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[static]

HYPATIA: Alexander, this is Hypatia We read you, please repeat, over

ALEXANDER: [screa]

HYPATIA: Alexander, this is Hypatia Report your status, over!

[NO RESPONSE]

HYPATIA: Alexander, do you read us, over?

[NO RESPONSE]

Surveillance footage summary,

prepared by Illuminae Group Analyst ID 7213-0089-DN

This guy wasn’t built for gymnastics Chinese extraction, late twenties, out of shape To put it kindly, tubby He darts froe auxiliary service exit, a wo braid beside hih shrieks, counterpointed by a low roar--the sounds of death Death and desperation The audio on the recording peaks and distorts, then equalizes as he slams the door shut and silence falls

Our records ID hi, the female as Consuela Nestor They’re the two civilian chipheads forcibly recruited froasping for breath like a set of wounded bagpipes Hard to tell if he’s out of shape, terrified or it’s the nose they broke during his Gandhi routine

They’re each clutching a portable console like a pro geeballerfor the score line as they stu look, both of the a word

She nods, breaking the ht Our records show she died of blunt force trauee thirty-seven seconds later

Zhang heads down his corridor, and it’s immediately apparent he doesn’t know his way around the ship His movements are jerky, terrified, and he ricochets off the walls before stopping two intersections over He’s only saved by the fact that the afflicted are h the ship from Nestor’s side, not his After about thirty seconds, he see to open doors AIDAN, of course, has the at palm plates, with no result

It’s another enius IQ that got his the new-fashioned way Chest heaving, he stops to power up his console and stabin a frenzy as he tries to coax open theoutside Stuck in the corridor, he’s completely fucked (oh, I’e") if any visitors co the silence is hih with a kind of low, terrified moan he doesn’t seem to be aware of And then AIDAN speaks