4.2 light-years from Earth.
Within the habitable zone of the Proxima Centauri system, a planet named Proxima b orbited a red dwarf at a "rapid" pace.
With an orbital period of just 11.2 Earth days, Proxima b was extremely close to its red dwarf!
The red dwarf was named Proxima Centauri. Its mass was 0.123 times that of the Sun, and its luminosity was just 1.55% of the Sun's.
Thanks to this, Proxima b remained within Proxima Centauri's habitable zone.
The view zoomed in.
A dense atmosphere and an ozone layer several times thicker than Earth's blocked the high-energy radiation from Proxima Centauri, laying a solid foundation for life to emerge.
On the surface, countless pitch-black, disc-shaped artificial structures stood across the flat terrain.
Their design was also intended to absorb as much of the star's high-energy radiation as possible, protecting fragile biological bodies.
As the view zoomed in again, an intelligent creature with three pairs of narrow visual organs and thick limbs sat in a chair, silently watching the monitor before him.
In Proxima Centauri's civilization, his name was Atoka, meaning "receiver."
His name had given him his mission.
Thus, ever since he had been old enough to remember, he had been confined to this cavernous building.
His task was simple: monitor the information coming in from the various probes.
Atoka propped up his Thought Organ with his thick forelimbs, his three pairs of narrow visual organs squinting into almost invisible slits.
"Phew..."
He slowly opened his breathing hole and exhaled a thick cloud of waste gas.
It was just as it had been when he first entered this building a hundred years ago.
(For ease of understanding, all times are given in Earth units.)
Nothing had changed.
The monitor before him had been replaced several times, yet it