The moment the sky pulse struck the tower Evan felt the vibration run through his bones. It was not random. Not chaotic. It was precise a sequence that repeated in intervals too perfect for nature. The sky shimmered in fractal patterns spreading outward like ripples on an invisible lake. The wind changed direction twice in the same moment as if reacting to two different instructions at once.

Lyriel shouted from below. “Evan are you stable”

“Yes,” he called back though his voice was strained. The crystals vibrated under his hands pulsing in steady waves that almost resembled machine rhythm. Evan had never seen anything like it. Not in magic. Not even in advanced data systems back home.

Brumdir’s voice echoed up the tower. “What do the crystals say human”

Evan took a deep breath. “They are counting.”

Lyriel blinked. “Counting”

“Yes. The pulses repeat in exact sequences. Twenty seven pulses then a long pause. Then eight pulses fast. Then twenty seven again. It repeats like a code.”

Lyriel looked frightened. “A code means intent. Purpose.”

Brumdir slammed his fist into the tree bark. “Who in the nine furnaces sends pulses through the sky to count at our world”

Evan stared at the horizon. The pulses formed shapes impossible to ignore. Curved waves overlapping straight lines. Fractal expansions. It looked less like mana and more like… an algorithm.

“This is not a creature,” Evan said. “It is a system. Something designed. Something mathematical.”

Lyriel asked quietly, “Designed by who”

Evan shook his head. “We need more data. I need to track the full sequence.”

He adjusted the crystals letting them store the incoming pulses. As each wave hit the array the crystals glowed in cascading patterns capturing every data point. Evan watched the sequence unfold.

Twenty seven pulses
Pause
Eight pulses fast
Pause
Twenty seven pulses
Longer pause
A single low pulse
Then the cycle repeated

Brumdir scratched his beard. “Human do you understand it”

Evan hesitated. “The pattern looks like a handshake protocol. A request for acknowledgment.”

Lyriel tilted her head. “You mean it waits for a response”

“Yes,” Evan said. “In my world systems send signals like this to see if another system responds. It is checking for receivers.”

Brumdir’s eyes widened. “You mean it is calling us”

Evan swallowed. “More accurately it is calling something inside this world.”

The tree shook again. A second pulse spread across the canopy. This time the light turned red at the edges like warning signals.

Lyriel looked up. “What does red mean”

Evan’s voice grew tense. “Second stage. If the first sequence asks for acknowledgment the second sequence waits for confirmation.”

Brumdir muttered, “And what happens if confirmation never comes”

Evan took a deep breath. “Then it escalates.”

Lyriel’s face paled. “Escalates into what”

Evan stared at the sky. “Into forcing a response.”

The crystals hummed violently. The next sequence began.
Twenty seven
Eight
Twenty seven
One
Then a new pulse Evan had not seen before pulsed across the sky like a spear of light.

Lyriel gasped. “That one reached the forest floor.”

Evan clenched his jaw. “It is triangulating.”

Brumdir shouted, “The sky is mapping us”

Evan nodded. “Yes. Something is searching.”

The forest trembled again. Birds screamed in alarm. Mana streams flickered like shattered glass.

Lyriel whispered, “Evan this is not just a pulse. It is intrusion.”

But Evan was already running down the tower. “We need the Data Guild now. We must decode the signal before the next pulse arrives.”

They gathered the guild in the courtyard. Apprentices rushed forward carrying logs from the previous hours. Rangers returned with sky pulse readings from distant regions. Even dwarven envoys arrived with underground pulse comparisons.

Evan spread the data across the continental board.

Lyriel asked, “Does the signal reveal intent”

Evan nodded slowly. “Yes. It is searching for something.”

Brumdir leaned forward. “A beast A tree A cavern”

Evan shook his head. “No. Something more specific.”

He rearranged the crystals. The pulses aligned into a pattern strikingly similar to something he recognized from his old world.

Lyriel whispered, “What is it”

Evan stared at the board.

“It is searching for a data source.”

Silence fell across the courtyard.

Brumdir frowned. “Data like your dashboards”

Evan looked up slowly. “Yes. Something out there knows this world contains structured information. And now that we built dashboards the world has a signature. A unique rhythm. The pulses detected it.”

Lyriel stepped back in horror. “Evan… are you saying the pulses are responding to our dashboards”

“Yes,” Evan said. “We organized mana. We revealed patterns. We made the world readable. And now something is reading it.”

The crystals vibrated again.
The next sequence arrived.
Twenty seven
Eight
Twenty seven
One
Three long pulses
Two short pulses

Lyriel asked shakily, “What does that mean”

Evan exhaled. “It just sent a new command.”

Brumdir gripped his hammer. “Command for what”

Evan whispered:

“A download request.”