PuzzleType: TRA_NPC_ANOMALY_ #1 Alien: Friends everywhere, if only you know where to look. Friends in all shapes, all sizes, all places! The Gek wipes their grease-splattered hands on their suit as they address me. They introduce themselves as Specialist Polo, fugitive of the Gek. They tell me they gave up trade, units, and all material possessions to flee into an anomaly outside of time and space with a robotic priest. They have a jocular air about them, all things considered. They are curious about my travels, about what sentient species I have seen. They do not get out much these days... {Transmit species data} Polo pores over the data, muttering bitterly at variations they are already familiar with, cheering at those they are not. Finally Polo applauds wildly, and hands me a blueprint. They claim that we are now bonded in 'glorious friendship'. ---ANOMALYTECH1--- {Leave} #2 Alien: Talk, read! Study monoliths, if you can find them! Give yourself a strong brain to match those strong legs! To explore is to discover yourself, friend! Polo bobs up and down happily, convinced that I am a kindred spirit in an odyssey of exploration and invention. Polo was once a specialist in inter-species trade and communication. They learned to speak many languages, their mind changing as they did. Once they cared only for trade, now they wanted something more. Everything changed when they met Nada... Polo wonders if learning alien languages will affect me in the same way. They wish to broaden my horizons and explore the limits of my understanding... {Transmit language data} The Gek runs an instrument over my head, their hands trembling with excitement. Then Polo fiddles feverishly with arcane machinery, and proudly presents me with a schematic. ---ANOMALYTECH2--- {Leave} #3 Alien: Units this, units that... A strange, sad way to live a life, eh? Fill your pockets, we'll find out why they make all these worlds go round. Polo's muzzle breaks into a wide, warm smile. Maybe too wide, given the short length of our friendship. Perhaps the jovial Gek feels lonely out here. They engage me in talk of wealth. How does an economy function when somehow stretched across an entire galaxy? Polo would welcome any insights, encouraging me to accrue units. {Transmit wealth data} Polo analyses the trading logs from my ship and my exosuit, creating an incomprehensible graph from the results. They laugh as if at a shared joke. Polo tells me that their fellow Gek are the most foolish species of all. Money is not real. Nothing is real. They tell me that only friendship matters, giving me the gift of a new technology in demonstration. ---ANOMALYTECH3--- {Leave} #4 Alien: Something is wrong with these universes, friend! Goodness fails... hearts are hardened. We must find out why. Polo seems disappointed by the slow development of our friendship. They confide in me that although they care for Nada deeply, they fear they have become co-dependent in their exile. Polo does not see why they cannot still be friends with their old species, even if they wish to execute Polo and Nada as heretics. Why the need for violence? Polo encourages me to stop evil where I can, to make war against the pirates that plague so many systems. They hope to understand what drives us to do the things we do. {Transmit pirate data} Polo seems upset at the data I send through. They do not understand why all of this killing, all of this bloodshed was necessary. They suggest that perhaps they will never understand. They hand me a blueprint, turning away from my sight. It is unclear if they blame me for what I have had to do. ---ANOMALYTECH4--- {Leave} #5 Alien: Those flying machines, those walking machines! Everywhere! Chase us, hurt us, stop our adventures. Bad robots. Worry passes over Polo's face, and they seem to visibly shrink. Seeing the records of the pirate ships I had destroyed seems to have deeply upset the Gek. An awkward moment passes, then Polo makes a suggestion. Polo feels that civilisation should come back. Then the pirates would not need to steal, surely? There would be no need for any more killing or bad behaviour. The Sentinels are the problem. Polo suggests I make a point of destroying any that I encounter. We might then have a better understanding of the machines' weaknesses, and we could be friends again, too. {Transmit Sentinel data} Though Polo tries to appear aloof, their eyes blaze with relief at the sight of me. They still care, then. A small smile accompanies my compensation for the Sentinel data. ---ANOMALYTECH5--- {Leave} #6 Alien: You, friend, visit the worst places you can find. Stay alive. No good to me dead, are you? Can't learn much from a corpse. Although... No, never mind, stay alive. At last, Polo is affable once again. A nod, a smile, even a companionable tap on the arm at one point. A friendship renewed. I blush when the Gek mechanic tells me that they hope I live a long, healthy life. I have to swallow disappointment when it transpires that Polo's true motivation is to study how my suit responds to long-term exposure to extreme climates. {Transmit survival data} Polo seems unconvinced by my claims of longevity, wondering aloud if I am some Sentinel-made replica. They check me over thoroughly, then offer a huge grin. They seem excited about whatever they have discovered, granting me the gift of new technology. ---ANOMALYTECH6--- {Leave} #7 Alien: A whole galaxy for you, just for you. You must see it all. Aha, no, I joke. But a few more systems, maybe? Our earlier awkwardness is now long forgotten. Polo wishes me to indulge in their favourite hobby: unfettered exploration of the stars, warping from system to system. They wish to see me fly. {Transmit Warp data} Before taking the Warp data, Polo gazes deep into my eyes, trying to discern if I am changed by my long travels. There is a wistful sigh, and then a schematic is produced. ---ANOMALYTECH7--- {Leave} #8 Alien: I miss the dirt, friend, the worlds on which I once walked... I miss the sounds of birds and beasts. Even my data, even my recordings are gone, as if they had never been... Polo gestures forlornly at a jumble of broken electronics beside them. It seems that an accident has befallen some of their precious research... Perhaps when I next return, I can restock their archives with reports on a multitude of strange creatures. I will show them all a world has to offer. {Transmit creature data} With infectious enthusiasm, Polo browses the creature scans, and we find ourselves cooing and laughing together at some of the stranger species. They reward me with a blueprint of their own design. Polo says that they have no more use for it... ---ANOMALYTECH8--- {Leave} #9 Alien: Are there others like us, Traveller? Others who see the truth? I would so like new friends, friend! Nada and Polo appear to be proof that their species are not bound by pre-ordained roles, rebelling against the mantras of greed and conformity. Polo wishes to know if there are other lifeforms who might join them in this place. They wish for me to interact with a wider sample of Gek, Vy'keen, and Korvax, hoping that I might bring them new friends. {Transfer species data} Polo stares at length at the images of each species, watching their movements and listening to their words. Every lifeform that shows the slightest individuality appears to have something wrong with them, some sickness within. They give me my reward with a subtle sadness, claiming there are no new friends to be found. They begin to cough. ---ANOMALYTECH9--- {Leave} #10 Alien: You are not like me, friend! You can still go to planets. You can still meet new lifeforms, speak, shout, love! Nada and Polo would be killed for going so far! You must learn more words. You must know how to make yourself heard, Traveller! You are our only friend. Polo claims that they cannot teach me language directly, that their files on alien languages have been damaged. I wonder if I am being manipulated somehow. The Gek watches me with an earnest and friendly sorrow, awaiting my discovery of more words. It is almost as if they want to tell me something... {Transmit language data} I present the proof of my linguistic advancement. Polo bursts into tears. They say they wish I remembered my old life, our old times together. I ask Polo what they mean, but they claim they cannot talk about it. They claim that they have said too much. ---ANOMALYTECH10--- {Leave} #11 Alien: Sometimes I miss currency, Traveller. I know that I should not, I know that adventure is its own reward, but I used to be able to buy such nice things... Polo proclaims that the best way to live is to stop doing what anyone tells me and go enjoy myself. See the stars, earn a fortune, buy myself something nice. That's what they would do in my shoes, claims the Gek, nudging me in the ribs. {Transmit wealth data} Polo does not even ask for my research data this time. The Gek simply congratulates me for my success and then bestows a gift upon me. I am wealthier, but none the wiser. ---ANOMALYTECH11--- {Leave} #12 Alien: Pests of the final frontier, nasty little obstacles to adventure. Death is sad, bullies are sadder. Polo seems to wish to encourage my development as a spacefarer, but repeatedly alludes to some deeper purpose, some hidden truth to all of this. Polo suggests that I should once again throw myself into combat with pirates. What a thrilling existence that would be, they argue, miming dogfighting craft with their hands while making sound effects. When I remind Polo of their earlier sadness and fear of violence, the Gek laughs, clearly troubled. Destroy ships or do not destroy ships... they understand it now. It will change nothing. {Transmit pirate data} There is mingled guilt and relief in the Gek's bright eyes as they hand me another blueprint. Whether or not their intentions are honest, Polo does not want to see me harmed. ---ANOMALYTECH12--- {Leave} #13 Alien: They have found us! Eheu, Nada! Eheu! I notice a strange-looking message on one of Polo's panels. As the Gek spots my gaze, their brow furrows. Whatever the news is, it isn't good. Polo hurriedly turns off the screen when they see me, forcing a smile onto an anxious face. Trying to be friendly, the Gek states that the Sentinels have started to detect the presence of their anomaly in various systems. If the Sentinels are not distracted soon, they might kill Nada and Polo before their proper time. But Polo assures me not to worry. As long as we have friends, nothing will ever truly be wrong. {Transmit Sentinel data} Polo silently bundles me into a hug when I return, and this time I do not recoil. I do not ask why, either. There are tears in the Gek's eyes. They thank me for saving their lives, however brief the respite. ---ANOMALYTECH13--- {Leave} #14 Alien: Do not die, friend. A waste of data. Hee, no, joke. I would miss you so. Polo and I treat each other as friends, trusted companions in our ongoing adventure among the stars. I know the Gek has a secret, but I trust that it will be shared with me in time. For now, Polo encourages me to become the ultimate explorer, to push myself to the limits. There are places out there where none have survived. But perhaps I can succeed where others have failed... {Transmit survival data} Polo is rapt with envy as I recount tales of the monstrous climates I have endured, of horrendous travels through burning rain and choking heat. What peculiar jealousy. ---ANOMALYTECH14--- {Leave} #15 Alien: I have something to tell you, friend. Something I should have told you long ago... My friend tells me that they are going to die. That the time of Nada and Polo is coming to an end. They cannot say more. They cannot explain it. But they must say goodbye to all they have known. Grief-stricken, I try to offer condolences, but Polo gathers their composure. They tell me to warp further than ever before, to visit places that no-one will ever see again. They tell me to be what I am: a Traveller. {Transmit Warp data} Polo tells me that they are glad I have seen so much with my own eyes. Wonder is a rare but dangerous gift. Polo gives me a blueprint to light my way... ---ANOMALYTECH15--- {Leave} #16 Alien: So good that you are here. You bring me light. Show me creatures I cannot see myself. Many creatures. After that, my friend of friends, I know not what you or I will do. Whatever is making them ill, the Gek's sense of wonder remains. They are keen to witness the majesty of the stars through my eyes. Creatures are existence at its strangest, its wildest. I will show Polo all I can before their death. I will be their friend. {Transmit final creature data} Polo puts the data to one side and turns to the window. For a time, we watch the stars together, my friend and I. We clasp hands, and then I go to leave. There is more to see. ---ANOMALYTECH16--- {Leave}

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...

Weekend mission 1 (June 12-14th) Pre-briefing (Ariadne): “There is still cause for hope, Like-Traveller, even in the face of calamity. I have a plan…” [Ask them about their plan] “Trace the route ahead with knowledge stones, follow them towards a portal and heal this blight. As for my path?” “We were not born to run and hide, Like-Traveller. The time has come.” “I intend to face the cause of all these anomalies and disturbances myself, whatever the cost.” Monolith A transmission emanates from the corrupted structure. Between the screams of Gek cultists, one word is clear, again and again. It demands sacrifice. It demands materials. ‘Abyss’. The cult was unable to feed its master. My service is demanded instead. I must bring resources here… Offer materials (16 Vortex Cube) The transmission has changed with the collapse of the anomaly. Instead, Gek voices speak of gratitude and friendship. They tell me that this world could be a home for me. That I should stay. That the water is perfectly safe to drink. They tell me they have been so lonely. .. (Ariadne disappears) Weekend mission 2 (June 19-21st) Pre-briefing (Gemini): “Ariadne has disappeared!” “I tried to stop them — I tried to make them see reason! Oh, I hope they are safe…” Gemini gesticulates, shaking in panic. “How can you be so calm? Ariadne seeks the source of the Abyss itself!” “If I were more reckless, if I knew where they had gone, I would follow them and make sure they are alright.” “I cannot ask you to go through the portal, to seek knowledge stones… it would be your choice, and your choice alone.” Holographic Comms Tower The anomaly sings with voices of Travellers across time and space. I hear their names in the static… Asteria, the Hero-Traveller… Narcissus, ally of the Last Spawn… They are countless. The anomaly demands a sacrifice. It does not speak with malice. It is in pain. Countless voices cry out for my help. I must provide resources. I must heal the world. A mossy growth coats the structure. Its tiny leaves wriggle excitedly when I move my hand closer. Is this an offering? Something to aid me? The compost falls easily into my hands. It smells sweet, almost appetising. Offer materials (16 Tall Eggs) The rift heals itself. I track the navigational data of all those who passed through this place. Names fill my mind. Lazarus. Artemis. Hildebrand. I transfer the navigational data to the Nexus. This data will take some time to decode… Weekend mission 3 (June 26-28th) Pre-briefing (Mercury): “I often wonder about the nature of our existence, Portal-Adept. What Ariadne’s recent disappearance means for us.” “There are some who believe the Travellers to be the same soul, split across countless iterations and universes.” “How we might have been, had we lived different lives …” Mercury sighs, tired, but nods all the same. “Of course. The great work must come first.” “We have located Ariadne’s ship. Or, rather, we have located hundreds of them, duplicated and morphed across the known universe.” “The portal network is a blighted, dangerous thing. You must be careful, following in such steps.” “Commune with stones of knowledge. Step through the gate. Discover the truth.” At ship Ariadne’s ship lies before me. My Exosuit screams, telling me to step back. Trying to save me from infection. The Abyss is before us both. It demands tribute. It demands more. Offer Materials (16 Sac Venom) Corruption leaves this vessel, and with it a thousand duplicates disappear across the stars. I read the data-log. Before this ship’s reality-splinter, it came into contact with a strange, vast freighter in the darkness between suns. Its sole occupant managed to escape before the crash. Ariadne is still out there, somehow, somewhere. My friend still lives. Weekend mission 4 (July 3-5th) Pre-briefing (Tethys): “I once lived with a Vy’keen appearance mod for an entire year, you know? Did a lot of things I regret.” “I don’t even know why I’m talking about it. We’re not friends. You’re a stranger.” Offer to be friends “Do this for me, maybe I’ll think about it, alright? I got a mission for you. A factory has been targeted… a clandestine operation I have some interest in.” “It shifts from world to world to avoid sentinel detection. I need you to track down knowledge stones, find its current portal coordinates.” “Don’t let me down.” Gek Facility Various species once worked in this place, gathering and manipulating genetic data to form appearance modifications. The factory’s records are corrupted by the static, but I can access the final designs. The workers began creating appearance modifications of pure light, spheres in the place of heads. All of them are now dead. The structure demands new data. It demands sacrifice. Offer materials (250 Pugneum) As the corruption fades, I search the factory’s records one last time, trying to find evidence of its last days. At some point, the workers discovered the holographic displays they’d created had replaced their real skulls. WIth these spheres of light had come nightmares. The images seem familiar, somehow. Like I’ve seen this face before. Weekend mission 5 (July 10-12th) Pre-briefing (Hesperus): Hesperus seems troubled. When I approach, they hide their data pad. “Ariadne has sent word… they are returning to us, kindred. They are safe.” “Tell me. Did you ever hear the story of the Hero-Traveller Asteria? One of the first of us to breach the gap between worlds.” “Time flows strangely for our people. Asteria was preserved in a Mind-Arc after their death, dispensing wisdom from the grave.” “It is a pilgrimage we have all made. It is time you seek your prophecy, kindred.” “Find their world. Follow the knowledge stones and take their glyphs through the portal…” At grave The grave of Asteria hisses with a familiar corruption. All around, I detect the life signs of Travellers cut from reality. A weary voice speaks, barely audible above the static. Asteria tells me they once led the Vy’keen into battle against emissaries of glass. They once doomed a Sentinel fleet. They tell me I will be betrayed. They tell me I will become a betrayer, too. Corruption has come to this place. It wishes to bargain. It wishes to take all the matter and life that it can. Offer materials (40 Sweetroot) The Mind-Arc is cleansed. The soul within it thanks the Travellers for their assistance. I ask Asteria for any prophecy they can give. I ask about the nature of my enemy. They tell me the Abyss is not what it seems. The voice goes silent. I leave, troubled by what I have heard. .. (Ariadne returns to the Nexus) Weekend mission 6 (July 17-19th) Pre-briefing (Ariadne): “I’m home. I am finally home. Like-Traveller, I am so glad to look upon your face.” Ask where they have been? “I went in search of The Abyss. I almost faced our adversary, and then …” “I - I have no recollection of what happened to me in that void, Like-Traveller.” “I only know that I awoke, and I was hunted. Haunted.” “There was a ship, vast and terrible. Still the corruption undulates…” The freighter was Vy’keen once. It was an inquisitor’s vessel, scouring the galaxies for heretics. All it found was death. The corruption is here, now. It is everywhere. It yearns for tribute… Offer Materials (40 Pulpy Root) The corruption has departed. All that is left are the sad logs of suffering beings, protesting their innocence- The parent of a Mech-Priest, claiming they do not know where their child is, claiming that they still follow the way of Hirk. The data reveals all prisoners were executed, prior to a mutiny. The remaining crew members left into the dark. Nothing beside remains. .. (Hesperus disappears) Weekend Mission 7 (July 24-26th) Pre-briefing (Gemini): “Ariadne has returned! Our friend is safe! Ah, rejoice!” (“Would that our brethren shared your spirit”) “Hesperus is avoiding us. They’ve been travelling into Korvax space, more and more.” “And this is no time for secrets… Will you follow them? Find their coordinates, follow the knowledge stones. The portal will show you the way.” My sensors detect the remnants of a thousand Korvax souls, spread all across this system. They tried to simulate the Abyss. They succeeded only in gaining its attention. It will take much to heal this void. Without sustenance, it will devour system upon system… Offer Materials (16 Crystal Sulphide) The rift healed, I discover the origin of the experiment. Hesperus had been working with the Korvax… had been trying to solve our predicament. Their failure here has caused devastation to this species. I do not know if my friend survived… Weekend Mission 8 (July 31-August 2nd) Pre-briefing (Mercury): "Calamity has befallen us, Portal-Adept. A thousand Korvax souls have been severed from the Convergence. “The result of a fellow Traveller's ambition exceeding their grasp. Hesperus was working with the Korvax to simulate the Abyss itself. It came for them instead.” “If Hesperus returns to us, do you believe we can still trust them? They have so much to answer for.” [Declare your trust] “I hope you are right, Portal Adept.” "Ariadne says we cannot afford to lose hope, not now. These anomalies continue to spread...Knowledge stones will lead the way. It is all we can hope to do. You will find the next incursion through a portal." [Shake your Head] "This pains me, Portal-Adept. Though I fear you might be correct." "The knowledge stones will light your path, Portal-Adept. Go. Do what I cannot." Vy’keen Plaque: The corruption welcomes me, claiming that it has met me, time and time again. I hear its static in my mind, now. It demands gifts. It claims to have given me so many… Offer Materials (90 Meaty Chunk) The anomaly ceases. I think back to Mercury’s doubts… to the failures of Hesperus… My fellow Travellers are doing their best. We must help each other, I know. And with the thought, another slithers down my spine. It is not my own. It is a voice within me. I must help it. .. (Ariadne, Gemini, Mercury disappear) Weekend Mission 9 (August 7-9th) Pre-briefing (Tethys): Tethys seems uneasy. Their lidless eyes flick towards Mercury’s empty post. “Tell me. Do you ever feel lonely?” [ Everyone does. ] “I’m not everyone, though, am I? I’m supposed to be better…” They shift uncomfortably. “Perhaps there’s more chance of survival if we travel alone. I don’t know how much longer we will be safe here.” “The knowledge stones call to all of us, now. The portals need you.” [ No ] “No? Hm. You’re bluffing.” At crash site: Corruption boils through the crashed vessel, but somehow the captain’s log is unaffected. The pilot was betrayed by one they considered an ally. The Abyss can only take what it is invited to consume. It desires so much more, even now… Offer Materials (24 Albumen Pearl) The corruption purged, I look more closely at the fallen vessel’s data. The Traveller pilot believed they heard voices, those days prior to the crash. Whispers from their own Exosuit issued out into the void, bargaining for survival… .. (Hesperus returns to the Nexus) Weekend Mission 10 (August 14-16th) Pre-briefing (Hesperus): “Ah, kindred… do not fear. All my guilt has been purged from my mind. Nanite Clusters can transform neurons with ease…” [Listen] “I helped the Korvax create their simulation of the Abyss. I truly grieve their passing, kindred. But that work alone did not determine their fate!” “Someone among us is a traitor… someone led the Abyss to us!” “Do you not see? The knowledge stones are being hijacked!” “Whoever is behind this betrayal wants us to go through the portals. They want us to feed the anomalies.” “Step through the breach once more, kindred. I will try to free us from this terrible loop…” At Traveller grave: The grave crackles with exotic energies. The Traveller who once rested here is long gone, harvested by a Mind Arc from another universe. The grave is a place of unending yearning, now. Its existence demands a tribute of resources. Offer Materials (16 Vortex Cube) The grave is purified. I attempt to find the name of the one who died here, but all I find is a null value. I depart, troubled. It feels as if someone is watching me… ... (All the missing NPCs return to the Nexus) Weekend Mission 11 (August 21-23rd) Pre-briefing (Ariadne): “Ah, Like-Traveller. You have returned.” Their face twists into something half-resembling a smile. [Return the smile] “Some believe all Travellers are one entity, split over untold forms and bodies.” “I am you, and you are me.” “This is why I believe in you, Like-Traveller. If we work together, we can save all that we are.” “Knowledge stones are an Atlas-Gift. Who are we to refuse the portals’ call?” At crashed freighter: Devotees of the Atlas came to this world to pray, once. An anomaly distorts their crashed vessel. It claimed the lives of those within long ago. Now the anomaly desires more. It waits for our invitation to depart, for resources to quench its unfathomable thirst. Offer Materials (60 Sweetroot) The crashed vessel is purged of all anomalous traces. Its log speaks of the Atlas who made all things... even loss. Even hate. I wonder if, in their final moments, they trusted in their deity. If they hoped for salvation... Weekend Mission 12 (August 28-30th) Pre-briefing (Gemini): Gemini looks at schematics for Exosuits. They don’t seem to notice my approach… [Greet your friend] They hide the schematics, hesitating as they turn to face me. “So much of our lives are mysteries, my friend. The faces we are born with…” “The clothes we wear. Who made the Exosuits? Who speaks with their voice?” “The knowledge stones, the portals they lead us through… they are our birthright.” “There is so much out there, still to be found.” At Gek Observatory: The structure once housed an artificial intelligence. Corruption now festers within its shell, hating all that it once was. This place desires only matter. It wants me to bring it more. Offer Materials (400 Star Bulb) I see the final vestiges of the AI as all corruption departs, the final fifteen minutes of its life… It knew I would come here. It knew I would try to save it. Worlds upon worlds seethe in the void. The Abyss spreads. .. (Hesperus disappears — again) Weekend Mission 13 (September 4-6th) Pre-briefing (Mercury): "These are grim times, Portal-Adept. Our community has fallen to strife.” [Ask what is wrong] “Hesperus has grown paranoid. They refuse to attend our meetings. They shun even Nada and Polo.” “You must not become like our former friend. You do such vital work…” “The knowledge stones will guide you on your path through the portals. They will show you the path to salvation.” At Boundary Failure: The structure has been infected, its anomalous calls echoing through the planet itself. The Abyss requires resources. Without them, this planet will be lost forever... Offer materials (16 Cable Pod) I do my duty. The corruption fades. I hear its voice... I feel its feelings... I feel malice, hatred, despair — all of it directed only against its own self... I see memories of water... Weekend Mission 14 (September 11-13th) Pre-briefing (Tethys): "Traveller… has your Exosuit been operating at proper capacity?” [Say it has /not] “I’ve been hearing strange noises from my own siot. Almost like it is whispering.” “An associate of mine went to Korvax space to complete an analysis of our signals, but they’ve not yet returned.” “Will you go and find them through the portal? The knowledge stones should show their path.” At grave site: Did a Traveller do this? There is evidence that a Multi-Tool was fired upon the fallen friend of Tethys, their analysis never completed. Around the grave corruption spreads, demanding its tribute. A mossy growth coats this gravesite. Its tiny leaves wriggle excitedly when I move my hand closer. Is this an offering? Something to aid me? [Collect Sweetened Compost] The compost falls easily into my hands. It smells sweet, almost appetising. Offer materials (90 Leopard-Fruit) The grave is purified. I examine traces of the battle, of the fallen Traveller’s memories. I see a face that is not a face, an arm raised to fire their weapon. I see the murderer. It is Ariadne. .. (Hesperus returns to the Nexus. Gemini, Mercury and Tethys disappear.) Weekend Mission 15 (September 18-20th) Pre-briefing (Hesperus): “The others will be back soon, kindred. We do not have much time…” [Listen] "Ariadne tells us the universe is burning with corruption, that only we Travellers can fight it.” “But these missions… these lies… my kindred, we have been deceived.” “I thought my scans must be wrong. I thought I’d dreamt the whispers I heard in my mind.” Hesperus shakes, tormented. “Ariadne crashed their ship some weeks ago. They never returned. The entity who now leads us is an imposter.” “Find the knowledge stones, set your path through the portal. See the truth for yourself.” At Monolith: The structure sings with exotic energies. It sees me. It knows my mind. In the song I hear names, distant, faded… I hear the number at the end of all things. I see its whisperer. I see a nameless form banish Ariadne… And I see a duplicate arising from the crash, returning to claim its shape. If this vision is to be believed, then Hesperus is right. Ariadne is an imposter. This place wishes to help me… if I can just provide it with resources. Offer Materials (24 Albumen Pearl) What has become of Ariadne? Who is the imposter standing in their place? .. (Gemini, Mercury and Tethys return to the Nexus.)

PuzzleType: CRASHED_FREIGHTER_ #1 Alien: ... LOG EXTRACTION COMPLETE ... {Read Log} Life goes on. Day after day, delivering after - kzzzkt - I hope to go home, soon. The life of a - kzzzkt - is not for one like me. Multiple Sentinel energy signatures detected, requiring immediate - kzzzkt - Dropping out of warp, they're - there's - The Sentinels - kzzzkt - what are they doing? Fighting each other, the Sentinel ships are engaging each other - kzzkt - ignoring us for now - The Sentinels appear to have departed. They're - kzzkktz - Distress signal nearby - kzzkt - broadcasting 'sixteen' on repeat. I'm going to take a look... {Leave} #2 Alien: // LOG DAMAGED // PARTIAL RECORDS AVAILABLE // {Read Log} My love. I dive into a black hole tomorrow. I know we agreed not to - kzzzkt - I warned them about - kzzzkt - advisability of such a large vessel moving through the rift. But they are arrogant, vain creatures, are they not? We emerged into the skies above the - kzzkzkt - anomaly. Reality itself has abdicated here. Vast hexagons litter the landscape of this once proud planet, now become the plaything of our unseen foe... I fear I will not be back home for - kzkzzkt - time. We drank the water. My love... forgive me... {Leave} #3 Alien: ... LOG INTEGRITY COMPROMISED ... PATCHING ... {Read Log} I do not like this. Forced to harbour Gek on board? To give them safe passage across the stars? I lodged a complaint. Let's - kzzkt - We encountered remnants of the Vy'keen Expeditionary Force. Their ships decimated, fragments of flesh and steel floating through the asteroid field. Sentinels scan their debris. We leave quickly. I refuse to take my crew any further. You should have told me why we were doing this, why - kzzkt - There is no hope, is there? {Leave} #4 Alien: ... ACCESSING LOG ... {Read Log} These Korvax really are something, aren't they? We tried - kzzkt - What made it tick? What was the point? It just - kzzkt - stared at us... We made a great deal of profit in that last port. We asked the Korvax what it wanted us to do with its share. It spoke for the last time since boarding the freighter. It said - The Korvax showed me a secret. There is not long to go, now. We must head towards the centre. We must - kzzkt - {Leave} #5 Alien: // CREW MANIFEST MISSING // LIMITED DATA AVAILABLE // {Read Log} We approach the temporal anomaly. I have to admit, I'm excited. I might be the first - kzzkt - The system possesses impossible properties. Last night, sound briefly travelled faster than light. I asked them to forgive me, but they told me I was being a fool. They told me I was a good captain. We drank until late in the - kzzkt - One moment our instruments are decimated. The next, they seem advanced far beyond their original capabilities. And the beauty of it, I can't sleep - The stars... there are sixteen of them, now - kzzkt - I'm going to approach - {Leave} #6 Alien: ... DISTRESS BEACON POWER: 0% ... {Read Log} We have crashed. It was much calmer than I thought it would be. Our training worked, the crew were composed, and - kzkzkt - Twelve casualties. They will not be forgotten. We are running out of food. Whatever we attempt to scavenge, whenever we attempt to fight for our survival, the Sentinels arrive to prevent us. We need to get off world... We are going to retreat beneath the surface and await rescue. I will maintain my own link with the ship. They are dead - kzzkt - No longer hungry, no longer - kzzkkt - What have we done? {Leave} #7 Alien: /// MAYDAY EVENT /// DISTRESS SIGNAL BROADCAST /// {Read Log} I had heard the rumours. So-called 'Traveller anomalies', beings of varied appearance and purpose. Their ship approached, our weapons primed. They - kzzkt - The one before us begged for peace. They appeared to be bio-mechanical, at least in part. We struck them from the sky. Probes recovered the body. Well, fragments of DNA and code. The two are almost interchangeable, my researchers tell me. I must confess to a great deal of excitement. But this - kzkzkt - Our duty: we must understand what is happening to our worlds. Visuals confirm it. The same individual we shot down two weeks ago is standing right before us again. These beings are somehow restored upon death, just as the Emperor suggested. Well then. An opportunity to retrieve more samples. I order their death once more. {Leave} #8 Alien: ... NO CREW ACTIVITY DETECTED ... SEARCHING LOGS ... {Read Log} Half our cargo was spoiled by the breach. Try explaining that to the Overseer: The Gek don't take too kindly to broken - kzzzkt - I think it will be better if I tell them in person. Half our cargo was spoiled by the breach. Try - try - explaining - kzzkt - to - what's - kzzzkt - The logs are full of hundreds of such messages, each one talking about a breach in the cargo hold. The freighter's captain seems to grow increasingly panicked and self-aware regarding the repetition of these logs. By the time of the final message, they are screaming with happiness and despair. {Leave} #9 Alien: ... SHIP LOGS REQUESTED ... ACCESSING ... {Read Log} The Vy'keen have left the Council. We knew that they would. Only two other species remain: the Gek and the Korvax. And us, I - kzzkt - It's strange, but somehow I trust the warriors more for their honesty. No-one wants this alliance. Entities Nada and Polo have been located in the next system. They appear to be alien to this universe, their structure suggesting a disturbance of dimensional boundaries. We intercepted the coming and going of no less than 5182 Travellers within a single week. They grow in strength. The space anomaly is right ahead of us. It's strange, but I feel as if - kzzkt - But that is impossible, the dream of a fool. We only have one life to live. {Leave} #10 Alien: ... REQUEST LOG UNAVAILABLE ... SUBSTITUTING DATA ... {Read Log} We have been ordered to shoot down any Vy'keen vessels on - kzzkzt - They have been deemed enemies of the Atlas, enemies of the Council, enemies of all humanity... We have been ordered to aid a Vy'keen splinter faction in the hope that they might create internal unrest and divide their purpose. We are to rendezvous with two promising revolutionaries, battle-brothers by the names of Hirk and Nal. Someone is reading these messages. Who are you? {Leave} #11 Alien: ... LOG EXTRACTION COMPLETE ... {Read Log} It began with an idea, a simulation... The Korvax wished to know what would happen to the universe in the future. They wanted to confirm what had occurred in the past. We were part of their great effort, delivering vast quantities of Nanite Clusters across the galaxy. The simulation shows me my child as if they are alive, taking their first steps for a second time. It shows me their death. It shows my own. I ask the Korvax to stop this. They refuse. The Korvax shut down their machine. The experiment is over. They claim that the universe is multiversal, cyclical, without origin or endpoint, at least based on available data. In some worlds, there might be Korvax. In some, no Gek. In some, we never existed, or if we did, we destroyed our world long before other galactic powers could find them. I do not like the tone with which the Korvax speaks. {Leave} #12 Alien: // LOG DAMAGED // PARTIAL RECORDS AVAILABLE // {Read Log} The crew speak of mutiny. Hah! Let them try. Let them see how I earned my position as the greatest commander this - kzzkt - The log appears to have automatically recorded and transcribed the sound of gunfire and crying. We hung their heads from the lamps above the canteen. Everyone has seen them. Everyone is complicit now. There is no turning back. Where next? The whole universe awaits... {Leave} #13 Alien: ... LOG INTEGRITY COMPROMISED ... PATCHING ... {Read Log} This will be my last year running this trade route. I - kzzzkt - I have a child at home to look after now, or so I am told. My travels must come to an end. I look around my crew and ponder their families. The Gek are spawned in vast numbers, knowing their parents' identity, but by necessity they are unable to form any meaningful bond. Theirs is a life of competition from the beginning. Perhaps this is what gives them their nature as traders. The Korvax have no children at all, apart perhaps from the artificial intelligences they create for various experiments. Only the family units of the Vy'keen resemble our own, small units of parents and a number of sibling children, raised as warriors. Our entire history is one of war and hatred. We are so similar to the Vy'keen, and as I look at my child, I wonder... Never mind. I will know soon enough, and there is business to take care of before I am home. {Leave} #14 Alien: ... ACCESSING LOG ... {Read Log} We are returning home, carrying data backups of the echoes. The crew don't like it. All those souls creep them out. I tell them it's nothing to worry about. Those rich enough to survive death didn't care about us in life, and now we have their backups. They need us now, in case there was an accident, or someone switches the main site off. Who'd want to do that, I wonder? We made first contact with the Korvax before all others. They found us, they showed us what we could - kzzkt - They too have 'echoes', though the translation is imperfect. Their Convergence is a repository of all those who have ever lived. Ours is a mausoleum of vanity, a monument to the fear of death and nothing more... ... ... - kzzzkt - ... ... ... {Leave} #15 Alien: // CREW MANIFEST MISSING // LIMITED DATA AVAILABLE // {Read Log} The Traveller wished to dock without a ship. They claimed they could help us restart our engines after the - kzzzkt - I took the risk, even if Hicks threatened to report me. Help is help. They are strange beings. They do not appear interested in food or water, never leaving their so-called 'exosuits', even in habitable environments. They ask many questions about our history, about the Atlas, and the visions of old. I tell them what I know, although it doesn't seem to help them. ... // We were those who saw the face of God // ... ... // We were those who were uplifted from an orb of dirt and rubble to the stars themselves // ... The Traveller claims that none of it is real? Who are - kzzkt - {Leave} #16 Alien: ... DISTRESS BEACON POWER: 0% ... {Read Log} Freighters stretch ahead before us, a vast caravan herding our species across the stars. We have deserted our past. We have left every colony behind. We go towards the - kzzkt - The Korvax shared their discovery before they departed. They told us that the universe was going to come to an end. That every universe did, in time... We would be wiped away, our purpose complete, and the Atlas would start anew. No-one would ever know what we did or who we were. I will continue in my duty. Faith or doubt, submission or resistance... the end or a new beginning. We travel to meet our maker. We travel to complete our great work. It is not for me to judge such things... It is beyond all of us. {Leave} #17 Alien: /// MAYDAY EVENT /// DISTRESS SIGNAL BROADCAST /// {Read Log} I had a dream, last night... I saw all the worlds we had once inhabited, all the places we had once walked, and there was nothing left of it. Just dunes... just sand and rot and mud, stretching as far as the eye could see. What if we don't come back? What if the Atlas decides we are no longer worthy of existence? It would be as if we had never been... I tell the crew all that I have learned in my travels, committing multiple acts of treason and heresy in the process. I ask them what they think, how they feel, what they hope for. The decision is unanimous. We will turn back. We will join with the Vy'keen in their exodus, leaving the centre to the worshippers of the Atlas. Perhaps we can still survive, even if the rest of our species perishes... Something is happening. Please, wherever you are, do not stop reading, do not - kzzzkt - Sixteen - kzzkt - there are - {Leave} #18 Alien: ... NO CREW ACTIVITY DETECTED ... SEARCHING LOGS ... {Read Log} The Traveller found us once again. We have killed them eight times already, and still they show only kindness, only gratitude at an opportunity to converse. What have we done? I cannot help but feel - kzzkt - They tell us that they are not like the others of their kind, just as we are not like the others of our own species. They survived beyond the end of all things. They committed terrible deeds, of that they have no doubt, but what are ethics in the face of an existential fall? Universes come and go. Civilisations rise and they end. And through it all, the cycle continues. But even that must one day cease. Nothing lasts forever, not even time itself. And in those final moments, in the decay of all that is or will be, the boundaries between worlds will fall. Our time will come again, if only in brief. We will be seen, we will be heard, and our ship? Our freighter? We will live again, in all our multiplicity, in all human worth... We will live again because someone, somewhere, will read our words for a final time. {Leave} #19 Alien: ... SHIP LOGS REQUESTED ... ACCESSING ... {Read Log} I say goodbye to the officers. I have served with them for years. There is no-one else I would rather end my life with. One of them says they had a child. So did I. So do many... All ranks mingle in a great and final night. We speak of the sights we have seen, of alien warriors, of traders, of beings whose minds we could never hope to comprehend. We say goodbye to it all. Our sensors tell us there is not much time now. The stars blink out, one by one. Goodbye, my love. Goodbye. {Leave} #20 Alien: ... REQUEST LOG UNAVAILABLE ... SUBSTITUTING DATA ... {Read Log} ... ... - kzzzkt - ... ... ... ... ... Is - kzzkt - Anyone - kzzzkt - ... It's not - zkzkzkt - Nothing ends. Don't you see it? Nothing - kzzzkt - Nothing - {Leave} #21 Alien: ... LOG EXTRACTION COMPLETE ... {Read Log} ERROR... UNEXPECTED LOG TERMINATION... {Leave}

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---

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---