An investigator discovers that an alien civilization was deliberately destroyed by automated machines (Inhibitors) that exterminate any species approaching spaceflight capability, providing a terrifying answer to the Fermi paradox.
Models the 'dark forest' / berserker hypothesis: relevant to SETI silence, the advisability of broadcasting our location, and whether spacefaring civilizations face systematic extermination.
Domains: Space Exploration and ColonizationExistential Risk and Civilizational CollapseFirst Contact and Alien Civilizations
Scenario Types: Warning / Self-preventing prophecyThought experiment / What-if
Outcomes: Catastrophic
Tags: fermi-paradoxinhibitor-machinesberserker-hypothesisgreat-filter