In the station orbiting Io - Jupiter's most dangerous moon - fans roared. Artificial gravity tugged lightly on bodies, as if trying to re-set the rules of what's up and what's down. For Eve, Igor and Ali, this was their first day on an orbital outpost, though they had been dreaming for weeks about what awaited beyond Earth's dusty atmosphere. People called them the 'NextGen Expedition' - a handful of young scientists from around the world, bound together by a passion for space and technology. For years, the Space School has selected the brightest students for month-long missions. This year it fell to them. Their first two days were spent exploring the station - virtual lessons, gravity simulations, even a short walk on the observation platform, where Jupiter looked like a huge amber, slowly rotating in the darkness. However, everything changed when, during a routine inspection of the equipment store, Igor noticed a strange flickering in the wall behind the energy bar supplies. - 'Oi, look! - he called out, putting his hand to the panel. A quiet crack sounded from the speakers and a section of the wall shifted, revealing a hidden alcove. Inside was an object resembling a small capsule - its surface shone with an unfamiliar metal, and an unfamiliar symbol flashed on the display. Ala read the sign slowly, using the translator on her communicator. - 'It's... probably an ancient Martian alphabet? - she whispered in disbelief. Before anyone had time to protest, the capsule opened with a hiss. A cold light pulsed inside. Eve took a step back and Igor held out his hand, as if something invisible was drawing him towards this unusual find. Then the capsule suddenly began to generate a hologram - a three-dimensional map of the entire solar system. Stars moved in an unnatural way, and phantom lines appeared around Io and Jupiter, arranging themselves in a mysterious pattern. - This looks like... an instruction manual? - Ala asked, analysing the changing symbols. - But for whom? At that moment the hologram flashed with an extremely intense light. The communicators of all three suddenly began to receive an unknown signal. Their screens flickered, displaying a mysterious message: "If you can see this, you are no longer alone." Silence fell in the warehouse, and the three friends looked at each other with growing tension. What was inside the capsule? Who had left it behind? And most importantly - why had it activated now?