I don't suppose there was a sign-- some trace of its presence in it before it announced that it was there. You might not have recognized it as such then, of course.

( Something, anything. Enough for Shockwave to have something to go on to prevent what seems like inevitable disaster. If Orion was concerned about what they might do without influence, if Malicant found some way to control them... )

There's no need to tell you the reason behind my sudden interest in preventing it from gaining a stronghold here, at least one that would allow it to exert control over technology of that scale. No matter how complicated it might be.