Chapter Theme Music: Stellamara ~ (Kyrie Eleison)

There are theories within every sentient society reaching out to the stars, theories centering on the topics of intelligent alien life beyond themselves. All Altiri have thought about the prospect, and Altiri scientist Herios wanted to capitalize on the opportunity, using her understanding and breakthroughs of psionic science.

We were once limited in a time where all we knew was short-range telepathy and short-range advanced clairvoyance. We have since penetrated the shroud of our past limitations, throwing our psionic energy waves to the ends of the universe through the Astral. Our abilities to scan galaxies with our minds is far greater than any telescope or electronic scanner, though limited in that - its return data will only exist if a potential Scion is there as a recipient for data sharing.

The advancements in our science didn't stop or deter us, and we Altiri, who have lived in a world never changing would often find little to occupy our time of leisure, our boredom an enemy we know too well. Countless years have we searched the stars, scanning sector after sector of spacial coordinates, all using our clairvoyant abilities set limitless in range or distance and unimpeded by time. So it seems, emotions are more powerful than the forces that make up this construct we call a universe. Many were not expecting to find any alien life, while others took to their duties religiously. Still, countless years passed, and nothing seemed to change.

Though she is around no longer, Herios had faith we would one day find that intelligent life beyond our system, developing potential scenarios and first-contact protocols. Of the most alluring, came an experimental psionic process known as a purge. Using the power of the purge, a small group or cluster of Altiri Scions could in theory, send a psionic signal to a particular target from any distance, and set this signal to gradually unlock that person's psionic potential by training the brain's neuro-receptors to interact with the part of the brain responsible for all psionic activity; a psychological activity that has a physical effect on the brain and the mind.

The experimental process was only thought of, because we all knew with certainty there would be a language barrier problem if ever we did find life. Herios somehow knew that other aliens may lack psionic abilities while possessing the potential to learn them, a situation that would still prevent us from ever communicating with another, as it takes two active Scions to share our minds together as one.

The potential for something greater grew in our expectations. Our hopes exceeded what they should have for such a long time. Every intelligent creature wants to socialize with others, to communicate, to learn more, to be part of something bigger than themselves. Our search for alien life was never motivated by any ill-intention or hostility, only a pureness of care and curiosity. Motivated as all Altiri were to find such life, very few ever expected to return a single result, myself included.

I suppose that is why, the one day such news broke, everyone in our world was blasted with cultural shock, the surprise that returned a positive answer we had been searching for so long. At long last, the report from the Royal Scryers was delivered to all Altiri in a telepathic bulletin: "Our top scryers have confirmed the echo return data from our anonymous reporter. After checking several times, we have confirmed the existence of currently active intelligent alien life, star cluster ACS, star type G-7, species class personoid. It has been decreed by our great queen as of today, that our search for alien life has confirmed this single positive result on planetary object designation ACS414. Details on exact spacial coordinate stretching can be found in a data file we will be releasing later, for all others who wish to congregate on this information. More details about our findings will be collected and released over time."

Nobody knew what it was supposed to mean; what answers or future events we could expect to see down the segment of time. I'll never forget that feeling, that moment of severe montrum which hijacked our minds, the wonder of all possible questions we had to ask and imagine, and what this intelligent species would be like. None were spared from the news, and our entire race of 32 million witnessed the great change that would come in our moment, in a world where little ever changes.

<12/16/136,158 {Avion 134} - 03:44 | Corral Position, Genosis, Altiri Sector Space>

"You heard too just now, didn't you?" My co-pilot nearly tripped through the entryway to the main room, addressing me as though I were oblivious to the wave of news flowing through us all.

The look on my face certainly told its own story. I could feel my two eyes, my vision bouncing around and shifting at the rapid pace of thoughts consuming me with wonder. "Yeah. I heard it." Using my physical voice to hide the stress in my mind, I knew I couldn't shield just how shaken up I was to come to terms with this moment. Somehow it felt unreal, like none of this was really happening. All the evidence to the contrary sang like a song in our ears, too many emotions to sift through, all shared, all accessible.

Is this really something to be excited about? I didn't want to ask the others aloud, so that I may come to such a confusion on my own, outside the network of our minds linked together. Alien life? That's what the scryer report just mentioned. Long have we wondered to one day find such an amazing discovery, and no time at all did anybody spend wondering about the what-if scenarios that would haunt us all should it ever come true.

The first wonder which shakes me to the core is the level of threat this news presents us. I feel scared; I should feel scared. There are others out there, others with the ability to reach into space, with the ability to one day reach us. Though I could not know this for certain with such lacking detail, I would soon know the truth since the queen is making such data publicly available, the severity of this too great to be kept from The Unity.

At the same time, part of me wanted to celebrate like many others around me. I don't know why finding alien life is so exciting. Is it because we want to prove we are not alone? Is it because we now have something interesting to study? The amount of information we may collect from this moment on should be immeasurable!

I was all simultaneously uneasy about the shock as well, something others realized in the same instance. Finding alien life is one thing, but conducting policies for our interference with them is another. What will the scryers do with this new knowledge? How will we conduct our communications if we ever do at all? It seems dangerous, too unknown to be considered safe, but none can deny the exploding curiosity taking everyone over now; our new story together will one day become inevitable, another certainty that sent me into wonder.

"I really can't believe it!" Hurma chanted to her sisters. "The scryers actually found outsiders! I wonder what they're like."

I had much of the same questions, choosing not to voice them so soon. All of my other sisters soon took root in the theoretical debate between our starships, guessing what this alien life might look like, as I held steady to listen in continued disbelief.

"They said personoid, which means much of their body structure and design would be a lot like us." Sherika couldn't keep herself out of this moment if she tried, her mind always hungering for such amazing information.

"How do I access the coordinate stretching map?" Derria, who was as keen on finding this new species wanted to get started immediately.

Ashiela gave Derria a swift reminder that her impatience was too overdrawn. "They have not released it yet. We'll probably have to dock in order to see such information anyway." Ashiela was referring to docking with the Altiri Temple where the data would initially be housed. The scryers would not be capable of sharing any large digital data packet wirelessly, since none of the computer and terminal systems outside of ships and facilities are networked, nor do these ships rely on any radio waves. "Isn't anyone going to ask if this is too dangerous though? If we start messing around with something we don't understand, well..." Ashiela knew what she wanted to say, but it was fairly difficult to agree with herself with all other thoughts swimming around, inside of her and between the others.

It was a sentiment Lulu could agree with. "She's right. We don't know anything about these aliens or what they are capable of. What if they present themselves as hostile to us all?"

"You don't know that Lulu." Fionne, ready to share her idealism offered her presentation of welcoming thoughts. "They could all be wonderful people, ready and willing to speak to us, happy to learn that they too are not alone in this vast universe."

"That's staging things with too much trust."

Rose didn't fully agree with either of them, and told Hurma of her reasoning behind the veil of truth. "We have not even established a first contact protocol just yet. Even if we want to pick sides of friendly greetings or stern warnings not to mess with us, how this initially goes down isn't up to us. It's up to the Royal Scryers and our great queen."

All of us realized it the same the moment Rose reminded us. The queen holds all the power in this situation, and all will be forbidden from doing anything rash without exclusive permission from her gratefulness. "We would probably get into trouble if anyone tried anything without checking with the queen first." It was a fact Talor knew she was correct to presume, the reminder calming all of us down, since it meant no decision would have to be made right away. The stagnation of simply waiting and doing nothing would give everyone more time to think, more time to relax.

Even so, Luna wanted to speak her peace on the matter as well. "None of us know what to expect. Anything could happen. I bet whatever protocols they develop will first require a non-contact clause, until such time has passed to be certain whether these beings are more friendly than they are harmful. Even if they turn out to be worthy of our cause in The Unity, our ability to get in touch with them might also be walled off by factors outside of our control. Have any of you considered the fact that other alien species might not have the telepathy and language that we do?" Luna's point made her sound like a genius, though she was only borrowing some of the talking points of many years prior, back when Altiri scientist Herios made her deliberations in psionic science while keeping this very specific situation on the back of her mind... It's almost as if Herios knew this would happen one day.

"Lumina?" Junko didn't want to single out her sister standing by in the main room, but she could clearly see the panicked look on my face, as I was made of a dozen faces today. "What are your thoughts on all of this?"

Though I didn't want to show it, I couldn't answer Junko or my other sisters. I bit my lip instead, looking away as if I would block off all their attention to me now, though it did no good. The moment Junko noticed how poorly I was taking this, so did everyone else in the Cy-Stars. "I need some time to think about this Junko. Please..." I don't like being alone all by myself, not in my space or my mind, but I can't match their energy anymore. No matter what all of them may claim, I could feel their joyous excitement and montrum radiating from their brains like massive beacons in a dark skybox. Blocking out my telepathy to all of them was all I could do to stay sane in the moment.

Only now had I realized the irony of how this bothered me so. This day isn't good news or bad news; it's just a moment of happenings, something massive and crazy. How many countless years have I spent on this space ship, defending our world with nothing to defend it from? How many hours have I spent doing nothing, trying to find something to keep me active, to keep me sane? For so long have I wished for something greater to happen to us, something amazing and worthy of The Unity's attention.

But now, as all of this is happening, I don't want to think; I don't want to act. It was somehow better to imagine this moment happening than it actually happening. The Altiri have gotten used to this world that never changes, and I along with them have fenced myself into the notion that our lack of happenings was the source of our safety and serenity.

So long have I wished for something amazing to change. Now that it has, I'm unable to speak, my mind clogged with the confusion of my own fears and desires. Deep down, I didn't want this to happen, because something causing this much change where I'm so used to the same routine for years, it's more terrifying than I ever could have imagined.

I told my sisters therefore, time is something I need more of, time to myself, and time to consider what new scary future awaits us. It may be wonderful and clean, but such hopes are never guaranteed.