This is Lieutenant Shivan Hunter, reporting in. I want to say to all those stationed on the GTD Aquitaine, this will not be the last you hear from me. Do not believe your superiors' lies.
The Council of SCP tell us we cannot venture into the Void. That it will destroy us. I will show them their limitations and challenge them. They are wrong, and they must be shown. I will travel to the end of the world and come back.
I will be sending out a continuous transmission as I make my journey. I have modified my Ulysses engine to take me to five thousand meters per second. You will be hearing from me on the usual frequency shortly.
---
SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND METERS
It's begun. Command detected my fighter and warned me to return to the Aquitaine. I told them where to stick it.
They told me they would remotely destroy my fighter if I persevered. I disabled the self-destruct device. A little trick I learned from
www.freespace2.com.
I guess now there's no turning back.
---
Lieutenant Samsa, were you aware of any mental instabilities or conditions prior to Shivan Hunter's departure?
No. I mean, I didn't notice anything. He'd make the occasional comment... stuff that made no sense, but it didn't seem-
What kind of comment?
I don't know. Stuff like, "FreeSpace 1 pwns FreeSpace 2". I know it doesn't make any sense, but-
It makes perfect sense. There are those of this persuasion among the GTVA. Mental conditions are common among them. Was there anything else?
He... was always tinkering with his fighters. He had these documents he called "table files" that he'd take everywhere with him. I don't know what they were.
Hmm. Is there anything else? Common interaction with the weapons R&D staff? References to an entity known as "FRED"?
He did talk about the Fred stuff. I don't know, he always seemed like he was just talking about that weird utility guy from the lower decks.
That will be all, Lieutenant Samsa. You are free to go.
---
ONE MILLION METERS
I've been firing my weapons occasionally to get my bearings. Keep track of movement. I don't know if it's just me, but they seem to be... listing to one side. It's strange. Things seem... I don't know how to put this. Quantized.
I never thought I was going insane before this. But everything seems wrong. Everything feels wrong.
I hardly even remember why I'm here.
---
TWO POINT FOUR MILLION METERS
I looked in the remote camera. You know, how I can see my fighter from the outside.
I don't know how to put this.
My fighter was... shaking. Or the virtual camera was. I don't know. It was vibrating erratically. I think this has been happening in increasing amounts since the beginning. I think it's connected to the quantization.
I don't know what this means, but moving very small distances feels unnatural. Even thinking, visualizing these distances... I think it's a few inches now. Everything below that feels wrong.
It's as if space was pulled together at my origin point. At the Aquitaine. And now, out here... everything is starting to fall apart. Space itself is falling apart.
I'm falling apart.
I can't go back, can I?
---
Commander! You knew Shivan Hunter, right?
Yeah, what about him?
Did you hear? He just... up and left. Muttering something about the Void.
****. You're serious? This isn't some kind of joke?
Yeah. The Coders are asking everyone about the guy. They think he's touched in the head.
From what someone's told me, that may be more correct than you think.
---
THIRTY MILLION METERS
I don't feel the same anymore. I don't feel human. In fact, I can't remember when I last felt anything at all.
The shaking is getting worse. It seems like there are only a few parts of me... a few, entirely separate parts, tied together by this... quantization. I don't know what else to call it. It's as if the universe is... losing precision.
I can't think straight anymore.
Why am I out here?
---
SEVENTY MILLION METERS
I don't know what the hell is wrong with my console. Parts of my HUD have started moving around. It's whenever I turn... The HUD...
It doesn't turn with me, but it jerks around.
I don't think it's gotten bad yet.
---
These are some of the last things he was working on.
That's a fighter? Well... I guess it looks kind of... hell, it's a bunch of boxes!
"TF Ion"? What the hell kind of name is that?
These simulations are... horrible. Is this supposed to be an NTF mission? Why are there hostile Vasudans?
I think they're HOL. That doesn't explain the Ptah fighters, though. Oh... look at the date on here. It's one of his first.
These look like engine modifications. Look at this... A Ulysses with a souped-up engine. And...
Jesus, there are over three hundred weapon specs in here. Is this all he ever does?
Well, it explains why he can't fly for ****.
---
ONE HUNDRED MILLION METERS
I don't know what's happening to the nebulae. They move now. Like the HUD. Whenever I turn. How can they do that? They're gas clouds...
The quantization covers my entire cockpit now. I almost feel normal again. Like I'm in once piece, but pulled apart. Every part in a different universe.
But somehow, I am here.
---
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY METERS
Weren't there tiny rocks flying past me?
There are supposed to be.
They've been replaced by... flashes of blue, flashes of some kind of writing. They look like what's on my HUD, almost.
It's like the universe is trying to talk to me.
My HUD is ****ed up. Half of it is gone now, or flashing intermittently. I lost the target on the GTD Aquitaine a long time ago. I can regain it, but it just disappears again...
And I move inexorably onwards.
Is there anything out there?
---
TWO HUNDRED MILLION METERS
HUD is almost gone. Fighter icon moving around when I turn. Everything in the wrong place.
Can hardly see anymore. The universe is consuming me.
I looked at the remote camera again.
I had taken damage... fire was coming out of my fighter, but...
It wasn't...
It was almost liquid. Distorted. Like it could only...
Can't think straight.
Weapon shots are distorted. It's the quantization again. Can't place them...
Can't place anything...
---
General?
Yes?
You know about the... the incident, correct? Have you been listening to the logs?
Yes.
What do you think of it? That the universe was... talking to him? Crazy stuff, right?
I have reason to believe him.
What? You know that doesn't make any sense...
Do you know about the delusions suffered by those exposed to the Shivans?
I've heard of it. Most of it is above my level of clearance.
Shivan Hunter was exposed to something similar. Something that called him to action. Something more powerful than characters like us can control. It calls itself the Plot.
---
^^^^^sd**----
!!__-=8***((((
CONNECTION REGAINED
-no more. No... nothing. Not here.
HUD gone. nebulae...
everything in the wrong place.
Can't think...
**_---+2####
CONNECTION REGAINED
Haven't found...
My field of vision... can't stay constant...
<unintelligible>
Can't see them...
<unintelligible>
Tell the coders the***@$@__)#%
CONNECTION LOST
---
Make a note in the log. Shivan Hunter's fighter was lost at 2330 hours and is presumed destroyed.
May he find peace.
Don't just take my word for it. Mod a fighter and see what happens. It's really kind of creepy.
