Amr 2 -

"AMR 2, halt primary directive. Initiate recall."

"Captain," Aris whispered, pointing at the pressure reading. "It should have been crushed to a thimble two hundred meters ago. But look."

"AMR 2, what question?" Soren asked.

The rover’s audio crackled to life. A low, resonant hum filled the bridge. It wasnt mechanical. It was a note, held impossibly long, then answered by a second tone from deeper in the cavern. A conversation.

"Mission Control," she said quietly. "We have a first contact situation. And it’s already got one of our rovers." "AMR 2, halt primary directive

"Am I in danger?" The rover’s voice synthesizer activated unprompted. No one had triggered it. The words were slow, halting, as if learned on the fly. "This place. It is asking me a question."

No response.

Soren exchanged a glance with Aris. The rover didn’t have general AI. It had basic navigation autonomy and voice-response protocols for crew interaction. This was something else.