Message From The Other World
From a galaxy far far away, a message arrives. What does it say? What does it mean?
Day 0: The radio in every car stopped playing Imagine Dragons falsely labelled as classic rock and proceeded to beep. Just a few short bursts of sound, with an ominous feel, and then it went back to blasting music again. News broadcasts, antennas in phones, old-school radio boxes in run-down shops — every device capable of catching radio waves everywhere around the world emitted the same beeping noises in an eerie symphony. People were unsettled, definitely, but put it down to some glitch and went about their daily lives. Until the same thing happened an hour later. And another hour later. And another. And another.
Day 2: The radio beeped quickly once more, transmitting the same pattern as before. It was really beginning to grate on our nerves now. All possibilities of pulsars and other astronomical entities had been ruled out — the signals were simply too strong and no such objects had been reported in the vicinity.
Day 3: The signals stopped. There was nothing but eerie silence out there now. The excitement had subsided and all that remained was confusion. People were perplexed; they were dreading the possibility of the noise coming back again. Some were relieved and rejoicing at the end of it and some were left waiting, wondering what would come next.
Day 5: Several conspiracy theory groups claimed that the signal was a fabrication by totalitarian governments to take the attention away from the pandemic that had raged in the world. Several others claimed that the signal was coming from an alien ship roaming the earth under the guise of invisibility. Most of these claims fell on deaf ears, but as soon as one claim died, others sprang up. Space agencies around the world went into their hyper-mode to put all the conspiracy theories to rest and understand the origins of the signal. All of this had to have a scientific explanation to it, beyond the stupidity that was going around in the world, all thanks to “tabloid scientific journalism”.
Day 7: It was official, then. This was no natural phenomenon. It was first contact. The moment humanity alternately awaited and dreaded. For decades, humans had bombarded outer-space with messages of hope and curiosity, and finally someone had replied. The world was divided in ideology but united by chaos. Superstitious people proclaimed that the end was nigh, that Dungeons and Dragons and punk music had brought us to our natural end. Preppers stockpiled food and other supplies, retreating to their bunkers. Astronomy nerds were thrilled that there was someone out there and worried about what it meant for us. Science fiction geeks were comparing plot lines and hypothesizing if it was a Vogon expressway or a “Resistance is Futile” moment. The internet decided to call it “Hello from the other world.” The world held its breath in anticipation, to know what it meant, to know what the future holds for humanity. The mass panic had engulfed all the continents.
Day 10: Governments all over the world had flown in their top linguists, cryptanalysts, and anyone who could have even peripheral relevance to decoding the message. Every leader was hell-bent on their country’s team being the first one to understand what the message hid. Humanity finally had an outside contact and it was time for leaders to step-up and represent the human race. The United Nations formed a special emergency committee to decide on the course of action. The world was in such a state of frenzy that had not been observed even in the most competitive space races.
Day 12: Violence broke out in several regions of the world. Communal violence ran rampant as religious leaders claimed the signal to be their God’s sign, discarding the validity of other religious beliefs. Break-ins and loot became prevalent out of sheer desperation, as people feared the world was coming to an end. The streets were full of fire and glass. Governments scrambled to regain control of their people while implementing the defence strategies to safeguard themselves against the worst. Nuclear arsenals were put on high alert and every nation put all their resources into the defence budget.
Day 18: The UN committee finally set in motion the further course of action. Even though most countries didn’t get to voice their opinions, the countries with enough academic prowess steered the argument. They decided that the UN will represent the human race and countries aren’t allowed to contact back in their independent capacity. Everyone signed the document except China. All the other countries decided to wait for the signal to be decoded and then contact back with an appropriate response to initiate the first contact. These words echoed in the halls of the UN —
“It is time for us to put our differences behind us and present a united front. We have come far from the days of cave dwellers, we have finally reached out in the cosmos and found someone else. We are not alone anymore. This shall mark the beginning of the next era. We will either transcend or die trying, but we won’t back down. Onto the next adventure”
Day 20: The world had finally decoded the message. The wait was finally over. World leaders met to hear the message as the decoding team put the final adjustments in and the translated message appeared on the screen —
“TURN THE VOLUME DOWN!”
Disclaimer — This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This story was written by Atotmyr and unexpected-patronus, and edited by Vagisha Bhatia.
