The Archeon Project - Science Fiction Story

I had a profound emotional experience at Burning Man 2023; a real awakening of my heart and soul. Emotions are sometimes difficult to verbalize directly, for me at least, so I told myself this quaint story as a way to hold onto the feelings experienced until I’d digested them and figured out what it all meant.

What is now a story of “Isolation and Recovery” started as awakening and transformation of an alien space seed sprouting in the desert in response to a joyous community event and then broadcasting a message to outer space:

Archeon - [ är′kē-ŏn′ ] Plural archaea. Any of a group of microorganisms that resemble bacteria but differ from them in their genetic makeup and certain aspects of their cell structure, such as composition of their cell walls.

On September 2, 2023 a rag-tag group of Burning Man revelers discovered an artifact buried in the mud. Whether it was exposed by the recent rainstorm, or the revelers’ activities the night before, the object appears as a metallic, oddly biological form resembling a curved shell. Attempts to find its edge were fruitless; it appears to extend horizontally and gently curves downwards into the soil. Its surface has pores and small features, like veins, but no attachment points or seams can be found.

A group of scientist forms to study what it dubbed “The Archeon,” as it appears to be a foreign, biological structure. Aside from its initial emergence, and the growth of a central stem, the Archeon has not changed in months. Instruments have probed its extent and discovered a great shield under the earth, perhaps hundreds of meters in diameter. Scans reveal a central filament extending miles into the earth, almost beyond our ability to measure, to a central cluster, like a dendrite connecting to an organ deep below.

The scientists are patient, but nothing changes for months. They lose interest and begin to pack their bags. As a send-off for the lead scientists the others throw a raucous birthday party over the long mid-winter weekend. Lo and behold, the Archeon begins to transform, sprouting tendrils and an ornate structure on top. Eerily quiet, the new form pulses with light.

Activated by their revelries, the Archeon continues to transform and the light from within grows stronger until it’s clear that the emanations are directed. It senses our presence and our activities trigger a response. The Archeon is sending a message to several, specific points in space, some of which are local planets in our solar system, the rest distant galaxies. The Archeon is a communication device. But what is its message? And who or what is on the receiving end?

A breakthrough! Our attempts to interact with the Archeon have succeeded, somewhat. We can inject a message into the stream. The receivers are lightyears or millions of lightyears distant and the message will be long in transit. What would you like to say about our time here on earth? about our community? about yourself? about how you participate in that community?

Theory - Scientists now believe the Archeon is an ancient bio-metallic spore, spread by a distant intelligent race to detect civilization and cooperative life forms. It self-assembles and sends a beacon in response to perceived cooperative spirit. It’s informing someone or something of our activities.

Practice - the research site will be open to the public during the week prior to Labor Day 2024 in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, USA. Participants will interact with the sculpture and their cooperative actions will trigger the message sending routine. Participants will be able to submit a message for transmission by completing a short survey gathering their recent experiences with isolation related to the pandemic. Multi-planet and galaxy laser transmissions will take place nightly.

Story Arc

Discovery: (Sept 2023) - a mysterious form appears.
Speculation: (Oct 23 to Mar 24) - the structure unfolds, assembling itself into an obelisk or stem.
Outgrowth: (Mar 9) - A team scientist’s birthday celebration triggers wild, spontaneous outgrowth from the structure, purpose unknown. A research team is formed to monitor activity.
Activation: (Jun) The Archeon is an antenna, responding to cooperative human activities and it beams messages into deep space. Content unknown.
Interaction: (Aug) we can control it, somewhat through our actions, to send a message to whoever or whatever sent this device. The general public is invited to participate: What will you say?
Propagation: (2024+) The team publishes its learnings to date, inspires participation.

Purpose - Building the sculpture creates the team.  Interacting with the sculpture on site calls attention to the issue of isolation and challenges participants to take action to reconnect… to recover.