The Frozen Threshold

[Voice: baritone, calm and composed. Slight ship echo. Speak at normal pace with short pauses.] “Taggert, this is Wagner. Secure the site – and bring the body back to Aurora. Devereux is waiting in the lab. Squad B is en route for reinforcement. Take Nakamura’s tracker with you – no active search. Stay alert. Wagner out.” [Voice: calm, analytical, French accent. Speak at normal speed with slight hesitation in final lines. Quiet lab ambience.] “Autopsy log – Dr. Lucien Deveraux. Genetics Division, Aurora. Subject: Lieutenant Commander Elias Roth – Chief Science Officer, Station ÆSIR. Confirmed cause of death: cardiac failure with brain damage. Triggered by extreme hypothermia. Death occurred within minutes. Externally – no trauma. Just expected frost damage. Almost like... a controlled shutdown. But inside... The organs show abnormal growth. Unidentified tissue changes across multiple systems. This suggests infection by a… pathogen. Unknown origin. DNA sequencing indicates active rewriting. It’s as if… something has started to change him – into… whatever it is becoming.”