Larry and the Alien Source

Larry felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension as he approached the industrialized system. The sight of enormous factories and sprawling industrial complexes was awe-inspiring, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The air was thick with pollution, and the once-gleaming structures looked aged and abandoned.

As he made his way through the maze of pipes and machines, he noticed that the facilities were devoid of any signs of life. No robots or workers were present, and everything was eerily quiet. Larry's curiosity was piqued, and he started exploring the buildings, hoping to uncover some clues about what had happened.

It wasn't long before Larry stumbled upon a data tablet. It seemed to contain reports and logs from the facility's operations, and Larry's heart raced as he realized that this might be the source of the alien infestation he had encountered previously. He quickly started reading through the files, trying to piece together the events that had transpired.

The Lermer Technologies automated research facility has been dropped, anchored in, and critical systems tethered. This includes private quarters for the sole maintenance operator who is already ‘dug’ in. Initial core samples are within spec. Construction on the resonance harvester and refinery will proceed as planned.

Status Report - Specialist Aymez: The assembly drones have completed the LVP (large vessel pad) and periodic supply drops are now underway. Staging has begun for the main ore conduit between the excavator/harvester and the refinement facility.

Personal log - Aymez: --- These living quarters are something else. I guess the complaints about long term operator isolation and the leaked internal reports about, well, individuals losing their shit out here in the wild, must had a significant impact with management... legal dept. more likely. Anyway, these digs (hah, I even pun to myself in my own journal), err this 'living space' is straight out of the ANOEM retreat - maybe they hired the same designer. I guess I'll take up molecular gastronomy in this abundance of free time; with most of the buildout and daily maintenance being automated and all... are those fish for eating???

Status Report - Specialist Aymez: Analyst Ginsk arrived today to calibrate the refining equipment. Only minor tweaks so far. Gonna try my beer battered leviathan taco recipe for Ginsk down below when we wrap things up here. Tomorrow is ore conduit leak down testing.

Status Report - Specialist Aymez: Testing is nearly complete at the extraction site. Preliminary power up of the articulating excavator arm was a success. The ore conduit is air-tight and now pressurized, refiners are all synced. Ginsk has given production spin up a green light. The drones are doing a final integrity sweep over the next 24 and we are go after that. We expect a high yield of copper from the first extruded column. The surveyors get high marks overall for their assessment of the Omega site.

Note: A single whispering egg turned up randomly the other day near the refinement bunker but no bug sign as of yet. I hope the vibrations aren’t stirring up a nearby nest. They could create some serious havoc as we all know to well.

Personal log - Aymez: Ginsk was sure behaving bizarrely around the ‘bug’ topic. How they were sentient and beautiful creatures, waxing poetic, almost obsessively about the hive organization and their superior intelligence. What was Ginsk doing over by the egg this morning!? Sounded like some sorta low register guttural chant. The egg coincided with his arrival too. Maybe… ahhg, I’m probably just being paranoid. Korvax do have their peculiarities. Never quite grasped, and honestly haven’t made an effort to understand the whole ‘casing’ decanting thing in their culture. I’ll just chalk it up to that… or the laviathan tacos released a bug sympathetic ‘uplift’ analogous neurotoxin heh, maybe I’ll start spontaneously chanting to the egg. Still a bit disturbed by Ginsk’s departing words behind that too wide digitally emoted carapace grin - “we’ll see you soon”. WTAF

Status Report - Specialist Aymez: The drones have concluded their integrity check and it’s all systems go. They captured this nice aerial shot of Omega in the process. If the cannibalized alien tech Lermer repurposed for this endeavor functions as a stop-gap solution until supply chain issues are resolved, Omega will be a real game changer. The output simulations so far actually beggar belief - Gimsk in a communique I received just now, cannot account for the surplus in efficiency. “Other factors are at play” was the mercurial coda to cap-off that unhelpful analysis. We’ll see how this all shakes out in reality when its fired up for actual production in the next few hours.

*Anecdotal: the rogue whispering egg vanished over night so I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing at this point.

The survivors had fled the system, leaving the facilities to decay and fall into disrepair. However, they had left behind a deadly legacy. The energy source had attracted a swarm of parasitic aliens, who had infested the facilities and were now spreading to other systems.

Larry knew that he had to act fast. He had to find a way to stop the infestation before it spread any further. He started searching the abandoned buildings, looking for any clues about how to defeat the aliens.

As he delved deeper into the ruins, Larry came across a prototype weapon that the industrial civilization had been developing to combat the aliens. It was still in its experimental stages, but Larry knew that it was his only chance to save the universe from the deadly infestation.

He quickly got to work, using his skills and knowledge to refine the weapon and make it ready for use. It was a race against time, but Larry was determined to succeed.

After several grueling hours of work, the weapon was finally ready. Larry tested it out on a few of the smaller alien creatures, and it worked perfectly. He knew that he had found the solution to the infestation.

With the weapon in hand, Larry set out to destroy the infestation once and for all. It was a difficult and dangerous task, but he persevered, battling his way through the hordes of aliens and destroying their nests and breeding grounds.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Larry emerged victorious. The infestation had been eradicated, and the universe was safe once again.

Larry felt a sense of satisfaction and pride as he made his way back to his ship. He knew that he had played a crucial role in saving the universe

`
`
`
`