8: Don't Sweat It

The wall visible to the north of you is the outer wall of the Jjaro structure, apparently known to the indigenous Mrrak as the ancient Edifice. You need to get inside to reach Sentinel's reactor core. While no physical entrances are accessible from your location, there is a local jump pad at the terminal pictured here. You will have to access this terminal to be transported into the structure.

Naturally, the science teams appear to have raised the draw bridges that allow access to the terminal in question. To lower them, you must destroy the power circuits pictured at these two locations. Once that's done, make your way to the terminal. I will contact you when you reach it.

LOCAL JUMP PAD (C-01) JUMP PAD STATUS: ACTIVE JUMP PAD DESTINATION: UNOBSTRUCTED? DESTINATION COORDINATES: PICTURED LEFT

Good work. This terminal will transport you directly into the Jjaro structure. Make sure you're well stocked on everything before you go, as you won't be able to immediately exit the structure once you're inside. I will contact you once you are there. ***JUMP PAD ACTIVATION INITIATION START*** ***TRANSPORT WHEN READY***

The Pfhor fleet will arrive in just under three hours. They are barely within long-distance transporter range, and are already starting to send some reinforcements. I've lost communication with every known group of survivors above ground, no doubt all having fallen victim to the Pfhor. A teal door is located nearby that you will need to pass through. Try to find a scientist with the required keycard. I imagine anyone left alive at this point is hiding, so check the nearby maintenance tunnels, including the one down the hall to your left, accessible only via ladder. If I had to guess, that's where they would go.

Some sealed doors around here may be worth opening. At the very least, you will likely find some powerful spells, since the manufacturing labs are relatively close by. Return to the teal door once you locate a key.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ S'yuth worked tirelessly for many days and nights to access the Creators' ancient records locked away within the Edifice. We explored while we waited. We examined the chambers where the first of our kind were created. We walked the halls that last saw life so long ago. Every space was remarkably preserved and still functional. But the information we eagerly sought remained just out of reach, embedded in systems we appeared incapable of accessing, if it was even there at all.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ We had lost hope by the third week, when S'yuth made an unexpected discovery: a bio-pattern encrypted within one of the ancient buffers, seemingly locked into a perpetual sequencing cycle. S'yuth managed to boost the signal amplifier within the buffer and engaged the matter sequencer from there. It appeared before us in a bright flash: tall yet narrow, its form defying further description. It took little time to understand we were looking upon one of our Creators.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ S'yuth found himself the subject of their unmoving gaze. Silence filled the chamber. It was as though we were statues, bound by nerves rather than stone. A voice came from all around, rattling deep in my head. The Creator demanded an explanation for their awakening. They demanded to know where their brothers and sisters had gone. They possessed an intrinsic sense of the passage of time, knowing the exact date and how long it had been since their last memories.

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ S'yuth, in a trembling voice, explained the purpose of our presence down here. Our desperation and hopelessness. That the Creator's brothers and sisters fled the planet long ago, leaving us on our own to tend to a dying world. While he spoke, the Creator listened. The rest of us remained paralyzed by the sight before us. Finally, S'yuth reached the end of his plea. A nervous silence returned to the chamber. All at once, the Creator vanished before our eyes, its body folding into thin air. Had I been dreaming? Was I hallucinating?

/-/ S'PHT TRANSLATOR Active /-/ It has been days since the Creator left. Since then, we have heard scattered reports of sightings, particularly in the deepest floors of the Edifice, far below here. S'yuth says the computer systems down there appear to be getting tampered with. I can think of no explanation other than that we angered the Creator which we had brought back. S'yuth is distraught, despite my efforts to console him. I can only imagine the guilt he feels. I know not of what comes next. In any case, I am ready for it to happen.

Excellent work. Make your way to the elevator pictured here, which will take you down to the lowest levels of the Jjaro structure. Once there, you will be able to reach Sentinel's reactor core. By the way, I hope you remember the path back to the dropship you first landed on. Miraculously, the Pfhor have left it largely untouched since it landed, probably since you are the sole survivor, and everyone else around that area is dead now. After setting off the core overload, you must return to the ship in time to escape the surface before the subsequent explosion. If my estimations are correct, you should have enough time. Hopefully.