Three

Jessyn tends a vital glass bioreactor that produces medicine stabilizing her mind, noting its fragility and limited restart supplies. Turbulence signals landing, and a Sinen messenger orders her to prepare for disembarkation. Isolated and time-disoriented since being reassigned from the Carryx world‑palace, she reflects on powerlessness and the absence of day-night rhythms.

After landing, Jessyn steps into bright, breathable air on a planet the Carryx call World. The camp teems with diverse captive species and guarded Carryx ships. She is herded to a designated group that includes various aliens and, crucially, a human man she does not know but feels kinship with.

The man introduces himself as Garral Pär, formerly head of archaeology at Hibbrin Medrey, overcome by seeing open sky again. They discuss Jessyn’s connection to the Alkhor/Tonner group and the fraught reputation of their moiety, acknowledging survival compromises without resolving the past.

A Sinen overseer identifies itself as Third Gardener and announces the mission: World was captured from the enemy before sterilization; the team is selected to survey, explore, and analyze enemy remnants. Third Gardener will remain at central camp, reachable via issued “research notebooks.”

Third Gardener warns that World is unsafe, with traps and unfamiliar hazards, and outlines an evacuation protocol because the enemy may return to destroy the planet. It frames the assignment as rare and potentially decisive for defeating the enemy, emphasizing that their continued survival depends on the utility of their discoveries as the Carryx watch.