Incident Log:

Asteroid SR-3486Y was first observed by the ISO-Parmenides Extrasolar Telescope on 15-08-████ and determined to be the closest observable object to RPC-313. ISO-Parmenides was commissioned to constantly observe the object as it appeared to be moving towards the border of RPC-313 (it was later discovered that SR-3486Y was actually relatively stationary). Due to ISO-Parmenides' position and the time required to capture the entirety of SR-3486Y's surface, full captures could only be done annually.

Surface maps showing the deterioration of SR-3486Y as it crossed the border of RPC-313 over the course several annual captures.

Once SR-3486Y began to pass into RPC-313, it was observed that the portions of the asteroid within the void would break down nearly instantly once past the border. ISO-Parmenides managed to consistently capture the asteroid's surface during this process. This vigilance was rewarded when researchers discovered that the portions of SR-3486Y that had disappeared correlated to portions of an asteroid that began appearing on the border of RPC-313-S. Researchers agree that this connection is not a coincidence.

Location: Rift N-25 [ACS-2]

Description: Rift N-25 opened to a landscape comprised of a granular sand-like substance of a currently unknown composition. As there were no light sources present, it was hypothesized that if any lifeforms existed they would be underground. Digging into the sand revealed large annelidous organisms in several disparate colonies. It was believed the creatures had no colonial intelligence until their tunnels were mapped via radar. The output revealed that the largest colonies dug tunnels in distinct spiral patterns, at the center the shape of S-01 was clearly visible. This was the first discovery of rudimentary organisms displaying a form of S-01 worship. How the creatures were able to accurately depict the shape of S-01 is currently unknown.

Location: Rift K-16 [ACS-2]

Artifact recovered from Rift K-16. Believed to be a depiction of S-01.

Description: Five stone stellated octahedrons several kilometers in diameter were detected hovering close to the Rift K-16 entrance. Closer inspection revealed them to contain colonies of twelve-legged arthropodal creatures. In the resulting skirmish with the creatures one of the vessels was downed by the Authority, and several samples of the stone structure were recovered. Carvings discovered on the stones greatly resembled S-01 as well as several other objects within RPC-313-S. The creatures which inhabited the structures are depicted in scenes of submission and servitude towards depictions of S-01. A partial carving appearing to show a tree consumed by flame was also recovered. Testing of the stone's composition and method of construction are ongoing.

Location: Rift W-33 [ACS-2]

Description: A large grouping of structures comparable to a city was discovered within Rift W-33, completely frozen over and devoid of life due to the reality's exceptionally low baseline temperature. The only structure that could be entered appeared to be some kind of library or knowledge base. There were signs of a struggle, deep claw impressions in the floors and walls, as well as several structures appearing to have been burned. Of the books that still remained, only a few had not faded to the point of being unreadable. A significant portion of the books contained depictions of S-01 and other objects within RPC-313-S, along with extensive writings. The language used within the books has yet to be deciphered, and attempted translations are currently ongoing.

Location: Rift H-08 [ACS-1]

Description: Reality accessed via Rift H-08 was initially deemed too unstable to be of any use research-wise, the entire space dominated by matter in phases with less than quarkic degrees of freedom. However, an accidental discovery of particles that were able to form within the space had some troubling implications. The particles only appeared in disparate clusters each in the distinct shape of S-01. Research into how this is possible within Rift H-08 is ongoing.

Foreword: During his last talk to an audience regarding RPC-313, Board Member ██ relayed a story about a dream as an answer to a recruit's question.

Transcript: "…I had a dream many, many years ago. Though, I can still vividly remember it, better even than some of my actual memories. I've sat on it for a while, but I think… it's time to share it with you all. I imagine might be helpful… to one of you.

It was a couple months after we discovered the simulation, the implications were weighing heavily on my mind. We had been looking into the Fischer-Griess Void for a while, the fact that it was seemingly expanding was concerning to us long before we intercepted the signals. It was all downhill after we discovered that godawful thing in the center. After a few weeks of feeling that existential weight on my shoulders I had the dream.

It began as most of my dreams did at that time, opening my eyes lying on the ground. As I opened them I became privy to the wondrous garden around me. I stood up and began to wander the dazzling gallery of natural wonders. It was as if each singular plant had been immaculately maintained personally by a gardener with great prowess and precision. There seemed to emanate from the place an ethereal glow, one which warmed me to my very core and gave me a sense of not only calm but a deeper feeling of confidence and optimism in myself and my life. I haven't felt anything like that since. Soon, my wandering was halted by the discovery of a small stream. Only about two feet wide, and a few inches deep, though it was able to capture my attention.

The water was odd, to say the least. Though it was obvious the stream was incredibly shallow, the water itself was dark and difficult to see through, as though it were actually several miles deep. Regardless, my wandering now had some form of purpose as I was now attempting to reach the source of these waters. As I meandered upstream I would periodically come across a somewhat larger stream that my current path had branched off from. This happened several times before I reached any destination.

After some time of following this stream I finally came upon a clearing, in which was set a small grassy hill. The grass which cloaked the hill had a bright green gloss which contrasted with the murky water flowing down the hillside's streams. Atop the hill sat a modest hut of some antiquated construction. There was a strange aura which hung over the quaint abode, one that caused me to feel a great… fondness and nostalgia for the place, as if I had been born and raised there. A wave of emotion flooded over me looking at the home, as though I had been searching for this place my entire life and finally found it. I felt a significant weight drop from my very being as I approached the entrance to the modest hovel. I knew… somewhere… deep within me that I would not soon forget whatever was about to transpire there.

At the center of the shack was an odd stone structure, filled with water, around two or three feet tall. It appeared to have been built around a natural wellspring, the dark water flowing from its openings outside into the garden. This was the source of the streams I had been following. Sitting across from me was an elderly woman, with her hands in the water of the wellspring. Upon looking at her face I found myself smiling, though I was unsure why. When she noticed me she reciprocated the smile, her gaze motherly and calming. When she spoke, it sounded like a symphony to me, harmonious and moving in a way I cannot quite describe. She asked me, "What troubles you, child?" I responded telling her of my troubles, describing the despair that now seemed like some distant memory. It's strange, though I can remember her words with near perfect clarity my own are clouded and hazy. She responded "Oh… so it's the heavy burden of despair which plagues your mind." She removed her hands from the wellspring and the flow of the water increased ever so slightly.

She continued, "Though I know it is unfair, you must understand the nature of your burdens. You must know that though you should not be made to bear these burdens, it is your duty. There are things much more dangerous than despair that now weigh heavily on you." She gestured to the wellspring, the flow of water now dangerously strong, the water looked as though it were boiling, churning from the sheer force. "Take the wellspring for instance," she said, "it is the most important force in this garden, its waters are required to keep the living things here fed and happy. Without the wellspring there would be no garden, for the garden grew from it. But it is a strange and fickle thing. Older than the garden. Older even than me. It understands only its waters, and its most unknowable and archaic desire is to see its waters flow, unhindered." As she spoke the waters of the wellspring began to spew forth at an incredible rate. I could feel that it was beginning to flood the hut. I tried to leave, the door would no longer open. "It wants only for its water to flood all things, to grind away at the world until there is nothing left but a vast, empty sea. For the flow to gnaw at the sides of the mountains until all that remains is the abyss in-between, the garden and everything with it returned to the formless dark waters from which it grew."

The water had reached my neck, I was for some reason unable to move. Fear and anguish had rendered me paralyzed. "It is my burden, the burden of all life to keep the perverse desires of the wellspring at bay for the good of the garden." I was now straining to keep by face above the water, to keep my breath my own. "If I should slack for only a few moments, the wellspring will enact its will. It will flood and wash away all the life that grows here." As the waters finally overtook me, she finished: "So you see, if you let an insignificant thing like despair defeat you, there are burdens incomprehensibly more important that will crush you without a second thought."

As I was submerged the hut around me suddenly ceased to be, and I found myself sinking into the vast, dark sea the woman had described. The loneliness… the crushing emptiness of it… was more terrifying than any nightmare I've had as a child or as an adult. Be my eyes open or closed, I only saw a darkness without end, an edgeless chasm which seemed to eat away at my very soul every second I spent in its infernal depths. As I sank further, my breath slowly failing me, I felt the waters radiate an aura which tore painfully at my psyche. It was as though the great happiness and relief I had felt in the garden were cruelly inverted, all the worst and most depraved, grotesque forms imposing themselves on my being. I was being torn apart, though not physically. The very concept of "me" was disintegrating before me, and I was unable to scream. There was no direction, there was no order, there was only me and the horrific black. I tumbled through the churning void, feeling only the deepest agony and torment. As I finally felt my breath leave me, the abyss crushing my form slowly and without remorse, I opened my eyes one last time… or… closed them… I'm not sure. Below me, in the depths I saw it. That heinous shape. The one the researchers began to draw everywhere, the center of the simulation. I was staring right into the black heart of that crooked pattern. What I saw in that utterly empty circle I will not repeat here. It was… a torture unknowably miserable to even look upon it. As my consciousness faded in unimaginable misery I heard the woman's voice again, now far off and distorted,

"Do you understand?"

I awoke quickly, convulsing in shock of the experience. I calmed down after several minutes, progressively calming my breathing. It was a profound pleasure merely to feel by unhindered breath, to be alive. For the first time in decades, I began weep slowly. The weight of the lesson crashed over me seemingly all at once. Despair had, in that moment, utterly defeated me. But let it be known by any powers that may be listening that it was the last time. The lesson did take. I… understood."