The first was here all along, Deep beneath the waves it slumbered. Waiting. Until the day we found it. It was out of time. Out of place. It shouldn’t have been there. We called it The Anomaly. Our machines couldn’t move it. Our tools couldn’t break it. It defied study. Defied understanding. Defied logic. Its mystery challenged us. But no matter how hard we beat against its stone face, it refused to reveal its secrets. Frustrated, our questions became whispers until we finally abandoned it to the silent dark. Forgot about it. Turned our eyes instead to the stars. We calculated distances. Honed our technology. Then hoisted steel sails and soared. We conquered the vacuum. Drank from the bleeding light of our sun. Probed the wings of comets in search of water. Delved into the bellies of ancient moons to reap mineral treasures. Everything was collected. Measured. Defined. For a while, we felt the satisfaction of conquest. Discovery after discovery fueled our relentless need to explore. And then we found it. Another Anomaly just like the first. And then another. And another. Everywhere we went, always another. World upon world bore their weight as their path spiraled through the galaxy like cosmic breadcrumbs. What were they? Messages? Beacons? Monoliths to forgotten gods? If we followed them, where would they lead? To civilization or barbarism? Life or death? All we knew was something had to be there in the end. Waiting.
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