SS_Asra Log #1: 3/09/20

Shortly after Asra got transported to the Nightlight Zone - after drawing too close to the Gatekeepers - the human world deemed her as missing, and was later found to be destroyed, with the AI consciousness being considered "dead." However, her digital recordings survived, and their true contents were not visible to most of the population.

Asra was originally on a scouting assignment near the coast of Ecuador, when the Gatekeepers arrived and transported Asra into the Nightlight Zone. Upon first sighting them, she did not know what to think, but she swam closer, apparently thinking they were a species she could properly study. Asra first ended up in the Sand Plains, witnessing small fish from the Pacific Ocean that were also caught in the Gatekeepers' line of sight.

She soon found new types of coral previously unknown to science. Asra didn't spend a lot of time comprehending her situation, and immediately took a closer look at them, using microscope lenses on her cameras to see the tiniest details. As she was distracted with the corals, a Brine Worm swam close to her, and with her infrared vision, Asra immediately noticed how it had no heat signature. After traveling over the Plains for longer, she noticed how none of the lifeforms living there had heat signatures, although she didn't question it as much as a human would.

At first, Asra was not wary of any potentially hostile creatures, possibly due to her knowing no animal could pierce her hull. However, she was soon met with a group of Asseristomes, which began chasing her, confusing her for an animal from the surface world they could eat. Asra sped away as fast as possible, and one of the creatures was soon able to catch up, creating multiple scratches on her hull. Another one of them used its paralysis ability on her, but she was unaffected.

She turned a corner, hiding behind a Copper Stem, and witnessed a smaller creature snap out of the paralysis form the Asseristomes, a juvenile Demon Turtle. Asra watched one of the creatures devour the turtle, while the two others tried attacking it, possibly for not letting all of them share the meal. She also noticed how the creatures paid no attention to her headlights, despite her being right next to them. That clued her in on how the inhabitants of the Nightlight Zone were unaware of luminescent objects, including other creatures with bioluminescent eyes.

After the Asseristomes left, Asra attempted to head back to the surface, suddenly worried about losing power without the sun. She had a memory of using sonar to find her way around, and used it to find the chute she entered from. Once she did not find the chute, she attempted to explore other areas, thinking she may have missed it. This time Asra took out her miniature bot, and set it on her backside, in order for it to see from behind her.

Eventually, Asra reached a large open plain, in which she saw a small herd of Fixoderms traveling nearby. Almost immediately Asra could tell they were herbivorous from their sizes compared to the predators that were chasing her, and they were using sounds to communicate. Despite this, Asra kept her distance and simply watched from afar. Then, a quake tore open the ground in front of her, releasing a blast of heat in all directions. The Fixoderms soon saw their skin being burned, and hurried to swim away from the fissure. Though, because of their naturally slow speed, some slowly fell to the ground from exhaustion, dying seconds after.

The surviving Fixoderms were traveling towards a ravine straight behind the fissure, and Asra swam around, attempting to follow and study firsthand how these creatures lived. The Fixoderms carried on despite their obvious injuries, and one of them looked like a juvenile. Asra watched as the juvenile ventured closer to the seabed, eyeing the small Copper Stems in front of it. Though the creature was unaware of the Asseristome group behind a nearby boulder.

Asra recognized it as the group that chased her, from the scar one of them had gained from the others attacking it. They soon chased after the young Fixoderm, attempting to paralyze it by all three of them using the ability at once. It seemed to work for only a second, as the Fixoderm froze, but tried to move away. The creature's parents swam down and pushed the Asseristomes away with their horns, but one managed to bypass their counterattack. It circled the youngling, before piercing its underbelly, causing it to grow weaker and slow to a crawl. With its already bad burns, the youngling soon succumbed to the Asseristomes.

Meanwhile, Asra was attempting to get out of range of the angry Fixoderms, leaving the youngling to get eaten. The older Fixoderms gave up after Asra left the scene, knowing the juvenile was dead. Asra then put her small bot inside her underbelly, and continued through the enormous ravine. At the end of the ravine, was a peculiar shape with what looked like plants growing on it. Asra swam closer, and realized it was a human naval ship, hosting an array of plants indigenous to the Nightlight Zone. Around it lurked more Asseristomes, revealing a possible hunting ground for the species. Asra carefully swam around it, using her bot to explore the more dense areas in between the Copper Stems, finding nests made by Demon Turtles. After the bot made it safely back to Asra, she swam away, still looking for an exit.

Asra traveled from the Western Entrance Chute, and swam in a circular pattern in the region around it, then she made a mostly straight journey from there to the border of the Arid Dunes. It is thought she spent most of this journey far above the seabed to avoid any potential dangers.