NMS 1.37 Anomaly Nada

PuzzleType: EXP_NPC_ANOMALY_

#1
Alien: Is it Traveller? Is it first or last? Pleasure regardless!

I am Priest Entity Nada, divergent Korvax. But entities must keep secrets, yes?

The electronic being stares at me from their dark mask. I cannot escape the feeling that we have somehow met before.

This entire station sings with a strange and unnerving frequency. Nada tells me that we stand in the place between worlds, in the heart of the anomaly.

They can guide me towards the will of the Atlas. They offer to show me the way to the galactic core. Or, if I should so wish, they can provide resources for my journey. The choice is mine.

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#2
Alien: Nada awoke in the shadow of Korvax Prime. Could not understand why bad things happen. Why we are alone.

Nada is not alone anymore. Nada is with Polo-Friend now. Our Convergence is small, but Nada happy.

Nada reveals that they are a Korvax priest. They began to question much about the universe, displaying a level of curiosity and independent thought.

For this, the Korvax ejected Nada from their hive mind and hunted them to the end of time and space. Priest Entity Nada had almost given up by the time they found Polo, their only friend...

Nada blinks at me, waiting for my request. They will return me to the path of the Atlas, guide me to the galactic centre, or grant me assistance in my journey. Nada just wants to help me any way they can.

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#3
Alien: Nada and Polo drift between worlds and worlds. There are many.

Have you seen them, Traveller-Friend? Nada wishes they could but they can't. Nada regrets much.

Nada tells me that they found refuge in this space anomaly, a pocket dimension located between universes. The station was waiting for them, even recognising them by sight and sound...

Nada has a theory. They believe that the pair are caught in a paradox. They believe they are the ones who created this station, many years from now. They believe that their presence is a constant in all 'versions'.

They will not explain what they mean by this. Nada merely offers their help once more...

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#4
Alien: In every universe, Korvax Convergence crave 'non-compliant' Nada shell. My family would murder me, Traveller-Friend...

Eheu! Nada must resist. Nada likes who Nada is.

Nada's body shakes as they speak, the external symptom of an internal struggle. At times, another entity seems to stare out from beneath the visor...

I grasp their arm firmly, and soon the familiar light-pattern of my Korvax friend reasserts itself. The Convergence endlessly attempts to regain their errant shell and wipe Nada from existence.

But Nada wants to live and learn and help. Nada promises to assist me in my journey...

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#5
Alien: Physics simplistic. Chemistry arbitrary. Existence fragile.

I am terrified, Traveller-Friend.

Nada watches suns flare and die on their panels, molecules sparking in and out of existence in matched pairs.

There are repeated patterns all across the galaxy, identical elements where there should be endless divergence. This cannot be a coincidence. Did the Atlas do this? Across the room, Polo giggles...

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#6
Alien: Dreamer friend or foe? Dreamer friend or foe?

Is Nada an error? Trust Nada? Trust you? Eheu! I cannot know...

Nada stands back from me this time. The lights dance across their visor like warning symbols. Something has changed between us.

Nada has grown to believe that there is no room in the galaxy for free will, for nothing but brutal causation. They peer out into the darkness of space and see only dancers, twisting on strings...

They will still assist me, I know that they will.

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#7
Alien: Red orbs. Dominant, hostile to Nada Fallen-Priest. Not a deity, not worthy of worship. Atlas Liar-Machine of Life and Death and Unknowing. Infection is at bay. Nada will endure.

Nada's shell is static save for the dancing lights within their mask. They speak of the Atlas and infection. They call it a liar, a machine of life and death.

For just a moment, Nada's mask flashes red. Something is wrong.

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#8
Alien: Nada tied to anomaly... Nada scans universes where once Nada scanned creatures of the dirt.

Nada is free and not free. Happy and not happy. But Nada is safe.

The Korvax shares their research. They show me what they believe to be the structure of the known Multiverse: a cloud of what seem like stars, each pinprick of light containing the fire of a Big Bang.

Universes rise and fall. I see worlds where nothing lives, all life wiped out by a nameless contagion. I see alien species make faltering steps into the skies and beyond. I see the creation of a great machine...

Nada tells me that the death of the Atlas is the death of everything. All worlds echo the circumstances of its holy birth, its fall...

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---


#9
Alien: All must end. Time must end. Even here, Nada and Polo cannot escape reality-fall. Data cannot survive.

Make peace. Find happiness. Be who you want to be. Goodbye, companions. Goodbye, stars. I will remember.

All the pieces have fallen into place, Nada explains. Where once Nada stared at star charts, now they see lines of code.

There are connections and patterns everywhere. Perhaps I will understand, soon. Perhaps I will see existence as Nada sees it. I shiver as I say goodbye.

{Seek the Path of the Atlas}
Nada marks the location of an Atlas Interface. They hope I find what I am searching for...
---REV_ATLAS_STA---

{Ask for a shortcut to the centre}
Nada locates a Black Hole through which I might travel closer to the centre. They warn me of the danger within...
---REV_BLACK_HOLE---

{Request resources to aid exploration}
Nada gives me a gift to aid my travels. They wish only for me to be happy...
---FREE_EXPLORE---
---TECH_SUIT---