FFM 2014, July 19 - Transmitting

It was possible the messages had been bombarding the Earth for millions of years, unknown and unregisted by even the most advanced SETI installations. Rachel Holston was the first one to decipher them.  The first paper she published: “Inter-galactic three-phase burst transmissions discovered by use of desulfuromonadalae bacteria” was widely read in both popular and academic scientific circles: in it, she theorized the previously unknown ‘transmissions’ were the result of either dark matter interacting with black holes, or the explosion of supernovae. The truly interesting part was her usage of electron-consuming bacteria to intercept the transmission.

When she published her second paper: “Interpreting IG3BT’s: Possible Origins and Readings”, which included the possibility they were some kind of alien communication, she was largely derided by the scientific community, although the pop-sci blogs loved her. Still, Rachel continued receiving funding: the desulfuromonadalae bacteria were proving to be highly receptive and highly productive to the strange transmissions, producing excess energy: they wanted her to develop a way to use the bacteria and the transmission to produce electricity.

To Rachel, that was just a pretext. What she really wanted to do was figure out what the transmissions were saying. Because she knew they were saying something. The particular genera of bacteria she was using was a rare one. They fed specifically on the energy in the transmissions, which did not seem to correspond directly to any known form of radiation. Like the neutrino, it passed through everything, yet unlike the neutrino, it was ordered, patterned, and appeared in three apparently identical bursts, with a short delay between each. It was too strange to be ignored, yet her colleagues seemed determined to do so.

The first step was to capture a burst in its entirety. The three-phase nature of them made that easier: errors could be corrected. Rachel set up massive vats of the bacteria on mobile pads, aligning them just-so with the galaxy she had found as the originator (another strange thing; why only from one galaxy?). It took her some time, but mainly because she was an astronomer, not a biologist. Working with living things was tricky.

Her third paper: “IG3BT: Proof of Intelligent Life in the Spiral Galaxy NGC 4303” was a career-ender, if it weren’t for the fact she talked to the press, and not just talked:  she invited them over to see the results of her experiment in person.

The bacterial pool, normally just a chaotic, invisible mass, was glowing. And not randomly. It was repeating a pattern that had seemed entirely abstract but, as the amazed gathered press observed it, seemed more and more regular. Rachel had been studying it for weeks: it was definitely a new life-form.

“What is it?” Asked a reporter from the Daily Sun. Rachel Holston glanced at his nametag.

“It’s life, Jim, but not as we know it.” The reporters scribbled the words down. Tomorrow’s headlines. She continued. “And I mean that literally: the particles of these bursts are pure information, travelling at the speed of light. Their origin is unknown, but it is likely whatever propelled them needed incredible power. Each burst is unique – what you are reading is the information of just one such burst, expressed in this pool. It may be noted that the bacteria have already adapted: instead of picking up new bursts, they are self-propagating the information in this one. In essence rewriting their DNA.”

“Is it dangerous?” Another reporter asked.

“Not at all, but it is providing us with an incredibly fascinating insight into an alternative way of procreation. Instead of, for instance, as the old panspermia theories held, spreading life through the galaxy by hitching a ride on a meteorite, this life is transmitting itself as particles at the speed of light…” This was as far as Rachel Holston got.

The bacterial bath, in fact now a quickly-mutating super-organism, recognized the presence of complex carbohydrates (the press and the scientist) and, in a quick engulfing action, consumed everything it could lay its pustules on. Most members of the press were quickly metabolized, but it kept Rachel Holston alive, encased within its membrane with only a small hole for air. From her, it could learn more about life on this planet.

Rachel got to experience the alien organism penetrating her brain and, after an eternity of agony and prodding, learning how to read the brain’s electrical signals. Although she hardly knew everything, she knew enough: this world could be defeated without even going beyond the protoplasmic stage. Even so, the organism that transmitted itself through particle-bursts was vain.

While Rachel’s body dissolved, a massive, horned creature emerged from the primordial slime, its geometry all wrong, its exterior corresponding to no known configuration of limbs, skin and organs: energy rippled across its body.

Now all it needed to do was gather the requisite amount of energy to re-transmit itself in another burst. All the plants and creatures of this measly planet ought to be enough for at least one burst – and after that, it was off to supernova the sun…