The Great Development Space - that was the name of a modern housing estate on the outskirts of the town of Nova. It was here, in a small clearing surrounded by tall trees, that Lena, Max and Igor met. They had been friends for years and shared a passion for space and new technologies together. That evening, Lena brought her latest gadget - a hand-built radio wave receiver that she claimed could pick up signals from other planets. Max, somewhat sceptical, sat comfortably on a blanket and looked at the stars shining above their heads. Igor had brought his grandfather's old telescope, which, although it was chugging along, still allowed him to see the craters on the moon. Lena leaned over the receiver, turning the dials. There was silence around them, broken only by the chirping of crickets and the sound of the wind. Suddenly, there was a murmur in the headphones, which shifted into a repetitive, unnatural rhythm. Lena froze, listening, then handed the headphones to Max. The boy put them to his ears and looked in disbelief - this was no ordinary radio noise. A meteor passed over their heads, lighting up the night sky. Igor suddenly pointed to a darker spot in the middle of the forest. "Can you see it? Something is flashing, right there!" - he whispered excitedly. Lena put down the receiver and the three of them set off through the bushes. The closer they got to the source of the light, the more intensely it pulsed. Eventually they reached a small hollow among the trees. On the ground was a small metallic object resembling a piece of molten glass, but inside it pulsed a strange blue glow. Lena carefully touched it with the end of a stick. At the same moment, a high-pitched sound rang out and the device began to produce a field of invisible energy around them. Max stepped back, calling out: "Don't move it!", but Lena didn't listen - she was too fascinated. Suddenly, a sound came from the forest - as if something large and heavy was coming towards them. The pulsating object began to tremble, and Lena's receiver - which they had left in the clearing - suddenly switched to speaker and sounded a distorted voice: "Connection initiated. Hold position." The friends looked at each other horrified, unsure of what to do. Another light flashed in the darkness and the shadow of an unfamiliar figure emerged from the thicket....