XI-2-5C · Cargo manifest
Bungie · Original English text
ANNOTATED TRANSCRIPTION FOLLOWS
PRESERVED IN RESIN 5,908 – asphodelia-stem cuttings – panacea
7.734 – veruut-whole leaf cuttings – soil enrichment
7,869 – isbati-root cuttings – panacea
9,405 – sphenel-bulbs – decorative
[additional entries omitted for brevity]
COLD STORAGE 14,401 – lyceradite-seeds – decorative
17,092 – auderee-seeds – decorative
18,734 – matredda-seeds – soil enrichment
[additional entries omitted for brevity]
EQUIPMENT 1–Pergola – for atmospheric weaving – on loan
4 – replacement sails – in case of damage
3 – Crèches – for initial abiogenesis
8 – abiogenetic solution - canisters
6 – Cauldrons for elemental synthesis
3,965 – fundamental particles vacuum tubes
[additional entries omitted for brevity]
TRANSCRIPTION ENDS
SCRIBE NOTES
*Appears to be a general term used to refer to organic material with medicinal properties.
**A group or organization of some sort. Mentions of the group across various records suggest that its members were scientists and doctors.
***Another title for the Great Machine; the Traveler.
****An identification code associated with this individual. Need to cross-reference.
SCRIBE OBSERVATIONS
I began my search with the familiar. During the Long Drift, peaceful encounters between Ketches were rare, even when they hailed from the same House. But when such meetings did occur, they would exchange valuable resources, including data. This practice helped the Eliksni navigate that vast and dangerous void, to know who might open fire or which areas had already been stripped of resources. These data exchanges leave traces, and even if the relevant entries are later overwritten, a Scribe can track these traces to their source. Especially a Scribe who grew up with the hum of a Servitor!
I combed the databanks of our Lightships for any mention of the Witness, and followed those paths as they forked through dozens of Ketches. Based on a single mention of records recovered from a "tetrahedral ship," I was able to track down these transcripts. They were buried in the databanks of a decommissioned House Winter Ketch, the Simiks-Fel. Repairing the ship's generator was quite an adventure-I shall have to tell you about it another time!
According to the Simiks-Fel's collection log, the transcribed records were originally found aboard a derelict ship encountered during the Long Drift. Associated telemetry suggests that this derelict was similar, but not identical, to the Witness's fleet of Pyramid ships. An older design, perhaps? The ship was ancient beyond reckoning, and though it was badly damaged and SCRIBE ARCHIVE XI-9-20 abandoned, some of the data crystals were intact enough to be decrypted. It's a shame that the Simiks-Fel did not bring along any of the physical crystals I'm sure the Cryptarchy would have liked to have a look!
These are the oldest of all the records I have found, by an order of magnitude. When they were originally penned, the species that would go on to become the Ecumene had not even emerged from primordial ooze. Though my findings are not conclusive, I believe that these documents were created by the Witness's precursors, which revered the Great Machine as the Gardener (see REP #776-AHSA-WTN). Though they were hardly the only civilization to use a similar title, other elements suggest a possible connection: the tetrahedral structure of the derelict where this record was recovered, and repeated mention of a concept roughly translated as 'final shape.
There was one last note of interest from the collection log, about the star system where the derelict was encountered. Every planet in the system showed large-scale damage from crude explosives. No signs of life were found.