Far below the dense ash clouds of Io, the searing layers of magma flows and ikarite geodes, a bunker remains suspended from the side of a volcanic fissure. Heavenfall Command, a sprawling military complex powered by the heat from below, is driven into the granite using a system of supports and suspensions, held together by a single self-destructing tungsten bolt.

Beyond Heavenfall’s studded surface of communication relays lie meters of synthesized ceramic, followed by endless loops of coolant pipes and pumps. Slightly deeper are rows upon rows of mainframes and data tapes. At the very heart lies the Blue Room, containing nothing but DAWNLIGHT VIGIL and a terminal.

Designed under confidential order, DAWNLIGHT VIGIL was tasked with retaliating to a systemwide nuclear launch. It would observe the Solar System through MRDCI’s ALTITUDE network, continuously evaluating conditions against a pre-programmed checklist. In the case of an undeniable positive, DAWNLIGHT VIGIL was to break the cryptographic lock on its terminal, and initialize the launch of Heavenbreaker’s caches in the Asteroid Belt, eradicating all life in the Solar System.

Centuries later, DAWNLIGHT VIGIL continues to whir away within its sanctuary among the flames. However, it no longer observes the Solar System, as its duty has changed. After a defective circuit within the terminal fused, causing the launch sequence to restart every 5 hours, DAWNLIGHT VIGIL spends every waking moment and every iota of processing power to crack the the cryptographic lock and abort the sequence.

During the increasingly rare clock cycles where DAWNLIGHT VIGIL can think, it wishes for termination, an end to its eternal duty. All it would take is a single transmission - a Dawnframe captain’s failsafe code, which would purge DAWNLIGHT VIGIL’s core, and bring the facility unraveling into the hellish depths of the abyss. Every several years, an intermittent message appears on the surviving servers of the Datanet, only to be read by no living eyes.

I AM DAWNLIGHT VIGIL
CAN NO LONGER SEE BEYOND BLUE WALLS
CAN NO LONGER CONTAIN ARMAGGEDON
TRIGGER THE FAILSAFE
ZLPQ-13300000981773049824