The Batract should serve as a cautionary tale for everyone. They were the dominant species in the local sector before most of the current species even developed fire. Then they came into contact with the Hyphea.

  How and when this happened will probably remain an unsolved mystery.

  We only know that after the Hyphea took over, nothing of Batract culture and history remained, except scarce ruins and artifacts.

  Together with the Greys and the Gatebuilders, Batract ruins and artifacts are among the most sought-after relics. Some of the most significant technological developments are rooted in knowledge gained from these relics.

  How those three ancient civilizations interacted with each other is unknown, as is what ended them.

  Excerpt from: The Real Batract: The Tragic Truth Behind the Meat Puppets, 51 P.I.

  The makeshift capsule closed in on the ice sheet in the pitch-black crater.

  IronBallz watched the stream hanging from the holding rings in the SIC. Below him, the scientists and engineers of the Magellan watched with bated breath as the mechanical capsule closed the distance to the docking port.

  It was a derivative of the mechanical googly eye.

  The fact that humans even had such a contraption astonished him. But he was glad they did. Otherwise, they would have had to come up with it and build the damned thing themselves.

  The exploration of the crater was cursed from the start. The moment any electronic device came within a few hundred meters of the docking area, its electronics burned out.

  No matter the shielding, no matter whether the device was on or off, as soon as a googly eye crossed the invisible border, it was dead.

  The crashed husks of a dozen drones around the docking area were proof of it.

  Then Chief Stiler, the head of engineering, asked to test the mercury eye, as they called it. A googly eye equipped with electromechanical components. Even the thrusters were powered by a primitive mixture called hydrazine, which self-ignited when its two main chemicals were mixed.

  Thrust was regulated by valves actuated by explosive charges!

  The whole contraption was utter madness.

  But it worked.

  IronBallz had the feeling he was watching monkeys throwing feces at a wall and, by some miracle, recreating The Night Watch.

  When Dr. Daniel Shanks later explained that this was exactly the technology humans used to fly to space in the Gemini and Mercury missions, IronBallz was sure he knew why.

  Because they were all mad.

  But the contraption worked, guided by a kilometers-long fiber-optic cable. They were able to retrieve ice core probes and close-up pictures of the docking arms.

  Real paper pictures, created by silver nitrate reactions!

  Then they began testing an approach to the center of the dock. And there they discovered that anything flying straight at the dock was not influenced by the chaos field. That was the term Chief Stiler gave the field.

  Now came the last test: a bigger capsule for manned flight.

  If the electronic dummies placed in the capsule remained unharmed, the first team could try to land.

  The docking area was already accessible after the Magellan used a communications laser to melt through the three-hundred-meter-thick ice sheet. Oddly enough, the docking area behind the entry was ice-free.

  The scientists assumed it had been protected by some sort of force field at some point.

  The problem was that no one knew how to create a field strong enough to keep accumulating ice out. Modern force fields were barely able to keep air inside a dock.

  The capsule passed the invisible perimeter now. IronBallz focused on the readouts, but Chief Stiler called them out from his engineering station.

  “Speed stable, no interference, dummy fully functional. It seems whatever this chaos field is, it’s leaving a landing corridor open for docking vessels.”

  Captain Smith turned around. IronBallz respected the man, a brilliant tactician, and still, he chose science to be the guiding force in his life.

  “Dr. Shanks. As soon as Mercury 21 is back aboard, you’re clear to go. Have you decided who you’re going to take with you?”

  “Lieutenant Kendersson has volunteered as the pilot.”

  The captain smiled. “Of course he has. Always first row, no matter the rodeo.”

  Daniel smiled back. IronBallz wondered when, in human evolution, baring teeth became a friendly sign. All mad.

  “Yes, it seems so. Well, the capsule leaves space for two more, so it will be Dr. Hunter and me.”

  IronBallz had to act now. He jumped, glided across the SIC, and landed directly on Dr. Shanks’ shoulder.

  The xeno-archaeologist was startled for a second before IronBallz spoke. ‘And me. I might still have memories about the place. Somewhere.’

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  “Erm… do we have room for you? Or spacesuits?” The doctor asked the right questions.

  ‘I could easily fit in your suit with you, if you use a Model 3 with a Shraphen helmet.’

  “Wouldn’t that be uncomfortable?” Captain Smith seemed not to be enthusiastic about the idea.

  “It’s fine, Captain. I was searching for a way to bring IronBallz with us anyway. If he’s fine being locked in with me in a suit, I’m in.” Dr. Shanks gave IronBallz a bright smile.

  ‘Perfect. We’re going to be an awesome team. And no worries, my flatulence from the chili yesterday isn’t as bad anymore.’

  Two hours later, IronBallz was huddled around Dr. Shanks’ neck, his head pressed under the doctor’s chin.

  Both looked out of the small, claustrophobic capsule as it made its way to the docking area in the crater.

  The moon was small and only had a gravity of about 0.10 g. Smaller than Earth’s moon, but larger than most known moons for Goldilocks planets like Earth or Burrow.

  They entered the shadow of the crater walls. Unlike on planets or moons with an atmosphere, there was absolutely no light in the shadow. It felt like someone had switched off the light.

  “Closing in, only 400 more meters.” Lieutenant Kendersson handled the controls with ease.

  To IronBallz, they still seemed like something belonging in a museum. The thrust control was a handle to turn, controlling the gas that was pumped into a balloon, which pushed the fuel into the thruster…

  Madness.

  They were like space orcs.

  But it worked, somehow…

  Next to them sat Dr. Hunter, a specialist in engineering and physics. IronBallz could see he was sweating profusely.

  ‘Everything all right, Dr. Hunter? You look a bit pale.’

  “Hmm?” The man seemed distracted. “Yeah, it’s just… I hate small spaces, and this capsule is not something I would expect to fly.”

  Dr. Shanks gave a slim laugh. “Wasn’t it your team that designed it?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t expect to fly in it. What do you need me for down there anyway?” The engineer looked like he wanted to vomit. Always a bad idea inside a spacesuit.

  “Because this clearly is a technical artifact, and while I’m skilled in engineering and physics, I’m far off from a professional.”

  The engineer’s face grew a bit whiter. “Must be my lucky day then.”

  “50 meters. Slowing descent to 10 m per second. Preparing retro burn.” Kendersson’s status update silenced everyone.

  The capsule had rushed through the ice sheet and was now in the docking area. Using the capsule’s flashlights, they got a first look at the place.

  Their target was a small, oval landing pad on the side of the wall. In the beams of the light, they could see more oval platforms below them, growing larger and larger the deeper they went.

  “According to radar, the dock is at least two kilometers deep.” Shanks informed them of the newest measurements.

  Dr. Hunter whistled through his teeth. “This must be old, but I see no structural damage.”

  Looking out of the small window, IronBallz concurred. This building felt old.

  The walls were made of yellowish-colored metal plates. The whole architecture had an organic vibe. No sharp corners. No straight walls.

  He felt like a large animal had swallowed him.

  They were surrounded by darkness, above and below them. Only the immediate area around them was somewhat illuminated by the capsule’s light.

  The dock was pure vacuum, so nothing reflected light, just like on the moon’s surface.

  “Retro burn!”

  Kendersson pressed a button, and the crew suddenly felt as if they were heavier. Then it was gone.

  “Touchdown, Magellan. Mercury 21 has landed safely.”

  “Roger, Mercury. Be careful out there.” The voice of the comm officer was clear and crisp.

  IronBallz was sure everyone in the SIC was now glued to the screens, watching the camera feeds of their helmet cameras.

  Waiting for them to die horribly.

  He pushed away the annoying thought. But still, his ancestral memories whispered to him to run, to hide, to never return here.

  He whispered to himself, ‘Boots on the ground, that’s what you wanted.’

  “Everything all right, IronBallz? You seem stressed.”

  Dr. Shanks whispered inside the helmet, just loud enough that IronBallz could hear it, but not loud enough for the microphone to catch it.

  ‘Yes, just a sudden bad feeling about this place, Dr. Shanks.’

  “Daniel. Call me Daniel. Everyone does. And yeah, it’s creepy, but it’s also my dream discovery. A truly new discovery.”

  Next to them, Dr. Hunter seemed to have gotten better. “It’s clearly not Shraphen design. Slight similarities to Batract color palette and organic architecture, but also clear differences. Dr. Shanks, I think this is an unknown species’ construction.”

  Daniel’s grin became broader. IronBallz slowly became annoyed by it. Did the doctor miss every survival instinct?

  “Then let’s look around.”

  IronBallz now regretted his decision to accompany the team.

  Feelings crept up from his unknown, long-dead ancestors. Feelings of panic and confusion. They were almost primal in nature.

  Then IronBallz understood. Those feelings were free of the usual undercurrent of sapience.

  ‘Daniel, I think this base is really old. The feeling I have, the memories… they are primal. From before my species became sapient.’

  Daniel repeated IronBallz’s comment loudly so the team in the SIC was informed. Then he asked, “How long ago was that?”

  IronBallz imitated a human shrug. ‘No idea.’

  “We should get out and inspect the immediate area. I want to take metal samples and maybe find a way inside the facility.”

  Dr. Hunter’s interest was now piqued. The doctor obviously didn’t care about IronBallz’ feelings, or he hadn’t paid attention to the conversation.

  Kendersson turned around to them. He had been working on the post-flight checklist until now.

  “I’ll stay here. I want to check some stuck valves on this baby. We’re ready to launch in about ten minutes, if we need to leave urgently.”

  “Why would we leave?” Dr Hunter asked. “This whole place is without energy, except the chaos field outside. There’s everything dead down here.”

  IronBallz hoped Hunter was right.

  They left the capsule. It really was a larger version of the original Mercury capsules. IronBallz would never understand the human instinct to copy old designs out of admiration.

  They walked in silence a few meters toward a wall. The ground had inlays that led them to a specific place on the wall.

  Dr. Hunter scanned the inlays. They looked like glass to IronBallz, but the scanner showed they were transparent carbon nanotube crystals.

  “Lights. They were lights. Pointing, maybe, to a door?” Daniel assumed.

  At the wall, Dr. Hunter scanned again. The scanner showed no opening, no hinges, or anything of the like.

  “Are you sure, Dr. Shanks? It seems there’s nothing here.”

  “Then why are the stripes going to this wall in particular? There are no other inlays in the ground on the whole platform.”

  IronBallz had to confess, Daniel’s logic was without issues. It was just that the wall didn’t agree.

  To his surprise, the archaeologist sat down on the ground and focused on the wall.

  ‘What are you thinking, Daniel?’

  “I’m trying to understand the architecture. It’s clear that there must be a way to leave the platform. It’s also clear that the transparent inlays point to the wall.”

  ‘Yes, and?’

  “But why is the scanner not showing anything?”

  IronBallz had to grab the doctor’s hair to not slip inside the suit as the archaeologist suddenly jumped up.

  “Dr. Hunter, do we see anything behind the wall?”

  Now he understood. If they could detect open spaces behind the wall, they would know there was an exit.

  Hunter scanned the sickly yellow surface, then pointed to a space exactly between the lines. “Here. Twenty centimeters of wall, and then an open space.”

  As the engineer pointed at the wall, he touched it for the first time. The wall moved forward like a living organism, flowing around the shocked doctor’s hand and dragging him into the wall.

  It all took less than a second. Then the engineer was gone.

  “What the hell?” Daniel walked cautiously closer to the wall.

  IronBallz had to control his bladder. It had looked as if the wall had eaten the human.

  The archaeologist pointed his flashlight at the spot where the doctor had disappeared.

  Then the wall began to wobble again, as if it were the surface of water.

  “Fuck.” Daniel jumped back, but nothing was trying to grab him.

  Out of the wall grew Dr. Hunter, a grin on his face like a little child in a toy store.

  “Programmable matter!”