The Insiders: Episode 8 - Art of the Vigil

"When the past literally disappears, will you find the courage to forge a new future—or lose yourself in the void?"

A routine visit to Sher Gar's Library becomes a nightmare when Bran's crash injuries reveal their true nature. What appeared to be simple shrapnel wounds are actually nanobots—microscopic invaders that have been building circuits beneath his skin since the L3 Station incident.

As Captain Higgs processes their intercepted message about the Sandy ("the sand didn't sink of its own accord"), tensions with senior officers Cripps and Walter reach a boiling point. Their hostility toward Bran has shifted from mere dislike to something approaching hatred, leaving him bewildered about what he's done wrong.

In the Library's towering stacks, Sher Gar's magnification reveals the horrifying truth: the nanobots haven't just been dormant—they've been constructing intricate circuitry from Bran's own cellular material. Like a twisted version of neural plasticity, these microscopic machines are rewiring him from the inside out.

But the invasion goes far deeper than one injured messenger. As silver specks emerge from Bran's wound and skitter across his skin like metallic ants, the Library's precious memories begin to crumble. Ancient texts fade to blank pages, centuries of knowledge dissolving into nothingness before their eyes.

The nanobots aren't just destroying memories—they're systematically erasing The ALEx's history. What they thought was natural system degradation has been deliberate sabotage, an assault on their very identity as a vessel.

As the burning sensation crawls up Bran's leg and more circuits form beneath his skin, Sher Gar races to preserve what he can. His electromagnetic pulse seals the Library, but at great cost—countless memories lost forever, their connection to the past severed by an enemy that attacks from within.

With TiGer's support, Bran limps toward Love Island's medical facility, fighting both physical pain and the terrifying realisation that the attack on The ALEx goes deeper than anyone imagined. The nanobots represent more than sabotage—they're an invasion of the mind itself, targeting the very foundation of who they are.

Will Endo be able to remove the nanobots before they complete their mysterious construction? How far has this microscopic invasion spread throughout The ALEx? And what happens when an enemy doesn't just attack your ship, but rewrites your memories of who you used to be?

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The difference isn't in what happened.

The difference is what you do with it.