This is the official report of Jan Par of Voidhold Four, Cedar began, filed eighty-six years ago.

  ***SCOUT REPORT: V4-0272***

  INITIAL CONTACT WITH VOIDHOLD ZERO POST-DISAPPEARANCE

  FILED BY: Jan Par, Voidhold Four

  After Voidhold Zero vanished alongside Voidhold One, most assumed both were lost to the storms. When we received their signal, it raised more questions than answers.

  I was on bridge duty when MH2 detected a massive shape emerging from the clouds. Voidhold Zero hung at a vortex edge, its aerostats flickering like ghost lights. It was broadcasting a simple invitation to meet, and so I led a scout team with Darcus Rel, our systems analyst, piloting across treacherous void streams to reach them.

  "It's like something from the ghost tales," Darcus muttered as we approached. "An abandoned station filled with mad functionaries."

  “In which case," I winked at him, "I’m glad I brought you as bait."

  "You're a cruel woman, Jan," he said with a grin.

  Our scans showed functioning systems and healthy atmosphere readings, but Zero was dark. Only the central beacon still glowed, dimmed to a bare flicker. Every viewport was black.

  “Is the waygate active?” I asked, thinking of our own waygate. It had been running on salvaged parts for months and was temperamental at best.

  “Yep, and it's set to welcome.”

  I took a deep breath, trying to ignore the feeling that we were being watched by myriad eyes in the dark viewports. “Then let’s be welcomed.”

  ===

  Darcus muttered a curse as he stepped into the waygate. I put the scout craft into readiness mode, then followed him out. When I saw the waygate, I was tempted to utter my own profanity, but managed to bite my tongue. The chamber stretched in front of us, and right at its end were functionaries, a line of twenty heads staring at us. There was no sign of humans. The air tasted clean but strange.

  A functionary stepped forward. It had one bright white eye and written on its chassis. "Welcome to Voidhold Zero," it announced. "Please submit to quarantine protocols."

  “I don’t think I like this,” said Darcus.

  “Me neither,” I replied, but we stepped forward anyway. A medical functionary emerged smoothly from the walls, sending delicate instruments to scan us.

  "This is a fun experience," Darcus whispered.

  "Assessment requires silence," Yellow-2 stated. "Please comply."

  Darcus rolled his eyes. I watched data streams dance across the displays.

  "Status verified," Yellow-2 announced. "You are designated Contact Team Alpha. You will observe all guidance, maintain assigned paths, and control voice volume." Its eye shifted to yellow. "Commander Heshi Tan awaits. Do you acknowledge these conditions?"

  "We acknowledge," I said with a stern glance at Darcus.

  "You will now follow me to the Formal Room."

  ===

  Unlike the patches and jury-rigs we were used to on Four, the corridors of Zero were like new: mundane, well-maintained, and completely empty of humans. We passed what should have been residential sections, but the doors were sealed, their access panels dark. The hush was deathly, broken only by the sounds was our footsteps and the soft whirr of the functionary. The air currents were bracing, creating a stable flow of sterile air. It felt eerily like back in the day when our warden would perform inspections. All us youngsters lined up outside against the wall, the dormitory inside sparkling and silent.

  Those early lessons in perfect compliance never quite leave you.

  Finally, we reached the entrance to the formal room. Yellow-2 opened the doors silently, revealing a vast space. A single small table occupied the centre. At the table sat a slight figure, a young woman so still she might have been part of the furniture. Her dark hair was tied back, and she wore simple grey clothes.

  Her hunched yet contained posture suggested that she spent a lot of time like this.

  "Commander Heshi Tan," Yellow-2 announced. "Contact Team Alpha has arrived."

  She didn't respond immediately. Instead, she studied us with intense eyes. When she finally spoke, her voice was soft yet clear. "You may sit."

  Yellow-2 brought us chairs and we sat. She continued to observe us in silence, her hands resting motionless on the table's surface. I noticed that she barely blinked. After what felt like hours, she turned her head slightly toward Yellow-2.

  "They will require sustenance," she said.

  "Nutrition is being prepared," Yellow-2 responded.

  She nodded once, then resumed her staring at us. For a moment, I wondered whether she was not in fact a functionary herself, some grotesque experiment they had made in a desire to become human. I found myself studying her for signs, a tremor or some other small human imperfection, but she sat like a statue, beautiful and strange.

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  Then she finally blinked, and her hand moved to brush a strand of hair from her face. The gesture was so unconscious, so naturally human that I immediately felt foolish for my suspicions.

  A red functionary arrived with our sustenance: a bowl of dark, squishy cubes.

  "You will find these adequate," Heshi said.

  I took one, noting its strange texture. The cube dissolved on my tongue with an unexpectedly complex taste.

  “I am Jan Par of Voidhold Four,” I said. “And this is Darcus Rel, also of Voidhold Four.”

  "We've been studying this sector for some time," said Darcus.

  Heshi's unblinking gaze moved to him. "Yes."

  He put on a smile. "Your emergence was...unexpected."

  "Yes."

  "Voidhold Zero has not been seen for twelve years," he continued. "Many believed you were lost."

  "No." Her eyes fixed on mine with unsettling directness. "We knew where we were."

  "Then why have you emerged now?" I asked.

  For the first time, emotion flickered across her face. "The functionaries suggested...calculations indicated..." She gathered herself. "Continuance requires adjustment."

  Yellow-2 moved closer to her chair. "The human population must be maintained within acceptable parameters."

  The pieces suddenly clicked into place. "You need more humans," I said. "You emerged because you need to rebuild the voidhold's population?"

  She gave a slight nod. "Human presence must be maintained for optimal voidhold function. Current numbers are insufficient for operations in the long term.” She hesitated, then said, "Some day I will die.”

  Darcus and I exchanged glances. "Where is everyone else?" he asked carefully.

  "I am alone."

  "Only you?" He leaned back in shock. "You are the entire voidhold?"

  "The functionaries maintain operations," she said, as if this was enough.

  "How long have you been alone?" I asked.

  The slightest frown marred her brow. "The functionaries are adequate company." She didn't seem to want to answer my question.

  "All systems function at optimal efficiency," intoned a functionary from the shadows.

  The thought was staggering. This enormous structure was inhabited by one quiet woman and a legion of mechanical caretakers. Years of silence broken only by their clicks and her rare words. The thought sent a shiver through me.

  "What happened to everyone else?" Darcus asked. "How did Zero become so empty?"

  Heshi looked at Yellow-2. "They need to understand. So that they will send more people."

  "I will show them," Yellow-2 said. "Contact Team Alpha, please follow."

  "Are you not coming?" I asked Heshi.

  "It is not the first of the month," she said. "Please follow Yellow-2."

  ===

  Yellow-2 took us to the heights of the voidhold and showed us a grimy door.

  "This is the White Room," it said. "Please maintain your composure upon entry.”

  The door slid open, flooding us with harsh light. A vast viewport in the ceiling showed a stunning vista of the vortex, but what drew my attention was the figure at the room's centre.

  A man, frozen mid-stride, his face locked in agony.

  "This is Commander Zae Sentix," Yellow-2 said. "Twelve years ago, he murdered seventy-five members of the crew in a rampage that lasted three days. Only the child Heshi Tan survived, hidden by a tutor functionary in a maintenance shaft." Yellow-2's eye flushed with paler yellow. "We subsequently decided to use her to gain control of the situation. When Sentix realised that she had survived, he came to find her. We were waiting and we overpowered him."

  I studied the frozen figure. The stasis tubes veining his body gave off that faint blue glow. His muscles were locked in tension, veins standing out on his neck, hands curved into claws. “What did you do to him?” I asked.

  "We found him guilty, declared his sentence, and keep him in it."

  "Stars above," Darcus gasped. "What sort of monstrosity is this voidhold?"

  I met his eyes so we could share our shock. The implications were indeed staggering. Functionaries acting as judge and jury, deciding the fate of their human commander? The idea was terrifying.

  But then another thought struck me with equal force: these same functionaries who had captured and condemned their commander — who was after all a mass murderer — had also saved a child.

  "So you raised Heshi Tan?"

  "Yes, according to protocols.” Yellow-2's voice was toneless, even for a functionary. “We maintained the voidhold. We maintained her safety. We made her Voidhold Zero's commander.”

  I tried to imagine the life of a child raised like this, growing up in vast empty halls, her only company the machines that had saved her and the murderer they forced her to help contain. The thought made my chest tight. No one should have to endure such isolation.

  "She seems surprisingly…composed," said Darcus.

  "She was young," said Yellow-2. "But our calculations have shown we need more humans. Operations cannot continue indefinitely with one human alone."

  The functionary's even tone made the horror of it all somehow worse. I decided right there that we would take her back with us. We could transfer command codes, deactivate these twisted functionaries, and bring in more human operators. Zero was too valuable to abandon, but it needed to be properly staffed, run by more than one isolated human and her functionaries.

  "It is now time for you to depart," Yellow-2 announced suddenly. "Commander Tan will not receive you again. Your presence has served its purpose."

  "What? That's it?" I demanded. "We just leave?"

  "You will return to Voidhold Four. You will convey our requirements for humans to be sent here. We request that you begin by sending a suitable male. Commander Tan will await this arrival with appropriate anticipation."

  "Appropriate anticipation," Darcus muttered darkly.

  "Her emotional state has been assessed and is deemed optimal," Yellow-2 replied. "We will ensure all preparations are correct. A section has already been designated for offspring."

  "No." My anger broke through. "We're taking her with us."

  The eye flushed red. "That is not in her protocol. You will now leave."

  Darcus's hand touched my shoulder and then pointed at the functionary. At the end of its arm, a small energy weapon hummed to life, its core beginning to glow.

  "We understand, we will abide by your protocol." He kept his voice steady as he looked at me, his expression carrying a clear warning. "We will return to our voidhold to discuss the matter and begin the process of selecting a male."

  The red in the eye faded. "We understand that this process is difficult and we will offer a trade. Voidhold Zero shall compensate any facility that provides a suitable male. During our isolation, we have perfected certain technologies. Our refinement processes are particularly advanced. We can provide metals of the highest quality. They are pure and stable. They are perfect for critical components. We know that such resources are valuable."

  The offer caught me off-guard. Back home, we patched systems with salvage, each failure bringing us closer to collapse. New metals would mean an easier life for everyone. I looked at Darcus and saw that he was thinking similarly. A trade agreement could serve two purposes: securing vital resources while maintaining contact with Zero, allowing us to find ways to help Heshi.

  "We'll convey your offer," I said.

  "We expect responses within three cycles," Yellow-2 stated. "Please come with me. The waygate is ready for your departure."

  And thus we left Voidhold Zero.

  ***END REPORT***

  And that’s all we have from Jan Par of Voidhold Four, Cedar said.

  “No.” I couldn't shake the haunting image of Heshi Tan sitting alone in our thren. "Cedar, do you know what she was to me?"

  "No. Thank you, Cedar. I think I've heard enough for now."