Funghi Zone

In later months of the Ammon mission, researchers began making tentative progress into the Fungi Zone, a previously unmapped region wracked by constant electrical storms. After determining that remote surveying would be impossible due to mechanical damage caused by the electrical fluctuations, the engineers devised complete rubber encasements for EVA suits punctuated by numerous charge dissociation needles. Visually, the resulting look was not unlike a bipedal, extremely uncomfortable hedgehog.

Scientists venturing into the field could take only limited electronics, most worn close to the body and contained entirely within the Zap suit. Communications were limited to radio and, in a few unfortunate cases, miming and hand signals.

The Fungi Zone was originally named for the thick carpet of fungi extending from its outer reaches even into the ammoniac sea. In this area, fungi of every conceivable shape, size, and color outcompete all other visible life forms, even the hardy coalmoss. Upon venturing further in, however, the exploratory team discovered channels of barren land dividing the otherwise riotous fungal growth. The channels range from 3.1 to 4.8 meters wide, extending across the land mass in perfectly spaced hexagonal patterns of enormous size.

Biological assays of the channels revealed basic cellular organisms present in the dust, but no other life forms. They are also strikingly free of fungal spores, considering their surroundings. Hypotheses about this unexplained phenomenon include “something to do with all the electricity, maybe?” and “literal, actual crop circles, because Of Course there are."

While vastly dissimilar in scale, the channels' shape is identical to the Hexate Veil discovered in the Ferrous Ocean. The visual similarity of these phenomena, each discovered within days of each other, made some of the more superstitious mission staff nervous, with one even requesting a transfer back to the orbital station.