← HUB ← START
FOLLOWING PROTOCOL
Emergency Report to Earth Command
[00:00:00] TRANSMISSION START
Composing formal first contact report per Deep Space Monitoring Protocol Section 7.4...
[00:02:15] ENCRYPTION
Applying Level-5 encryption. Adding authentication codes. Attaching signal analysis data...
[00:05:30] ROUTING
Routing through relay station Alpha-9, Gamma-3, and Omega Hub before reaching Earth Command...
[00:06:00] SENT
Transmission successful. Awaiting response from Earth Command...
[04:30:00] AUTO-UPDATE
No response yet. Standard communication delay is 2 hours. Current delay: 4.5 hours.
[12:00:00] AUTOMATED RESPONSE
Received: "Your report has been logged. Case #847392-FC. A response team will review within 48-72 hours."
EARTH COMMAND STANDARD PROCEDURE
→ Your report enters a queue behind 3,847 other priority items
→ Automated systems flag it for "unlikely - probable equipment malfunction"
→ Three separate committees must review before escalation
→ Each committee meets bi-weekly
→ Estimated time to human decision-maker: 6-8 weeks
Meanwhile, the alien signal grows stronger.
They're not waiting for bureaucracy.
T-minus 3 hours
Until they reach Earth
You followed protocol.
You did everything right.
You documented, encrypted, routed, and reported.
You trusted the system to act quickly in an emergency.

The system was designed for terrestrial threats and political disputes.
Not for first contact with a consciousness-harvesting alien collective.
OUTCOME: FAILURE
By the time Earth Command reads your report,
it will already be too late to matter.

Sometimes following the rules
is the worst possible choice.
"When the manual was written,
they didn't imagine this scenario.
They never do."
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