Divergence

A satellite on Earth detects a gravitational imbalance pointing toward Lyra, initially thought to be a black hole. Its puzzling X-ray emissions are processed through noise-removal algorithms, revealing a voice message recorded aboard a fictional future Voyager spacecraft still in the Solar System. The scientists realize something extraordinary might be involved.

Identical signals surface throughout the year from different distant gravity-based phenomena. The pattern is treated as potential proof of faster-than-light travel. Scientists identify the source as a wormhole at Saturn's moon Titan.

The wormholes at Titan’s core come to be known as Inflation Holes. The extraordinary signals prompt researchers to study how such gateways could bypass conventional physics and enable instant travel.

The Inflation Holes briefly propel the signal into a baby universe undergoing cosmic inflation. This interaction allows information to travel at effectively infinite speed, bypassing known physics. The event marks a conceptual leap in how space and time may be traversed.

Two centuries after the initial discovery, human exploration resumes with a tunnel dug into Titan. A prototype Inflation Drive is mounted on a spacecraft, enabling the first crewed FTL voyage spanning nearly three parsecs.

Explorers locate a planet ten parsecs from Earth that hosts a wormhole core similar to Titan. It was formerly inhabited by an extinct alien species and presents a gateway to further cosmic corridors.

The world is apple-core shaped, with its equatorial mass consumed by repeated Inflation Drive use. Three giant longitudinal rings encircle the Quantum Core, and ruins dot its fragmented surface. Electromagnetic radiation inside the Core is severely limited, making exploration slow and difficult.

By 2246, a base is established on the planet and nicknamed Watcher’s Nest. A 12-member expedition proceeds when an unscheduled arrival is detected by command, but the team is already inside the Core and cannot be recalled.

The expedition encounters its first Ghoul within the Core and is wiped out. Subsequent encounters follow in the days that come after, underscoring the danger of the Core and its inhabitants.

Autopsies conducted by a group named Alchemy reveal artificial genetic modifications in the Ghoul. These altered genes become the central focus of research into the Ghoul and its abilities.

When the altered genes are tested on monkeys, the animals' senses expand. Scientists cannot determine how or why this expansion occurs, prompting ongoing inquiry and risk assessment.

After two decades of study, Dr. Kessler grows frustrated with slow progress on animal subjects. He believes the gene sequences are a message from an advanced alien species and pushes to begin creating genetically modified humans to witness the intended effects.

In 2275, Alchemy objects to the use of human guinea pigs and officially shuts the project down. But before the shutdown, at least one test subject and one of the only successful Human/Ghoul hybrids are removed by unknown parties.