The beginning of humanity’s putative end comes in the second episode of the Three Body Problem. Ye Wenjie is working at Red Coast, a (fictional) compound erected in the 1960s by communist China to listen for signs of extraterrestrial life. After years of long, arduous shifts listening to the empty ether, Ye picks up on a shockingly clear signal. “Do not respond,” the decoded message from outer space reads.
I am a pacifist in this world. You are lucky that I am the first to receive your message. I am warning you: do not answer. If you respond, we will come. Your world will be conquered. Do not answer.
Ye looks out at the mountainous landscape, which has long been her home, and which to the best of her knowledge she may never be allowed to leave. Then she turns on the transmitter and points Red Coast’s giant radio satellite at the source of the message. “Come,” she types. “We cannot save ourselves. I will help you conquer this world.”
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