HERD 00000 / DRIFT +0.07 / OK
BROADCAST 001 / INCOMING SIGNAL

COSMIC CATTLE INCOMING COSMIC CATTLE INCOMING

TARGET A DRIFT
SECTOR 7G / SCAN ACTIVE

Hey -- you made it. Pull up a chair. Right now, somewhere past Andromeda, the herd is drifting again. We've been watching it since the last signal. The League has tracked 4,918 head of cosmic cattle across seven star systems, and not a single one has filed a flight plan. Typical.

WANT THE COORDINATES?
BROADCAST 002 / TELEMETRY FEED

THE DRIFT IS REAL. THE DRIFT IS REAL.

🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 🐄 DRIFT PEAK
HERD DRIFT VECTOR / LIVE

The telemetry doesn't lie. Every 14.3 hours, the leading edge of the herd shifts 0.07 parsecs to the galactic south-southwest. We call it "the drift." Nobody knows why. We've been charting it since the League's founding signal in 1973 -- each data point you see above is a head of cattle, not a number. They ARE the data. They always have been.

The drift has been consistent. Reassuringly consistent. The kind of consistent that makes you wonder if something out there is doing the drifting on purpose.

Caught the drift yet? Good. Keep watching.

STILL FOLLOWING?
BROADCAST 003 / TRANSMISSION LOG

LAST CONTACT: 04:18 GMT. LAST CONTACT: 04:18 GMT.

RA 18h 42m DEC -23° 17' RNG 4.91 KLY
RA 18h 42m / DEC -23° 17' / RNG 4.91 KLY

Four-eighteen Greenwich Mean. That's when the last ping came in from the outrider. One quick burst of telemetry, then silence. The coordinates are confirmed: they're moving toward the Lagoon Nebula, and the lead bull is approximately 4.91 kilolightyears out. We've named him Gerald.

Gerald doesn't know he's a data point. None of them do. That's what makes this beautiful.

SIGNAL CONFIRMED.
BROADCAST 004 / OPEN CHANNEL

WE LISTEN. YOU LISTEN BACK. WE LISTEN. YOU LISTEN BACK.

SIGNAL OUT
LISTENING POST GAMMA / OPEN

Leave a marker. That's all we ask. One signal so the League knows you're out there, listening. The herd can't hear you, but we can. Tap in your coordinates and we'll add you to the watch-log -- every soul who's tuned in while the cattle drifted past.

ANYONE OUT THERE?
BROADCAST 005 / SIGN-OFF

OVER. AND OUT. OVER. AND OUT.

SIGNAL LOW
CARRIER WAVE FADING

That's the broadcast for tonight. Gerald and the herd are 4.91 kilolightyears out, still drifting southwest, heading toward something bright. The League will keep watching. We always do. Tune back tomorrow -- same frequency, same friendly operator on the night shift.

The League has been watching since 1973. We haven't missed a drift yet.

TUNE BACK TOMORROW.