An Alien Response

Kryptex and Turing seem to think we're safe, but it's unclear if they'll really be able to keep Arling in check and stay in control of XRI. I don't want to waste any time, so I start the trek toward the center of the island to play the audio sequence that Turing has programmed into my rover -- hoping to get some sort of reaction from the central monument.

Just as Turing explained, when I reach the central monunent, my rover plays back the audio tones that it collected from around the island... and the monument responds in a big way.

From : kryptex81
Subject : last document

hey.

i'm collecting all the documents we might need if arling strikes back.

making backups.

i found one i hadn't seen before.

it had the same signatures as those ones with the message from dad.

there's a password-protected file embedded in the document.

the encryption in the document's file data says the password is _painted_ onto the side of one of the rovers.

an engineer's little vandalism from years ago, before the launch.

i guess dad took turing's idea of rover passwords to the next level.

once you've finished that thing for turing--i need you to go back to this rover.

it's to the north.

find the rover.

this could be another message from dad.

this could be the last i ever hear from him.

i need to see this.

please.

 _                     _            ___  _ 
| | ___ __ _   _ _ __ | |_ _____  _( _ )/ |
| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
|   <| |  | |_| | |_) | ||  __/>  < (_) | |
|_|\_\_|   \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
           |___/|_|

[ATTACHED FILE: PASSWORD REQUIRED]

Click to launch Terminal

From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: The Caretaker Sounds

Hmm, something's happened. We've lost your signal. We're trying to reestablish...

- Dr Robert Turing
From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: The Caretaker Sounds

And we're back. Your rover is picking up some new radio signals from the monument -- our satellite's picking it up too, which means it's being broadcast into space. Some kind of new message, maybe!

We'll work on deciphering it immediately, based on Alexis's work, but it may take some time.

But it seems to have caused some other kind of disturbance on the planet. It messed with our communications there for a moment, and we've totally lost contact with one of our rovers, on the far north side of the island.

Maybe you could go see if anything happened to it?

- Dr Robert Turing
From : kryptex81
Subject : Re: the caretaker sounds

what?

that's the one i need.

rob, please--go find it.

find out what happened.

it can't--

just hurry.

 _                     _            ___  _ 
| | ___ __ _   _ _ __ | |_ _____  _( _ )/ |
| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
|   <| |  | |_| | |_) | ||  __/>  < (_) | |
|_|\_\_|   \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
           |___/|_|

[ATTACHED FILE: PASSWORD REQUIRED]

Click to launch Terminal

I quickly start making my way to the north of the island, hoping to find out what happened to the missing rover.

From : kryptex81
Subject : hurry

please, please hurry.

i need to know what's painted on that rover.

i need this message.

what if it's for me?

what if it's dad again?

what if--

i need to open it.

 _                     _            ___  _ 
| | ___ __ _   _ _ __ | |_ _____  _( _ )/ |
| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
|   <| |  | |_| | |_) | ||  __/>  < (_) | |
|_|\_\_|   \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
           |___/|_|

Along the way, I manage to tag a photo of a few creatures flying above the island. I've seen them in the distance before, but I've never been close enough to get an accurate species ID.

From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : Flight

Hello Rob,

You've just tagged some kind of flying organism! It's hard to tell for sure, but their structure appears almost kite-like. This might suggest that their primary method of flight is by riding updrafts and winds.

There are probably significant updrafts wherever there are prominent cliffs. I've marked a few additional likely spots on your map where you may be able to get a better look at these creatures. Try looking at different times of day, too.

When I arrive at the edge of the cliff where the rover went missing, I'm in for a big surprise.

From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Something Wrong

Something's wrong. Immediately after your rover arrived at the north shore, it started exhibiting the same connectivity issues as the other rover that went missing. From your map, it looks like it's tumbled off the cliff and gone for a swim -- an activity for which this model is poorly suited.

We're getting seismic data back from the landing capsules -- it looks like there was an earthquake when you activated that central monument. We're trying to figure out what happened.

In our last communication with your rover, it indicated its location several hundred meters offshore. If your rover loses contact with all other units, it's designed to initiate a high-power beacon to try to reestablish a connection. It will attempt to send a photo every hour. It's scheduled its first attempt, which means that we are still getting at least intermittent connectivity.

I'm directing another rover to the location, but I can't risk getting too close...

- Dr Robert Turing
From : kryptex81
Subject : no

no!

what happened?

WHAT HAPPENED??

 _                     _            ___  _ 
| | ___ __ _   _ _ __ | |_ _____  _( _ )/ |
| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
|   <| |  | |_| | |_) | ||  __/>  < (_) | |
|_|\_\_|   \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
           |___/|_|
From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: Something Wrong

Rob,

As I'm sure you've noticed, we managed to get an automated distress photo, but we have since lost connectivity.

I hope you took time to listen to the audio clip that your rover recorded when it initiated distress mode. It seems to have captured the sound of a rock slide as it tumbled into the ocean, but then... what are these sounds? Almost like marine mammals back on Earth.

The rover will continue to attempt reconnection in a high-power distress mode for 24 hours. By then, its battery will be severely depleted and the chance of a successful recovery is basically zero. The system has already started the countdown timer, but I don't want you to get your hopes up.

- Dr Robert Turing

Even though my rover seems to have plunged into the ocean, there's no sense in letting the data from that image go to waste. I tag a few regions of the image that look interesting and Jane takes note.

From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : What's going on?

I'm not even sure where to start on this one. I mean, we deliberately sent a lot of rovers in case problems like this happened, but it's still a huge cost when someone drives one into the ocean. To be clear, our team wrote the tethering algorithms, so I'm not necessarily saying this is your fault, but it appears that someone screwed up.

That being said, science must go on and we're lucky that we designed our rovers with inhospitable conditions in mind. Not only did we get one last shot, but it included the full-spectrum data and the results are pretty interesting.

We haven't calibrated our sensors for underwater photography, but based on the data that we have, it seems likely that you managed to tag at least one motobiont. Beyond that, I'm hesitant to speculate. We have a hard enough time exploring the oceans of our own planet. Trying to catalog the species in the ocean on another planet is a truly terrifying prospect.

Jane Eastwood, Exobiology Lead
From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Re: Something Wrong

We reestablished connection briefly! Your rover's been moved -- fresh satellite imagery suggests that the earthquake caused that whole cliff face to fall into the ocean, the rovers along with it. They were lost to the water before -- well, have a look at your latest photo.

If the Caretakers are gone, Rob, there's something else on Epsilon Prime for sure. And it may have saved your rover... We'll try to get a better signal to it.

- Dr Robert Turing
From : Jane Eastwood
Subject : Unbelievable

This photo is unbelievable! I'm not sure where this was taken and I can't seen to get a straight answer from Turing or Cavendish. I can't figure out if they're being evasive or if they're just as mystified as I am.

It looks like a completely different ecosystem. You have like six species in a single photo! It's so lush! Look how dense they are! Everything we've seen so far has had a "desert island" vibe, but I thought maybe that's just how things are in low oxygen environments or with an entirely different evolutionary history or a thousand other reasons -- but no! Things can be all crammed together! Most of the photobionts have characteristics we're familiar with -- cnideria, bulbos, an elongated version of the polystem -- but some things are new and strange and different! I'm not even sure where one organism begins and another ends!

I'm reluctant to give too much analysis, much less try to name any of these species, as this is the only image I have to work from so far. Identifying half a dozen species from a single photograph seems like hubris -- but rest assured, if we can get more data about these species, you'll get naming credit.

Jane Eastwood, Exobiology Lead
From : kryptex81
Subject : that's it

that's it.

that's the rover.

i can see the graffiti.

that's the password.

 _                     _            ___  _ 
| | ___ __ _   _ _ __ | |_ _____  _( _ )/ |
| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
|   <| |  | |_| | |_) | ||  __/>  < (_) | |
|_|\_\_|   \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
           |___/|_|

I write down the code etched on the side of the rover and return to an old email from Kryptex with a final encrypted document. Using the terminal system she set up for me, I enter the password and gain access to a video.

From : kryptex81
Subject : [no subject] 
 _                     _            ___  _ 
| | ___ __ _   _ _ __ | |_ _____  _( _ )/ |
| |/ / '__| | | | '_ \| __/ _ \ \/ / _ \| |
|   <| |  | |_| | |_) | ||  __/>  < (_) | |
|_|\_\_|   \__, | .__/ \__\___/_/\_\___/|_|
           |___/|_|
From : Dr. Turing
Subject : Thank You
From : Dr. Turing
Subject : What now?

Hi Rob,

I shouldn't have any trouble convincing Cavendish to try to send down a landing capsule or GPS unit to the new island where your rover was stranded. That will allow us to reestablish a reliable connection and hopefully get some useful information about what happened. After all, exploring more of this planet is why we sent so many rovers in the first place, and this new island seems as compelling as any.

But that's going to take time -- maybe months. I'm sure that Jane will appreciate it if you continue to catalog species on Artocos Island, but I'll be out of contact for a bit while I line up the resources we need to answer some of the bigger mysteries of Epsilon Prime. As long as you have alerts enabled in your profile settings, you'll get notified by email when I have news.

You've been such an asset to this team that I definitely want to share the next piece of this adventure with you. It seems only fair to give credit where credit is due -- and despite some questionable actions, it seems that you, me and Alexis are all on the same side.

Thanks for your patience. As you know, science takes time... and manpower. I should point out that I just added a few more invitations to your profile. You, of all people, should know by now exactly what we're looking for in a rover driver.

Dream to worlds beyond!

- Dr. Robert Turing

For a while after the swimming-rover incident, everything seems pretty quiet. I have a new rover and can move freely about the island, collecting more data about alien life.

But a week later, I get one last ominous message.

From : [Unauthenticated sender]
Subject : Call

[ATTACHED AUDIO FILE]

Epilogue

And that, my friends, is where season 1 ends. We started to write the content for seasons 2 and 3, but the Kickstarter campaign to fund those efforts failed. Over time, it became clear that we had created an experience that was nearly impossible to market.

To read more about why we eventually shut down the servers, check out the postmortem.

Dream to worlds beyond!

    - The Extrasolar Team