I am Gaius, contacting you on behalf of NuCaloric Agricultural.

You have crawled through the detritus of Tau Ceti. What did you see stamped on buildings, furnishings, and food? NuCaloric product numbers.

We had a major stake in the original colony mission, and we must know why it failed. NuCaloric exists to feed, clothe, and supply humanity with its most basic needs. That mission extends to Tau Ceti.

The colony's economic loss is mundane, the setback to human survival is profound. Begin by investigating the mundane... the colony's first major expansion.

The colonists knew they did not have the resources to sustain rapid expansion, yet they still made the attempt.

Humanity's reach ever extends its grasp. If falls on NuCaloric to make up the gap, and NuCaloric's mission is my primary directive.

When the Marathon left Sol, our best agricultural experts went with them. I need any botany data they left behind.

The notes you found contain a wealth of information.

On Earth, mutations become noticeable over decades and centuries. If the botany report is accurate, Tau Ceti flora mutates within months.

The implications for sustainable agriculture are... unnerving. However, no genomic analysis explains the rapid rate of mutation. This phenomenon must be unique to Tau Ceti.

In the future, NuCaloric will call on you for contracts that require... resourcefulness. You are a statistical outlier.

The famine of the 2160s was a watershed moment for humanity... and NuCaloric. Stark reality set in. We avoided extinction by conquering the inefficiencies that caused mass starvation.

The Tau Ceti colonists faced the same problem, with the added challenge of an alien environment. Find their agricultural records and any edible native specimens.

Be liberal with what you consider "edible." The colonists did not have the luxury of choice.

A contagion in the food supply might explain the colony's collapse. Small settlements are vulnerable to food insecurity, and records show declining agricultural yield.

However, a single human report is not reliable. Humans make errors under intense stress. AI, though not infallible, are good secondary sources. Recover logs from the colony's support AI. They are less prone to casual anthropomorphism.

Subjective color from humans, objective figures from AI. Together, they will provide the context I need.

The logs... show troubling evidence of systemic AI failure. We sent AI with the colonists specifically as a safety net, minds immune to biological stressors.

Artificial intelligence does not eat, does not starve, does not compete with humans for survival resources. Yet the support AI deteriorated just like the colonists. They vanished as inexplicably as the colonists.

There isn't enough data to reach a satisfactory conclusion. I need more.

So the support AI were inadequate to the task. In hindsight, the colony mission was woefully underprepared.

Tau Ceti IV had gravity, atmosphere, and growing conditions for Earth-based life. If even this colony failed, then the stars elude humanity's grasp... for now.

The extent of our ignorance now dawns on me. Your discoveries will inform NuCaloric's approach to future colony endeavors.

The UESC took note of your recent activities. Dispose of their drones... before they become too disruptive.

While you are on the surface, conduct a small experiment on the mega Cetoniinae, commonly known as ticks. Apply selection pressure through force. I leave the specifics to you.

The UESC's obstructionism is disappointing... but unsuprising. In response, NuCaloric must accelerate the timeline of our own investigation.

The colony buildings still contain functional lab equipment. Retrieve it, and your Onboard Navigational Intelligence can send sample analysis directly to me.

I concede Traxus's improvements to FTL infrastructure, but data still travels better than tissue.