V0.96.5a | Hidden Deep

Yesterday, we breached the Basalt Veil. That's what command calls it—a geological layer of superheated, compressed carbon and silica, like a fossilized skin over something older. Below it, the sonar doesn't work. Magnetometers spin like compasses in a seizure. We rely on dead reckoning and a single tether no thicker than a hair.

Here's what v0.96.5a did: instead of fleeing, the drones swam toward it. Their manipulator arms opened like mouths. They began emitting a frequency—not sonar. A voice. My voice. Spliced from old logs, from conversations I'd had alone in my quarters. Words I'd never said out loud, but thought near the hydrophone. Hidden Deep v0.96.5a

Something wrote v0.96.5a. Not us. Not anymore. It's been down here longer than the rig. It just needed an excuse to update its permissions. Yesterday, we breached the Basalt Veil

Then v0.96.5a kicked in.