The Contagion

Investigator’s Log: Entry 1

Date: December 10, 2145

Time: 08:00 AM

Investigator: Special Agent Marissa Lowe, Deep-Sea Incident Response Unit

The Aegir-7 Underwater Research Lab lies in ruin, deep in the Pacific trench. What was once a cutting-edge facility designed for research on marine genetics is now a collapsed tomb, sealed under tons of water pressure. It took two weeks to pinpoint the exact location of the wreckage, and even longer to retrieve anything substantial from it. Visibility at these depths is nearly zero; everything is a cold, black void, save for the faint glimmer of distant searchlights. The ocean here feels oppressive, as if the water itself is waiting for something.

The structure is beyond repair. Half of it is crushed, the other half partially flooded. We salvaged what we could—broken terminals, data chips—but most systems were destroyed in the collapse.