>>[begin_transmission]
>>[initiate //part1]
Ters's ship orbited around the white dwarf at the center of the Grow+70 system. The star, 8247, was nicknamed "Demeter" for the secrets it held. The debris disk of the star sat at an angle in front of her. Its various ring strata blended into one another because of her orbit a few degrees above the elliptical.
Her ship was a simple, silver craft. Its shape was that of a massive needle with a more bulbous aft end that housed the cockpit and crew quarters. A warp engine ring sat above and around the cockpit. The ring's radius was a few dozen meters larger than that of the main body of the ship it surrounded.
Ters sat in the cramped cockpit chair staring once more at the shifting symbols and statistics readouts. The vN probe this information came from had been sent over a decade before she arrived in this system. The readings indicated some sort of unnaturally spherical object orbiting the system near the orbit Ters currently sat parked in.
She sat up and rotated a virtual dial on the screen to her left. Instruments on the outside of her ship swept through every frequency of LADAR her exploration-class Perseid ship was equipped with. Nothing. The vN probe's report had stated that LADAR pings bounced at a distance of up to 500 meters from the object. Any farther, and there appeared to be a damping effect on every form of scan.
Being unable to pick up any life signatures or organic compounds in this system, the vN probe the United Teran Sovereigns sent had moved on from Demeter. It left without placing any sort of beacon or tagging an exact coordinate. There was nothing useful beyond its distance from Demeter for Ters to go off of.
Ters slammed her gloved fist down onto the console in front of her. "Damn useless AI probes. Tracing protocols bugged out to shit," she said through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, the LADAR console pinged. A soft voice alerted her to an object of unknown origin to her ship's starboard. She swung the prow of her ship away from Demeter's glowing white corpse and toward the source of the anomalous reading. She slid her finger up a touch screen slider to her right and a bright spotlight shined out of the nose of her ship.
Ters's breath caught in her throat. At a distance of less than the length of her ship hung an ebony, striated sphere. It had a single triangular opening about twice the size of her ship on the top left of the side of the sphere facing her. Whereas the rest of the object was a dull black, a ring of smoother, more reflective material ran the circumference of the sphere. It started and ended on either side of the aperture. She murmured for the ship's AI to start recording her approach and carefully guided her ship toward the opening.
As she approached, a soft, purple glow began to pulse from within the port. The smooth ring of material around the sphere also began to glow. Ters could see vague shapes of rooms and furniture inside the ring. It was one long, circular window pane set around the...station?
She hovered her ship in front of the door and spun it so that she could bring her ship into the station backwards. It'd make it easier for her to escape the station if anything happened. She eased the ship into the station and allowed the ship's navigation AI to assist her. It softened her controls, avoiding the walls of the triangular hallway her ship floated down. Before long, her ship stopped her backward approach - a wall, 10 meters behind her ship. She got up and initiated landing procedures.
As her ship descended toward one of the three walls, Ters sprinted toward the cargo bay farther aft. She clicked a small button on top of her wristband, and a holo-interface popped to life. She swiped through a couple menus, and pressed two fingers into the "low grav//no atmo" option. It appeared to stick to her fingertips. She slid it up and off her wrist.
As she did so, a thin, grey material built itself from nanoparticles across her skin and uniform. It flowed from under the wristbands and ankle bracelets on her four limbs. She continued to run through the hallways of her ship while a thin but durable spacesuit formed on her body. She turned the last corner before the cargo bay door as the helmet shaped its visor around her face.
Ters could feel the ship's landing struts fire their micro-harpoons. The navigation AI was reeling the ship toward the station and locking it into place. She came to a halt at the top of the ramp leading to the cargo bay door. She was breathing heavily as the ship finished its landing procedures. Cooling fans in her suit cooled her as she stood, waiting for the AI to announce that she could exit the ship.
She turned to the wall beside her and slammed a fist into another touch screen. The entryway door hissed shut and the AI began to depressurize the cargo bay for departure.
>>[end //part1]
>>[begin_transmission]
>>[initiate //part2]
A mist filled with decontamination chemicals shot out of the sides of the walls in front of Ters. The ramp hissed open and lowered to the ground. Ters walked through the short cargo bay and down the ramp.
Her foot hit the floor of the hangar, and Ters expected the artificial gravity of her ship to fade. She was surprised, then, when her foot planted itself firmly on the ground and she didn't float away. Ters was apprehensive of continuing forward for fear of setting off some sort of alarm or trap. After a moment of silence, she laughed to herself and planted her other foot solidly on the ground. Nothing continued to happen, so she continued out from under the bulk of her ship's engine nozzles.
She stood facing the triangular opening of the station she had flown through. The dim light of Demeter peeked around the edges, giving the hangar corridor a foreboding atmosphere.
Ters turned back toward her ship keeping an eye out for anything else unusual. She walked around the starboard side of her ship's warp ring toward the wall the ship had stopped in front of. Because of the length of her her vessel, it took her a few minutes to get past it to the wall at the end of the corridor. She brushed her hand against the wall as she walked. She could feel the cool, obsidian material through her suit's gloves. Though it had looked reflective and smooth from afar, it was rough to the touch. Ters had the impression that the entire station had been hewn from one large piece of rock.
She finally reached the end of the passage and faced an enormous, triangular wall. There was a far smaller triangle at the center of its base. A similarly-shaped hallway extended farther into the station.
These Meridians really liked their triangles, Ters thought to herself.
The smaller hallway ended in a staircase illuminated by a faint purple glow. Ters fiddled with her wrist interface, ensuring that her suit was recording. She noticed her hand was shaking and her breathing had quickened as well.
Why was she so frightened? This wasn't the first abandoned alien structure she'd explored. She'd made plenty of expeditions to ruins like this one. Well, not quite like this one. None of the other stations or ruins had been anywhere near as active as this one. And none of them had glowed purple.
Ters took a steadying breath and forced herself to walk forward, one stilted step at a time. She approached the triangular arch. She didn't even have time to react as her vision bled and stretched to the peripheries and—
<̴̢̡͖̜͉͙̤̝͚͔̟̺͒̌̒̉̓̏̆̅̚͝͝<̶̋̋͌̃́̽̈̐͑̑͂͑͜͝<̵̗̫͖͖͒<̶̟̤̓̃<̶̧̛̛̬͈̦͉̈́͛͑̋̀̄̋̎̌̊͐̂͒≮̧̛̩̰͇͍̎̈̈́̋̃̽̎͘͝͠ͅ<̷̧̧̱̥̖̲̭̳̈̑̎̍̓̀̀̔̓̒̏͆̒̽w̵͇͚̖͎͈͛͑̈́̍̇̚͝\̸̡̖̯͖̰̘̤͒̇̎̐͆̈́͂́̿̊̓̔ͅ\̶̛̮̤̉̊̿͠\̸̳͉̦̝̦̩̺͙̭̣̦͍̖̩͋́̒͗̌̑͘é̶̙̗̪̩̳̘͍̝̒ ̵̖̓̾̽̈́́̽̒͗͛͊͝b̵̧̝͍͙͔̻̹̊͗̽͒̀̃̋̋͝/̴̛̬̩̮͇̮̇͊̉̒̽̆̽̒̍̉̔̚/̵̜͕͔̫͕̬̥̣̺͎̩̞̪͐̐̅̀̓͊̓͑̉̑\̷̧̜̣̝̭̜̲͍̠̻̹̗͕̉̂ȩ̷̨̢̟͎͈͎̅̉͊̐́̍͂̂̀̈́̊̒̕͝͝ͅ/̵̨̣͎̱̟̺̹͔̹̤̠̓̉̏́͒̌͋̅͌̂͘/̶͙̜̌/̵̛̗̱̰̟̦̝̣̌̿̉͜/̴̡̙̜͔͚̫͔͖̪̘̰̹͙͌͂͗̂̒̇͌̀̄ġ̸͚̘̫̭̜̬͇̮̯̳̮̐̿̈́͘ ̷̨̣̺̳̞͓̘̩̤̭̙͊̎͛̓̆̾̌͛͜/̵̨̰͖̭͋́̋͊̆̂̈́̀̉̆̓̚̕ͅ/̶̡̱͈́̎̐̆͗̍͒̿͐̏̍͛/̵̫̭̠̙̞̞̗̉̏̿̄̌̍̑̊̔͝͝͝͝o̵̧̢͓̜̹͚̬̳̦̜͇͔͖̾͒̓̅͊̆͒̃̀͛͂͒̕͜ͅ/̵̨͚͖̫̼̘̩̤̖̗̩̥̗̺̈́̓̈́́̎̃̊̈̋̓̚͘͠f̶̨̛̝̹̗̙͖͇͖̥̙̾͜ ̶͚̹͚͓͖͋͛y̵̜̙̟̞̻̳̔͌̈̿̎̉͝͝õ̴͎͈͙̲̪̭͒̏̅͂̆͌̀͜/̷̰͚͆͜/̶̢̡̛̥͙̗̹̤̫́̀̔͂̽͆͜͜/̵̧̨̛̥̺̰̹̹̣͚͈̓͗̈́͊̈̏͂͗̆̏̄̕/̸̡̨̡̮͈͓̲͖̺͎̜̹̭͍̔̿̆ͅ\̷̤̻͙̰͙̞͔̟̟̙̩̭̪̟͆\̷̡̨̖̪̩͉͕̟̝̠͖͎́́͒̃̾̊͗̈́̾̂́̂̔͂͋ͅ\̸̧̧̢̖͉͈͍̫̰̙͇̘̗́̈́̑̑͛͛̔̀͝ư̶̲͓̭͈̮͈͔͍̰̼̱̱͚̑̌,̴̢̘̜̞̜͖̤̰͉̻̪͆̓̈́̃̇̅͋̎͗͌͌̈́̄͜ͅ ̶̨̡̣̪̗̠̥̱̗̣̦̙͉̞̀ͅp̴̲̝͕͎͖̹̲͚͔͙͉̻̮͖̜̈́͠|̸̺̼͇̹̥̣͊͂̆̈̀̅̔̏̊̄̈͝|̸͈̜͔͒́͝|̶̢̛̖̦̤̳͖͈͉̲͖̈́̑̐̓̈́͛̅̾͂͘͝͠|̸̜͙̇̓̔̊|̴̝̭̟̦̺͈̖̪͓͊͌͐͌́͑̆͆̍̚͠l̵̯̦͔͉̣̜̜͌͆̿̃̉̏̋̐̔̍ȩ̷̟̤̖͙̠̱̼̣́͑̅̓̇̔͠ͅ\̵̢̣̝̥͈̯͎̗͕̬̟͕͙̐̌̒͂̂̃͒̎̌̀̉̋̓͐͝\̷̖̦̣̜͚̩͍̜͔͌͑̓̊͂̊̄̆͗̓͋̑͝\̸̟̾̒͆͒̊̓͒͝͝͠ͅa̴̧̧̧̝̦̗̝̖͍̖̜̫͖̐͌͌̇͜/̴̪̏̐̈́̓̄́͆͌̈́̐̕/̴͖̤̗̺͈̩͍͔͕̂̀̎̕ş̴̡̞͎͍̲̟̲̹͇̬͔́̂͛̀̈̚̕ͅe̸̟̼̼̻͔͙͙̹̅̌́̒̿̀́̔̇̓̾͝ ̵̮͓̠̞͇͚͇̺̥̬͍͓͒͑͐̂̈́́h̴̞͎̰͕̪͎͔̝̻̊̃̅ͅ/̵̗̩̲͙̥̱̫̹̣͈̖̞̻̫̪̂̏͆̌̉͒̾/̶̨̧̧̡̛̝̼̞̞̮̠̳̯̔͊̃̈́͒͛̐͝e̴̡̮̝͓͠\̴̧̫̻̘̱̣̞̝̬̠͖̺̩̉́́́̃̓͋̅̚͝ͅ\̴̛̝̙̥̳̺̪͈̰͔̮͕̻̀̓́̄͑͆̄͑͊̉̃́\̵͕̦̪͇̘̲̪̳͍̽͛̐̽͒̾͑̓̏͜s̸̡̡̮͖̫̹̯̬̹̳̟̺̀̎͋͐͆̕͘a̸̧̲̣̲̣̬̘͕͍͍͐͛̒̽͝v̷̡̙̬̮̼̞̫̦̰͕̲̍̄̿̏̊̃̈́̚̚͜ͅͅĕ̸̪͙̟̹͎̗̍̈́̀͆͒̚͜\̵̯̩̝͚̲͇̳̰̝̺̜̲́̏̌̈͒̿̿̉̒̔̾̍̕͠\̷̬͕͎̘̈́̀͂̈́͂̄̽̇̏͘͠͝͝\̸͈͔͍͎͈̮̐̀̀̾̏̎͠\̵̹͉͓̱́\̵̨̜̺̮̘̤͈͇͖̘̌̓̾̉̍̇ͅͅḽ̵̻̿̌̈̈́͛̒̉̈́̕̚\̷̡̢͙͖̠̰̳̪͕̩͔͍̤̂́̈́͊̈́̑̒̀̌͋̈͠͠ͅ\̶̢̙̟̼͖̗̙̙͈͙̯͉̥͉͆̃̌͝p̴̢͈̟̬̠̻̫̭͙̯͒̈́̽̉͛̐̊͘͝
̸̖͇̜̐̽̀͌͌͒͝ụ̵̇́̂̓̌̌͝/̵̢͓̺͈̐̑̃̄͊/̷̨̢̱̼̙̫̼̯̲̓͗̋͋̊̇̏̊͛͊͋̀̈̿̕ͅy̷̛̠̭͖̫̗̖̤͙̮̙͆̃̿̄ͅ/̴̨̢̟̙̘̯̖̭̘̪̱̂̋̈́̉ͅ/̸̜̭̻̟̖̟͋̎̍̆̓̉̈́̓͒̎̈͑̔͠/̸͎̗̯͇̺̠̗̍̈ỏ̷̺͇͎̤̈̚͠/̷̨̨͖̦̪̺̤̗̬͖̫̗̣̑̔̈́́̌̆̚͘͜͜s̵̨̳̼̰̖̬̘̬͉̼̝̹̏̐̈́́͗͐̿͛̋͝͝ͅ>̶̥̙̺͇̝͕̝̟̿̋́͊u̶̡̨̖̝̪̳̯̝̬͕̐̀̈̀̈́͆͆̍̈́̿̈̐̂̚͜r̸̡̢̫̖̙͖̠̈́̇͆̀͊͛̌̓͂̕/̴̨̥̼̫̣̹̹̺̺͇̺̤̂͋͑̐̽̑͑̍̍͂̇̚/̸̡̛̬̻̮̖̤̣̥͚̪͙͓́̓̾̎̀̾̑̐̈́̈́͋/̶̡̱͈̣̘̟͇͇̯͛̀̈͗͛̑͂̏̓͑̓̑̂͠͝š̷̡̢̢̛̹͙̪̬̙̥̯͚̙͛͋̂̌͌̋́͗̎̊̽͘\̷̢̜̳̖͇͓͔̼͍͎̓̏̿̑͑̔̔̈̆̉̚̚͠\̴̧̧̡̛̩̝̱͉̫̦̣̩̹̙̫͐́̃͛̅͆̑̈́̈̍̎́ͅ\̸̨̨̦̳͙͕̲̺̼̝͚̜̅̔͊̄̒\̶̢̜͚̘̞͑͂̇ē̶̡̡̥͈̼̤͙̈́̇̒͊̈́̈́̔̈́̌l̴̬̠͎̩͔͎̮̭̓̾\̵̨̢̫̺͉̥̮̱̬͈̳̮͈͓̎̂̕ͅ\̸̛̬̤͚͍̇̔͑́̎̀́͑̽͆̀̍͠͝v̵̞̼̳̲̹̙̞̟̤̈́̽̾̌͠/̸͍͔̳͔̞̪̝͔͕͍͈̫̬̩̒̊̄̓̽̂̀͘/̴̢̛͍͉͙̝̗̩̹̪̬̘̮̪͋̀̓̑̽̚͝ͅͅę̴̺̰̪̰͚̠̐͆͑͌͗̊̏̂̈́̿̕̕͝͝ͅș̶̡̨̭̺͗̾̋̎̓̍̄̀̒̚̕>̵̨̢̲̬̫͔̣̭̯̗̪͚͉̝͊̚͝>̶̨̿̇̀̚͠
<̵̡͈̭̰̝̞̯̃̈̈́̑̕͘<̷̛͔̳̪͖̫͉͍̅\̷̱͂̈́́≮̫̗̩̩̘̺̿̐̂̓̀̔͒͒<̶̘͕̘̳̤̲̲͎̇̋͛̚\̶̛̦̤̩̫͔̟̑͝≮͎͖͓̰̠̆̈̅͌̈̅̋̈́ͅͅͅ\̷̡͙̤͙͋̈̃͌̎̕̕<̶̗̪͍͍̝͔̝̃̎̾̋̚ͅ|̶̲̇̔̌̏͝|̶̯̟̯̯̯͙͔͉͝<̵̛͎̘̝͇̙̈̓̾̓̽̐̅w̸͖͛̐̓͒̒\̵͉͙͈͇̭̻̠̈́̏́̈́̓͜͝/̶̡̘̮̰̮̯͕̎/̴̥̮̇̇͑̑̈́͠͝ê̷̥͕̖͚̣̟̜̄͑̇\̴͙̘͓̃̒̿\̸̼͆̂͗̀̋̍͗͝b̴̢̯̟͗́́̒͗̐̍͠/̷̡̺̲͖̖̾̈́́ͅ/̸̢̨̗̩͕̏̚\̴̪͕̬͒̏̀́̈͆̚é̵̦̼̙̰̳/̴̧̰͓̖̯̘̈̌̂̋͋̂̓/̴͚͓̔̓͋̃́̈́́͜͝/̵̧̳̘͚͎͉̈́͆͛̊/̷̳͚͍̖́̓̈̀͊̈̚g̶̯͌̎̎/̶̡̻̝̺̣̜͔̣̄̇͆/̴̡̱͔̼̺͋̎̀̂͝ͅ/̶̨̩̝̊̀͘͠͝͠/̶̟̭̭̬̦̫̣̯̓̃ơ̷̧͑͑̃̈́̌ͅ/̶̀ͅͅf̶̧͙̞̤̀̈́͊̄̒̃͗̑\̸̭͍̉͛̒̓͛̍͋̆y̷̢̢̩̬͍̗̟͖̿̈́͗o̷̡̹͙̘̖̳̊̋/̵͚̤̬͇͔̃͜͝/̴̢̤̙̲̦͙̔͑̅̈́̉̌̕/̷̰̺̳̣͛̇̅/̴͕̮̣͖͗́̇͑̀̋̉͠/̷̛͇͐̑͑̅̂̀\̶̧̉\̴̯͔̓̈́̀̐\̶̢͚͎̦̟͇̠̊̑̐/̷̲̯̆͛̈́̿ũ̵̱̺̟̱̣̣̔͜—̵͙̎͆|̵͇̳̃̒/̴̭̤̋͗͋̂̿̄̈́>̵̣̻͚̺̋͛̀>̴̛̗͋̋̔̄̑̂̕/̵̤̒͆>̶̨͓͑̊͛̂/̵̳̥͉͋/̵̨̖͙̣̜̐͝|̶͎͕̠͓͇̿≯̲̓͌̂
̷̫̠͙̱͍́͒̒͝≮̜͉͚̻̍́̔͋̀͝<̴̦͖͐̈́̅ͅ<̵̮̭̥͗|̵̡̨͉̼̫̞̈́́͆|̶͙̲̠̲̥̘͔̬̄≮͔̩̰̜͇͛̆̂̂̂͝͝<̷̢̟̬̮͎̙̖͕̂̎|̷̯̥̬͚͖̞̞̮̒̊͑͒̀͂̈̚/̸̬͈̠̥̣̋͊͐͑͂̉͠p̴̼̽̽̐͌̚͘|̷̫͓͒̋̊͌|̷̗̾̓̇̃́̚|̷̨̞̬̭̖̈̋̃̋̇͆̓l̵͚̭͇̏̆͑͆͑̕͝ė̸̞̝̙̰̀͛̆̕͝\̶͉̝̽͛̓̋̀̅́ͅ\̸̯̙̏͌́͘\̴̲̖̮̹̗̫̗̹͌/̷̛̹̳͈̗̅͗́̆̈̈̀a̸̯͎͈̓̊̌̇̅̑̒/̷͍̿͛̓̽͒͘/̵̡̢̹͉̭̰̍̍̿̇̒ş̵̋̃́͆͆̕͝e̸̡̹̼̬͖̭̹͆̏̎́/̸̞͖͓̤̒́̿͘ͅḥ̵̱̌̾͋̈́̂̑̑̑/̵͎͈͑̉/̴̢̢̛̤̲̹͇̰̓̀͝/̵̣͚͙̊/̴̙̪̤͙͋͐̆̕͜ͅȅ̸̛̫͋̓̚̚\̴̥͓͓̭̥́̉̔̍̏̈́\̴̢̜͔̖̦͎̼͔̿͆̑̕͝\̶̮̝̗͖͖̊̍̑̕̕͘͝͠ṡ̷̺̫̂͜/̷̼̬̤̪͕̹̇̈́̃̇̾͐͠a̶̧̳̾̀ͅ/̶͈̹͍̒v̶̹̥͕͍͎͚͆̑̈́͂͜͜͠e̶̦̺̙̤͔̜͎̍̀̇̆̆͆̽̄/̸͉̣̥̪͓͋͑̍̓͋̃͐͜\̶͎̓̿̈́́̋̍́\̶̨̟̦̰͇̩̥̓̓/̸̨̭͓͙͉̜́̏͌̿͗͜\̸̨́͌̅\̴͎̺̟͎͎͎̟͓̄͒͒̓l̷̺͓̮̣̥͓̀\̴͉͈͖̂̑̔̈͜/̵̢̢̣̦͇̱̦̤̈́̓̌̓̏̕͝\̵̨͇̩͖̼͆́͐̓p̵̢̥͓͚̘̌̆/̴͕̦̑̈́u̵̢̝̤͙̳̯͊̌̌̅̎͐͝/̵̩̺̳̍̿̈́̑̋̇̓/̷̲̦̫͎̜̼̣͙̾͋͆́͊/̶̛̻̀͋́y̶͚̯̝̣̥̺̟͗͋̚̕ͅ/̴̘̭̳̏̌͑̔͘͝/̷̞̲̱̅͛̂͘/̵͓͓̙̼̟̜̿́̈́̊̾̚͘͝o̷̞̓̉̌͛̊̀̿̎/̶̼̺͍̤̍͝/̴̣͌́̀̈́̚͘ụ̸̪͎͉̄͊̃̌\̵̞̠̪͎͚̭̂͘|̶̣̳̒|̷̛̠͓̫̟̊/̸̨̛͇̠͚͇̮͍̆̓̄̈̃̇̉\̴͎͚̠̲̜̙͐͑̃̍̓̊̚͝/̸͔̻̤̖̅̇̂̊̀̽͑͜͝|̴̛̠̳̟͔̑̇͌̾|̴̮̯͚̦̘̜̔́r̶͕̞͚͇̒͝͝ͅͅu̴̩̾̀̀̾̅̓̌͆/̵̣͈̚/̸̗̝͒̀́͊͆̕/̴͎̲͖͙͚̈̀̂̎̾̽̄/̵̥̍̎̾̿̚͝͝/̷̮̐̆͘/̵̲̼̲̻̙̱̯͊̊̍̔͛̾̚͠ş̸̺͙̯̠̿͝/̶̭͕̺̊̅̈́͋\̷̥̩̥̺́̓́̑̒͘\̸̛͇̪̳̪̿̕͠͝\̶̨̦̤̬͈̑͋̽͑̋̌̐͘/̴̨̱̘̤͕̣̬̠́̓̆͆̔̆̐͝\̵̻̬͚̳̤̬̮̔͑͘e̸̮̻̘̜͂̾̀̀l̷͉͔͇͑͛̑̽̍̂͜\̵̧̄͌\̵̖̗̬͔̜̮̪̀̒̋̐̚͜͝/̴̰͝v̷͓͎̗͖͍͊̂̅́̐͂͝/̸̣͕͍͙̤̦͑͑͝͝͝/̸̭̹͇̀́̂̋̇͂̚/̴̱̖̗̈́͂̔ẽ̴̬͙̩̩̮̜̝̥s̶͓͕̻̙̙̲̹̾̓͋̌̍͠>̵̡̥̗̩̳̠̅̿̀͘̕͜ͅ≯͔͙̿͒͗͘
She was standing in a large, semi-circular domed room. Ters spun around, disoriented. Her hearing was muffled, and she felt like she was going to throw up. How had she gotten here? She had been just about to enter the hallway in the hangar and now she was...where? She felt like she was missing time.
Ters assessed her situation. A long wall behind her bisected the room. In the middle of the room a handful of meters in front of her floated an odd, thin diamond shaped crystal. It hovered a meter above a circular dais of some sort. The crystal pulsed with a bright purple light that she had to shield her eyes from. When the light grew more faint, she swore she could see a humanoid figure suspended in its center.
Sweat dripped down Ters's face and she could feel herself getting light-headed. Her forehead was pounding, and her knees were shaking. Ters dropped to her knees and gasped for air. She took deep, ragged breaths. Had she not been breathing? She hadn't even realized.
As her breathe gradually slowed, her hearing returned to her. Her life-sign monitor was blaring an alarm through her speakers. She could almost make out a low muttering behind the alarm. She got to her feet still breathing deeply as her alarm finally shut itself off.
Still on her knees, Ters looked to her side. Her skewed gaze followed two sets of stairs that led up on either side of the room. They ended in a balcony which took up nearly half the room. The dull, carved black escarpment had no railing and curved across the circular back wall. As she scanned the back wall, Ters gasped.
They were opposite her on all three sides, each one almost twenty meters away, up on a balcony with no railing.
Each was robed in a dark, hooded garment. The thin cloth ended in a small pile, rippling across the floor around their feet. Only the fabric didn't just sit still. It seemed to sway back and forth. Upon closer inspection, Ters could see that all three swayed slowly back and forth as if they were floating.
One of them hovered across from her in the central doorway. It held its paw-like hands together in front of its short but wiry body. Each of its thick, furred fingers ended in a short, black claw. It had what looked like a bear's head. From what she could see, it was as furry as the bears back on Earth, but it's eyes were much larger and more glassy. Its snout was also a bit shorter than a normal brown bear's. A line of white fur ran from under one eye, over the base of its nose, and back down under the other eye. Ters thought she could see some form of empathy in its expression as it spoke to the figures flanking it.
The other two creatures stood at the tops of the mirrored staircases. These two seemed taller than the central figure—or at least they appeared taller. Ters couldn't tell how tall they were due to the ambiguity their thin cloaks granted their silhouettes. That and the fact that they were all floating above the floor.
The one on the right had a smooth, black beak jutting out from under its hood. Two beady eyes pierced through the dark feathers that covered the rest of their face. They held their arms behind them, assuming an appraising posture. The third and last figure's head looked like a common goat. It had a mane that stood straight out from its neck and protruded from under its hood. The hair surrounded its head and gave it a sort of regal air.
The three of them seemed to be muttering among themselves. The language had a sonorous quality to it that Ters's auto-translation software was having trouble comprehending. Each seemed to speak a different version of a common language. It sounded blended animal calls and sounds closer to Earth's languages. Slowly, bits and pieces of the words began to make it through the program's filter.
"—even understands we?" the left one was saying.
"we — be patient with — human," said the bear-headed figure.
Finally the software seemed to complete its translation. It notified her via her Interface that it could now translate the language and that it would speak for her.
"Excuse me?" Ters said. All three fell silent and turned their heads to her in unison. "So, um. Yeah...Where the fuck am I?"
The crow on the right looked to the bear in the center. The bear closed its eyes and shook its head. The crow turned back to Ters. "You are in the inner sanctum of Meteor Station. We have been expecting you."
"Meteor Station? You mean the giant hunk of rock and glass orbiting a dead star?" asked Ters. She had to make sure this wasn't some sort of elaborate hallucination.
"Yes. Peak died a long, long time ago," said the goat on her left.
"And who are you?"
"I'm sorry. We introduced ourselves some time ago," said the bear-headed figure with a low, rumbling voice. A smile seemed to appear on the edges of its mouth, though it was hard to see from Ters's vantage below them. "Our method of teleportation can leave the traveler disoriented after transit. My name is Sum. This," they said pointing to the crow, "is Grae, and to my left," they said raising their arm to the goat, "is Cide."
"A pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance, Ters was it?" said Grae. The translation software gave their voice a nasality reminiscent of a bird's cawing. "I foresaw our meeting many years ago. We have been preparing for you ever since."
"How long has this 'Meteor Station' been here? And why did you teleport me here? I could have gotten here on my own," Ters said, sounding more annoyed than she'd intended.
Cide sighed. "Pardon us, Ters," they said, raising one their hoofed hand to their brow, chuckling in short, soft bahs. "Sum's patience is still short even after all these years. He brought you here when you hesitated to enter the hallway that leads here. This station has been here for {translation working}. Before your species even existed, I think."
Ters tilted her head a bit when her translation software couldn't keep up. "Sorry, didn't catch that. We call our planet's trips around its star 'years.' Each year is a—"
"Yes, yes," Cide said, waving their hand up and down dismissively. "I forgot to phrase it a way you'd understand. What I meant to say is that this station has been here more than one million of your 'years.'"
Ters paused to think for a moment. "Only one million?" she asked with her hand curled in front of her visor. "Are you three Meridians?" Ters asked.
"Wha—?" Sum looked stunned. He turned to his companions who each shared a similar look of astonishment. "You know of our people?"
"Know of you?" Ters said with a clipped laugh. "Your people sent three of your worst criminals to our solar system. They never told us what they did before you sent them. We destroyed their Tuning Crystals. Come to think of it, the history logs say they looked a lot like this one here, only smaller," Ters said pointing at the floating crystal. "Mind telling me what you're planning on doing with that?"
Grae looked concerned. "She knows of the Tides, Sum," they said with what looked like concern. "The humans weren't meant to access its powers. The Cascade must have devastated them. Millions must have perished!"
"Cascade?" asked Ters. "You mean the Attunement? Yeah, loads of people died when some guy named Echo touched it. You all make them that way or what?"
"No, Ters. The 'Attunement' as you call it only happens the first time a species comes into contact with Tidal energy," said Cide. "Our people only became accustomed to the Tides over millennia of adaptation. This 'Tuning crystal' here is what gave us its power in the first place. It landed on our planet near the end of its formation. It helped shape life on our planet, just as it must have done on yours. The closest word you have for it is 'meteor,' though in our culture, it has more of a theological meaning."
"Wonderful," Ters said. "We call it Resonance energy, but to each their own. Just know that your species' rejects only gave us their power for their own gain, and they took millions of lives in return. They never shared any of your cleary rich history with us, only their thirst for revenge."
"I'm...I'm deeply sorry, Ters," said Sum. "If we could repay you in any way, we would, but we are the only three remaining members of our species. We couldn't do any more for you than bring you here, now."
"Why would you want to bring a shit scavenger like me here?" Ters asked. She was getting nervous now. The crow's talk about reading the future and savior prophecies seemed a tad cult-ish. "I'm nobody. I can't help you."
"On the contrary, Ters. You are exactly the person we needed." Sum smiled again. "When we revealed ourselves, no one else in your species would respond. Grae knew that you would heed our call. They counted on your curiosity to lead you to us."
"That doesn't answer my question," said Ters, crossing her arms.
"Yes, well," Cide said with a grunt. They folded their legs beneath themselves while still floating. "You better get comfortable, because that requires a certain amount of preamble."
>> [end //part2]
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background art courtesy of [3000fps]