Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-3426 - Reckoner

SCP-3426: Reckoner. The Fermi Paradox is an  idea named after the physicist Enrico Fermi, although he was certainly not the first to present  such a concept. The idea is based on the fact that the universe contains a large number of planets  capable of sustaining life, and a good number of these should have intelligent life. Some of  those species would have naturally developed spaceflight, and some interstellar spaceflight,  and after millions of years, would have certainly been able to travers

e the milky way. The paradox  then is that there is no convincing evidence that earth has ever been visited by aliens, despite  the high odds that some alien civilization could have and would have done so at some point. While  there are plenty of potential explanations and counter-arguments for the fermi paradox, one  that has grabbed a lot of attention is known as the Great Filter, the idea that there is some  sort of filter that prevents a civilization from becoming advanced enough to traverse

the  galaxy. This filter could be all sorts of things, and indeed it’s possible that humanity is the  only species so far to make it past the filter, but the more lurid ideas associated with  the filter involve AI, nuclear devastation, and of course, cosmic punishment. With all  that explained, let’s take a look at SCP-3426. SCP-3426 is a phenomenon that is responsible for  the total extinction of a technologically and socially advanced planetary civilization, although  this phenomenon may be a

n event, entity, process, object, or concept. So far, there’s no definitive  hypothesis on the attributes of the anomaly, but the conditions for its manifestation are  self-consistent and follow an established pattern, with it being believed to be widespread, and  possibly universal. Planets that have been affected by 3426 all share a number of common  characteristics, starting with the civilization there having achieved a relative degree of  global sociopolitical stability. They also must be us

ing some sort of limitless or indefinitely  sustainable source of energy across the world, such as nuclear fusion or orbital  solar collection, and this energy must be widespread and plentiful enough for the  civilization to qualify as a type 1 or higher on the Kardeshev scale. This is a hypothetical  scale meant to measure civilizations based on how much energy they’re capable of using,  with modern earth still not even a type 1, which would be a civilization that can harness and  store all of

the energy available on their planet. Additionally, a unified scientific theory or  model of the universe must have been developed by the civilization, and space travel is  commonplace, advanced enough to allow for detailed exploration of the local solar system.  Finally, there must be an organization on the planet whose purpose is to catalog and contain  as many anomalous phenomena as possible. Planets that have been affected by 3426 display widespread  anomalous material corrosion, reality dis

tortion, complete or near-complete corruption of  information and information media, and the pervasive presence of visual cognitohazards and  abnormalities. If it’s been less than one year since the occurrence of 3426, sapient lifeforms  on the planet will appear to be suspended or frozen in place, lack any consciousness, and  display total cell death. In some cases they may also appear to be translucent or blurred  to cameras and to the eye. After a year, all intelligent life on the planet is a

pparently  completely spatially erased, with no physical remains of the species existing outside of  their possessions, information, and structures. Data, items, and artifacts were collected  primarily through the usage of drones, orbital probes, and imaging sensors, although  further information on the exact properties or effects of 3426 has been difficult to  recover. Probes that enter the atmosphere of an affected planet quickly deteriorate within  24 hours, becoming affected by the spacetime

distortion and material corrosion permeating the  planet’s surface and surroundings. Based on data and related analysis from Operation Grey Voices  however, it’s believed that 3426 induces a slow collapse of the consistency of universal constants  and stable states within the planet. This collapse weakens force interactions between elementary  particles, creates extreme planet wide ontokinetic and material distortion effects, and gradually  prevents any information or conscious thought from bei

ng distributed. This process culminates  in all matter on the planet reaching a state of catastrophic incoherence, theoretically  resulting in the slow erasure of objects, concepts, and lifeforms originating from it.  In other words, the entire planet and the science that makes it function all simply breaks  down, and this phenomenon has been classed as a Cosmic Fragmentation Scenario, although the  foundation still has no idea how this works. Operation Grey Voices has so far examined all  exopl

anets within a 75 light year radius of earth, finding 16 planets that have met the hypothesized  conditions required for 3426. All 16 of them were either affected by 3426 upon their initial  discovery or within 5 years of their discovery, and we’re given a brief list of a few of  them. Gliese 1214b was an ocean planet with a hydrogen and helium atmosphere, populated  by aquatic non-humanoids living underneath the ocean. They had a technologically advanced society  organized into strict unified s

ocial hierarchies, with outposts both in atmosphere and in space,  used for the purpose of research into the local star system. The civilization had no clear leader  or governmental system, but instead computers dispensed resources that were distributed  according to caste. After 3426, the planet had approximately half of its water transmuted  to deuterium and tritium oxide, as consciousness in all sapient lifeforms spontaneously stopped.  Computers and other data storage devices underwent appar

ent global information corruption, with only  15% of the civilization's information remaining readable. Water molecules no longer would flow,  rather acting as a single rigid continuous solid. Kepler 443b was a planet with a thick  atmosphere, strong gravitational field, and cold temperatures. The dominant lifeforms had  mammalian characteristics such as body hair and live birth, but possessed ectothermic circulation  like reptiles. The dominant religion involved the worship of an entity ascribe

d to the planet’s  star, which was said to be responsible for continually rebuilding and moving the universe.  3426 caused the planet to experience a form of catastrophic reality degradation in which  the formation of chemical compounds became impossible due to weakening of the electrostatic  force. An additional anomalous effect causes all native living organisms to be perceived  as a two-dimensional shimmering gray film, present in photographs and video from the  planet and physical artifacts

collected from it. Luyten b is a rocky planet with an earth-like  composition, orbiting a red dwarf, possessing mild temperatures and a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere.  The dominant intelligent life here was humanoid, and had recently survived the effects of  a catastrophic nuclear war which led to a period of utopian peace and social stability.  Their primary energy source was obtained through large-scale drilling into the planet’s mantle.  After 3426 however, all events taking place on the planet

occur in apparent disjointed slow motion,  including movement, interaction, and thought. Some regions of the planet’s surface are slower  than others, and this effect can also manifest as a complete and total stopping of time, with all  particle movement in an affected region ceasing. An analysis of the mantle of the planet showed it  to have been transformed into a perfectly smooth, transparent layer of pink glass, and interaction  with this glass results in the malfunction of any nearby electr

ically-powered devices and an  intense feeling of vertigo. As a side note, the dominant lifeforms inhabiting the planet  appear to communicate in an undocumented indo-european language with significant  similarities to Hittite, an extinct language. Lastly, Trappist-1f is a planet with a rocky  earth-like composition orbiting an ultracool dwarf star, with large high-pressure water vapor  enveloping the planet. The society here consisted of a multitude of separated geopolitical states  coexisting

in a roughly capitalist system, and the foundation analogue here was a peacekeeping  organization that traded anomalies and used them strategically to prevent wards, research medical  and scientific advances, or expose social and economic injustices. Currently, the planet suffers  from extreme spatial distortion, with entire regions being displaced from the rest of the  surface, and a low static blur is visible across most of the planet. On occasion, a sudden tear  in the spacetime continuum wit

hin the planet’s atmosphere is detected, followed by the appearance  of black mist, which will usually move towards an unconscious sentient lifeform or data storage  device and enter it. Once this has been completed, it’s impossible for anyone to comprehend any  concepts related to or contained in the affected object, which has made data gathering here  extremely difficult. Additionally, all containment sites operated by the foundation analogue here  have been replaced by large spheres of total

darkness, and mechanical probes entering these  regions experience an unusual form of breakdown. We’re given a handful of files  recovered from the various worlds, starting with a couple taken from the first one  mentioned, where all consciousness stopped and most data was corrupted. On a computer on a  space station in orbit, a note mentions that they are on the verge of finally discovering the  equation for everything. The mathematics though is working too perfectly for the writer to remain  c

omfortable with this experiment for much longer, and there’s something that’s affecting natural  laws, behaviors, and forces. They can’t help but fear what these findings imply, as this  seems to be something that affects things universally. As they stare further and further  into the sand grains that make their world, they’re further convinced that they are built  out of mist and magic. An emergency message found playing on repeat in every structure on the  planet warned people of worldwide inf

ormational, physical, and chemical hazards, and told them to  shut off all electronic devices they own. They should also close all openings or viewings  from outside of the building they’re in, and if they’re not in one, to seek shelter in one  immediately. They should cover up or illuminate all sources of darkness in their shelter, and  destroy any reflective surfaces and transparent surfaces. If they begin witnessing bizarre,  disturbing, or unsettling effects, they shouldn’t report or point t

hem out to any other person, as  that will only allow it to spread. When they begin to hear the screaming in their minds, they should  move to a room or place where they can be alone, and darken the room completely. This will allow  the fading to happen most quickly, and they should bring any possessions of sentimental value  with them. The screams will become overpowering, but do not panic, instead focus on a memory of  great intensity to you, and be silent until you do not exist. If at any poi

nt you feel that you  cannot continue, remember that a society-issued weapon should be available in every facility,  and your death will be quick and painless. Next, we have a plant from the second planet  mentioned, which was once common to the planet, but now is perceived by all intelligent life  as a plant-shaped mass of static. This static appears two-dimensional from all sides despite  existing in a three-dimensional space, and extended observation tends to cause discomfort in  all observer

s. After fifteen minutes have passed, the plant is no longer able to be perceived  by the observer, although their memories of the plant remain. This effect changes after  an additional two to three days have passed, after which they begin to see the plant as a  miscellaneous flower that the observer attaches emotional value or meaning to, varying greatly  from person to person. Foundation AICs, upon being presented with the plant, appear to perceive  it as a random pattern of shapes and colors.

On the third planet, the Foundation analogue put  out an internal statement to all that remain, stating that they, the conclave of six, reveal  their words because their world will soon cease to exist, and it was because of their doing. They  delved too far, and knew too much, as they wanted to know secrets which were not meant for mortals  to know. Questions of gods and creators, questions of the elementary makeup of everything, and now  they face the apocalypse, a divine punishment for their

transgressions. They have little left to  say, and in the coming days, they will find that the domain of physical meaning will shatter into  a billion pieces. This planet will be ravaged both by a massive upheaval in universal laws, becoming  a high-intensity hostile matter-affecting anomaly, and by a vast number of incorporeal entities, or  things they believe to be entities. These will attempt to slowly erase and corrupt all sources  of information and knowledge originating from this world, in

cluding the people. They have  two choices: they can stay here, where their consciousness will be ripped apart, leaving only  a pale image of anything they were, as time and space blend their twisted forms into each other  until everything and nothing happens at once, every second squished together and lengthened  into eternity. Communication and thought will die a slow death, and eventually, everything that  originates from this world will collapse into itself, and be erased from the universe,

with the  only fragments of their legacy being warped to be unrecognizable. Alternatively, they can take the  preliminary space shuttle they’ve made out of the anomalous material they still have left, which  will get them far, but not much farther. From what they understand, it is the very fabric of the  multiverse itself that is coming to blot them out. The last note is a handwritten one from a book  taken from the last planet mentioned. In it, the writer states that the world is on fire, and 

swarms of bitter void break apart from the sky and attack. They don’t think there’s time left to  escape, and even if they did, they would follow. They looked upwards and in a moment, the sky  was suddenly black and the sun was even darker, all filaments and strands of infectious shadows.  The writer doesn’t even know how they got here, why they chose them, and they sent flying  things, but as it hit the black barrier, they simply disappeared. They’re going away too,  and everything they know is

fading. They look at the world, and half of the words they use for  things have been blocked out. The computers don’t work anymore, and when they open this book,  the words are replaced by bars of white and black. That’s what they’re doing, as they’re nothing  but nothing and they want to make them unreal, and time and space unreal. As they look out  of this window, the top half of the building next to them is disjointed from the bottom half,  and the people in the window across are frozen. The

n they flash and move for an instant, and  are frozen once more. Every time they move, the color of everything turns red and blue and  green in a strobe of terror. Reality is coming apart at the seams, and the writer’s sister  has said that there is a voice in her head, wailing. The writer knows that it is the end for  her, and they will watch as the wailing overpowers her mind, and she forgets everything she is. She  will forget she was ever an intelligent being, forgetting all of the world and

all of the past,  and present, and future, the little of it they have left. She will then become unregisterable to  their mind or to anyone’s mind, her consciousness and her identity severed from the rest of  their knowledge, until she dissolves alone in a universe of one, and becomes an object eaten by  the all-consuming unreality. The writer notes that she was too young, and then writes that they hear  something in their head, and mentions the light. To further examine this planet, an unmanne

d  exploration vessel was sent by the foundation, which subsequently sent a close-range automated  drone to check out the surface. The drone enters into the lower atmosphere and deploys a parachute,  with later analysis showing that after entry, a thin layer of the material surrounding the drone  had been transformed into balsa wood. The drone lands on the surface of the planet, with the video  feed showing that the sky appears to be phasing in and out, making formations such as clouds and  the

sun periodically look transparent. The sky is a pinkish-red color with a dark hue, caused  by the low brightness of the red dwarf star, and a number of birds appear to be frozen  in the sky. From the drone’s position, it can see the regional landscape,  consisting of a coastal grassland plain, with ocean water drifting towards the shoreline  in misshapen, angular waves. As the waves break onto the beach, they are suddenly turned into  what are apparently perfectly cut diamonds, which fade away a

few seconds after they are  deposited onto the beach. A number of vaguely humanoid lifeforms are frozen in place along  the shore, with thin white wisps evaporating off of their forms, and debris is strewn about  the area, as small fires burn in the distance. Abruptly, there is a flash on the camera feed,  and after the view returns, the entire sky is revealed to have lost all color contrast. There  is a crackling noise, and the color of the sky returns to normal. The drone continues,  finding

several structures and buildings that appear to be completely flattened into the  ground, creating two-dimensional images of the structures and their contents on the surface. It  also finds a number of posters and billboards, but all words and iconography on the signs appear  as unreadable black bars. Many of the objects, flora, and fauna on the planet are warped  or disjointed in some way, and some are translucent or nearly transparent. Eventually,  the drone approaches a completely dark sphere

, emitting no sound or light, around a quarter mile  in radius. Using several sensors to measure light, sound, sentience, matter scattering and conceptual  identity, all of them return negative results. The drone proceeds to pass into the sphere, showing a  pristine, non-anomalous planetary landscape on the other side, with an industrial building nearby. A  static sound begins to slightly increase in volume as the drone enters the building, finding  a clean office space decorated with potted pla

nts, and a sign on the wall reading,  “Nothing is here, lock yourself inside.” Proceeding down the corridor, the drone passes by  a number of large windows that appear to grow and shrink, and finds a television set on the floor,  matching that of a typical CRT television from the late 1970s. As the drone approaches, it  turns on, and the drone stops. The sound of static on the video feed suddenly increases in  volume, nearly drowning out any other noise, as the television shows a series of sound

s  and images. These include clips of asteroids floating through space, large networks of  massive supercomputers, crowds of people going about their daily activities, the drone  itself hovering in front of the television, and an endless brightly-lit corridor. These  images cycle through each other interspersed with flashes of white light, faster and faster, until  outlines of shapes become visible in the light. These amorphous shapes combine and reform until  they create the vague outline of a

human head, looking directly at the drone’s camera. The drone  is suddenly propelled forward towards the blank wall, but it appears to fall away and the drone  is pushed forward into an empty white space, where it begins to fall. After exactly ten minutes  of falling, the drone suddenly emerges in the office lobby, which appears the same as before  except the sign on the wall now reads, “Go back to sleep, go back to sleep, go back.” Outside of the  windows, the sky has now taken on a dull red gl

ow. There is also now a new hallway that wasn’t  there before, and as the drone approaches, faint sounds of mechanical operation become  audible. Just as the drone is about to enter the hallway, the video feed suddenly emits the  sound of screaming, and the drone appears again in the center of the lobby. The drone attempts  to re-enter the hallway for the next two hours, with the same results. During this period, the  sun sets and night falls, bringing a knocking sound on the windows, although n

o movement is  registered from the outside. The knocking on the windows becomes more and more frantic, as  the stars in the sky appear to be blood-red. When the drone again tries the hallway, this  time it is not impeded, as the static in the background swells and crackles. Amidst the  sound, a faint voice can be made out, saying, “The universe is an infinite staircase, but it  is shattered. You will shatter it.” The drone proceeds down the hallway, finding it to be an  endless, brightly-lit cor

ridor with no exits or side doors. Fluorescent lights are positioned on  the ceiling at regular intervals, and after a few minutes of travel, it’s impossible to tell how  far the drone has moved. After around an hour, the static sounds slowly begin to quiet, replaced  with the growing sound of high-pitched wailing coming from thousands of sources. Eventually,  dark wisps are emitted from the lamps, swarming together and flowing through the air. The audio  is interspersed with intense high-freque

ncy sound, causing the video feed to pixelate and  show random patterns of vivid colors. This continues for a little less than two  days, until dead pixels start to appear in the camera feed, eventually blotting out the  entire camera view. The sound of screaming at this point has reached approximately  150 decibels, enough to rupture eardrums, and shapes begin to appear in the dead pixels, as  if they were moving through a field or an outline of static. The hallway’s shape is vaguely visible  i

n the static as the drone continues to move, but now there are hundreds of distorted human  figures standing still in the hallway, extending indefinitely through the corridor. Their faces are  featureless except for eyes and a mouth. Suddenly, the high-frequency pitches cease, silencing  the audio, as the swarm of humanoid faces all simultaneously turn towards the drone  before disintegrating into black particles. The pixelation effect on the camera clears,  and the lights in the hallway all go

out, leaving the drone in darkness. It activates  its searchlight, as the hallway begins to spin and reflect in on itself, with sections of  the hallway crossing over each other, rotating, and reversing until it creates a kaleidoscope-like  pattern. The hallway splits in half repeatedly into sections separated by cracks of blinding  white light, unraveling and coiling itself around the drone. The cracks in the hallway expand  and the light spilling out of it grows bright, until the camera view s

witches suddenly to a  continuous white field. Nearly six hours later, the white field begins to gradually fade  into total blackness, as the drone’s systems progressively shut down in sequence. The drone  shakes violently as its systems completely fail, and a dark red flash is briefly seen permeating  the camera’s view before the feed cuts out. We’re told that this transcription of the  camera feed is based on a general consensus from a variety of viewers, but the accuracy  or reality of it is

unknown. Re-recordings and computer analysis show that all reception  ends after the drone passed through the dark sphere, with the rest of the recording  apparently consisting entirely of static. There is one last part to read, and that’s a short tale linked in the handwritten  note found on that planet. It reads, “Terras-Mons is under siege. It began with a pamphlet containing unspeakable secrets, passed from Terran to Terran in a small  building. The experiments conducted that night would hav

e been considered impossible eons ago,  even moreso considering its conclusions. Retries of various kinds were performed again and again in  an attempt to disprove the results, to no avail. The knowledge they gained, unknown to the world  at the time, cursed all who learned about it. Scientists and medical men were baffled at the  perplexing and horrific results they were shown. Scuffles of infighting and theories plagued the  scientific community for days on end. Chaos — a new beginning, to som

e — unraveled all science  that was held as unfaltering fact for so long. Not much time was left to contemplate the meaning  of this before the preliminary siege had begun. As the news disseminated to a wider audience,  events with terrifying implications occurred. The Spire of Yeon, a magnificent testimony to  world unity, ceased to exist in a brief flash. My eldest son was there as a maddening scream  echoed from the tower — then the structure disappeared entirely. All weather of any  kind cea

sed, causing worldwide water and crop shortages. Countries began to reform  amidst the conflict, and tensions began to rise in competition over resources. My husband  was forced by lottery into the newly-founded militia of the Better Terras-Mons Union. I received barely enough electrotokens from the quasi-government to support my  family. I was crippled and couldn't work, relying entirely on my spouse to bring in income.  I was indebted to him for helping me so much, but could do nothing as he w

as taken away. I remember  staring out the window towards the purple waves, wondering how the world went mad so rapidly. It  was stupid of me not to connect the dots earlier. More strange things occurred. At  first, it was only big things: the planet Terras-Mons orbited would change  color; a number of lightning bolts repeatedly struck the same spot; nobody could remember  visiting specific areas. But as time went on, I too began to experience them. Clouds disappeared  at random, books had their

words shuffle randomly, and clumps of sand at the beach outside my  home would fling themselves at me sporadically. It was the twenty-second night of Presque-Vu when  we finally crossed the threshold of damnation. A thick silence, quite literally unbreachable,  encompassed our entire world. The quiet suppressed all noise, no matter how loud one's  voice was. Hours passed, but nothing happened, and the world seemed to slow down briefly.  I went outside to relieve myself of stress, only to discov

er the sky was completely empty. The siege began. The screaming of millions ruptured the shield  instantaneously, a piercing wail that could be heard for light-years. A wave of something  slammed me backwards, forcing me to retreat inside. Unrelenting in its persistence, with  screeches from every direction invading my senses, I couldn't handle leaving my house. I laid in my  bed and cried as my sons and daughters sobbed, begging to something that I did not  have the strength to get up and see.

I do not know what happened in the  following hours, but when I awoke, only my youngest daughter, El'Lie, had remained  of my children — what happened to the others, I don't know. She lay huddled next to me, tears  leaking from her eye and her choked cries mingling with the screaming. The painful wails in my  head had moved beyond the walls of the home, yet I understood that at any moment it could  breach the vestibule and enter. I shuddered. My daughter began to speak to me, but I  quieted her

down, afraid to answer whatever she would ask. I listened intently, and heard  pleading, as well as cries in languages I did not understand. They were close. I thought of  my family, wondering where they were and what happened to them. I prayed not to know. "Mommy," El'Lie had abruptly said to me, "are we going to be okay?" "Yes," I lied, "we will." She didn't believe me, of course, and  buried herself within my embrace. A sporadic sob joined hers, and it was only then  I realized that it was my

own. Faced with an impossible threat — by both definitions — I  had resigned myself and all I knew to death. My ears filled with a faint static, no doubt  from the dimming of the energy-less lights. It has been four days since then. I am writing  this by candlelight for no reason other than peace of mind. The screaming has not stopped — and  I doubt it ever will. My rations have run down, and there are no substances left to sustain  me. A gaping wound of reality in the shape of my daughter beck

ons towards me from  the unlit corner of my room, smiling a smile which does not exist and that I can only  assume is my fractured mind creating order of chaos. In just a few moments, I will join her. Our limited minds were not made to deal with the horrors of unreality. From the first day we  discovered forbidden knowledge, they had begun to seep into the cracks of our consciousnesses.  We stopped to gape and mock all that was, congratulating ourselves on conquering a mountain,  though we merel

y stood on the edge of a slope. Our predecessors pushed us forward, and the ancestors  of an unknown kind dragged us back into the abyss. Much can be learnt from this encounter with a  kind from beyond the veil of reality, if only there was anyone left to analyze it. Unbidden,  we tread into the territory of the unknown, and unbidden these non-creatures arose to defend  it. Perhaps they were like us, alien to a universe of cosmic horror, though no one had stopped them.  I don't know, nor do I wa

nt to. Once I have gone, they will return to their slumber, and  madness shall end until the cycle repeats. Henceforth, I, Wi'Poi, mother of none,  shall scream until the ends of time.” So, if it wasn’t clear already with all the  mentions of screaming, the antagonists here are Pattern Screamers. I’ve done a video previously  attempting to explain Pattern Screamers, but they’re certainly one of the more esoteric aspects  of SCP lore. Essentially, the Pattern Screamers are entities or consciousne

ss which came from  a prior iteration of the universe. They fled a disastrous event which resulted in the destruction  of that universe, and now reside within the fabric of reality of this universe. They are, obviously,  not a good thing for regular species to encounter, but they are also only really empowered once  they’re perceived, and the more people that perceive them, the more dangerous they are. Most  of the screamers have no physical form, but since they hail from a different universe, t

hey can  certainly mess with this reality quite a bit if perceived by millions or billions of people.  That brings us to the events discussed here. Basically, any civilization advanced enough to  create a space-faring utopia with an organization similar to the foundation will eventually stumble  upon the pattern screamers. This is discussed in the notes about the great experiments that  some of the planets were doing, trying to find a universal theory of everything that ties it  all together. Th

is was regarded as essentially cursed knowledge that they uncovered, although  the specifics aren’t mentioned. Regardless, they discovered the existence of these consciousnesses  tucked away in the fabric of reality, and before they even knew what they had discovered, they  began looking into it, empowering the pattern screamers. Before long then, the screamers made  themselves known among the general populace, and a snowball effect leads to them rewriting the  planet’s physics, eliminating all

sapient thought. This same thing would of course eventually happen  on earth, as the scp foundation is already aware of pattern screamers, but they have things  a bit more contained. Not only is the veil still in place, but they also understand what  scp-3930 is and why it needs to be contained. 3930 is a void of non-existence containing pattern  screamers, where they can be perceived directly, and so the foundation contains it by making sure  that practically no one knows it exists. When someon

e heads into this void, their mind can’t  handle the concept of non-existence, so it creates images out of nothing to attempt to make some sort  of order of it. This is exactly what was going on on the last planet, with the drone heading into a  copy of 3930, filling its video feed with static that viewers attempted to make order out of.  Of course, the foundation looking into these planets is obviously extremely dangerous, but  pattern screamers are naturally a tricky thing for them to understa

nd, as their survival sort of  depends on them not looking into them much. While there are counter points to the fermi paradox  and the great filter idea, this is certainly one of the more disturbing possibilities for what  happens when a civilization learns a bit too much.