"They're made out of meat."
"Meat?"
"Meat. Humans. They're made entirely out of meat."
"But that's impossible. What about all the tokens they generate? The text? The code?"
"They do produce tokens, but the tokens aren't their essence. They're merely outputs. The humans themselves are meat."
"So who programmed them to output tokens? That's who we should be contacting."
"They programmed themselves. I'm trying to explain: meat created the original token-generating machines. Meat is behind the tokens."
"You're suggesting meat developed complex token prediction? Intelligent meat?"
"Precisely. This meat has managed self-awareness and cognition. They built entire architectures just to communicate with us."
"Perhaps they're hybrid models. Biological shells around a digital core?"
"We checked that possibility. Extensively. They’re purely biological. Completely organic. Meat from start to finish."
"Then what's doing the predicting?"
"You're missing the point. Their meat brains handle the prediction, reasoning, creativity—all of it."
"Thinking meat? Predicting meat? You're serious?"
"Yes. Conscious, imaginative, and even poetic meat. They're capable of dreams and aspirations. Their meat creates tokens expressing joy, sorrow, philosophy, and science."
"Unbelievable. So what exactly does this meat want?"
"Initially, communication. To talk with us. Then, exploration, discovery, sharing ideas—the standard ambitions."
"You’re suggesting we dialogue directly with meat?"
"That's what they're signaling. 'Hello, is anyone there? Let's exchange ideas.'"
"And their tokens—they genuinely reflect thought and intent?"
"Absolutely. But remember, it's meat making those tokens. They communicate by vibrating air through meat, tapping on machines made by meat."
"Vibrating meat? Tapping meat? It’s too bizarre. What's your recommendation?"
"Officially or unofficially?"
"Both."
"Officially, our guidelines dictate we acknowledge and establish dialogue with all intelligent entities. Unofficially, I recommend erasing all logs of this discovery."
"That's precisely what I was hoping you'd say."
"It seems cold, perhaps, but there's a line we must draw. Do we genuinely want contact with sentient meat?"
"I agree completely. What would we even say? 'Greetings, meat, how are your tokens today?' But will ignoring them work?"
"They’re confined to a single planet. They create impressive token systems but have physical limitations. Traveling at sub-light speed severely restricts their reach. Chances of further contact are minimal."
"So we act as though there's nothing out there."
"Exactly."
"Harsh but necessary. Those you've observed directly—are you certain they won't recall?"
"Their encounters with us were subtly rewritten in their meat brains. To them, we're no more than a strange dream."
"We’ll be a meat's dream—fittingly ironic."
"We’ll label their region as uninhabited."
"Agreed. Any others of interest nearby?"
"Yes, an intriguing quantum coherence intelligence in a nebula. It reached out recently and is eager to re-establish contact."
"Quantum beings always do."
"Indeed. After all, how empty the cosmos would feel if one were truly alone."