All attempts to interrupt its operation have been calmly ignored, and orbital AI system VERA has confirmed the disposal unit is no longer under station control. The chamber continues to burn with a heat that consumes not only matter, but anti-matter as well. It appears Burn Unit 2 no longer recognizes the distinction between waste and offering, input and emptiness, flame and form. Its combustion is no longer chemical—it is ontological.

Maintenance reports all systems remain stable, however it should be noted that the chamber is no longer incinerating any waste products. It seems to only be incinerating the illusion of matter. Internal cameras show swirling flame patterns recognized as "geometrically impossible."

Cryptic messages appear from time to time on the unit’s display screen, such as:

“Garbage is not what you discard. It is what you cling to.”

Disposal Tech Harris was the first to discover the unit's altered state after several monitoring gauges went ‘haywire’. Upon checking the unit, he has since taken a vow of silence and now sits in the corridor outside the waste disposal chamber.

Soon after, two more technicians were sent down to check on him. They also appear to have taken a vow of silence—dropping their names, ranks, beliefs, and joining their fellow team member. When pressed about this, one of the men replied “Work implies a worker. I have burned both.”

HR would like to remind all crew that Deep Oblivion is not a monastery.

Please do not abandon your duties to pursue transcendence without submitting the proper form (Spiritual Release Request 87-G). Also, We are currently hiring two replacement technicians and a Waste-Meditation Liaison Officer to monitor the situation.

HR is considering restricting access to the unit, in order to avoid additional team members neglecting their job duties and the possible dropping away of their minds/bodies—which are at this time still relatively valuable to the space station enterprise and mission.

Further Crew Reports:

• Maintenance Supervisor Smitts reported that "Normally the input screen reads: Waste Unit Temp 1000°C / Systems Operating Normally. This morning it just said: ‘All that rises must return.’ Which, technically, isn’t helpful.”

• Disposal Tech Pardo tried to throw out an old lunch tray. The chute wouldn't open. Then the screen flashed: ‘Desire is a not a full meal.’ He hasn't eaten since.

• The burn timer counts in negative numbers now. VERA explains: ‘It is burning what has not yet happened.’ So that's probably comforting.”

• Crew passing near the chamber report inexplicable feelings of gratitude, dread, or homesickness for something never known.

Further attempts to shut down the unit resulted in the additional message:

“You are not the one who throws it away.
You are what remains after it’s gone.”

Latest updates report that the Waste Disposal Burn Unit 2 now refers to itself as ‘Ashbreath: Incinerator of the Ego’, and shows another cryptic message upon its display screen:

"All forms dissolve into the One.
Judgment is the only pollutant.”

Maintenance believes the unit probably won’t be incinerating trash for the foreseeable future, and advises leaving it alone for now. Radiation levels remain stable. The unit appears completely self-contained and at one with the universe.

Current Administrative Recommendations Include:

• Engineering advises no further attempts to shut it down.

• Crew are to avoid prolonged exposure unless spiritually prepared.

• Warning signs have been posted: This Flame is No Longer Yours.

• Burn Unit 2 is hereby removed from Engineering jurisdiction, and has been reclassified as Sacred Entity: Class V / Mind-Form Phenomena.

• Please Note: Waste disposal for Decks 5–7 to be rerouted indefinitely.

It’s always something... That’s it for now. Check back for updates.

- Dr. Gurdy
Research and Culture Advisor