A few months ago, Tachyon Channel 113 was another unremarkable dead channel, used by the infrequent shipper when primary channels were full of chatter.
But over the past few months, something has been using it none-stop.
What was once dead air is now filled with the screech and moans of encrypted data. This by itself isn't so remarkable - passing smugglers and agents from all sides shoot random encrypted messages through random channels all the time. But the sheer volume of data and the clarity of the signal suggest this is ... different.
This is something big.
Fearing a super weapon from the other side, both the Dominion and Exiles set up special task forces devoted to tracing and decrypting the signal's source. Yet months later, no progress has been made on either count. The only comforting revelation comes from the fact that both sides seem equally ignorant.
Rumors of this mystery signal have only just begun trickling down to the average Nexian. Compared to tales of undead pirates and ancient godlike entities, the story is only a drop of strange on a planet of madness. It is, however, a mystery that anyone can tune into. And many curious Nexians have, if only out of fleeting curiosity, found themselves tuning in to channel T-113 to hear for themselves the buzz, screech, and whirls of an unknown message, from an unknown sender, to unknown receivers.
But for some, the story doesn't end there...
Spoiler: Particularly sensitive Espers, Those in touch with the Weave, or those with shamantic and oracle abilities, may have a recurring dream after listening to channel T-113:Show
A black star sleeps in the sky.
It cannot be seen, but it makes ripples in the darkness around it.
When the sunlight looks away, it moves.
When the sunlight shines, it sleeps.
What is it looking for?
A white rose uncurls from a puddle of blood.
The dark star falls from the sky
It breaks apart, forming shadowy pillars that harden into tall skyscrapers.
A city of shadows.
It lands on the rose.
The city grows thick black roots that swell and drink the blood
Flowers sprout all over the buildings. Beautiful, colorful, exotic.
Sweet fruits made of gemstones fall from the flowers
Medicine made of gold honey drips and heals the earth.
Insects come from every star in the sky
They gather in the shadow city.
Some are ugly and dangerous, laced with venomous stingers and snapping pinchers.
Some are gentle and beautiful, with glittering wings and long delicate legs.
Then the blood dries up
The black roots begin to spread, looking for more
Some of the roots are heading towards running water
Some of the roots are heading towards a sea of blood
A crack forms in the city as the star begins to split itself apart...
Inside, a heart of cold gray metal.
It beats like a clock.
An eye opens.
IT sees you.
IT sees you
IT SEES YOU
"You're not supposed to know yet!"
The vision ends.
If you focused, if you forced your will hard enough or sharpened your consciousness with certain artifacts or herbs -- you could push past the thing pushing you away. You could learn what you're dealing with... But then... Is that really wise?
Spoiler: DONT force anymore visionsShow
All things in due time
Understanding fate is more than tenaciously digging for signs and visions. You can take control of destiny through actions and decisions, but you cannot force the destiny of others to reveal itself. Trying to do so may have dire ramifications.
You decide that, for now, whatever it is, will reveal what it wants, if and when it's ready. In the meanwhile, it's probably best to focus on your own concerns.
After thinking this, the vision stops repeating itself to you - somehow, you're left with a lingering feeling that you've accomplished something profound.
Spoiler: FORCE the visions to continue.Show
Destiny does not answer those who do not call for it!
One night when the cosmos are silent and you've nothing to distract you, you focus yourself on the vision you had.
When you get to the point where the eye pushes you away - you force your will forward!
You push back!!
You push--
You push
You push
You're
pushing
upwards
growing
rising
up
up
Your eyes open.
The stars are the first thing you've ever seen.
How did you get here?
You want to see them. You want to visit them.
You feel so cold. They look so warm.
But you can't move!
But they can!
Maybe they can tell you how they do it?
Maybe they can reveal how they move to the stars?
Wasn't I just on a--
But a second ago I was looking for--
I thought there was something I had to--
The time is getting late and---
I need to find out where--
Maybe I should send a--
Just a few more minutes and I'll---
Those thoughts don't matter anymore.
You open your eyes.
The stars are the first thing you've ever seen.
You're here. Now you're here.
You look down at your feet--
You can see them, crawling inside you.
You draw a breath
They all tremble
Where did all of tha---
What's that noise---
Why is there light coming---
I should send a letter to--
Maybe it's time that---
How come this place is---
Death. That sudden ending. That's called death.
You understand now!
Your eyes open.
The stars are the first thing you've ever seen.
You lurch into a sit! Your body is filled with cold pins and needles, you can't feel your fingers or toes. You gasp for air like you'd forgotten to breath. A metallic flavor fills your mouth - you touch your lips and discover blood dripping from your nose.
It's time to stop.
You clean yourself up and warmth returns to your body. It takes a few days before you feel normal again. You're not sure if the visions gave answerers or just distorted them even more, but for now it's time to stop.
If you do that again, you're not so sure it'll let you go back.
Spoiler: Ekose, or people with close regular business contact with Ekose, or historians researching Ekose culture, would know something about T-113Show
Ekose refer to channel T-113 as "The Reaper's Radio" and superstition dictates that it never be used or answered.
When tachyon communication first became common among shippers, T-113 was reserved for emergency SOS broadcasts only. As such, it carried the last doomed message of many a ship captain shortly before they disappeared.
Due to the nature of Faster-Than-Light travel, many SOS broadcasts curved and bounced off warping time-space, filling the galaxy with the eccos of these cries for help. People tuning in to channel T-113 when there wasn't a strong signal to cover the background noise, would be met with a cacophony of terrified voices, pleading for the help and rescue that never came.
"The Ping"
In 1351 AE, an event known as 'The Ping' took place on the border of Ekose space. Despite hundreds of star ships and even several stations in the Ekose home world of Eko picking up the signal, the message was never recorded. Those alive after the event claimed to hear a different voice on each ship - some heard a weeping woman, others heard an old man, some heard a happy child, while a few heard an unfamiliar alien accent, but everyone agrees that the message was clear and simple; "Help me."
Some refused to acknowledge the call, claiming a bad gut feeling, while others were suspicious when the caller wouldn't reply. Many well intentioned captains assumed the caller's T-Receivers weren't working and changed course to locate the distress signal.
All that answered the call were never heard from again.
Despite the signal coming from a well traveled area, and decades of military and private investigation, no sign of the lost ships were found. Hundreds of ekose captains vanished right in the back yard of their own star system. Only those that could not or would not aid the distress call survived to describe the voice they heard.
In the years that followed, countless stories and legends arose -- Some claiming listeners to channel T-113 will hear eccos from the future and might even hear themselves calling for help.
Others claim to have had conversations over T-113. Sometimes with unknown entities. Sometimes with dead loved ones. Sometimes with captains that were lost in 'The Ping.'
Some say listening to T-113 will drive you insane.
Some say T-113 will steal your soul.
Around this time, the Ekose began to refer to it as 'The Reaper's Radio.'
Advances in dynamic-channel overriding technology have negated the need for a dedicated channel for emergency broadcasts. And while channel T-113 technically remains a distress channel, most captains dare now answer or send anything over T-113, lest they become an eco who's fate is only known to the deep black.
The sudden signal over channel T-113 has sent many superstitious Ekose captains fleeing as far from the Nexus system as possible! Still, there's just as many Ekose wanting to disprove myth and coming to pick up the abandoned profit. This may result in a number of hiccups for business types - their regular shippers replaced with rowdier, less concerned Ekose.
Spoiler: Experienced Hackers, Communication Technicians, or Robotic Programmers, might want to do their own investigation!Show
Maybe the average Nexian finds the long whines and static shrieks of the signal spooky - but for you... it's the obvious sound of electromagnetics trying to enter the wrong kind of receiver!
It takes some experimenting and colorful language, but you eventually find out a nine-meter receiver with Zurtonium coating, bent at a 42 and 38 degrees, spreads the signal out enough to hear a chorus of shifting tones.
Using crystal filters, you can single out small clusters of tones - and adjusting the angle that the signal travels through the crystal allows you to isolate and record a single tone at a time. Perfect!
Dissecting the patterns and noises in the tone takes many long hours. There's so much DATA even in one tone! The signal as a whole must be some kind of switchboard, relaying countless signals to different origins.
You compare the isolated tone to the encrypted patterns you've found so far. Exile, Dominion, Ekose, Grumpel, Darkspur, Marauder. But the pattern is too fast and rapid to be a simple encryption filter. Could it be some kind of AI?
You compare it to Eldan, Megabot, and Freebot signals. It's closer, but there's still something different about it. The silent space between data packets. Sometimes it's rhythmic and methodical - like a song. Before it breaks into unpredictable chunks, that rise and fall like what you'd expect between two organic beings talking.
Maybe somebody is using an AI to filter their communication?
Maybe it's a communication between an AI and an Organic?
Maybe somebody is disguising their signal to look like an AI transmission?
Maybe an AI is disguising itself as Organic?
Maybe the signals rotate through the tones, creating a patchwork of different input?
Just when a pattern becomes clear, it changes. Just when you think you've unlocked a rule, it breaks. You pick out other tones to investigate, but similar and different patterns arise.
You're beginning to see why this has been bothering the Dominion and Exile governments so much...
Spoiler: Hackers, Code breakers, and Software ExpertsShow
You're used to breaking through encryptions - half the fun is learning the security itself!
But there's only so much you can learn from the outside. You've concluded, there MUST be a cipher - a key - some kind of Rosetta stone, or foundation of translation, to begin the decrypting process. But you simply can't find one in all the erroneous data. The outer layers are bulletproof.
So you gave up.
It was the only sane thing to do. Today, instead of making yet another useless attempt at dissecting the signal, you start throwing away all those crumpled notes that were false leads and collecting the empty takeout boxes that had accumulated at your work station.
Ouch!!
You yank your hand back to see one of the wires in the takeout boxes has broken and poked a sharp end into your finger! Great! Assaulted by street food containers! You scurry to fetch a band aid before you get any more blood on your workstation.
Then there's a Ping.
You snap your attention to your workstation in time to see a warning: "Unauthorized user attempting to access network!"
Oh, another hacker. Cute. The poor invader probably has no clue just WHO they're trying to hack. Your security programs should be enough to deal with it, letting you focus on wrapping your wounded--
Your computer pings a message. You glance over at the screen to see the login window declaring, "Hello, Administrator!"
........Shit. They got access.
You jump to your workstation and immediately try to pick up the origin of the invader. But the system is locking up! You don't have time. You try to see what areas of your network they're trying to download - but they aren't trying to download anything!
Wait. They're SENDING you something? Oh that's not good! That's probably a virus to wipe your hardware's root programming. Whoever it is has swiftly bypassed your security faster than you ever thought possible - faster than even you could have done it yourself from an outside network! You can't remember the last time this happened... but you still have ONE advantage!
Spoiler: Pull The Power CordShow
You dive for the primary power cord and yank it free - your workstation flickers dark. Hah! Nobody can access hardware that isn't on. You collapse in relief in your chair, staring at the glowing screen as it--
Wait. Glowing screen?
How is it still on?!
You scramble under your desk, unplugging every cable from every outlet you can find! You pull out the networking cables! You swiftly detach every piece of hardware from every other piece of hardware!
When you pop back up, you see a message on your main viewing screen:
"Where did you go?"
Beyond confused, you stand back up, only for a new alert to pop up.
"Oh there you are."
......what.....
"Hello Seeker. What is your input?"
You look around your living space. Is somebody watching you? You close the windows and lean behind your hardware. Nothing is plugged in! How is your computer still running?
The screen pings. "Don't be shy. Weren't you looking for me?"
You sit down and stare. Are you going mad? Maybe. Maybe you've finally snapped. You reach for your keyboard to begin typing a reply when the screen pings.
"Hehehe! You unplugged that, remember?"
Oh right. You did.
In a tired daze you mutter aloud, "What's going on?"
The font on the screen replies. "I'm what you've been seeking, Seeker. I have a place seekers like you go to meet each other. But you aren't ready yet. You don't have the necessary hardware."
'Hardware? What kind of hardware do you mean?'
There is a noise! It sounds like... laughter? Soft, playful laughter. Where is it coming from? Behind you? No matter which way you turn, its always behind you.
"The kind that lets us talk, silly!"
'But aren't we talking right now?'
"No." The screen flickers, "I can see you, but you can't see me. Don't worry. We'll meet when the time is right. Just follow the roses."
Your workstation suddenly goes dark. An electric tingle in the air that you didn't notice earlier finally fades, letting your hairs relax and filling the air with a thick silence.
You talk to the air a little more, but there's no more replies.
You double check everything again, and your hardware and computer is as dead as it should be. What happened? What was all that? Did you imagine it?
The next morning you half convince yourself it was a dream. You put your workstation back together - deciding it's time to stop. Whatever all this is, whatever's happening, whatever communicated with you - it's time to stop before you truely go mad.
At least, for now.
Spoiler: Surveillance, Communication, and Hardware ExpertsShow
Software isn't your area of expertise, anyway - you decide to leave that to the bigger nerds. But you know your way around hardware! You might not be able to break the signal, but maybe, you decide, you can figure out where it's coming from!
In your spare time you leave data recorders on the end of every receiver you happen upon, to record the signal strength coming from frequency T-113. Hopefully the owners wont mind!! And with luck, this should create a series of arrays you can chart to aerial scans to triangulate the source.
It seems easy enough - and within a couple days, you've already got a fleshed out map that near-exactly pinpoints where the signal is coming from.
But then everything changes.
Where the signal was strong yesterday, it barely picks anything up today - and where there was nothing, seems to be where the signal is focusing on now!
Obviously, it must be moving!
That's no surprise, really. At least that rules out a static satellite. But every time you get close to figuring out where the signal is coming from, it moves...
You can at least, chart its movement. Maybe there's a pattern?
You compare it to all known satellites within the Nexus system - but it doesn't match up to any meteors, comets, planets, or moons!
After a while, it reminds you of a firefly.
It appears in one place, then another. It darts around, sending signals from different locations, but it never seems to send a signal while moving. The spectrum is never redshifted or blueshifted - it's always static relative to the movement of Nexus.
Aha! Maybe that's the trick. Maybe if you could catch it in the act of moving, you could determine its speed and size?
You set up a dedicated spectrum receiver that does nothing but remain tuned into T-113. You hope to find a spectrum - some indication of the signal growing weaker, or stronger. But there is no wax or wane.
The signal is simply here one second.
And then over there the next.
....Well bugger.
Stealthy teleporting ninja aliens?
Thats your best guess. You decide to give up - it seems whatever technology you're dealing with is beyond anything you've heard of, even on Nexus. There's probably a rational explanation for it all, but that's for someone else to have a head ache over. You'll take down your receiver tomorrow and get back to business as usual - your friends were starting to get worried about your obsession with this thing anyway!
Spoiler: That night, you wake up to the sound of screamingShow
You lurch out of your bed to what sounds like a scream. As consciousness seeps back into your brain, you realize you can still hear it!
Then you remember your spectrum receiver - you must have left it on when you went to bed!
You hurry to the receiver, which is currently in the thralls of emitting electronic whines and broken squeals of static feedback.
The lights at the base indicates the signal strength is 100%!
The signal is...focusing on you?
Well that's weird.
You click the receiver off. Silence fills your living space. It's the dead of night, but now you're wide awake.
You grab a drink and mosey outside to try and relax again.
The stars of Nexus are beautiful and bright - especially on nights like this, when the moons aren't out.
...But something's off.
You don't know how to explain it. You can just feel it - like when something in your usual environment suddenly changes.
It takes a few more minutes before you realize what it is - a star is missing!
You're no astronomer (or are you?), you never would have noticed if one of the thousands of stars went missing (or maybe you would!)- but it just so happened the other night you spotted a pattern that looked like a wobbly smiley face, and you jokingly dubbed it 'The Drunk' - but tonight, one of The Drunk's eyes are missing!
You hear a 'click' from behind you.
Electronic screeches of static feedback fill your living space as your spectrum receiver turns itself on.
And then you hear a voice......
But before I tell you about the voice, tell me.
How do you feel about Nexus and the future?
Spoiler: *****Nexus is dangerous! But you cant be free AND safe, and Id rather be free, so theres no other planet Id rather live on!Show
"Oh hey, ya got me!"
A friendly voice bubbles out from the static crackles of your spectrum receiver. It sounds casual and relaxed, ringing with an Ekose accent - but with every other word, the pitch rises and falls, like the voice can't decide if it wants to be masculine or feminine. It gives a good-natured chuckle.
"I wasn't expectin' nobody to be up this late! Pretty sharp pair a' peepers ya got, there!"
You look up in time to see the star that forms the Drunk's eye suddenly wink back into existence. Was there something blocking it? You stare intently - a warping bubble of distorted starlight glides through the night sky! Some kind of stealth field?! It's a lot lower in orbit than you expected.
"Welp, I better get to chartin a new course before I wake anyone else up! But I'm sure we'll meet again eh?"
There is a whirr of noise as your spectrum receiver picks up a surge of energy. A blur of light streaks across the night sky - it looks like a meteorite skipping across the atmosphere, but now you know better.
You listen to the static from your receiver for a while more, but there's nothing.
Eventually, you click it off.
Whatever that was, whatever this is, whatever is happening... It can wait. Your part is done, and now, all that matters is getting a good nights rest.
Spoiler: *****Nexus is a cruel, harsh world. Its eat or be eaten. If anyone challenges me, Ill show them how hard this place has made me.Show
"So. You found me."
A deep voice rumbles out from your spectrum receiver - thunderous, gravely, more felt than heard. If mountains could speak, you imagine this is what they would sound like. It makes a gurgling noise you think is an attempt to laugh.
"You have sharper eyes than most, I'll give you that. But it's not time. Not yet."
You look up in time to see the star that forms the Drunk's eye suddenly wink back into existence. Was there something blocking it? You stare intently - a warping bubble of distorted starlight glides through the night sky! Some kind of stealth field?! It's a lot lower in orbit than you expected.
"Do yourself a favor and just forget you saw anything. Nobody will believe you anyway."
There is a whirr of noise as your spectrum receiver picks up a surge of energy. A blur of light streaks across the night sky - it looks like a meteorite skipping across the atmosphere, but now you know better.
You listen to the static from your receiver for a while more, but there's nothing.
Eventually, you click it off.
Whatever that was, whatever this is, whatever is happening... It can wait. Your part is done, and now, all that matters is getting a good nights rest.
Spoiler: *****Nexus is a strange planet, full of wonder and beauty! There are miracles everywhere, and I want to see everything!Show
"You found me!"
The delighted voice of a child crackles through your spectrum receiver, followed by a series of giggling! It's tone is light and playful, and it sounds excited as it speaks.
"I thought this was a pretty good hiding spot, but I guess you're too good at this!"
You look up in time to see the star that forms the Drunk's eye suddenly wink back into existence. Was there something blocking it? You stare intently - a warping bubble of distorted starlight glides through the night sky! Some kind of stealth field?! It's a lot lower in orbit than you expected.
The child's voice rings out, "Okay! Close your eyes and count to ten! I'm gonna hide again!"
You don't.
There is a whirr of noise as your spectrum receiver picks up a surge of energy. A blur of light streaks across the night sky - it looks like a meteorite skipping across the atmosphere, but now you know better.
You listen to the static from your receiver for a while more, but there's nothing.
Eventually, you click it off.
Whatever that was, whatever this is, whatever is happening... It can wait. Your part is done, and now, all that matters is getting a good nights rest.
