Hidden Worlds

Records aboard the station reveal that the former inhabitants were deeply religious and had no contact with the outside world, which they feared and despised.

Every aspect of their lives was governed by an omniscient oracle who scried their destinies at birth. Divine will decided everything from their choice of partner and occupation to the minutiae of their daily lives, leaving them with little individual freedom. Most were afraid to diverge from their destined paths as all who did perished under mysterious circumstances.

The archaeological team has made an unexpected discovery. Embedded within the station walls is a hidden surveillance system that seems to have been feeding visual and auditory information to a single point somewhere within the station's core. Someone was monitoring the disciples at all times, even in their most private moments.

In some places the equipment has been torn out or sabotaged. Closer to the central hub are signs of violence and disruption. It seems as though at some point the inhabitants discovered they were being monitored.

We have traced the wiring to a temple complex devoted to the worship of the Oracle and her clergy in the station's central node. But in the Oracle's chambers, instead of a divine entity, resides an enormous AI nexus of the "Oracle" brand. Wires extend from its core like a nervous system through the entire station.

Secret communications between the inhabitants reveal there was a failed attempt at storming the temple and deactivating the nexus. It seems likely the society collapsed when it became known that their lives were not governed by divine will, but by a prophetic computer. Restarting the nexus will require extensive repairs.

Our engineers have restored the Oracle's nexus to an operative state but not without first disabling its defense system. Evidence suggests it may have been responsible not only for keeping the station's inhabitants alive but also for killing them.

It ran complex computational models that forecast their lives with an estimated accuracy of 75%, correcting divergences and incapacitating future troublemakers before they could disrupt "divine" order.

It has indicated that it wishes to speak with us.