Close Encounters of the Thargoid Kind
16 Nov 2022Iridium Nova
Where to begin...I guess you could say I got what I was looking for. Not quite sure I really understand it yet though. After the investigation into the abandoned bases stalled (on account of them being reoccupied), I decided to dig around in the Azimuth facilities in earnest.
And, by the way, Hind Cooperative is really tight lipped about stuff in T Tauri. When I asked them why those bases were abandoned, they just gave me the usual non-committal "these things happen" and waved me off. I guess as long as the bottom line is met, they don't have to give two shits about nosy commanders.
Anyway, digging around in Azimuth's dirty laundry is pretty dull stuff. I was hoping for juicy secrets and skeletons in the closet, but the data was all encrypted and the junk was just junk - or at least it looked like junk. Fortunately, I have a policy of not throwing anything out just because it looks unimportant, until I've proven that it's actually unimportant. That reminds me - I need to clean up around here. This place is full of junk...
Most of my time in T Tauri wasn't actually spent doing cool ninja moves and dodging patrols. It was spent running decoders and wrangling icebreakers while listening to music and crappy galcasts. I'm starting to wish Kit Fowler would just take a vacation already. Guy has too much content on the net to be as much of a recluse as he is.
In the end, I came across a sweet little tidbit of data referencing an object which I managed to pull out of some of the junk I "liberated" from the Azimuth factory (that's a generous description) in the system. Here's the relevant part of the correspondence:
"I'm not going to be responsible for yet another failure. This device is completely unproven. We can't know it'll work, and yet we're going ahead with deployment as if it's been properly tested? What if it backfires? This damn thing could be our own doomsday as much as it could be the Thargoid's. If you won't agree to reasonable testing standards, I will have no choice but to resign."
"How do you propose we test it? Last time I checked, there weren't many Thargoids taking jobs off the bulletin boards. Or should we sacrifice another squad to do it the old fashioned way like INRA? This isn't the latest power distributor we're building here. It's a goddamn weapon of mass destruction. We can't use the same methods."
"We have to be sure. Whatever it takes to make that happen. If we can't be sure, we can't afford the risk. There's too much at stake."
"Wait -- well, damn. Have a look at this message, forwarding it to you now."
"What are they thinking? Well, I guess it's too late then. May the powers that be have mercy on our souls."
"What should we do with the artifact?"
"It's no use to us now. Toss it."
Names were encrypted, but it seems it was between two scientists, maybe engineers. That artifact they mention at the end was a funny looking little doo-dad I found, literally in the garbage. Like a little spiky puck with some green bits on the tips of the spikes. Thought it was some kind of cryptic sculpture like the kind that's popular in Facece. Apparently not, as I would soon find out. Following threads from that conversation led me to a set of coordinates labeled "Delta Source".
Nothing else enlightening came from that. Apparently they were keen to eliminate any data that might have led an investigator to where they were going next - but not to where they had been. And so I set out for the coordinates supplied.
Once I got there, it was clear from a great distance where this curious little artifact had come from. A massive Thargoid structure, complete with Leviathans, sprawled across the planet. These things unnerve me to no end. But when did I ever let that stop me? So in I went.
Exploring the site came with the expected amount of creepiness and unease, but I kept at it, carrying the little object around as if hoping it would somehow guide me. And that was when that thing appeared... Like something out of a low budget sci fi thriller, but somehow infinitely more terrifying on the sheer quality of it being very real, and very much right in front of me.
Without warning the creature blasted me with its strange light and energy, pulling the little device right out of my hand and -- eating it? It was an uncomfortable feeling, like something gently feeling around under my skin looking for something. The suit did nothing to prevent this unsettling sensation. After it was over, I was left somewhat winded and quickly returned to my ship.
I seem to be fine. The suit's going to spend a few more hours in the decon chamber to get that weird crust off, but it should survive. I'm not sure what to do next, now. I suppose I should explore the site more. I guess the scavengers were only interested in the artifact that I guess I returned to them. So they should leave me alone. If not, I can just blast em. But from what I understand, they normally ignore humans. It's just - these places creep me out. I don't like the idea of exploring them any more than the idea of spending the night in one, but I can't just leave without properly following up on this lead. I didn't get to be a class A brown noser by just walking away when I got a bad feeling about something.