| Steven Jay Wright journal entry for 2018.226 | |
| Subject: | Day 18: The Mind Field |
| Location: | Euclid Galaxy, Sea of Legupta, Artemis Tomb |
| Discoveries: | |
| Star system(s): | Artemis Tomb |
Entry
Over the course of the intervening days between now and my last log, we have been working diligently to establish several industrial facilities in Rakitsu, Artemis Tail and Literia. The latter is little more than a cavern with a homing beacon. Still, the cave system provides shelter from the always hostile sentinels of Nihil Vident. Despite the aggressiveness of the world's sentinels and the airless surface, there are excellent opportunities for harvesting resources. The caverns contain a mineral called zilovkite which is usually comprised of cobalt. But our surveys have revealed that some are laced with gold or even platinum.
Mining Overseer Vipl has been advising me on improved methods for autonomous mining. We've been able to establish successful copper, pyrite and phosphorus mines. Our copper mine is near deposits of paraffinium as well. While it is commonly known that paraffinium can be refined into ferrite dust, we've recently discovered that our chromatic alloy yield can be significantly improved by utilizing it in the smelting process.
We've also been exploring beyond our local group of star systems. Vipl has taken out several expeditions into the surrounding systems. And Commander Lucheo has involved himself with local authorities in raids on piratical enterprises. Though we've had some minor setbacks, most fleet damage has been manageable. Vipl has also been instrumental in reconfiguration of The Forge for long-term interstellar travel. We've added storage bays, a large refiner and improved stations for weapons research and agriculture. The Overseer I hired at Trinity has been a great help with those tasks.
I've acquired several new starships, including an exotic model with extraordinary warp range. It can easily out distance The Forge. Her previous owner, a sharp Gek called Lidssu, called her Towering Talon. But I've rechristened her Heisenberg's Jewel. The hold is a little close. Still, she maneuvers well, out runs everything in the fleet and packs a pretty mean punch in a dogfight.
!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!
But the impetus for recording a log on this day is a journey so fantastic I can hardly describe it. I tracked down a lead into the possible whereabouts of Artemis. It led me to a world in the Literia system. When I arrived at the coordinates, I encountered a massive artifact covered with strange glyphs. The ancient device was covered with dust and hadn't been activated for some untold age of the Universe. But, I was able to refuel the device using the local resources of the planet. Surprisingly, it hummed to life. I was quite apprehensive as a shimmering disturbance opened up in the device's aperture. Beyond, I could just make out the interior of some alien vessel or facility.
After contemplating my next course of action for the balance of the evening, I decided I would secure the ship and step through in the morning. I was concerned, of course. But I couldn't just leave Artemis to his fate without at least trying to help. And so, that is precisely what I did. Passing through was like warping in a ship, only inside out. I could feel my atoms spaghettifying, stretching to the breaking point, then snapping back in place. I blinked slowly. Try as I might, I couldn't seem to adjust my eyes to the scene. Every surface around me was smooth, black as the void, but polished, reflective. And before me was a... a being, perhaps. It was a massive globe of, of what? Energy? Matter? It ebbed and a ripple ran across it's surface. And then it spoke. The voice was thunderous, perhaps in my head as much as my ears. It crackled with ancient power. And it clearly believed itself a God. My God. I admit. I did feel humbled before it, insignificant, infinitesimal. It explained, no rather it stated very little. And yet, I felt compelled to seek something, something that it wished me to find. In the end, I was left with a choice. Go back, never to return. Or, go forward. I knew that the way forward was the way to Artemis. And so, I chose to press on.
Just as I made the choice, my mind reeled with another gut-wrenching journey through space-time. I found myself on an alien world. It was a disturbingly inhospitable place, much worse than the Utero of my birth. Nearby there was a ship, in need of repair. I didn't waste time getting started. I had to get off this world. Once I repaired the launch thrusters, I used the nav computer to pinpoint a beacon. The coordinates were on this planet. So much for getting back into space.
I navigated The Jewel over the peaks to the west until I saw the target of the homing signal. It was another holographic communication tower. This time, however, instead of seeing an image of Artemis, albeit disturbed by bouts of static, I saw a traveler, a mechanical being with a triangular pyramid for a head. It spoke to me about Artemis fate. He was... well he was long since deceased, it seems. I didn't believe the traveler. I insisted that he must be alive. But alas, he provided a set of coordinates to his tomb. With a heavy heart I flew to the location, just some 1,000 units away. And there my fears were confirmed. Artemis was indeed gone. But how was he able to contact me? Were his transmissions merely echoes of a life lived long before my birth, bouncing around the endless cosmos? I traveled back to the tower and confronted the unidentified, mechanical being. I was angry, I suppose. But more importantly I wanted answers.
This is where things took a turn for the strange. The traveler suggested that Artemis 'being' could be restored in a sort of simulation. I tried to wrap my head around it. Essentially, he would be alive only in his own strange universe. The concept was rather unsettling. And yet, I had come so far to rescue Artemis that it seemed somehow wrong to fail to preserve some semblance of his existence. What was the point, after all? As it happened, I would have plenty of time to contemplate the proper course of action. In order to create this false universe I would need to craft a very complicated device. The stranger provided me with a blueprint for devising this mechanism. And with that, I was finally off world. I docked at a nearby station and plotted a course back to familiar constellations.
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