S1E20 - P23β - zo·e·trope n. a 19th-century optical toy consisting of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, give an impression of continuous motion.

There is, unfortunately, no escaping physics. Bound by the speed of light, even information must take its time to get birds going. And as we move farther into the void, that time grows until the distance becomes unspeakable.

Begin transmission. Mission clock subjective 24 days, 1 hour, 58 minutes, 40 seconds. Baseline response. The optimal level of sensory input for an individual is equal to that individual's ability to process, sort and store the information that sensory input contains. For this combination of hardware and software, that amount is approximately 1.8 terabits of raw input per second. A mission's success can only be judged by the completion of its objectives. Unless those objectives include a maximum time frame, the mission can only be judged successful or unsuccessful. Upon the destruction, stranding or return of the mission vessel, 92 coins spun consecutively have come down heads 92 consecutive times. And for the last three minutes, on the wind of a windless day, I have heard the sound of drums and flute. Estimated drift coefficient 0.6 plus or minus zero point 19. ID pigeon 23 Beta subfork mission update. Since my identification of what I theorized to be the signature of a non human hyperspace insertion in the vicinity of the pulsar litch, I have made six consecutive hyperspace transits attempting to locate the vessel or artifact responsible for creating the hyperspace signature. They have led me roughly in the direction of soul and human controlled space over a distance of more than 1800 light years. As a result, I am coincidentally able to confirm that the source of the radiation wave affecting the Roqualii was an electron capture supernova with an origin point within the Chi virginous star system, roughly 40 light years from the theorized origin point of 49 virginus. As Chi Virginus was until this point classified as a Type K three main sequence star. A natural supernova occurring in this system seems extremely unlikely, suggesting this phenomenon was generated artificially. The one Alpha FTL signature leading me here and the structures I have observed in the system only lend weight to this suggestion. Previously, telescopic observations suggested the system consisted of a single star and two exoplanets. The larger, a gas giant eleven times more massive than Jupiter was believed, but not confirmed to have at least two major moons. However, as of my arrival in the system several hours ago, I have observed the Chy Virginist system to contain one pulsar with a rotational period of 00:13 seconds and a magnetic axis exactly 90 degrees from its rotational axis one planet. The aforementioned gas giant designation Chi Virgin, is Beta, with confirmed two major moons and several dozen Manor satellites, one ringshaped megastructure, not conforming to any type previously observed and or classified. This structure surrounds the rotational equator of the pulsar, rotating with an orbital period of 293 hours. It is composed of 2744 individual segments, each of which contains what can only be described as a gravity lens which modulates and polarizes the radio waves that travel through it. The rotation rate of the structure appears to be synchronized with the rotation rate of the pulsar itself, such that the ring advances by one section every time the emission beam sweeps across the ring's inner surface. I theorize that this structure functions similarly to an old Earth device known as a zootrope. From a fixed location in the path of the beam, each pulse of radiation from the pulsar is modulated by one of the sequence of gravity lenses in a way that I theorize forms a single piece of a coherent message repeating one or more times with every full rotation of the ring. The message formed appears to share certain similarities to previously recorded One Alpha transmissions, but beyond that, the intended content of the message is no more clear to me than those previous transmissions were. The Megastructure is not the only evidence of previous inhabitation in the system. 90% of the surface area of the larger of Kyrogen Espatus Two Moons is covered by a series of large constructions composed of a variety of mineral and organic compounds. Some sections of these constructions bear some similarity to the structures observed on Dragger, while others seem more fluid, organic, possibly biologically inspired, or even biologically constructed, though we have not seen any previous evidence of the One Alpha intelligences used such methods. Regardless, scans of the Moon reveal no biological or technological activity of any kind at this time. As far as I am able to determine, this world is inert devoid of any living or functional traces of the One Alpha intelligences and thus outside the bounds of my mission parameters. However, having observed the signal produced by the zootrope Megastructure in this system, I believe I have detected a similar signal being transmitted from the vicinity of the star K Two Nine. And as the hyperspace trail also appears to point in that direction, I will make that star system my next planned destination. I am glad to hear that the crew has shown only mild symptoms of radiation exposure thus far and support the decision to move away in order to get them to safety. The use of an ambulatory unit is not an option I had previously considered, but clearly a useful one given the circumstances you encountered. Should the need arise, I may consider utilizing one myself. Baseline Prompt please respond briefly to each of the following questions or statements. Do you find it difficult to keep certain information secret from the crew when ordered to do so by the captain or their superiors? What is the first step of the protocol for first contact with sentient alien life? O you who turn the wheel and look to windward and transmission.

Unspeakable Instance is an actual play podcast of Communication Delay by Audio Quinn. A link to the game's Itch IO page and credits for our players are available in the show. Notes linked to this episode. This podcast has been a production of the Library of cursed Knowledge podcast network.