The Cardinal Directive: Mission Log #30

Welcome to THE CARDINAL DIRECTIVE SEASON 2

[First: (Season 1 Start)]
[Previous: (Season 1 Epilogue)]

>> Welcome back, SUPERVISOR
>> Confirmed. Accessing files in process of restoration.
>> ERROR: Due to PRIOR CATASTROPHIC SYSTEM FAILURE, these files have suffered significant amounts of CORRUPTION with UNKNOWN VIDEO FILES

>> (???) Corrupted files available for review
>> ...Play?

>> Confirmed. Now Playing Mission Log #30

The camera glitches with a loud CLICK, the screen black for several seconds as the video struggles to load. A stamp appears in the corner, indicating coordinates in the Tharsis quadrangle, and a date several years prior.

It finally flickers to life to the sight of a young woman — nineteen or twenty at the oldest — using her thumb to clean something off the lens. Her skin is fair, with a light dash of freckling over the bridge of her nose and straight, unkempt blonde hair spilling over her shoulders.

Her eyes — green — stare deeply into the camera before concluding that she’s gotten whatever it was off.

There’s a tower behind her with windows on four sides, and an early morning sun beaming through two of them that silhouettes the figure of a large man watching her from the window as she progresses deeper down into the compound.

She takes a deep breath before speaking to the camera, leveling her eyes with it. “Team Lead Wendy, speaking for Olympica Crew 5. Start time,” She pauses, checking her watch, “is 7:03 AM. We’ll be leaving within the hour for Menkiida Station.”

---

The camera CLICKS as the footage glitches and switches, resolving back in the present as the camera’s wearer impacts the dirt, sending the camera itself skittering off in one direction. Solena lunges after the camera, allowing the camera a brief view of her.

The sky behind her is dark but for the blue glow of the biodome, the sandstorm still raging outside and blocking out any sunlight.

Solena herself looks much the same as she was the last time she was on video — dark beige skin, brown eyes, and thick black hair contained in a braid over one shoulder. As she pulls the camera up to check for any dirt on the lens, a woman lands on a set of crates behind and above her, sending a puff of red dust off the pile.

Her short-cropped red hair has grown out a bit, but between that and the prominent birthmark over her eye, it’s hard to mistake her for anyone other than who she is.

Jovis leans back, stretching her arms above her head as Solena flips over, putting the camera back into its harness. “Here it is, Reyes! This time for all the marbles.”

Solena pushed herself up to her feet, inching back until her eyes locked on an open corridor with several boxes and bins lining the way.

Jovis cracked her knuckles. “I hope you’re ready this time.”