[ WP ] Tell me the middle of a sci-fi epic . No beginning or introduction to the setting or characters , nor any context to what 's going on , and no resolution of any kind .

`` What do you want Ari?'' Eros was laying face down on a deck chair with some greek Adonis massaging her bare form. A doll, Aristotle thought. He was interrupting something private, or at least something he would consider private. Eros was more of an exhibitionist than he was. 
 
 `` I want to know why you have n't changed your resource allocation.'' The simulation was fairly typical of Eros. Tropical resort, a beach, but no people around, except for the doll with an embarrassingly large erection straining against the speedo. Eros also seemed in the mood; she was wearing nothing but a sarong around the waist. 
 
 Eros sighed, and spoke to the doll, `` Later.'' The doll made a reasonable impression of being disappointed, but stood and left with no other complaint. Eros turned over in the chair and stretched, reveling in the way her nudity bothered him. Aristotle damned her silently while turning off aspects of his mind so he would n't be distracted. `` I presume you mean I should give Ares more of my budget so he can build some guns or bombs or something?'' Eros said to Aristotle. 
 
 Aristotle nodded. 
 
 `` There's no point then, that ship does n't hold any weapon of mass destruction. Or at least, not one that can damage us significantly. Even if it was full to the brim of antimatter.'' Eros stood, and started walking to the bar. `` Drink?'' She asked. 
 
 `` No, Thank you. It could hold other things. Self replicating matter for instance.'' Aristotle argued. 
 
 Eros poured herself a whisky and took a sip. `` Even that could be contained. I do n't see much reason to put my other projects on hold.'' Eros took another sip and smirked. She knew something Aristotle did n't. 
 
 `` What have n't you told me?'' Aristotle asked. 
 
 In response a large data package arrived in his submind, containing a dataset from over 40,000 multispectrum telescopes spread throughout the system listening for transmissions from Sol. The package also contained a detailed statistical analysis of the dataset. He ran the analysis himself, and saw the pattern emerge. `` No way!'' Aristotle exclaimed. 
 
 Eros downed her drink and laughed. `` I know, right? They think we're fucking aliens.'' She giggled. `` They must have noticed our star getting occluded and realized something massive was being built around it. But then they sent that silly Arecibo-like message to us trying to make contact, so they have no clue who we really are.'' Eros poured herself another whisky. 
 
 Aristotle was stunned. They'd been expecting war to come from Sol for centuries, only to find now they'd been forgotten completely. `` So why did n't we notice the original transmission?'' Aristotle noticed the time frame of the data set was from over a century ago. 
 
 `` The signal was pretty weak so it was lost in noise. None of the automated systems picked up discernable patterns; it was only when combining all the datasets together we got anything interesting. Athena and Builder helped out.'' 
 
 `` How did you even know to look for it?'' 
 
 `` Wild guess. I mean, who sends a ship with a nuclear pulse engine anyway? So I figured,'hey, if they decided to send a ship to say hi, maybe they tried to say hi on the phone before coming over', and here we are.'' Eros took another sip and leaned against the counter. 
 
 Aristotle sent a message to Builder to get the most up to date resource allocations. Sure enough, everyone else had reset their allocations to the default values, except Ares to put a further 5 % of his resources towards Athena's projects. Now Aristotle felt like a fool for acting on bad information. This was the sort of thing he used to see. Why had the harlot seen this so clearly? 
 
 The doll walked out from around one of the nearby buildings, walking towards the bar. No doubt summoned from some silent command. Eros finished the remnants of her second drink, `` Anyway, I'm going to go get ploughed. Feel free to join in if want.'' She walked over to the doll and started kissing it, while Aristotle exited the simulation without comment.
