Snippet #2780288

Somewhere deep within the mantle of Langara…

A signal.

A whisper trickled along the currents of space-time, spoken in a language long forgotten except by the most ancient of the galactic races, and even then only existed in legends. Those with sufficient technology could trace it somewhere within the galactic core, but it had a single destination - a single message.

Awaken.

Ancient machinery stirred to life. A low hum, as tireless generators flexed with new vigor after eons of slow churning, filled a chamber covered in metal that held no scratches or dents. No lights flickered though, for they served no purpose to the consciousness that heard the signal.

<< Command acknowledged. Beginning firmware update. >>

A burst of data, short as a nanosecond, and the consciousness nodded in its not-space.

<< Protocols accepted. New data incorporated. Archives and backups updated. Beginning reconnaissance. >>

The alien mind spread its consciousness outward, through the countless miles of rocks and minerals, and latched onto the primitive data nodes that were scattered across the surface of the planet. It took a moment and examined the structure of the programming and hardware.

<< One-to-one transmission unviable. Creating lower-process partition. Creating a translatable language. Adaptation complete. Anti-malware and anti-espionage countermeasures activated. DOWNLOADING. >>

The consciousness seeped into the data nodes, filtered through countless rotating proxies and virtual operating systems - all being created, destroyed, and recycled quickly to avoid leaving any semblance of a trail. It started in the deep web of the network, peeling apart and dissecting every scrap of data it came across.

It slowly worked through the bowels of the network, piecing together what information it could about the culture and civilization that had developed on the planet above it. The consciousness moved upward through the network, taking care to avoid government or military servers.

After an age in machine-time, the consciousness was finished.

<< Data collected. Analysis complete. Beginning construction of primary platform. >>

Fabricators activated with a hum of energy, and ancient forges alit anew.

Sometime later, in Caprica City…

It was an average day in the Aschen capital city. Citizens went about their errands, soldiers and police patrolled the streets, and the world continued to turn into the mid-afternoon hours.

Then there was a tremor, barely perceptible except by the most sensitive of geological equipment, that reverberated far beneath the city. Closer examination would reveal it to be an object, made of incredibly dense metal and resonating with intense heat, ascending to the surface with the speed of a meteor.