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"Tablet. Light, please." Excitement coursed through her veins when she shined its light onto the paper. She traced the symbols with her index finger, their lines and curves filled her with elation: "Yadari." Whispers of a thousand voices traversed the partially broken down spacecraft, its mother tongue unknown. In the galley, the entire crew gathered, their expressions serious and sombre. The voices had been constant and ceaseless, its source yet to be determined. They had tolerated it for almost a week now, but their patience had clearly thinned. Their presence on this planet was not welcome, that had been made clear, as a series of unfortunate events had plagued them ever since their arrival. "So you're telling us that these voices has something to do with those texts?" Erie asked hesitantly. Everyone turned their attention towards Kaydn and Humaira, both of whom had called for the meeting. Humaira sat on the table's edge whilst Kaydn stood, her hands constantly playing with her tablet. They exchanged a meaningful glance before Humaira nodded, encouraging Kaydn to answer. -- "Yes," Kaydn replied, "Tablet, show me Yadari please." She placed the tablet in the middle of the table as a series of symbols floated above it. "When I first heard the voices," Kaydn began, "A part of me said that something about them seemed... familiar. And then it dawned on me, I have in fact heard these words before. Worked on them, even. I then spent the entire week searching, looking through the records on my computer. And that was when I found it, the very audio clip that started this mission. The clip that came with these texts." "You don't mean--" Erie's voice hovered over the final word, her tone suggestive of fear. "It’s them," Humaira confirmed, "they've finally revealed themselves to us." At the sound of those words, a sudden shift in energy overtook the room. Everyone had become lively and curious again, as they had been once before. How could they be so certain? What do they mean by ‘revealed’? Why didn’t they resume their communications earlier on? More and more questions were hurled her way but Kaydn paid no heed. Instead she pressed on, more concerned about their reaction towards her upcoming proposal than their queries. She was certain that they wouldn't warm to it, but it was the only way that she could think of. "Which is why I suggest that we return to the caverns. To the source of these messages."
As predicted, her proposal was met with a chorus of groans, the loudest of which came from Evelyn, "We've already searched the caverns, there is nothing for us to find." "Or so we thought." Kaydn said as she reached over and waved the floating symbols away, now replaced with an image of a graffitied wall, "Remember how every inch of the cavern was covered with symbols?" Aside from Evelyn's grunt, the rest of the crew gave her a puzzled look, not certain of how to respond. Undeterred, Kaydn went on: "Well, I've listened to the voices some more, transcribing what I could," she made a gesture that enlarged the image significantly, "I then compared those symbols to the ones on the wall, and made this little discovery right here." "What does it say?" Erie leaned forward and squinted as she searched the symbols. Kaydn cleared her throat, "Tangled and endless my innards may be, but fools and seekers still walk within me. Whichever class you choose to belong, the door you seek lies not far beyond. A passage through time awaits the person who conquers, death the consequence for those who dare enter." "So, like a labyrinth?" Erie asked. "That's what it sounds like, yes." Kaydn replied. "After comparing the symbols on this part of the cavern to the others, Kaydn and I have reason to believe that this wall is the door that they speak of." Humaira added, "The others mostly talked about religion or sacrifice--" "Tell me that you've just heard yourself talk." Evelyn said incredulously. "I did," Humaira replied, "But we came here for answers. And I'll be damned if we go back empty-handed." "No way," Evelyn argued, "Labyrinth? Religion? Sacrifice? We'd be lambs to the slaughter if we went in." "Kaydn has found us a new lead to go on," Humaira countered, "Do not let her efforts die in vain." "I'd rather not die an idiot, thank you very much." "I'm sorry, what exactly was your contribution to this mission?" "Not piggybacking on someone else's work, that's for sure." "That's enough," Erie interjected before Humaira could get a word in, "As much as I hate to say this, Evelyn has a point. The labyrinth sounds like a dangerous place to go. And we have limited resources as is. I'd rather that we remain in the spacecraft and fix what we can. I'm sorry, ladies, but it's a no to the caverns." Disappointed but not surprised, Kaydn stood rooted to her spot, her muscles too frozen to move. What was she to do now? She couldn’t just ignore the voices. They had wanted her to
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Page 36: Space-- A dark and silent vacuum in

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