NMS: THE NEXT ADVENTURER
CHAPTER 27: A Korvax’s Lost Soul
Noma returned to the base with the cargo of marrow bulb. But when ve entered the room where the science specialist worked, ve found the Korvax standing motionless, its light a frosty blue.
“Traveller!”, it said in its robotic monologue as Noma entered, “please hurry. Something has happened. My people have abandoned me. As of 104.32 seconds ago, I lost sight of Korvax convergence”.
Noma struggled to make sense of those words. It then occurred to vir that, as a machine intelligence, the Korvax would have the ability to wirelessly link together and form a group mind. For some reason, this Korvax’s mindlink had been broken. As if to confirm these suppositions, the Korvax spoke up once more. “I seek immediate connection! Go to this transmission tower, enter my soul, discover what is wrong”. With that, the light in the Korvax’s head went out, and what looked like a small cube of complex crystal structure emerged from its chest.
Noma picked up the cube and studied it. It was clearly an astonishingly advanced bit of technology. The Korvax had asked Noma to ‘enter my soul’. This cube had to store its memory and personality.
Noma set off for the transmission tower. Data the Korvax had downloaded to Noma’s personal computer indicated that the tower was a few miles from the base. Radiant Pillar was still undergoing refuelling after the trip to the planet where Noma had harvested marrow bulb, so Noma went on foot. Unlike the dusty, windswept trek across that world, this place as Eden in comparison. The ground beneath Noma’s feet was carpeted in lush grass, and large trees provided shelter from the sun.
After a while, Noma had made it to the transmission tower. It stood on a hill, its spire soaring over a research facility that had been built in a clearing. A flag bearing some kind of alien insignia waved in the breeze. Other than four red lights that blinked on and off on the side of the main structure, there was no indication of any activity.
Noma approached, and the doors to the entrance slid smoothly apart. The metal floor of the interior rang under Noma’s footsteps. The echo emphasised the absence of anybody else. Near the entrance there lay a terminal.
Inserting the cube into the relevant interface, Noma watched as the terminal sprang into life. “Diagnostic: Korvax science unit corrupted by Traveller interaction. Anomaly involvement detected”.
What did that mean? The diagnostic continued: ‘Solution: quarantine Korvax Science unit from convergence. Risk assessment: Entropic. THEY SEE YOU”. After that, nothing. The cube containing the Korvax’s soul was returned to Noma.
Noma made his way back to the base with those words “they see you’ foremost in vis mind. It somehow felt like a dire warning. Noma recollected those moments when ve had felt like something was guiding vir along a pre-ordained path. Could there be some connection between such feelings and this ‘anomaly involvement’ the message had spoken of?
Noma was so preoccupied with such thoughts that ve walked on, nearly noticing vis surroundings. In particular, ve took no notice of a gelatinous mass that lay quivering below the blades of grass. As ve was about to step into this gunk, it leapt up with surprising speed and shot out a sticky tentacle that wrapped around Noma’s wrist. Noma struggled to free virself as the tentacle drew vir toward a quivering blob surrounded by lidless eyes that all turned their focus on Noma.
With desperation, Noma fought to break free from that tentacle, but it was no good. But then, a chance event occurred which saved Noma’s life. Nearby, a large blue seed pod was ripening in the sun. It exploded, catapulting out seeds that pinged against Noma’s helmet and buried themselves like bullets in the creature’s jellylike body. It instantly returned to a puddle and flowed away.
Noma felt incredibly lucky. That had been too close. By the time ve returned to the base, new modules had been added. That was useful, for Noma was pretty sure what extra help was now needed.
It was time to recruit a weapons specialist….
Thanks to Hello Games for the images.