To resolve the paradox of the vastness of the universe and our lack of contact with sentient alien life, the renowned data-manipulator Somoran theorised that it was not a matter of spatial distance between unlikely civilisations, but temporal too.

To our regret, Somoran’s Constant - the complex numeric defining the likelihood that we would ever share timeframes with an extant species - appears to be a consistent rule of our universe.

Yet Somoran also freed us to turn our full attention towards the traces of civilisations that have been, long-lost gnarls in history’s weave.

Our spearpoint vessels are swift, and travel far from our home system in search of lingering traces of complex hydrocarbons and industrial derivatives decayed a hundred-thousand half-lives. And when we find those places, where people once lived, we begin our search in earnest.

Over a succession of worlds, we’ve become experts at navigating ruins of empires, of crumbling irradiated hellscapes and dark, foreboding museums full of beasts that skitter and wail. And occasionally, silent tombworlds who simply stopped.

We seek lingering remnants of data and cultural icons held in stasis, the clutches of entropy denied for a million years.

We may never meet those aliens. But perhaps one day, we will tell their stories!