Zeroth Directive

Archive II

For quite a while after joining Rhodes Island, nobody paid much attention to Ray. There's no shortage of operators who are very welcoming to newcomers, but neither the movie club, the tea club, nor the culinary club ever sent her an invitation. After all, she's never asked for directions, or even stopped to get her bearings on the landship. This made it very hard for anyone to tell that she was indeed a newcomer, even as she was calmly making her fifth loop on the same route. They might also not draw the connection between her and that one sandbeast that showed up recently. Sandbeasts are notoriously hard to tame, with many preferring to starve to death than eat in captivity. Thus, most believed that the sandbeast popping up in the corridors had merely crawled in via a ventilation duct, and that in a day or two it would find its way back to the great outdoors. In time, everyone simply got used to it hiding away in comfy corners. It might occasionally chew through a cable beneath a pre-fab board, but they were always fixed in a jiffy, with no one the wiser as to its owner. One day, thanks to a particular dish on the menu, several operators were discussing the migratory fowlbeasts of Terra in the cafeteria, and eventually reached a confusion as to whether the fowlbeasts that arrived in two different locations were the same species or not. At that point, Ray—who had never spoken a single word to them—slipped into their conversation as though she had known them their whole life and started asking each of the operators where they were from. Upon learning their hometowns, she would explain which species were typical of each region in easy-to-understand terms. This was how they got to know her, with many amazed at her knowledge in this area, as well as her incredible curiosity that she never showed at any other topic. She was the type of child who would flip through a picture book again and again, repeatedly devouring all the animal almanacs in her local library and unintentionally memorizing every last page. Naturally, everyone quickly realized that the mystery sandbeast was simply hanging out near Ray, and that she was the one fixing the wires it chewed through. Also, half of her single-occupancy dorm room was occupied by a giant sandbox. Not only did she make it herself, but when the landship made a stop in the wastelands, she took the chance to gather sack after sack of sandy soil to fill it. Nobody knows how long she spent on the task, and she never mentioned it in the room renovation application form she handed in after-the-fact, but at least everyone is now aware that, of the many jobs she claims to have done, she wasn't lying about the heavy labor. We should be glad that Ray is the only one aboard raising a sandbeast, because she never gave it a name. Most who raise a pet will try to condition them to respond to a specific word or phrase, but Ray simply whistles like a sandbeast to call hers. Perhaps she is simply not great at naming things. After all, the only reason her name was shortened to Ray—from Rayella—was because of a lazily-made temporary ID tag given to her by a worker who couldn't spell. Or perhaps she just thinks that 'sandbeast' has a nice ring to it. A special name, just like the 'Ray' she is so fond of.

Archive III

When other operators went to support Ray on her first solo field mission as scheduled, they found a small shed out in the wastes. It was built into a natural cave in the cliffside, made from lightweight discarded construction materials efficiently fitted together with simple joints, and lit night and day by a portable Originium generator. The Rhodes Island-issued tent she was provided with laid in the corner, still in its packaging. Ray's way of doing things is pretty much the stereotype of a Rim Billitonian Cautus, but those traditions are as old as the first explorers from the nations of the centrum, who began showing an interest in Rim Billiton's Originium deposits decades ago. Before Rim Billitonians started building nomadic cities, they would combine easy-to-take-down buildings with solidly-constructed pits, using them to hide from the Catastrophes that plague the region especially frequently. After nearly a century though, the old ways have begun to fade. Cautuses these days still love their makeshift sheds, but will choose to build them away from the vicious wilds. Those who still make them out in the countryside like Ray are a dying breed. Her way of life stems from her childhood. She was born into a family of hunters, in particular a group that stayed away from civilized cities for years on end, wandering about the country and staying self-sufficient. She does not clearly remember what she learnt of hunting back then. The only clear memory she has is of a time when the group took heavy losses from a bout of severe weather. Several of her family members went missing in that sandstorm. After surviving that, she decided to follow a distant relative to seek a living in a nomadic city, engrossed in seeing just how far she could go on her own. Inside the shed, which felt rather cramped with four people, the operators considerately asked her if she had built a traditional Cautus shed like from her youth because she was homesick. Ray first shook her head, saying that she wasn't sure what that even meant. 'The comforts of home?' But after a while, when they were finishing up their check of the supplies and getting ready to tear down the shed and leave, she looked about at the operators all squeezed together and suddenly blurted out: 'Now isn't this nice and cozy?' 'Those old Rim Billiton hunter stories she told us that day, like the Rim Billy Gloompincer with claws longer than a man is tall and so on... I don't think her love for animals comes from her childhood environment. I can tell that those memories are very, very far from mind. But I can also tell that she really does recall something. Do you remember? When were getting ready to shut down the generator and turn off the lights, she looked so reluctant. Afterwards she said that she was saved by 'a ray of light'.' 'Eh? Was she the sort of person to use metaphors like that?' ——An excerpt from the post-mission chatter of two participating operators

Archive IV

[Ray's accounts] Today's expenses: Sandbeast feed Sandbeast electrolyte supplement (mix with water) Sandbeast fur cream (Spare. Blended by Dr. Honeyberry. She's not 100% sure if it works, so remember to give feedback after using) Meal card recharge (Need more protein, doctor's orders) Compensation for Lanns's truck (Still got eleven months to pay her back in full) Oripathy suppressants (Gray-ears has been eating hers on time every day this week, so I'd better too) Today's income: A bag of snacks One notebook, two ballpoint pens (girl from HR said that if I needed new ones, I could find her and she'll give me more. Nice lady. Thanks) 'True Accounts of Supernatural Phenomena' cassettes 17-20 (Rented, need to be returned. The librarian suggested that I swap it out for a more credible documentary series next time) 'Look, I was just worried if you could keep your schedule straight, not if you could afford stuff—I've said it before, this payment deadline was your idea, and as close as we are, I wouldn't mind even if you delayed it indefinitely. Basically, no need to show me your tidy little accounts book. If anyone else ever asks you about this kind of thing, don't give them this little book, and definitely don't make them read it the whole way through. Got it?' 'Mhm.' 'Hmph, I never would've expected that behind my back, you'd manage to tidy up your room all spick and span, learn to cook alright, and got even better at mending clothes than me! I also hear your field mission went smooth as butter. They were going on about how you had all these plans and were super-reliable... You sure they're talking about the same Ray? Really?' 'Mhm.' 'Alright, I guess I better change my tune then. Can't keep calling you 'Truckjacker.' After all, what you did back then is our little secret. Best to let the Rhodes Islanders keep their impression of you as a friendly, reliable, occasionally smiling young lady.' 'Mhm.' 'Oh, right, considering that you've been keeping your accounts so nice and tidy, what are you actually planning to do with the money you save up?' 'I'm thinking of looking for a type of big burdenbeast in the Columbian barrenlands, let them start to dance after the moon again.' '...Eh? You still on about that kind of thing?'

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Ray

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Archive III

Archive IV