Parallax

Twenty-six days ago, the deep-sea research vessel Horizon vanished from all contact — no distress signals, no evacuation protocols, no signs of life. Now it's been found, eerily intact, drifting in storm-darkened waters.

A specialized recovery team is dispatched to investigate. Standard procedure. Containment, retrieval, analysis. But nothing aboard the Horizon is standard. The systems are operational — but too operational. The ship is clean — but too clean. The logs are incomplete, and yet… something knows they've arrived.

As the team navigates its echoing halls, they encounter data anomalies, impossible environmental readings, and a silence that seems to study them. Neural patterns appear where none should be. Reflections delay. Memories blur. The ship has learned its crew — and now it's learning them.

And buried within the final research logs is a single line never meant to be read: Trust nothing. Not even yourself.

For fans of: Annihilation, Moon, and Event Horizon — simulated consciousness, pattern recognition, and identity collapse.