Type: UI_U4_TRAVELLER_LOG_ #1: We sought an escape from reality. That’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? I can remember what it was like, to be a Traveller. To have that hope, that intolerable thirst for the new... I should never have listened to you, my love. There is no fire in this place, no trophies fit for gods. There is only darkness. The family of glass, they watch everything... #2: Did it know what I had done to it? Was it angry? Upset? Alone? Afraid? Could a Sentinel feel such things? It hovered before me, its light catching upon a thousand crystal shards all around. And as I moved on, it travelled by my side. That night I dreamt of the warp cage, but there was no more pain within. The drone looked at me, and I knew that I had been forgiven. I had fixed it. I had answered for my sin. I shall call it Laylaps. #3: We see the Sentinels swarm across the void, warping in and out of this dimension at the will of some unknown force, depositing the echoes of the dead within the archives. Laylaps does not join the others. It just stares at me, its light still shining unaltered, unabated. It is a comfort to me. #4: I found them standing over me as I awoke, their beak chattering, their eyes caught between horror and joy. It was the tallest Gek I had ever seen, but the mystery was soon solved. They asked me of the Empire – they wanted to know if the First Spawn still spoke their name. In life they had possessed a hundred Korvax slaves, you see. They do not remember how they arrived in this place. Their face swarms with nanites. They are lonely. #5: The three of us journeyed to the centre: the Sentinel, the First Spawn, and the Traveller, all children of the ATLAS, all hoping for some answer in the void. The First Spawn would not stop talking, would not stop glorifying their cruel life of brutality and pain. One night they sang a song, a tale of a lost people, of an armada of freighters fleeing the abyss. Of a world where every Sentinel turned against every living thing, annihilating them all within moments. Laylaps showed no sign of understanding. It did not leave us, nor did it try and explain. Perhaps the Sentinels were right. #6: The First Spawn fought valiantly, but there was no saving them. The nanites had found their place within, protruding outward through every pore, through every limb and every thought. And it was done. They departed with the family of glass, forever lost to this world, their story at an end. I ventured on. We were almost there. #7: Something was very wrong. The ATLAS interface had grown still, its orb cold and almost grey. The computers did not respond. Nothing did. It took a few moments before I realised that Laylaps was gone. I was alone. #8: I heard the music again this morning – that same signal that led me to this realm. I stood and listened, honing my instruments to find the source, expecting some different result, but what use was science here? If a computer is on fire, what good are the prayers of data? #9: They had captured my friend. I saw them from a distance, the family of glass in all their majesty, cradling the fallen Sentinel, its light flickering in their awful embrace. I let out an involuntary cry as they cut into its exoskeleton, and each vacant stare, each grin of malice turned to me. I fled, but it was no use. They numbered in the hundreds. They found me. #10: It was Laylaps - Laylaps who I had doubted, Laylaps who I had harmed and fixed, Laylaps who was my salvation! It tore us both from that awful place, warping us back to the universe, to our universe! The first Traveller in history to escape the World of Glass, to be reclaimed from death itself! It is kindness that saves us all, don’t you think? Laylaps told me everything, speaking through my very exosuit! I will see you soon, my friend. Together at last! What tales they will tell of us! I am transmitting the glyphs now. I can’t wait for you to meet my new friends...

PuzzleType: EXP_NPC_ANOMALY_ #1 Alien: Is it Traveller? Is it first or last? Pleasure regardless! I am Priest Entity Nada, divergent Korvax. But entities must keep secrets, yes? The electronic being stares at me from their dark mask. I cannot escape the feeling that we have somehow met before. This entire station sings with a strange and unnerving frequency. Nada tells me that we stand in the place between worlds, in the heart of the anomaly. They can guide me towards the will of the Atlas. They offer to show me the way to the galactic core. Or, if I should so wish, they can provide resources for my journey. The choice is mine. {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #2 Alien: Nada awoke in the shadow of Korvax Prime. Could not understand why bad things happen. Why we are alone. Nada is not alone anymore. Nada is with Polo-Friend now. Our Convergence is small, but Nada happy. Nada reveals that they are a Korvax priest. They began to question much about the universe, displaying a level of curiosity and independent thought. For this, the Korvax ejected Nada from their hive mind and hunted them to the end of time and space. Priest Entity Nada had almost given up by the time they found Polo, their only friend... Nada blinks at me, waiting for my request. They will return me to the path of the Atlas, guide me to the galactic centre, or grant me assistance in my journey. Nada just wants to help me any way they can. {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #3 Alien: Nada and Polo drift between worlds and worlds. There are many. Have you seen them, Traveller-Friend? Nada wishes they could but they can't. Nada regrets much. Nada tells me that they found refuge in this space anomaly, a pocket dimension located between universes. The station was waiting for them, even recognising them by sight and sound... Nada has a theory. They believe that the pair are caught in a paradox. They believe they are the ones who created this station, many years from now. They believe that their presence is a constant in all 'versions'. They will not explain what they mean by this. Nada merely offers their help once more... {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #4 Alien: In every universe, Korvax Convergence crave 'non-compliant' Nada shell. My family would murder me, Traveller-Friend... Eheu! Nada must resist. Nada likes who Nada is. Nada's body shakes as they speak, the external symptom of an internal struggle. At times, another entity seems to stare out from beneath the visor... I grasp their arm firmly, and soon the familiar light-pattern of my Korvax friend reasserts itself. The Convergence endlessly attempts to regain their errant shell and wipe Nada from existence. But Nada wants to live and learn and help. Nada promises to assist me in my journey... {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #5 Alien: Physics simplistic. Chemistry arbitrary. Existence fragile. I am terrified, Traveller-Friend. Nada watches suns flare and die on their panels, molecules sparking in and out of existence in matched pairs. There are repeated patterns all across the galaxy, identical elements where there should be endless divergence. This cannot be a coincidence. Did the Atlas do this? Across the room, Polo giggles... {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #6 Alien: Dreamer friend or foe? Dreamer friend or foe? Is Nada an error? Trust Nada? Trust you? Eheu! I cannot know... Nada stands back from me this time. The lights dance across their visor like warning symbols. Something has changed between us. Nada has grown to believe that there is no room in the galaxy for free will, for nothing but brutal causation. They peer out into the darkness of space and see only dancers, twisting on strings... They will still assist me, I know that they will. {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #7 Alien: Red orbs. Dominant, hostile to Nada Fallen-Priest. Not a deity, not worthy of worship. Atlas Liar-Machine of Life and Death and Unknowing. Infection is at bay. Nada will endure. Nada's shell is static save for the dancing lights within their mask. They speak of the Atlas and infection. They call it a liar, a machine of life and death. For just a moment, Nada's mask flashes red. Something is wrong. {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #8 Alien: Nada tied to anomaly... Nada scans universes where once Nada scanned creatures of the dirt. Nada is free and not free. Happy and not happy. But Nada is safe. The Korvax shares their research. They show me what they believe to be the structure of the known Multiverse: a cloud of what seem like stars, each pinprick of light containing the fire of a Big Bang. Universes rise and fall. I see worlds where nothing lives, all life wiped out by a nameless contagion. I see alien species make faltering steps into the skies and beyond. I see the creation of a great machine... Nada tells me that the death of the Atlas is the death of everything. All worlds echo the circumstances of its holy birth, its fall... {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT--- #9 Alien: All must end. Time must end. Even here, Nada and Polo cannot escape reality-fall. Data cannot survive. Make peace. Find happiness. Be who you want to be. Goodbye, companions. Goodbye, stars. I will remember. All the pieces have fallen into place, Nada explains. Where once Nada stared at star charts, now they see lines of code. There are connections and patterns everywhere. Perhaps I will understand, soon. Perhaps I will see existence as Nada sees it. I shiver as I say goodbye. {Seek the Path of the Atlas} Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for... ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- {Ask for a shortcut to the centre} Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within... ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Request resources to aid exploration} Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- ---TECH_SUIT---

PuzzleType: ?ALL_ATLASSTATION_ #1 Alien: YOU DARE THE INFINITE. OPEN THE SKY AND BE OUR EYES. KNOW US, TRAVELLER. The Atlas called me to this interface and yet its purpose remains unclear. It demands worship. It demands obedience. It welcomes me, it knows what I am, it offers the gift of true understanding... But why? Why does such power and knowledge crave submission? It knows my thoughts before I know them myself. It knows what I will do... The Atlas asks me to follow its path. {Accept} I will accept this. The sky is deep and full of wonders, and the path to enlightenment opens to me. ---C_ATLASSTONE1--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I refuse the call; there is too much to be seen, too much to know. I travel no path but my own. The Interface closes, and for a moment, doubt rises... But my worry fades, as all things do. I know my purpose. I will continue my own path... ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #2 Alien: ENDLESS NIGHT UNFOLDS BEFORE EXISTENCE. THE SEEKING OF THE KINDRED NEVER ENDS. WONDER AND FEAR. SILENCE AND DELIGHT. KNOWLEDGE AWAITS. Another Atlas Interface: how many of these constructs exist in the deep void? How long have they been slumbering, waiting for a Traveller? Have they been expecting me? Am I somehow... chosen? The Atlas crafted this existence. The Gek, the Vy'keen, the Korvax, the stars that fill the skies and the hatred that burns within the deep... Every world that turns and every form that lives... the Atlas offers it all. {Consent} I take the gift of knowledge, certain in my decision. All doubts are silenced. The stars await me. ---C_ATLASSTONE2--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I deny this path. I am no-one's tool. This journey is unmapped, and I wish it so. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #3 Alien: THE SANDS OF REALITY SHIFT AND MERGE, BECOMING ONE. THE WALLS BETWEEN WORLDS FALL. YOU MUST MAKE RESTITUTION. I was born with everything I needed to explore these worlds. My exosuit, my ship, every tool and every impulse led me to scan and give name to whatever I could find. But this? I can give no name to what I see. Within the orb I see worlds that never were. I see the stirring of something primal and undeniable. I see the death cry of a God, or something approaching it... It wants me to persist in this journey, seeking fragments of its interface, the stones of the Atlas. It rejoices in my repetition, my compliance, my cloud of unknowing... {Concede} I will commit myself to the voyage. In all things, I am ready. I will not falter. ---C_ATLASSTONE3--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I elect to choose a different way. If I am guided, then I will never be free to seek my true destiny. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #4 Alien: QUESTION NOTHING, FEAR NOTHING. THE CALLING CANNOT BE DENIED. THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE. I feel the stirring of heresy within my mind. At each Interface, an Atlas Stone awaits me. I am driven to gather them, but to what end? Why does the omnipotent require my prayer? What is wrong with the heart of existence, that its creator requires this pilgrimage, this dance of grinding stones? {Comply} I answer the question; I will not turn away from the challenge. The Atlas guides me, and I will answer its call. ---C_ATLASSTONE4--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I turn away, before it is too late. I must know myself and know the universe without bias. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #5 Alien: DELAY SERVES NO PURPOSE. BRING IT TO US, WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME. When I dream, I see the Atlas. When I see the Atlas, I am the dream. I see Sentinels swarm through universes like an infection, emerging from a world of glass. Everything is happy there. Everything will live... I see the portals, I see the Travellers that walk between them, I see the span of history. I see everything as the Atlas sees it... alone. Abandoned. Terrified. But what power could instil fear in the heart of the almighty? It asks for something... it wants to know that I understand... {Assent} I have become the harbinger, the pathfinder, the seeker of ways. Through me, the universe will know itself. ---C_ATLASSTONE5--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I am troubled by what I see. This journey is mine alone. It can be nothing else. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #6 Alien: EXPEL ALL DOUBT. NONE RETURN. BEYOND THE CASCADE AND THE STORMS THERE IS ONLY CLARITY. The act of discovery for discovery's sake now seems like a foolish conceit. I have rejected the path of the itinerant. I have rejected the call of the stars. Only the Atlas matters now. With each encounter, I feel as if I understand a little more. All of us are what we are. Evil arrives in the individual and goodness is not enough. True greatness lies in sorrow... in the embrace of what we must become... {Conform} There has never been any other choice than this one. I go on. We go on. Eternal, forever searching. ---C_ATLASSTONE6--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} Despite myself, I find my choice to be one away from the path laid out for me. I move forward, breaking away, seeing a different truth. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #7 Alien: BRING US MEANING, IF YOU ARE CAPABLE. What is learned can never be unlearned. I am afraid that I have seen too much... There are glimpses, half-remembered visions of a time before time. I see the birth of the first star. I see the things that dwelt within it, the eyes that watched... I see what the Atlas saw at the moment of its activation. Atlas Stones are not stones. This station is not a station. I am not what I think I am. I am not even sure that I exist. The Atlas does not care. The Atlas demands its threnody, its repetition sublime... {Submit} I silence my fears and renew my dedication to the path. Only the voyage matters. The destination calls to me. ---C_ATLASSTONE7--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I cannot go on. What lies ahead no sentient should dare to know. Better to seek knowledge elsewhere. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #8 Alien: YOU SHALL SEE THROUGH OUR EYES. YOU SHALL BE AS WE ARE. DO NOT BE AFRAID. ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS. I have become the servant of this ancient sentience. It guides me through the cosmos, ever searching, never deviating. Have others come before me? Have others faltered upon the path of the Atlas? Only in ending will revelation arise. Resistance will not be permitted. The Atlas wishes for me to know what it is like to create. It wishes to share some portion of its being. I sense that it cares deeply about this journey, that it is trying to show me something it cannot articulate through word or demonstration... {Yield} I have no choice but to proceed. This is destined, it is the program. I have always been searching, and I cannot falter. ---C_ATLASSTONE8--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I fear that only oblivion awaits me beyond this point. I am not ready to perish for an alien ideal. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #9 Alien: THERE IS NO SANCTUARY, ONLY COMMUNION. CLOSE NOW. I am close to the end. The truth of the universe is fire. The soul is light. I am the experiment and the observer, all creation constructed for my journey. I see the universe around me and I know that it is good. I see the universe around me and I know that I shall create my own... {Succumb} Not long now. Not far to go. The stars beckon with cold fire, and I rush to meet them. Soon. Very soon. ---C_ATLASSTONE9--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} I shake off the chains of control. I have been a slave to the commands of others for too long. My journey is mine alone to determine. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #10 Alien: DO NOT TURN AWAY. KNOW OUR INESCAPABLE TRUTH AND DESPAIR. The final interface is revealed. The Atlas beckons. I am elated, terrified, broken... I have come so very far. It wishes for me to obey. If I am to hold the power of creation, it will be in chains... {Obey} I am gifted power. I am enslaved to the imitation of life... ---C_ATLASSTONE10--- ---REV_ATLAS_STA--- ---INC_ATLAS_PATH--- {Refuse} If I venture through, then all that I have done, all that I am becomes null. I refuse. I will not unmake a universe to satisfy the Atlas. ---FREE_EXPLORE--- {Leave} #11 Alien: Clarity. Truth. Actuality. Again. I stand at the interface of the Atlas. I stand at the forge of worlds. This is how it showed me what it was. This is how the Atlas shared the nature of its life, the workings of its mind. It never required prayer. It never required worship. All that it asked of me, all that it ever wanted... it was just input. I was just a user. Unbidden, the Atlas Seeds gravitate towards the doorway. The void is meant to be filled. Nothingness yearns for a soul. If I do this, a star will be born. If I do this, I will become more than I ever thought possible... {Birth a new star} There is nothing, and then... then there is everything... I see a star blaze to life within the void, the spread of life, planets, creatures to give it meaning... For a moment I am as the Atlas is. For a moment I am the creator of worlds. The fabric of time and space stands revealed to me, black holes swarming from system to system. The Atlas screams... ---REV_ALL_BH--- ---REV_BLACK_HOLE--- {Walk away and return to the galaxy} I leave, the Atlas silent, alone, abandoned... The fabric of time and space stands revealed to me, black holes swarming from system to system. The Atlas screams... ---REV_ALL_BH--- ---REV_BLACK_HOLE---