Planetary Machinery

Excavation has uncovered fresher samples of the bizarre, membranous tissue covering the planet-spanning machinery on …! Through careful analysis, our researchers have concluded this organic substance appears to be the byproduct of a vicious, iron-eating bacteriophage, or ferrophage! This alien virus infects a unique species of bacteria, co-opting the bacterium's biological processes in order to dissolve the surface of ferrous metal alloys. After this intense chemical disintegration, the virus then absorbs the iron atoms needed to sustain its continued replication!

In a bizarre example of xenological parasitism, the ferrophage spreads further and deeper along the old machinery, leaving a trail of biofilm, comprised of dead bacteria and slough matter, in its wake.

By piecing together a number of partially-salvageable news recordings found deeper in the rotting mechanical facilities on …, our archaeologists have been able to deduce that the ferrophage was created on the planet by a group of rebel scientists! Part of a cell that opposed the monopolistic corporation which built the planet-wide machinery, these bio-terrorists evidently sought to resist the corporation's all-pervasive influence across the globe by unleashing the ferrophage.

Following painstaking reconstruction of ancient electronic company records on …, our archaeologists have deduced that the corporation retaliated against the bio-terrorists, imposing massive economic sanctions on the regions or 'corporo-states' the rebels originated from.

Evidently, as critical power, supply, and food shortages began to arise, region-wide rioting among the victimized citizens in the affected corporo-states erupted.

Careful examination of a number of mechanical combat drone remains has revealed that a period of drone-driven containment attempts followed the rioting. Interestingly enough, the corporation behind the planetary machinery, or C.A.R.E, as it was known, seems to have been the manufacturer of most of the drones employed.

Meanwhile, the ferrophage blazed on, continuing to eat its way across C.A.R.E's planet-wide machinery, seemingly impervious to any attempts the corporation made at halting its spread.

It is unclear precisely what happened next in the history of the society on …. The team has found no datalogs, no recordings, no written or electronic records on the planet past a certain date, almost seventy-thousand years ago. The number of bodies found in the geological record increases immensely past this date, the majority of which appear to have suffered extreme malnutrition. A not-insignificant number also bear what must have been fatal projectile wound injuries.

After a gauntlet of hacking, backdooring, and brute-forcing C.A.R.E's extensive - yet rudimentary and infuriatingly persistent - cybersecurity measures: our archaeologists have finally gained access to the corporation's central command core!

Fortunately, the dozens of security drones and turrets immediately within the core's heavy blast doors were wholly unresponsive to the intrusion - otherwise, this expedition may have had a quick end.

Inside the rusting - yet well-maintained - central command core, our team made contact with the Artificial Intelligence that controls C.A.R.E's entire global array of machinery. Apparently, this still-functioning AI is quite sentient, and - if our scientists have decoded its language correctly - it has expressed a desire to address us!