Chapter 1586 — Meshing

It took Gao Yang several seconds to steady his expression—and his state of mind.

Only then did he respond, with astonishment, to the voice that had called him directly through the satellite signal: "Omega?! Haven't you already left this planet?"

"I left—but before I did, I left a data module behind in the ancient Wayfarer satellite array," Omega's voice echoed through Gao Yang's mind. At first it spoke slowly, as though reaccustoming itself to the language patterns of conversing with carbon-based life, but within a few short sentences it had grown fluent. "All these years, I have been watching... the affairs of the 'homeland' through that eye."

Omega had left an "eye" in the satellite array before departing?

This astonishing news nearly made Gao Yang lose his composure. The next moment he recalled that glimpse he had seen through the satellite's surveillance feed on the day Omega left this planet. Then, forcing his mind to settle, he pressed on: "Where are you now? And how did you reach me? I mean—why would the Wayfarer satellites recognize your communications signal?"

"Have you forgotten? My creators studied the technology the Wayfarer left behind one million eight hundred thousand years ago," Omega's voice carried a note of something like pride. "The ship used for the coming-of-age rite employed a portion of Wayfarer knowledge, and that knowledge proved useful when the first Omega nodes were built... I found in my original database the ancient communication codes the Wayfarer once authorized for ground stations. Fortunately, those codes remain valid to this day.

"As for where I am now... I am on a rocky planet near 'Ao.'"

Gao Yang was stunned; the words burst out in his mind: "You're near 'Ao'? After you left Loren, you flew to that star?"

"Yes. In the homeland of Loren, many races were curious about 'Ao,' and once I understood 'curiosity,' I made that star the first objective of my journey. I flew for a very long time, losing a few insignificant escort units along the way, but in the end I reached its foot, and on a dry, warm planet, I... 'built a nest.'"

Gao Yi frowned slightly. This unexpected development had somewhat disrupted his plans, but the next moment he realized something else: the exchange between himself and Omega carried no delay at all!

The other party was using communication codes left by the Wayfarer, but the codes themselves had no faster-than-light transmission capability, and the distance between Loren and "Ao" was so vast that even light needed tens of minutes or more to cross it. So if the other party could converse with him without delay... that meant the "free servitor" that had left Loren years ago also commanded faster-than-light communication technology!

"You've found a way to communicate faster than light?" Gao Yang asked in amazement. "I recall that even the dragons in their heyday never broke through that bottleneck..."

This time, Omega was uncharacteristically silent for several seconds, so long that Gao Yang could barely resist asking again, before he finally heard the reply: "Before I left, I removed some useful components from a derelict satellite nearby, and building on the ancient research materials my creators left behind, I spent several years reconstructing my signal-projection system. This system allows me to send and receive distant intelligence at faster-than-light speed without a corresponding remote node—though limited by my capabilities, I can only reach targets within a few light-hours, which is more than enough for speaking with you."

Gao Yang: "..."

"My apologies—I did not obtain your consent when I took those components. At the time I had not yet realized that your connection to the Wayfarer's legacy is in fact closer than the world knows. If you regard those components as your property, I will find an opportunity to make compensation, but I may have difficulty returning them; I took them apart rather... thoroughly."

Gao Yang had never imagined things would turn out this way. Even for one who had weathered great storms, it took him several seconds to assemble a reply: "...That won't be necessary. It was a derelict satellite with little use anyway... consider it a souvenir brought back from the homeland, or a gift from me."

"Ah—then you don't want the remaining derelict satellites either? If you don't, then when there's a chance later, I would like to..."

"I do!"

Gao Yang had not expected Omega to be so forward. The other's present "personality" was not quite what he remembered, and at the same time a torrent of startling intelligence set his thoughts churning; a string of questions welled up from the bottom of his heart—but a voice suddenly came from beside him and cut his train of thought short. Rebecca, seeing Gao Cen fall utterly silent, his expression grown unusually grave, could no longer suppress her worry: "Ancestral One, are you all right? Are you unwell?"

Only then did Gao Yang snap out of his exchange with Omega. He noticed the curious gazes around the conference room, and his thoughts raced; soon he had made his decision.

After letting his gaze pass slowly over the whole assembly, he spoke in a low voice: "I have established contact with Omega—the Tarronde master-control system that left this planet. Using equipment the Wayfarer left behind, it has built a faster-than-light communication link with Loren, and its physical body now resides on a rocky planet near 'Ao.'"

The moment Gao Song's words fell, astonishment and bewilderment swept through every figure in the conference room. Everyone seated here was cleared for higher-level intelligence, and among them, not one was ignorant of Tarronde's coming-of-age rite and the Omega system that had left this planet afterward—but what moved them more than Omega's sudden contact was the final piece of intelligence Gao Yang mentioned: Omega was right beside "Ao"!

"Your Majesty," Jenny was on her feet in an instant, "you say Omega is now right beside 'Ao'? Then isn't it just outside the 'interference zone'?!"

Gao Yang nodded gravely. This, of course, he had thought of as well: "I was just about to ask about that."

Jenny nodded at once, and the others in the room, who had been murmuring among themselves, fell quiet as well. After sending Noy a signal to be patient, Gao Yang sank once more into the depths of the mental connection and sent a signal to the distant Omega: "Do you know the predicament we face at this moment?"

"Yes—I have been monitoring that communication signal spanning the sea of stars. I am equally interested in the civilization of the other planet, but I never decided when or how to reveal my existence. My apologies; this was unauthorized monitoring."

"...It's that our side has no encryption at all," Gao Yang sighed, thinking, who could have imagined it? When Loren and Noy established contact, no one had anticipated that a third party might exist to monitor this faster-than-light signal; add to that the crushing pressure of survival and the barely functional faster-than-light link between the two planets, and no one had given a thought to encrypting the communications. He could hardly blame anyone else for that—but it was a good thing, too: since Omega understood the situation, he could save himself a great deal of explanation. "Since you understand the predicament here and chose this moment to make contact, then I will speak frankly.

"Omega, Loren needs help now. The magic-tide observation device requires a 'pure signal' from outside the interference zone. Are you... willing to lend a hand?"