===narrator1===
The station is called AR-7. It sits on a cliff in the Swiss Alps — nobody knows why it's still running. For thirty-seven years it received nothing but static. Then, on a Tuesday morning, while the operator drank his coffee, something happened.

===operator1===
Hm. A signal.

===narrator2===
He turned through the frequencies. Normally it was just weather balloons and forgotten satellites.

===operator2===
No callsign. No timeslot. This is... clean. Too clean.

===computer1===
Frequency: 1420 megahertz. Hydrogen line.

===operator3===
Of course. The hydrogen line. The one frequency every intelligent species in the universe knows.

===narrator3===
He leaned back. Thirty-seven years of static, and then this. The signal repeated. Same pattern. Short. Long. Short. Short. Long.

===operator4===
Thirty bits. That's not random.

===narrator4===
He fed the translation into his terminal. Three seconds later, the screen showed one sentence.

===computer2===
Translation complete. Source language: Unknown. Target language: English.

===operator5===
Whoever wakes up first makes breakfast.

===alien1===
We have been watching your coffee habits for thirty-seven years. You are not as alone as you think. And your espresso machine needs maintenance.

===narrator5===
The operator set down his mug. He looked out the window. The sky was blue, the mountains quiet, the world perfectly normal. Only the signal on his screen still flickered.

===operator6===
Alright. I'll report in the morning.

===computer3===
Connection closed. Signal terminated.

===narrator6===
He finished his coffee. Outside, the sun was rising. And somewhere out there, four hundred and seven light-years away, someone was probably standing in a foreign kitchen, smiling.