Dear Listeners

The **Dear Listeners** are an alien species which makes contact with the crew of the Hephaestus. They are a hive-mind group, formed through an amalgamation of various alien species of comparable technological virtue.

## First Contact

First contact with the Dear Listeners was allegedly made by the USS Tiamat in 1978. Said contact was initiated by the Dear Listeners in the form of duplicates spontaneously appearing among the Tiamat's crew.

A series of logs made by Captain Zhang detailed the crew's experience with first contact: Three crew members, Oswin, Tate, and Smith, were found in the bridge with no memories of the radiation quarantine they had been placed under. When the captain proceeded to check the medical facility, she found identical versions of the same three crew members. It was not clear to the crew which set of Oswin, Tate, and Smith was the "real" set, as each identical pair was proven to be physically identical and mentally stable. Both members of each pair possessed the same memories, and both claimed to be the original. At this point, all six individuals were "contained," but a lack of manpower forced the captain to eventually put them all to work.

## The Process

"The Process" is a procedure enacted by the Dear Listeners. Its purpose is to observe advancing life forms, and determine whether they can provide the Dear Listeners with further advancement. The process averages 14,000 years.

The assessment begins with remote observation. This is followed by a close observation via surrogates, identical duplicates of individuals introduced into the population. These duplicates transmit everything they see and hear back to the Dear Listeners, often without the individuals knowledge. They can also be used as a mouthpiece by the Dear Listeners to communicate with the new species.

After observation, the Dear Listeners evaluate the new species. If they are found to have valuable advancements, they are contacted and the process continues. Species that fail the evaluation are "redistributed." When Doug Eiffel asks for elaboration, the Dear Listeners confirm that this means the total destruction of that species- the redistribution of the matter that they comprise.

## Wolf 359

In the case of the Hephaestus station and crew, the Dear Listeners first contact the crew by means of a surrogate in "Minkowski Commanding", this one the former leader of the Hephaestus, Captain Isabel Lovelace. A few episodes later in "Do No Harm", the star turns blue, indicating that the Dear Listeners have opened the window for communication. They interact with Doug Eiffel most extensively, including altering his brain to be able to handle the direct information planting they use to transfer data.

The Dear Listeners are interested in the human race for their technology- their music. They broadcasted the old radio signals back into space in hopes that the original humans who sent the signal would find it again and the Process could begin.

## Powers and Tech

The Dear Listeners, while taking control of their surrogates, display several powers. Lovelace is seen as glowing from her palms and eyes before she is controlled. The Dear Listeners use advanced technology to plant information directly into the brains of humans, such as Doug Eiffel. This information can then be accessed with certain trigger phrases and questions. They can travel almost instantaneously with certain stars connected with wormhole-like tunnels. While possessing surrogates, they can snap their fingers in order to cause matter manipulation. Finally, the surrogates have incredible healing powers, including full recovery from extensive brain and organ damage.

Cutter is able to mitigate these powers, most obviously the matter manipulation, by the use of what Cutter refers to as a "psi-wave regulator". Little is known about this device, but Cutter is confident in its ability to stop them.

## References

1. ↑ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54b2fadfe4b09dfd24afc55d/t/5adfb64903ce64ffc8feea17/1524610633916/W359\_E54\_RS.pdf
2. ↑ https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54b2fadfe4b09dfd24afc55d/t/5adfb5cc1ae6cfd582fa64f3/1524610508722/W359\_E48\_RS.pdf