My Log. Entry 1. Vixen.
The hum of the Hope, our ship, is the only thing keeping me sane right now. Earth's on its last legs, the looming blackouts, all riding on our backs. We gotta get that artifact. They call it the "Spark." Supposedly, it can fix everything.
Then there's the new planet, Xylos. Whispers of… something alive there. Something that grows. Something that might hold the key to Earth's survival too. Heavy pressure, to say the least.
Bill, that genius scientist, is pacing again. His glasses are sliding down his nose, like always. "Vixen, are the navigation coordinates locked?" he asks, voice tight.
"Locked and loaded, Bill. Xylos, here we come... or are we coming to Xylos?" I say, trying to lighten the mood. Doesn't work. Bill just keeps fussing with his equations.
My Log. Entry 5. Vixen.
We've been in hyperspace for what feels like forever. The crew is getting restless. Even Captain Miller, the stone-faced old warhorse, is starting to look worn. But today, we breached. Xylos.
The sensors went wild. The planet is a swirling green and blue marble. Bill is practically drooling. "Vegetation signatures off the charts! And… organic compounds I've never seen! This is it, Vixen! This is it!"
We prepped the landing module, the Seed. Bill, Miller, a security team, and me. I'm piloting.
My Log. Entry 8. Vixen.
Xylos is…wrong. The air feels heavy. The vegetation is bioluminescent, glowing with an eerie light. It's beautiful, sure, but also… unsettling.
We found the artifact site quickly. An ancient structure, half-buried in the alien foliage. It was built by someone, but there's no sign of anyone here. It radiated a weird energy.
Bill rushed in, sensors blazing. "The Spark! It's here! It's real!"
That's when it happened. The ground started to breathe.
Giant, pulsating roots erupted from the soil, lashing out. They grabbed two of the security soldiers, dragging them screaming into the depths of the alien forest. The screams stopped abruptly, replaced by wet, gurgling sounds.
My Log. Entry 9. Vixen. This is a nightmare.
We fought. We blasted those roots with our lasers. But more kept coming. Miller was yelling orders, trying to keep us together. I saw one root wrap around his leg, pulling him down. He got one last shot off, then... silence.
Bill, bless his heart, was still trying to get to the Spark. He didn't see the root coming for him. I yelled, but it was too late. It wrapped around him, squeezing.
I watched, frozen in horror, as the root began to absorb him. His skin rippled and bulged like he was being filled with water. His eyes widened in unimaginable terror. Then, he was gone. A green, pulsing growth appeared where he had been.
I lost it. I emptied my laser pistol into the roots, screaming. Finally, I managed to break free. I ran back towards the Seed, not daring to look back.
My Log. Entry 10. Vixen. I'm… alone.
I made it back to the ship. Barely. I sealed the doors, initiated launch sequence. I'm leaving this hellhole.
But… something is different. The Seed… it feels… warm. Alive.
Then I saw it. A small, green shoot sprouting from the console. It was pulsing, glowing with that same eerie light.
I grabbed my knife, ready to cut it off. But as I got closer, I saw something else. Something… familiar.
Nestled within the leaves, growing right out of the shoot, was a pair of glasses. Bill's glasses.
And then it spoke. Not with a voice, but with a thought, clear as day in my mind.
"Vixen… thank you. I understand now. This is the answer. Earth… will be saved… through us."
I dropped the knife. I understand too. Xylos isn't just a planet. It's a single, massive organism. It absorbs, it learns, it adapts. And it wants to help. But not in the way we thought.
I looked at the shoot, at Bill's glasses. I looked at the console, at the growing network of roots spreading through the ship.
Earth needs energy. Earth needs life. And Xylos… Xylos offers both. But the price… the price is assimilation.
We won't bring the Spark back. We are the Spark. The Hope is becoming part of Xylos. We're bringing Xylos to Earth.
I don't know if this is salvation or damnation. But I do know one thing.
Earth will never be the same. And neither will I.
My Log. Final Entry. Vixen.
The message ends abruptly, followed by a long, static hum.