The Exploring Cluster

"Four coordinates?"

Upon receiving the spectral signal from distant kin, the observation unit froze for a moment. After fully reviewing the follow-up information its kin had sent, it immediately relayed the contents via radio to the entire cluster in the colonial star system.

"Attention, all units. The destination of the interstellar voyage has changed. The destination thirty-two light-years away is canceled. Assign four clusters to prioritize exploration of these four coordinate stars."

Because of the information delivered by their distant kin, the leaper organism cluster that had been preparing for interstellar travel halted its operation. The star rail also cut off power to its electric field, readjusted its orbit, and aimed itself toward the four closer coordinates.

Some time later, the star rail completed its turn and resumed charging the electric field.

"Star rail calibration complete. Next, we will enter the acceleration phase. For safety reasons, do not move around during electromagnetic acceleration."

Following standard procedure, the star rail warned every individual in the leaper organism cluster before beginning acceleration.

Under the electric field's influence, the entire leaper organism cluster began accelerating. It was as though they had been shifted sideways, while the scenery around them changed, including the star-filled expanse of deep space. Only the leaper organism cluster remained still. The relativity of physical motion had never been so apparent.

In the pitch-black universe, meteors converged into a stellar rainbow ahead of the leaper organism cluster. The antimatter shield they had erected gave off intermittent gleams, and through bone-conducted sound, the Collectors occasionally heard faint noises from ahead of them, like the static of a radio with no signal.

This was because interstellar atoms released energy when they collided with the antimatter shield. A tiny fraction of that energy turned into vibrational waves, which traveled through their bones and