text: ...Any who found this. I know not why you are here. Perhaps it is chance, or perhaps you followed the same signal we did. If you are reading this... ***Illegible*** ...Our response was the same. When the signal reached us from across the stars, we went. This was not the first such message we had received, protocols were in place and we followed them. It was the year 4,257, by our standard, when this particular signal was detected. Like always it wasn't a communication to the cosmos. It was the species' first attempts at communicating among themselves. Even so it was an indication of intelligent life; our ships were launched. Each time we detected a civilization, we were hopeful. Optimistic that we were not alone in the void of space. Unfortunately, we have always been disappointed. The signals, electromagnetic waves, travel slowly through space. When such signals reach our sensors they are millions of years old, if not older. Still, we have respond to every signal thus far. The first ones we couldn't hunt down. Our receptor technology advanced faster than our spacefaring. History has told us we tried to respond, but received no answer. It wasn't until the year 2,874 that we had reliable space travel and not until 3,752 that we had faster than... ***Illegible. Tablet broken, proceeding to next section.*** ...We made no neighbors. All we found were broken worlds devoid of life. Some wracked by war, others famine, many pestilence. Desolate world after desolate world filled with the bones or carapaces of its former inhabitants. Only fading signs left of the once glorious civilizations that were built there. This led the signals we received to take on a rather morbid epithet. We called them Wails. Which leads to me. Who I am is not important. I am the captain of the ship that followed the Wail here. To a small world in a small galaxy. It is my responsibility to leave this memoriam. As we have left them on so many other worlds. A sign that life once flourished here, and that it still does in another part of the cosmos. Our scientists say this world was once green and blue. That life, carbon based, thrived here. The dominant species was a group of bipedal primates. They called themselves Humans. Their world, wracked by pollution, eventually gave out. It had almost happened to us. We were too late to save them. They were a noble species. Studies indicate strong familial bonds as well as robust communities. They were just beginning to leave their planet... ***Illegible*** ...So we leave this marker. Carved into element number 22, atomic weight 47.867, on this world it is called titanium. The most robust material we could mine from its geography. This record, written in our language, and as many of theirs as we can translate is left for others who might come here; as we have. You are not alone. This universe holds more than death. You are not alone. Coordinates to our... ***Illegible. Tablet broken.*** *Note: This tablet was recovered on an uninhabitable world orbiting a small yellow star in a spiral galaxy on the edge of Sector 215-648-329. The tablet was recovered in pieces. This was recreated with the pieces found. No other portions or whole tablets located. Location of the tablets creator not found. No other signs of life or civilization were found on this world. This remains the only sign of interstellar life outside of our own species.