Signs of Life

Planet XI
Joint post with Omni, Liltroll2, and Kudzu

Eldon Blaire forgot for a moment how uncomfortable it was to move around in his suit and immersed himself in the new data rolling in. He spotted a few promising indications and tagged the locations for further investigation. He looked up briefly when Dr Adama and Rita Del Ray spoke, but then resumed poring over the data before him.

Dr. Blaire noted the presence of tunnels deep underground nearby...accessing them would be challenging at best. More easily accessible tunnels lay half-a-kilometer to the west.

He broke out his motion tracker to scan the area around them, and...got a hit! It was also to the west, but his infrared scanner didn't pick up what it might be.

"I'm tracking motion to the west! Tunnels too!", he shared excitedly.

Captain Yoshida’s voice crackled over the comms, steady and calm despite the sudden development.

tzzt Copy that, Dr. Blair. Keep your distance from those tunnels for now. We don't know what we're dealing with, and I don't want anyone rushing into an unknown situation. Remember recon first. Get a closer read on that motion before we decide our next move. If it’s heading toward us, we’ll need to be ready. tzzt

tzzt Copy that, Captain. Tracking it. tzzt

Blair focused on the motion tracker's readouts, alert for any new developments.

There was a brief pause before Yoshida continued, his tone more serious.

tzzt Maddox, stay sharp. This planet may be more active than we thought. Blaire, keep tracking the motion, and let me know if anything changes. No unnecessary risks until we know what’s down there. tzzt

Rita Del Ray crouched next to the patch of pale green lichen that sprawled across the ice, her hands working methodically as she carefully collected samples. The thin, delicate layers of ice on which the lichen grew with small, pink succulent-like flora were carefully chipped away and sealed into containers, each specimen meticulously preserved for further study.

She swept the ground beneath her with a microbe scanner, probing for signs of life,

Rita’s scanner seemed to pick up small signals and then drop out. She expressed her frustration over open comms as she cursed the glitchy equipment.

As the scanner continued its sweep, finally a stronger signal emerged, revealing the presence of microbial colonies thriving just below the ice surface. These microbes appeared to be feeding off the geothermal energy that radiated from deeper underground, making them unique to the planet’s harsh environment.

Their proximity to the lichen indicated that these microbes could be part of a complex biofilm, a thin, resilient layer of microorganisms that had adapted to the extreme cold by forming symbiotic relationships with the lichen and succulent flora above. This discovery hinted at a fragile but intricate ecosystem, where surface plants and hidden microbial life depended on each other for survival.