VOIDHARROW EXTRACTION — the recovered journal of Cormorant team

DAY 01 — ARRIVAL

Six of us on the drop

Vey, Sasha, Marsh, Okonkwo, Rell, and me. The company calls the site compromised; the manifest says bring back samples and don't ask what they're for. First sweep was quiet — old lights, dead machines, nothing moving. Seems like this one should be routine.

DAY 02 — CONTACT

They don't charge. They test us.

When we bunched up, they pressed our edges. When Okonkwo drifted to check a door, they went for him alone — the strays, always the strays. Like they were studying us. We closed ranks and they backed off. Somehow that was worse.

DAY 03 — THE BLOOM

The best material sits in the worst ground

Of course it does. The closer you get to the corruption, the less it feels like danger and the more it feels like being watched. Sasha filled her case and wanted one more. We all did. That's the trick of this place, and we knew it, and we stayed anyway.

DAY 04 — THE SONG

There's a thing that doesn't fight. It sings.

When it finishes, everything that was listening arrives at once. We learned to put the singer down before the note landed — and we didn't always get there in time. Marsh was still reloading when the second one started. Six of us went in. I keep writing that number down like it will stay true.

DAY 05 — THE WATCHER

The terminals know things we haven't said

A screen showed Rell's vitals before he told anyone he was hit. It's not just hunting us — it's learning about us. It watches, it waits, and then it makes its move. We realised we no longer have the advantage down here.

— LAST ENTRY —

I'm writing this because someone should

We got separated, and then the comms went dead. They've learned how we move — somehow they already know what we'll do next. If these entries made it out, know this: no reward is worth it. And don't think you'll read this and do better. That's exactly what we thought too. — Cormorant‑1

VOIDHARROW
EXTRACTION