The World Of Alcubierre

Episode XXI

"Let's see what we've got then," Kai said, the calm command of his voice breaking the stunned silence aboard the bridge.

Teams sprang into action, each crew member remembering their duty amidst the shock of their first interaction with an interstellar species. Data flitted between consoles and a steady hub of activity sprung up around different members of the command staff. Foremost among them was Jack Griggs. His team crowded around him, combining the data from their respective fields in hopes of creating a holistic picture of what, exactly, was being sent. Projected in their midst was the logic tree diagram Jack had produced before, and Kai watched as it was steadily pruned in light of new events.

The first piece to go were the branches dedicated to outcomes that did not contemplate an intervenor. If Jack felt any vindication or satisfaction at that fact, he did not show it. Instead, there was only steely determination as the problem was attacked. Something wanted to communicate, but what were they saying? What did they want?

The desire to become directly involved was overwhelming, but Kai's experience told him he was best in the background, allowing the teams to work the problem without his interference. The simple fact was that Kai's expertise lay in leadership, not in actually doing any of the things needed to unravel a puzzle like this. He could direct, but he could not do. There was something odd about that, almost as if the person with the least knowledge was being vested with the responsibility to decide the course of action. Of course, that was the trick of leadership, knowing when to listen and when to push. Kai was a generalist, he could synthesize the entire field of battle and strategize ahead of the opponent.

The Admiral paused at that line of thought. Phrases like field of battle and opponent were natural to him. He was birthed in war, and had only recently come to peace. The United World government was a fragile project, just emerging from the desolation of decades of strife. Humanity had survived its battles with the demons of its own creation, but only just. When it had emerged, looking to the stars, they had searched the world over for those that would best embody the hope of a new, unified future.

Chief Science Officer Jack Griggs. Brit by ancestry, not that national ties mattered much in the new world. More importantly, he was a good man and one of the most brilliant minds of any generation. He had found the path to dismantling the Automics, and humanity would forever be in his debt. He was the most fragile, the price of victory haunting him still. The downward spiral always a possibility. Had Kai not listed Jack's presence as a condition of accepting command, he would not be here. Kai could not help but smile as he watched Jack now. It felt good to see his friend work on something beautiful after the terrors. Maybe, just maybe, they would both find their salvation in the black.

Chief Engineering Officer Idara Adeyemi. Nigerian out of the African Union. Iron will had brought her to the Alcubierre. She had personally overseen the construction of the Alcubierre drive. Her request to join the crew, giving up a prized position in the United World Engineering Corps, had been a surprise. She had been readily accepted. Kai snorted, trying to imagine someone with enough of a spine to try and stop her application. Idara sat high on Kai's list of people to build a stronger bond with, but it was difficult to scratch her steely surface to see what lay beneath.

Chief Medical Officer Kate Lai. American of mixed descent. Half Chinese, half of half of Europe. Kai had worked with the good doctor off and on, though more on than off of late. She was on the Alcubierre because she was one of the few that could check Kai, a valuable commodity as far as he was concerned. Command had odd effects on a person. It was difficult to retain your empathy. To understand what it was like to not have power. If absolute power corrupts absolutely, then Kate was there to make sure he wasn't absolutely corrupted. She had been prepared to protect her patient at the potential cost of a galaxy, and her actions were why Jack was sitting there today.

There were dozens of other top flight executors, an entire crew of them, all looking to him. He had led men and women in war, and now he lead them into the unknown. This was not a field of battle, it was a map of the galaxy and Kai was expected to play humanity's hand wisely. No one could be ready for this, but that was what command was: the ability to make the best decision under ambiguous circumstances.

No, Kai could never hope to compete with this crew, and he would never want to. They would do, and he would decide. Kai pulled the Chief Comm Channel up, "All Chiefs. I want an update. Thirty minutes."

-------

"It is a logic chain," Jack said to the assembled Chiefs. "There does not appear to be any difference in the chain based on the medium of communication. Just a repeated set of simple math problems with true/false answers. Here's an example." He displayed the problems, which were presented as a series of dots and flashes that were then converted to a set of statements.

"One plus one equals two. True." Kai read out loud, before raising a quizzical eyebrow at his Chief Science Officer. "Seems a bit basic for wormhole creating aliens."

Jack shook his head, "That isn't the point, Admiral." He pointed to a set of problems just below. "One plus one equals one. False. One plus two equals three. True. Two plus two equals four."

"True," Kai replied.

A broad grin graced Jack's face, his eyes dancing mischievously, "Ah, but that's just it Admiral, they have not told us whether it is true or false."

Kai could see where it was going, but he decided to play along. A bit of theater would smooth over everyone's nerves. "I take it they haven't solved the great mystery of two plus two then?"

"Smart money says they've worked it out, they just want to see if we have," Jack minimized the example set of problems and displayed hundreds of more, in each case there was a red, highlighted line where a true/false was missing. "They're waiting for a response. Our best guess is that this serves as a basic communication primer and a sentience test. When we respond--"

"If," Kai cut in, "if we respond. That's not a given here. But continue."

Jack wilted slightly at that, but relaunched into his presentation, "Should we choose to respond, then the other species will be able to determine a number of things about us. Foremost among them would be a preferred means of communication. Second would be a pairing of our symbolic logic characters with the binary framings they have primarily used to convey the puzzles in." He thought about that for a moment, scratching behind his ear, "That's sort of interesting in and of itself. Our system is based on zeros and ones, but that wasn't a guarantee. I wonder if that's a constant or--"

"Jack, stick to the main trunk. You can prune the tree later, I just want everyone up to speed on what we're dealing with."

The Chief Science Officer flushed and then nodded, "Yes, of course, well, as I was saying..." his eyes roved over the diagram for a second before he found his stride again, "so, in addition to figuring out a preferred mode of communication, we would have the beginnings of a language bridge as well. At least theoretically, it is very possible we respond with math and just get more math and they just aren't able to consume content outside of that framework, but I don't think that will be the case."

"Explain."

"I cannot say I have the evidence to fully support this assertion, but I'd guess they've done this before. The sophistication is just too high for this to be a novelty. They're projecting across every medium we can think of. Their opening salvo, basic maths, is plausibly universal in application widely accessible. We will not know until we respond, but this feels like we are dealing with experts."

There was a rustling among the other chiefs at this, but it was Idara that gave voice to startling conclusion first, "You think there are more of them. More aliens."

Jack shrugged, "The biggest debate was always whether there was any. Now that there is one, two is orders of magnitude more likely. The fact we're interacting with a sophisticated communications platform bodes well for that fact. There's also the point that their travel technology, wormholes, is well designed for established point-to-point interactions. Again, I'm in speculative territory here, but I think I'm on the right side of the guess."

Idara leaned back in her chair, casting a glance to Kate Lai beside her. "I'm just going to stick to humans," Kai said with a small smile.

"So, should we tell them about the wonders of two plus two then, Jack?" Kai asked.

"I do not see another option. Despite our best efforts the Alcubierre drive remains offline which effectively strands us. Beyond that, whatever is out there saved us, our home, and, given the size of the anticipated death halo, maybe their home as well. We probably owe it to them to try and explain ourselves, particularly since we are not far enough away from home that they will not be able to put two and two together on their own and find Earth."

More than one crew member shifted uncomfortably at the last statement, but Jack's bluntness on the subject only made him more persuasive. "I want each round of response vetted by you personally Jack. If we start getting out of grade school and into college on maths, I want to be notified. If we get a communication bridge up, I want to be notified. If they start asking us about our home, I want to be notified." Kai leaned forward, his broad shoulders hunching in as he peered at Jack, "Discretion, Jack. We're all excited, but let's make sure we're taking the caution this deserves. Understood?"

Jack straightened and gave a nod, "Yes, Admiral." He paused, "Do we have permission to respond?"

Kai nodded, "Affirmative. Tell them that two plus two really does equal four. I imagine it'll be a big relief for them."

------

ZyyXy felt a mixture of curiosity and helplessness as it monitored the First Contact Program, its cilia curling and unfurling reflexively. Until a means of communication was established, particularly one that could supply a foundation for complex communication, ZyyXy could only observe. ZyyXy administered the flows deftly, pulling in the data as quickly as it could be created, but as of yet there was very little to access as the Angelysians had not yet responded. The absence of information was highly frustrating, and ZyyXy spent the time devising explanations as to why there was not yet a response.

Perhaps the very act of executing the FCP had created offense. ZyyXy was an observation purpose-specialization, not a diplomat, it was entirely possible it had behaved rashly. There may be consequences, all because it had acted without proper context and consideration.

ZyyXy's cilia stopped their furtive movements as it searched its consciousness. The thought had felt foreign. Not its own. It had been Left-minded. Such a thing should not happen. But ZyyXy had not merged before. This merge had not been sanctioned by the Zix nor overseen by a merge purpose-specialist. Perhaps there were unintended side effects. Things ZyyXy could not possibly anticipate. A cost for its actions.

More Left-mindedness.

ZyyXy delved deeper until could feel the presence within it. It was small, struggling amongst a sea of ZyyXy's thoughts, as if entangled in a Zix Moot. But among the tangled weave of ZyyXy's thought threads, a single thought-thread reached out from the small presence and into ZyyXy's consciousness. Questioning XyyZy's actions. Raising doubts.

Xy remained. Consumed, subsumed, but not eliminated.

Vexed, ZyyXy pruned its threads, emotion and thought alike, returning to a blank state. Slowly, it re-established only those threads ZyyXy permitted and held firm control over. The presence within wilted, shrinking further as ZyyXy's consciousness re-asserted itself. Before ZyyXy could move to excise the irksome presence within, the FCP's data flows shifted, drawing ZyyXy's attention away.

The Angelysians had responded.

Xy was forgotten as ZyyXy established a cluster of thought-threads to monitor the progress of the communication framework. There would be much to glean even from the initial response, and the opportunity to return to its natural predisposition as an observer was a welcome respite after the chaos and fears of the time since it had initially discovered the mysterious object from Sol. Already the communication framework began to fill in, occurring in tandem with the analysis of the second, more essential set of data the FCP began to deliver.

The Species Assessment. The FCP had been used by the Combine across millions of initial interactions with species. All of that data had been used to build a model of what species were possible candidates for membership in the Combine, which were best left ignore, and which posed active threats. The outcome of the assessment could have dramatic consequences for the Angelysians.

ZyyXy expelled its fluid, shrinking down.

Warnings were already coming in.