A world of substance.
A world of dreams.
A world beyond.
The Fulcrum has shown me so much, and in return it has consumed my limitations.
It has taught me a new name, a mantle grated to those who it has chosen. Those who have stepped beyond the meager limitations of their body so they exist in all three worlds.
The Deathless.
I still can’t wrap my head around this record.
It was already shocking and frightening to discover the Drifters and the Triglavians and to endure their attacks, but now we have to face a new precursor entity? One that controls a pirate faction as influential as the Deathless Circle?
I don’t even have my usual passion and curiosity for all things Jovian and precursors piqued while reading this journal, I just want it to be a hoax, a setup to sow doubt, fear and misinformation.
Unfortunately, the information we’ve gathered seems to indicate that this entity probably really exists.
The more time passes, the more I feel like this cluster is spiraling out of control.
Will we one day be so overwhelmed by emerging threats and violence that the four empires will collapse? Will all of New Eden fall too?
I hope I’m delusional, I hope I’m just panicking for nothing and that the empires really are indestructible bastions.
We survived the Drifter Crisis and captured their known systems after all. We resisted the Triglavians and saved many systems from them after all. I’d like to think this is proof that we’ll survive anything, but what recent history has taught me is that we should always expect to be surprised, especially in a negative way.
Maybe this is just the beginning, and maybe we’ll have to deal with even worse in the future. Maybe we were lucky enough to be immersed in ignorance for a long time, but that’s over, and we’ll have to face our past whether we like it or not.
Maybe new civilizations or entities or whatever will arrive and cause even more harm. Maybe even if they’re pacifist or willing to help us, the cluster’s inhabitants will reject them and start hostilities because they’re so sick of precursor crises. Maybe it’ll make things even worse. Maybe there are massively destructive technologies that could be used against us, maybe the Seyllin and Caroline’s star events are nothing compared to what awaits us. Maybe…
Ugh, why am I imagining things worse than what we already have? I must stay focused on the present and our research, on concrete facts and reality instead of my imagination.
I want to know everything about this. I need to know everything about this. I must know everything about this.
I don’t know if this will be enough to protect my family, my people and my species, but it’s the best I can do.
My original self killed himself so I could do this, so we could do this. I have to make sure it wasn’t for nothing.
I’m going off the rails, I have to focus. I have to focus.
“Commander? Are you alright?”
“Yes.”