To whomever finds this letter,
 
Turn back.
Classify the Azure Jungle as Inaccessible. Label the mission a complete failure and demand to be sent back. I, Theodore "Theus" Dentley, certified explorer of the Guild, command and urge you to do so.
Beneath the tree behind this tent you will find the grave of my partner, Joshua Greenford. Do with our bodies as you please, whether you prefer to leave us here or bury us back in the Old World, just get out. If on this tree or anywhere in your journey you have seen masks, do not interact with them whatsoever. Leave them be, just like this jungle.
 
Theodore Dentley,
The Explorer's Guild
 
My hand shakes with fever as I drop the pen to the ground, and leave the letter to whomever finds us. Thunder strikes outside, and the rain keeps falling to the already soaked ground. This place has become the death of me.
The Guild uses four classifications for discovered worlds - Public Access may be entered by anyone and are completely safe for settling, Civilian Expert Access may be entered by petrologists, zoologists and others with Guild supervision for research purposes, Guild Access may only be entered by Guild staff... and finally there's Inaccessible. Hostile worlds, unfit for explorers or settlers, those that lack air or are composed entirely of gas or liquid, Extreme temperatures... and hostile inhabitants.
 
We never actually saw the natives, but they made their presence known soon enough. We found the clearing with the single tree in the middle, and cheerfully set our tent right next to it. It was an auspicious start to our exploration mission - the Azure Jungle looked beautiful, serene. When we stepped outside the portal neither of us said a word, but I like to think Joshua too thought the word 'paradise' at least once. After setting aside the research equipment, we started a fire next to the tent and sat for a while, eating our rations and talking.
 
There was something in the Jungle that made us young men excited. It was our first assignment on our own, and we shook with anticipation of tomorrow. On our way to the clearing every color, every sight was vivid and sharp. The dark blue shrubs flowering white blossoms, the mighty black-trunk trees with their leaves of bright azure. Picking the name and transmitting it back to the Old World was easy. The Azure Jungle. Paradise.
 
Tomorrow morning I woke alone in the tent. The fire next to it went out, and I could hear Joshua laughing. Stepping outside of the tent he called to me, excited, and pointed to the tree behind our tent.
A mask.
Going closer, it became apparent it was made of bone. A white bone mask streaked with red and black dye. My groggy brain disregarded that part completely, and I trudged back to my tent to make a transmit - evidence of civilization. Going outside once again, I heard Joshua still laughing. I looked around, blinking in the morning sun, and there he was - the mask on his face.
 
I laughed too. It looked hilarious, that it did. We laughed there for a while, and I think I said I had to get one of those for myself. It looked to be the beginning of a great day for exploration.
The arrow got him while he was laughing.
With a smile on his face he fell on his back, frozen. Just like that, a man can die. Just like that, you can lose a co-worker. A partner. A friend. I never saw where the arrow came from, or who shot it.
 
The day passed by and I was still in shock. I buried him in a shallow grave beneath the tree, and left the mask on top of it. Another transmit to the Old World. Joshua Greenford, deceased. Civilization is hostile.
It's a funny thing about exploration missions - it's either a success, or a complete failure. If team members die, if equipment is broken, if supplies run low, but there's still a miserable chance to continue the mission - you do. That's how it works. An entire city block needs to power down just for a couple minutes of portal usage.
Going back means success. Complete failure means you're denied portal access. It seems brutal, but it makes sense in a way. Being an explorer means adhering to the rules. That's the rule, and you live and die by it.
 
The next morning, I was still numb. I mechanically chewed my rations and took some equipment to survey the surrounding jungle. High humidity, an absolute abundance of flora... no fauna. Transmitted. I found a sweet water brook, safe to drink. Transmitted and filled my waterskin. Cold, clean water. Looking up, the sun was heading down.
Back in the clearing, I found another mask on the tree. It was dyed differently than the one marking Joshua's grave.
I grit my teeth, ate and went to sleep.
 
The day after, it rained, and it rained hard. I could hear thunders in the distance, and the barometer was off the charts. Transmitted the weather findings and stayed inside. The rain stopped for a few minutes around the afternoon, and I used it to go outside the tent and stretch my feet. Another mask was hung on the tree, next to the one from yesterday. The rain didn't wash off the dye, and in the shadow of the clouds the masks looked like they were smiling.
 
It kept raining for a week. My rations were halfway gone, and I knew soon enough I'll have to eat Joshua's. I doubt he would care. While it rained I could hear voices from the jungle, screaming and yelling and chanting.
Mainly chanting. It wasn't in any language I could understand, but in my stir-crazy mind it was a demand for blood. A sacrifice. Another sacrifice. Grit my teeth, went to sleep. Nothing to transmit.
 
Tomorrow the sun shone and the clouds disappeared as if they were never there, and eight new masks decorated the tree. Arranged in a ring around it, each in different patterns of red and black. Each smiling. Each mocking. I forced myself to ignore them and headed into the jungle again. I focused on the environment, on findings. Joshua was almost gone from my mind, a bad dream. I didn't even think about the voices I heard.
Come afternoon, I found the shrine.
 
The readings said it was cobalt. A pure cobalt shrine, lacking seams or obvious connection points, like it was cast precisely to this shape. I took a photo and transmitted it, without a personal opinion of what it was. I had no idea. In the middle was a flat surface, perhaps used for meditation. I walked on it cautiously, and sat with my legs crossed in the middle. I closed my eyes, and saw home.
 
The great factory gears turning, school kids on their way home on the TransGrav Train, mechanical birds sitting on window sills chattering to each other. On the radio a man recited today's smog levels, in the sky you could see a bulky zeppelin making it's way to the city's Skyport. Below in the market, a man was selling strange foods from discovered worlds. Green, sweet-smelling meat, garnished with blood-red flowers. A whole winged fish, covered with tiny cherry-like fruit. Explorer Guild staff clad in official uniform were making their way through, calling the crowd to make way. The portal is going to be used today, and this block volunteered to power down for it.
 
I opened my eyes, feeling sick. Did I hear chanting? Was there chanting while I dreamed?
My home is gone now. The Old World won't take me back.
 
I vaguely remember making my way back to the tent, and grabbing one of the masks off the tree. I donned it without a second thought. I want this to end, quickly, like Joshua. I looked around through the small eye holes, and awaited my fate. Finally I heard something cut through the air, and the arrow hit me, but I twitched -
He missed the heart.
 
I didn't freeze and fall like Joshua. I felt pain, like liquid fire, spreading through my veins. Tearing off the mask, I could see my hands harden and gain a dark shade. I could still move my fingers, but I knew it was not for long. I crashed into the tent, and grabbed a piece of paper. Writing feverishly, I didn't notice the rain beginning to fall. Finally I let go of the paper, and finally lost all feeling. My eyes closed, as if on cue.