Prologue: The Signal

On March 14, 2147, the Atacama Deep Space Array detected something that would change humanity forever.

It was not a single transmission, but a pattern—a sequence of mathematical relationships embedded in microwave radiation, repeating every 73.4 hours from a point source in the constellation Canes Venatici. The pattern was unmistakably artificial: prime number sequences, geometric constants, and structures that no natural phenomenon could produce.

Within weeks, observatories worldwide confirmed the detection. Within months, the scientific consensus was unanimous: humanity was not alone in the universe.

They called it The Asterion Signal, named for the star Asterion in the constellation where it originated—a name that, by coincidence or fate, derived from the Greek word for “starry one.”

The Signal changed everything. Not because it told us anything—to this day, its meaning remains undeciphered—but because it gave humanity something it had been losing: a shared purpose. The petty divisions that had defined human history suddenly seemed absurd against the cosmic revelation that intelligence existed beyond Earth.

Some theorized the Signal was a beacon, deliberately activated when our civilization achieved fusion power—as if we had passed some threshold that made us worthy of contact. Others believed it was simply background noise from an alien civilization, never intended for us at all. A few darker voices suggested it might be a lure.

But for most of humanity, the Signal represented something simpler and more profound: a destination. Somewhere out there, someone was waiting. And for the first time in history, humanity had the means to answer.