The Sentinel Reclassified

In the late winter of 2828 UCSD, reviewing Cerebraun Hegemony survey data under the standing Survey Corps data-exchange arrangement, Tissadelle Shepherd runs the Sentinel's pulse as audio and hears structure in it. Administrator-Voice Sohrel authorises independent verification the same night, the only time in three centuries of service Sohrel has reopened a filing closed that long. Six days later the reclassification survives Survey Corps review, reproduced under supervision, and the Sentinel moves from automated hazard beacon, low priority to an active anomaly docket.

Canon facts:

• The finding is structured repetition with variation, and nothing more: musical structure is evidence the signal is not understood, not evidence of intelligent origin.
• The Prime Ganglion's office formally noted Sohrel's decision, neither sanctioning nor clearing it.
• Sohrel declined four internal Hegemony requests to raise the question with Meridian's reef-cities, the fourth the same week as the review.

See: The Sentinel, Filed Under Noise (S03E01C01), Independent Verification (S03E01C02).