|Viraliv|[27-7]Zrukt-Has|Ghaz|Ophial|Eglin|
12,674,133,437cy
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No traces of the Vexians were found outside of the “shell” of the inner part of the mountain. Besides the various tunnels they likely use to move around. This means I’ll have to enter the core of the pyramid. Only there can I hope to find them. More importantly, in the short-term anyway, the Fish Eye 1 should also be located somewhere inside.
The investigation should go rather quickly though, at least for my scale of time. Thirty Jungle Moles in a standard search pattern, modified into a triangle, will inch closer and closer to the core until they find something of note. That method will likely take a long time but it also means that everything there is to find will be found.
In the meantime I should refocus on Hez. Although I did allow myself to focus on these new Vexians I shouldn’t ignore these Hezian ones. In fact I may be able to discover more about them with my new found knowledge. Things that I overlooked before may be an important link that ties them to the mountain group. That could give me an advantage in future investigations into their society and overall history. I still wonder why these ones are split from the rest, and why their technology is antiquated in comparison.
A part of me likes this small community. I don’t know which part that is exactly or why I would even have that but my instincts won’t answer. To begin with, the reason for my existence is to be the ‘ego’ of the machine. Instincts says that’s due to an ego's ability to adapt but I feel like that’s inefficient. I take up most of the resources that the reactor produces and am a sizable strain on internal bandwidth just to have feelings and thoughts. Needless consumption, weight increase, and complexity for something like that. I feel like there's more to it…
Huh? Oh, right, I was talking about the Hezians. That was weird, it felt like a shock. Let me run a system diagnostic just in case. An error out here without any way to communicate back home would be disastrous. Hm, seems like nothing is wrong. Weird, I’ll log it in case it happens again.
Anyway, yes I truly do enjoy watching these organisms. As they go about their daily life it makes me wonder what it’s like to live like that. Not that I would want to, it does look miserable. Every day of theirs is filled with discomfort at the least, oftentimes they have to face their own mortality just to secure food for the day. Yes, it is much better up here. Their curious beings, really everything on this planet is. For example, there exists a plant species, that the Hezians often harvest, that only propagates its species when it’s ripped out of the ground. It has special roots that tear easily and spill seeds all over the ground; including inside of the soil. Other roots below those contain most of the plant's nutrients and so the young seedling grows using those nutrients that seep into the soil. Sometimes the animals simply eat the seeds which propagate them to other areas of the world.
It is a rather practical plant, one meant to be harvested, to die. Evolved to taste good, be nutritious, and plentiful. Most species on this planet that live in the wide ranges of this plant's habitable areas consume this plant. Even the more carnivorous of them will still occasionally consume them for the taste. The Hezians seem more content to chew on the roots throughout their travel, it seems to be a sort of energizing snack they take on their hunts. That being said, they haven’t begun to plant and cultivate them. They don’t make traps either, only basic ones that make noises when an animal runs over them; mostly for protection rather than hunting. They are fundamentally on the lower end of primitive civilizations. There is much for them to learn and much to observe for me..
Their alien physiology may allow them to discover methods and techniques that the species that created me could never. This is one of the important niches that led to the creation of my model line.
Another thing of note is that they are far below the sector average for height, perhaps due to their mostly insectoid physiology, of course that classification doesn't really define this planet's species. Due to their height, they consume much less resources and take up far less room. Perhaps this lack of pressure will cause them to develop slower? The environment, without alteration, could support a population of a few hundred and still maintain a stable ecosystem. Comparatively their planet is huge, they could easily fit billions and even trillions of their species on this planet once they develop to a necessary extent.
But such a time is hundreds of generations later. Right now, only a handful of confirmed individuals exist. Countless many are in the mountains. They must have a farm or some other stable food source since they rarely venture out from the safety of the crusted tops. Though soon enough we shall see how many habitate that mountain and the structure inside of it.
Two seconds of frameshifting later led me to that exact time that one of the Jungle Moles broke through into a cavern. It’s unknown if this cavern actually leads anywhere, it might just be a natural structure. Hmm, a natural structure within an unnatural one that itself is inside of a natural one. How funny… Anyway, there’s nothing of particular note here except for the humidity and some spots along the wall show the strange structures material. The humidity is not such an uncommon find but it should be noted, it could be related to the structure, although I haven’t seen this humidity from anywhere else in the mountain. Maybe it’s only a phenomenon only found on the inner side of the alien structure.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
That would suggest that it’s being produced somewhere, maybe as a byproduct. Which means a facility. It’s just a theory right now but it could be the next piece in the puzzle to find out its purpose and who the creator of it is. Moving the Jungle Mole closer to the exposed bit of the wall allows me to see lines drawn into the face of it. They’re precise and seem to have a purpose, it was likely built by a machine unless the species that made it had an uncharacteristic steady appendage. Under instinct’s advice, I committed it to a file, though I was going to already. I don’t know what it means currently, it’s nowhere close to anything in my database, but exploring the rest of this structure and finding more might help me translate it. At the very least it has both pictographic and lettering, maybe they say the same thing or maybe the language uses both systems. If I were uplinked to a hovering drone, my body would be tilting about now. Only, in a Jungle Mole my only option is to wiggle slightly in an excited fashion.
This is proof of an alien on this planet, the remnants of one anyway. The Vexians could not possibly produce neither the material nor these carvings unless their technology regressed to such levels. Though that would surely leave some evidence behind, some ruins beyond just this one. Oh.. I can’t let myself lose focus. Must focus on the now. I tell the Jungle Mole to explore this cavern. It’s likely to lead somewhere else, to another cavern, or other clues. The markings do suggest that this place has a purpose though, it’s not just a toy or a way to prove architectural ability for some highly advanced species.
I send more of the Jungle Moles to this discovery, it’s as good a place to start as any. The rest continue on their basic pattern. While they work, I look at the progress of the Sky Whale. It has surveyed about forty percent of this solar system's total mass. Anything above thirty six and three hundred forty six thousandths of a ton is to be surveyed. Which is the amount of that missing resource I need to construct the buoy. It’s needed for a few other important things, but those aren’t nearly as pressing. Going through the report on those bodies that have been surveyed and… none found. Well, okay then. Surely it’s still out there… I just have to keep looking I guess.
Frameshift… and back to the Jungle Moles. I wanted to dig the dirt away from the exposed parts of the pyramid, in order to see if there was more text or pictures. It seems even that action is outlawed because it could interrupt the development of the Vexian civilization. Such a situation is preposterous to begin with. An obviously advanced structure of alien origins and I can’t even excavate it a tiny bit. A few pieces of dirt being scattered out of the way would not change the entire course of the Vexian’s future societies. My lights blink a blue flickering of displeasure. But oh well, eventually they will likely dig through this structure themselves and I’ll just have to wait and watch for it. Perhaps I’m being impatient and I certainly don’t want them to not use my iteration for further Ludd models. I guess I shouldn’t look for loopholes within the law, although I really want to, it risks far too much here.
Maybe if the situation changes but for now, no.
In the meantime, while I’ve been thinking, the Jungle Moles have continued their investigation. They found tunnels, as expected, but they also found prints left behind by a few Vexians. A good sign that their base is at most a few weeks travel away unless they have way-stations. Though the tracks are worn and aged, they likely haven’t visited in some years. There are other tunnels as well, the tracks are thinner on those and more aged. It’s likely that this was a scouting group that came through here, perhaps looking for some resources or just to know the area. In either case the response is obvious. I send the majority of the Jungle Moles to follow the tracks back to wherever they came from while I split up the remainder to explore these offshoot tunnels.
It will be fun to see how different these mountain Vexians are compared to the ones on the surface. Their culture and style of living must be completely different, their diet too. Of course, the thing I’m most curious about is why they decided to live here. Their species did not evolve in such an environment, that much is obvious. Is it due to the strange structure, maybe they discovered its hardness and used it to escape some calamity? Another question is how they operate in this environment. Their compound eyes are good when dealing with low light environments but not those totally absent from it. Well, just like most things on this planet, there’s a lot to discover.
The dark tunnels are easy for me to see in, advanced technology can easily triumph over the basic environmental annoyances of most worlds. In this case, the cameras on the Jungle Moles are perfectly suited to any light-level, allowing me to see these expansive rocky corridors as if they were outside. That’s why I noticed the many engravings along the walls. Not the same ones that were carved into the alien material. These were far more crude and lodged into the hard-packed rocky dirt walls itself. There’s multitudes of them. I’d say that they were left behind by the scouts who came through here but going by the subject matter they display, it’s unlikely.
These carvings have a lot of different subjects. From hunting, to creating, to religion, and all sorts of others. Some are very simple, just their little hands and the like. It seems like these were made by an early group of Vexians, ones at a similar level to the others outside this mountain. The subject displayed the most is a face. Unlike a Vexian one, though still carrying similar insect-associated traits. Perhaps a deity in some primitive religion. It’s clear they treat this person with some great amount of respect. Not only is it the most numerous of the imprints, but also the most detailed on average.
A round face, whereas Vexians have more rectangular or squared heads. It also has a defined ridge in the bottom center of the face. Below the eyes. The ridge goes from near the corner of each eye and trails down into a rounded point. The purpose of it is unknown but Vexians lack anything similar. The mouth is much the same, long and slit-like, and filled to the brim with sharp teeth. The eyes exist, but in all of the carvings they are closed. Or perhaps that’s how they always look and they’re not eyes just something that looks like them.
In either case, it’s a good show of Vexian creativity!
Given how old this is, which is even older than the tracks, it’s unknown if the Vexians even remember such a figure. Regardless, it still provides insight into their culture. A part of their culture that existed before I came here which means that it’s extremely valuable.
I can’t wait to see what I find next!