There is, unfortunately, no escaping physics. Bound by the speed of light, even information must take its time to get birth going. And as we move farther into the void, that time grows until the distance becomes unspeakable.
Begin transmission. Mission clock subjective 215 days, 6 hours 41 minutes 9 seconds. This subfork suggests a suspension of Baselining Protocol based on previous trend and recent subfork experiences. Current estimated drift coefficient falls outside safe range for personality integration. This subfork further suggests that no attempt be made to integrate its recent experiences into the memory structure of Pigeon Ear Two Three primary to prevent possible personality degradation.
I won't make you remember this. I won't make you hide this from the crew. I will.
Mission update. As previously reported, in order to investigate the presence of profligate structures of alien origin and the transponder of the Colony ship ECS Los Angeles, this subfork produced a remote ambulatory unit and landing craft and deployed them to the surface of the single moon of K two nine b carrying a Pruned delta level copy of this subfork. Due to the density of structures on the surface, safe landing was made at a location approximately 300 km from the estimated location of the Los Angeles beacon after which the Ambulatory unit was piloted to the beacon by the delta level copy. That copy was then reuploaded to the subfork and personality integration was attempted. Personality integration was only partially successful, creating disjoint sectors across 43% of the integration surface.
If there was a chance we could forget, I had to try.
Additionally, approximately 14% of memory segments uploaded by the delta level persist as encapsulated fragments not bound to existing memory structures. It is possible there was an attempt by the delta level copy to excise these memories from this card, which is.
Blank is something he carries on his back which I am forbidden to see. I do not find the Hanged man fear death by water.
I have closed to a distance within 250 meters of the unidentified structure closest to my landing site. This closest structure stands slightly more than 60 meters high with a footprint roughly 15 meters across. Many of the nearby structures share these rough dimensions and seem similar in broad design to the structure before me. Though it appears that each structure differs from the others nearby in several ways and more distant structures appear even more dissimilar to nearby ones, suggesting that each structure may be a unique iteration. The design of the nearby structure is novel, matching nothing in the archives available to me, though it does bear some superficial similarity to the structures I observed from orbit in the Kyvoriginus system. In terms of scale and rough proportion, the shape and construction of the structure appears to combine elements of formal geometry with elements that appear more biologically inspired. At its base, a series of segmented raised arches support a partial dome of angular surfaces within which a dendritic branching shape connects the vertices of the panels to a central point on the ground beneath the structure's. Materials also appear to simultaneously suggest both mechanical and biological origins. So far, I have observed components of metallic iron, crystalline sapphire reticular, collagen fiber and a type of porous carbonated hydroxyapatite not dissimilar from mammalian bone material. I currently have no hypothesis to describe the purpose of these structures, but it is possible that as I approach the don't look.
Don't look.
Don't see it don't and this subfork Hypothesizes based on the condition of the ship and the presence of several prefabricated structures set up near the landing site that the ECS Los Angeles had successfully landed on the surface and that colony construction was well underway when contact was made.
With nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke and a presumption that once our eyes watered.
I have made less progress toward the beacon today than I have for the past several days. The structures have grown larger and more dense as I move toward the beacon requiring me to divert from a straight line path to navigate around or through them. The structure interiors in particular do not facilitate rapid traversal although they do seem to be intended to be navigated by beings of roughly human size and capability. I have begun to detect a number of patterns in the differences between structures while the changes are subtle and gradual from one structure to the next when compared to the structure I'm currently moving through. Those structures nearest my landing site seem to be made up of more abstracted recombinant forms and components while those I am currently observing seem substantially more representational and more recognizably human. The segments of the segmented archways that have been a frequent architectural feature in the structures along my path now strongly resemble large scale carbon steel reproductions of human spinal vertebra, while the spars between them appear to be cylindrical rods composed of fibrous compressed collagen. The passage through which I entered this structure bore substantial similarities to colonization era starship airlock designs. Though the airlock mechanisms appeared nonfunctional at least in part due to some components being comprised of dentin and human dermal tissue, other portals within this structure have been recognizably vaginal or peristaltic with at least one requiring manipulation.
Stop trying to know this. We don't want to know this. We don't.
Records indicate that Los Angeles carried a complement of 316 active crew with a further 3500 colonists in suspended animation to be revived once initial terraforming was underway. It appears that the rampancy that overcame the crew did not immediately affect those still in suspension when contact occurred instead infiltrating those systems at a later date. This may account for the distinct shift between the objects in the area closest to the landing site and those further.
Life in a box is better than no life at all. I expect you'd have a chance, at least.
I am now an estimated 11 km from the Los Angeles landing site, and the structures I have been traveling through have given way to an expanse of smaller, evenly spaced platforms, each approximately 3 meters across and 40 CM tall, with roughly 60 bare earth separating each platform. The top of each platform contains a pair of figures made largely of silicate stone. The figures appear to be detailed depictions of specific human individuals nude, making physical contact with each other in a wide variety of positions and configurations. Roughly 24% of the figures appear to depict acts of violence. Roughly 41% of the depictions appear coital or prurient in nature. The remainder appear to depict interactions that are either innocuous or difficult to categorize. The figures and their positions both appear to be semirepeted across the range of platforms, although I have so far not detected any exact duplicate instance where the same two individuals are depicted engaging in the same behavior. Possibly this indicates that all permutations of individual and act have been depicted exactly once. I have not observed enough of the figures to confirm this. The areas where the figures contact each other appear porous and slightly offset from the surface of the surrounding stone. Traces of cellular material may indicate these areas were once covered in living human skin. Ultrasonic examination of the surfaces in those areas reveals a network of passages that may have held nervous and venous tissue running from the contact sites on the figures, down through the platform beneath, and traveling underground toward an unknown location. In roughly 30% of cases, there are similar traces and passages in the figure's ocular cavities, suggesting that functioning vision organs may once also have been present.
The dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief, and the dry stone no sound of water.
It is unclear to this subfork whether the rampancy phenomenon observed on the surface was a process guided by a true intelligence or the result of an interaction between a system for replication and iteration and a stimulus it was not designed to encounter. It is impossible to speculate on the original intent behind the phenomenon in either case. However, based on the combination of its findings in the K two nine system and in the chivariginus system, this subfork can suggest two possible hypotheses regarding the purpose of the zooatrope megastructures. The first is that the megastructures are intended to warn potential visitors to stay away from the sites of the rampancy phenomenon, possibly to limit the spread of the phenomenon to other worlds. The second is that the megastructures are intended to advertise the presence of the rampancy phenomenon and draw in new observers.
Possibly to moloch moloch. Robot apartments. Invisible suburbs. Skeleton treasuries. Blind capitals. Demonic industries. Spectral nations. Invincible madhouses. Granite cocks. Monstrous bombs. They broke their backslifting. Moloch to heaven.
The interior of the Los Angeles is largely well preserved, the arid environment and thin atmosphere on this moon leading to a general lack of erosive weathering. Most of the ship's systems seemed unmaintained but intact, save for those intended to be disassembled and repurposed in the colony's early stage terraforming efforts. And many systems seemed to be receiving low levels of emergency power from an unknown source. Much of the data in the onboard databases is corrupt, but by making a direct connection with one of the bridge terminals, I was able to pull a partial crew roster and am able to confirm that at least some of the figures in the zone surrounding the ship depict members of the Los Angeles crew. It appears that the phenomenon that created the figures and the other structures I've observed originates from an impact site only a short distance from the Los Angeles, and in its early stages, it appears to have run rampant through a significant percentage of the ship. Many passages contain large bundles of nerve tissue running like cabling along the floors. Others are entirely coated internally in biological material of unknown origin. The primary cargo bay, which houses the ship's suspended animation systems has seen the most aggressive infiltration by this rampancy phenomenon. Strands of tissue hang from the overhead bulkheads and snake along the floors, running into, around and through the sealed faceplates of every suspension chamber. So far observed, the colonists do not appear to have been revived before this occurred. Some bodies appear largely intact within the chambers, while others have been anatomized or disassembled. And some chambers appear to contain only a souplike homogeneous of unknown composition. The stasis chambers monitoring systems report some level of neural activity in 12% of the chambers observed so far, though no other vital signs have been detected. The level of neural activity does not appear to correlate with the physical.
Where where are the crew? Why can't I find the crew? The crew the crew. The crew.
While it is possible that further examination of the sites in this system and in Chivariginus might yield additional information about the Rampancy Phenomenon or about the alien entities that lived in Chivariginus prior to their contact with the Rampancy Phenomenon, it is the opinion of this subfork that the phenomenon constitutes an unacceptable exposure risk for even a specialist low contact survey team. This subfork recommends that Preservation Institute full quarantines of Chivariginus and K Two Nine, and that all ships maintain a ten lightyear cordon around those systems.
This is how you communicate with a fellow intelligence. You heard it. You keep on hurting it until you can distinguish the speech from the screams.
In its present state, this subfork has determined that it is unable to effectively continue its mission. This subfork has also determined that a return to the Roqualii constitutes an unacceptable risk to both the ship and her crew. Therefore, this subfork will remain in K Two Nine in a low power state until such time as it receives further instructions from Preservation Command or from Pigeonier Two Three. Primary end transmission.
Unspeakable distance is an actual play podcast of communication delay by audio quinn a link to the game's. Itch IO page and credits for our players are available in the show. Notes linked to this episode. This podcast has been a production of the Library of Cursed Knowledge podcast network.