TACT Report

WORK IN PROGRESS

The Alien Contact Team (TACT) Report on the Alien Civilization Encountered in UNTJS 007

18th July, 2036

On 6th February 2036, a United Nations exploratory task group transited a jump point into the newly discovered UNTJS 007 system (designated Thebes) and immediately encountered an alien vessel located directly on the far side of the jump point. It was later confirmed that the vessel was a gate builder. The UN exploratory task group transited back into the previous system where it informed UNIN about its discovery. On 4th March 2036, the alien vessel, having stabilized the jump point at the far end, followed suit, transited into UN territory and started stabilization efforts at the near end.

Attempts to establish contact with the alien vessel began on 24th March 2036 after the arrival of the Alien Contact Team to the location. Communication was established three days later, on 27th March 2036, when every crew member of every ship in the UN task group simultaneously began hearing a voice repeat, "WE ARE THE KAAVI. WE ARE THE CONSCIOUSNESS. WE ARE THE MIND." It was confirmed that these messages originated from the alien ship and were transmitted via yet-unknown technology directly into the language centers of the recipients' brains. This communication method closely resembled the one of "the Mind" described in the Belnar archives, and nowadays we can with near certainty assert that the encountered alien civilization is indeed the very same Mind as the one encountered by the Belnar.

Two weeks of direct talks with the Mind followed. The telepathy-like communication ability of the Mind proved distressful to the TACT team and hampered mutual understanding. Eventually the Mind offered to produce a "shard of its consciousness" and send it as an emissary to ease communication. The TACT team has been asked to provide physical criteria for the Shard, and in turned provided imagery of Kofi Annan. On 12th April 2036, a small shuttle appeared on the sensors of the UN's task group. Coming from the direction of the alien ship and the jump point, the shuttle had 300 tons of void displacement and the speed of 40,000 kps. It requested permission to dock with the task group, using a standard UN communication frequency, fluent English and the voice of Kofi Annan. Permission was granted and the shuttle directed to dock with UNS Osaka. During the docking process itself, the shuttle demonstrated unknown advanced technology, essentially reconfiguring its hull to create air locks and compatible docking interfaces on the spot. The shuttle contained one passenger bearing the likeness of Kofi Annan who was then welcomed aboard UNS Osaka - this entity was designated as "the Shard". During its stay aboard, the Shard has undergone several medical scans and appears to be a fully normal human person, although it seemed unfamiliar with its own body in the initial phases. It eats, drinks and breathes as any other human would, and uses spoken English to communicate. It is, however, still connected to the rest of the Mind's consciousness via the unknown telepathy-like communication method.

The following is a summary of the TACT team's talks with both the Mind itself, and the Shard. Quotes received "telepathically" from the Mind are written in capital letters. Quotes from the Shard are written using standard capitalization.

Present during the negotiations were:

- brigadier general McFetusBurger

- colonel Carroll Meath

- colonel Dan-O-Raid

- commander Centurium

- commander Markus_cz (removed from the team on 12th April 2036)

- commander Magrov (since 12th April 2036)

It should be noted that all the following information are as claimed by the Mind and their veracity could not be confirmed. Moreover, there are some inconsistencies between the Mind's current claims and its claims as chronicled in the Belnar archives. Before these can be explained, caution is advised and it is recommended not to take any of the following as necessarily factual.

The Nature of the Mind

The Mind is a civilization comprised of individual beings in the usual way, but all of these have been connected via bioengineering and advanced machinery into a distributed network of intelligence. While each "individual" remains a physically distinct creature, there is no sense of individualism and, for all intents and purposes, the Mind possesses a single consciousness. The Mind has likened itself to a single "massive biological computer operating at superluminal speeds" [1]. It appears that the actual biological species constituting the Mind's bodies are countless and have all blended together over millions of years.

Physical form

Because the Mind operates throughout most of the galaxy, the distances involved are such that they prevent timely communication, and in effect the Mind cannot contain all its computing ability in a single centralized location. Instead, it operates as a partly decentralized network. While the main "cluster" of consciousness is located near the galactic core, operations in remote areas of the galaxy are guided by local "subclusters". Subclusters are scattered throughout the galaxy in such a way that each physical lifeform within the Mind can always maintain instant connection to its parent subcluster, thus ensuring that the group consciousness won't degrade into separate individuals. [2] All subclusters maintain a link with the central cluster in the galactic core but communication with the core isn't instant. [3] Thus, it appears that the Mind isn't a single consciousness per se, but rather a network of coordinated consciousnesses - the Mind consists of smaller minds, so to say. In effect, the UN has been communicating with the local subcluster, not with the Mind as a whole.

A subcluster appears to be the lowest level of consciousness, the lowest level that keeps its own individuality. Although physically a subcluster consists of separate biological entities, none of these have an individuality or consciousness of their own. When a biological entity - such as the Shard - is presented with the idea of "disconnecting" it from the subcluster's consciousness, it expresses alarm and reluctance. [4] [5] It is presently unknown what would happen to such an entity were it to be disconnected from its parent subcluster, whether it would form an consciousness and individuality of its own, or whether it would merely fall back to a "backup" of data that the subcluster contained at the time of its disconnection.

So far we know of only one biological species that constitute the Mind's physical form, although presumably there are many more. They are called the Kaavi, originally a spacefaring civilization from the Sagittarius Dwarf galaxy. Upon traveling to the Milky Way, they Kaavi have encountered the Mind which was already ancient by that time. A part of the Kaavi refused to be absorbed by the Mind, while a separate subgroup joined the Mind and became a part of its consciousness. It is unknown what happened to the part that chose not to join the Mind. [6] It should be noted that the Kaavi do not constitute an individually recognizable group within the Mind - as with any host species, they provide merely the bodies, their mind having been long ago replaced by the group consciousness. Moreover, their original formed has been transformed by ages of genetic and technological manipulation to the point that they no longer resemble the original spacefaring civilization. [7] For all intents and purposed, the Kaavi no longer exist. However, due to the decentralized aspect of the Mind's network, it is possible that certain elements from the Kaavis' original culture and civilization still survive as part of the local subcluster's individuality - the local subcluster allegedly comprises mostly of former Kaavi. [8] The notion of each subcluster having a slightly different personality is also evidenced by the original greeting sent to the TACT team: "WE ARE THE KAAVI. WE ARE THE CONSCIOUSNESS. WE ARE THE MIND."

Quotes

[1] "Each "individual" within a Mind subcluster is, to be sure, a biological entity. However, they incorporate advanced bioengineering and an indigenous ability to interface with electronic machinery. Together, these allow elements of the Mind to function as a sort of distributed network of intelligence. It is not a "telepathic hive mind," as some of your entertainment products postulate, but rather a massive biological computer operating at superluminal speeds."

[2] "Each subcluster of the Mind maintains a link back to the central cluster, and every "individual" element of the Mind is in contact with the entirety of its subcluster at all times."

[3] "The query has already been forwarded to the Mind's Central Cluster in the core. It will take some time for a response."

[4] "If it is not an undue burden, I would greatly prefer to remain in this system. It would be . . . taxing . . . to be beyond communications with the Mind and the Community."

[5] "A being such as myself--a Shard of the local Mind subcluster--by necessity has more limited communications capabilities than a typical Mind entity. I require either contact with a Mind vessel, such as Peaceful Concepts of Communion, or a path of stabilized rifts back to a Mind vessel. If you were to move me out of this system, I would lose that contact, and as I have noted, it would be quite distressing."

[6] "The Mind (...) was already ancient by the time of the emergence of the Kaavi. The Kaavi, as they have noted, were native to a satellite dwarf galaxy of this one. If you were to provide me with detailed star charts, I could point out which one. The first Kaavi to reach this galaxy were explorers, and soon more and more came, an unending tidal wave of Kaavi colonists, eager to exploit the plentiful resources of this relatively unpopulated galaxy. (...). The Kaavi encountered the Mind relatively soon after arriving here. They, too, initially resisted the "guidance" offered by the Mind, choosing instead to forge their own livelihood among the fertile stars. However, a separate culture group decided to learn more about the Mind, and some small number of these were incorporated wholesale into the Mind itself. (...) I could not tell you the fate of the remaining Kaavi, only that none have been seen in this galaxy for several hundred million years."

[7] "Why is this information of importance? There are no longer any baseline Kaavi in this galaxy. Your chances of encountering one are nil, so what use is there in being able to recognize one?"

[8] "This Mind subcluster, formed predominantly of ex-Kaavi, is the operant subcluster in this area of the galaxy."