VOICE LOG
04092182
static crackles; wet cough, half a laugh choked in the throat
“…hahhh… hah. Bloody hell… thing’s still workin’. Course it is. Machine’ll outlive me, won’t it? Always does.
Name’s… Lombardhy. Sergeant. Delta Fireteam. Leader—hah. Leader o’ nothin’ now. Just me… just me an’ the dark.
…
Don’t… don’t know how long I’ve been driftin’. Feels like I’ve been stuck in this coffin tin forever. No clocks. No sun. Just the hum rattlin’ in me bones. Universe buried me alive. I keep breathin’, somehow. Dunno why. Dunno what for. Should’ve gone with the rest.
Keep reachin’… tryin’ to find a way back. But it’s always slippin’ through me fingers. Like everythin’ else. Endou… Fred… Keisha… doko ya nen, imōto? [where are you, little sister?] … why don’t ya answer me? Eh? Why’s it always quiet…?
…
The Rift. Bloody Rift ripped it all apart. One second we were there—alive, fightin’, laughin’—next second, nothin’. Just teeth. Just void. Like a dream torn open and left to rot. An’ me? I’m the idiot crawlin’ through the scraps, chasin’ ghosts.
Last thing I remember… Yvette’s face. Clear as anythin’. Like the world stopped, just t’hold her there. Lord… please, keep her safe. Don’t let the dark take her. Then Reina-chan screamin’, “We’re boarded!” She was right. They came. Ugly bastards. Thought they were just beasts. But nah… clever. Patient. Waited. Played us like fools. Cut us down like dogs.
…then cryo. Woke up in glass. Blood painted across it, dried thick. Bandages on me arms. Don’t know who did it. Maybe a mate. Maybe no one. Maybe the pod itself. Don’t matter. Healed outside, sure… but inside? Somethin’s slippin’. Somethin’ broke. Can’t patch it.
he groans, coughing hard; the sound wet, sticky; his voice thins, weaker now
Buddha… Christ… anyone. Hear me. If You’re out there…
Keep ‘em safe. Endou. Fred. Keisha. Yvette. Reina. My kin. My team. Don’t let the dark swallow ‘em like it’s swallowed me.
If this ever—ever makes it home—tell ‘em I tried. Tell ‘em I never stopped. Never stopped lookin’. Never stopped comin’ back.
sudden cough fit, choking; static flares; his words crack and slur
…I’m… sorry… …I’ve let you down… everyone…
silence stretches; when he speaks again, it’s quieter, slurred, slipping as if he’s fading,
Stars… look like fireflies out there… Keisha… ‘member? We used to chase ‘em in the fields… thought if I caught one, I’d keep it forever.
a weak laugh, broken with a sob
Never caught a bloody one. Always outta reach…
his breath rattles, voice gutteral; he’s fighting to stay awake
…Oi… cold now. Can’t feel me hands. Eyes are—hahh… swimmin’. Gettin’ dar–
…
his voice collapses mid-word, drowned in static; a ragged gasp, wet with blood, one last exhale pulled sharp against the mic… then silence…