After the End

Chapter 3

LOG
User: Xie_Kyle

Timestamp: 02:11

Date: 01/06/3172

"Now you may experience some sleeping problems or mental issues, but that's extremely common in incidents like yours. Have a nice day! And remember, USR is always by your side"

I was pretty tempted to punch the bot doctor, but they're programmed to say sh*t like that. According to the real doctors, we got extracted when the advance team they sent to clear out the area found us in the wreckage. I honestly have no idea how we survived that though. They told me that Hale died on the way, but chose to wait until after my recovery... probably for the best.

damn

Hale's dead.

This was going to happen one day anyway but... damn.

Can't believe it.

I'm trying not to think too much of it though, because maybe it'll go away if I do that. Anyway, going on!

We were flown to Helix 2. It's a ringlike base behind the Helix nebula, in a strategic position we're told. Close enough for most of our ships to make a jump to certain core systems, yet hidden well enough to remain undiscovered. The stars nearby also provide power. At least that's what they told us back then.

It's some 694 light years away from the Abandoned System, which is really far. However, there happened to be a Path that lead directly to it, and after decades of researching and sending crews into the unknown (back then) with no promise of return, they harnessed the Helix Path, although it still doesn't have a lot of Gates due to its distance and confidentiality.

And that's all we were taught. The basics, why it was there, and that's pretty much it. Maybe they teach more to different people, but I wouldn't know. As far as they're concerned, this is enough for us, and that's fine with me.

Would you look at that? I almost forgot that Hale was dead!

sh*t

------------------------

LOG
User: Rebooter

Timestamp: 02:02

Date: 01/06/3172

They say Hale died in the explosion. I didn't really know him for long, but I told the doctors I was sorry to hear that, to make them go away. I don't think they cared though. It's just required for them to inform me of the news concerning my previous squadmates. They're also paid to do it. Must be weird, to have people dying in your arms all the time.

We're on the Helix 2 now. Probably for debrief before they send us back to an actual populated system. This place is also very populated, but it's a ring floating in the middle of nowhere, and the "population" is mostly high ranking officials and their families. There's no civilization anywhere close to here but good reason for that. It's a major command center and the home for the people who sit here and order us around.

There's also only one Path to this place, the Helix Path, and it's one of the least known. Not like there's need for anyone else to know about it, as it just leads here. Nowhere else. I don't really know the specifics of how Paths worked or what they even are, but apparently back in the early days of far space exploration they found prelaid "routes" in space. They weren't physical ones, but instead kinda made you "skip" areas as you went down them? Sounds like something taken out of one of those ancient "sci-fi" sims they still show in the rec rooms sometimes.

Their origin is "unknown", but I'm pretty sure that's just the officials keeping it from us. But going on, we have our own transportation systems too obviously, so before Gates were built, it was pretty risky. There are a lot of horror stories about getting lost in unharnessed paths, hence the ban on unknown path travel. Most major ones are supported completely now, but it's still best not to sit in one for too long.