What caused the mass die-off and near extinction of the X'i is a debated mystery to us. Speculations range from invasion to events such as meteor strikes or gamma ray bursts. Whatever happened, nearly 98% were almost simultaneously rendered intert, their cores dying along with them.
Personally, I believe it was a devastating contagious disease in the form of a parasite. By studying some X'i cores that managed to survive the event in recently abandoned ghost towns, I found plenty of small holes that, when scanned, showed a map of unnerving tunnels. Small objects laid within, perhaps eggs, but evaporated when samples were attempted.
With my hypothesis, many questions are easily answered. We may be fortunate in uncovering more hidden truths in the coming days as we investigate more dead cities. A single sample is all we need!
