Well… that's a pretty shitty way to go… hmm? You’re wondering what I’m talking about? You really don’t know? *grumble* Lazy ass author *grumble* leaving me all the work. All right then sit your ass down cos papa Hammond is gonna tell you a story. It started off like any other day, I was-

-Creating weapons of mass destruction for the US government, so basically just a regular Tuesday right? Anyway we got this assignment out of the blue which required us to travel out into the desert pronto after filling out about a kajillion forms, passing through about 6 body scans and 2 cavity searches.

I was starting to doubt if what they wanted us to see would be worth all this crappy service, at best I was thinking they’d found some Russian or Chinese classified military documents, last time one of those popped up it turned out to be a prank sheet which looked elaborate but only detailed how to make coffee!

It started sinking in a little bit later about just how important the top brass thought whatever this thing was, going deeper into the facility every hallway had at minimum 4 guards in full body armor equipped to the max on grenades and heavy weapons- and this excludes the 2 guards per person being escorted!

A bit more trudging and gawking saw us heading into a massive subterranean warehouse- the kinda place you’d see a blackbird or alien spaceship, on that same note it actually looked really damn similar to a hanger I’d seen in X-men not too far back.

In the middle sat something large under a sheet, spherical in shape made me think it was a new nuclear prototype or reactor of some kind. As everyone finished filing in and lining up in front of whatever it was, an older man (obviously a veteran) with way more muscle than someone his age ought to have walked in front of us, he eyed a clipboard for a minute before giving a vague gesture toward one of the security personnel.

*Bang*

One of the men to my right fell forward, I saw some of the other scientists flinch. I’m a bit more used to this sort of thing so I tried to say something to calm them down while simultaneously scaring any would be traitors- *scoff* “Rookies, this is what happens to spies, so long as you ain’t one you’ll be treated like gold”, Mr. clipboard in front of us nodded.

As the fallen man was dragged out (interesting that the bullet didn’t cause a mess after entry) the man in front of us spoke up- “Sorry about the less than comfortable meeting, we can afford some spies to throw off our adversaries from time to time… not this time though, you’ve all signed the documents and gone through all the checks, I will warn you only once that releasing any information you are about to receive will be punishable by death, if any of you do not wish for that kind of a burden you are free to leave- though be warned that you will be closely monitored”.

Nobody moved. He looked us over before nodding “good, now as for why you’ve all been gathered here” he said while taking the cover off of whatever was behind him. While gesturing to the newly revealed large spherical reflective ball he said “we recently uncovered this in Antarctica under over 3 kilometers of ice and even more rock, it isn’t made of any material known to man and is strongly believed to be extraterrestrial in nature”.

The collective jaws of every scientist in the room hit the floor, myself included. “S-sir are you saying that this is actual proof of life beyond earth?”. “No, it’s currently just the leading hypothesis, according to the layer it was found in it predates humanity by several million years, now while we hypothesize it to be extraterrestrial it could just as easily be from a previous civilization predating humanity or perhaps even an ancient mars colony”.

He continued- “The reason we believe it to be not of Earth is partly the material; it has proven to be for all intents and purposes unaffected by any form of weaponry at humanities disposal and mostly the signal its been emitting non-stop which allowed us to find it- a signal we believe to be an SOS”.

“The reason you’re here is to somehow stop that SOS message from being relayed, we do not want someone or something out there” He points up “to see this signal and make a visit, we’ve tried every method we can think of to block it only to fail each time, this entire base is lined in a foot of lead and several hundred meters steel of concrete, however the signal being broadcasted appears to be completely unaffected and can still be perceived on the surface”.

I spoke up “And the research value if we can harness the technology?”. His response- “While we would love any and all info you could glean from this, your first and foremost task should be to contain the signal, should you succeed in doing so you will be granted permission to research the craft and reverse engineer any technology you find”.

He pointed to a trolley next to him “Right here is a datapad detailing all of the finds and tests related to the craft, you will each be issued one and any tests or attempts you make should also be documented thoroughly for maximum efficiency, once the signal is successfully blocked you each will receive a grant of $100 Million plus the option to continue researching on site, good luck to you all and remember that the fate of humanity may very well be in your hands”.

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3 Years later

How the fuck does this ball of tinfoil function?! Reveal to me your secrets damn you! We prodded it, covered it, shot it, beamed it, submerged it and one guy even took a crowbar to it! None had worked and the top brass was obviously getting annoyed, several of the original people had given up and been taken off site, they got replaced with others but it didn’t help in the slightest!

There were even talks of nuking the damn thing or sending it into the sun on the horizon, the problem with the first is that a blast that could possibly harm it would be impossible to cover up and the second was a problem in terms of budget- It weighed precisely 1000 tons! Good luck getting that much weight out of the atmosphere unnoticed!

Another problem was that other countries had picked up on the signal too and had been pestering the government about it. A stray radio wave could be explained away, a signal that could be received literally anywhere on the planet with perfect clarity and was unable to be deciphered? Now that shit was hard.

I swear this thing would be the death of me- Some of my hairs had started going gray! I was only 32 damnit! I let out a defeated sigh and fell into my beanbag chair, yes I have a beanbag chair in the room with the possibly alien device of unknown origin, bite me!

It was currently suspended from the ceiling in a steel wire net with devices stuck to it damn near everywhere. I fell into deep thought about the device, fatigue and horrible work hours made it so that I didn’t notice when I'd fallen asleep. As I was thinking about the device I noticed a 3d model of it before me, thinking of it as only a mental projection I put my hand upon it while eyeing it for anything I may have missed in the last 3 years.

I went over every method we’d tried, every test we’d conducted and every attempt we still had yet to do… “ughhh, you’re one hell of a pain in my ass, could you just do something, anything to allow us to progress?”.

[C̟oͥ̈́ͬͬ̋͑̚nͭn̝͎̓̄ͤ̽̾̏̃e̟͈ͧͥc̼̣̤̠̥t͈̖̹͇i͈̠͖͉̍͂̚o̪͐͛̀ͣ͋͊ṇ̲͎͙ͪ̉̑̃ͤ͆͛ ̩͎̝̲̜̊̿̓̉͑r̃͛ë͓̮̗̙͍́͗̿̔͒q̯̲͔̹͍̥͌͒̌̐̓ͫͫu͔ë̦̻̬̟͓́ͫ͑ͭ̂s̼̥̥̥̭͖̄̎̃ͨͯ͌̆ẗ́́ ̭̘̘̹͕a͙͇̼̼̝͉ͯͮc̼͚͙̜̮̗k̽n͍̜̖̘̬̫ͮ̃̃ͭ̔̿o̯̫̣̥̎̀̉̅w̥͚̮̉ͤͪ̈́̓̃ḻ̖͔ͦ̂ͯ̚̚ͅḛ̖̮̭̱̟̲d̮̳̺͍̊̎̾ͥ̊͋̿ǵ̺̼̺ͮ̃̓ͮ̾e͍̬ͩ͒͂̎͌ͭd̻̭̰͕͙̩ͬ̌]

*Shick*

I snapped awake.

Wha- I noticed a needle like piece of metal leading from the device to me.

[V̰̥̤ͤ͑̒ͭͤ̚ï͇̃a͈͒b̠̮̙̠̥̅͆l̰̹͚̎͐͛͂ēͭͫ̅ ̯̰͔͈̗̅̓̓ͮ͌͑͒Ḧ͈̭͔̠́͛ͯ̊o̙͑͌s͍t̎ͥ͐ ̅͌̊d͚̖̲̫ͤ̂̾̊ͩͯi̹̤͉̪̹ͥ̽̉͌̇͆s̘̾ͨ͋̒c̗͖͖̲ͅo̝̥̥̳͛v̯̩̮̠̻̪̉̐̃ͨ̏e̠͛r͙ͯͤ͒̚e͚̞̥̿̈̚ď̜]

Shit shit shit! I tried to pull it out of my chest, I didn’t feel any pain but it still scared the shit outta me!

[A̺̲͌l͉̫̮̗ͫ̀̅ͪl̺̬̤o̫̱̓ͩ̔w͈̞̳̫̏ͪ̉̍ͅ ̫͖͙͚̫̇ͣ̇ă̲̺͎̗̪̔͑ṟ͚̩̼̖ͪ̾̅ͣ̾̚c̠̿̿ͭh̯̭î̺̗̃̔́v̟̦̯̘̪ͅí̻͍̦ñ̽̐̂g͉̳͆̆͐̔͌͒̈ͅ ̥̺͎̮̙o͚͓̅̎̿f͇͖͌ͬͅ ̘̏ͩ̌ͤ͌͗r̬̎̊ͭeͤ͂l̗ͣ͆̆́͑͆ͅe̞̱̳ͤͧ̒ͮv̬̫̞̺́ͮ̈́ͧa̻̲̳̞̣̝ͩ̊̍ͤ̌̄ͅn̬̱͚̟̏͌̃̋ͮt̫̩̍͛͌̍ ̤̻̥͉̘̜̓̊ͤͮd̥͗̃ͮ̏̐̀ͧȧ̹̘̟̤̺̎̔̚t͖̫̻͔̠̗͖̽̄ͬa͍̰͔̦͊ͦ͑̈́?̟̘̮̆͛]

Archiving relevant data? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!

[In̗͙̤̤͕t͔͈̭͈͎͒ͅe͓̅r̥̬͈͍͉̞p̥̣̙̎́̎͑͐ͭ̚r͈͎̥̳͈̋́ͩe͙̰͑t͖̞̜͖̤́̔i̿ṋ̬̠̜̃ͬ͐̅̚ǵ̓͐̈ ͤͩ̑͌̆r̺̖͌̿̚e͒͐sͭͯ͐̋̚p̯͛ͨͩ̅͗o̖͕͖̊̍n̏s̗͚͓͉̳̼̟̓ͪě̜͊ ̞̰͉̙̭̹͖̓͗ͣͣͨ̆̇a̗͎͎͋͐ș̪͍͔͓̫ͩͬͅ ̹̟̰̅͊̈́ṗ͔̜̼̘͈ͮo̯͇̗̒͋̄͒̏̔̐s̗͕͍i͉̯̞͖̱̱͔ͧ͒͌ͬt̟̦̼̾͂͑i̭͙͂͑v̌͐̿͐ͤe̙͋̏̀]

You! Negative, no, definitely not, leave me the hell alone!

[P͉̦̘̭̳͋̊͂̈̄l̰͈̳͚̻̏̈̃̃̾̓ȍ̥̗͇̟̞̦̹̃͌͗t̙ͬ ̉̇͂dͮͧ̍̚ĭ̹̱̖̝̩͓́̌s̮̣͎̘͕͒̉e̥͉ṇ̖͇̞ͮ̓t̥̬̻̗̣̏͗ͬa̫͔̺͇̲̝ͯ̔̇̆̇ͅń͎̝̟̣͈͋̉ͨͤͯg̥̦̦̳͙͓ͧl͓͈̗͕͋̊͊̾ͦe̠̭͎̤̻̱͂̆ͣ̊̊ͤͨm̯͈̻̺̝͛̎̓ͦ͒̾ͬĕ͍̫̗̬̬̖̄ͣ͆̈ͬ̓n̊̓̉ͧ͋ͫt ͎̞̼̳̤̻c͙̜͎͉̤ò̖̻̘̘̝̒̓̇̒̅̚m̘̞̂ͫ̚m̫͙͈͍̠ͮͨ̉̊̚e͔̜̺̮̮̙͐̌́n̩̘͂c͔͇͍͎̠̹͚ͮ̋ͬĩ̱̗̰̏̿̃̎̓ͅn͎͙͈̺͑ͣ̍͊̇g͇̯̐͆ͪ̆̾ͮ]

FUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK-

And just like that myself and the device disappeared from the facility leading me to where I am now… or rather where I’ve been for who knows how long. I was sucked into an inky black void with the occasional twinkling of what looked like a star for what felt like years, the only thing giving me hope that it will end is the bars in front of me-

[P̣̥ͣ̄͆̆ͮl̬̑̓ͥ̿ͪͫo̥̖̪̺̥̪̥͆̈́͋̄͛t̘ͩ͋ͧ́ͩ̄ ̹̣̳̹͕̲ͅd̹̯̞͕̭̤̓̓͌̾i͚̰̐̂ͤ͛s̟̪͙̲̯̝͌͆͑̇͗̊̚ͅe̜͖̝̤̅́ͭͤ́̏̒n̪͌̓̋̓͗ẗ̠̳͉̳̠́ͮa͔ͭͫ̔͐ͬ̈́n͉̲͌͆̆ͮ̃g̬͇̟̬̾ͪ̾ͪl͕̰̳̳̯͔̅̂ͦ̈͗ẹ̮͇ͯ̂͂͆̆ͥ͂ͅm̯̦͕̳̱̙̍e̪͔̣̪͎͌n̰̬̥̾ͭ̚t̝̻̟̱͍́ͩͧ̎̓̆ ̹̂ͮͨͤͬ9̩͔̞̰̦̈̾͑ͤ8̖̲̪̿ͫ%̝ͮ̐] [Dͫă̯̲̼͍̭̰̈̌̏̂̓ͭț̣͂̍aͣ ̻̰̦͗Ṙ̮͚̻̏̔̍̽̅ͬe̹͎͕͈̤̤̭̋̌̈͊̊́ͪt͉͍̺̮͚͒̿͒ͥ̇ͅr̞̞̜͉̜̩̓i̪̥̮̪̫͔̊̓̏̂ͩ̍ͅe̗̖͈̜̞v̖̫̮̈́͑͆̃̓aͯͯḻ̰͓̜̘̞̭̂ͫ̀̓ͫ̽ ̤͕̄̀̋ͮͬ͊̓7̟4ͭ%ͫ] [S͚̪̆̀̐̅̂ͩo̰̰̥͎̦̮̽̇̐u̻͚̻͉͐͑͂̔ͦ̎lͫ̍ͦ ̠͒̑ͧ͗͛ū̻͎̖͈͕̰̃p͕̪̱̖͔̥̝̒ͬͭ̋̿l̟̥̥̻͔ͧͮͣ̇̓̎̓o̲̳̻̟̽̇̀̑ͅa͈̮͖̖͔͛̊ͣ̋ͦď̩̳͖̝̙͋ ͙͈̦̜ͅ3̦̜̙̟̣͔ͯ͛͒̈́̓̓7̲̏ͯͩ̅̈́̋̊%̯̇͋̿̈́]

I didn’t really have any thumbs to twiddle- or anything for that matter, as scared as I was I also found this rather interesting all things told. Plot disentanglement? Was that how it viewed my previous world or life? Data retrieval? Was I the data or was it something else? Soul upload? Now this one I found the most interesting… Did this mean souls actually existed? I really hope all of this can be answered once they all reach 100%... just means I have to wait a few more years though… God, it's boring here.