its been a week now since we deciphered the bronze disk, and we (me and my colleagues, all of whom prefer to remain anonymous) have decided it is better to reveal what we have discovered as opposed to keeping it hidden and encouraging suspicion and conspiracy within the general populace. as you all undoubtedly know, the bronze disk was found in a small pod made of an unknown material by astronauts aboard the ISS. it was sent down to us for further study into its possibility as proof of extraterrestrial life. on our team were six people, three linguists, an anthropologist, an engineer, and an astronomer - i was one of the linguists. we spent weeks analysing the disk, trying to decipher it. it was obviously carved with intent, as well as with the use of precision tools - lazers, we figured. it featured what we are fairly sure are maps, engravings of six-legged creatures raising their hands in an apparent greeting - they appear similar to our mythological centaurs and are, presumably, the ones who created the disk. on the other side of the disk was what appeared to be some mechanism similar to a record, however with jagged grooves inlaid with some kind of iridescent material instead of the typical spiral grooves. a week ago, we finally figured out how to play it - all thanks to our engineer, of course. we all crowded around the machine the engineer had strung together and listened - all of us had spent months on this thing, dedicated our lives to it. it felt like we were the last priests on earth and were about to meet god. and we did. on that disk was another civilization. we heard the sounds of nature, oddly musical rasps and the rhythmic bark-yips of some kind of mammal, presumably. we heard flowing water and cracking fires and crashing waves and the faint sounds of heat lighting. and then came the music. the music, fast and lively, played on some forign instrument we couldnt even begin to conceptualise. then came singing, high and strange and beautiful, like the drumming of rain on a tin roof. the music was replaced by talking, shouting, laughing. a smooth voice read out what we could only suppose was a story, with how slowly and methodically they spoke. then came the sound of what we assume to be the creators of the disk, speaking over one another excitedly, presumably speaking to those who might one day be listening. by the time it was over we were all crying - we didnt feel ashamed in the least either. this was our lifes work. we had found life, and not just that - we had found a world, a people, a place with music and laughter and scientists just like us who, just like us, were looking for others within the vast expanse of the universe. the astronomer began to study the 'maps' with a delerious ferver - we were all dying to meet these people, or at the very least know where they were from. one of the linguists suggested sending off part of the disk for carbon dating so we might know how far away they were (and the astronomer was disappointed that they had not thought of that first). that was the worst decision we could have made, i think. or would it have been worse to never know? im not quite sure. i think id quite like to not have known. anyway, the results came back telling us the disk was around eighty million years old. not only were all of the people whos voices we had stored on that disk long since dead, it was almost certain that their entire civilization, their very existence, was long gone, erased. one of their illustrations included a stylised depiction of a sun - that sun would have almost certainly expanded and swallowed their planet by now. we were all devastated. the astronomer was put on suicide watch. i started drinking for the first time in years. im pretty sure the anthropologist was all but forced into medical leave from his teaching position. we tell you this because there is no way we could have hidden it from you. me, the other linguists, the anthropologist, the engineer, and the astronomer - none of us wanted to tell anyone. if it was up to us no one would ever have to know, but it isnt. we can only pray you all did not hope the way we had hoped.