Text console in the distant cyberpunk world — 15 messages from a far galaxy
It’s easy to transfer a video signal from a satellite. If you are outside the Solar System, transferring a simple image to Earth may take several hours. But if the source of the signal is in a galaxy that is a million light years away, we can receive only parts of separate symbols. Sometimes the message can be deciphered and converted to an ASCII-animation. This story is about some strange world where technology is interwoven with antiquity. This civilization may already be nonexistent because it took the signal a million years to reach us.
We received a total of 15 messages. Some names were changed by the scientists to make the story clearer.
1) Yesterday I spent several hours in a queue trying to enroll in the space flying academy. The rain had the radioactivity ratio of 56Gz but I wasn’t scared because I [text illegible]. But they refused to accept me!
2) I spent the night at a bonfire trying to understand what I want to do. The road to space was closed for me…
3) At the meadow not far from me the drones were teasing the Phoenix Unicorns. That’s right! The unicorns shouldn’t lose focus and forget how to rise from ashes!
4) I suddenly remembered how I assembled my first drone. I was only 3 minutes old and had never been reborn! Maybe making drones is my mission?
5) I found a part-time job — fixing the wind generators. Do you know what can be clearly seen in the ocean at night? The stars! If they are not obscured by the clouds…
6) One day I was fishing and fell asleep. A flying drone was testing its weapons and scared away all fish. It’s monotonous humming lulled me to meta-sleep. And while I was sleeping, I found the solution!
7) I’m a reborn [text illegible] and it means that I can try and get into the cyborgs’ grave. According to a legend, there are sackfuls of treasures there. People say that you can get in the flying academy if you give a big bribe!
8) I went to the cyborgs’ cave with a friend. But we couldn’t go past the first ancient one. Like all ancient ones, he wasn’t aggressive but didn’t let us go further.
9) I found a job at a cyborg plant. It helped me earn some cash and get the new skills. Putting the conscience of the firstborns in the cyborgs’ neuronets isn’t a simple task.
10) The conscience of the firstborns mixes with the modern scientific data and turns into substrate with software code in the DNA. Nobody knows for sure how this happens…
11) I earned some money and found the job as a raider. It’s a dangerous job but the best raiders are accepted in the flying academy non-competitively.
12) One day I was on the brink of death. I was in a tank, crossing the river of lava inhabited by the spirits of melted cyborgs. There was a moment when I fell behind the main group and got lost. Only the sound of our sergeant’s big voice brought me back.
13) Nobody could beat me in martial arts. I became the best raider on the planet!
14) As the best raider, I was accepted in the flying academy! When I learnt about that, I threw a party and had a drop of neuroliqueur too much. I don’t remember exactly what was going on, but the footage looks pretty weird…
15) So, my dream came true, I became a pilot! And in my first orbital flight I came across a strange inexplicable… [signal lost]
Unfortunately, the signal from that faraway mysterious galaxy was lost. The scientists continue listening to this sector.
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