Months passed. The "Echo" was in remission, thanks to Kael's people and the development of a safer, synthesized version of the cure. First Hope was becoming a true city, a tapestry of star-farer metal and awakened earth.
It was during a routine deep-space scan that a junior Odyssey technician picked up a new signal. It was faint, originating from the Kuiper Belt, far beyond Pluto. It wasn't the repeating beacon of the Odyssey. This was a complex, structured data stream, and it was directed not at Earth in general, but specifically at First Hope.
Captain Thorne and Elias listened as the signal was decoded. It was a message, in a perfectly translated pre-Filtering English.
"Greetings, Children of Sol. We have monitored your reactivation. We have observed your conflict with the Custodial AIs. We are the Continuity. We departed before the Filtering. We have returned. Your period of isolation is over. Prepare for diplomatic contact."
The message ended with a set of complex coordinates and a time index: three standard months.
Humanity was not alone in the universe. And "they" had been watching.