Chapter 1
beep beep beep beep beep beep
“Oh, how I hate that sound!”. I stretch to reach my phone, already expecting a pompous written email delivering news of upcoming tedious trials and experiments. “Dear esteemed Dr.…..yes, that’s me… we would be honoured…. part of a project…Kind regards, Major Lee Der.” I put the phone down, next to my face on the pillow. “Wait, what?”
I had to take a double-take. Why would the Director ever, ever directly request me on a project?! This might just be…interesting. “Welcome, Researchers! You are now part of a new top-secret research team, and the most recent discovery is a faraway planet hidden on the other edge of the black hole. The planet STEM2801 has emitted curious signals recently.” The audience gasps. “Signs of life”, someone mumbles a few seats to my right under their breath. “Your task is to observe and document your findings. Please follow me to the laboratory to present our data so far”.
These…funny-looking creatures are similar to us in appearance, yet vastly different. I’ll never forget the first time I saw them. We have decided to call them MINDS, although, without the management knowing, the staff has thrown the words Big Brains around.
We have spotted MINDS spread across their planet, STEM2801. From a sociologic perspective, it seems that they function in groups. They show a tendency to form communities centred around their occupation. Some are very dynamic, and others are less prone to physical activities. There are other signs of life on the planet, flora and fauna alike, yet none functioning in such a sophisticated and complex society as these MINDS. Based on their looks, multiple individuals share their appearance. The largest one of these groups that we found has ten unique MINDS. It is a possibility that all groups have ten unique ones, but we are still to see some of them.
The other day, the most incredible thing happened as we were ready to switch shifts. We came across a MIND unlike any we have seen before: a shapeshifter, a chameleon… Based on the proximity to a group, it would mimic the group’s behaviour, ensuring its undisputed acceptance.
On the topic of acceptance, they do seem to have conflicts too. They resort to some mental battle. There are always 2 MINDS on each side of the battlefield, even if their “team” has up to 5 MINDS total. Ugh, I am not sure. We are still looking at how the rules work and why specific teams seem to form stronger bonds and defeat more opponents. We have so far kept this aspect away from Major Lee Der’s reports until we can present more data.
My colleagues are processing a few pieces of evidence to go into the report…door opens loudly.
“Sir!”
