text: In the year 2140, humanity had received our first message from the stars. It was an accidental message, a leaked signal from the beginning of the radio era from an up and coming civilization. Humanity had begun using direct signals instead of less efficient broad signals, so this planet would never see us unless we called out to them. We learned that they called themselves the Dukra, and they were so full of hope for their future. Their solar system had 7 planets, 4 of which were rocky, and 2 of which showed signs of liquid water. Being that they were 110 light years away, our first message would not reach them for 110 years, and it would take 220 years before we would hear a response. Researchers developed a message that would be easy for a younger civilization to translate, and then, using a powerful radio beam, our message was sent in their direction. Humanity sat by, waiting for a reply while they watched this new civilization grow. They listened to the transmissions, which weren't always peaceful, but it was clear this species was doing the best they could. The news was regularly flooded with images from this new world, amazing sights with glowing blue animals, purple plants, and a red sun which appeared large in their light orange sky. Their people were also much different from humans. They had tentacles reaching out from all sides which would allow them to roll instead of walking like a human, and the tip of each tentacle had a fluff of fur which protected their skin from the ground. We don't know much about their senses, but our researchers know that they can see and hear because their transmissions include audio, video, and another stream of data which hasn't yet been decoded. Some believe we haven't decoded this data, because we lack a sense that this data carries, we don’t know what that sense could be, so the researchers are unsure how to translate it. After watching their civilization grow for 98 years, their high pitch guinea pig-like voices became normal to us, and it felt as though they were already close friends. We knew much about them and their civilization, and we saw a lot of similarities between us and them, but we also saw a gradual increase in their hostility. It seemed that many in this civilization disagreed with the aggression, but a tipping point had been reached, and a few that held power were determined to fight. The dam of peace had been broken, and with it, the waters of war rushed forth. With the vastness of space on their doorstep, instead of claiming land on other worlds, the Dukra chose to fight their own kind for small patches of land on their planet. With the signal delay, this war had happened 110 years before we were seeing it, so our scientists could do nothing to help them. As we waited and watched, the radio signals from this planet rapidly lit up with images of our fluffy tentacle friends lying on the ground in pools of their own dark green blood. The organic buildings they constructed lay in piles of rubble while explosions blast around them. Chaos was now all that they knew. We wanted to tell them that this universe held more than they could possibly imagine, we wanted to guide them to reignite the hope that we once saw in them, but our message would need 12 more years to reach them. Their weapons grew stronger as their population weakened. It was clear that they had fallen far from hope. Three years after the chaos began, it ended. There were a few more passing signals until 2243, but they contained only audio, no more video or third signal. The spectral imaging of their atmosphere showed that the elements they exhale had vanished. They were gone now, and in 2250, our message fell on a dead world. Once again, humanity was alone in the cosmic darkness. We had stored all of the recordings from that time, and although our friends were gone, human researchers continued to study this data. They learned that the Dukra would vibrate a certain frequency depending on their emotions. The third signal contained this emotion vibration data. They would gently shake with joy, and vibrate faster with fear. In the end, when the bombs were being dropped, they were all very afraid. The only ones without fear were their leaders. They had undoubtedly seen the videos of their wars, and felt the fear of their people. And although they had seen the pain and destruction they were causing, they still chose to continue. The emotional signals from their leaders showed greed, lust, and confidence. They continued to fight, because they believed there was a chance they could win, but it's impossible to win when you're fighting yourself.