Andromeda: The Arrival: Hard Science Fiction (The Long Journey Book 3) by Brandon Q. Morris

Author:Brandon Q. Morris [Morris, Brandon Q.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hard-SF.com
Published: 2022-08-31T05:00:00+00:00

19: Two-Amplitude

Two-Amplitude was dissatisfied. It was not suited to this feeling at all. Up to this point, it hadn't even understood the concept behind it. It had become familiar with it from the specimens of species 8472 with whom it had contact. It now knew what dissatisfaction consisted of: it resulted from the knowledge of being stuck in an imperfect situation, combined with the conviction that there was no way out.

In its case, what was imperfect was the solution it had proposed to the people. If it were to transfer them to Andromeda, they would die. And they'd die if it didn't. It seemed impossible to find a way out of this dilemma.

Maybe the humans could be of some help. But they had enough problems right now as it was. The black mass had resumed its attacks, and it was surprisingly efficient. Why was that? When humans suffered from dissatisfaction, they like to distract themselves with completely different issues, as it had observed. Two-Amplitude wondered if that would work for itself, too.

It focused fully on the question: Why was the black mass able to advance so efficiently? But concentration alone wasn't enough to find an answer. Some of the conditions were missing. It didn't know enough. But of course, missing information could be found by searching for it.

Two-Amplitude was good at that. Always had been. This ability must have played an extensive role in the evolution of its own species. Humans would call the need to acquire new facts a thirst for knowledge. And it was indeed a thirst. But how was it going to get closer to the secrets of the black mass? People had devices they used to take measurements. Two-Amplitude only had itself. Only? It was a far more sophisticated machine than the humans' measuring equipment. It could feel electromagnetic fields and gravity. That was the only way it could find its way in the universe.

But it could do even more: It could connect with alien life forms... So far, it had only failed on three occasions. These had been with beings that emerged in ecosystems dominated by dark matter. It had sensed them only through their gravitational effects, but this hadn't been sufficient for communication. It simply did not have enough mass itself to be able to generate significant amounts of gravitational waves. This was a prerogative of the living stars, as she referred to species 4201. Beings that in their evolution had reached the scale and mass of entire star systems. It had discovered only one such species.

The diversion had worked. That much was already clear. But it had led in the wrong direction, into the past. Sifting through memories didn't get Two-Amplitude anywhere. It retreated deep into the planet once again. This time, it stretched itself even further than it had the first time. It wasn't so much interested in the planet as the black mass. Two-Amplitude felt its way forward. It transformed itself into a gigantic web with nodes small enough to penetrate both rock and the mass itself.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.