"A human skull?" Dr. Dagny Noble needed clarification before refusing. She'd been consulted on too many anthropological discoveries in the past. She made it clear to the scientific community that her interests had evolved through various interviews and blog posts. 

"No, Doctor, not entirely." The man on the other end of the line replied.

"It either is or it isn't. Don't jerk me around. I told the last guy from EAA to take me off their call list."

"Dr. Noble, you must have misheard. I'm with the ESA, the European Space Agency. You're not going to want to miss this opportunity."

*******

Dagny landed in Brussells the following morning where she was met by Dr. Lenore Janssens, director of the European Space and Education Centre, whom she spoke to briefly on the phone. During their chauffeured ride to Redu, she apologized profusely for her lack of tact.  

"No need to explain, Dr. Shaeffer, we did some extensive digging before contacting you," Lenore replied as she handed over a manila folder. "You'll want to peruse these files before we arrive."

*******

"It certainly looks humanoid." Dagny declared. "But being completely constructed of alloy makes me think android."

"Yes, we agreed on the same at first. But we can't account for the DNA, nor the message."

"The message, right. And you say it was delivered to your doorstep?" 

"Technically speaking, yes. But the cameras at ESEC did not account for the delivery. It just appears, as in the photo. Our team keeps throwing the idea of a matter transmitter around. We thought the DNA found in the alloy could have meshed on route to us from whoever left the message."

"Teleportation," whispered Dagny, intrigued indeed. 

"The text on the outer package itself was a cuneiform script, and it took our linguists several weeks to agree on a proper translation."

Dagny riffled through the photos and papers in her lap to find the one Lenore was referencing. She read the message too quickly on the ride over, not realizing it's significance until now.  

"It's a riddle," she declared and read it aloud;

"Mark me Eternal,

Give me your breath,

Light gives me life,

Light gives me death."

"Yes, Doctor, we were hoping with your extensive background in xenology, you'll be able to help us decipher it." 

"I'll do what I can," she said without thinking, her mind already grasping at memories sparked by the message. "I need to see it."

*******

It was only a partial skull; the mandible, silver and smooth, it reflected her own image as she picked it up with rubber-gloved hands. Lighter than she expected, she brought it to her nose to smell.  Most alloys are heavy and some carry a musty or metallic smell depending on their compounds. The mandible's scent was not one she had smelt before, it reminded her of raw meat. Repulsed, though she kept her face emotionless, she slowly lowered it from her face. 

"What are your initial thoughts, Dr. Noble?" Lenore asked expectantly. She stood next to Dagny with a handful of other suits and a few casual observers surrounding them.  

"Definitely alien," she replied, which was counteracted with low rumblings of voices, some in agreement, some with direct questions. She acknowledged no one and set the mandible on the metal table where they were gathered. She'd been in this type of room before, dissecting discoveries, or observing someone else with different specimens. 

"What of the message?" A man, casually dressed, almost disheveled, asked her. "I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear yours."

Dagny nodded to him. "I do have some thoughts. But I'm afraid you won't like them."

Some of the group chuckled, but not the man who spoke up. "Try me."

Lenore interrupted, "Dr. Noble, this is Dr. Lasher, he's been head of the project thus far."

Dagny offered her hand and Lasher shook it firmly.

"Well, when it comes to 'marking eternal' my first thought was something infinite, but it could also mean old or immortal. Perhaps this comes from another time and place."

"I agree," Lasher said.

 "Give me breath," continued Dagny, "I think breathprints, how our breath tells the story of who we are and what makes us unique. Though I can't say how we are to give that to it. Perhaps it's telling us this thing can be awoken, or activated somehow. The last two lines, that's easy, it's a shadow, I've heard that part somewhere before."

"We think you're right on track Dr. Noble. We knew you'd understand. What we haven't quite expressed yet is the genetic make-up, and what that has to do with you." Lasher explained.

"With me? What could it possibly have to do with me?" 

No one answered her right away. They all looked at one another as if trying to decide who was the best candidate to break the news. It was Lenore who cleared her throat. "You were the only match in our database, Dr. Noble. You share a common ancestor with this... discovery." 

The room silenced. 

Unexpectedly, Dr. Noble did not feign surprise. In an instant, her mind brought her back to the event which changed her life forever. 

Twenty years prior, only weeks after receiving her Ph.D., she was en route to Cambridge by car when bright lights from the sky lite up the road in front of her. She slammed on the breaks and the light held, moved slowly over her car and enveloped it. The windows gave no protection. The heat of the light was immense, her car became a geothermal sauna. Her skin instantly burned, her eyes blinded, she blacked out. 

When she woke up, she was 500 miles away, on the outskirts of Inverness. She didn't know it at the time, but months had passed. She'd been reported missing by her colleagues at Cambridge when she didn't show. 

She was covered in gashes and holes in her body. No memory. No explanations to offer. Once healed, she was left with only scars and a small silver tattoo on her inner wrist; an infinity symbol. 

The media spun it as a kidnapping, but she only ever had theories of what happened to her, none of which she shared with anyone. But it pushed her deep into the study of abductions, sightings and ancient alien discoveries. It soon became clear to her community that her focus had changed.

She lost her tenure at Cambridge, though built quite a life there researching, publishing various ancient alien theories. She was even interviewed for several episodes of a popular tv show. 

"Did you hear me, Doctor?" Lenore pressed after a few moments of silence. 

"Yes," Dagny replied. "Yes I did, and I know what I must do." She said as she grabbed the mandible again and began searching for something to write with.

"Shadow matter exists everywhere, there's just no way to detect it. It's possible that we're only able to see and feel part of this being because the mandible was exposed to our DNA somehow. Perhaps during an exchange of some sort." Dagny explained as she began carving the infinity symbol into the mandible with the tip of a pen. 

"I don't understand, Doctor. You think this thing is alive?"

"Possibly, existing in another dimension. There's only one way to find out." She shrugged and took in a deep breath. As she blew out hard and forcefully, the mandible fogged where the infinity symbol had been carved. Her breathprint marked eternal. 

The mandible floated up and out of her hands while an ethereal figure began to take human shape from its jaw.

The others in the room scattered. Alarms began to sound. In a few seconds, Dagny stood face to face with what could have been her twin, despite the black eyes that looked back at her and the pure white hair that hung from its head. 

"Greetings," the being said to her. "It's been a long time."