38/05/4890

356.23.0990

Orbit Aertha

District: 39-Main

To High Commender Gaveel

Report 2490

All initial attempts at establishing communication with the Homo sapiens have resulted in failure.

In the first cycle we contacted what we thought would be our ideal candidate. James, male 22, self-identified Christian, open to “supernatural” claims. We initiated standard visual communication protocol, beaming the message “HELLO” in Morse code from low orbit. He noticed the signal and squinted toward the sky. At first, the response seemed promising. We followed by arranging luminescent beams and spelling “HELLO” in his native language.

What happened next was... unexpected. James fell to his knees and started screaming at the top of his lungs “Not today, Lord! In Jesus name, go away from me Satan! By the power of Christ! By the power of Christ! Save me, Lord!”. He later began speaking about the experience in churches across the region and became a popular public speaker...preacher, they call it.

In the second cycle we selected a more rational subject. Anna, female 34, atheist and feminist. Her self-declared worldview puts a lot of emphasis on reason, objectivity and following evidence wherever it leads. She saw the lights just the same, but dismissed them as hallucinations and paid them little attention.

We did not abandon the attempt just yet, assuming that with enough signals she would come to the right conclusion. Unfortunately, the more we tried to communicate, the more she appeared to reject it. She interpreted our audio transmissions as further hallucinations, and regarded our material offerings as cruel pranks by her neighbors. Anna’s mental state deteriorated rapidly and she was eventually admitted to a psychiatric hospital. At this point we thought it too cruel to continue contact efforts.

The third cycle...*sigh* well... We encountered a major temporal mishap. We failed to properly account for Aertha’s planetary rotation. Our intention was to resume experimentation the following day. However, as you know what constitutes a single overnight rest cycle for us is equal to the passage of over a full century on Aertha.

In summary, no progress toward meaningful exchange has been made. I await further directives and strongly recommend a reassessment of strategy, as current methods appear fundamentally incompatible with human cognitive frameworks.

I also urge reconsideration with regards to sending us new ship equipment. The technology division is doing all they can to keep us operational, but I’m afraid we won’t be able to take this much longer. This is all severely impeding the progress of our mission.

I am aware that the scientific budget remains under strain. However, dispatching a field team across the stars with equipment that predates the last Regox standards is unlikely to produce results beyond what we have already seen. Progress, as ever, depends not only on strategy, but on the tools permitted to carry it out. You know how important this is for all of Regox. I trust you to ensure our next steps reflect that.

Captain Vuldor

Aertha III

IC: 356.09.2x

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