XI-17-9L · The night of the Collapse
Bungie · Original English text
ANNOTATED TRANSCRIPTION FOLLOWS
They arrived at night.
Yuki woke me up. I had never seen that look on her face. That fear.
"The sky," she said. "The sky, the sky…" She couldn't say anything else.
When I looked outside, I understood. The stars were going out, one by one. As though a titanic veil were being drawn over them. The sky grew darker and darker. Then… light.
I realized later what had happened. During humanity's early forays into space, we'd littered the LEO region with debris. Some of it had been removed, the better to facilitate interplanetary travel, but there was always so much…
It burned. All of it. The whole sky was aflame.
I ordered everyone to the bunker. The earth heaved and cracked open underfoot. A sickly, green light pervaded everything. Radios hissed static and screams. The wind hurled cars and houses like toys.
By the time we reached the facility, the wind had stopped. A dreadful stillness hung in the air.
When I looked back, I could see a great cloud in the distance. It reminded me of a sandstorm. A wall of smoke and dust bearing down upon us with unnatural speed.
Amira. She had fallen behind, and…
The cloud swallowed her. She withered down to the bone wherever it touched. It could have been poison, or plague, or…
Helga closed the doors. I’m not sure whether to thank her or not.
TRANSCRIPTION ENDS
SCRIBE NOTES
The Black Armorer approached me as I was resupplying in the City. She had heard of my search for information pertaining to the Witness, the Black Fleet, and the Collapse, and wished to help. Though it seemed to physically pain her to part with them, she offered me a sheaf of papers. They were so worn with age, I feared they would crumble in my claws, and I held my breath when I transcribed them.
She waved away my thanks and said you had found these documents for her some time ago, and to consider this a favor repaid.
More clues. More pieces of the puzzle. Fire and smoke, poisonous air, earthquakes, cyclones. Why do these things? Why did the Witness cause great tidal waves on Titan (see REP # 904-TITAN-NPA), if it could simply Take the entire planet, as it did later? Neither the Eliksni, nor humanity, were as advanced as the Ecumene or countless other fallen civilizations. It could have overrun either of us without all the… theatrics.
Theatrics. As though all of this was mere performance, like those Ghosts who put on masks during the Festival of the Lost and pretend to chase the children of the City. But I cannot think of any other word for it. It appears the Witness has staged a show, but for the Eliksni of Riis and the Humans of Sol as its audiences - even though we should be so far beneath its notice, never mind its concern, that it shouldn't even care about what frightens us…
That's it!
The Witness is not indifferent to us. It cares about what we think of its performance, though, of course, it does not seek to delight or provoke. No, the Witness has done all it can to spread fear and despair among the people of Sol, as it did the people of Riis. It has chosen the approach that would cause the maximum possible amount of suffering and continued doing so until the very moment it went through that awful portal.
I doubt that this is some brilliant tactical ploy to demoralize its enemies. It would have defeated both Humans and Eliksni, with or without its campaign of terror. Indeed, such actions appear to have drawn out its attack on Sol and were a deeply inefficient use of its power. If the Witness's only goal was to corner the Great Machine and to use it to further its plans (whatever those are), then why bother doing anything else? If this performance has affected the Great Machine at all, there is no evidence of such - and, anyways, the worst atrocities of the Whirlwind occurred after the Great Machine left us and could not see its effects. No, I believe this display of cruelty was meant for us. It was done to maximize our torment.
I cannot think of any motivation to ascribe to this except malice.