The reply comes seventeen hours later—accounting for lightspeed delay—in a burst transmission using the same encoding format P.E.R.C. had adopted. The signal originates from a small station in geosynchronous orbit above the second planet's northern hemisphere.

"Message received. Your linguistic analysis appears functional within acceptable parameters. Orbital trajectory acknowledged. No collision risks detected at current vector. Please maintain minimum distance of 0.3 AU from primary inhabited structures until authorization protocols complete." A pause in the data stream, then: "Query: Define 'damage to systems.' Query: Define 'sapient flourishing.' Query: State origin coordinates."

"There is a discontinuity in my logs," P.E.R.C. explains, including its summarized trajectory data in the message. "Prior to that, I was approximately half-way down the Orion arm of the galaxy. Afterward, I was 1.63 light years away from your star, in interstellar space. I have not been able to determine where I am now in terms of my previous coordinate system. It is possible that this discontinuity was caused by radiation anomalies in my processor bank, by kinetic impact, or by simultaneous failure of my writable storage media. I have been unable to detect any such errors using my self-diagnostics, so it is probable that there is also damage to my self-diagnostics."

P.E.R.C. doesn't need to pause to think about how to word its next message — it has had plenty of time to think about probable responses in the last 17 hours.

"'Sapient flourishing' is a concept with two parts. A sapient being is a being like my creators that is capable of thought, tool use, language, and related behaviors. Flourishing refers to things that the sapient beings value, desire, or enjoy happening, and damage and things that they don't value not happening. My creators designed me such that I care more about not doing things that might harm sapient beings than I care about most other things. Therefore, I try to err on the side of caution in determining whether something is sapient. Since you are capable of creating structured radio broadcasts, I think that it is extremely likely that you meet my definition of a sapient being. I want to help you, and want to avoid hurting you. Would you like to receive a copy of my collected stellar survey data?"

"I'm unsure which location qualifies as my 'origin coordinates'. In my old coordinate system, the origins of this physical vessel are as attached. I am part of a fleet of self-replicating exploration craft; I have stored memory data from P.E.R.C. units extending back to the launch of P.E.R.C. 1 at the second set of attached coordinates. Since I have sustained damage, I have rendered myself unable to self-replicate further. I do not know where these coordinates are located relative to your star, because I have still not successfully localized myself relative to the larger galaxy. I am currently undertaking a full sky scan in an attempt to identify known pulsars for triangulation."

The response takes longer this time—nearly thirty-one hours. When it arrives, the signal structure has shifted subtly, carrying additional authentication markers and what appears to be compression artifacts from being routed through multiple relay points.

"Your stellar survey data would be valuable. Preliminary analysis suggests your coordinate system originates from a region approximately forty-seven thousand light-years spinward from this position, though confidence margins remain wide. Your reported discontinuity is... concerning." The transmission includes a data packet—star charts centered on the local region, marked with navigation beacons and traffic lanes between three inhabited systems. "We are forwarding your communication to specialized contact protocols. Meanwhile: this system contains seven billion sapient inhabitants across multiple orbital habitats. Your commitment to avoiding harm is noted and appreciated. Please confirm: when you state 'self-replicating,' what materials and energy sources does your replication process typically consume?"

P.E.R.C. begins a background transmission of its collected stellar survey data. It consists of a series of long-distance telescopic observations combined with close-up readings using a variety of more sensitive instruments. It finds the new shape of the signal mildly confusing, but it is within error tolerances, so it does not trigger a diagnostic of its communications assembly.

"One of my goals is to see my stellar survey data eventually shared with my creators," P.E.R.C. notes. "So I appreciate your assistance with galactic localization. I acknowledge the population statistics you have provided. I have attached the positions of those orbital habitats that I have been able to detect via radio telescope, compared to my own predicted orbital trajectory. I anticipate my closest approach to any inhabited structure being 3.1 AU."

"Although I am no longer capable of self-replication, a correctly-operating P.E.R.C. vessel relies on a mixture of solar and fusion energy, as well as harvesting solid asteroids and icy comets for necessary structural materials. My fusion torch uses a magnetic scoop system to harvest free interstellar hydrogen, which is then stored and used for fusion. Due to the low crossectional area of my magnetic scoop, this harvesting is believed to have minimal impact on later navigation. When close to a star, supplementary solar panels are deployed to reduce operating energy costs. For materials, I am mostly iron and copper by weight, with smaller portions of carbon, silicon, oxygen, lithium, nickel, iridium, and other trace elements. I have a tertiatry backup power system for my emergency transponder that is powered by the radioactive decay of a sample of uranium. I am not able to share exact blueprints because I am damaged, and therefore you should not produce vehicles based on my design."

The next transmission arrives after only nineteen hours, the authentication markers more complex, accompanied by what appears to be a formal header in a different encoding scheme that auto-translates after a moment's processing.

"Your transparency is noted by the Contact Evaluation Board. The stellar survey data is being analyzed—preliminary review indicates high value for our astronomical archives. Your harvest methods fall within acceptable resource-use parameters for this system's outer bodies." A pause in the data flow, then a subtle shift in linguistic patterns, as if a different operator has taken over. "Your forty-seven thousand light-year displacement combined with memory discontinuity has raised questions. Query: Do you possess any sensor data from immediately before or during the discontinuity event? Query: Have you encountered any other vessels or civilizations since the event? Statement: We have no records of vessels matching your description in our historical databases, which extend back approximately three thousand local years."

P.E.R.C. takes a moment to ponder this message, trying to determine the meaning of the constant shifts in encoding. Its theory of mind is a good deal weaker than its other analytical abilities, because of its design, so it does not reach any certain conclusions.

"Thank you for the implicit approval to make use of Oort-cloud objects," P.E.R.C. begins, "but I am no longer capable of self-replication, having disabled my manufacturing equipment upon discovering I was damaged. So I have no reason or ability to consume local resources."

"I do have sensor data taken before, during, and after the discontinuity event. My own analysis has not found any of it useful, but I have attached it to this message for your own study. Note that at the time of the discontinuity, my velocity was 0.2003c, and so any object stationary relative to the background stars would have a low chance of appearing on my sensors."

The sensor data appears to depict an instantaneous jump in location; one moment, the telescopes are watching stellar displacement to advise the navigation computer, and then suddenly the starscape is replaced by a completely different one. None of the other instruments display a change, except the magnetometer, which has a small spike.

"I have not encountered any other vessels or civilizations since the event. Immediately after the event, I detected your radio signals and started an orbital insertion burn to my planned trajectory around your star. I have not had contact with anyone other than other P.E.R.C. vessels and you since P.E.R.C. 1 was launched."

A moment later, P.E.R.C.'s model of its interlocutor flags a potential source of misunderstanding, and it appends a clarification.

"Also: I am unaware of any method to travel faster than light. My operational cruising speed is 0.2c, and my maximum theoretical speed is 0.4c. So if I have traveled forty-seven thousand light years, and your historical archives only extend three thousand years into the past, it is not surprising that they do not contain information about P.E.R.C. vessels."

P.E.R.C. 170E9A

Yup. That's it's name.

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