100780.9
CMDR Sedai, Katriel
LOCATION D-2137 II, ‘Archive’ site
MISSION Investigate D-2137 star system, which was automatically flagged by routine astrometrics probe survey.
OUTCOME Discovered ruins of extinct civilization on second planet (Class L). Previous society’s citizens likely had some telepathically-enabled physiology, as they preserved their memories in the form of a novel mineral substance.
KEY PERSONNEL
- CAPT Kermit
- CMDR Sedai
- ENS Ban
- ENS Sadaann
NARRATIVE Upon arrival in D-2137, the anomaly that had triggered the probe follow-up request was immediately obvious: the second planet sported a dozen, non-functional satellites, half in gradually decaying orbits. This led us to scanning the planet below, where we located multiple sites with ruined structures. One was selected, coinciding with the planet’s twilight to avoid the extreme daylight heat. Due to otherwise favorable atmospheric conditions and no evident landbound threats, Captain Kermit authorized an away team to beam down.
On our arrival, something that was immediately apparent to both myself and Ensign Ban was a constant humming in our telepathic senses, as if we were listening to a very distant crowd of indistinct voices. With no obvious source, the Captain directed us to split up to investigate, with myself and Ensign Ban entering the ruins from the east while the Captain and Ensign Sadaann explored the north side.
We were immediately drawn into a ruined antechamber where we located two samples of rock, whose compositions were unknown to the Starfleet database. While our tricorders struggled to calibrate for recognizing the new material, we quickly ascertained that these were the likely source of the psionic energy. But before we could make any attempt to interact with one, both myself and Ensign Ban were afflicted by what I can only describe as a torrent of projected emotions, primarily grief and anguish and general misery. It lasted barely seconds and was gone as quickly as it came.
Neither the Ensign nor I suffered any lasting harm, though the experience was quite harrowing. Captain Kermit let us know that the trigger had been due to Ensign Sadaann venturing to touch a stone. He ended up following suit with a different stone and, paraphrasing his words, the Captain experienced what seemed like a stranger’s lifetime in the span of a few seconds. With some additional experimentation, we were able to tentatively conclude the following:
- Each stone seems to contain a memory archive for a deceased individual.
- Physical touch permits the interacting individual to experience the memories as their own in an instant.
- The sharing experience produces significant psionic energy, enough to be experienced at a lesser degree by nearby telepathic species.
- The memories remain intact with the stone and can be experienced by multiple individuals.
- An individual repeating their touch on a stone cannot experience the same memories again.
- Skin contact is required to initiate memory experience.
After cataloguing these observations, away team returned to the ship for further discussion. Reyga remains in orbit to ensure proper procedure is followed for safeguarding this compelling cultural find.
RECOMMENDATION Though I was able to safely procure a sample of ‘memory stone’, I ultimately returned it to its resting place when we determined the site might be a cultural memorial of some kind. It may be best to carry out further study on the novel material on-site. Best case scenario would be if we discovered an inert sample that we can assume would be ethical to remove from its location.
RECOGNITION All personnel performed satisfactorily.
ATTACHMENTS
Decaying satellite
Archive site map
Research note
It would be remiss of me to neglect mention of the Waydi species in association with the discovery on D-2137. As they evolved to communicate primarily telepathically, their technology included the use of a unique crystalline material that allowed them to ‘record’ their thoughts in such a way that they could be recalled and communicated to others.
Though the technique is extremely reminiscent, the experience is completely different; the Waydi crystal structures typically only contained short messages and generally lacked any strong emotional component. Still, if an ambitious inventor was looking into mineral structures for storing psionic energy, comparing the substances involved in these two cases seems like a painfully obvious way to start.
//SIGNED//
CMDR K. Sedai
XO/Science, USS Reyga
OOC Aev’s Reyga event for October. Thanks, Aev!
Event transcript: https://argo.ex-astris.net/t/12-oct-eulogies/4673