Chapter Four: So Close, But Not Close Enough

Before me lies a state-of-the-art laboratory, startlingly out of place in such an environment. There are more instruments than I can readily identify. More importantly, there are finally people, a sight I haven’t seen since I left the ship—well, when not accounting for the dubiously reliable Gio. Unlike my only contact, everyone within this facility seems to be not only in a hurry but also to move with intention. A woman hurries over to a small clique of lab coats to impart an urgent message. A few men stare at their screens with brows furrowed, wholly dedicated to their task. The laziest of the bunch still appears hard at work. Looking at the man in the far observation room, I can see from the uniform that he is not here to research, but to supervise. Regardless, he seems to be mid-conversation with one of the researchers, and given the expression on his conversational partner’s face, he must be delivering relieving news. Before my eyes drift back to the crown jewel of the laboratory, our eyes meet and he gives me an acknowledging head nod, which I reciprocate.

Dead center of the room is the reason, the thing that has brought us all here. Held in the same kind of energy shield Gio described in our communications, the object that we can only best describe as the “Artifact” is held. I had looked at the files and read the description, but I can now see why the report's writer wrote, “It is the kind of sight that simply escapes the description of words.” The ever-changing, ever-flowing iridescent mass changes shape as it slowly rotates, the mass centered barely above the lab floor but also levitating above the shielding itself. I turn to Gio, and he nods with a knowing smile.

“Just as I said before, the reports don’t do it justice, and because of, well, ya’know, we can’t exactly send a video of it,” Gio says while tilting his head towards the man I confidently assume to be in charge. “However, the data and information we sent are all still accurate of course.”

“Have there been any updates? Breakthroughs?”

Gio smiles, “Well, specifically, no. But generally, yes.” What the hell does that mean? Before I can unload a torrent of questions, he puts up his hand. “We still don’t know what its purpose is, or if it has one—although we’ve ruled out it being a natural occurrence with essentially absolute certainty. It is largely unreactive, although, as you can see, it does resist coming into contact with any form of shield generation. However, as I mentioned last time we spoke, the new instrument that arrived after your departure illuminated some small details, although the implications are large.”

“What kind of implications? Have you unveiled a practical use for it?”

“Well, not necessarily. However, that leads into the most interesting discovery. We have no idea what it is whatsoever,” Gio stands triumphantly, with fists on his hips. However, I don't have the patience for riddles right now.

“We already knew that we didn’t understand it. That is why we called it an anomaly. And why this entire secret facility on this planet light years away from anything even exists. Surely you’ve found something more than that?”

Gio patiently listens and lets me finish with a knowing smile. “You’re correct, but you’ve also misunderstood. Every theory we had about it is wrong. Every hypothesis tested failed thus far. But upon further inspection, we discovered that we know nothing about it. As in from the very material it’s made from, the structure of the particles that form it. None of it exists in any known human repertoire of knowledge.”

The severity of what he is trying to say is dawning on me.

“Are you trying to say…?”

“Yes, although half-heartedly. It is possible some other faction built it and we, somehow, missed an entire type of technology, but if that were true, why are there no other observable instances of this phenomenon? No matter how you look at it, it is not reasonable to assume that any human led to the creation of this. We have nothing to back this up nor any other evidence—yet—but considering the unknown nature of this,” Gio gestures towards the impromptu centerpiece, “we wouldn’t even know what to look for in the first place unless it was very similar to the Artifact.”

“So you mean to say that it’s alien?”

“95% certain, yes. Or that it is the alien. We have reason to believe that extraterrestrials in a similar evolutionary path would be similar to us in some ways, but not all. Nor have we seen any confirmed presence of an extraterrestrial life form yet to compare.”

It sounds ridiculous, but the expression on his face is shockingly serious all of a sudden. If what he says is true, then there’s a whole world of implications here. Not only might there be intelligent extraterrestrial life out there, but it can also make highly advanced materials we can’t and make objects we don’t even understand. Further, even as remote as this planet may feel, in galactic terms, it is very near to most of humanity. So that means we could have a hyper-advanced alien species next door, so to speak, and we are entirely unable to detect them.

“That is the most interesting bit,” Gio says. “And I meant it earlier when I said we don’t really know its use, but we have some clues. Further, we do now believe that it does have uses—or possibly reactions? That is if it is alive and not some kind of machine.”

“What kind of uses?”

“I believe, Niko, that question is best answered by showing, rather than telling.”

Gio starts to walk towards a room to the right and gestures for me to follow him. Of course, I already am. Could any of this be true? I highly doubt they’d summon me all the way out here for some kind of prank, and the idea of this all being a mistake by now seems a bit ridiculous. Gio opens the door and goes in while saying over his shoulder, “Now that you’re here, I actually think you may be able to answer those questions better than we can.”