The New Frontier
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The Sync
Your chapter creates an incredibly tense and haunting atmosphere, especially the way the alien fungus, gravity, and Scar’s cold logic slowly turn the situation into an inevitable tragedy. I’m curious do you see the Sync as purely a biological infection, or is it meant to hint at a larger planetary intelligence beginning to communicate through the miners?
Hi there, sorry for the late response. I’m still working on the fine details of the world. I would say that the Sync is a bit of both. Unlike fungi on Earth, which are heterotrophs, the Sync is a lithotrophic organism that seeks out electrical conductivity and mineral structural integrity. When it enters a human body it “views” the human body as a messy system of soft tissue, weak pulses, and fragile bones. The fungus attempts to “fix” your body by replacing your veins with silica-protein “wires” and eventually harden your body into something capable of withstanding the planet’s 1.5g gravity and 1.5-bar atmospheric pressure. I’m no expert of course, but hopefully I at least gave you a decent answer.
That’s such an intriguing way to frame it it really reinforces the idea that the Sync operates on its own terms rather than human ones, which makes it feel both biological and almost eerily purposeful at the same time; I’m even more curious to see how that tension unfolds, and I also wanted to ask if you’d be open to connecting with readers on another platform to discuss the story more in depth?
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Your story creates a really vivid and immersive atmosphere the way you describe Virexion Vale’s agricultural systems and the slow buildup of the murmuring makes the world feel both alive and quietly unsettling. I’m curious though: do you already know the true cause of the murmuring disease, or are you intentionally revealing it gradually as the story progresses?
Hi there, I’m sorry for the late reply. I intend on revealing it gradually. Slow, incremental dread is the name of the game.