PERCEPTION

The world had not yet experienced the great destruction. Cities were growing, countries were struggling for resources and borders. People did not know that in a few years the order they lived in would change completely. There were four years until the consciousness sorting.

Humanity lived with third-dimensional consciousness. It knew the universe only to the extent that it could see and measure it. The criteria used by scientists searching for life on a distant planet also came from Earth: water, oxygen, suitable temperature and certain chemical elements. Research was conducted based on these conditions, and life forms that might have developed outside them were mostly not taken into consideration.

Space research, meanwhile, was in the most advanced period in human history. With large telescopes placed in different orbits around Earth, star systems thousands of light-years away were regularly scanned. Researchers could determine the sizes and orbits of distant planets, and measure their atmospheres and surface temperatures.

Scientists from different countries worked together at the International Deep Space Observation Center. On the screens in the main hall, data from hundreds of star systems was processed, and unusual results singled out by AI-assisted programs were reported to the researchers.

One night, a large planet was identified around a distant star that had not previously been studied in detail by one of the observation systems. The researchers opened the initial measurements. The planet was larger than Earth, but it was not a gas planet.

“Its orbit is regular,” said one of the researchers.

The other examined the planet’s distance from its star.

“It’s within the range we consider suitable for life,” he said.

The planet was added to the registry. The initial data pointed to an ordinary exoplanet discovery. The researchers waited for the atmospheric measurements to be completed.

When the results came in, the atmosphere was found to contain a high concentration of water vapor. One of the researchers opened the measurements that also included gases that could be associated with life.

“Look at the concentration of water vapor,” he said.

The researcher beside him examined the results.

“We should evaluate it together with the other gases,” he said. “Let’s make this planet a priority for study.”

The planet was placed in the priority study program. They could not yet say that life had been found. But the atmospheric measurements they had were enough for them to continue the research.