[Huntress, we are at the location marked as the energy source. It is the location of the drums of glycol as expected. The room is similar to the secure facility in the capital, as it is a double-walled airlock with clear polymer doors.
The layout suggests that it is a server farm, and there is quite a bit of wiring running around inside the room, but it is mostly still organized.
Should we attempt to secure the data from outside, or should we enter?] The team leader asked, already knowing the answer but following protocol.
[Collect from the outside, team leader. If you can get us a good analysis of the setup inside the glycol tubs as well, we would appreciate it. Once you are done there, you can head up above and see how things are going in the biodome.]
The process of collecting the data was painfully slow due to the limitations of the networking technology that the alien system had been built with. While Nico could have gone straight to the computer's mainframe to get the data, the team was limited to connecting through a data node on a server rack, and they found over five hundred terabytes of data saved, which had to be transferred at under one gigabyte per second.
[Maybe it's an anti-theft measure? Because if they were still alive here, there is no way anyone would be getting this data and getting away.] The team leader suggested.
[While that is possible, I suspect that they were just rather limited in their computer technology at the point when this system was made, either due to rapid development leaving certain areas lagging behind or as a deliberate limitation.
I know of some cultures where certain technologies were limited to military or government facilities, and this might be neither of those. Just wait it out, and we will get everything that the servers have saved.
You can cut out duplicate files if there is a large portion of the data that is copied backups. Redundant files are normal in this sort of facility, and you might be able to cut your data transfer size in half.] Nico suggested.
There were bound to be centuries of useless monitoring data in there somewhere, given the file size involved, Nico assumed. But as she checked the files that were coming in, none of them seemed to be recordings.
There were no sequential time stamps, no continuous file names, repeating one after another as the security footage was backed up.
Instead, there were just terabytes of data, raw and unsorted, as the data transfer was grabbing them by the drive sector and not by their organizational chart. It was a more efficient transfer this way, but it would only make sense once it was all here, and that was going to take hours.
"Why don't we all get some sleep while we wait? The away team can take it in shifts until the transfer is done, and then we can all move on with a fresh mind?" Max suggested.
"I second that motion." Khan agreed.
[Away team, cycle through a rest break while the data transfers. We will recommence full activities once the transfer is complete.] She ordered, then moved to pull a stack of blankets from the storage cabinet.
Max was under no illusions that they would actually get to sleep in beds today, but the Hunters had good sleeping bags with inflatable pillows built in, so it wouldn't be too bad sleeping on the floor of the strategy room, and they would be able to get right back to work if there was an issue, or the transfer completed early.
As the hours passed, that was beginning to look more and more unlikely. There were no repeated files to be found, and the time stamps on them made them all nearly five hundred standard years old after factoring in the difference in the local time system.
"It's an archive. A doomsday vault of sorts." Nico declared as she skimmed through the nearly complete data.
"How so?" Lilith asked curiously.
"It's a complete archive of their technological skills, plant and animal life, as well as their own major accomplishments. This was designed to let whoever found it rebuild both society and the planet to its original state before the Colonists arrived.
It seems quite clear from the files that I've found that the level of industrialization on the planet at the time of its demise came very close to the end. This biodome was built to create a liveable space when the locals feared that the pollution from the influx of industry would choke them all out and leave the planet toxic.
That matches with the pollution levels in the tunnel and gives us a timeline for the planet's natural balance to be restored after the inhabitants were gone."
The Huntresses considered Nico's answer for a moment, then silently agreed and added it to their official notes.
"How detailed are the notes? Are they just blueprints, or did they think to include all of the technological and metallurgical advances that were needed to get to that point?" Max asked.
"It looks complete, with all of the advancements that they needed to move from a primitive colony to space travel. They clearly came from an advanced species to begin with because the advancements were mostly forced. My best guess was that they may have crash-landed here and had to start over with all their knowledge and no equipment.
That would explain the progression path, which is optimized and skips over a number of steps in development as soon as a device can be made to move to the next stage in technological capability.
It's quite impressive, and if you want, we could send it to Felicity on Absolution, and she could make a whole new civilization of them on a random planet somewhere. We have enough detailed genetic data on everything for the Replicators and the Terraforming Array to do the work and restore the species if they were actually extinct and not still thriving in the Alliance."
Khan frowned. "And that begs the question of how they got here in the first place. Or how they got to the Alliance if they started out here."
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