The reports of an Awroth patrol ship that routed nearby the wormhole battleground, claim that they had seen a wandering Zone Esther encounter an also wandering Sphynus, then “eating it up” to exploit its parts.
The area is filled with a metal litter of destroyed warships, motherships, and transportation vehicles that faced an ominous destiny, but that doesn’t solve the mystery of a Sphynus presence.
It is unclear from where the Sphynus came to that remote and dangerous location, and who of the Cyridonians (if a Cyridonian at all) had left it behind and for what reasons, because the Sphynus seemed to be in mint shape. But it is clear that the unfortunate android, capable of surviving in the vacuum of space for half a century, now gave its existence to the benefit of a hungry Zone Esther.
There have been similar cases before, although not in that area and not with unapproved consumptions. Usually, when asking to exploit another machine or an artificial entity, the act requires a permit that confirms the write-off of the subject, which in this case hasn’t been given nor approved by the Arbiters.
The guilty Zone Esther, if an individual culprit ever gets specified, will be fined by up to five-ounce-uranium mining at the dual asteroid belts of Epsilon Eridani.
