle. When I need extra power to steer away from an oncoming collision I will need to hold back and only use one use of the bridge. Those days I usually have to go without eating because securing the ship’s integrity is most important.
I’m going to grab a second meal, so I have something to eat the next time that comes up…I pray it doesn’t.
I think that’s all to report right now. I know I’ve been holding it off…I’ll tell you all about Sector 1 in the next report. It should be an easier day.
Stay safe under the stars, friends.
-WH
End Report.
Mission Log 143.256.503
AUTM-2045
Hello all, WH reporting in. I noticed something odd in my first post. I never wrote the word “Credonins” back there. I don’t know what that’s about— nothing on Google comes up. I could check out the annals if I can clear them out, but unfortunately that second Reacher is still inside there.
So, for my activities last night I can confirm Dootie is safe and secure. So first and foremost I want to make that clear. So I went to shift the bridge over toward Sector 8. I opened the door and sent Dootie inside. I scanned the area closest toward the entrance first. There are a few gym facilities in mock buildings—Sector 8 is easily the largest sector out of all on the Lumina—it’s about three acres large. The sector is meant to replicate a small suburban town to ease the minds of the civilians that used to travel onboard the Lumina. Scientia took great detail to propagate true plant life in a simulated civilian environment—so the grass and trees I saw through that viewfinder—and that I normally would see when I traveled through there were all real. It was a wonder to behold. Of course, to what end now?
It took me a few minutes to navigate to the area to remember where it was that I saw the Shadow. Once I saw the diner I knew I was close. It was a small yellow house built to shape just like the other houses in the area. The only difference was the color and pattern painted along the sides. It put to mind old cartoons in a sense—the kind I’d watch when I was having morning breakfast before school.
I froze as I saw the side of the building—a void of an existence stood thin and wiry with the shape that looked like its head looking down in through the side window into the living room of the house. A shape like a hand made contact with the side of the house. A pulsing sort of wave sounded out from the shape’s hand across the shape of the house. It looked like a wave of energy that pulsed out every five seconds or so.
Dootie had scanners—and plenty of them. Thermograms, XRAY, bunch of fancy stuff. Thermogram was the interesting one, though. It detects heat sources like you would see in those spy movies. Red means hot, blue means cold. Well, those pulses were a very deep violet shooting out. While I was looking at the thermograph the shadow’s head jerked around on a full pivot. The view went cold, and I was sure Dootie was done for, but suddenly the view came back online.
The shadow was turned back toward the house and continued doing whatever it was doing. I got her out of there, thankfully, I saw nothing else out of the ordinary on the way out. Once that was done I sealed the sector up and headed to get my food. I thought about getting something frozen to heat up—I’ve been needing something more than packaged food I resuscitate with water, but Dootie was freaking out when the bridge rotated toward the cold storage—as if dissuading me from going inside. It was strange. I am big on taking signs when I see them, so I just let the bridge continue forward past Sector 5 and headed to Sector 3. I grabbed enough food to last me through this cycle and booked it back to the cockpit to end the cycle.
I was wanting to keep up with my promise of that story I’ve been teasing. But first, I feel it’s obligatory to show this before getting into that, as some things with my terminal have changed…for the ominous. I aM not OMINous
[COCKPIT: STABLE — ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED]
[SECTOR 1: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 2: STABLE — ONE FOREIGN BODY DETECTED]
[SECTOR 3: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 4: UNSTABLE — ONE FOREIGN BODY DETECTED]
[SECTOR 5: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 6: UNST NOT ALONe ]
[SECTOR 7: SHUT DOWN — UNKNOWN]
[SECTOR 8: STABLE]
[SECTOR 9: UNSTABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
Reachers remain where they were previously, and obviously the Shadow remains where it has been, but Sector 6’s message here…well, I’m going to be honest. It freaked me out. Made me think there’s something intelligent here talking to me. NOT ALONe
Gave me a shiver. ShIVEr iN yOUR bONEs. Shiver aLL yOU LIkE.
Anyway. The Shadow seems to be doing something to trick the sensors we have set up in each of the sectors—we have general structural analysis drones embedded in that analyze the general livability of a sector and how hospitable it is to humans based on a variety of different factors. It’s supposed to show “STABLE” as it is now, obviously not screwed up as it is now—it was actually an error that it was showing unstable before. Unstable also happens when a foreign body is present—like the Reachers.
I’m not sure what it means to gain from messing with the drones in Sector 8, but I will keep an eye for how Sector 6’s drones are when they fully come back online. DEAD ROT DEAD ROT DEAD ROT DEAD ROT DEAD ROT.
Okay, with that out of the way—Sector 1. I previously mentioned that this held our main engine and was our general propulsion bay. My…someone who I cared about a lot used to run that sector. She was the head of the program. Let’s call her AT. iT is SuCH a SHAme whaT haPpENed tO AnNABeL
We were out here for preservation efforts—to escape what the planet below couldn’t offer us. Everything was fine for the last 503 cycles. But about…probably fifty cycles or so ago things went wrong. We had come across a signal for a fuel source completely unknown to our records. Our data team ran extensive predictive models on the potential it had for our systems. More than just our systems—development, agriculture, engineering. It seemed to have limitless capabilities. I don’t exactly know what it was myself—I’m not that high on the rung. AT was, though. ROT DEAD ROT DEAD ROT DEAD.
Her team excavated the material from the outside successfully and about…two cycles later after their numerous testing…alarms. Sudden, loud, violent alarms. And…the call was made to eject Sector 1. Chaos sprung forth and people were giving orders, all kinds of orders, but nobody was really listening to orders then, though. It was a free for all. Tensions were pretty high at that time for various reasons, some people started fighting. A lot of people died in that cycle.
There was a sizable group trying to save those inside Sector 1, and a sizable group trying to preserve the engine. Obviously both were very important, but it became very clear that not everyone was on the same page of what was most important.
Then…the sector was ejected from the inside. We tried our best to redirect ourselves to reconnect—that sort of operation is possible if we act quick enough. Agents can suit up and manually reconnect the Sector to allow re-entry into the rest of the Lumina.
But that was when the first Reacher appeared. And it is safe to say we lost our chance to reconnect. I don’t know what’s happened to them since.
I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Dead and gone
I don’t have the energy to make decisions now…I’m feeling a cold sort of feeling. I didn’t know this was going to affect me this way, I probably wouldn’t have been so open. But I see no reason to delete it now.
I’m going to ask for something in return—I need some sort of push to work with. I’ll see if I can work this to make some sort of poll. I need some more opinions on this. Thanks in advance.
Stay safe under the stars, friends.
-WH
End Report.
Mission Report 143.256.505
2045
Hi.
Thanks.
Nothing to report.
[COCKPIT: STABLE — ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED]
[SECTOR 1: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 2: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 3: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 4: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 5: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 6: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 7: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 8: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 9: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
See you next time.
—-WH
End
Mission Log 143.256.506
AUTM-2045
Hello all. I’m sorry for missing a few days for a report. I listened to your advice and went to go back and investigate Sector 8. I stepped in and immediately felt an overwhelming coldness overtake me. It felt as if the entire sector had frozen over. Now, I’m pretty well bundled up because it can be pretty cold here as it is, but I was feeling it through everything. I…unfortunately lost consciousness then. I had a dream I was being watched—followed by the Shadow. I felt its cavernous eyes drilling holes into my head.
I woke up a few hours later. Unfortunately, the door was open for quite a few hours—so the Shadow could have moved anywhere. If it was ever stopped by the door at least. I made my way back to the cockpit to get my bearings and saw it’s been longer than three hours—but instead it’s been three cycles. That more than anything confused me. Just what the hell happened?
For the other sectors, well, I have a problem.
[COCKPIT: STABLE — ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED]
[SECTOR 1: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 2: UNSTABLE — ONE FOREIGN BODY DETECTED]
[SECTOR 3: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 4: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 5: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[HELLO:HELLOHELLOHELLOHELLOHELLOHELLOHELLO]
[SECTOR 7: SHUT DOWN — UNKNOWN]
[SECTOR 8: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 9: UNSTABLE — GARBAGE CHUTE DETECTED]
I think the Shadow has gotten access to my systems. I do not know if there is anything I can trust anymore if that is true—but it seems it desires to toy with me.
I do not like this. I also do not like that the other Reacher has seemingly disappeared. This bodes very poorly for things to come. I am going to eat the other meal I had prepared here and then attempt to investigate Sector 6.
I’m done waiting for things to get worse before addressing them. I’ll grab some more food after, and next cycle I am going to attempt Sector 7.
Stay safe under the stars, friends.
-WH
End Report.
Record Date: 12-10|2045
Record Type: H.264
Record Transcription: Wireless Transmission
Transmission Location: @0fWhatRemains
Transmission Processing: 50%
Articulation Prediction Software (APS): AX-Worx
05:05
Wynrie Herschel’s face is in full view. There is a [high probability] that her position is so close to the camera due to her having just switched on recording. Sweat beads on her forehead and she brings a hand up to her forehead and wipes it across—pulling a stray strand of blonde hair back behind her ears.
She pulls back from the lens and the central bridge behind her is revealed. Her lips begin moving, but transmission of audio data has not yet been installed on this device. APS predicts the speech with a [moderate probability] of the following:
“I figure if I’m rolling to send her the unknown, I should do it with some proof if things go long.”
Wynrie Herschel turns around and this unit—Dutonomous Orbital Observance Transferral—begins following behind her just above her shoulder line. In front of Wynrie Herschel a massive door opens. APS predicts this to lead to Sector 6: Miscellaneous Storage with a [high probability] of success using internal map data preloaded into this unit’s systems.
Wynrie Herschel enters the door, and this unit follows behind.
05:10
This unit’s sensors detect low visibility, so [night vision] is applied to the footage. Wynrie Herschel jumps back a step. APS predicts a sound in the distance rang through the halls. Environment analysis concludes a break in a water line somewhere deeper in the storage—a trail of water about 1 ⅓ inches settle on the ground.
Wynrie Herschel turns back to the camera to say something soft. APS predicts the speech with a [low probability] of the following:
“Someling in the stark besind.”
Environmental analysis indicates a sudden drop in temperature of approximately 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Wynrie Herschel continues walking deeper into the storage loft—large boxes of unknown containment sit stacked on the sides of the loft. APS is unable to make a prediction of their contents. Error message included: Too many variables.
Wynrie Herschel has reached a fork in the road and environmental analysis has indicated the temperature of the area has decreased an additional 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Robert Credonin appears on the right-hand side of the frame—environmental analysis indicates his internal body temperature is sub-zero.
This unit’s internal temperature is too low—lowering recording priority below survival initiative. Flight patterns suspended. Transmission beginning to source terminal. Visuals have blacked out.
Mission Log 143.256.517
WINT-2045
Holy. Shit.
You guys. I cannot even begin to describe the things I have seen the last few weeks. Or…rather the last few days. Before I get to that though, I need to show you something important.
[COCKPIT: UNSTABLE — ONE LIFE SIGN DETECTED]
[SECTOR 1: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 2: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 3: STABLE — ONE FOREIGN BODY DETECTED]
[SECTOR 4: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 5: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 6: STABLE — NO LIFE SIGNS DETECTED]
[SECTOR 7: SHUT DOWN — UNKNOWN]
[SECTOR 8: DISCONNECTED]
[SECTOR 9: YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO]
So. I guess I should start with what happened when I went to investigate Sector 6. I brought Dootie with me to record whatever went on, and I see now she was tampered with. Only half of the footage got out to you guys. Well, the transcription by the looks of it. I think the Shadow didn’t want the rest of it uploaded.
I was attacked—ambushed. It was the figure of a person. I didn’t know who it was at first, but his touch was so cold. It was like an icicle coming into my very heart. I went cold—deep inside myself. And in my thoughts I saw outside of my own body. I saw the face of the figure that attacked me. It was a man—middle aged ensnared in darkness.
Dootie’s records—what little I could scrape before she was dismantled showed he was a passenger on this ship. One of the many fathers escaping alongside us—one of the hundreds of names that uprooted their lives to find life elsewhere. He lived in that house—the one the Shadow always peered in. Something happened to him here. Something made him that way and some part of his humanity dragged and centered that eldritch presence around the place he remembered.
His family is gone and dead like the others, but he is still here. And in those terrifying moments before I thought I was going to die I saw a terrifying message in what used to be his eyes.
We are going to drift here in the infinite vastness, together, as a new family.
I woke up some time later. Nothing remained—not Dootie, not Robert. It wasn’t until I came back here that I realized how many cycles had passed. And…I see now that the Reacher in Sector 2 had caused enough damage to warrant the ship’s remaining reserve energy to trigger its automatic disconnection for preservation of the whole.
It seems Sector 8 is now gone too—I didn’t notice any damage when I had been going through, but maybe Robert found a way to disconnect it himself. If that is the case…then I fear for my safety even here. Too much power has been used up this cycle as it is, I cannot go back out there. Though I do see we’re on a probable path to orbit with Earth. If that happens I think I know exactly what is going to happen, and it isn’t pretty.
Sector 9…I figure you deserve to know about now. Considering Dootie went and doxxed my name I figure there’s nothing really left for me to hide anymore.
Sector 9 is the garbage disposal unit. Compactors and incinerators aplenty for waste management—you’d think burning things out here in space was the dumbest idea but even us lot figured out how to channel that out safely—not that it matters much anymore.
My name is Wynrie Herschel…I don’t need to say it, but I guess I should. And after the love of my life was ripped from me when Sector 1 was ejected out into space and those Reachers came aboard—all for that dumb crystal—I tried to kill myself in the trash compacter. I wanted to end it all and I wanted it to hurt as much as I hurt inside. But no matter how hard I goddamn tried the compactor would refuse to crush me—as if refusing me my final request.
I know now this probably had something to do with the Shadow—Robert. He probably had control of electronics even then. Why he continues to taunt me with it I do not know. It’s probable he feasts on negative impact. Maybe he sits outside his home so often so he can devour his own turmoil.
Either way, I am going to go lie down and try not to let the impending mortality crush me too hard.
Stay safe under the stars, friends.
-WH
End Report.
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