SCI-FI SERIAL Rocky's Voyage — After Project Hail Mary EP.04 — Those Who Speak in Light 빛으로 말하는 자들

SCI-FI SERIAL
Rocky's Voyage — After Project Hail Mary

EP.04 — Those Who Speak in Light

빛으로 말하는 자들

"Start from basics. 1, 2, 3."

— Rocky, using Grace's method

SCENE 01

Descent

Tau Ceti e was a beautiful planet. To human eyes, at least.

Captain Shin described the imagery from the Second Chance's observation equipment to Rocky. Rocky couldn't see, after all. Instead, he "heard" the planet's infrared radiation and gravitational vibrations. The two species were perceiving the same planet in entirely different ways.

Captain Shin

"Surface temperature is high. Average around 180°C. Atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Surface gravity about 1.7G. Humans can walk, but it's hard."

Rocky

♫♩♪♫♩

"180 degrees. Bit cold for Eridians. But can function. 1.7G is light for Eridians. Erid is 2G."

🔬 SCIENCE NOTE — TAU CETI e Tau Ceti e is a real confirmed exoplanet candidate. Its mass is approximately 3.9 times Earth's, and it sits within Tau Ceti's habitable zone. However, "habitable" means liquid water could theoretically exist — not necessarily an Earth-like environment. In this story, Tau Ceti e is a high-temperature, high-pressure world suited not to carbon-based (human) or ammonia-based (Eridian) life, but to silicon-based life.

The energy source was near the planet's equator. A structure rising from the middle of a vast plain. Captain Shin described the high-resolution imagery.

Captain Shin

"It's a crystalline structure. About 200 meters tall. Not natural — too symmetrical. And... it's glowing. The entire surface changes color in regular patterns. Red, blue, violet, back to red..."

Rocky

♫♩♫

"Light. I cannot see light."

Light is a sense that does not exist for Eridians. Like ultrasound is inaudible to humans. If that structure is saying something with light, I can never directly understand it. Grace would have explained. "Rocky, it's like a rainbow, but..." But Grace is not here. Captain Shin is here instead. A different human, but one with eyes.

A joint expedition was decided. Rocky and Nikky from the Eridian side. Captain Shin and geologist Amir Hassan from the human side. Two shuttles descended side by side — Eridian and human — separated by a bulkhead, heading in the same direction.

· · ·

SCENE 02

The Tauians

Up close, the structure was — according to Captain Shin — not a building.

It was alive.

Captain Shin

"Rocky, this is... this is a living thing. Or a living thing that is also a structure. Light patterns flow through its crystalline surface. The skin — I don't know if I should call it skin — is translucent crystal, with colors moving inside. Like a giant display."

Then, smaller forms emerged from the structure — from the organism.

Captain Shin's description: approximately 1.5 meters tall, slightly shorter than humans. Bodies of translucent crystal. Veins of light flowing inside. Three legs in a triangular arrangement — extremely stable. Four arm-like appendages — thin, long crystal branches. No discernible head. Instead, their entire body surface shifted colors and patterns, "glowing."

🔬 SCIENCE NOTE — SILICON-BASED LIFE Silicon (Si), like carbon (C), is a Group 14 element capable of four covalent bonds. Theoretically, silicon can form complex molecular chains — but at Earth's temperatures, silicon bonds are unstable for biology. However, at high temperatures, the picture changes. At 180°C on Tau Ceti e, silicon-oxygen bonds (silicates) are stable and can form complex structures.

The Tauians' "light language" draws from real biology. Cuttlefish and octopi use chromatophores in their skin to change colors and patterns for communication. Tauians represent an extreme evolution of this — controlling optical interference patterns within crystalline surfaces to transmit information.

Five forms stood before the expedition. And — according to Captain Shin — began to glow.

Rocky

♫♩♫♩♫♩

"I cannot see. Do they make sound. Question."

Captain Shin

"No. Completely silent."

Rocky

♩ ... ♩ ... ♩

"Is problem is problem is problem. Communication not possible."

The communication barrier was stark. Humans speak in sound. Eridians speak in vibration. Both use sound waves, so bulkhead-mediated communication is possible. But these beings speak in light. Humans can see the light but don't know what the patterns mean. Eridians cannot detect light at all.

Total communication failure.

· · ·

SCENE 03

1, 2, 3

Rocky remembered.

40 years ago. The Hail Mary. When Rocky first met Grace. They didn't know each other's language, biology, or civilization. What Grace did was simple.

Set down one pebble. Hold up one finger. Two pebbles. Two fingers. Three pebbles.

1, 2, 3.

Anywhere in the universe, 1 is 1. Mathematics, along with the laws of physics, is the only universal language in the cosmos.

Rocky

♫♩♪♫♩♪♫

"Shin. There is a way. Grace taught me. Start from basics."

Rocky set down one small tool piece. Spoke "1" in sound waves. Two pieces, "2." Three pieces, "3." Captain Shin did the same with pebbles, saying "One, two, three" in English.

The Tauians didn't move. Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.

And then —

Captain Shin

"They're responding! Light patterns on their surfaces... one flash, two flashes, three flashes!"

It took time. A lot of time. Three hours to establish a number system. Two more for basic arithmetic. But with each step, the pace accelerated. The Tauians weren't slow. They were careful.

Grace was like this too. Slow at first, fast after understanding. Must be universal to intelligent beings. Regardless of species.

After the number system came physical constants. Rocky proposed pi — 3.14159... — using a metal rod bent into a circle, demonstrating the ratio of diameter to circumference. Captain Shin showed the same visually.

The Tauian response:

Captain Shin

"They're showing numbers in light patterns. 3... point... 1... 4... 1... 5... 9... it keeps going. Twenty decimal places! They know pi."

🔬 SCIENCE NOTE — MATHEMATICS AS UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE A long-standing SETI proposition: mathematics and physical constants are identical everywhere in the universe. Pi (π = 3.14159...), Euler's number (e = 2.71828...), and the fine-structure constant (α ≈ 1/137) are derived from the universe's fundamental structure. Any civilization that discovers them will arrive at the same values. This becomes the starting point for interspecies communication.

In the original novel, Grace and Rocky began communicating by counting. Rocky remembers the method.

· · ·

SCENE 04

They Already Knew

Communication was slow but progressing. From numbers to the periodic table — identifying elements by proton count needs no language. Hydrogen = 1, helium = 2, lithium = 3.

Once the periodic table was established, they moved to molecular structures. Water (H₂O). Carbon dioxide (CO₂). Ammonia (NH₃) — the Tauians showed interest when Rocky demonstrated this. Silicon dioxide (SiO₂) — they responded strongly. Their base material, presumably.

And then Nikky showed the critical one.

The molecular structure of Astrophage.

The Tauian response was immediate.

Captain Shin

"Rocky! The Tauians are... excited. Light patterns exploding. And — they're showing the same molecular structure. Astrophage. But slightly different. Part of the structure is modified."

Rocky

♫♩♪♫♩♪♫♩♪♫♩♪♫

"Modified. What modification. Describe exactly."

Captain Shin

"The energy storage site is mirror-inverted. The molecular structure that absorbs energy in Dr. Grace's original data has been flipped to emit energy."

Rocky

♫♩♪♫♩♪♫♩♪♫♩♪♫♩

"Reverse Astrophage. Energy-emitting Astrophage. Tauians made it. Tauians know Astrophage!"

🔬 SCIENCE NOTE — REVERSE ASTROPHAGE In the original novel, Astrophage absorb and store stellar energy. Storage depends on a specific molecular configuration — similar to how ATP synthase converts ADP to ATP in real biochemistry.

Mirror-invert that structure? Theoretically, energy release replaces energy storage. Just as ATP breaks down to ADP to release energy, reverse Astrophage could perform controlled energy emission.

If the Tauians engineered this, they understand Astrophage biochemistry at a far deeper level than humans or Eridians.

The Tauians know Astrophage. No — more than know. They reengineered it. Turned energy absorption into energy emission. This is something humans and Eridians combined could not do.

For the Tauians, Astrophage was not a problem. It was a tool.

For us, it could be the answer.

Grace. You were right. The answer is always somewhere else. And it takes a different perspective. Three perspectives — sound and vibration and light — were needed.

Rocky

♫♩♪♫

"Shin. Tell the Tauians. We need help. And — probably — Tauians also need help."

Captain Shin

"How do we convey the concept of 'help'? We haven't shared abstract nouns yet..."

Rocky

♫♩♪♫♩♪♫♩

"No need abstract nouns. Show with actions. Grace did this for me. Grace helped before teaching the word 'help.'"

⟡

NEXT EPISODE

EP.05 — Grace's Equation (Finale)

Three species solve one problem together.
Tauian biology. Human analysis. Eridian engineering.
And the unfinished notes of a dead scientist become the final key.

"Is problem. Solve."

AUTHOR'S NOTE This story is an unofficial fan fiction written out of love for Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary. The musical notes (♩♪♫) reflect the Eridian tone-based language. The Tauian "light language" is inspired by cuttlefish chromatophore communication.

← EP.03 Arrival at Tau Ceti | EP.05 Grace's Equation (Finale) → the4thpath.com

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