417 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
417 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
Message Incoming...
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Source Melchizedek.0294 Shuttle 004
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Near β Hyi
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Ascension 00h 25m 45.07036s
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Declination –77° 15′ 15.2860″
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Distance 24.33ly
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Equinox J2000.0 SOL
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Year 3782, QEC adjusted
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[Relay detected from Shuttle 004]
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[Autotranslator enabled...]
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[Voice recording initialize...ON]
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[Crew autodetection...ON]
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[Narrative mode...ON]
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[Autodisconnect after 5 minute silence...ON]
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:::
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** audio recording mode auto activated due to vocal stress **
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** detection. relaying audio to Melchizedek.0294 base station **
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[Voice detected: Jerome Somerset Pasani, Auxiliary Investigator]
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Pasani:
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--that damned thing up! I can't hear myself think.
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[Voice detected: Sandy Kroups, Phytology]
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Kroups:
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Just about--
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[Internal klaxon suppressed]
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Got it. What did we hit?
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Pasani:
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Hell if I… That, that makes no sense. Sandy, do you see--
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Kroups:
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What the… [sotto voce] my God
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Pasani:
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Steer us closer, and get those shutters down. We should be able
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to see this--
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Kroups:
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Captain, recorder kicked on.
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Pasani:
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So it did. So it did. Guess this one gets saved for posterity.
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We're transmitting from seed ship Melchizedek, serial
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aught-two-nine-four, shuttle aught-aught-four, en route from
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Beta Hydrii where the primary mission has begun for systematic
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exo-panspermia. Today is--what is today
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Kroups:
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Monday?
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Pasani:
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[audible sigh] Um, year is 3782 local. Recorder insert date
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stamp. [3782-101102-481553293] It's a god-damned Monday.
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Kroups:
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Sorry
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Pasani:
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We left the β Hyi system to backtrack our approach route. We're
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investigating the loss of crew en route and looking for whatever
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caused it. We had a few options for paths. Sandy, can you log
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that part?
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Kroups:
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Oh, sure. Um, the anomaly that killed the doctor happened in
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route, but we can't be sure exactly where in space it is now. If
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we move backward along our route in absolute space, with
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reference to cosmic microwave background radiation, that
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position has been drifting by about 360km/s. If we assume the
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anomaly is relative to the local galactic system, planetary and
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stellar movement still push our target as much as 220km/s off
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our original course. There's the risk that it's not stationary
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which further complicates--
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Pasani:
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That's good. It's a shot in the dark. We're out here kicking
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over rocks hoping we find a toad.
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Kroups:
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Some toad.
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Pasani:
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We chose a galactic-centric pathway and assumed a stationary
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anomaly.
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[PRESSURE LOSS DETECTED, overriding klaxon suppression]
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Kroups:
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SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT--
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Pasani:
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Get [inaudible] offline! KROUPS! KROU--
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Kroups:
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Got it! Damn [inaudible] snapped.
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[Pressure systems stabilized]
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Pasani:
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I'm kicking on the sensor readouts. [sotto voice] stay on top
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[inaudible]. There we go.
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[Systems voice feedback initialized. Suppressing log annotations.]
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SysVoc:
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Systems voice feedback initialized. Suppressing log annotations.
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Kroups:
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That's not gonna get annoy--
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SysVoc:
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Gravity systems offline. Pressure systems report damage.
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Pressure stable. Radiation levels above normal. Suggest chemical
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intervention. Sonic abnormalities in hull.
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Kroups:
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Ugh, system, set feedback to change detection only.
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SysVoc:
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System voice feedback set to change detection only.
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Pasani:
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Did it say sonic? Like, sound? In space?
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Kroups:
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The field must be buffeting the hull and causing vibrations.
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It's probably not--you want me to energize the shield?
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Pasani:
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No, no. We don't know how it would react. Let's get eyes on
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things first.
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Kroups:
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The log, captain?
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Pasani:
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I'm gonna get these shutters down. Fill in the rest while
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I work.
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Kroups:
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Sure thing. Ah, we, um, traveled back along the path, adjusted
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for galactic stellar movements, like I said. We didn't encounter
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anything unusual after the incident, so on the way back we cut
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an angle to meet back up with the point. You know like this.
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Pasani:
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The damn ship can't see your hand gestures, Sandy.
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Kroups:
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Right, well, I mean it can, right? Sensors and--never mind. We
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are heading back to the point of origin, traveling on
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a hypotenuse, if that hypotenuse was also curving as space
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continued to shift. Like a curvy triangle.
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Pasani:
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Reuleaux triangle
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Kroups:
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Is it? I mean, the sides don't all have the same curve.
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Pasani:
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Oh screw it. I don't know. Curvy triangle then. Can you release
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coupler--yeah that one.
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SysVoc:
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Stability unit coupler A13 disconnected. Warning, stability unit
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failure.
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Pasani:
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Okay, not that one.
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SysVoc:
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Stability unit coupler A13 engaged. Stability unit coming
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online.
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Kroups:
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Sorry.
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Pasani:
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Try the other--
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SysVoc:
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Port external shutter locking coupler disengaged.
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Pasani:
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There we--AHH!
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SysVoc:
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Warning, unsafe levels of visible light detected. Recommend
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engaging external shutters.
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Pasani:
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You don't say! Motha[inaudible]. SYSTEM engage filter, high
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band. Let's see what's left.
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Kroups:
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My…God… It's a fucking star. How is, where, why aren't we
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picking it up on sensors?
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Pasani:
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Ship log, we aren't quite back to the original incident point
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but we think we've found whatever caused the trouble. Our
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shuttle is parked not fifty million kilometers from a star.
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Sandy, you know what class that is?
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Kroups:
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I mean, if it showed up on the fucking SENSORS maybe. It's
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a ghost. I'm staring at it, but it's not--where the hell is it?
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Pasani:
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It's bright as hell, it's knocked out our gravity systems just
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like any normal star, but yeah, you're right. I'm not picking up
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any heat. Let's widen the net on the sensors. We can see it so
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there's electromagnetic energy coming at us. What are the
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readings?
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SysVoc:
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Sensor net set to wide-band electromagnetic spectrum. Storing
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readings in one minute poll.
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Kroups:
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Jerome? Ugh… I think it's moving.
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Pasani:
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Don't worry. Stars all move.
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Kroups:
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No… I mean it's changing direction. Look. It's coming closer,
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isn't it? Or it's getting bigger. I'm not sure which is worse.
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SysVoc:
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Sensor reading complete. No energy detected.
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Pasani:
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What?!
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Kroups:
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What?! Holy. There's nothing here, Jerome. The sensors don't see
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it, only we do.
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SysVoc:
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Sonic hull abnormalities have increased.
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Pasani:
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Well the ship sure FEELS something, doesn't it?
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Kroups:
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I don't like this. I don't like this at all.
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Pasani:
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No. Not one bit. Look, Sandy. We thought we were off course
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because of some drift in the gravity sheer. That's what
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triggered the cryo interruption, right? Well, what if it wasn't
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us? What if this thing did it all?
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Kroups:
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I mean, that sounds good and all. Very interesting, but a star
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that our ship can't sense is creeping its way toward us. Maybe
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we get out of here and talk about it somewhere else?
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Pasani:
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I came here for answers.
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Kroups:
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Yeah, and I'd like to deliver those answers to the others while
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we're alive.
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Captain?
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Pasani:
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What is it doing here?
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Kroups:
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Oh come on--
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Pasani:
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No really. We didn't see this en route. We can't see it from
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β Hyi. We didn't even see it when we woke up. But it's here, and
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it looks like it sees us, doesn't it? Something in there can
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think.
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Kroups:
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It's a star--
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Pasani:
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Is it? Look at that. It's hiding from the machines but showing
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itself to us.
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Kroups:
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Hiding?
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Pasani:
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It's intelligent, Sandy. It's trying to--shit. SHIT. Oh my god.
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Sandy, oh god. [inaudible] [sotto voice] pipe it through--
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SysVoc:
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System reroute: Interpreting hull vibration through ship public
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address system.
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PA:
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[Static]
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Kroups:
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What are you--
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Pasani:
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Shh... one [inaudible]. Just need to [inaudible].
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SysVoc:
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Pattern search enabled, applying heuristic. Success.
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PA:
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JEROME? JEROME ARE YOU THERE?
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Kroups:
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What. The. Fuck.
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PA:
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JEROME CAN YOU HEAR ME?
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Kroups:
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Jerome, what the fuck is that? How does it know--
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Pasani:
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Moussa?
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[System anomaly detected. Unable to maintain stream.]
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.
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