<b>Chapter 12: The Watchers</b>
Zak had sent the email. There was no undoing it now.
He sat motionless in his chair, his mind a battlefield of exhilaration and dread. The data was undeniable—the singularity near Mars, the oscillating anomaly near Jupiter, the mass fluctuations in the Kuiper Belt. They were real. But what terrified him most wasn’t the anomalies themselves. It was the pattern.
The QSE had been designed to tap into universal harmonics, to work with the fundamental energy signatures of the cosmos. But if the anomalies were responding to the QSE’s frequencies, that meant something—or someone—had noticed.
Zak checked his inbox. No replies yet. He didn’t expect any right away, but the waiting gnawed at him. EOSA, SETI—these weren’t agencies that ignored gravitational anomalies. If he was right, then the smartest minds on Earth would soon be scrutinizing his work.
And if he was wrong?
He shook the thought away. He couldn’t afford doubt. Not now.
<b>Unusual Readings</b>
Inet187 had remained silent for several minutes, something Zak wasn’t used to.
“Run a scan on the Mars singularity,” he instructed.
The AI responded immediately. “Reanalysing gravitational data.”
Zak watched as the system processed real-time observational data from space telescopes and deep-space tracking stations. The gravitational readings came back unchanged—stable, localized, and entirely real.
But then something caught his eye.
“There’s movement,” he muttered.
A new data stream had appeared, showing fluctuations in the singularity’s mass readings. The numbers were oscillating, shifting ever so slightly.
Inet187 confirmed his thoughts. “There are periodic variations in the gravitational field.”
Zak felt his stomach tighten. “Periodic? As in… patterned?”
“Yes,” the AI replied. “The fluctuations follow a rhythmic pulse, oscillating in intervals of 4.7 Hz.”
Zak inhaled sharply. That was one of the harmonic triad frequencies.
“This isn’t just a gravitational anomaly,” he realized. “Something is interacting with it.”
<b>A Presence in the Data</b>
Zak’s hands moved quickly across the keyboard, overlaying past gravitational readings onto the new ones. The fluctuations weren’t random. They were pulsing in controlled bursts, mirroring the QSE’s harmonic signals.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
He felt a chill crawl up his spine. “This isn’t natural,” he said under his breath.
“The pattern suggests intentional modulation,” Inet187 confirmed.
Zak’s heart pounded. “Intentional? You mean… it’s artificial?”
The AI hesitated before responding. “The data suggests non-random behaviour.”
Zak felt his throat go dry. He knew what he was looking at—this was communication.
“Is it responding to us?” he asked.
“I cannot determine intent,” the AI said. “However, the fluctuations appear synchronized with our harmonic frequency emissions.”
Zak’s pulse raced. If the singularity was reacting to the QSE, then something—someone—was aware of their experiment.
And they were responding.
<b>New Signals from the Kuiper Belt</b>
Zak barely had time to process what he was seeing before another alert flashed across his screen.
<b>NEW ANOMALY DETECTED: KUIPER BELT REGION</b>
Zak’s hands shook as he opened the new data stream. The oscillations near Mars had been shocking enough, but this was different.
“This isn’t gravitational,” he muttered. “These are… electromagnetic signals?”
Inet187 processed the information. “Confirmed. A non-random radio frequency pattern has been detected originating from the Kuiper Belt anomaly.”
Zak stared in disbelief. “We’re picking up transmissions?”
“Yes,” the AI replied. “The signal is structured. It repeats in harmonic intervals.”
Zak’s breath caught. He had expected gravitational distortions, unexpected mass fluctuations—things that fit within theoretical physics. But radio signals? That changed everything.
“Are the signal properties consistent?” he asked quickly.
Inet187 pulled up the waveform on the screen. Zak’s heart nearly stopped when he saw it.
1.3 Hz. 3.9 Hz. 4.7 Hz.
The exact same harmonic frequencies the QSE was using.
“This isn’t a coincidence,” he whispered. “They know we’re here.”
The AI’s voice was steady. “That is a probable conclusion.”
Zak felt his mind spinning. He had started this project to develop sustainable energy solutions, to push the boundaries of human knowledge. But now, he had stumbled into something far bigger.
The singularity near Mars was pulsing. The Kuiper Belt was transmitting.
Something—or someone—was watching them.
And they were making themselves known.
<b>The First Response</b>
Zak barely realized how long he had been staring at the screen when his computer beeped. He snapped out of his daze and looked at his inbox.
An email.
From EOSA.
His chest tightened as he opened the message.
<b>SUBJECT: URGENT—CONFIRMATION REQUEST</b>
Zak,
We have received your report regarding the gravitational anomalies and singularity near Mars. Preliminary scans confirm unusual mass fluctuations in the region you identified. We are escalating this for higher-level review.
Additionally, our deep-space monitoring systems have also detected unexplained radio transmissions originating from the Kuiper Belt. We are currently analysing the signal’s structure. Can you provide your data logs for further cross-analysis?
Zak felt a wave of cold pass through him.
They saw it too.
The anomalies. The signals. The oscillations.
He wasn’t losing his mind.
He was right.
EOSA was taking this seriously.
He exhaled sharply and quickly attached the QSE’s full data logs, his hands trembling as he clicked Send.
For the first time, Zak realized the true magnitude of what they had uncovered.
This wasn’t just about new physics.
This wasn’t just about energy systems.
Something else was out there.
And now, the world knew.