8: Station Alpha

terminal 0

unfinished

Message from Leviathan

It's a good thing I put a trace on that transporter beam. I never would have found this place otherwise. We never picked up this station before on our sensors. It seems to exist slightly out of temporal phase with our normal time. Evidently, that transporter beam adjusted your temporal phase to match that of the station. Very strange. I matched my sensors to the same temporal signature. Now that I have, I'm getting all sorts of strange, chaotic readings from the station. The only readings that we have on record that are at all similar to these come from the readings Durandal took from the W'krncacnter. Very strange since there is clearly no such being near here. The station is laid out like a vertical barbell. You're in the central shaft right now. The upper disc is flooded with some sort of sludge (not that I need to tell you). The lower disc seems to be sealed from the upper disc, but is in vaccuum.

Your primary mission here is exploration and retrieval of any artifacts you find. It'll be hard to spot things in the sludge, however, so you'll need to do a couple things first. Primary systems on the station appear to be solar-powered. There are probably some shield doors that you'll need to open in the outer ring to get the solar collectors charging. Try to get the pumps back online to drain the sludge. Search the station databases for information. Finally, look around carefully. There are bound to be some items of interest here. We want to get anything and everything that may help us later. One more thing. My sensors indicate a small craft in a docking bay on the southern edge of the station. I want you to open the docking bay doors so I can tractor beam the ship over here. Maybe we'll find something of use on it. My sensors are picking up incoming ships... you and I may have company real soon.

End of message

success

Message from Leviathan

Good job. I'm going to adjust your temporal phase a bit. The lower part of the station seems to be slightly out of phase with the upper part. When I'm done, you should be able to continue on downwards. Your job there is to find the reactor that has been mentioned in the station logs. I've been in touch with UESC command. Despite the danger, command wants you to turn on the reactor if possible, gather some readings, and shut it off again. UESC feels that it's important to have some first-hand readings in case we ever have to deal with the likes of a W'krncacnter again. Judging from the logs, it sounds like there is minimal danger if the reactor is on only for a short period. I don't know how to turn on the reactor. Hopefully, you'll figure it out. Oh, and check your oxygen supply -- the lower section is in vaccuum. If your oxygen is low, abort now and go back to the oxygen refueler before coming back here. Stand by.

Prepare for transport...

terminal 1

unfinished

Initiating database search...

Security Officer Aralin's Log [Date Undecipherable] =========================== It is two days after the destruction of our beloved homeworld. Something strange is happening on the station. The repair drones have ceased to respond to our commands. When I queried Wanda about the problem, she replied that there were things more important than station repair. When queried as to what the important things were, Wanda's only reply was "Preventing further accidents."

Exiting Database...

terminal 2

unfinished

Initiating database search...

Security Officer Aralin's Log [Date Undecipherable] =========================== Disaster has struck. [Two hours?] after the reactor rate was increased to 75%, some kind of explosion occurred. Something blasted out of the reactor test lab, punching a hole through the station hull, before rocketing out further and destroying part of the station's outer ring. Chief Engineer Ynnid was killed outright by the force of the explosion. Several other scientists and officers were sucked into the vaccuum. Unfortunately, we could not save them. Somehow the explosion interfered with our ability to get a transporter lock.

<checkpoint 1>

Our transporters completely scrambled the cells of the first [person?] we beamed back. Our doctors are still trying to determine who it was. The force of the explosion burst coolant and sewage pipes all over the station. I was in the eastern cargo bay when the pipes burst. The force of the explosion knocked me down, and I dropped my security card in the quickly rising muck. It was hopeless trying to search for it in that mess. I guess I'll have to wait to find it until they can get the pumps working to drain off the sludge.

Exiting Database...

terminal 3

unfinished

Initiating database search...

Security Office Aralin's Log [Date Undecipherable] =========================== I seem to have contracted the same symptoms as many fellow crewmembers. My [abdomen?] is swollen and painful. My skin has also broken out. The doctors have confirmed that our [DNA?] has been altered. We can only guess that this is related to the explosion and the chaos beast. The projectile continues to grow larger as it rockets towards our homeworld. Our scientists inform me that somehow our new chaos reactor produced this chaotic being, this W'krncacnter. They [struggle?] to understand it so that they might destroy it or entrap it. There is little time left, however, to save the homeworld. We must succeed.

Exiting Database...

terminal 4

unfinished

Initiating database search...

Accident Report A freak accident occurred today. Engineer K'plah was crushed when one of the pressure doors closed on him. We're not sure how it happened, but the safety circuits are being checked.

Exiting Database...

terminal 5

unfinished

Initiating database search...

Station Commander F'nor's Log _____________________________ I just gave the order to abandon the station. All station transmitters have been destroyed to prevent Wanda from downloading her core anywhere. Although I feel we should destroy the station and Wanda completely, I am under direct orders to leave the station and Wanda intact. [Interplanetary?] Command feels that the future may demand that we return to investigate and salvage what we can from the station. Even now, workers are building a small base hidden inside a volcano on the planet below to provide remote access to the station. I will remotely activate the station's temporal distortion field once we have left the station. This should prevent the station from detection by other races.

(Log continued) Every system we were unable to physically disconnect from Wanda we have locked with encryption codes. Even with Wanda's resources, it should take over 10000 years for her to break the codes. That should give Interplanetary Command plenty of time to figure what to do with her. [God?] help those who can't make it onto the evacuation shuttles.

Exiting Database...

terminal 6

unfinished

Initiating database search...

Station Commander F'nor's Log _____________________________ Our mission to repair Wanda ended in disaster. Only myself and one other came back alive. How could I have guessed that Wanda would be so ruthless, that she would kill everyone? Never in our history has an AI intentionally harmed someone. Wanda surrounded us with the security and repair drones and turned them against us. The repair drones used [Arc welders?, spanners?, and drills?] as weapons. We managed to destroy many of the 'bots. One of our engineers managed to short out the rest of them by setting one of the power generators to produce a large, localized EM pulse. It also [fried?] some of the systems in the area. Unfortunately, Wanda is well-protected from EM pulse attacks. I'm not sure what has caused Wanda to behave this way, we can only guess that the chaos field created by the W'krncacnter scrambled some of her programming. She has gone completely mad. Wanda says we must submit to her or be destroyed. She won't allow us to make any more mistakes. "Organic lifeforms make mistakes. Mistakes are unacceptable, but I can fix you..." were her last words to me.

Exiting Database...

terminal 7

unfinished

Initiating database search...

Accident Report Another fatal accident has happened. One of our engineers was electrocuted by a power surge when trying to access Wanda's circuitry. This W'krncacnter has really [expletive?] our systems.

Exiting Database...

terminal 8

unfinished

Station AI Online

Get out of there! You have no idea what you're messing with. If you don't leave, I'll have you killed. I can not allow another accident. There's nothing for you to see here. If you leave now, I might be able to persuade the S'pht to forgive your ship's indiscretions. After the assimilated and brainwashed humans attacked them at the Pfhor moonbase and your screwy computer blew up one of their ships they decided that you're not their friend anymore. But they do my bidding, so I could stop them from attacking you if you leave there now.