Signal to Noise
From Acw
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SIGNAL TO NOISE
"Mr. Mayor, you are about to see something that will change the universe as we know it. This will really put the planet Fairnsborough on the map!' jabbered Professor Gertan Harnsford in his thick United Martian accent. Mayor Homan Winsot kept his eyes solidly on the scree underfoot, and said nothing.
Three months ago they had uncovered a curious cavern in the northernmost desert of this rocky world. It was perfectly smooth and egg-shaped, or at least, it had been intended to be. One side of it had never been completed, possibly due to the rockfall that had exposed the cavern to the air. They entered the cavern, and as their eyes adjusted to the gloom, Winsot saw Them.
"The workers have nicknamed them Yin and Yang, for the ancient Chinese symbol. They are almost certainly of extra-terrestrial origin," continued Harnsford.
The Mayor moved towards the closer of the two. "Are they… statues?" he asked, as he placed his hand on what his brain insisted was a 'leg'. He laid his hands on the smooth contours of the statue's appendage, and recoiled suddenly. "It's warm!"
"Really?" asked Harnsford, suddenly intrigued. Settling his spectacles on his nose, he clambered up to Yin. Muttering to himself, he pulled an electronic device out of his pocket, pointed it at the statue, and pushed a button. The device beeped twice, and began its work. Suddenly the screen fizzled, and went blank. There was a low sigh, and an almost palpable pulse of energy through the air.
"What… was that?" asked the Mayor, cautiously.
"No idea. But I don't think these are statues…"
Harnsford was right, for the second time that day.
Session Details
This was the first episode of the secnd story arc. Set three centuries after the destruction of Earth, it detailed the after effects of the first discovery of extra-terrestrial intelligence in the galaxy.
