Captain’s Log, UEC Einstein. Date: 09.12.2189. We found it. The signal from XV-827 wasn’t a mineral deposit. It’s a cage. The entities inside—they don’t have names, only designations. We’ve assigned XV-827 to the one we woke by accident. It killed half the crew before we contained it again. The thing is pure information. It doesn’t attack matter. It attacks meaning. It rewrites your memories, your loyalties, your sense of self. One minute you’re firing at it, the next you’re convinced you’ve always served it. We are sealing the vault. If you are reading this, do not—repeat, do not—open the sphere. Let the designation die with the planet.
Elara had three options. Stay and cook in her own failing ship. Take the emergency pod and drift for two years on minimal life support. Or land on XV-827. xv-827