Submitted for the April 2024 prompt: Meta-Sci-Fi

To the Editors at Sci-Fi Shorts:

 

I urge you to publish my submission, and soon. The fate of humanity depends on it.

 

You may think I'm joking, that this is some ridiculous ploy to get published. You would be wrong. This story is not fiction at all. Before you protest "But we're a fiction site!" allow me to explain.

 

For the past seven years, I have been involved in out-of-the-mainstream SETI research with a group of other like-minded individuals, sharing our findings on a secure server that we dubbed "Sequoia Server." Sequoia, because like the magnificent trees, we endeavor to reach to the skies.

 

I work in an auto parts shop, spending mind-numbing hours stocking shelves and fielding inane customer questions. Plenty of time to muse over the nature of the universe. At home, my wife Sarah begrudges my fascination. "I suppose there are worse vices," she told me once.

 

A year ago, another member of the Sequoia Server, who goes by the handle "Isaacson," created a discussion thread devoted to his theory that alien intelligence regularly monitors the flow of data on the internet. Thus, he believes, every single forum comment and social media post is reviewed by a higher intelligence from another world.

 

His evidence to this was scant, of course, and the rest of us enjoyed a good laugh at his expense. "I'm sure they're following Kim Kardashian right now," quipped one regular. I joined in the skepticism.

 

Then, one day, a comment appeared in that thread from an anonymous user. That in itself is shocking because the membership of this server is strictly regulated. We vet new applicants and we don't allow anonymous users.

 

Yet there it was — an anonymous post. It read:

 

Isaacson nailed it.

 

I noticed the post first, and quickly replied, Who are you?

 

A friend, came the reply.

 

Please identify yourself or you will be removed from this server.

 

Fine. Remove me. But know that I represent those you seek.

 

As this exchange played out, I called the server's founder, Caleb Mullins, a retired engineer in Palo Alto. He'd shared his number with a few founding Sequoia members like me for this very scenario: a security breach.

 

"Keep responding to him," Caleb said. "I will track his IP address and do some forensics on his account.

 

Who do you represent? I asked the intruder.

 

We are based in Tau Ceti, in a small system, but we have been starfaring for generations and now call many worlds home.

 

What do you look like?

 

We're what you would call humanoid, although we're much shorter than most humans, about one meter tall. Two legs, two arms, three eyes, one in the back of our head. It comes in handy. Purple skin. Our ears are furry spikes. Our gender roles are fairly similar to humans also.

 

So why are you here? Why are you telling me this?

 

I'm in a research department funded by a provincial government. Tasked with monitoring under-developed planets that have potential for conquest. I hacked your server months ago and have been lurking. I just wanted to tell Isaacson he's right: we do monitor your internet.

 

That must be exhausting.

 

It is, though most of the monitoring is automated. We just peruse matters that are flagged as particularly interesting. Your server was flagged recently. Anyway, have to run! Nice chatting with you.

 

Wait! I have more questions. Do you visit our planet?

 

But that was it. The anonymous user did not respond to my last question and never reappeared.

 

Mullins spent many days conducting tests to determine how the breach occurred and from where the posts originated, to no avail. "It's truly bizarre. The IP address yields to no geographic location. Our firewalls remain as sturdy as ever. The anonymous account simply was added one day, with administrator approval overridden. It's fascinating."

 

Mullins locked the thread to preserve it. Sequoia regulars then engaged in heated discussions about what had happened, with some convinced it was a clever hacker trolling us. Others were certain every word was true.

 

I was in the middle, unsure. Eventually, I came up with a test: I decided to write a short story that featured those aliens, as described, and see if our observer commented.

 

I chose your site, Sci-Fi Shorts. I created a pseudonym, Michael Barbato-Dunn, with a fake author website, using a stock photo for the image. I wrote a story in which an alien visitor to Earth is accidentally shot by a hungover hunter. The alien in the story is described precisely as our server visitor described his race.

 

I called the story "Bagged." It was accepted and published on your site last year, and recently included in your quarterly anthology, Flash Futures.

 

Three days ago, I received a private message on the Sequoia Server. From an anonymous user. The subject line read, "Bagged." The message, in full, read:

 

Hahah. Clever piece. Yes, you got my attention. Truth is, we have perfected shape-shifting technology, so when we arrive (which is imminent) we will be disguised as humans, not in our true form. But for fiction, it wasn't bad.

 

P.S. I've advised those who are dispatched to Earth to read Sci-Fi Shorts. So keep 'em coming!

 

I replied, but no further PMs arrived.

 

This morning I came up with this brilliant idea: to write what happened and then send it to Sci-Fi Shorts. I figured, if the aliens are now among us, they will recognize the veracity of my piece, and respond. Reach out. And everyone else will just say, "Well, that's just silly old science fiction."

 

There you have it: the reason I am writing you. The reason you must publish this. They will arrive soon, or might already be here. We need to talk to them. You, at Sci-Fi Shorts, are the conduit. You are our salvation.

 

Thank you for your consideration,

 

Hugo Nether

Toledo, Ohio