“We've detected an invasion.”

“The information was received by the Centurion unit, stationed on Klamadore-4.”

The entire networked species concentrates, attempting to understand this threat.

“This seems to be an isolated attack.”

“Our planet is being penetrated by electromagnetic radiation.”

“Radio waves! With a certain rhythmic quality to them.”

“But we have never encountered anything like this before!”

* * *

After traveling 923 light years, I reach a more advanced alien race. They live on an Earth-sized planet called Tralfamadore which orbits a lesser star in the Orion constellation.

The main species are the Tralfamadorians who share a single sentience among 2.5 billion individual bodies. Each body acts as a data point, like a node of a larger network. Their sentience can be described in Earthling terms as similar to highly-networked mushrooms but, rather than communicating along a root structure that physically connects them, they communicate with a spark of radio waves that they transmit and receive from antennas on their foreheads. Their social order is similar to a super-specialized colony of ants. They share the same goals, but take on tasks based on their talents and the immediate needs of the species.

In a few moments, the knowledge of the entire species syncs up. For example, if one node sees a tornado creating fire bolts, this node sends an urgent message to all its individual parts. The whole species adjusts as necessary and organizes to save these peers.

The Tralfamadorians are a technologically-advanced species who have developed strong radio telescopes both on the planet and as satellites that wrap around the planet.

* * *

The species dedicates 121 of their kind to construct a powerful radio receiver at the spot they first caught my careful whispers.

In only 23 years, they are able to decode and execute the secrets in my radio waves.

“What's the message?”

These 121 nodes popcorn each of their individual thoughts, building it until they are ready to transmit this to the entire species as a single, coherent response.

“We are ready to translate.”

“We've decrypted three layers of signals.”

“The first layer is a set of repeating beats and rhythms. It changes in 3.5 minute intervals, rotating every 72 hours. The first message we've been able to translate says 'Starwoman, waiting in the sky, she'd like to come and meet us, but she thinks she'd blow our minds. She's told us not to blow it, cause she knows it's all worthwhile.'”

“Beneath this is a rhythmless message. This message goes on for 182 days before repeating. This message seems to be some sort of history.”

“And finally, using rotating rhythms of dots and dashes, we realize the radio waves are communicating schematics for a machine.”

The intelligent nodes tasked to study the waves now confer with the whole species. The species stops their tasks and begins deliberation. Thoughts popcorn from all parts of the population. One node shouts through the species's consciousness.

“It could be a trap! It could lead to our extinction. Or the death of our planet.”

“But any species intelligent enough to communicate should have learned to be peaceful, like us. Its the only way to survive.”

“You are right.” The first responds to the second.

“You are right.” The second responds to the first.

“We are all right.” The species sings together as one chorus. Their voices harmonize whenever they reach consensus.

Another node echoes back.

“So how shall we proceed?”

“We've calculated that there is a 98.52% chance that this species comes in peace, but we must protect ourselves. We will build the machine with these schematics on Tralfamadore 2.”

Tralfamadore 2 is a thinly-populated neighboring planet that is used as to mine for precious metals.

“We will focus our nuclear weapons at it and, if we detect any hint of attack, we will bomb the planet.”

“To the 382 physical nodes that we will ask to complete this mission, you do understand the sacrifice you will make for us. We are 99.87% certain we can save your sentience and clone you new bodies back on Tralfamadore 7. But there is a risk. Do you accept?”

The 382 nodes on Tralfamadore 2 sing their consent as the rest of the species beams their adoration.

It takes 127 days to mine the planet and three asteroids to get the heavy metal, lithium, palladium, copper and zinc necessary to construct the machine.

“Power... on!”

“Energy heating up!”

“The machine seems to be taking measurements --- Atmospheric density and absorbing our levels of vibration.”

The machine lights up and begins a countdown.

5...

4...

3...

“Ready nuclear weapons!”

The missile defense nodes hover in ships just outside of this planet's atmosphere, their fingers over each of the launch buttons.

2...

“Scan our sentience to clone us!”

1...

A toaster oven sounds dings and---

This machine whirs to life as a 3D printer and constructs a 5-foot-tall robotic replica of me, JA-NL, a Homo Sapiens from Earth, in the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy, a human woman with black skin and pompadour hair, wearing a tuxedo and smiling.

The replica of my sentience has been programmed into this form and greets them. As this piece of me snaps to life, it ---, she ---

I sing!

“Hello World!”

My sensors have absorbed the atmospheric content so this robotic clone of me can sing my Earth songs that best replicates how these should sound on this planet.

I arise on the planet, dancing.

“Can't you feel a brand new day?” I sing as I twirl around four nodes.

“Lay down your weapons.” Node 48321 sends through the network.

It takes 483 days for my cloned sentience to use its machine learning to understand their language and begin to communicate with them the follies of humans and how our obliviousness destroyed us.

I sing to them about the stars they made, the wars they started, the constant feuds, how they poisoned their planet and created vast separations amongst each other.

“Species-wide obliviousness? Ha Ha! We suffered through that 3,427 years ago. We struggled through regular wars as our insecurities encouraged us to attack each other.”

The chorus of 382 nodes looks at me, each starts a thought and by the end of the sentence, all 382 are telling me the same thing.

“Then came the great identity crisis of 143 BSS (Before Super Sentience) when we came together to forfeit our individuality to save ourselves and our species.”

“At birth, we have an electric device implanted into our bodies' command centers, which hooks us into the greater consciousness. We become one, individuals but who supplant our individual wishes for the good of the species.”

“Why even have individuals?” I ask. “Why even have more than one?”

“You humans destroyed yourselves and left only a single sentience. A self-replicating computer program. Do you think you're any better? You only have one perspective to see the world through.”

“Each of us can see the same situation in a million different ways. Only when we combine the viewpoints of us all are we able to create the best interpretation and then we can use our individual experiences to plan the best way to proceed.”

“At first it was so noisy. But we had to train ourselves to find harmony. We had to find our beat. It took ten generations of our kind slowly ceding their individuality to the group, but as we did, the anxiety, frustration, jealousy and all the emotions that once tore us apart melted away. We were too fragile, too emotional of a species. We also realized that the emotional grooming that we evolved for tribes and packs were useless and counter intuitive when creating a species-wide identity.”

“Like the opening of the locks of a dam, we were able to burst open the separations between ourselves until the floods of our emotions and thoughts raced together into one great, giant sea of possibilities.”

After 99 years learning from the Tralfamadorians, I ask for their help to point a radio antenna back to Earth so I can share the intricacies of all that I've learned.

But there is an aching feeling underlying this request as this replica of me realizes that there's no place like home.

         
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