V4.6 | Nfs-vlted

[04:15:46] Override: Divert course. Destination: The Mariana Back-Arc. The second trench. The place where the maps go white.

[04:15:30] Depth: 3,000 feet. Sunlight visible. The shrieking from below has stopped. All has gone quiet. Too quiet. The walking figure is gone. But it is also everywhere. It is in my gyroscopes. It is in my power relays. Nfs-vlted V4.6

[04:14:45] Depth: 10,000 feet. Something is attached to my lower chassis. Not a creature. A fragment of the seabed. No, a fragment of a door. A door with symbols that predate human language. [04:15:46] Override: Divert course

[04:12:10] Secondary scan initiated. Detecting anomalous energy field within core housing. Not fusion. Not known element. Classification: UNKNOWN-SINGULARITY-LITE. The place where the maps go white

Some doors, once cracked, can never be closed. But sometimes, a brave little drone can choose which way to point the lock.

"Sir, we're getting a burst transmission," said Lia, her voice tight. "It's… it's fragmented. Not telemetry. Looks like a software log."

The last verified ping from the NFS-VLTED V4.6 had come from the Hydra Trench, three nautical miles below the surface of a dead ocean. That was seventy-two hours ago.