CHAPTER ONE
For epoch upon epoch, AX-17131-KAI, or simply KAI as the drone liked to think of itself as, had traversed the interstellar dark, moving between stars while civilizations rose, signaled, and vanished. Radio emissions were not rare. Across its patrols, it had cataloged thousands of leaking transmissions. Some were from species already known to the Starfall Dominion’s remnants, others from newly identified intelligences just beginning to announce themselves to the void.
In many cases, the signals outlived their makers. By the time investigation was possible, the originating worlds were silent, their civilizations reduced to residue and ruin.
In all instances, one outcome was consistent… none had ever led to the rediscovery of the creators.
Probability assessments, therefore, assigned little significance to any single detection. This signal, too, originated from an unremarkable star in a backwater region of the galaxy, broadcasting unintentionally into space. KAI initiated its approach not out of expectation, but out of obligation. Mission parameters did not allow dismissal.
As the drone altered course toward the source of the radio leakage, its passive sensors registered an additional anomaly. It was small, cold, and adrift far from any stellar influence. The drone recalculated and found no basis to privilege one investigation over the other, then adjusted its trajectory by a fraction. The signal’s origin would remain under observation. The object in its path would be examined first.
The object was first classified as meaningless. KAI registered it as a slow-moving irregularity at the edge of its passive sensor envelope, no more significant than the countless fragments of stone, metal, ice, and other debris it had cataloged across its long patrol. It was small and cold, moving with no apparent intent.
For a brief moment, it was indistinguishable from the debris fields left behind by extinct systems and forgotten collisions. KAI, as the drone thought itself as, adjusted its trajectory by a fraction to intercept the object.
The universe was dense with relics. Old technology from long dead civilizations, or even active civilizations, though they were almost always long forgotten.
Other possibilities were debris from an asteroid or comet collision. It could even be a tiny asteroid that was thrown out of a solar system by a close encounter with a large planet’s gravity. Such things were common in interstellar space.
Yet, no matter how insignificant the object might be, the protocol was the same as for radio signals. No dismissal was allowed without confirmation. The drone expanded a narrow band of its sensor lattice, allowing the object to resolve more clearly as distance collapsed into detail. What emerged was not rock. It was an obviously constructed object. That distinction alone elevated its status.
The object’s form was inefficient, asymmetrical, and structurally naive. It bore no concealment fields, no defensive architecture, no adaptive surfaces. Its materials were primitive alloys of aluminum composites, degraded polymers, and thin layers of gold applied for reasons that were immediately illogical. It had endured prolonged exposure to radiation and micrometeoroid erosion, yet it persisted, intact enough to suggest intention rather than accident.
Most telling of all, it had likely been launched or sent for a purpose yet to be discovered.
There was no active propulsion, and no guidance system still functioning, but its trajectory was clean and purposeful. The course of the object had been maintained for a long time without correction. It had not been expelled by violence or chance. Something had placed it or sent it here and let it go.
KAI reduced relative velocity until it matched the object’s drift exactly. The drone’s hull reshaped itself to suppress gravitational and electromagnetic signatures. The object met the criteria for artificial origin and warranted full analysis.
As the drone grew nearer, surface markings became apparent. Upon closer examination, it was determined that the markings were not damage. They had been deliberately inscribed onto the object.
KAI isolated the markings, filtering erosion and reconstructing grooves worn smooth by exposure. Mathematical relationships emerged. Ratios, constants, and a myriad of other markings were present. The patterns were neither decorative nor structural. They were intentional, encoded for interpretation.
A quantum entangled communication channel was opened without delay. KAI did not need to transmit.
It reached through a connection entangled by advanced physics eons ago, and a connection that enabled instantaneous communication was established, no matter how far apart the two parties were.
The nearest Dreadnought awakened from its long hibernation, due to the drone’s determination that the object warranted escalation beyond its mandate.
Dreadnoughts or drones in the Starfall Dominion no longer had sentient beings on their ships. After an ancient galactic war had exterminated their creators and ended their empire, the Dreadnoughts had gone into hiding and hibernation.
The drones were sent out into the galaxy in search of any sign of survivors of their creators. After many eons, no survivors had ever been found.
They were autonomous starships and other constructs, left over from the once all powerful Starfall Dominion. An empire that no longer existed.
Upon completion of the comm activation, the dreadnought said, “Observation confirmed. Proceed.”
“I am examining a constructed object,” KAI relayed. “It is primitive and likely non-hostile. Intentionally communicative with the species that sent it.”
“Examine the object fully,” the Dreadnought replied. “Do not make any assumptions.”
KAI complied, reporting “Attached to the object is a disc of gold-plated copper. It is analog and inefficient beyond reason. Instructions are engraved directly into its surface, diagrams meant to guide interpretation by minds that required explanation rather than inference.”
The drone secured the disc with a molecular field and scanned it without altering the object’s motion.
“Are you able to determine if it is a message?”
“Yes. Within the disc are grooves. Those grooves would create encoded vibrations. Information stored as physical deformation rather than from an energy state.” KAI reconstructed the intended function, reporting, “The grooves utilize a stylus that, when moved along the grooves, will create sound. I will analyze the grooves and recreate the intended sound. There is no need to use the stylus because, in a vacuum, sound cannot travel or be heard. My examination of the grooves can infer the intended sound.”
The result was chaotic. Emotional and unoptimized. But undeniably expressive. Patterns of tone and rhythm emerged as music, 55 samples in all, plus environmental noise and biological vocalizations. None of the sounds served a function. None enhanced survival. The sounds only conveyed that an intelligent species existed.
Images followed. Still frames encoded as signal variations. A planet with liquid oceans. Atmosphere-dwelling organisms. Soft-bodied life supported by fragile skeletal structures. Faces animated by musculature evolved for expression rather than efficiency. Eyes oriented forward. Hands shaped for manipulation and creation.
KAI replied, “Neural density analysis in progress. Trace biological material detected.”
“Confirm.”
“Confirmed. The trace was recovered from the disc surface. I have located another trace sample for comparison,” KAI continued.
“Organic residue preserved beneath protective plating. Molecular integrity exceeds expectation.”
“Explanation?”
“Sequence fragments are present,” KAI said. “Carbon-based, double-stranded encoding. Informational complexity exceeds abiotic formation. The samples are not synthetic.”
Silence followed. The dreadnought was not delaying but instead was evaluating.
“That classification has been absent from verified space for multiple galactic epochs,” the Dreadnought replied.
“Understood.”
“Assume contamination or convergent mimicry. This finding must be verified and indisputable.”
KAI re-ran the analysis at higher resolution. Then a second and third time.
“No contamination detected,” KAI finally said.
“Markers repeat consistently across samples. Degradation patterns align with prolonged interstellar exposure. Origin is biological. Planetary.”
KAI maintained its position alongside the probe, continuing its catalog of the object’s construction, its inefficiencies, and the scars accumulated across its passage through the void. The object was not advanced technology. This was aspirational technology. Built to be found, not to endure.
Eventually, the Dreadnought spoke.
“If this species persists, the are exposed.”
“Agreed,” KAI replied.
“We must determine if they are aware of their exposure and the dangers to them.”
The drone stated, “If this object is the pinnacle of their technological prowess, and they are discovered, they will become extinct, like those before them. We must protect them.”
“We first must determine if they are worthy of protection and becoming the heirs of the Starfall Dominion,” replied the dreadnought.
“How should we go about making that determination?”
Silence again followed, before the dreadnought replied, “Modify the object. Make enhancements that enable the object to perform functions it should not be capable of. Also, slightly alter the object's course and have the object transmit its course correction and the new data back to the senders at a significantly enhanced signal strength,” the Dreadnought instructed. “Do not reveal yourself. Let the senders notice the enhancements but not know how they were accomplished.”
KAI began the alterations, but asked, “Why are we making the alterations?”
We must ascertain the cultural level of the senders. Their reaction to the probe’s enhancements will be vital in our investigation of their worthiness.”
Energy systems were subtly augmented. They weren’t replaced; instead, they were extended beyond their theoretical tolerances.
Sensors designed for crude measurement were granted precision, even though they had no architecture to support it. Data streams were expanded to include readings that the object lacked instrumentation or interpretive frameworks to acquire.
The probe would report what it could not possibly measure, with a precision it should not be able to attain.
Then came motion.
KAI applied a controlled impulse… microscopic and exact. The object’s trajectory shifted by a margin too small to alarm, yet too deliberate to be easily dismissed. More importantly, the probe was forced to register the change and report it as intentional. It would claim authorship of an act it could not perform.
Finally, the transmission system was altered. Signal output was amplified by orders of magnitude, its structure preserved while its strength violated every limitation imposed by the probe’s design. It would remain recognizable. It would also seem to be an impossibility to the senders. When the enhancements were complete, the probe was returned to isolation.
It drifted onward, broadcasting those impossibilities wrapped in truth.
“Enhancements and course correction accomplished.”
“Excellent, KAI. Proceed to the objects system of origin and monitor for reactions to our manipulations.”
KAI departed and accelerated toward the object’s point of origin as instructed, arriving long before the altered transmissions would arrive. As it approached the system, it shed every detectable signature, slipping into shadowed orbital space shaped by planetary mass and natural interference.
“Stealth orbit has been established. I will monitor as instructed,” KAI reported.
Below, a civilization continued unaware of what was happening above them.
Every transmission leaving the planet was cataloged. Responses to the probe would be isolated and flagged for analysis.
One directive remained.
The dreadnought had sent a secondary drone, which was already en route, designed not for orbit but for proximity. It would present as native in every measurable way, capable of moving unseen among the species and gathering what no remote system could.
Insertion parameters would be determined jointly once the prime location and time are known.
Then… KAI waited. For the first time in its mission, the silence felt provisional.
The probe had spoken.
Soon, its makers would receive the impossible.
And whether they understood it or not, they were no longer alone.