“This is… Roald.”
“We encountered an unforeseen phenomenon on the frostlands. Avalanches, sudden sink holes, fissures shimmering with a strange, violent geolight… and above that radiance, we saw an illusory veil hanging in the air. Not long after, we were hit head-on by what I can only call an “Invisible Storm.”
“A… a roar came from the direction of the light. This storm just… wrapped around us. We managed to fall back to this cavern. It’s the only safe spot. But…”
“At present all members of the expedition team… everyone except me… are dead. Or… more accurately… they’ve all ‘disappeared.’”
“I’ve secured all their Terminals here in this refuge. It was their final wish. The data on them about the phenomenon is critical. It must be recovered.”
“As for myself… the effects of that ‘calamity’ have left me unable to move. I don’t have the strength to make it back to the Institute. So… for whatever time I have left, I’m using the field Terminal to log every change in my body and frequency. I hope it gives those who come next a clue about whatever we’re facing…”
“Please… let this Terminal outlast me.”
“Physical functions… normal. But… I feel my body becoming lighter. Like I’m drifting…”
“The Terminal seems to be %…&* compromised… Interference %…& growing…”
“My body appears to %…& be turning transparent…”
“Y%… *my&consciousness#Y#…&%slipping… away…”
“Carry this spark… 78star@#……Y#*ward@#we$!$#… as%… torch%… Y&bearersY%… MayY%… hum%anity… &always %%^& prevail…”
My fellow people, today we gather beneath the Reactor Drive not only to commemorate a milestone in this history of Lahai-Roi exploration, but also to mourn… The entire Roald Scientific Expedition team met their end upon the frostlands.
On behalf of all members of the Spacetrek Collective, I offer our deepest respect and remembrance to Captain Roald and ever member of his team. Through the detailed data and final recordings preserved in Captain Roald’s Terminal and those of his team, we have at last unraveled the nature of the “invisible storm” that sweeps across the frostlands. Based on its properties and effects, we hereby give its formal name — the Void Storm.
A Void Storm is a secondary calamity triggered by the Threnodian known as Aleph-1. Its emergence is often heralded by violent geolight, and is for this reason that the anomalous meteorological phenomenon known as the “Shimmer” became our first grim warning. Wherever the Shimmer gathers, a Void Storm soon follows.
Any living being caught within it is fatally affected, losing all vitality. This is not biological death, but a dissolution of frequency itself. Form unravels. Bodies fade, becoming translucent, then silent, until they dissolve into nothing. Those who survive initial exposure find their frequency flickering like dying candlelight… until they, too, vanish from this world.
The Exoswarm fare no better. Their devoured components, reshaped by the Threnodian’s power, reconstitute into the dreadful forms we call Voidworms. For the people of Lahai-Roi, the Void Storm is a calamity that cannot be predicted. Where it strikes, the world falls silent, leaving only the void.
The clarification of the Void Storm’s nature is, without question, a monumental breakthrough. Yet it confronts us with an equally monumental challenge.