James Sands and his team have been surveying Planet Z02-80535 for six months. Their job is to search for sentient life on the planet for Trans-Planetary Mining. Mining of the planet will begin in 24 hours, as the survey team hasn't found any sentient life thus far. They have, however, been experiencing mechanical faults, accompanied by the escaping of their test subjects — natives of the planet. Sands thinks it is sabotage, either by TPM or a rival firm. Scientist Jessica Copeau thinks it is mechanical failure.