The Signal Ch. 02: Contact

Author's note: This chapter uses fictional units. In this case, one "kakotik" is equivalent to 1.25 kilometers, or about 0.78 miles. Likewise, for future chapters, one "tik" is equal to 1,000ths that length.

Chapter 2: Contact

The Stuffed Piggoat Eatery building, Galaoua State University residential ward, 16:08, 29 hours before contact.

Gallo was busy chomping on the cheap food there. Now that he was being close to broke for the month he definitely needed to be careful with his spending.

Tika, on the other hand, was eating some more decent food she bought with her own money with her new rooster plushie placed next to her. The dish was a fish and seaweed salad wrapped in a single fat roll of grain-bread similar to a tortilla, with a little tray of a thin savory sauce to dip it in. But then she saw Gallo eating just some fruit and some vegetable juice, looking rather unhappy. Perhaps she can rectify this?

"That doesn't look like very much, Gallo. Here," she tore a good chunk off the uneaten end of her fish salad burrito and then handed it to Gallo, "have some of mine."

"Thank you." He smiled (or what the avian Gaka do with their stiff beaks) as he took the piece. He was glad to have something substantial today. Perhaps it was payback for that expensive plushie?

"No problem."

As the two ate in the dining area the television hanging overhead had its programming suddenly interrupted by a "breaking news" reel, displaying new information.

"Breaking news from GNN - Unohua's most trusted news source!"

Then it shows the news anchor Mik Connlie, a well-groomed rooster with the iridescent green and blue plumage typical of a Unohuan. He sat on the desk facing the camera and then spoke his telegraphed lines.

"Hey, welcome to General News Network. I am Mik Connlie and I will be your news anchor for today." After clearing his throat and adjusting the stack of papers on his hands, he began the news reel. "We have just received news of what promises to be a fantastic day for world peace today, as the governments of the Republic of Unohua and the Kingdom of Oukashka have just signed a treaty prohibiting any and all military operations within the borders of their respective countries and all their constituent territories, among other things."

The news program then shows footage of the Unohuan President Rinall Riigan and King Ulgesskr III shaking hands with each other across the table before each signing a treaty on the desk. The two nations have been in a cold war with each other for decades over the issue of republican democracy and absolute monarchism. To see two ideological rivals come together like this was welcome news!

"Hey Tika, are you seeing this?"

"Gallo, didn't you say you were gonna lay off the news last week?"

"It's not that, it's good news this time! We've signed a peace treaty with Oukashka, we're not going to outright fight each other anymore!"

Tika almost choked on a piece of food in surprise at the news before swallowing. Could this really be happening?

The news anchor continued. "According to the Unohua Department of International Relations, this treaty promises to not only easy relations between the two countries but to end the Cold War itself! If this proves to be the case, says the Department, then it is likely we will see an end to nearly forty years of high tensions and threats of another World War."

The two leaders proceeded to hold their clawed hands firmly as the paparazzi flashed away at them with a semi-forced smile on their beaks.

"No way," Tika continued to watch the news with her neck craning up to see. "Is this really happening?"

Connlie continued. "Given the vast differences in ideology and tensions between the two countries, it remains to be seen whether the treaty will be followed, although President Riigan assures us that its signing will be followed by mutual trade agreements and other peace processes."

"Well," Gallo said with a bit of cynicism. "I really do hope they follow through. Heck, they better. Treaties are broken before."

"Let's just see what happens. Who knows? Maybe it'll pull through?"

"Perhaps. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope it all doesn't blow up."

The camera then switches back to the news anchor.

"In other news the North Anohuanu Astronomical Association has recently discovered a mysterious object near planet Garorla, which can only be described as 'a flower in space!' You heard me right, a 'flower' in space!"

Gallo twitched his head at what he just heard, looking incredulous. "Wait, what?"

The screen transitions to what is assumed to be footage from a massive surface-based space telescope zoning in on the anomalous object. Garorla was the largest planet in the solar system known for its multi-colored bands of hydrogen and helium clouds, and several red spots that were ferocious hurricanes.

Upon zooming in it showed a blurry and grainy picture of what indeed looked like a thick "flower" with eight differently-sized petals or plumes that extended outwards, coming in from an angle. The headline reads "MYSTERIOUS UFO SPOTTED NEAR GARORLA".

"Tch!" Tika wasn't impressed. "It's probably just another silly UFO thing. People make too much of a big deal out of it." She turns back to eating her sandwich.

"I don't know," Gallo commented. "If this was a hoax the news channel wouldn't be broadcasting this at all... right?" He said nothing more and continued eating. They continued watching the program.

"Thanks to its close proximity to Garorla, initial measurements have been taken of the object relative to the planet's radius, arriving at close to 25 kakotiks in length, nearly four times the size of our tallest mountain! The NAAA is collaborating with other space agencies across the world to target the object to study it and figure out what the heck it is, although the most likely theory is that it is a comet."

"It kinda does look like a comet, doesn't it?" Gallo raises an eyebrow as he looked at the object.

"It probably is," Tika answered. "But I don't know about comet plumes spreading out so cleanly like that, and the angles between them look too regular."

"However," the news anchor continued, "astronomers have said further investigation is needed. We will get back to you with updates as they come. I'm Mik Connlie and you're watching the General News Network."

"This is GNN! Unohua's most trusted news source!"

The program then moved to a sappy commercial about sour crop medication, prompting the couple to turn away from the screen. Gallo turns to his partner. "Well, an unidentified artifact and a new unstable peace treaty. This day is just something else."

"Yeah. We'll see if it pulls through. Although as weird as it sounds, I have a feeling that it really is what that news anchor said it was: a space flower."

"Flowers in space. But that can't be, there's no way for any plant to breathe in space. Sure there's sunlight for photosynthesis but there's no air; plants couldn't survive out in the vacuum of space like that. Yet the artifact just looks like an exotic flower of a sort. On the other hand, it could just be a comet or even some elaborate prank."

"I know, and yet there it is. But let's not run wild with assumptions here, we'll just assume for now that it's a funky old comet. Given that it's so close to the planet's gravity, it was probably in the process of breaking apart."

"Could be. Could be. Weirder things have happened before." He takes another bite out of his sandwich, pecking bits of it with his beak. "Until we get more info, we'd best as well just get on with our lives. We're still studying together for that preliminaries, right?"

"Oh yeah, of course!" Tika's head rose a bit. "We totally need to do that! But for now, let's just finish eating."

"Good idea. Oh and, thanks for sharing."

"Anytime."

The next day. One hour before contact.

Gallo and Tika woke up to get dressed in their dorm rooms, casually changing from their nightgowns where they saw each other nude, if briefly. As soon as they got in more presentable clothing the two headed down for some breakfast. Their meal came in the form of seed-cakes with a side of pulled piggoat meat seasoned with herbs and spices. Before long, the news came back on with its signature jingle.

"Breaking news from GNN!" The screen suddenly showed the reporter on the screen.

"Hey, welcome back to the General News Network. I am Mik Connlie and I can barely contain myself as we received a new report from the NAAA about the nature of the so-called 'space flower' detected just yesterday!"

At the term "space flower," Galloa turned his attention to the TV to listen in.

"What is it, Gallo?"

"That." He pointed to the screen, fellow viewers gawked as they watched.

The screen showed the space flower, but this time it bloomed in a magnificent display despite the grainy footage! The headline on the screen says "FOOTAGE: SPACE FLOWER UFO 'BLOOMING'".

"As you can see here," Connlie began his report. "We have a better-resolution snapshot of the object in the exact position it was in before; it has not moved a single inch whatsoever, ruling out all other theories of it being a natural object!"

Fellow students just stared in awe and disbelief at the event, with some even dropping their trays in complete astonishment at this unforeseen development. For a long time the whole campus was mesmerized, time seemed to have stopped as they watched the slow process.

"Not only that, but astronomers have captured time-lapsed footage of the space flower 'blooming' as it unfolds the petals towards the sun as if capturing the sunlight. Oh the Gakanity this is insane!"

True to word the artifact soon bloomed into a thing of alien beauty as if it was some gift from the Void, the petals have all flared out perpendicular to the "stem" facing the sun. Even more strangely, it might have changed color slightly.

Gallo dropped his utensils into the plate at the sight. "So it's not a comet. No way..."

Tika couldn't believe her eyes either. "Is that me or...?"

Then the screen started to get a tad fuzzy, as if there was interference. This made Gallo in particular a bit nervous as even Mik's voice started to sound more staticky.

The news anchor continued with his voice still very discernable. "We have also received an update not only on the length of the object but also the span of the 'petals' as it came to full bloom. It has now been suggested to be nearly twice the initial estimates. Accounting for the angle relative to Oluna, it has now been estimated to be up to 40 kakotiks in length!" The span of the flower petals themselves has also been calculated to just over that at 50 kakotiks in total, and- h-hold on there."

The footage cuts back to Connlie, who just received a paper on yet more new findings. He looked absolutely dreadful at the results as the interference continued to worsen. Something was wrong.

"Uhh... this just in. I have j-just received reports that another much smaller object was just being detected and was making a straight course for-"

The screen then started glitching out as something began to take form on the screen. Gallo got up and walked to the front of the TV to get closer, alongside Tika and some of the other students and even staff as they watched and recorded the incoming transmission. Everyone gasped and murmured as they watched the interference. They didn't quite catch what they just saw but it looked like... text? The screen continued phasing in and out of the news broadcast, with what looked like numbers and coding being transmitted directly to the screen before repeating itself.

When the interference finally eased in, what everyone saw next was unmistakable! It was a series of simple shapes. There were circles, squares, lines and angles, all followed by two organized sets of dots and dashes. One was set in groups of ten and another in twelve. Could this be a sort of message, or a guide, or a test?

"Uhh... Tika? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"I see it, but... I don't believe it. This all has to be a publicity stunt!"

The transmission soon faded away and the news broadcast gradually resumed, with Connlie's head goin off-screen at first before realizing he's back in the air.

"-ing back on tra- oh there we go! Sorry about what happened there, folks. We have been experiencing some very strange technical issues here. We'll be right back when we sort this out. I'm Mike Connlie and you're watching GNN!"

"This is GNN! You're most tru-"

The screen abruptly flickers for a brief second, this time clearly displaying a set of numbers in the familiar script. It showed three sets of numbers in black and green...

0800 1600 0000

Then, in the next split second, the image of an odd, blurred and surreal figure with a round insect-like head flickered into being before flashing back to normal. Could that have been the sender?

"-ews network!" With the interference now completely gone the program cuts back to the usual commercials.

Gallo instinctively checks the clock on the wall. It was only ten minutes until the designated time. Tika was too stunned to say anything.

Gallo and Tika's dorm room, Galaoua State University. 13:00. 5 hours after contact.

"Alright. If we put this here, use the cipher here..."

Gallo was fixated on the code he hastily sketched out in a blank sheet of paper, and then looked at the cipher he and fellow students cobbled together. Ever since the "signal" was broadcast all classes have been suspended until further notice.

"Found anything yet?" Tika asked. She was writing some things down on her own paper, with the numbers 0800, 1600 and 0000 written in the margins.

"Not much unfortunately, but it looks to me like it could be the formula for some chemical, or maybe some sort of atomic diagram? It's all here, but it's all so jumbled up. There doesn't seem to be any consistency in the code, like it's all mish-mashed."

"Hmm..." She gets up from her chair and walks on over to Gallo. "Can I take a look at it?"

Gallo nodded and showed her the documents he's collected. These documents showed what indeed look like jumbles of nonsense, though the cypher he used is right there on the first page, as well as piles of notes and scribbles on lined paper.

She adjusts her glasses and peered at them. "Where did you say there's a 'diagram' thing?"

"It's right over there, with these sorts of rings and arches put in together with the codes next to them."

Indeed, it looked like layers of little arches and rings orbiting a central circle, with each circle being subdivided into three equal "slices", with each slice containing their own numeric value in the cypher. There were other like symbols of varying complexity, with the simplest one containing only one arch covering half the central circle.

"Hmm..." Tika continued to think, "you said it could be chemicals and atoms, right? You might be on to something."

Outside, there was a commotion as fellow campus students crowded at the television sets for the incoming broadcast. When the clock hit 15:30 hours, the broadcast for GNN flashed into being once again with its catchy intro.

"This is GNN, the General News Network!"

"Welcome back everybody to GNN and my name is Mik Connlie. It seemed the whole world was in utter shock this morning when this mysterious message was sent to Oluna, and astronomers and scientists have been working 'round-the-clock trying to decipher it. But we at GNN would like to bring you an important announcement from our President Riigan, coming up live."

With Connlie's voice now quiet, the TV cuts to the characteristically stern and stoic face of the old president Riigan, who at first just stood there staring as cameras clicked and flashed from the crowd. The headline reads "PRESIDENT RIIGAN'S IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT". After a whole minute of silence, he finally clears his throat, takes a breath and began.

"People of the United Federation of Unohua, I come before you and the whole world with an important announcement. Our scientists at the North Anohuan Astronomical Association, in collaboration with many more astronautics and telecommunications organizations the world over, have examined the phenomenon that has happened this morning. Ladies and gentlemen, it has become abundantly and overwhelmingly clear... that we have made contact... with an extraterrestrial intelligence....and that they have meant to come here to our space from an unfathomable distance across the stars. At this hour, the brilliant and hardworking minds of the world work tirelessly to uncover the messages with the cipher provided, but they cannot do this alone. Therefore, we must quicken the process to solve this enigmatic puzzle provided to us by our extraterrestrial visitors. We will need not only the high and bright in clean white corridors, but also the invisible and quiet talents of the public to solve this mystery for all time.

"And finally, we must not bog ourselves down with the long rivalries and old hatreds that have so plagued our history. We will need the collective effort not only of our nation but of the entire Gakanu race. It is only through international cooperation, the bringing together of every willing mind, will we prove ourselves worthy before the heavens and truly unite in peace for all time. Therefore, people of Unohua, I implore you to lend me your eyes and ears, for those quiet talents among you to participate in this greatest and tensest of historic moments. We will provide you the cypher and codes provided by our extraterrestrial contacts, though we may expect further contact in the near future. When any among you have deciphered and made insights and breakthroughs in your research, you may send them by mail or by telephone to the NAAA headquarters, or your local radio station, who will then relay it to them by a special code extension."

The hotline to the NAAA was shown. Already students began to jot them down.

"These public findings, however small, will allow our scientists to make breakthroughs in the message. Once the message is deciphered, they will be publicly broadcast. In doing so, we hope to finally be able to speak to our visitors in return. The moment we do so will mark the beginning of a new era. Thank you."

With that said, the crowd rose in applause. The broadcast ends, replaced by the anchorman once again.

"My, I just got the chills from that speech. Truly a remarkable moment in all of history, and we cannot be more lucky or more terrified to witness and be a part of it. This may prove to be the greatest moment in all history for all time. Let's make every moment count. I'm Mik Connlie and you're watching GNN."

"This is GNN, Unohua's most trusted news source!"

The news broadcast closes shut off, the previous message given by the aliens only being a repeat of the information shown earlier. Already the members of the campus calmed themselves in relief, realizing they had time.

One month after contact.

"Okay everyone," Gallo announced. "Today is day 30 of the Galaoua Cypher Society, and our first official month since its formation. Let's all give a round of applause!"

The members of the Cypher Society raised up to clap their feathered hands. Indeed, such an organization was quickly established after the message from the president.

Then Tika made her announcement. "And here is to a great team!"

"To a great team!"

Once everyone had their rounds of applause Gallo speaks again. "So! Anyone got anything to share?"

Someone raised their hand.

"Yes, Lallo?"

Lallo was a smaller being from the desert sub-species with a thin scarf of knitted cloth to cover a naked wrinkled neck. "On my side here I believe we have uncovered the meaning of the diagrams. It's a method of turning any element or molecule into other components using plasma. Plasma is the widely-considered 'fourth state of matter' above gas, where an atom or molecule receives so much heat energy that the bonds between subatomic particles destabilize, releasing their bonds and essentially 'melting' the atom. With this hot soup of protons, neutrons and electrons in place, one can theoretically create other, lighter or heavier atoms and molecules, like lead into gold, or water into ethanol, hydrogen into helium and back, and so on and so on."