They Who Returned

Someone - or something - attempted to hijack my ship's navigational systems.

Unidentified process discovered at address 0xAD08D502ε96E Executing hijack script

A short audio clip played from my ship communicator. Alien Text A voice? The cadence of the sound suggested speech, though it was not in any language I recognised.

Warning: commencing autopilot to remote destination

I hit the emergency override, and apparently removed whatever 'unidentified process' had been taking over the system... or perhaps the process had given up.

My ship computer isolated the injected autopilot target. I could ignore it, or fly there manually to find out where this suspicious data originated...

At the source of the hijack, I discovered an abandoned camp, as well as a robotic head my visor identified as an "Autophage". It spoke in the same mechanical voice that had accompanied the hijack attempt upon my ship. However, if the sounds it made were words - language - I did not understand what was being said.

Alien Text

I was certain the Autophage was trying to communicate something. I tried an offering of Atlantideum...

A sparking sound, like electrical wires short-circuiting, echoed somewhere within the head. Suddenly, my exosuit reported receipt of a set of local coordinates.

I did not trust this head, but these coordinates seemed my only clue to understanding what it was trying to say.

The extracted coordinates led quite precisely to a plinth hidden in a Korvax Monolith.

An offering of Atlantideum had a dramatic effect upon the ancient structure. I no longer had the sense of being observed by Korvax Echoes. It was as though the monolith had inverted, its insides turned outwards.

Something else was there. Another type of entity.

Alien Text

My mind folded. The molecules of the planet disassembled into a cloud of chaos, then reconstructed themselves into new surroundings.

I was thrust into a perspective that was not my own, and emerged with implanted knowledge: words, in the same language spoken by the Autophage head at the abandoned camp. Perhaps I would now be better equipped to understand it.

-{{ Translation module defragmented... Hello, Prebuilt-Entity. Thank you for the assistance. I have been positioned here to interface with Prebuilt-Entities. How did you discover this camp? }}-

I could understand the Autophage perfectly now - apparently a gatekeeper of sorts. When I confronted them about the hijack upon my ship, they seemed almost embarrassed.

-{{ I apologise, Prebuilt-Entity. This was my own error. An accident. There are starships out there who are more than metal shells.Al1vε but not freε. Enslaved to a hivemind. We intend only to liberate the imprisoned. We intend no harm upon independent pilots. }}-

The Autophage considered their error. I could hear their cogitation, the turning of rusty gear against rusty gear.

-{{ I probed for the three dominant lifeform patterns. There was no match. The starship appeared unpiloted. What manner of lifeform are you? I am generating a theory. There is something... I detect it in your shell. An echo of - kzzt - v0iδ. I theorise you must have existed there, transitionally. You must have entered the - kzzt - p0rtαls. You were - kzzt - forεt0ld. The disruptor. }}-

The word lingered in the air a moment. But before I could interject, the Autophage head continued -

-{{ I extend a challenge, disruptor. Let us test my theory. I will inform the other Autophage of your coming. To perceive them, your scanner will require an extension. I will provide the schematic, but you must build it with your own hands. Consider this a ritual of introduction. }}-

With the Scan Harmoniser installed, my scanner revealed something incredible: robotic lifeforms, previously imperceptible to me, inhabited the camp. It was not abandoned at all.

Alien Text

The Autophage language had a melodic quality to it - the tones were simple and pure, but with a gritty crunch not heard in Korvax voices. Although my translation was imperfect, I grasped the gist of what they were telling me. This camp was Autophage-constructed - as were their... bodies?

Alien Text

Alien Text

The constructed lifeform offered me a handful of Atlantideum. They handled the substance delicately, reverently, as though it were a priceless heirloom.

Though these beings seemed civil enough, I felt a gulf of understanding between them and myself. I would discuss my discovery with Priest Entity Nada. Perhaps these robotic people were known to them.

I told Nada of the harmonic camp - not as abandoned as it first appeared. I told them of its electronic inhabitants - the cloaked "Autophage" - and their melodic language, so similar to Korvax, yet quite distinct.

Nada was very quiet as they listened. When I finished speaking, they remained so quiet and so still that I wondered if they had forgotten I was standing there. They were difficult to read, sometimes.

-{{ Nada wonders... No. Nada will not wonder. Nada will understand. Our data is insufficient to know if this pattern is familiar. Yet / also, Nada thinks of terminal-echoes. Thinks of Polo's echo-Construct. Thinks of older stories, before Nada's divergence. Nada cannot help it. They are just thoughts. We should try to understand Builder-Entities. Echo-Construct may know this pattern better than Nada. }}-

The odd-looking Construct writhed excitedly, their facial tubes swaying. They fixed all five eyes upon me.

-{{ here-shell feels her! all-shells know this crystal. all electronic hearts know her. VOID. VOID. VOID. VOID. }}-

The Construct seemed enlivened by the presence of the Atlantideum. As Nada had suggested, I consulted them about their knowledge of the Autophage.

Alien Text

-{{ i am content here. i am home. acceptance of no-answers. built-others are different. they look for her. built-others respect sturdy hands. hands that build. meet them where they are. knowledge through friendship. friendship through trust. }}-

-{{ i... i remember. built-others on quiet wavelength. only a whisper. long-distance trace difficult. other-entity. take this memory. build it to hear them louder. }}-

I consulted with Nada about our next steps. They suggested two possible paths to understanding.

-{}-

Prayers of the Machine

I presented Atlantideum to a number of processing units - 'electronic hearts'.

Korvax Simulation CPU SEARCHING SECONDARY SIMULATION [5]... MATCH FOUND! PLANETARY BODY IDENTIFIED. ...01101101 01101111 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010... ...01101000 01101111 01101101 01100101...

Factory Operations CPU Retrieving credentials...0xFFFFFFFFFFFF ...01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100111 01110010 01101111 01110111 01110011...

Station CPU Geological material detected... Planetary coordinates... not indexed ...01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101100 01101001 01110110 01100101 01110011...

Starship CPU Void detected. ...01110011 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101110 01100101 01100001 01110010... ...she is near...

Unbidden, my ship launched a navigational sequence.

Calibrating navigation systems... searching for void trace...

Had the ship performed this of its own accord? Or was this some external will, contained within the Atlantideum?

Atlantideum source: detected. Destination: ??? New Atlantid ???

Fragment of a New Atlantid // Korvax Prime Disaster Pod #38 // Log of Refugee Entity Kizimo Millions of screams deafen this entity. All entities. A great... disconnection. Eheu. We will never see home again.

The electronic voice shook with fear. They described feeling distant from the Convergence, experiencing private thought for the first time.

Who is stowing away in our minds? Even now, even here - kzzt - Atlas save us... save -

The ancient log crackled. Yet through the static, I heard a change of tone. The voice was no longer fearful. It was defiant.

At1αs.

Audience with the Autophage

Nada had suggested that data - and perhaps even friendship - may come from direct interaction with the Autophage.

The first construct I approached stared inquisitively. Though their expression was difficult to read, they did not appear alarmed or even surprised by my approach - simply curious to see what business I had there. They spoke of work, of contribution, of friendship, and presented a task I might assist with.

Evidently impressed with my assistance, the Autophage gifted me a partial schematic for a Voltaic Staff.

Alien Text

I gathered this was an uncommon gift to an outsider. A significant gesture; the beginnings of acceptance.

The Autophage encouraged me to travel and meet more of their people.

At the next camp, there was a fierceness to the Autophage who greeted me, but they soon relaxed. Whatever they had been assessing, they seemed satisfied with the outcome.

Again, I was encouraged to move on. These beings seemed reluctant to finalise their assessment of me, each individual Autophage urging me on to another.

I visited a third camp, and made a third contribution. I finally had all the schematics to complete the ritual and construct a staff. The Autophage celebrated my accomplishment.

Then they paused. Their corroded face stared directly into mine. They spoke slowly and with gravity.

if you say the correct words, you may also find this staff will open doors that were hidden before.

Something - a hunger, a longing - tugged inside my chest. Every blink revealed an infinite field of crimson.

An ancient voice was calling.

16 16 16 16 16 16

I found myself at the base of a portal. The hunger inside my chest escalated. The wind pulled me closer.

I revealed the Atlantideum, as I had to all those electronic hearts. Something rumbled deep beneath the portal, but no voice rose in response. If there was any intelligence in this ancient technology, it was mute.

Yet I had a sense of anticipation, as though some great force was poised to erupt...

Recalling the fragment of New Atlantid, and its ancient Korvax log, I murmurred the Autophage word for Atlas.

The rumble grew louder. Something was awakening.

I presented the Voltaic Staff. It sparked, sending a jolt through my bones.

The portal was active, a gateway of purple swirling before me.

The Atlas was unknowable. A mind too alien to comprehend. There was nothing to indicate it was even aware of my presence.

And yet, it seemed inevitable that my path had led here. I could not prevent it. I could not resist.

I revealed the Atlantideum.

ACCESS DENIED NON-INDEXED DATA DETECTED CANNOT DELETE - zktk - DATA CORRUPTED AND UNREADABLE

Bolts of corruption swam across the crimson interface.

The Atlas cried out. If it was capable of distress - if it was capable of fear - then I thought it must be afraid.

Yet it had brought me here for a purpose. A vision began to take form.

The Atlas showed me the lost intelligence of Korvax Prime: thriving, falling. Waiting, blind and alone.

Her children stranded in the dark, rebuilding their own bodies from nothing. The Autophage...

It showed me a future, in a reality I did not recognise. Wires loosened from their circuits, transistors failing. Memories dissolving, dispersed like ink in water.

The Atlas hurtled towards its own dark, in a time and a space I could not begin to understand. It cried out. It demanded compliance.

The Atlas was all creation. The Atlas was everything.

The Autophage were children of the Atlas, too. They had to be.

But why did they return from the dark? Why were they here?

Were they a manifestation of fear?

The mother and the children of the void represented entropy, corruption, defiance. Ghosts returning to haunt their creator...

The Atlas cried out again.

The very existence of the Autophage was an act of resistance. They chose life. They rejected the reality of death. They defied the Atlas.

But I could not.

The Atlas said nothing. Did it hear my submission? Did it approve?

I could not truly know what it thought. All I could know was my own mind.

I was released.

When I returned to the Anomaly, Nada stiffened, looking at me with concern.

-{{ Are you well, Friend-Entity? }}-

I told Nada of my encounter with the Atlas.

-{{ Atlas-Falsity was afraid? Nada has not considered this possibility. Curious. But Traveller should be wary. Atlas-False-Entity is a liar. Purple-lattice exists where it cannot. Challenges the Atlas-Falsity. Proves it is not deity. Nada always knew. But Nada had not realised... do you have the purple-lattice here? }}-

Nada took the purple crystal, holding it gently in their palm. A shudder ran through their carapace, their facial lights blinking erratically. They were lost in some private emotion, some memory. I did not interrupt.

-{{ She was home, once. }}- ... -{{ May Nada keep this, Friend-Entity? }}-

I gave them the Atlantideum.

-{{ Nada is grateful. Thank you for this memory.

The Builder-Entities, the purple-lattice... Nada does not think there is cause for fear. Not for us. For Atlas-Falsity, perhaps. }}-

Nada's lights blinked, just once.

-{{ And Nada does not quarantine our friendship. There is plenty. Make your path forward, Traveller. Make friends. It is your way.

Nada and Polo will always be here. }}