Realized that this comment is worthless on its own. Returned to add a bit of value.
The presentation of the mystery is disjointed. The beginning parts of both documents set up a lot of infrastructure, the incident log clarifies the anomaly, each segment giving a few hints. The updated document shows it mutation which and releases the reader with a new goal of understanding why that happened. You go through a bit of exploration logs, then BOOM, everything is shot at you at once.
This leads to two things: A disconnect between the vibe of the beginning and end of the article, as well as a stark fluctuation in density of the mystery, or what some people would call the "interesting" part of the article.
Yes, any good article has an escalation that peaks toward the end. However, in 099, the foreshadowing at the beginning, such as Merodak's intentions and the disappearing 12 members, serves not to prepare the reader with clues and something to unravel, but merely things to notice during a reread. This lack of a foundation for the reader to start on regarding understanding the mystery leads to the great shift in perceived density, hitting the reader with a reveal that feels unsatisfying and took too long to get too.
Still, I appreciate the effort in this article.
