Object

Richey's Exploratory Shuttle

A compact, short‑range exploratory shuttle referenced in Richey’s diary as the vessel contaminated by an alien life‑form. The craft is described as a small metal‑hulled ship with a cramped cockpit and exploration‑grade fittings; its mention carries traces of damage and biological contamination in the text. The away team treats the shuttle’s recorded fate as a concrete lead, its ruined voyage reframing the hotel from mystery into a causally linked artifact.

1 appearances

Purpose

Short‑range exploratory transport used for planetary or small‑scale survey missions.

Significance

Serves as the causal object and primary origin clue: the diary’s account that the shuttle was contaminated explains the Royale’s existence and converts the crew’s approach from investigation to rule‑based strategy. The shuttle’s contamination functions as the pivot that turns bafflement into exploitable logic, making escape a problem of story mechanics rather than purely physical force.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

1 moments

S2E12 · The Royale

Diagnosis: The Royale as Bad Fiction

Richey's diary explicitly references the exploratory shuttle as the contamination vector and causal catalyst for the hotel's creation. Though not present physically, the shuttle functions narratively as the origin object that turned an alien intelligence toward human cultural artifacts.

Before: Destroyed/contaminated as described in the diary; not physically recoverable in the suite.

After: Remains a documented causal clue in the diary, shaping the away team's understanding but not physically available for further analysis in the suite.

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