Horror Story 2025 - Errant Transmission

The funny thing about transmissions in space is that they can travel for a long, long time, way after they were originally sent. Data runners are always listening in on cross-system comms for juicy intel. We are constantly having to filter out junk comms from who knows what or when. Most of it is standard stuff: ATC calls from stations long gone, some guy singing a shanty centuries old, etc. But once in a while, you come across something that perks your ears, something…strange…something you were probably better off not hearing...

INTERCEPTING UNKOWN AUDIO TRANSMISSION

WARNING: HEAVY DATA CORRUPTION, ATTEMPTING PLAYBACK

{---BEGIN PLAYBACK ---}

“—completed our initial scans of a Hadesian city on Hades II. Place is still as creepy as the last reports. Truly a city of the dead. Poor bastards blew themselves to hell. Heavy metals everywhere, completely uninhabitable. Plan is to look at a different site on the planet shortly. Captain Tisiphone Heptane of the exploration vessel Vara, signing off for now.“

[computer chirps]

“Hey Cap, we are ready for jump, just say the word.”

“Perfect timing, I just sent out our survey report. Make the jump.”

“Roger! QT in 3…2…1.”

[crackle of static]

“Hey Cap, it’s Milton. I wanted to ask you about some readings I noticed about the survey site. I think you’d want to see this. Something doesn’t seem right.”

“Of course, come i-...what the hell? Milton?”

[short pause and then a faint beeping]

“What jus-…OSIN STOP THE SHIP. MILTON IS OFF THE SHIP!”

“What?! What do you mea-“

“STOP. THE. SHIP.”

static noise paired with a dull, metallic groaning

“Plot a course to Milton’s beacon NOW!”

“His beacon? Wha—he’s…300km away? What the hell?!”

“FOCUS!”

“Charging the QT, but it’s gonna take a moment, that emergency drop did a number on the drive”

“Punch it the second you can, I am seeing his vitals falling. I…I think he’s been spaced? His blood O2 and core temp are dropping!”

“Got it, just a few more seconds….ok we are jumping NOW!”

[static increases in volume]

{---WARNING: AUDIO DATA CORRUPTION---}

“-ead. Vita—ero. —gone…—AMMIT”

“Cap, what the hell happened?! How is he dead?”

“I don’t know. One second Milton was walking into my quarters and the next he was just gone. Instantly. How far away from his marker?”

“Getting closer now…wait…something isn’t right. We just blew past him.”

“What?!”

“The ship isn’t responding. I can’t pull us out of QT. Nothing is responding. Speed is increasing but I don’t know where we are heading towards.”

“Are we at risk of hitting the planet?”

“I don’t think so, it’s way behind us now…I think…I think we are going towards the system’s star?”

“Emergency QT must have fried the drive. You figure out where we are going and how long we have before we hit…something. I am going to engineering to see what I can do.”

“Roger Captain, be safe.”

[low static for a few minutes]

mumbles are heard “Where is it, where is it…AH, I think I found it. Osin, I found the fuse to the drive. I'm going to pull it.”

“Go for it, controls are still unresponsive and we are going WAY faster than we are rated for...”

“Pulling it.”

[harsh static and metallic screeching]

[pops and bangs are heard]

“Osin, how are we looking, did that do the trick? I can’t see shit.”

[static grows louder]

“Osin?”

“Uh Cap? Everything is black.”

[static grows even louder]

“Everything is dead back here too. Engineering panel is dead and the emergency lights are barely working”

“No I mean outside the ship….it’s all black. No sun. No stars. Nothing. Just…black…”

[static and hissing at overwhelming levels]

{---WARNING: AUDIO DATA CORRUPTION---}

“—need to figure — fuse probably killed — drive for good — dumped —who knows where...”

“Cap— main MFDs — dead….— see one still working! Let me see…”

[static stops]

[silence for approx. 5 seconds]

“...hey cap, what the hell does ‘ERROR: CODE 30000’--”

{--- SIGNAL LOST---}