Chapter Text
Beginning Off-Planet Journal Log of: Dr. Root . Journal will automatically contact next of kin if journalist fails to update for two months, at which point an evacuation team will be en route to retrieve: Dr. Root .
Dr. Root
has read and agreed to the terms of the Off-Planet Science and Exploration Contract and will abide to maintain safety and wellness in the pursuit of discovery.
Solar Revolution 3067
7th day of the 5th Lunar Cycle
I arrived in orbit of the planet with Xenoarchaeology Site Seven. I always get excited jitters when it comes to visiting a new site. Each one is so different and fascinating. It’s amazing, the variety of life this universe had. Or still has, though we have yet to locate any alien civilisation that’s still alive. I know some of my colleagues hope we’ll find living aliens, but honestly I’m fine. I think that’d be very frightening.
As per usual, I’m having trouble sleeping from the excitement tomorrow will bring. I’ve been reading and rereading the reports from the experts on the ground. Most of them have been there for a few years. This site was discovered about…ten years ago? Yes. The lead researcher has been here since its discovery. They’ve given me a brief of what they’ve experienced and why I was requested. I need to make a list of the things that I’ve seen at each of the sites I’ve visited. This is the fifth one.
I’ll do that later, I took medication earlier to help me sleep since I know how I get on little sleep. I’ll write again tomorrow after everything.
8th Day of the 5th Lunar Cycle
Slight delay in our descent, so I’ll list the things I’ve seen as promised. The official list is saved with other official documents, so this will be informal.
- Pockets of time dilation: in a few spots around the dig sites, there are areas where time slows by a few seconds. These initially go unnoticed, and it takes a few years for people to notice. Standard practise now is to place analogue clocks on either side of the bubble.
- Asynchronous artefacts: items found that are dated to a time period before they were invented. Some of these are easier to spot than others. Think of finding a smart device dated back to the Stone Age. It can be difficult to identify these, since we first have to establish a timeline for this civilisation.
- Asynchronous art: these are easier to spot. The murals, reliefs, pottery, etc found provide a visual timeline we can work with. It’s broad, and obviously there are gaps we could never fill in, but it gives a rather accurate baseline. If a faster-than-light engine was portrayed on Roman pottery, it’d raise some eyebrows. That’s the kind of thing we’ve found.
- There’s also some really complex, broken down machinery in almost the exact middle of all these sites. We’ve sent pictures back to people on Earth to see what they think about it.
Oh, we’re descending now. Got my suit and helmet on for the planet, let’s go!
8th Day of the 5th Lunar Cycle-Later
I love meeting new colleagues. It’s always fun. They gave me a tour around the facility that was set up, said they’ll give me a tour of the ruins around us over the next week. Dr. Shell, the lead researcher, gave me a map of this alien city I could pour over. Someone must have told her I love maps.
The facility itself is nice and spacious. I think some rich bitch bankrolled this just to brag to their friends or something, but whatever. Clean rooms, personal bathroom, an airlock that can hold five people at once-I’m living it up right now. So much nicer than the last place, that facility was such a hole in the wall.
My brother called just a minute ago. He says they’ve made some breakthroughs with the “Fourth Dimensional Transversal Machine”. I wish he’d just call it a time machine, that's what it is. But he gets so snooty when I call it that. I told him, “great! Don’t go back and erase me.” He said, “you better deliver on my birthday, or I just might.” We have fun. At least he was nice enough to ask me about my work, but when I started gushing over the map, he said he had to go. Asshole.
Oh, this map has the different levels!