The Science Ship skirted the Ancient Automated Fleet Group stationed there and approached the machine world.
"There are probably dangers everywhere down there. Let us handle the exploration. You're too fragile, so just stay in orbit to observe and record."
The human crew members spoke to the Blorg crew.
"All right. Be careful." The Blorg smiled good-naturedly.
Once, humans had been the weakest creatures of all, but that had changed completely after they completed every ascension. Humanity now possessed all-capable bodies made of nanites, while their consciousnesses were stored in psionic virtual servers, absolutely safe.
A dozen or so human crew members dissolved in an instant, their nanites merging with the ship.
Then the cloaked Science Ship entered orbit around the machine world. A perfectly round sphere of nanometal bulged from the underside of its hull and slipped free like a raindrop, disintegrating above the planet into a vast cloud of nanite dust before safely reaching the ground.
"Landed safely. Maintain communications."
"Science Ship in orbit. Connecting to the server."
The data collected by the human explorers' nanite scans was transmitted to the orbiting Science Ship in real time. The Blorg quickly began archiving it and assisting with the research as it came in.
"Let's see what secrets this planet is hiding!"
They had landed on a relatively open stretch of ground with an alloy foundation. Numerous buildings stood nearby. Since this was a machine world, naturally, no signs of life were detected.
After some preliminary exploration, including the Science Ship's orbital scans, the researchers could so far conclude that the planet they had ominously dubbed the "Observation Terminal" showed no shortage of activity.
Buildings densely covered the surface, with virtually no materials other than alloy used in their construction.
Countless artificial structures stood in tightly packed rows atop barren