What Have I Done?

Exhibit 1a: Audio-Visual Signal One Way Retrieval

Proof that extinct Earth-based intelligent lifeforms had invaded our territory.

"Is this thing on?"

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"Oh great, I'm glad you're receiving me. Wow, over 2 billion viewers already! I snuck this in using a cloaking container, but I felt this wormhole transceiver was necessary."

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"Oh, right? Who am I? A janitor, believe it or not."

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"Ha, that's very funny, a space junk disposer ... Well, I'm a disposer, that's for sure. The term janitor is a codename for those of us on search and destroy missions. Well, should I say we're a squad? There's a few thousand of us on board, ready, locked, and loaded ..."

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"Why am I streaming to you? I was just about to get to that. I'm in the middle of a moral crisis here. We've never used the wormhole tech to visit an alien solar system to annihilate a species ..."

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"That's right. You were told it was for terraforming a new Earth. I'm afraid not, folks. Intelligence says there's a hostile, predatory species that tortured and slaughtered our third envoy, and they're trying to trace our residual wormhole tunnel back to our homeworld."

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"Oh yeah, we've sent several reconnaissance teams, like in a cloak-and-dagger style. Top secret."

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"Why am I willing to risk a court marshal to tell you? We've been invaders of everything on our planet. We've ruined entire ecosystems, and we've caused mass extinctions. I can't accept that we'll start an interstellar conflict, at least without first suing for peace."

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"Oh, that alarm you hear? That's a red alert. Hold on, folks ... it sounds like there's extraterrestrial communication going on."

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"You heard that too? The aliens found us and are threatening to occupy our ship."

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"I don't know why we can all hear it. Somehow this communication between ourselves causes the ship and alien signals to be picked up as well."

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"That's right. It's our protocol. The captain just initiated a self-destruct."

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"Why don't I seem afraid? I am, but we've trained for these self-sacrificing maneuvers countless times. We're told to never expect a return trip home on every mission. We're mentally prepared for the worst-case scenario."

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"Yes, once initiated, self-destruct cannot be stopped. I'm about to die soon, folks. It'll collapse the wormhole and prevent the aliens from getting whatever information they want."

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"I know, I know. I heard that too! They're tracing this stream back to Earth, and they even mentioned our galactic coordinates! What have I done?"