Lena zoomed in. The object had symbols etched into its hull. Not human. Not any known language.

Then the app updated.

The Star-Scratcher

The screen dissolved into a live satellite view—but not from any known mapping service. The perspective was lower, closer, as if the camera hovered just above her building’s roof. She could see her own window, the flicker of her desk lamp. Then the view scraped sideways , sliding past city grids, oceans, continents, until it stopped at a dry riverbed in Namibia.