The Signal from Unclora
Piudo, a well-known alien explorer, had spent years searching for intelligent life beyond his planet. Thirteen years had passed in silence—no signals, no answers. Slowly, disappointment began to settle in him. Yet, deep inside, he refused to accept one thought: that his species might be alone in the universe.
So he kept going.
He traveled further than any explorer before him, crossing galaxies that bent around black holes, where even light seemed afraid to stay. Each journey brought him closer to emptiness—but also closer to something unknown.
Then, one day, everything changed.
A signal arrived.
It came from a distant region called the Milky Way.
The message spoke of a solar system with nine planets… though one name, Pluto, was strangely missing from many records. That detail unsettled Piudo more than he expected.
Even more disturbing was what he learned next—two planets in that system carried life. One of them was Earth.
Before he could process it fully, another fragment of the signal broke through… unstable, almost warning-like:
“Earth exists… but not all life there is meant to be seen.”
Then silence.
Piudo felt something shift inside him.
He turned to his crew. “Is my spacecraft ready?”
It was.
As he stepped toward the ship, he paused for a moment longer than usual.
“I don’t know if I’ll return,” he said quietly, “but I will stand for Pluto.”
Before heading into the Milky Way, Piudo made one last stop at Unclora.
There, he sought out Noddles—the being said to remember things that no one else could recall clearly.
Noddles did not greet him immediately.
Instead, he stared at Piudo for a long time… as if measuring how much truth he could safely hear.
Then he spoke slowly.
“Earth…” Noddles murmured. “That name has drifted through broken memories before.”
Piudo leaned forward. “What do you know about it?”
Noddles hesitated.
For a moment, the air around them felt heavier.
Then he finally said:
“Some places in the universe do not stay the same after they are noticed.”
He lowered his voice.
“And Pluto… was once closer to something it should not have been close to.”
Piudo frowned. “What are you saying?”
But Noddles stepped back.
“I am saying nothing,” he replied softly. “Because some truths do not remain true once spoken too clearly.”
A long silence followed.
Then Noddles added, almost like a warning that was not meant to be heard:
“If Earth ever recognizes you first… do not let it finish looking at you.”
Piudo said nothing more.
He simply nodded once, as if storing the words somewhere deep inside him.
Then he turned away.
And began his journey toward the Milky Way .
