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T minus 15 seconds, guidance is internal.

Twelve, eleven, ten, nine, ignition sequence start.

Six, five, four, three, two, one.

Midway through the last century,

a few of mankind's brightest minds

got together over lunch,

to seriously discuss a question, which until then,

had been largely relegated to the realm of science fiction.

The question was, "where is everybody?"

Asked on a cosmic scale.

In a galaxy vast enough to encompass

a hundred million black holes

and a thousand times that many burning stars,

we expect to see some signs of life

beyond this little blue dot we stand on.

Since that lunchtime chat among physicists,

we've extended our reach beyond

the solar wind's farthest traces.

And our sight all the way to our universe's horizon.

But despite the staggering biodiversity here on Earth,

we have yet to encounter a single piece of evidence

that says that we aren't alone.

So, are we an anomaly?

A lonely group of chance biological specimens

alone in a blind and deaf universe of rock and ice and gas?

By its definition and anomaly is unlikely

and shouldn't be assumed.

But the possible reasons we haven't yet sensed

an alien presence range from the terrifying to the sublime.

Where are the others?

And why can't we find them?

The answer will be mankind's most important discovery.

And so we search hoping with each passing decade

to observe something that might give us an answer.

Docking lock confirmed.

Commander Nelson, you're free to move about the cabin

and prepare for stasis.

Thanks.

Oh, and NASA, one of my data screens just went fuzzy.

Affirmative.

We're uploading a revised AI plugin.

Last minute bug fixes?

That's not very reassuring, NASA.

Please don't tell my wife.

Hey, I'm still here.

She's the one uploading the plugin.

Babe, a year and a half

and I'll be waking up at Titan.

This is Mission Control,

we are ready to begin onboard systems check.

Commander Nelson, are you preparing for stasis?

Sorry, I'm currently distracted by the view.

Abigail, you know you should really be

a little nicer to Becker.

Without him...

I'd be watching the launch

with the rest of the civilians, I know.

But sometimes Becker can be such a...

Hey, hey, I'm still here.

We have a computer confirmation

on the Magellan's current trajectory.

Nelson, can you give us a manual confirmation

of geosyn controller sync?

In my defense, it's the Chinese who drove this

launch timetable, not me.

Well, they'll wish they hadn't.

However, this does seem to be

more of a military endeavor, now doesn't it?

Friendly competition for science,

I've been assured.

When will our advanced probe reach Titan?

Uh, that's classified information.

Two days before he does.

Thank you, Becker.

At least somebody tells me what's going on.

Oh, don't you start that, Babe.

All controller systems check out.

We are go for gravity spin in T minus two minutes.

Commander Nelson, are you preparing for stasis?

Ah, that's a negative.

Currently distracted by the view.

I see you staring

At rockets in the sky

Firing the liquid

Here's the last of them.

Thank you.

And NASA's on the phone.

Really?

Yeah.

I need you to hold this.

Thank you.

Roger Nelson speaking.

If it's Becker, tell him you can't go.

You can't miss your wife's symposium.

Yes, sir, no, yes.

Tomorrow morning?

Yes, sir.

You got it, 1000 hours?

Okay, no, no, no, thank you.

Becker says you're gonna miss my symposium?

It wasn't Becker.

I have a briefing.

You mean a...

A mission briefing.

An actual space...

Tomorrow morning.

A mission briefing.

Oh, my gosh, can you believe it?

Yeah.

Hey Nelson.

They finally sending you off into space, man?

Ah, it looks like it.

Nice, oh yeah.

I sure hope so.

Hey, I'm sorry about the symposium.

Yeah, well NASA's in trouble with your wife.

Not me?

Ah, man.

Approximately 48 hours ago SETI reported

a radio anomaly, picked up by Arecibo.

A low-frequency pulse, repeating at constant intervals.

Within minutes the VLA and Atacama picked it up as well.

That's when we started listening.

Matthew, can you please play it?

That's some kind of pulsar?

Yeah, that's what we thought initially, as well, yes,

but it's not on sidereal time.

Then SETI reported a second anomaly

at a higher radio frequency.

And then a third showed up.

Even higher still.

And they've been transmitting constantly ever since.

After we picked up the third signal,

I realized that the second pulse is exactly

four semitones higher in pitch than the first.

And the third is exactly seven semitones higher in pitch.

Hmm?

Play them together.

I'm sorry, a second ago you used the word

transmitting, not emitting.

Yes, yes, yes I did,

and for good reason.

Do you hear that sound Captain Nelson?

In musical theory, that is what they call

a perfect tonal major triad.

It's space music, essentially.

The signals are artificial.

So you're saying that someone

from across the galaxy sent us a song?

Based on what we know now...

Essentially, yes.

That's incredible.

Where are they coming from?

That's where it gets interesting.

So the computers did the math

and we found out that all the signals

are coming from within our solar system.

I'm sorry, what?

Captain Nelson, these are local.

We traced the radio signals

to three separate points of origin.

The first, is transmitting from Saturn's moon, Titan.

The second From Neptune's moon, Triton.

And the third, from the dwarf plant Eris.

Eris?

Uh huh, yes, the signals probably began

transmitting at the same time, but Eris and Triton

are four and half light hours away.

How, I mean...

How do we suddenly start getting these signals

transmitted to us from all these locations?

We don't know.

But that's where you come in.

Secretary Stewart.

The mission will be to fly to each of these locations

to discover the exact source of the signals,

collect samples and if possible,

the transmitters themselves.

We need an astronaut with the right background for the job.

And you, Captain Nelson, are our man.

Let me get this right.

You want me to fly a manned mission to Saturn?

Actually, we need you to fly a manned mission

to Saturn, Neptune and Eris.

Yes, sir, I'm your man.

What's the spacecraft?

The X-57.

But the X-57's not outfitted for deep space,

I thought that we're way...

It will be, in two and a half years.

Captain Nelson, these signals, whatever they are,

have created quite the buzz in the scientific community

and in the DOD as well.

What started out as the scientific find of the century,

has quickly become an issue of national defense.

The ideal window for launch would be eight years from now.

But there is a less ideal, but still manageable,

window, two and a half years from now.

And intel has just come to us that says the Chinese

are shooting for that.

Okay, so we're racing the Chinese

to these unknown transmitters?

That's fairly accurate, yes.

Most of the space exploration community

is behind us on this, because we have the infrastructure

to pull it off.

Between the feds and foreign governments,

we have billions of dollars pledged to perfect stasis tech.

And the Chinese, seem to want these things

for themselves, whatever they are.

Of course, I'll do whatever it takes.

But if you don't mind me asking,

Mr. Secretary, why not just send probes?

Well, we are looking into the feasibility

of sending an advance probe to collect survey data,

but this mission is too important to trust

to remote operation or and AI.

Nelson, we're not just asking you

to go to some distant rock

in the the hope of collecting scientific data here.

Whatever those things are,

it was put there for a reason.

We need real-time decision making.

Humanity's outstretched hand.

We're talking bout the real possibility

of first contact here, Nelson.

We want you to be Earth's ambassador, scientist,

investigator and advanced scout.

Yes, sir.

What's the mission duration?

Well, it's approximately 10 years,

but the good news is that you will be

in stasis most of the time.

Of course, your wife

will have to remain here the whole time.

Which is why, despite your record as a duty-bound pilot,

Becker insisted we give you the option

to refuse the assignment.

Refuse the greatest discovery since the birth of mankind?

No sir, I'm your man.

Don't worry about Abigail, she'll manage.

Well, if you're certain,

let's continue the briefing.

Secretary Stewart's just informed me

that the Chinese launch has been delayed for 24 hours

due to inclement weather.

I bet Secretary Stewart's happy.

Your vital signs check out.

You may enter the stasis box when ready.

I hate the stasis box.

You know how weird it's gonna be

to be asleep for 18 months

and not have a dream?

Whatever, You Won't Even Notice.

I'm the one who's stuck down here, remember?

Right, my apologies, babe.

Hey NASA, did I fail to mention

that I hate tight spaces as well?

Then you've chosen the wrong job.

What do you think you're doing, Roger?

You just signed away 10 years of your life.

Our lives, my life.

What do you expect me to do

the whole time you're gone?

Tell Becker you can't go.

Abigail, I've never even questioned orders,

let alone refused them.

And now I get a chance

to do something really important.

And you want me to tell the Secretary of Defense no?

You knew what we were getting into

when we signed up for this.

You knew, you knew when we got into this.

You were okay ...-

- That's because I thought you might die!

You were okay with it!

I didn't think you would get shipped

across the solar system for 10 years!

Well, guess what.

What?

I still might die.

So just like that?

Because Stewart requests it?

You don't have to blindly follow

everything they tell you, you know.

You could follow your own path.

Hey.

Come here.

This is my path.

It's all I ever dreamed of.

I know, I know.

Hey, I just need to know

that you're gonna be there with me.

The entire way.

Hey Becker, you'll take care of Abbie

for me, right?

If, by taking care of,

you mean making sure she can get into Mission Control

anytime she wants, then yes.

I'll be fine, you take care of yourself.

I will.

I'll be careful, Abigail.

Besides, that's what I got Ferdinand for, remember?

I love you.

You better come home Roger Nelson,

you hear me?

Come home.

Ahh!

Good morning, Commander Nelson.

Good morning, Ferdinand.

How are you feeling?

I'll be feeling a whole lot better

once I get these tubes out of my arm.

Very good.

Please proceed with attaching your health monitors.

Thank you.

Ferdinand, give me a complete systems report, please.

All systems are currently nominal.

Number of single event upsets, total six,

with minor software corruption

and zero hardware malfunctions.

Software corrected without incident.

What's our current position, and ETA?

We are approximately 8.49

astronomical units from Earth.

We will be intersecting Saturn's planetary orbit

in less than 24 hours.

Good.

What are we getting from the advanced probe?

It has completed orbital survey successfully.

I am processing the data now.

How many dispatches do I have from NASA?

229.

How many?

229, sir.

And how many of those are designated important?

All of them.

Are you awake yet?

I'm getting desperate.

NF3.

I'll be here all day.

Oh, it's on.

F3, really?

I see your F3 and I raise you D5.

Hmm.

Hey Ferd, what's the transmission time?

Hour and twenty minutes?

One hour and fourteen minutes.

But in your wife's timezone on Earth,

it's two o'clock in the morning.

Would you like to play a faster game of chess with me?

No thank you.

It's the human element that matters here.

Besides, I gotta get through all these dispatches

before NASA calls.

Will you do me a favor?

Let me know when we pass Saturn's orbital path.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

F3 Really?

Here's one, Ferd.

Becker forwarded me a video from the CNSA

congratulating us on a successful launch.

Chinese government must be pretty mad.

Another dispatch states

that they have delayed the launch for a year.

They have announced that they will be

on trajectory for Neptune.

Hmm.

So they're skipping Titan altogether, huh?

Interesting.

Wonder if that's gonna change our orders.

Currently, we are to proceed as ordered.

So do you read all my emails?

All transmissions must be sent

through our encrypted channel,

which the central computer must decode.

So, yes.

Although I'm programmed to ignore

any message marked classified.

Good to know.

Sir, we will reach

our trajectory in 10 minutes.

Alright, Ferd, let's rock and roll.

Target will be achieved in one minute.

There was a slight overshot in our trajectory curve.

NASA recommends we be ready

to fire additional retro rockets manually.

Do you want me to handle that or shall I...

Just make sure the retrogrades are primed, please.

Certainly.

But I need to confirm that order, please.

Confirmed, I'll control them manually.

Check complete.

All system ready.

Entering orbit in ten, nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four, advise slight adjustment, nose left.

Beginning roll maneuver now.

Orbit achieved, stable.

We are in orbit around Titan.

Taking thrusters offline.

Tell me what I'm looking at, Ferd.

These are images

of the Northern polar regions of Titan,

which is covered by numerous lakes

of liquid methane and ethane.

The advance probe survey was able to pinpoint

the source of the first signal

to within four kilometers near the lake called Punga Mare.

So these are the ice flats here?

Affirmative.

I think this is gonna be our best place to land,

assuming that the ground is gonna be solid enough.

The ground is solid.

Surface temperature is approximately

negative 178 degrees Celsius.

Negative 178, that's it?

So I should probably wear a spacesuit for this one?

That would be advisable for survival.

Okay, Ferd, got it.

Still four kilometers.

That's not a small area to wandering around

on an alien moon.

So, I'm thinking our best bet's

gonna be to land right here in the middle

and hopefully get a better bead on the signal.

What's our window for Neptune?

We have an ideal six hour window, sir.

Six hour.

After that, we will have to dip

into ion thruster reserve fuel.

However, if the land is close enough to the lake here,

we can save time on refueling the lander.

If I can drop a line in the lake,

we won't have to do methane air extraction.

Is that feasible, Ferd?

Yes, as long as impurities remain under 6%.

Which we won't know until we land and I get a hose in.

However, could save us three to four hours.

I say it's worth a shot, Ferd, let's do it.

What's our entry window for Titan?

In twelve minutes.

Good.

Any change in signal?

It is still transmitting at regular intervals.

Good, stay on top of it, please.

Sir, we have received a video transmission

from Mission Control.

Okay, throw it up on the main console.

Ready, okay begin.

Commander Nelson, congratulations

on your safe arrival at Titan.

It is a landmark in human exploration.

Abigail wanted me to congratulate you as well.

I tried to convince her to come down here

and talk to you herself, but she's...

How do I put it?

She's a little stressed out right now.

Something happened earlier this month

and she's...

She's really having a bit of a breakdown.

She recorded part of a message,

and she tried to delete it,

but I think you should hear her talking to you honestly.

I'll send it to you after you get

reconnected with the Magellan.

I don't want anything distracting you right now

at this critical moment.

I really shouldn't even be talking to you about this, sorry.

Your primary mission is to find out

what is sending that signal.

Whatever it is, it's there for a reason.

And once you've located it,

we may just have a clue why.

Good luck, Roger.

Thanks a lot, Becker.

If you shouldn't be talking to me about it, then don't.

Stay on task.

Alright, Ferd, let's go.

Engaging docking release.

Undocked.

Captain Nelson.

Due to probable data relay issues during landing,

I'd like to remind you the X-57 is been equipped

with a separate AI named Neil.

Neil will engage while the lander is detached.

Hello Commander Nelson,

this is Neil.

Uh, hello, Neil.

I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you to sound so...

Enthusiastic.

It's for morale, Commander.

For morale.

Abigail programmed you, didn't she?

Possibly.

Yep, sounds like her.

Radio will be experiencing

static interruption...

Commander, this is Neil.

Due to entry velocity and atmospheric conditions,

we've temporarily lost radio contact with the Magellan.

We are also experiencing some turbulence.

But all systems are nominal.

Thanks, I guess.

Just doing my job, sir.

I swear, Abigail.

We're coming in to the landing area.

Neil, I need the location on the lake, please.

Give me a visual target of the West shoreline.

Right there.

Okay, we're coming in too hot,

we need to slow it down.

I'm gonna engage the landing cycle.

Engaging.

Prime the VTOL thrusters, Neil.

Roger that, Commander.

Priming VTOLs now.

We're almost in the target area.

Here we go now.

Firing retro thrusters.

VTOL engines are primed.

Engage VTOLs.

Copy that, VTOLs engaged.

Deploying landing gear now.

Landing gear deployed.

Stay on target.

Nice and easy.

Distance to target, 200 meters.

Distance to target 100 meters.

Slow and easy.

Slow and easy.

50 meters.

30 meters.

10 meters.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Touchdown.

We have touchdown on Titan.

Yes, we do.

Alright.

Looks like the signal's coming

from a Northeasterly direction.

Which puts me more or less parallel to the shoreline.

Wanna get a hose in, get some samples,

and head out.

Copy that, Commander.

We're getting closer.

Commander, this is Neil.

Copy that, go ahead.

Ferdinand is reporting

a storm approaching from the East,

with high winds and significant danger of combustion

due to evaporated methane.

I'm getting close, Neil.

Hang in there.

Come on.

Oh, shoot.

I didn't copy that.

Signal's coming directly from the lake.

Well, I wasn't planning on getting wet.

Neil, any idea how this suit

will stand up to submersion in liquid methane?

It's designed to withstand the vacuum of space

so as long as you don't rupture it, you should be okay.

You'll sink much more quickly

but Titan's low gravity should allow you

to climb out again easily.

Okay, well I don't suppose there's any way

to get the topography on the lake's floor,

see how deep it gets.

No sir, not from here.

Okay.

I guess I'm just gonna take the plunge.

Good luck, sir.

Here we go.

The signal's strong, it's really strong.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

It's really strong, Neil.

We're right on top of it.

It says I'm right on top of it.

I don't see anything!

Come on.

Neil, I think I found it.

This is unbelievable.

Sir, that storm is coming in fast

and may have dangerously high winds.

I advise immediate return to the lander.

Alright Neil, I'm coming.

Prime the VTOLs, Neil.

Let's get go, we gotta go now, now!

Let's make the launch, Neil.

We gotta go, we gotta go now.

Evaporated methane levels have risen enough.

We don't want to risk igniting the rockets, sir.

Also, the high winds will make launch extremely dangerous.

We'll have to wait until the storm clears before we leave.

What?

No, no, no, no, no.

There's still time, Neil, we can go!

Oh, come on!

Think, think, think.

Fine.

How long?

How long until the storm passes?

Unknown, sir.

Communications with the Magellan are still out

and I'm receiving no further data from Ferdinand.

Right, right.

Let's just hope we don't miss our window.

What are you?

Neil are you picking up any particles,

any radiation, anything at all?

No, just the radio signal.

But mission protocol calls

for immediate storage of the object.

There's something...

What is that?

Sir, the properties of the object are unknown.

I must advise you not to...

Neil, what was that?

I am unsure.

The signal was interrupted momentarily

while the object responded to your touch.

I hope I didn't do anything stupid.

I just felt drawn.

We gotta go, Neil.

We're outta time.

If we miss our launch window

the Magellan won't be back in docking range

for another three hours,

and we're gonna miss our window to Neptune.

The winds' have slowed enough.

We should be able to make a safe launch, sir.

Alright, ready the VTOLs, Neil.

Come on, we're going.

Welcome back, sir.

Our orbital exit window closes in five minutes.

Copy that.

Prepare to depart Titan's orbit.

Take trajectory to Saturn for gravity assist.

This is Commander Nelson reporting to Mission Control.

I have successfully retrieved the transmitter.

I'm back on the Magellan and currently

on trajectory to Neptune.

And I've got something to show you guys.

Sit there.

So I found this in a few inches

of liquid methane in the Punga Mare.

It has no obvious power source,

but a lot of physical properties.

I think you will hopefully be able to make it out.

And it is most definitely still transmitting.

I'm gonna send over a more complete report soon,

but I just thought you'd like to celebrate.

Nelson, out.

Abigail,

I did it.

You won't believe what I just found on Titan.

Look, NASA's gonna decide

when and what to share with you.

Okay, but I just had to send you this

and let you know that I did it.

I did.

And I miss you.

And I found the alien transmitter on Titan.

Transmission from Mission Control, sir.

It's probably from Abigail.

Will you throw it up for me please.

So are we set?

Okay.

Congratulations Commander Nelson on your discovery.

This is truly a historic day.

We are all celebrating here and we eagerly await

a full analysis of the object.

Listen, please make sure that you follow the procedures

outlined in your mission manual for the analysis.

I cannot stress enough how important it is

that you follow specific protocols.

Things are getting a little testy here

with Secretary Stewart, so please,

take extreme caution not to taint the object.

We look forward to seeing the results of the test.

My testing is progressing well.

And I'll be sending measurements and imagery soon.

But, I uh...

Hmm, how should I put this?

I may have already touched the transmitter...

With my bare hands.

What's interesting is that it reacted to my touch

in tone and in light.

So what I'd love to do is repeat

that little experiment and record it for you.

So, I will await your next transmission

and we'll go from there.

Come on, Becker!

Ya can't leave me hanging.

Hey, Ferd.

I'm gonna do lake samples.

Just letting you know.

Ferd, anything from my wife yet?

Other than chess moves, no, sir.

Come on, Becker.

I'm sorry, sir.

I've compiled results on the methane sample.

Okay, will you pull them up on my screen please?

Thank you.

Ferdinand, there are amino acids here.

Yes, sir.

This sample appears to confirm the hypotheses

of Miller, Urey and Horst.

This is like two steps away from life off Earth.

I agree, sir.

NASA will be very interested.

Are you kidding me?

Everyone on Earth is going to be very interested.

That's amazing.

Hmm.

Sir, a new transmission from Mission Control.

Becker again?

I believe it's your wife, sir.

Finally.

Pull it up, please.

Got it, thank you.

Hey, Roger.

You're probably just waking up

and have a lot of stuff to do.

But, things have been pretty crazy.

Apparently, word got out

that I have access to Mission Control.

And somebody hacked my home computer

looking for information on your mission.

They were controlling my webcam, Roger.

They don't know who it is, yet.

They're possibly Chinese hackers,

but now the CIA's involved

and Stewart's pissed at Becker

and they're threatening to have me banned

from Mission Control.

As if I'm not separated from you enough.

I mean, he's just such a...

No, he's your commanding officer

and I know that you're about to make

incredible discoveries and all of that.

I just...

It's only been a year and a half and I'm scared.

I feel like I'm writing letters to a dead guy.

This message is solely for Abigail Nelson.

Hi, Abbie.

I want you to take a good look.

This is not a dead guy.

At least not yet.

Look, I know you're having a tough time.

But I want you to hang in there, okay?

NASA's there to take really good care of you

and I promise you that Ferdinand's

taking good care of me up here.

I mean, we're really onto something here.

And...

I can't wait to find

what I think we're gonna find on Triton.

And I can't wait to share it with you.

So hang in there.

Alright, I've got to go into stasis.

But if you're thinking of moving your knight to H4,

I think I'm gonna have to move my rook to F6.

And I'm 99.9% sure that's what you're gonna do.

So we'll pick it up from there when I wake up.

I love you.

Hang in there.

NASA has confirmed

the advanced probe failed on arrival.

No survey data has been collected.

We will have to perform the orbital survey ourselves

to locate the signal.

Failed, what do you mean?

What happened?

Apparently a computer error.

But Mission Control didn't send diagnostics.

Currently, no survey data of Triton has been collected.

We will have to perform the orbital survey ourselves

to locate the signal.

Great, how much additional time is that?

Unknown, sir.

It could take upwards of 24 hours.

And what's our window to Eris

after we achieve orbit around Triton?

24 hours.

Okay.

Any word on the Chinese mission?

Nothing official, sir.

It is believed they may have arrived

on Triton in the last seven days,

but there have been no public announcements

on their mission status.

Any messages from my wife?

It doesn't appear so, sir.

Seriously, nothing?

There are over 200 dispatches waiting for you.

And none of them appear to be your wife.

Although I may have made a mistake due to mislabeling.

Unlikely.

There is something else, sir.

What's that?

Commander, during stasis,

there were some anomalies in the sphere's transmissions.

What kind of anomalies?

Momentary variations

from the regular tonal pulse.

NASA was notified of the anomalies

and sent you a report.

Okay, what about the other two signals?

The other two signals

have had no detectable variations.

Was there anything interesting in the report?

Possibly, at the time

of the transmission anomalies,

there was a significant rise in your brain activity

similar to measurements found

while dreaming in normal sleep.

Which isn't thought to be possible in stasis.

No, it's not.

Were you dreaming, sir?

Yeah.

Yeah, I think so.

It was just images, but nothing specific that I remember.

I will log a report and send it to NASA.

Right.

Sir, is everything alright?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, Becker says "public reaction

"to the findings is ecstatic," yada yada.

"Renewed interest in the space program."

Okay that's good.

"Increased federal funding awarded to NASA."

Oh good, maybe they'll

send me a fruit basket or something.

That would be improbable, Commander.

Time and cost for cargo resupply

at this distance is prohibitive.

You're probably right, Ferd.

Hmm.

"Possible Chinese hacking of probe."

That's interesting.

Okay, here we go.

"Transmitter anomaly report video relay."

At approximately 3400 hours sidereal time,

24 AU from Earth,

we recorded an anomaly in the found transmitter's signal.

For about 34 minutes, the signal just suddenly scrambled

and began transmitting what...

What appears to be binary code.

The variations would last just a few seconds

and then it would revert back to the original signal.

After 34 minutes the anomalies just ceased.

We've been trying to figure this out.

We were trying to decode these binary clicks

and we're still going at it,

but we're not having any success.

Now whether this had anything to do

with you touching that transmitter

against protocol we don't know.

But I do know this.

Secretary Stewart is livid and...

I bet he is.

Thank you, Becker.

From now on I'd suggest not repeating

your experiment until further notice.

I'm also working on the binary codes

in my background processes.

Okay.

"Still working on the signal anomalies.

"Every attempt to decipher it runs into variations.

"The code may not be binary."

"We observed increased brain activity

"associated with REM,

"coinciding with the signal anomalies.

"Have you been dreaming, Commander Nelson?

"Please respond when you get this."

Will do.

How you feeling today, Ferdinand?

Never better, sir.

Okay, well let me know if you have

any personal problems.

What kind of problems, sir?

You know, just anything unexpected...

In your processing.

Of course, sir.

Sir, can I inquire what you are doing?

Why not.

I don't believe this

is following protocol, Commander.

No, it's not, Ferd.

But I am on a mission of discovery.

And as current circumstances

may prevent rebuttal from higher ranking personnel,

I'm not that worried.

Alright, Ferdinand, record this.

Did you get that Ferd?

Yes.

Can I inquire what caused your reaction, sir?

I don't know.

Umm...

I um...

I saw images, umm...

Just water, and stars...

Send it.

Send the video now.

Yes, Commander.

Orbit achieved.

Beginning orbital survey to locate signal source.

Roger that.

Commander, a new video transmission

has just arrived.

Okay, throw it up on the screen down here for me please.

Commander Nelson, we just received word

that there's been an accident with the Chinese mission.

We're not sure what happened,

but it's been confirmed

that they experienced some sort of mechanical failure

and it's believed that all three crew members are dead.

Again, we don't know what happened,

we're just waiting for some sort

of an official statement here.

Your orders are to proceed with the mission as planned.

I reached out to Abigail

and let her know that you're okay, so...

Good luck, Roger.

Search time is limited, Commander.

We must be en route to Eris within three hours,

or we will miss our window.

Hey, Commander Nelson, this is Neil!

You don't say.

What's the refueling process once we touch down?

Are you serious?

There is none, Neil.

Gravity is less that 8% of Earth's.

There's barely trace atmosphere.

Escape velocity's super low.

How do you not know this?

Ferdinand doesn't tell me everything he knows.

Okay.

I don't know, Neil, we're getting pretty close

to this impact crater.

Yeah, the signal's coming from the crater.

Probably 50 meters down.

You should return for some climbing gear, sir.

Thing is, I could probably just jump it

in this gravity, you think?

That is not advisable, sir.

I think I can climb it without gear.

How long until the window?

15 minutes until we need to launch, sir.

Sir, are you returning for gear?

Negative, Neil, there's not enough time.

I'm just gonna free solo it.

I can't advise that, Commander.

I know.

Be cautious, sir.

Ahh!

Neil, I'm okay.

Continuing to the impact crater.

Keep me posted on time.

Your suit pressure appears to be stable.

Time to departure is 11 minutes 47 seconds.

Time to departure is eight minutes.

Neil, I got it.

Okay.

Alright, Neil, traversing up.

I may need a little longer.

Wanna buy me some time?

Neil, it's really hard to get any traction on this ice

with the low gravity.

Could really use some crampons right about now.

No, no, no, no, no!

Neil...

Neil, I dropped the sphere.

I have to go back.

How much time do we have left?

Time to departure is 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Copy that.

Sir, your suit is losing pressure.

It's a slow leak.

Can you locate and patch it?

No time.

We have to get outta here.

Otherwise we'll never make it to Eris.

This may be a bad time to say, I told you so.

Time to departure is 3 minutes 30 seconds.

You need to hurry back to the lander, sir.

Charge the VTOLs.

Neil, give me a trajectory, now.

I don't want to get caught

chasing Eris' tail through the solar system.

We don't have the time or the fuel for it.

We gotta go now.

Roger that, Captain.

Displaying trajectory now.

Okay, I found the second transmitter.

And as you'll see here, it's got some similarities.

So similar shape, similar color.

I was also just able to get a small sample of ice near it.

'Cause I nearly missed my exit.

So that's all I've got for now.

You can expect the analysis results next transmission

Okay, Ferd.

I want you to tell me

what this is made of.

Right away.

You have a new transmission from Abigail.

Oh, great.

Throw it up on the screen for me.

Thank you.

Hey baby.

Becker said you'd be coming out of Stasis today.

And I figured that by the time you get this,

you've probably been awake for a couple hours.

He's letting me stick around here as long as I want,

despite Stewart's wishes.

I think he feels sorry for me

because I'm the astronaut widow.

It's been 50 months.

That's a little over four years.

Yeah...

I mean, a lot's been going on.

My sister's been living with me for the last six months.

I thought I was up for a promotion...

It didn't happen.

I don't know.

I seem to even be having a hard time getting a speaking gig

at the local college symposium anymore.

But everyone wants an interview with the astronaut's wife.

It's all anyone's interested in anymore.

The ball you found.

I don't know all the details of it yet, but it's incredible.

Roger, I'm scared.

I keep having this dream that you uh...

You float off into space...

And worse.

They keep telling me you're okay,

but they're not giving me full access anymore.

And after what happened to the Chinese mission,

I'm scared you're gonna die out there.

I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking like this.

I just really miss you.

I miss you a lot.

And umm...

Queenside castle.

Ah.

Ferd, I'm gonna go check on the suit.

Analysis on the ice sample

from Triton is complete.

It's mostly frozen water with some carbon dioxide

and nitrogen ice crystals as well.

Nice.

There are other trace ices present.

Ammonia, methane, carbon monoxide,

also chloride and magnesium.

Not unlike sea water on Earth.

A very, very cold seawater.

You didn't find any amino acids or proteins?

None at all.

But there are some anomalies

in the radio survey I performed

while you were on the surface.

Do you have any readouts for me?

You can access them on the main console.

Thank you.

I confirmed the presence of a subterranean

ocean beneath the ice crust of Triton.

Which averages one and a half kilometers thick.

The anomalies I referred to

are a number of dense protrusions

that come near the ice crust

which could be mineral pinnacles.

As you'll see on your screen, however,

they appear to change position on subsequent scans.

So what, just icebergs floating around?

No, the protrusions

stand out from the material around them.

They're made of something different

with different densities.

And the movement didn't follow

any distinguishable pattern

that might indicate currents or convection.

They seem random.

Random?

Ferdinand...

Are you telling me there are fish down there?

I would hesitate to suggest that, sir.

They would be bigger than whales if they were life forms.

But that is an unacceptable leap to make based on this data.

It could just be some form of subsurface distortion

or globs of some compound being broken

up by undersea geysers.

I don't know, Ferdinand.

After what happened to the Chinese mission.

I'm scared you're gonna die out there.

Incoming transmission

from Mission Control, sir.

Commander Nelson, I'm sending you this message

because some of my people have done some analysis

of their own, as well as viewed your touch experiment.

And we're very concerned.

I know you and NASA are advancing the future of mankind

at a breathtaking pace.

But it's important that

in all the excitement of your discoveries

that we don't lose our heads

and do something that we're gonna regret.

There could be any number of dangers

from these extraterrestrial objects,

and frankly, we don't know enough about them.

We don't know where they came from or who sent them.

And until we do know,

I implore you to exercise the utmost caution

in your handling of them and exposing them

to any databases or feeds on board your craft.

I want you to keep them contained and separate from you.

As you can tell by the failed Chinese mission,

this is a very delectate situation

and we must proceed with the utmost caution.

I will be your direct contact from this point forward.

As Becker seems to have made it a habit

of making unauthorized messages.

Until you leave Eris and begin your return journey home,

civilian personnel will no longer be admitted

into Mission Control.

That includes your wife, Commander.

I know this may be difficult for you,

but it is necessary.

Messages to her will be relayed through us.

Good luck on your journey to Eris, Commander.

And be cautious.

So tell me.

What would posses you, or anyone else,

to wanna risk their life and fly around the cosmos

in a tiny rocket ship looking for life?

Well, that's easy.

A sense of discovery.

Unexplored places.

The advancement of scientific knowledge.

No, that's not it.

No?

No.

You're fighting for significance.

You're a tiny speck in that enormous universe out there.

And you're looking for man's place in it.

You want meaning, just like everybody else.

Well...

If I'm looking for meaning,

the universe is a great place to start.

There you are.

What the...

Neil, I found something.

A sphere, captain?

Yeah.

There's something else.

Neil...

We found it!

Ferdinand, approach complete.

I'm showing the Magellan's docking mechanism

negative for lock at this time.

Docking mechanism is ready, Commander.

Go ahead.

Ferd, I have a visual on the docking hatch.

Lights are red.

Can you run a systems check, please.

They checked out affirmative, sir.

Running again.

Docking mechanism is ready.

Proceed with docking at will.

Ferdinand, I have a close visual on the hatch.

It appears to be closed, locked, with red lights.

Sir, my systems show green,

clear for docking.

Are you feeling alright, sir?

I'm feeling fine, Ferd, and you?

Are your systems functioning today?

They certainly appear to be, sir.

What was that?

Ferd, I need you to clear

your local memory stacks immediately.

Clearing memory, sir.

Captain, I'm getting a request from the Magellan

to access lander systems for firmware update.

Denied.

Isolate all channels, Neil.

Roger that.

Okay, Ferdinand, I need you to listen

to my command carefully, here.

Okay, I want you to disable your ancillary memory stacks

and then refresh your temp processing stack.

Disabling ancillary memory.

I am now functioning at 65% capacity.

Now clear your local memory again.

Clearing memory, sir.

Memory cleared, all systems functioning, sir.

Proceed with manual docking procedure.

Neil, I want you to stay online

and keep all channels isolated

until you hear otherwise from me.

Sir, once docking is complete,

the central computer is programmed

to automatically override all lander systems.

Sir?

You may proceed with manual docking procedure.

Proceeding.

What the hell was that Ferdinand?

Captain Nelson,

a transmission from NASA has arrived.

No, no time for that now Ferd.

Close open input channels immediately.

No more system updates from NASA or anybody else.

And no external programming changes, only mine.

It's done, but sir...

You can let transmissions through,

but nothing touches your firmware

without my explicit authorization.

And setup a new outfacing firewall

and give me the key and only me.

Yes, Commander.

Ferd, I want you to run

a deep systems check on your processing.

But leave those ancillary memory stacks disabled

until you have a direct order from me to enable them, okay?

Confirmed, sir.

Hey, Ferd.

I got some samples that need bio testing, immediately.

Okay, Ferd, it's all yours.

Yes, Commander, beginning analysis.

Thank you.

Testing for purines.

Purines are present.

Testing for phosphate.

Phosphate is present.

Testing for deoxyribose.

Come on, Ferd.

Tell me what I wanna know.

Is this extraterrestrial life I'm looking at, or what?

[Ferdinand} Deoxyribose is Present.

Affirmative.

Commander Nelson the sample is biological in nature

and appears to contain DNA.

Yes!

Yes, Ferdinand!

Thank you so much!

We did it, we did it, we did it.

Thank you, thank you.

I love you, I mean it.

Unbelievable.

Hey, hey, we gotta tell Neil, we gotta tell Neil.

Neil's not even real.

Oh, what do I do, what do I do?

I will attempt to break down

the genetic code and perform bio assay tests.

Should I transfer data to NASA now?

No, no.

No, I'm gonna be the one to break the big news to them.

Oh, and Ferd, all messages we're gonna send,

they're gonna be unencrypted, got it?

Sir, that's against protocol.

Yes it is.

Yes!

Mission Control, this is Commander Roger Nelson

with the IC Magellan.

Coming to you with a slightly delayed broadcast,

somewhere in orbit around the dwarf planet Eris.

Becker, I got a surprise for you.

We're not alone.

Ferdinand's still working on the genetic breakdown,

but my best guess is that it's some type of

extremophile colonial bacterium.

Maybe some form of biofilm, not sure.

But it most certainly has DNA.

I'm gonna be sending pictures and data soon,

but I just had to show this to you.

Whoa!

How about that Abigail?

Life in outer space?

Thought about naming it after you,

but I don't think it's quite sexy enough.

So Becker, you can claim it.

Thinking about calling it Bacterium Beckerococcus.

Think about it.

Um, alright...

Abbie...

I'm so sorry that I've been gone for so long.

But I want you to know, I'm coming home.

And if the spheres let me,

I'm gonna dream about you the whole way.

I miss you so much.

Hang in there.

Oh and Stewart, there was an incident with Ferdinand.

You might want to check your firewall.

In the meantime, I'll be taking total control of the ship.

This is Commander Nelson, out.

Handle that, Secretary Stewart.

No, you are not sexy, are you.

You're not intelligent, either.

Which makes me wonder.

Why did they want me to find you?

Still no reply from Mission Control?

It's been like four and a half hours.

They're likely concerned

with my system lockdown, sir.

Between that, and time it takes for transmission,

I expect a return message within the next hour.

I bet it's gonna be a good one too.

Stewart might have me court-martialed.

Have you finished your systems check?

Yes, sir, and found nothing out of order.

Good, 'cause NASA had better figure this one out.

I'm a little worried having my life depend

on a 65% functioning computer.

Actually, it's more like 45%,

allowing for backup processes

and redundant parallel computing.

If you would allow me

to just bring my peripherals back online.

I'm sorry, Ferd, but no.

What are you?

Ahh!

Ferdinand, what was that?

An immense burst of radio signals.

Several million transmissions playing

simultaneously through our comms system.

The burst seems to have come from the spheres,

but I am unsure how they gained access

to our audio feed.

Start analyzing this, Ferdinand.

And I want you to make sure and log it in your data store.

I wanna know where this is coming from and what it is.

Analyzing.

There are millions of channels, billions of signals each

and trillions of transmiss...

I am unable...

Sir, at this scale I may not be able to log everything.

I'm operating at only 65% and I can't...

I've never encountered a data set this immense.

Sir, I'm unable to...

It's okay.

I want you to log and analyze the first 1,000 transmissions.

It appears to be radio chatter

originating from multiple different locations

in the galaxy, being relayed through the spheres

and into our comm system.

I can't interpret the chatter.

How can you tell where it's coming from?

There are codes embedded in each signal

that gives relative distances from the center of the galaxy,

along with vector information to pinpoint locations

within a star system and exoplanet.

I'm plotting these locations on the main screen now.

There are other metadata associated with each signal,

one of which may be a form of timestamp.

If it is a time stamp, then all of these signals

are nearly simultaneous and ongoing.

Are you saying these messages are current?

They're being transmitted right now?

Either that, or they were all transmitted

within moments of each other at some point

in the distant past.

The timestamp data point is a number

approximately 4.32 times 10 to the 17th power.

All the transmissions are stamped

with numbers close to that.

And they are all incrementing at the same rate.

These numbers, 4.32 times 10 to the 17th power,

what significance does that hold?

It is close

to the age of the universe in seconds.

The observable time elapsed since the big bang.

But it is unlikely that interstellar signals

would be based on Earth's seconds.

But, if these others were anything like us humans

then a second would be the minimal amount

of time significant to all of us,

outside of precise measurements.

An Earth year wouldn't be meaningful, Ferd.

But a moment in time, that could be common across space.

The time to takes to...

Take a breath, for a heart to beat...

To say a word.

Perhaps, but under our current understanding

of relativity, it's impossible for signals

to be transmitted across space from those distant stars

without travel times of many years.

Unless, they're using quantum entanglement,

and they're outputting the signal on our end

in radio waves so we can hear them.

That shouldn't be possible.

None of this should be possible, Ferdinand.

I mean, I'm holding alien artifacts in my hands right now,

none of this should be possible.

This...

This is...

This is the moment we've been waiting for, Ferd.

This is the moment all of mankind has been waiting for.

We're not alone.

We just haven't been able to hear them.

What are they saying, Ferdinand?

Can you infer any patterns in the signals?

Is it speech, machine language, text, music, what?

It could be any assortment of each.

The signals vary wildly.

It would take about six years for me

to run correlations between enough of these signals

to begin piecing together an alphabet or speech pattern,

if that's what they are.

Perhaps if you brought my full memory back online.

Not gonna happen, not now anyway.

In any event, all the binary data

seems to be encoded in a DNA codex.

They communicate with DNA code?

That's a lot of data.

What's happening, Ferdinand?

A new signal, sir.

From inside our solar system,

but more distant than the others.

A new arrival?

No, it's coming from

a dark body within the Oort Cloud.

Well beyond the explored regions of the solar system.

About a third of a light year from earth.

Wow.

That's a long ways away.

Ferd, how long would it take to get there?

Approximately 38 years,

provided the Magellan's systems

remained functional throughout.

Shall I transmit our findings to NASA

and prep the stasis box for the journey home, sir?

Sure, yeah.

You go ahead and do that.

They brought us this far...

There has to be a reason.

Abigail, I can't imagine how difficult

these last five years have been for you.

And I'm so sorry, I haven't been there.

But I have to move forward.

It's hard to explain, but they're calling me

and I have to answer.

There's something left for me to do out there.

And I don't know what it is.

I just know, or I believe,

that the answer is somewhere in the Oort Cloud.

So that's where I'm headed.

I'm following my own path.

I know it's been so selfish of me

to expect so much from you.

So I want you to know

that I am...

I'm giving you the option to refuse orders.

And I release you of any obligation

you have towards me whatsoever.

So that you can live your life as you see fit.

Before I go into stasis,

I wanted to make one last chess move

and it's gonna seem a little unorthodox.

King G6.

Sir, I believe that move

places your king in check with her pawn and is illegal.

You are correct.

Ferdinand, I want you to send

that message unencrypted, please.

Then set a trajectory for the signal in the Oort Cloud.

Want you to get us there as fast as possible.

Sir, we're still awaiting NASA's reply

and it is...

Ferdinand, I am the mission commander

and you have your orders.

Into the Oort Cloud.

Commander Nelson, Secretary Stewart

has brought me back in here to reason with you.

Now you need to return control

of the Magellan to us,

or begin your return journey immediately.

While I personally commend your scientific audacity,

we need you to bring those beacons back for analysis

and for heaven's sake, Nelson, you won't survive.

Your mission is complete and we're worried.

We're worried about your mental health.

You orders are to return home, Nelson

while you still can.

You better come home Roger Nelson.

You hear me?

Come home.

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