Freyr discreetly checked her watch as Vreta spoke; the evening was drawing steadily on. She noticed through the glass windows of her office that half a dozen more people on her team had just arrived in the lab, luggage in hand. Some of the people already working in the lab rushed over to greet them. She should probably address the team soon.

“Well, a full debrief would require data visualisations that i haven’t prepared for Rothian consumption yet. But you’ve already seen first-hand what the Cradle is. It’s a practically infinite virtual landscape, with varying geography just like in the real world. As we all know, it’s not a particularly welcoming environment, but nonetheless we’ve cultivated and occupied an area of the Cradle’s surface for many years. We’re able to tap into the Cradle’s processing power, and use it to power all kinds of things in the real world.”

Freyr took a last gulp of her drink and placed the tumbler gently back on the desk. “What you may not know much about is the physical form of the Cradle complex.” She cleared her throat again; the scotch sediment was irritating her mouth. Communicating with the lab’s database via her comms implant, Freyr pulled up an archive photo of the Sphere and projected it in 3D above the middle of the desk. “It’s buried deep beneath Babylon. We think there is organic and synthetic material inside, but it’s almost impossible to pin down. The Sphere distorts all our scanners and the exterior alloy is practically indestructible. Even if we were able to get inside, with everything that depends on the Cradle...It’d be like conducting brain surgery in the dark.”

Freyr leaned back and massaged the bridge of her nose. The scotch was making her sleepy, which was probably a good thing as she hadn’t properly rested in days. “That creature pinging a precise spot may have just been a mistake. But you can’t help but wonder if there are more of these objects floating about.”