The Signal Ch. 03: The Probe

Galaoua Temple of the Sun and Moon. 3 years after contact.

The inside of the temple is a vision of another world, where epic and celebratory music chimed and echoed through the draped chamber. There, on either side of the temple sat every family member of the bride and groom.

On the bride's side were all the members of her family, all of them of Oummu'uka with the same black-and-white feathers as her in those oceanic patterns. Some were dressed in a traditional cultural attire of beads, seashells and huge tree leaves while others simply wore their most formal clothing for the occasion.

On the groom's side were all of Gallo's own family, who seemed to come from all walks of life from wealthy landowners to rural yokels, half of whom he barely even knew.

It was not only family members who attended but also members from the Cipher Society who could come, all sitting in different seats at the temple at a respectable distance from the families.

Above the husband and wife-to-be are stylized religious depictions of both the sun and moon paired between the world, with detailed depictions of their respective deities.

At the podium stood the priest, draped in robes of different colors with red and yellow for the sun, and blue and white for the moon. With the book in his hands he spoke. "Gallo Timulla and Tika Kikkhu'ua, in honor of the sun goddess Aluna and the moon god Selunu, by pairing together on this glorious day you shall receive their blessing. Do you accept?"

"I do," Gakko started.

"I do," Tika finished.

"Now," the priest turned to the people in the steeples. "Those among you with objections to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Ahh don't o'ject! Weew-hwee!" Cousin Baub, one of Gallo's family from the wetlands, rose up loudly in cheer seemingly unaware of the little scene he made.

Gallo kept his poker face. It was bad form to shout loudly and draw attention in such sacred ground, but he couldn't help but chuckle and roll his eyes in his mind at his silly uncle's antics. Tika, too, giggled. She had the most lovely and peaceful voice. After no objections were made, the old priest moved on.

"Now..." he lifted up a limp, skeletal finger as he points it at a passage in his holy book. "We have all gathered here to bear witness to this holy union, the union of two bright souls on this material earth and on this holy ground. You may step in to the altar and we shall stand in prayer."

With no further words the couple steps into the dais and bring themselves before them the shining idols of the two deities Aluna and Selunu, made of gold and silver, respectively. Gallo, the groom, stood before Selunu the moon god, while Tika, the bride, stood before Aluna the sun goddess.

Then began the prayer.

"O' Shining Aluna, O' Ever-Changing Selunu. Hear us now.

We thank you for bringing two great souls together for a blessed union.

Gallo of Clan Timulla and Tika of Clan Kikkhu'ua.

We ask that you grant them your blessing,

So that they may be together in health, long-living and happiness."

"Oooouuuuuaaaaaammmmm..."

With these words uttered, the two of them felt presences come before them in their minds - in their souls - feeling their pride, their joy, their love. They felt happy, glad and deeply joyous to see them together. Then he felt a great brilliance in his soul, a brilliance like a piece of the moon and the great vigor like a piece of the sun. Surely Tika feels this way too.

"You may step down from the altar."

They do so, meeting each other's eyes longingly. It's about to be sealed.

"Now, with the blessing of the gods received and the two clans becoming one, I now pronounce...husband and wife!"

The crowd burst out in applause, not only the family members but those from their own research society all cheering for the newly-wed couple as Gallo lifted Tika on her back and kissed her passionately. Tika then hugged and kicked back passionately, receiving her husband's. Then they released and stared at each other.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment." Tika looked at her new husband with elated and wonderful blue eyes. "We will always pull through no matter what happens."

"You've stolen my heart form the moment we've met, now I get to steal yours."

Tika giggled and nipped at his beak playfully. It was the start of a new day.

Two months after.

Main broadcasting room, Galaoua Cypher Society Office. 07:45

Everyone woke up bright and early today. Gallo briskly walked into the room carrying sheets of paper and markers. His now-wife Tika and a few others were setting up the monitor screen, which was then was enlarged for all the members to take notes. After everything was set up and announcements were made, the huge monitor screen came on and prepared for the latest broadcast. There are fifteen minutes to the next message.

"Good morning, everyone," Gallo announced. "Today, as we predicted, our friends from outer space will be broadcasting a new message for us to decipher. Let's do our best today!"

Then there was a knock on the door leading inside. Tika raised her head to see. "I'll get it!"

She got up and went to answer the door. On the other side was a bodybuilder of a gaka running into the room carrying a package inside a cardboard box. "Package delivery for the Galaoua Cipher Society from the President of Unohua?"

"Well? Bring it here!"

The postman grunted and, with Tika's help, carefully laid the box on the table. Then he pulled out a clipboard to sign. "Just sign here, here and here."

She signed her name in the designated lines.

"Gods, you've got one sweet headquarters!" The postman commented.

"Thanks," Gallo nodded proudly as he too approached him, "we worked hard on that." He humorously thought that he heard "hindquarters" instead of "headquarters."

"Mhm," the postman takes the clipboard and pen and then waves them good-bye. "Take care!" And with that he turns around and exists the door.

Gallo and Tika then turn to the package that just came in.

"Alright, let's see what we got here." Unfolding a single talon on his finger, Gallo proceeded to cut through the tape to reveal the inner contents. "And delivered to us is a..."

As soon as he opened the box, his eyes widen at that was inside, spluttering at the design.

"What is it?" Tika asked.

"This came straight from the president!" He said excitedly.

"I heard but... I don't... unbelievable."

"Well, he sure knows how to say we're special! Let's get this baby out of the way."

What they pulled out from inside the box was a distinguished trophy, a polished golden statue of a flying bird-of-prey animal holding a rocket ship in its talons. On its base is an embossed flag of Unohua, and below that it says "THE GOLDEN STAR OF THE SCIENCES AWARD - GALAOUA CIPHER SOCIETY - Timulla & Kikkhu'ua et al. - President Rinall Riigan."

07:57

One of the researchers just stared blankly at the thing, utterly amazed and dumbfounded at what he was just seeing. "Wow... I have no words."

There was also something else inside the box. It was a carefully-folded note with the government seal stamped in it. Gallo carefully opened the letter and then read it out loud to all the members gathered around.

"To the members of the GALAOUA CIPHER SOCIETY -- for your outstanding contribution to the Unohuan nation and accelerating the development of the space age and gakanu livelihood, we present to you the Golden Star of the Sciences. In this historic moment we wish you great journeys in your continuing with your momentous contributions to the country.

"Sincerely, President Rinall Riigan."

The researchers in the society all go in a cheering uproar at the news. The President himself has just rewarded them for their efforts from when they just started! With a happy expression Gallo looks to his team.

"Everyone," he raises a hand for silence, "we have accomplished great things thus far but we cannot rest - we still got a long way to go. The extraterrestrial messages only get more complicated on the daily, so we'll need to work twice as hard for now on."

He then glances at the clock on the wall to check the time.

07:59

"Oh! Speaking of which, one minute to contact, people! Everyone get seated and ready!"

The board members hushed and rushed to their seats as they anticipated the next message! It's been more than three years since they have worked, deciphering the alien code and creating wonderous technologies from it, including the matter replicator from earlier.

Some of the technology was already theorized by earlier scientists made real, including but not limited to helium-3 fueling and extraction, HHe reactors (engines that mimic hydrogen-helium fusion inside stars), solar collectors, thorium reactors for clean and stable energy (uranium was already used widely by the gakanu but extraction was dangerous work), genetic tailoring, anti-gravity propulsion (for rapid take-off in place of petrol-based rocket engines), cold fusion, 'solid energy,' and even blueprints a 'wormhole drive,' the latter of which sadly remains beyond the gakanu race at the moment.

Some of the deciphered content wasn't of technologies at all so much as physical laws they had never seen before, already shattering established theories and forcing scientists everywhere to invent new models, including quantum theory, 'brane fields,' and hyperphysics (that is, physics of the fourth dimension and higher). It is unknown when the process will cease, but as far as they are concerned more is better.

When the moment finally came, the screen flickered as expected. A plain white circle appeared against a black background - a test run.

Then a series of strange symbols and schematics steadily flowed before the eyes of the world. This time it looked like large strings of code at first, with very few in schematic plans. Gallo hastily scribbled down the code on a sheet of paper, while other members recorded the message with a video camera for future reference. All this code went on for ten straight minutes before it changed back into something more familiar, as familiar as an alien message could be anyway.

"Hmm..." Gallo peered over the strange data streamed through the screen. Then he turned to his team. "So, did anyone catch the cipher for this message?"

Tika spoke, "I think they're just using the same one as before....wait, there's something different for this bit."

What looked like plans for electric pathways and gateways were also there, but other than that not much else. It appears to be schematics for a simpler device with much more intensive code and math.

After a few more minutes Gallo was able to catch whatever he could gleam from the images. "Alright! The cipher is checked, codes are clear as day. Let's get to deciphering people!"

With that the board chatted and went to work, writing and researching down on thick heavy journals and stacks of scratch paper. This is going to be a long one.

"Look at this," Gallo exclaimed as he looked over the research, "seems like they're showing us how to decipher brainwaves."

"Speaking of brain waves, check this bit here." Tika pointed to a part of the schematics copied down from the alien message. "It almost looks like... neurons? A map of neurons?"

"Neurons," Gallo repeated, "our brains are made of neurons. Maybe they're giving us the blueprints to create our own brain?"

"If that's the case," Tika reasoned, "then I don't know why. That would sound rather-...wait, the map is separated into parts. It seems consistent with current knowledge but there are also some new things here. It seems to be pointing to the parieto-lateral area of the brain responsible for language comprehension."

"...language. That's it!" Gallo rose up from the table and lifted his index claw. This was one of his eureka moments. "They're giving us the blueprints to a translator!"

"That must be what all that code was about; they must be blueprints as to how to build a device like this!...which tells us a whole lot more about our visitors up there. It looks like they must want us to understand each other, to..." Tika's words trailed as she tried to grasp the enormous implications of such a device.

"If we are to move forward," Gallo muttered, "it can only be though cooperation, which means we're currently stuck," he added matter-of-factly. "Unless the nations make an effort to work together and not blow each other to pieces, they won't be giving us the codes to move to the stars or even advance as a society."

Tika's beak hung open at the implications. Now they knew why they came here of all places, why they crossed thousands of lightyears just to reach them, out of all others in this galaxy. "They're trying to enlighten us - to teach us. But why? Why go all this way across thousands of lightyears to do just that, and why stick around for so long?"

"It might be because they have been monitoring our growth," Gallo speculated. "They only made contact with us once Unohua and Oukashka established that peace treaty, even if a rocky one, which I think has recently degraded due to communication barriers. Hence why they sent this information." He looked down at his notes and the schematics again, mulling over their significance.

The feathers from Tika's head rose at this. "...my gods." She looks to her husband once more. "And how do they know all this? How have they been monitoring our-?" Then a thought came to her, then her mind raced for explanations. "It's... n-nevermind. Let's continue."

"Yeah, I agree. Right now I see an important mission that we need to fulfil. And I'm not going to lie, there is a possibility we could be in danger. I can't confirm or deny that however."

"Danger from what, though?" Tika listened to him concerned.

"See, we're not the only country who has people dedicated to decoding these messages; every other country that is able is doing it too, including Oukashka. Naka and the Emaqanu Union are also on it. No doubt other countries have come to the same conclusion we have, or at least some are coming to that conclusion."

"I mean, yeah. The aliens have sent these messages to the whole world, and it's meant to be a collaborative effort. But are you saying that there are nations out there that could use that to their own advantage and beat everyone else?"

Gallo nodded, "now you see where I'm getting at. It's like that quote said, we are technological giants and ethical chicks. With better technology comes greater risk of abuse and consequences. I mean... we're doing well so far considering. Here's hoping it stays that way."

Meanwhile, at the NAAA Headquarters main station.

There was a room lined with employees nervously monitoring with their state-of-the-art computers, where data from their probe, the Sojourner-1, was constantly streamed to the main base. Also in front, huge screens showing the results to all shone across the front of the room, displaying comprehensive charts and data from the probe.

Wola, an operator, gives his report on its status. "Sojourner-1 entering the range of Garorla."

"Excellent!" The supervisor, Moumua, sat at her chair at the fore of the room. "It's been two whole years since launch. Hopefully our kindly visitors won't mind if we fly on by?" The supervisor was a middle-aged Campicursor female with dull green plumage and yellow eyes. "Wola, are the cameras open? I want to take a good look at the thing."

"Yes, Moumua. It should take us about two more minutes before the data comes in. Light lag is no joke."

"Good. Hopefully we should be able to analyze both the probe and the planet at the same time."

When the signal was established, the Sojourner-1 let off soft beeping sounds into the vacuum of space as it drifted towards Garorla, the fifth and largest planet from the Aluna star system, characterized by its four great moons, dozens of smaller ones and majestic bands of ammonia and water vapor clouds, raging over a sea of hydrogen and helium gas, and colossal red storms larger than Oluna. About a year after contact it penetrated and examined the cloud of strange metallic debris orbiting Karak, the rust-colored fourth planet. Said debris is now widely believed to have come from the so-called 'First Primates' who formed their own global civilization some fifty million years ago. If it was true, they may now consider them to have had an interplanetary or, from even wilder speculations, an interstellar reach! The mystery only deepens.

In the meantime, they are ever closer to solving a more immediate mystery - that of the alien visitors whose ship was suspended more than a hundred-thousand kakotiks above Garorla for three whole years, seemingly unaffected by its powerful magnetic field. The probe is now about to intercept its path with the camera at the ready. The satellite turned its shutter-camera lens to the vessel and took snapshots.

When the images arrived the ground crew saw a sheer leviathan of a vessel, the great flower enlightening the inheritors of the bygone primate precursors of the gakanu race.

It was silent but very much alive with activity, its entire length as big as a metropolitan area. Everyone in the room stood in awe at what they were seeing - what was once mere science fiction now stands before them in reality. It did not look conventional in the slightest.

"By the gods," one of the researchers spoke in hushed tones. "The ship is magnificent up close. Look at this thing!"

Sojourner-1 continued to float slowly towards the mothership. It didn't seem to react to it at all. If it was hostile, one would have expected weapons to have fired already.

"Approach is looking good," Operator Wola reported. "We should be approaching the Space Flower within 20 kaks. Just look at the size of that thing!"

"Take photographs," the supervisor commanded. "Do a scan of the thing. Infrared, radio, ultraviolet, whatever we have."

"Understood." He punched in the commands to the probe as it approached the mothership. A small green light emitted from the probe as it proceeded to scan the entire vessel, with the pale satellite dish facing it.

Already results came in. It showed short but intense bursts of radio waves coming from the bow of the ship, each from a range of frequencies from 80 to 110 megahertz, the same range of frequencies as used in public television. That would explain why television broadcasts get disrupted whenever there is a new message.

Infrared scans showed considerable and more-or-less even heating with the mean temperature sitting at a comfortable 30 degrees, but there are areas such as on the sides which produce much more heat, and others such as toward the rear being relatively cooler. Likewise, the enormous 'petals' from the ship's length give an intense amount of heat by thousands of degrees - they are likely either radiators for shedding waste heat or solar collectors. Perhaps both.

Scans elsewhere in the spectrum came out faint, but scans in the near-ultraviolet range showed something remarkable. Crisp, beautiful patterns weaved themselves across the entire vessel, intermingling with its verdant green color. The patterns blur the distinction between nature and artifice. What's more, the patterns seemed to shift and shimmer every little bit, likely to either maximize the efficiency of solar energy absorption or as a reaction to Garorla's magnetic field.

Everyone stared at it in stunned silence "...it's so beautiful up close. It truly is so beautiful."

"Oh my gods," the supervisor leaned forward as she observed the patterns, adjusting her glasses with her eyes wide at all this, at a loss of what to make of this information. "Just... what are they? It's... it's not metal. It's a giant plant. How?"