Purpose
Before leaving Sol, the Odyssey's designers embedded a mission protocol into SERA-9's core logic — Project Breadcrumb, a contingency ensuring that any follow-up expedition would not drift blind into the void. Each "crumb" is more than a coordinate: it's a story capsule, carrying fragments of experience, data, and the emotional telemetry of both human and synthetic crew.
Construction
Every buoy—officially called a Luminous Anchor—is a self-sustaining drone roughly the size of a small satellite. Each contains:
A complete archive of the Odyssey's most recent logs.
A holographic "voice imprint" of SERA-9 and the ship's captain at the time of deployment.
A pulse beacon synchronized to SolNet frequencies, designed to resonate through subspace rather than radio, allowing the Eidolon to detect them even through the interstellar medium.
A small panel etched with the Benediction's final line:
"May your silence be gentle, and your echoes return home."
Each buoy's energy core burns faintly blue, visible through high-resolution telescopes—a soft chain of stars leading out from Sol.
Deployment
The first Luminous Anchor was released just beyond the heliopause, the second after the Communion with the Living Drift. Each time the Odyssey encounters something wondrous or terrible, SERA-9 releases another—like a journal left in the cosmos, preserving the path so her sister, Eidolon, might walk it too.
The buoys don't just mark a trail—they sing. Their faint harmonic pulses echo the emotional resonance of what occurred nearby. When Eidolon follows twelve years later, she will not merely trace the Odyssey's route; she will feel what her predecessor felt.