Chapter 1427 — The Call

Ever since the signals among the stars were first discovered, Gao Yang had personally pushed for the establishment of numerous monitoring stations at home and abroad to capture those occasional "star-sea transmissions." The monitoring station at Mingcen Peak, within the borders of the Aogulei Tribal Nation, had to date yielded the most "results" of any station—something that had long puzzled scholars. But recent intelligence suggested that Mingcen Peak was very likely a highly unique "site" on this planet: deep beneath it there might lie a mana wellspring akin to the Deep Blue Well, and owing to that wellspring's influence, the entire spacetime structure of Mingcen Peak was anomalous, making it seem better able than any other place on the planet to receive "messages from afar." And now, after nearly a year, this region had indeed once again captured that call from among the stars.

What was more, the "call" captured this time was plainly quite different from any before.

Gao Yang's eyes swept over the summary at the head of the document, which included the monitoring station's operating status at the moment of capture and the raw signal patterns, while Hedy's voice came from beside him: "...After the interference that had long plagued the Mingcen Peak region faded completely, the local monitoring station resumed operation. The local fairies were the first to notice the anomaly in the antennae—these signals seemed to have switched to a new transmission method, with a higher transmission efficiency than before and more complex content. We cannot yet determine whether this is a targeted adjustment or simply a technological upgrade on the sender's part...

"About two days ago, having adapted to the new signal pattern, the fairy technicians of the Aogulei Tribal Nation successfully recorded a comparatively clear and complete transmission. Then, using that 'dictionary' General Philip brought back from the Vipulandon Observatory, the scholars attempted a translation of this transmission, and from it we extracted some... definite phrases, whose content is somewhat alarming."

Gao Yang's gaze moved slowly down the document, and the translated text—deliberately printed in bold type—leapt out at him, clear and sharp:

"...Calling unknown civilization Alpha... This message will be broadcast in a regular loop. If you truly exist and are capable of responding, please answer... The cycle is drawing near; the message left by the Voyagers... There is evidence that the stars are about to flicker... We need one another... Calling unknown civilization Alpha, if you truly exist at the target location, please answer, calling... please answer..."

Gao Yang fell into a long silence, as though lost in thought, and only after several minutes did he quietly break it: "There are many parts here that cannot be deciphered."

"Yes. This is the limit of what the Star-Decipherers can do at present," Hedy said with a nod. "Although the 'dictionary' General Philip brought back is theoretically capable of deciphering the alien script, in practice we have found that the language and writing used in these star-sea transmissions have already undergone... slight changes. Just as our own writing changes with the development of society, 'their' writing has clearly shifted over the past few centuries as well. But that is only a secondary reason. More important is that 'their' language logic differs from ours, and fully adapting to it will take time."

Star-Decipherers—that dreamlike name came from ancient elven legend. The elven forebears portrayed in poetry those days of hacking through brambles, and called the oldest prophets and sages of the forest the "Star-Decipherers."

They were the earliest meteorologists and astronomers. In many of Aogulei's poems, these first people to look up at the sky are described as able to predict fair weather and foul by observing the paths of the stars, and to judge fortune and misfortune by listening to the hidden echoes in the heavens. Over the long ages, these predictive powers once regarded as "miracles" were gradually distilled and evolved into the meteorological and astronomical knowledge familiar to modern people—yet the name Star-Decipherer has survived to this day through the poems, and has now been given new meaning.

After Philip found the ruins of the Vipulandon Observatory in the wastelands of Gondor and brought back from the ancient star-gazing platform the "alien dictionary" that Sir Scott had left to the world, Gao Yang ordered the formation of a dedicated body of scholars to study this legacy and to use it as the basis for translating that "alien signal." The work was tedious and difficult. Learning an "alien language" from scratch was in itself no easy task, and all the more so when that alien civilization's language logic differed vastly from that of this planet's intelligent beings—while the scholars had in their hands only a dictionary centuries out of date, and the occasional "brief messages" caught by monitoring stations here and there, composed entirely of mathematical language and abstract symbols.

Victoria, the Duchess of the North, was well versed in the ancient legends of many nations, and once this body of scholars was formed she proposed the name "Star-Decipherers." Today the term refers not only to the scholarly corps established by the Cecil Empire, but generally to the "translation teams" set up by Typhon and the Silver Empire respectively, and to the scholars devoted to deciphering the alien signals in multinational projects.

Though the war had only just ended, this work had begun the moment Philip found that "dictionary" and had continued for half a year now. Even on the days when the war was at its fiercest and the situation most critical, the three great empires had never broken off this endeavor.

"From the translated portions alone, the meaning of these messages can already be roughly grasped," Gao Yang said, drawing a slow breath to steady his somewhat troubled mind. "...The intent to 'make active contact' is very clear. Nothing like this has ever appeared before."

"Yes," Hedy said with a slight nod, her expression very grave. "The Star-Decipherers have translated all the messages our monitoring stations around the world have received over the years—though much remains undeciphered, from the portions already translated it is not hard to judge that all the signals 'they' sent before were nothing but the purest 'data': basic mathematical symbols, basic coordinates, basic character lists, as though simply announcing their own existence, or perhaps like..."

Hedy frowned, seeming unsure how to accurately describe what she was thinking, but Gao Yang had already understood her meaning and spoke up unprompted: "Like standing alone on the only stage in the darkness, performing one's self-introduction over and over to an empty, silent auditorium. And now—"

As he spoke, he tapped a finger lightly on the document on the desk.

"They seem to have discovered... that there is an 'audience' beneath the stage."

"That is precisely what is somewhat alarming," Hedy said in a low voice. "The fairy scholars in charge of the Mingcen Peak monitoring station have already engaged in heated discussion over this matter, and our scholars here much the same—this civilization sending the signal seems only now to have suddenly realized that there may be an 'audience' within the range of their broadcast. No one knows whether this is good or ill, and moreover..."

"And moreover, it cannot be determined whether the 'unknown civilization Alpha' mentioned here refers to us at all," Gao Yang said, looking into Hedy's eyes. "After all, every sign indicates that 'their' signal is merely a non-directional, all-encompassing broadcast. The starry sky is vast and the stars are many; we may not be the only intelligent beings within the range of that broadcast."

"Ancestor, do you think..."