“It’s just a diagnostic sweep,” my engineer, Choi, muttered. “It’s old. Probably glitchy.”

I screamed at Choi to hit the purge. He slammed his palm down. The alarm wailed. The EMP fried every circuit in the bay.

I exhaled. Looked at the dead, smoking husk of the probe.

The lights went out. Emergency reds kicked in. And then the probe did something no cartography drone should be able to do. It began to record —but not light. Not sound. It recorded the quantum states of every particle in the cargo bay. My particles. Choi’s. The steel. The oxygen.

The probe began to unfold. It was beautiful and horrible, like a mechanical orchid blooming in reverse. Segments that should have been solid warped into impossible geometries. The 4K lenses swiveled as one, focusing on the airlock door.

Ksjk-002 4k -

“It’s just a diagnostic sweep,” my engineer, Choi, muttered. “It’s old. Probably glitchy.”

I screamed at Choi to hit the purge. He slammed his palm down. The alarm wailed. The EMP fried every circuit in the bay.

I exhaled. Looked at the dead, smoking husk of the probe.

The lights went out. Emergency reds kicked in. And then the probe did something no cartography drone should be able to do. It began to record —but not light. Not sound. It recorded the quantum states of every particle in the cargo bay. My particles. Choi’s. The steel. The oxygen.

The probe began to unfold. It was beautiful and horrible, like a mechanical orchid blooming in reverse. Segments that should have been solid warped into impossible geometries. The 4K lenses swiveled as one, focusing on the airlock door.