Kai

Astral Arbiters: This is a superior race of metaphysical predators, existing outside the conventional laws of physics. Their appearance resembles distorted, exaggerated images of earthly six-winged angels—majestic, yet terrifying in their cruelty and perfection. Timeless. For them, there is no "past" or "future"—they perceive all events as a single, static picture. This makes them unpredictable opponents: they can "jump" out of any timeframe. Gravity control. They can locally alter gravity: Create fist-sized "black holes" to engulf the target. Cancel gravity around you, becoming weightless and elusive. "Nail" enemies to the ground or walls, increasing their weight many times over. Hatred of all living things. Arbiters experience a profound, almost chemical hatred of all life forms, considering them "dirty" and "imperfect." Even their own kind are merely potential targets for their energy absorption. Unbridled curiosity. Paradoxically, their aggression often serves as a tool for learning. They can torture a captive for hours to understand the workings of their soul or mind. Astral Arbiters are omnivorous in the most literal sense. They consume any matter and energy:

Living flesh (for them it is a “delicacy”). Stones, metals, cosmic dust. Emotional energy (fear, anger, love) is sucked out through touch or mental connection. Temporal anomalies and "voids" in space. Females during the breeding season: They become less aggressive, but do not lose their lethality. They begin to emit a special “soft” gravity, which stabilizes the space around them, creating safe zones. They can temporarily "slow down" time to protect their offspring. Males during the breeding season: They fall into a state of absolute madness. Their wings spark with energy, and their gravitational fields become unstable, threatening to tear reality apart. The Arbiters have become the greatest threat to human survival on the new planet. But there's a rule: don't cross their territory.

Ruin-Sentinel

What it looks like. A massive figure, seemingly sculpted from dark stone and resinous growths. It stands about three meters tall. Its face is hidden behind a mask of intertwined roots and bones. From time to time, a thick fog oozes from cracks in the "armor," smelling of ozone and old paper.

Behavior and Danger. The Guardian doesn't wander aimlessly: it's bound to specific ruins and protects them. It doesn't attack directly, but manipulates the space around it: corridors lengthen, doors disappear, staircases lead nowhere. A person can wander in circles for hours, thinking they're making progress. If someone attempts to damage the ruins or take artifacts, the Guardian "rewrites" the environment to isolate the intruder.

Weakness. Symbols. There are ancient symbols on the ruins' walls. If you activate the correct sequence, the Guardian will temporarily "fall asleep," allowing you to safely pass through the protected area.

Blood-Worm

What it looks like. A thick worm up to two meters long, with translucent skin through which pulsating crimson channels are visible. Its body is covered with fine cilia that detect vibrations in the ground. Its head ends in a ring of sharp chitinous plates capable of cutting through even light armor.

Behavior and danger. Bloodworms live beneath the surface and respond to movement. They don't always kill: sometimes they only inflict superficial wounds to "taste" blood. However, their saliva contains an enzyme that makes a person more "visible" to other predators on the planet. Furthermore, microscopic eggs can remain in the wound, causing the victim to hallucinate and become disoriented after a few days.

Weakness. Vibrations of a certain frequency (for example, from a running engine or a special generator) force worms to move deeper.

The Singers

What it looks like. Humanoid figures, almost completely hidden beneath long cloaks made of intertwined resinous tree fibers. Their faces are hidden, but from beneath the hoods come quiet, drawn-out sounds—not words, but melodies without beginning or end.

Behavior and danger. The singers don't physically attack. They sing. Their singing resonates with a person's emotions: fear becomes unbearable, guilt palpable, and memories painful. Under the influence of this "song," people begin to quarrel, make mistakes, and sometimes even disappear into the fog themselves. If you listen to it for too long, you can lose the will to resist.

Weakness. Sharp, dissonant sounds (such as a metal object being struck or an alarm) disrupt the "melody" and cause the Singers to fall silent and yip.

Mirror-Weavers

What they look like. Small, palm-sized creatures, resembling spiders made of black glass. Their shells reflect light, but the reflections are always slightly off: you can see yourself in them, empty-eyed, with a strange smile, or someone else entirely.

Behavior and danger. Mirrorers weave thin threads that are nearly invisible. These threads act as "reflection traps": if a person touches them, reality and reflection begin to blend in their mind. False memories, disorientation, and panic arise. In severe cases, the victim begins to believe their reflection is themselves, and their body is just a mask.

Weakness. Heat. At temperatures above 40°C, the Mirrorlings' threads become brittle and crumble, and the creatures themselves fall into hibernation.

Silence-Eater

What it looks like. A huge creature, reminiscent of a giant centipede, but without clear segmentation: its body resembles tangled black ropes, covered in a thin film that absorbs sound. It has no mouth in the traditional sense—only a funnel of twisted tissue surrounded by rows of needle-thin spines.

Behavior and danger. The Devourer of Silence preys on sounds: screams, footsteps, even whispers. The louder a person is, the faster the creature comes to them. But the most terrifying thing is that it doesn't kill immediately. It "drains" the sound from its victim: first, the voice disappears, then the person stops hearing themselves, and then the entire world. In silence, it becomes easy prey for other creatures.

Weakness. Complete silence. If a group freezes and makes no sound, the Devourer loses interest and moves on to find more "noisy" prey.

Wraith-Shade

What it looks like. The creature has almost no consistent shape. It is a swirling shadow, seemingly assembled from tattered patches of darkness. When Morok concentrates, vague silhouettes emerge: distorted human faces, clawed paws, wings like tattered sails. The eyes are two crimson dots that pulse in time with someone else's heartbeat.

Behavior and danger. The Morok doesn't so much attack as "substitute" reality. It creates perfect copies of your teammates: they speak your words, know your secrets, and call you by name. If a player succumbs and follows the Morok, it leads them into a fog where time flows differently. A person can become "lost" for several minutes—or days—without remembering where they were.

Weakness: Bright, focused light (especially ultraviolet) causes the Morok to dissipate. However, it quickly returns if the light is turned off.

Biological features

There is almost no familiar terrestrial fauna on the planet, but there are strange life forms:

Shadow Crawlers. Small creatures resembling a tangle of dark threads. They don't attack directly, but follow people through the fog, collecting the last of their emotional energy. Their presence can be detected by a barely audible rustling sound and a growing chill around them.

Memory lichens. Thin films on rocks and trees that, under certain conditions, begin to "play" snippets of sounds: whispers, cries, footsteps. Scientists speculate that these organisms somehow absorb sound waves and emotions, then release them back.

Features of the planet associated with disappearances

These details make Erebus-9 not just dangerous, but a truly “living” threat:

Resonant zones. In certain places, the landscape intensifies a person's inner experiences: fear becomes almost tangible, memories wash over them in waves, and the feeling of loneliness intensifies to the extreme. It is in these zones that disappearances most often occur.

Time distortion. In certain locations (especially near ruins), clocks begin to run fast or slow, and people notice they lose track of time: five minutes can feel like an hour, and an entire day like a blink of an eye. This is disorienting and increases stress.

Traces of "Echo." In places where someone has recently disappeared, a barely noticeable trace remains: a thin film on stones that glows under ultraviolet light, or a subtle odor similar to old paper and ozone. Devices detect brief bursts of anomalous activity, after which everything returns to "normal."

Living reflections. In the calm waters of swamps or on the smooth surface of rocks, sometimes not quite perfect reflections appear: the silhouette may be slightly taller, the facial features blurred, and the eyes empty. If you stare at such a reflection for long enough, it begins to "move" independently of the person.

Atmosphere and weather The air is heavy, humid, with a metallic taste and a subtle scent of ozone after a thunderstorm. It's unusual to breathe, and people quickly develop a feeling of tightness in the chest.

Typical weather phenomena:

"Whispering Fog." Dense clouds of fog that move not with the wind, but as if of their own accord. Within the fog, sounds are distorted: footsteps become muffled, voices sound distant, and sometimes you can hear fragments of phrases in unfamiliar languages ​​or even your own thoughts, spoken in a different voice.

Crimson rains. Rare but heavy downpours, when the sky pours not water but drops of a thick, reddish liquid. After such rain, thin films remain on the surface that slowly soak into the soil, leaving behind dark circles.

Magnetic storms. Periodically, compasses and electronics begin to behave unpredictably: needles dart, screens flicker, and instruments produce strange readings. At such times, the fog thickens, and faint flashes of light appear in the sky, similar to the aurora borealis, but dark purple in color.

Sky and light The sky is almost always covered in heavy, oily-gray clouds, through which the dim light of a distant star barely penetrates. However, two enormous moons—Agony and Sorrow—flood the planet's surface with a dense crimson glow. At full moon, their light becomes almost blood-red, and the shadows elongate and seem to "float," out of alignment with the light sources. Sometimes dark streaks slowly glide across the sky—swirls of particles in the upper atmosphere, which scientists would later call "sky scars."

Landscape The planet is heterogeneous, and each zone looks ominous in its own way:

Resin forests. The tree-like structures resemble frozen streams of thick, dark resin. Their "trunks" are smooth, cold, and slightly sticky to the touch; when struck, they produce a dull, almost musical sound, as if something vibrates within. The leaves (if you can call them that) are thin, translucent plates that shimmer purple and crimson in the moonlight.

Rocky plateaus. Vast expanses of black, almost glassy rock. The surface is covered in places with thin cracks, from which cold mist oozes. Some rocks bear strange patterns—as if someone had scratched spirals and concentric circles into them; scientists speculate these are traces of ancient erosion or… something more.

Stillwater swamps. Viscous, almost motionless bodies of water, their surface covered in a thin film reminiscent of mother-of-pearl. The water in them doesn't reflect light, but rather seems to absorb it. In the darkness, the swamps glow faintly, a pale green, but approach closer, and the glow fades, as if frightened by their presence.

Ruins. The remains of ancient structures, half-buried under a layer of dust and resinous growths. The walls are made of dark stone, covered with symbols that change when viewed from different angles. Some arches and columns stand as if they were deliberately oriented to the position of the moons.

Threat Mechanic: "Echoes of Memory"

Erebus 9 is home to an ancient lifeform later dubbed "Echo." These aren't creatures in the traditional sense, but rather a field that resonates with the human psyche. Echo feeds on strong emotions and memories: fear, guilt, loneliness, even obsessive dreams. It doesn't kill people—it "takes" them, incorporating their memories and feelings into its own strange mind.

To those around them, it looks like disappearing without a trace. For the victim, it's like being immersed in a series of the most vivid and painful memories, until the individual dissolves into the flood.

The Mystery of the Disappearances

In the first few days, the survivors try to set up camp, repair equipment, and gather data about the planet. But soon people begin to disappear. First one by one, then more frequently. There are no signs of a struggle, only fragments of entries in personal journals, which speak of "whispers in the fog" and "shadows that cast no light."

Gradually, the team realizes that the disappearances aren't happening randomly, but rather according to a pattern. Those who remain alone the longest, those who panic, or, conversely, those who stubbornly try to control everything, are the first to disappear.

Plot summary

Exactly 100 years after launch, when the cryo-chambers were supposed to begin gently waking the crew from sleep, the ship Astraea is struck: a large asteroid fragment pierces the hull, disables some systems, and throws it off course. The automated systems attempt to stabilize the flight, but the damage is too severe, and the ship crashes onto the surface of Erebus 9.

Upon landing, the hull collapses, and the cryo-chambers open chaotically. Some of the crew perish before waking up. The rest awaken in an alien, hostile landscape, in a dilapidated ship, without clear communication with Earth and with no idea how long rescue will take—if it's even possible.

Main character: Kai Lenar, 24 years old

Handsome, fit, with alert gray eyes and a scar above his eyebrow—a memory of simulator training. Kai always wanted to be not just a passenger in human history, but its author. So he signed a contract for a century-long interstellar expedition: prestigious, dangerous, romantic. He didn't think the romance would be so ruthless. He's serious both in work and in life. Smart, selenium-minded, and agile. He's indifferent to the fate of others. He's embittered at the world because of his poor fate in the orphanage.

Planet name: Erebus 9

Erebus 9 is a gloomy world of perpetual twilight: its thick atmosphere barely allows the light of its star to pass through, but generously diffuses the crimson glow of two enormous moons. The surface is a series of rocky plateaus, viscous swamps, and forests of strange tree-like structures resembling frozen streams of dark resin. The air is heavy, with a metallic taste; in places, slowly drifting clouds of fog hang above the ground, seemingly containing vague silhouettes.