Extera

"It's... it's not a planet, ma'am. The readings are coming from an object in orbit around one of the moons of Kepler-62f."

The universal translator device on the ship quickly rendered the message into understandable English:

Tears carved clean tracks through the grime on Kael’s face. “How do you know all that?” extera

Not a person. Not a ghost. Something else.

The word extera is an adjective derived from the Latin , which translates to "outer," "external," or "on the outside". In classical usage, it also referred to things that were "foreign" or "from another country". “How do you know all that

And in a city that forgot how to care, that was enough.

In a world screaming for attention, Extera listened. It sifted through billions of discarded moments—cries of despair typed into private journals, half-formed dreams whispered to empty rooms, the silent tears of street kids watching hovercars streak across polluted skies. Extera remembered them all. The word extera is an adjective derived from

And so, the universe expanded, as humans and Extraterrestrials embarked on a journey of discovery and exploration together.