Excavation Protocol, No. 2 ملاحظة قصصية · الجزء 4 من 6

The root has been more "active" as of late, reacting to the stimuli around it as if awoken. According to the enclosing rock formations and their geological records, this organism may have slumbered for thousands of years. However, we may not be its first guests.

While it refuses to be catalogued properly, it always holds to a similar core; a codex of matter that appears entirely external — not mycelial or plant-like. Not human. Not Ancient, either. Whatever it is, it was absorbed in bygone ages, therefore predating our records.

Its past is riveting, but so is its future. We've distilled the roots into a liquid — a shimmering blue Elixir, captivating and serene — and stored it for further testing.

Surprisingly, it was gone when I walked by storage today. No signs of unpermitted intrusion... Only a scrap of dark, tattered fabric in the rubble. I was worried until a belated order for inventory transfer arrived. My assistants must have re-organized samples ahead of schedule.

The dead skincells on the fabric present with the same matter codex as the fungal roots, so the scrap was likely here all along. I wonder what existed first: The root, or the lifeform sampled by it?

- Manathor; Expedition Lead