Bellerophon

As I write this report, I realize it is my last rational deed, one way or another. I imagine with horror and trepidation the dreadful fate awaiting me. Therefore I’ve decided to end my life as soon as I’ve finished this note. I’ve figured jumping off the cliff head down would be the best way to exit. I need to make sure my brain is completely destroyed as a result. Beautiful lava rocks surrounding the majestic black beach on this paradise island of Hawaii will be the last thing I see.

It all began on a sunny Wednesday morning when the rain cloud was still sitting on top of the Hualalai volcano. Lazy tourists had started to appear on the magnificent beaches of Kailua-Kona, on the western side of the Big Island. I had received a phone call from the Mauna Kea Observatory with an urgent request to come and see a non-responsive patient. Dealing with scientists at the Observatory was not a new challenge for me. In the past, I had treated some of these stargazers suffering from various maladies, such as sleep apnea, headaches, and nervous breakdowns caused by stress. I had been a practicing neurologist at Kona for more than twenty years and had a reputation for being one of the best in my field, so it was no wonder people were seeking help from Katie Billet, MD.

I had no patients to see that day, so I took off immediately, choosing the fastest route via the saddle road sitting in between the two volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The desolate landscape was out of this world: little trees growing out of lava fields on both sides of the road and occasional goats climbing the rocks searching for food. Driving through these vistas, I thought about the patient I was coming to see. It sounded very urgent and critical. Dr. Jennifer Quarter, professor in charge of the US-Taiwanese research project, explained that her PhD student fell unconscious this morning for no apparent reason. He was alive but not responsive. The medical crew at the Observatory could not arrive at a diagnosis. The best they could do was connect the poor boy to a life support system. It all seemed very strange and unusual. Unfortunately, I could not relate this incident to the cases from my practice or the literature.

When I arrived at the Observatory, I hurried to see the patient and talk to the people in charge. That provided much additional information but did not bring me any closer to a diagnosis. Mr. Brad Meade, a PhD student at the University of Hawaii, made nightly observations and recorded data at one of the telescopes, the Submillimeter Array, capable of registering radio waves from outer space. Dr. Quarter, speaking loudly and waving her hands, told me Brad had recorded the most unusual radio signal two days ago and had spent most of the time since then replaying it and trying to identify its source. As I understood from Dr. Quarter, registering radio bursts from outer space is not a big deal; we know many sources in far-away galaxies. The exciting part was its long duration, almost three minutes, which was quite extraordinary. Brad had shared the signal record with his fellow students and Dr. Quarter. They were all engaged in checking the data and the equipment to eliminate causes such as malfunctioning, human interference, and errors.

I also had a long discussion with Cody Gates, MD, a doctor on duty at Mauna Kea. We both examined the patient, and, once again, I was surprised at the symptoms and the very unusual circumstances of Mr. Meade’s case. His brain had stopped functioning in a normal mode. He was connected to life support, which kept him alive in a vegetative state. Yet his brain was engaged in some massive task, the data indicating it was operating at nearly one hundred percent capacity. It was a big mystery. I had no idea what was going on with Mr. Meade.

At Dr. Quarter’s request, I agreed to stay at Mauna Kea for a few days to observe the patient and learn more about his mysterious ailment. Dr. Quarter was very kind to show me to the guest room, which was spacious, with lots of sunlight, and had everything I could’ve wished for. I was determined to identify the root cause of Mr. Meade’s condition and find a cure. So I started planning the tests I wanted to run during the next few days and created a list of equipment and supplies I needed for these purposes. Fortunately, Mauna Kea Observatory was a world-class scientific institution, and most of the items I required were immediately available.

The next day, Dr. Gates and I were running MRI and electrodiagnostic tests on Mr. Meade. We agreed he needed to be moved to the mainland, to one of the leading neurology hospitals, such as UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco, as this case was so bizarre I was not sure my skills were sufficient to help Mr. Meade. Suddenly, Dr. Quarter entered the room, her eyes wide open, gesticulating fiercely and shouting something I could not understand. After we’d calmed her down, she informed us two more students, working closely with Mr. Meade had just collapsed unconscious. We rushed to take care of the new patients and, examining their conditions to the extent possible, found out their symptoms were similar to those of Mr. Meade. I was dumbfounded. The only explanation I could come up with was a bacterial infection affecting the brain. However, this theory could not explain the abnormal brain activity. Dr. Quarter suggested the common factor between all three patients was their work with the Submillimeter Array and exposure to the radio signal.

In the evening, we were honored with the arrival of a distinguished guest. Dr. Conrad Westering, Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and one of the best scientists in the field, had come to oversee a set of experiments the Observatory was planning to undertake for one of the MIT projects on pulsars. Dr. Quarter immediately informed Dr. Westering about the peculiar epidemic among students working with the Submillimeter Array. Dr. Westering was very curious and asked Dr. Quarter to provide him access to all the data and assist in learning more about the received radio transmission.

The following morning, Dr. Westering and Dr. Quarter greeted me with red eyes and disheveled hair, both jabbering and interrupting each other. It turned out they’d spent the night analyzing the signal and trying to figure out its provenance. They were sure the origin of the transmission was planet 51 Pegasi b, or Bellerophon, twenty light-years away from Earth. They called it a “hot Jupiter class planet.” Even more astonishing was the fact they were able to identify structure within the signal. The message was arranged into 73 lines of 23 characters per line. The “ones” and “zeros” were transmitted by frequency shifting at the rate of ten bits per second. Dr. Westering was certain the signal was connected to the so-called Arecibo message, sent into space in 1974, containing basic information about life on Earth and aimed at potential extra-terrestrials. The structure of the Arecibo message was the same as that of the transmission received by Mr. Meade from the direction of 51 Pegasi b, although Drs. Westering and Quarter were unable to decipher it. Dr. Westering, however, had gotten in touch with his friend, Dr. Gregory Lock, Professor of Computer Science at MIT and an expert in data encryption, and had sent him the recording, hoping he’d help them decode the information. They did not want to acknowledge that the signal came from an extra-terrestrial civilization on Bellerophon, but everyone understood it that way.

As we argued about the implications of these findings, Dr. Quarter suddenly reeled and dropped on the floor. Thus, she became the new patient with enigmatic brain damage. Forgetting for a moment about the exciting discoveries the scientists had just made, we were all very disturbed and decided the situation was an emergency. We called the mainland and arranged the evacuation of personnel within the next two days and transportation of all the patients to the UCSF Medical Center as soon as it was practically possible.

In the evening, Dr. Westering received a call from Dr. Lock, who had made the most frightening discovery. He had studied the message for many hours, applying different decoding algorithms, trying to find coherent data patterns. He was now confident he’d identified what the message was. It contained a code, which he described as being similar to a computer virus, and, judging by its impact on the victims, the only purpose of this virus he could suggest was to hack the human brain. I protested at this proposition vigorously, as I believe our minds are infinitely more sophisticated and delicate objects than computers. Yet, his conclusions made sense. Dr. Lock took his theory even further, implying that whoever hacked our patients’ minds was now using them for their purposes, whatever they were. This conjecture explained the abnormal brain activity. Shivering at what it meant, we discussed the possibility of an evil extra-terrestrial civilization attacking Earth this way. It was, of course, pure speculation, as we had no proof whatsoever. Still, we needed to find a way to help the affected people and protect the rest of us who were exposed to the transmission. Dr. Lock said he had created an electromagnetic pulse sequence, which could (and he stressed the word “could”) serve as a crude “anti-virus.” He had already used it on himself. We immediately made arrangements to apply this “anti-virus” to the personnel of the Observatory.

The following morning, Dr. Westering and Dr. Quarter greeted me with red eyes and disheveled hair, both jabbering and interrupting each other. It turned out they’d spent the night analyzing the signal and trying to figure out its provenance. They were sure the origin of the transmission was planet 51 Pegasi b, or Bellerophon, twenty light-years away from Earth. They called it a “hot Jupiter class planet.” Even more astonishing was the fact they were able to identify structure within the signal. The message was arranged into 73 lines of 23 characters per line. The “ones” and “zeros” were transmitted by frequency shifting at the rate of ten bits per second. Dr. Westering was certain the signal was connected to the so-called Arecibo message, sent into space in 1974, containing basic information about life on Earth and aimed at potential extra-terrestrials. The structure of the Arecibo message was the same as that of the transmission received by Mr. Meade from the direction of 51 Pegasi b, although Drs. Westering and Quarter were unable to decipher it. Dr. Westering, however, had gotten in touch with his friend, Dr. Gregory Lock, Professor of Computer Science at MIT and an expert in data encryption, and had sent him the recording, hoping he’d help them decode the information. They did not want to acknowledge that the signal came from an extra-terrestrial civilization on Bellerophon, but everyone understood it that way.

As we argued about the implications of these findings, Dr. Quarter suddenly reeled and dropped on the floor. Thus, she became the new patient with enigmatic brain damage. Forgetting for a moment about the exciting discoveries the scientists had just made, we were all very disturbed and decided the situation was an emergency. We called the mainland and arranged the evacuation of personnel within the next two days and transportation of all the patients to the UCSF Medical Center as soon as it was practically possible.

In the evening, Dr. Westering received a call from Dr. Lock, who had made the most frightening discovery. He had studied the message for many hours, applying different decoding algorithms, trying to find coherent data patterns. He was now confident he’d identified what the message was. It contained a code, which he described as being similar to a computer virus, and, judging by its impact on the victims, the only purpose of this virus he could suggest was to hack the human brain. I protested at this proposition vigorously, as I believe our minds are infinitely more sophisticated and delicate objects than computers. Yet, his conclusions made sense. Dr. Lock took his theory even further, implying that whoever hacked our patients’ minds was now using them for their purposes, whatever they were. This conjecture explained the abnormal brain activity. Shivering at what it meant, we discussed the possibility of an evil extra-terrestrial civilization attacking Earth this way. It was, of course, pure speculation, as we had no proof whatsoever. Still, we needed to find a way to help the affected people and protect the rest of us who were exposed to the transmission. Dr. Lock said he had created an electromagnetic pulse sequence, which could (and he stressed the word “could”) serve as a crude “anti-virus.” He had already used it on himself. We immediately made arrangements to apply this “anti-virus” to the personnel of the Observatory.

The following day, another calamity struck. Dr. Westering fell victim to the virus; his brain was hijacked in the same way as in previous cases. However, his reaction was a little different. Whether by the sheer strength of his will, or, as Dr. Lock thought, due to the beneficial effect of the “anti-virus” sequence, Dr. Westering did not succumb to the alien influence completely. Once in a while, he would regain consciousness and talk to us. His face was convulsing in grotesque grimaces, indicating the unbearable pain he was suffering. His speech was blurred and often gibberish, reflecting the strain and internal struggle with the morbid invader. He spoke of Bellerophon as an individual, referring to the planet as the sole culprit of what was happening to him. Horrible visions of unnatural forms he could not describe filled his mind. He experienced some perverse union with Bellerophon. He spoke of being a giant cosmic receiver and transmitter simultaneously, of being able to change his orbit at will, of his desire to get closer to the star to increase his energy intake. During these short periods of reclaiming mastery of his brain, Dr. Westering talked about the mental torture and the horror he felt when under the control of the alien entity. He begged us to stop this nightmare, free him from the dreadful embrace of the revolting imperceptible intellect.

Discussing these gruesome visions with Dr. Lock, we agreed on the working hypothesis of what was going on. However improbable, it seemed to us that planet 51 Pegasi b, or perhaps the alien civilization inhabiting this planet, had received the Arecibo message, was able to decode it, and had continued to listen to subsequent communications from Earth. Then the virus transmission was created using the pattern of the Arecibo message and sent forth to Earth to hack into people’s minds. For what purposes, we did not know.

During my conversation with Dr. Lock, a scared nurse ran into the room and informed me that Dr. Gates was now affected as well. I excused myself, disconnected from Dr. Lock, and followed the nurse to administer first aid to Dr. Gates. This incident changed everything and eliminated our hopes of containing the virus. Dr. Gates, being a leading medical authority at the Observatory, played a very active role in treating the patients. However, he was never exposed to the signal containing the alien code. It could only mean one thing: the virus had adapted and was using the brains of impacted individuals to broadcast the sequence, spreading to the people who were in proximity with the victims.

Terror-stricken, I called Dr. Lock again to share this ominous development. He did not respond. Eventually, I connected with his assistant, who informed me Dr. Lock had had an accident and had been taken away by an ambulance. Darkness suddenly clouded my sight. My limbs weakened, I dropped the phone and was about to have a panic attack, when the voice of Dr. Westering returned me to my senses.

“Katie…” he called with a feeble but intelligible voice. “You have to help me.”

“How? The virus is spreading. Now even the people who did not hear the signal are impacted.”

“I am aware of that. This was the intent. Once the mind is hacked, it starts emitting brain waves containing the alien code. There is no escape, no remedy. Only death – complete death – can stop the torture.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You must kill me. Destroy without a trace. This is the only way. I cannot endure this any longer. I welcome insanity, but it is not coming. This is worse than any physical pain I could imagine.”

“Yes, I can switch off life support.”

“This is not enough. The brain needs to be annihilated. You must burn my body.”

“Burn?”

“Yes. There are lots of supplies in the Observatory, including flammable materials. It will be easy to set the building on fire. And you could give advance warning to the other people to evacuate.”

“I guess I could do that…but what is really happening?”

“I don’t have much time. The grip of Bellerophon is strong. Promise me you will do as I ask.”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Thank you. Bellerophon is sentient…the planet is a rational entity…it can rearrange its structure to become whatever it wills itself to be: a giant telescope, a weapon, a spaceship. It can change its orbit; this is why it is so close to its star, contrary to our theories about planet formation…hot Jupiter…Bellerophon…the nemesis.”

“Why taking over human minds?”

“It needs computational power. It is using human minds as remote computing nodes. Like any life-form, it seeks to grow and self-replicate. This is its peculiar way of spreading its existence all over the Universe. We, humans, would do the same, wouldn’t we? Dreaming of colonizing distant star systems…not much different in the grand scheme of things.”

“This is horrible…what can we do to protect ourselves?”

“I don’t think anything can be done, but the foreign interference clouds my judgment. You have to send a message to the world, although it will only prolong the agony.”

“Yes, I will do that. If there is any hope, we must cling to it.”

“Earth is not the first victim of Bellerophon, and it won’t be the last. This monstrosity has taken over multiple civilizations in the same way. You must hurry…I am losing it…this is intolerable…remember your promise!”

With these words, Dr. Westering lost consciousness. I was dismayed and depressed. Yet, somehow it became crystal clear what I needed to do. I felt a sense of purpose and conclusion. Taking a deep breath, I disconnected the life support systems keeping Dr. Westering alive.

Later, sitting on the rocky surface of a cliff, looking at the pillar of fire and smoke rising on the horizon at the place where Mauna Kea Observatory used to be, I pondered on the future of the human race. What had transpired on the island of Hawaii in the past few days might very well mean the end of it. And not just the end, but mental enslavement of the most abhorrent kind.

I know I only have a few days, or maybe even hours, left. Nevertheless, I willingly choose death, the complete erasure of my existence, over becoming an extension of a despicable alien entity. Finishing this report, I hope humanity will find a solution and prevail in the fight with this repugnant enemy. As for me, I’ve done everything I could.