The storm had passed.

Clouds still covered much of the sky above Virelia, but patches of orange sunlight appeared between them, reflecting across the wet ground.

Gluk and Xylos continued away from the mine.

Behind them, the entrance had almost disappeared beneath the surrounding rock.

Neither spoke for several minutes.

The mine had given them thirty-two names.

Nothing more.

Xylos checked the recovered manifest again.

Xylos: “The data remains incomplete.”

Gluk: “But the number is reliable.”

Xylos: “Yes.”

Gluk looked across the valley.

Gluk: “Then we keep looking.”

They continued toward the lower region of the mountains.

The terrain gradually changed.

Rock gave way to shallow depressions filled with rainwater. Small streams crossed the ground before disappearing into darker channels.

They were walking beside a large body of water.

Xylos stopped.

Gluk noticed immediately.

Gluk: “What is it?”

Xylos pointed toward the water.

Something had moved beneath the surface.

They waited.

The water became still.

Then a long shape passed beneath them.

Xylos moved closer.

Xylos: “There.”

The creature surfaced.

It was large, unlike anything either of them had encountered before.

Its streamlined body moved through the water using four broad, flexible fins.

Faint light appeared beneath its partially translucent skin.

It showed no interest in them.

It simply moved through the shallow water before gradually disappearing into the deeper channel.

Both watched it until it was gone.

Xylos: “Remarkable.”

Gluk: “Indigenous.”

Xylos: “Obviously.”

Gluk looked at him.

Gluk: “Don't even think about it.”

Xylos: “What?”

Gluk: “Giving it a name.”

Xylos: “I was?”

Gluk looked toward the abandoned settlement in the distance.

Gluk: “Humans lived here for fourteen hundred years.”

Xylos remained silent.

Gluk: “If they encountered this species, they must have named it.”

Xylos considered that.

Xylos: “That is likely.”

Gluk: “Then we use their name.”

Xylos: “When we get to know it.”

Gluk nodded.

Gluk: “Exactly.”

Xylos released his hovering agent.

It moved over the water and began scanning the creature's movements.

The creature had already disappeared.

The agent returned.

Xylos examined the collected data.

Xylos: “Very little.”

Gluk: “Enough to report?”

Xylos: “Yes.”

They continued.

A short distance away, they entered an abandoned service facility.

The interior was surprisingly intact.

Old equipment remained against the walls, and several service corridors extended deeper into the structure.

Gluk stopped.

A faint mechanical voice came from somewhere ahead.

Cleaning Robot: “Good afternoon. Please remain clear of the cleaning area.”

Xylos looked toward the corridor.

Xylos: “Did it just speak to us?”

Gluk: “Yes.”

A small machine emerged from around the corner.

It moved on several compact wheels and carried a rotating cleaning mechanism beneath its lower frame.

It stopped beside them.

Cleaning Robot: “Cleaning operation in progress.”

Xylos examined it.

Xylos: “How long have you been operating?”

Cleaning Robot: “Current operational period: twenty-five years, three months, seventeen days.”

Gluk looked at Xylos.

Gluk: “That is longer than expected.”

Cleaning Robot: “Routine maintenance has been completed automatically.”

Xylos: “You maintained yourself?”

Cleaning Robot: “Affirmative.”

The robot continued cleaning.

Xylos released his hovering agent.

It scanned the machine.

Xylos: “Its systems are still functional.”

Gluk: “And its records?”

Xylos connected to the robot's external interface.

A large amount of information appeared.

Xylos: “Extensive.”

Gluk moved closer.

Xylos examined the recovered data.

Xylos: “Personnel records. Facility locations. Structural models.”

Gluk: “Anything else?”

Xylos continued.

Xylos: “Maintenance records. Equipment assignments. Environmental readings. Access records.”

Gluk: “Keep going.”

Xylos: “Construction records. Repair histories. Movement logs.”

Gluk looked around the abandoned facility.

Gluk: “It has been recording everything?”

Xylos: “Everything relevant to its operation.”

Gluk: “For twenty-five years?”

Xylos: “Some records extend much further back.”

The two examined the information in silence.

The cleaning robot continued moving across the floor.

Xylos: “This machine may contain a significant portion of the colony's operational history.”

Gluk: “Then copy everything.”

Xylos: “Agreed.”

His agent began transferring the data.

Far away, Ankur and Blip were moving through the remains of an old transport district.

The buildings here were larger than the residential structures.

Loading platforms surrounded the main facility, and abandoned vehicles remained where they had been left.

Ankur examined one of them.

Ankur: “Any records?”

Blip: “Partial transport logs.”

Ankur: “Anything useful?”

Blip: “Most entries are corrupt.”

Ankur moved toward another building.

Ankur: “Let's keep searching.”

Blip: “Understood.”

They entered the structure.

The interior was filled with dust.

Storage containers stood against the walls. Some had collapsed. Others remained sealed.

Blip's utility agents moved through the building, examining surviving systems.

Ankur walked toward a broken window.

A faint mechanical sound reached him.

He stopped.

Ankur: “What is that?”

Blip listened.

Blip: “Mechanical activity.”

Ankur: “From where?”

Blip turned toward the interior of the building.

Blip: “Approximately thirty metres ahead.”

They followed the sound through a corridor.

It became louder.

Then something small emerged from around a corner.

A cleaning robot moved slowly across the floor, sweeping accumulated dust into a collection compartment.

Ankur stared at it.

Ankur: “It's still working.”

Blip scanned the machine.

Blip: “Confirmed.”

Ankur: “How?”

Blip: “Autonomous maintenance systems. Its power system has also remained functional.”

The robot continued cleaning.

Ankur: “Can you access it?”

Blip: “Yes.”

Blip connected to the robot.

Its internal records appeared.

Ankur: “What does it have?”

Blip: “Personnel data.”

Ankur looked at the display.

Blip: “Facility locations. Structural models. Maintenance records.”

More information appeared.

Blip: “Equipment assignments. Environmental readings. Access records. Construction and repair histories.”

Ankur: “How far back?”

Blip examined the archive.

Blip: “Some records extend to the early operational period of the colony.”

Ankur looked around the abandoned transport district.

Ankur: “So this machine has been recording the colony's history while cleaning it.”

Blip: “That is an accurate description.”

Ankur: “Copy everything.”

Blip: “Beginning transfer.”

Ankur looked through the broken window.

The abandoned settlement stretched across the valley.

For the first time, they were beginning to recover information that had survived independently of the colony's central systems.

Blip: “There is additional data.”

Ankur: “What kind?”

Blip: “The robot has recorded locations it visited during its autonomous operation.”

Ankur: “Show me.”

A map appeared.

Dozens of locations were marked across the settlement.

Residential buildings.

Industrial facilities.

Medical centres.

Administrative structures.

Mining operations.

Transport stations.

Ankur studied the map.

Ankur: “Keep all of it.”

Blip: “Already doing so.”

Ankur: “Good.”

They continued examining the records.

Neither noticed the small cleaning robot quietly returning to its work.

The four investigators were now beginning to recover another layer of Virelia's history.

But they still did not know why that history had ended.

Ankur and Blip continued deeper into the transport district.

Gluk and Xylos remained inside the service facility.

Their investigations continued separately.

And Virelia remained silent around them.

But it was no longer empty.

Later, the two teams reconnected.

Blip: “We have recovered extensive historical data from an autonomous maintenance unit.”

Xylos: “We have recovered similar information.”

Ankur: “Personnel, locations, structural models and maintenance records.”

Xylos: “Our unit contains the same categories.”

Gluk: “Then we may have another way to reconstruct what happened here.”

Ankur: “Maybe.”

Blip: “There is one additional problem.”

Ankur: “What?”

Blip: “The biological records are still absent.”

Ankur paused.

Ankur: “Then we have another question.”

Ankur: “Does the Galactic Harmony have a biological catalogue for Virelia?”

Eva appeared on the communication channel.

Eva: “They must have. We were given the complete mission archive.”

Ankur: “Then where is it?”

Eva remained silent for a moment.

Eva: “Blip, search the archive again. Check for any references to biological surveys, ecological studies, or planetary life documentation.”

Blip: “Searching.”

Eva looked toward Ankur.

Eva: “A colony operating here for fourteen hundred years would almost certainly have generated such records.”

Ankur: “That was my thought.”

Blip: “No biological catalogue located.”

Eva: “Check the mission transfer logs.”

Blip: “Checking.”

Several seconds passed.

Blip: “The mission archive was transferred to the Aegis in full.”

Eva: “And the source archive?”

Blip: “The transfer record identifies the Galactic Harmony repository. The contents available to us remain unchanged.”

Eva looked at the information.

Eva: “Then it was not included in the archive we received.”

Ankur: “Can you find out why?”

Eva: “I will.”

Xylos: “Could the catalogue have been lost?”

Gluk: “Or never included.”

Ankur: “Either way, someone should know where it is.”

Eva: “Agreed.”

She looked toward the four separate displays.

Eva: “For now, continue your assigned investigations. Do not let the missing catalogue distract you from the primary objective.”

Ankur: “Understood.”

Gluk: “Understood.”

Xylos: “Agreed.”

Blip: “Continuing.”

The communication ended.

The four displays disappeared.

Eva remained alone in the command centre.

The mission map remained open before her.

Four regions were highlighted.

She opened the archive transfer record again.

The biological catalogue was not listed.

Eva studied the record for several seconds.

Then she opened a private request to the Galactic Harmony archives.

Eva: “Locate all biological records associated with the original Virelia colony.”

The request was transmitted.

Far below, the four operatives returned to their investigations.

Virelia remained silent around them.

But it was no longer empty.