text: “Baba?” “What is it Mea?” “What are demons?” “Where did you hear about those?” “It was in a book I read at school. It said something about how people once believed in demons who would possess people and do bad things.” “Well, the great news for us is that they’re not real. Humans used to believe in them before we reached the stars.” “Ok Baba,” Mea answered, then paused, “But what if I think I’ve seen them?” “Where’ve you seen them?” “In my dreams!” “Oh, don’t worry Mea. That’s what dreams are, our imagination running wild with the things we’re exposed to,” Mea’s father explained, “We have to get you ready for school!” The Esedran sun and moons danced in the sky as Mea and her father Aerav scampered around their kitchen, grabbing their vitamins and caloric bars. Human civilization on Esedras had triumphed over the planet many generations ago, and so far their only divergence had been a loss in culinary interest. The original colonists and their descendants only ate food designed to keep themselves sustained. Aerav and Mea walked under the shade of redwoods to school. The rifts of Bacchian, remnants of a moon that collided with southern Esedras long ago, sprinkled the landscape. Close to the school, they met up with coworker and family friends Tria and her daughter Hawa. “Hey Mea, Rav!” Tira exclaimed. “Oh Tria, how’ve you been!” Aerav asked. “A little stressed, I’m sure you saw-” “Of course. We can talk in a few,” Hawa and Mea, already playing around, asked if they could walk the rest of the way to school by themselves. Tria and Aerav exchanged looks and obliged, wanting to get to work as soon as possible. “They made up fast after last night!” Aerav exclaimed. “I don’t trust it, Tria said, “girls are never this easy,” “I’m not gonna press my luck and question it,” “So uh, how concerned are you about this? I’ve heard nothing from any of my early analytics buddies,” Rav asked. “I asked my federation friend on Proxima if they’ve ever seen neutrino interference, even off the books. Nothing. Nobody has ever seen anything like this. What have your buddies in analytics been saying?” “No clue. We’re likely going to have to go up to Titon to check it out.” “But we-” “I know. There’s nothing I can do. It’s either mass equipment failure, or some new phenomenon is presenting itself. Cyris is convinced it’s showing signs of Min Jorah’s gravitational riptide theory,” “Pora told me it is the universe upset with mineral extraction,” “Probably more likely,” Rav replied half-jokingly, “I honestly wouldn’t mind some time for us without the kids.” \-Four rotations later- The Gracchan Federation’s rapid response compound on Titon was clamoring with energy, theorizing, and astonishment at the lack of neutrino detection on the moon. Chemists, physicists, geologists, and everyone in the scientific community had sorted themselves into separate theory camps, each trying to prove their ideas about why this phenomenon was occurring. Brains from Gaia, Proxima, Lorias, Tribus, everywhere, would be arriving in person the next few rotations. An envoy was even sent into Gullan space (a rarity) to see if the Gullan species had ever encountered anything similar. Aerav and Tria had joined the transmission theory’s camp, hypothesizing that the interference must be some sort of transmission from a faraway and extremely intelligent alien species, either a rogue transmission or a message for humanity to decode. Other camps included the Min Jorah “Cultists” as Rav would describe them, the false vacuumists, and countless others. \-Two rotations later- “It has to be some sort of transmission or thing for us to decode. There is no other explanation. False vacuum grows less likely every second, and our data is showing unnatural neutrino movement just above Titon, we just need to decode it,” Tria explained. “I think we would have figured out how to transmit data with Neutrinos by now if it was possible, Hanson was proven right after Gulla after all. We’re among the first and so far we’re the smartest, I haven’t worked out the math yet but there is precedent to gravitational waves affecting neutrinos,” Cyris retorted. Aerav walked in, “Hey guys, just finished calling Mea,” “Her and Hawa all good?” Tria asked. “Oh yea, I doubt they’ve done anything but play in the trees the past few days,” “We would have done the same at their age, if we’re being honest,” “I mean even if we were down there right now...” Rav turned to Cyris. “Would you mind, for a moment,” “Of course,” Cyris replied, leaving the table. “Our kids have been through so much already. We need to either figure this out or get out of here soon, to get back to them. I’m hearing talk of planet evacuation,” Rav said. “I know,” Rav paused for a moment then continued, “I like what we have right now, between us. Our kids are friends, we are really making this work. If we really end up needing to evacuate, I think it could be fun for the kids to possibly move i-” “I do too. We already have basically been sharing a room he-” An alert suddenly rang out among almost everyone’s computers. “HEATED ROCK REPORTED SOUTH OF COMPOUND B” “Rav...” Rav looked through the compound's windows. Suddenly, the artificial gravity of the compound shut off, throwing people around. Aerav was able to grab onto a railing by the window and reached to grab Tria’s hand. He was successful, and pulled her closer to the window. They both watched awestruck as rock just south of them appeared to be glowing from the heat. Suddenly, the rock exploded. Rav and Tria started moving back from the window slowly, but the low gravity inhibited their reflexive movements, throwing them around. Rav faced Tria, falling slowly, and scooped her up in his arms. Suddenly, a crash was heard in the levels above them. A piece of rock the size of a large dog landed directly where they were just standing. Another crash, and a larger rock struck a coworker, making him disappear almost instantly. Tornado level wind was rushing through the compound, and separated Rav and Tria. After a moment, Rav finally located her, and attempted to grab her hand. Another crash hit the compound. Tria was crushed a few paces in front of Rav. Once a human being full of fear and adrenaline, red mist sprayed in every direction. Rav tried to open his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Rav backed away slowly, tears floating in front of his iris, mouthing the words, “I love you” over and over. Another crash and Aerav himself was gone. Mea and Hawa were in the woods late at night when the explosion appeared in the skies above. The explosion appeared on the western side of the moon, jutting out like a geyser. They began to cry, horrified for their parents. \-Two rotations later- A reunification center had been set up at Mea and Hawa’s school. They waited without much hope. Only one family had been reunified so far. The hours ticked by slower than they ever had. Hours later, a PA announcement called for Mea and Hawa. Overjoyed, they ran to the office, Mea got their first, Hawa not far behind. “Mom!” Hawa screamed. “Honey, I am so sorry I took so long.” Tria turned her attention to Mia and kneeled down, “Mea, I am so sorry,” Mia started sobbing. “Your father saved my life and a few others. He was a hero on the base. I am so sorry.” Mea struggled for a second then broke down into Tria’s arms. Tria smiled, slightly.