THE ARTIFACT

Log 9 Splosum. Hey Folly, can you pull up Ming’s location for us, we still haven’t found her

Sure thing. Hm… she’s about half a mile from you two and seems to be heading near the desert wall.

How’d her skinny ass get that far?

Looks like she broke off shortly after you started logging the mirror heads, she’s been on her own for an hour and a half.

Great. Who knows what she’s run into out there.

I’m not picking up any blood on the map or any wounds in her vitals, so far she’s been fine. She might’ve gotten lucky and walked into a small ecological dead zone.

Doubt it, plant life has increased as well as soil fertility. The temperature is cooler, and the sand displacement means a healthy cycle of nutrients, the growth area of the plants shows little herbivore presence meaning she’s likely walking into the den of a large predator.

How come you always play dumb in your logs?

Wha what do you mean?

You always say stuff like “I think”, “my theory”, and “my guess”; or you’ll say “scans indicate” when you haven’t done any scans and just figured it out on your own.

I don’t know, I don’t enjoy sounding like a know-it-all. Plus, what if I’m wrong?

Farquid you’re a human who has been doing this job for 3 years, you’re not wrong. Plus, I like it when you get all smart.

Thanks.

Here let me poke your brain a bit, I noticed you guys have passed by a group of undocumented creatures a few times on your manhunt, why don’t you give me a log on them?

Oh, the Splosum? They’re predatory pack hunters who mainly feed on burrowers and cydropeds. Their frills are iridescent and have special muscles in them that give precise articulation. The frills are key for their hunting strategy; an individual will use its powerful legs to immobilize or stun prey, then the group will surround the prey, unfurl their frills, and use the heat and reflected light from the sun to cook the prey alive. Since their prey is mostly cooked their teeth aren’t very sharp and closer in shape to human teeth. They use their fills to fight over mates and territory as well, causing sunburns to be present on many individuals.

Well look at that, all that info from just walking by a few times. How do you humans do it?

It’s hard to explain, there are so many thoughts happening at once, memories being referenced, and connections being made that it’s shocking we can even hold conversations.

Well it looks like we’ll have to pause this one, you guys are coming up on Chairming’s location. Looks like she’s heading toward a crack in the wall.

I see the spot; we’ll get back on course after we grab her.

Be careful, like you said she might be heading towards an apex predator.

We’ll get our hands dirty if we have to, Farquid out.