The Hidden embrace their conatus in analyzing the nature of the chrono-spatial distortions on Earth. They cross-reference samples, interview witnesses, and create elaborate computational models. I will leave them to it. The question that interests me is not "how?"… but "why?"

My inquiry must begin with the Taken. Chrono-spatial distortions are, by nature, harbingers of unintended consequences. I must know whether destroying the Echo of Navigation unleashed a latent power within the Taken… or whether these distortions arise from another influence.

I have been observing newly independent Taken near Europa's Golden Age ruins. They appear in causally independent patterns, rather than their telltale clusters. They traverse to and from the Ascendant Plane at seemingly random intervals. Nothing in their behavior suggests a linkage to the time distortions we've seen elsewhere, save for one thing…

Hidden agents report a curious finding on Europa: Vex are luring stray Taken into fortified areas for capture. As an entomologist might trap insects. The behavior is consistent with an empirical sampling effort, rather than the usual territorial squabbles.

My investigative efforts on Europa have yielded positive results. I have managed to secure a live Vex Minotaur, at the cost of a chipped tooth, much to my irritation. I am eager to test my many hypotheses on a live subject.

A mixed result: I was able to download a plurality of data from the captured Minotaur's frame, completing my prime objective. However, my security measures were partially insufficient, allowing the Vex to trigger its self-destruct sequence. The smell of scorched radiolaria still befouls my ship's upholstery.

The data downloaded from the captured Minotaur is fascinating. In addition to the standard protocols, it contained a prodigious amount of data that can only be described as 'irrational.' As if it transcribed information from language it could not understand. It's times like these that I miss Brya's expertise.

The presence of the 'irrational' data within the captured Minotaur leads me to conclude: this Vex frame was not of a collective previously documented on Europa, but rather, a member of the Nessian Schism. It seems Maya's research is taking her further afield.

The 'irrational' data I recovered from Maya's captured Vex is wreaking havoc on my ship's systems. Its effect on my firewalls indicates that it is not a malware of any known variety, or indeed, anything of technological origin. Rather, the incursion seems to be a glitch within my local timespace continuum.

I have been able to contain the glitch infecting my ship with a Hive spell derived from Haroktha's brood. However, substantial damage has been done. Several key components show signs of advanced decay, enduring years' worth of untreated oxidization within minutes. Meanwhile, other components de-aged to factory-fresh condition.

The damage done to my ship's systems by the time glitch is extensive, but instructive. It further validates a burgeoning hypothesis: the Vex are researching a power beyond paracausality—the ability to manipulate time itself. If so, the Vex are merely fomites, rather than the origins of the disruption.