Alex Mercer and Jordan Hayes are engaged in decoding an alien signal, revealing indications of a complex society.
Under the stark, unforgiving lights of Dulce Base's underground command center, tension buzzed harder than the banks of supercomputers that lined the walls. Agent Alex Mercer leaned over the shoulder of Jordan Hayes, whose eyes were locked onto the display screen, where an incomprehensible series of alien symbols streamed past incessantly. “Any progress on the decryption?” Alex's voice was steady, a controlled presence necessary in the gravity of their undertaking. Jordan tapped a key, pausing the flow of code, and leaned back with a deep sigh. "We've broken through another subset of the cipher. It's revealing... well, indications of a complex society, not unlike our own."