Whispering Gloom

On the shores of the endless night, it slumbers. In the twilight between stars, it dreams. It stirs at our passage, and murmurs to us in it's restlessness. We are not the first. The Pioneers and Voyagers of old were the first. We did not understand. We can not understand. Listen! It whispers...
  It is a phenomenon observed since the very dawn of humanity's voyages into the vast gulf of space between stars. Although shrouded by noise and background radiation, it appeared in the signals sent back by the first deep space probes to leave the confines of Sol's gravity well.   It manifests itself in the chaotic and turbulent magnetic fields of Sol's Heliopause. Traversal through this region of space causes interference in a vessel's radio antennas and radar suites, inducing static and noise in the vessel's instruments. Frequently, a vessel's internal communication systems will pick up this interference, with the long cables and wires acting as antennas and speaker systems broadcasting this static noise.   The Oortzer tribes are intimately familiar with this magentic noise, as they frequently pass through the Heliopause on their way to and from the distant Oort Cloud.  
Listen! It whispers...
  Not everything is quite what it seems. People travelling through the region often claim that the magnetic induced noise is not in fact entirely random. Semi-coherent sounds can be heard in the static, phantom signals among the noise, ethereal shapes appearing on the radar scopes.   Hallucinations are common upon hearing these otherworldly whispers, and feelings of unease and paranoia can persist for weeks after the event. Many are driven insane, redused to babbling madmen. The Oortzers seem to be uniquely resistant, although it is theorized that it contributes to their society's eccentricities.   Most rational people are adamant that there is nothing to all of this. Others are certain that something lurks in the gloom. Whether it is an unknown entity, sinister or apathetic, or simply a form of psychological distress manifesting after long periods of deep space isolation, the mystery remains...  
It howls! Thrashing! Straining against the very cosmos! Listen! Heed the words!


Cover image: by NASA/JPL-Caltech

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