Clean Room, Open Weather

The pair were sent through a damaged filtration station to test whether an exterior mold had entered the old intake network.

The material found beyond the shell did not behave like a Vault pathogen. It grew only across dead alloy, withdrew from warm tissue and released spores when exposed to artificial light. A Plague Eater carried a controlled sample chamber beneath their sternum for the return journey.

MOTHER's first medical order was full destruction of the sample.

The crew argued that destruction would erase the only proof that the mold could be used to break down poisoned metal without touching living flesh. The debate lasted longer than the sample's safe containment window.

The final transcript ends before the decision. The public archive lists the station as sterilized. The Plague Eater who carried the chamber never resumed clinical work.