Xeno Report is a note in Penumbra: Overture.
Transcription[]
Xeno Report 66b
Phase 9, Anno 9002 (Anno Domini 1992)
filed by Chief Attending Xeno Officer
for the eyes of the Leading Installation Officer ONLY
Leader,
Unlike the other findings, 66b appears to be of manufactured, rather than natural, origin, and so warrants additional interest - and, need I say, security.
The bulk of substance 63 was discovered only six yards from where artefact 66b was buried, and appears, at least in part, to consist of a solidified form of 63, with a number of operable appendages. The artifact emits a low level of light from a seemingly inexhaustible energy supply, suggesting its origin is indeed as was suspected. Of course, the ramifications of this fact are clear, and appropriate measures are already being taken.
Progress in becoming enlightened as to the purpose of the device, if, indeed, it served a purpose in the traditional sense at all, has been slow. Following protocol to the letter, I assigned my Secondary Officer to the artefact on phase 7, only for him to go missing the following day. He eventually returned to the site from a previously uncharted area of the mines, presumably having discovered a new route, avoiding the cave-ins. At this stage we can only assume what transpired, since he remains in a state of disorientation.
Far be it from me to question the decisions of the Elevated Caste, but I am struggling to understand the necessity of conducting standard scientific testing in this case. I, of course, have full faith in the abilities of the research team, put together and sent here by my immediate superior, I simply wonder whether their time might be better employed on the main site.
Nevertheless, it is comforting to know that the actions of every member of the organisation are carefully choreographed and controlled by those far outranking myself, both in stature and wisdom, and with this in mind, I feel fully justified in filing an official request for further manpower. We have already lost a number of workers to unforeseen events - largely while engaging in the studies mentioned earlier - and further investigation of the area calls for volunteers to carry out tasks altogether too hazardous in nature to risk the wellbeing of more elevated organisation members. In particular, the tunnel system above the secondary site requires immediate cartography.