T-046 Drifter

Threshold Institute · Case file T-046

Number

T-046 in the catalogue

Kind

Creature

Class

Class II: dangerous, and held in a cell

Found

Year 43, month 1, day 9

Where found

On the planet, over the crystal flats and the colony's yard; known from the colony's survey film

Status

No specimen survived the flight back

Now

On the planet

Part

Part IV: The planet and the pollution

Containment procedures

None possible on earth: no specimen has survived the flight back.

Field guidance for the planet: only walls stop a drifter; fences, low cover and other creatures do not. Watch the ground for its shadow, which gives it away before it is seen. It circles a few paces out and spits acid, and bites when its prey comes close. Fight it from under a roof or with a wall at your back. At night keep indoors.

Description

A winged flier of the planet, light in its low gravity, with a body no heavier than a child's and wings three metres across. It flies over fences and low cover as if they were drawn on the ground. It circles its prey, spits acid and bites at close range. It lives over the planet's open land and, at night, over the colonies' yards. On the film its wings make no sound at all; the only warning is the shadow, and at night there is none.

Discovery

The colony's survey team reported it from the crystal flats, and Ines Varro filmed one over the colony's yard at night. Her report ended: the colony now sleeps indoors. The one the colony shot was too light to keep. It had dried to a husk by the time Holm's flight landed, and it fell to pieces in the hangar's air. The Institute numbered it from the film, as it had the burrower (T-045).

That report was the colony's last but one. The last was a single line, sent on the evening of Year 43, month 2, day 16, and signed by Varro: dust storm coming, all indoors, the lab dome's sealed room closed.

Addenda

Addendum T-046-1

Night log of the sealed level, Year 43, month 2, day 16

Filed by the night technician, Sofie Lund.

22:40. The radio (T-038) started on its own, as it does each night. It did not play tomorrow's weather for the islands. It gave a forecast for a place it did not name: a dust storm by day, then a cold night, colder than anything in its scale. Then static.

22:44. Static still. Every creature on the level is awake. The echo (T-005) is copying it.

23:01. Static stopped. The radio played tomorrow's weather for the islands as usual. Logged at Rehn's standing order for anything odd from the radio.

Addendum T-046-2

The agency's call log, Year 43, month 2, days 17 to 19 (copy held by the Institute)

Day 17, 06:00. Scheduled call to the colony. No answer. The beacon sends its position.

Day 17, 18:00. No answer.

Day 18, 06:00. No answer. The beacon sends its position and nothing else.

Day 19. The agency plans a relief flight for the next window, in month 6.

What followed

Note by Tomas Rehn: the radio has shown other places' weather before, but never a place it would not name. I take the forecast for the planet's, and the night of day 16 for the colony's last. The Institute has put Holm aboard the relief flight, with an order to bring back whatever the colony's lab dome holds (T-047).

Previous fileT-045 BurrowerPart IV: The planet and the pollution Next fileT-047 The pollutionPart IV: The planet and the pollution

In the file

• People: Tomas Rehn, Kerstin Holm, Ines Varro and Sofie Lund.
• Places: The sealed level, The launch site and The colony.

In the game

The note you find in the game:

Year 43, month 1, day 9. Observed by the colony's survey team over the crystal flats, and filmed by Ines Varro over the colony's yard at night; her report ended: the colony now sleeps indoors. The one the colony shot had dried to a husk by the time Kerstin Holm's flight landed and fell to pieces in the hangar's air, so we numbered it from the film.

A winged flier, light in the planet's low gravity, that crosses fences, low cover and other creatures; only walls stop it.

It circles its prey a few paces out and spits acid, and bites when they come close. Its shadow on the ground gives it away.

Status: no specimen survived the flight back. It lives on the planet, over its open land and, at night, the colonies' yards.

Today it is found on the planet.

It goes down after losing 850 ml of its 2800 ml of blood. How it hunts and where it turns up: see the zombies page.