Summary

Ambassador of the Shadows opens with four panels that focus on the history of the universe, including the tendency of every sentient being to explore the vast space. The next series of panels talks about the possible first encounters, questioning whether those resulted in violent conflicts or immediate connections. The narrator ends the second page by saying that no one remembers what those first encounters were like, but there was a time when “the first cell of what would become Point Central was erected” (4). Soon, other cultures began adding their own cells. Some of these cultures brought “a whole chunk of their world” as they connected to the existing cells of Point Central (5). Eventually, everyone in the universe knew about Point Central. It is an example of “immense artificial construction” that continues to grow (6).

Many cultures have built onto the original cell. They...