SOMEWHERE OUT THERE
While the founders originally named this dimension as the "Outvoid", its inherent name is "Somewhere Out There", or even just “Somewhere” or “SOT” for short. You’ll often see these terms used interchangeably!
In most cases, photography and videography will not work within Somewhere*, which makes human-lead expeditions into this world our only way to gather reliable visual data. We then entrust this data to our artists who render it in a variety of ways for our records!
*Very recently, we’ve had luck using equipment with 1:1 aspect ratios, but the images still show up heavily artifacted and distorted. Weird nonsensical dimensions have weird nonsensical rules, as it turns out. Don’t even ask me how the tears work or how we can siphon them to open up underground.
Click below to see some of the strange and wonderful things that reside in the Outvoid, or keep scrolling for a brief history of our first explorations into Somewhere Out There!
HISTORY OF OUTVOID EXPLORATION
February 24th 2024
The first ever man-made drones are sent through the tear at Facility 1 at 5pm local time. It's quickly discovered that visual feeds cannot be picked up within Somewhere, and while data can be transmitted back in real-time, the drones' environmental sensors pick up very little in regards to known-Earthly attributes, such as oxygen or temperature levels. The drones are left within the Outvoid.
February 25th 2024
The first human expedition, designated A1, sets foot into Somewhere Out There at 9am local time, providing us with the first ever first-hand accounts of this new dimension. A1 retrieves the drones that have been left idle within a 400-foot radius of the tear. The outing lasts for just over an hour before the crew and drones are brought back to Earth for further analysis and testing.
March 1st 2024
The second expedition, A2, is sent in. A2 reports that the Outvoid looks much different than A1 described, and by expedition A4, it's correctly theorized that the landscape within shifts on a timescale (now known to change just after 12:12pm EST.)
March 5th 2024
The first items taken from the Outvoid are brought into our world, and studies on void matter begin.
April 25th 2024
The first prototype of an anchor -- a device used to lock down a portion of the Outvoid -- is produced and sent in with A11. Outvoid-specific PPE has had significant improvements made in better protecting expeditions from void radiation, and the design is slimmed down to a comfortable fit.
May 12th 2024
First contact is made with a sentient lifeform who identifies herself as "KB" by expedition D4*. Interaction is fraught and brief for both parties, but it's confirmed that multiple audio samples gathered from the Outvoid originated from KB.
*Each expedition has a different letter designation for which facility they originated from. Facility 1 is A, 2 - B, 3 - C, and 4 - D. Easy enough to remember at least.
June 6th 2024
Second contact is made with KB by D12, and the meeting is much more relaxed and productive. KB fills in the expedition on several previously-unknown details of the Outvoid, such as its secondary name and the Void's existence.
August 2024
The designs for the anchors and PPE are finalized, and a working relationship with KB is established. Several small structures are built around the tears to allow for storing equipment and specimens within the Outvoid.
December 2024
Stasis rings are manufactured and thoroughly tested, allowing for entities to be frozen in a floating, suspended animation, greatly aiding in transporting them to smaller Outvoid camps for further study.
2025 and beyond
Our operations run normally and smoothly as we push further into the unknown! We thank the valiant explorers who braved this new frontier in our early days; they paved the way for our expeditions to become safe and routine, and we look forward to passing many more milestones in exploring Somewhere Out There!