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Brushfire on Europa

sci-fiEveryone
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Priya killed the drill and watched the light instead. It wasn't random. The glow blinked in patterns, long and short, the same loop over and over. She leaned close to the screen. "That's not a mineral," she whispered. "That's a message."

Priya recorded the pattern and ran it through her translator software. It chewed on the data for a full minute, then spat out three words on her screen: COLD. HUNGRY. CURIOUS. She swallowed hard and reached for the radio.

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A possible continuation

Priya radioed Theo. "It's curious, it's hungry, and it knows we're here." Together they melted a slab of their ration paste and lowered it down the bore hole as a gift. The glow swarmed it, pulsed warm and bright, then blinked a brand-new pattern: FRIEND.

AO
Amara Okafor
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