Lieutenant Ryo Tanaka, the ship’s communications officer, was the first to speak aloud after the initial wave of impressions. His voice, trembling, carried a phrase that was instantly recorded and translated by the ship’s linguistic module:
Her voice carries the cadence of a lullaby sung backward. Those who hear it forget why they entered the room, then forget the room itself, then forget the comfort of their own name. She collects these forgotten things not out of malice, but a loneliness so vast it has curdled into ritual. 359. Missax