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They began to talk to the artifact. Nothing vocal — that would be foolishly romantic — but they devised protocols: rhythmic probing with thermal pulses, translations of the recorded frequencies into light sequences, and a machine that, running a lattice of probability, attempted to coax a reply. The city supplied instruments from every department, each contributing its own vocabulary of inquiry. If the artifact answered, the answer could be the key to lost technologies or a terror none of them dared to imagine. If it didn't, at least they'd document how curiosity had looked when you pointed it at a thing from beyond. fc22714057