#gabaliens

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 15

The twitching ears perked up after I had laughed. It looked attentive again. And I stared... "Are you even real?," I squinted at the cat-loaf. And the loaf's head - with ears - sank again: "you.. .are not very long in space, are you?"

For a moment, I wanted to tell the loaf it shouldn't be able to talk. Again. But... but well... I... I pulled myself together, " 's not like I wanted to in the first place" Okay, I didn't pull myself that much together, it somewhat slipped out, this sentence. "You... do not travel of your own volition?," it frowned, "That is an offence in most galaxies" "Really. Really now. Kidnapping is an offence. Yeah. Sure. And slavery isn't. That's just GREAT!," I snapped at it. There was another confused look. Then a deeper frown. "You... really didn't travel through space much, yet, did you?," there was a tone of disbelief in this purry voice, "You got reaaaally lucky to have landed her-" "LUCKY?!," I yelled. It shrunk back, "Sure I am *lucky* to have landed here as a slave! SO lucky! It was always my DREAM to be someone's property!" He looked properly concerned, at least. Something the stupid first alien had failed to do in any form or way. At least something. A loaf of a cat was more understanding than a fully grown kind-of-human! Haven't we just hit rock bottom! "That... seems almost impossible. What happened?," it sounded concerned, at least, but that just meant he didn't know how bloody cruel these people here were. "Well, the first thing they did was torture me. For ages. I woke up and barely stayed conscious before I just... fell back to black. Then they told me they bought me as a slave. And intended to keep me. And that it was NORMAL to be a slave! And then he showed me this freakish outside world. Have you seen how it looks out there?! That's not a planet, that's just MADNESS!" And the cat looked at me and nodded and listened. "That... sounds terrible," again, it at least acknowledged that much, because seriously, what the hell! "And then he kept me imprisoned in this room! The only other option going to the MADNESS outside and that's just insane! All of this is just ridiculously insane!," it seemed like all this needed to get out. "... they took you from your home planet, didn't they?," it looked SORRY for me now. The bastard-cat! "What is it to YOU! So YOU'RE a proper space-cat then, huh?!," and it started to... to preen. A preening, purple cat. "Well, I... am not a cat. I believe they have a resemblance to my race, but I am a Lamassu," it still was kind a of a purring sound, "and yes, we are space farers since six millenia" "I'm sure your slave-count couldn't have been very low, then, either," apparently, I was irritable today. "We... don't have slaves. Never had, really. This... planet actually does not... either. It's not a thing they do" "That didn't feel like it in the weeks of torture!" "I... err... I'm almost sure there was a reason for it... they... this is a planet for healers. If it wasn't, I wouldn't even be here... this... really, it's all rather strange," it seemed unsettled. "Really now?! Because it wasn't pleasant, that much I can tell you" "I... were you sick? Did they treat you wrong? I mean... they don't even know your race, I really don't, so... maybe something went wrong?," and here it went again, defending them. He stood up and walked in the direction of the bed. Only then I realised I actually stood. Apparently, agitation was worse than fear. Much worse. "Hmph!," I sneered, crossing my arms. The cat was still huge, but apparently an apologist for this awful planet. "I'm sure Raphael meant no harm," the name tickled in my head. It was weird. "Apparently, he has fun causing people pain. As much pain as possible," because t was TRUE, "AND he looked into my HEAD! He can read my THOUGHTS! He looked into my head and tried to keep it  and store it and how creepy is THAT?!" It looked at me with disbelieving eyes: "But... how d you think how communication should work then? It needs to be done or... we wouldn't understand each other..." He made a confused face. GOOD LORD!

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 14

There was a talking cat sitting on the other of the room. There was nothing to go around that fact. It was just... there, killing my last sensibilities I retained from earth. Space was weird. Even weirder now tat I could - must - interact with it. Ignoring these strange critters from inside a cell, simply staring and getting stared back felt a lot like a movie, but I heard it breathing, the smell filling the room. Not that it was that strong, but I felt threatened, by this alone, and it was weird. I knelt down and raised my head a little higher to... be a little more comfortable. I frowned at it. And stared. 

For all intents and purposes, this was a cat. It even *loafed*. And started purring. Except for the purple, it really was a norm- "So you've calmed d-" "NOPE!," I yelled and went further down again, "NopenopenopeNOPEnopenopenopenope nope nope NOPE!" For a second, I actually leaned my head against the bed, not seeing the apex predator for a time longer than I was comfortable with it. Which made me look at it again, then. Not a good thing, not a good thing at all. I wanted to cower behind the bed, but then I wouldn't see, but I really didn't want to see either and... and... This went on for an embarrassing amount of time. "You... talk?," I said at one point. "... mh... yes?" "NOPE!" I was definitely not okay with this. So absolutely not. What I ended up with was the little ball of fluff looking at me in worry. At least after several hours. At first it really liked the attention, but then it made weeping sounds. And I had to look away from the patient, purring, pastry-formed, purple panther. This was the moment I was even more weirded out by my own brain. I think that happens when you are under constant stress. You start alliterating. ... ... another word I didn't recall using frequently. Space was so STRANGE. This time, I recovered in maybe half an hour from talking.cat-induced shock-and-panic. It took four more tries. But at the last one, it only took five minutes. And then it said: "You know... the Lamasi are known to be most cuddly" And my constant, now overstrained nerve for panic did one last attempt to set me off into noping out. And it didn't work. Because: "You're a GIANT predator. You could eat me for breakfast and have room for a ten o clock snack! And dessert! You bloody loaf!" It crunched up his nose. It looked like a silly, purple rabbit. And I laughed. It was mostly stress. And its ears went down again. But it was still sitting there. Patient as can be. And didn't move an inch. Just continued the purrs. I was not over it. Cats didn't talk. But it might - just might - not be a cat. Maybe. And it was... fine. On probation. For like... a few minutes. Or something. "Why... am I... a loaf?" I never heard someone be that insulted and offended by a single word. And maybe I was laughing in earnest, then. For a moment. The stress was getting to me...

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 12

It... it apparently could pass the wall-door. It stood there, just stood there and looked. In a sense, it really was a... deer in headlights situation. Especially since this bloody room was still white and empty and not at all suitable to do anything at all against GIANT PURPLE CATS. I straightened up slightly. Predators smelled fear, wasn't that right? Breathing calmly was difficult. 

Especially since the giant thing actually did come closer. Deep in my brain, something told me that it was not a tiger. It was a cat. Simply overgrown. But also gave it a terrible sense of dread, since my brain seemed to know that a cat should not be that big. That the bones should not be able to support the body. That the weight would not allow this kind of form. It was very strange. But at least that distracted me from the fact that it was coming closer. Because my brain also supplied that this creature was very, very foreign to me, that apparently even it's bones were very, very wrong. Stronger, somehow. THAT info made everything a little worse again. I was pretty sure, even with even breathing, that I smelled of fear. And that was not good. Never was good with wild, bloody huge animals that come closer to you. But hey. This was a weird, stupid, insane place. And the fluffy ball of... fluffy was not bothered. It didn't have a sense of self-preservation, but hey, maybe it WOULD have if this cat was truly dangerous? I almost doubted it. But heeey...

I would spend the last moments of my life freaking out about how this MIGHT actually work out juuuust fine. Because that was a thing that happened. Always. It was the only thing TO do, though because the bigcat simply sat down and looked at me and swivelled it's tail. That's all. Sitting and swivelling. I was not okay with that. At all. The ball just... kinda stayed at my feet.

And then - it felt like hours had passed - the giant cat walked up towards me and I closed my eyes, with my last thoughts just praying to whatever god was out there that Matia was safe. That the stupid people had not lied, that at least she would have a long, kind of okay life in space and- "~PURRRR~" IT made that sound, while it's skull connected to my chin. Then it walked once around me, like an actual cat, simply HUGE and curled me into itself, forcing me to fall on it's soft fur. There was purring all around me now. I stared. I simply stared into the void. The void did not give answers. But the purring - much louder and a lot more pleasant than the balls - calmed me. A little. So I was curled into a ginormous cat. Well. Weirder tings had happened. Maybe the alien had figured already - somehow - that the stupid ball didn't work. I looked for cameras. Didn't see any. But alright. So that was that. A cat had adopted me. I petted it's fur a little bit. Fair. Fair enough. Pets come in huge now. "So, you are a packbonder, too?"

These words did not come from me.

I screamed.

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 11

The robed alien went away again, antenna perking and telling me that he is needed, he will be back when he is done, latest when my circadian rhythm sets in. I kept myself from telling him that he could stay away from all I cared, actually would like that better. Only mumbled it when the wall had already melted back into the surface again. Te little 'yipping' creature still trying to get my attention and molding it's face into my hand.

I huffed. So it was time to figure out what it would like best. The replicator did not seem to be very complicated. It had a database. It even had pictures. Been some time since I last operated operated a computer, but it worked on the same kind of logical connections. Just... smoother. Everything I wanted it to look for had an easily available search-function. If I asked out loud, it told me exactly what I wanted to know. It even understood how I meant my questions. 'How does this work' can be interpreted in a lot of ways, but it seemed to get it. Sometimes opening two windows to explain two interpretations. Probably because my nanites interfaced with the console. The alien had promised it really did ONLY interface with the console. No other memories accessed. Of course, I hadn't exactly reason to trust this person, but at least... I had his word. And so far, the search had come up with a big 'missing data, please grant access to personal experience', when I had asked about bananas. So there was that. At least software-confirmation. He also had shown me how to do a 'secure link', that would display the things from my head, but the database wouldn't be able to fully copy. So I copied the components of a banana - for some reason I knew this? Or could break it down by taste and old memories? In fact, I didn't know how I knew, but I apparently knew. And when I searched the Database, there was something called 'Onkghs' - not translatable - that fit the description to 97.2 % - however that percentage came to be (I didn't understand the explanation all that well, didn't want to break it down more, that file had 200 pages) When I pressed 'replicate', a blue, perfectly round object appeared in it. The machine said it was edible. 'No incompatibility with user detected', it says, '78 % digestion rate, consumption recommended' ... the alien had also told me that the numbers are a bit of an... inaccurate measure, there never was all data available. If I wanted to know the background of the number, I could always ask, but it gives a rough estimate. What I took from this was:Yeah, aliens were full of shit as well.

Back to my current problem. A blue, perfectly round 'Onkgh' I stared at it... ... and the little critter yipped at me, wanting to try. I... hesitated. I trusted the alien not to want to kill me. But I didn't exactly know if the little critter could eat i- The monitor proudly displayed ' Health-risk: low. Can be consumed by a Prigesk, consumption recommended ' Well. Fine, then. So, I replicated a knife as well - it did that, replicate knives. It might give ideas... ... but... I should probably learn something about the hell outside before that.

For now, I cut the Onkgh in half, grabbed the excited ball of floof - a Prigesk, apparently - and offered it half the fruit. It sat down on it's but and held it carefully in it's no.fingered hands... apparently determined about consuming the thing half it's own size. Or at least start. And as I now sniffed it - it smelled like banana - and squished it - it felt... slimy-squishy - I considered putting it into my own mouth. But it was still *blue*. So I sat down and looked up an 'Onkh'. They were space-fruit. What is that, I ask. It tells me about farms in the space between planets and conglomerating atoms, says things about the minimum number of nanites required and how much technology advanced in the last century. I clicked on century and figured the 'standard ~year~' was shorter than mine. But ~days~ longer. The seconds were surprisingly roughly the same. Huh. At least one thing that officially followed *tradition* as well. It was apparently a memorial to a great war that... most races alive today weren't part of. Fought with sun-destroying biological weapons? The race I am currently slave to apparently stabilised the resulting mess the black holes created. Black holes could apparently be created with biological weapons. Because that made sense. Of course. Sure. That was the moment I realised my nanites didn't know what sarcasm is and they fast forwarded. Because I already understood. ... It was a very confusing feeling, not understanding myself. I felt like a teenager.

But just as well. So races died. I started to look a little bit into it - a battle that caught my interest, because it looked like Michael Bay directed it - when I realised that I had found the space equivalent of wikipedia hell. The absurdity made me shake my head. I found out the race living here only ended wars. When I was on the brink of deciding if this was a good or a bad thing, the door opened. A BIG, HAIRY head looked in. IT... looked a lot like a cat. It blinked it's eyes at me. Slowly. And came in. It was bigger than a tiger. FUCK.

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 10

The tiny critter just didn't move. Sleeping and not moving. What would I DO with it?! I stared down at it and considered my options. The only option that came to mind was actually... just putting it back down. Sitting like this was uncomfortable. While it was fluffy, it was just... it was just a ball of floof. Then I grabbed it around it's non-existent waist and carefully moved it towards the floor. 

On the way down, it woke up and started to wriggle it's tiny, tiny legs. I felt it against my fingers. It made slightly distressed noises, too. I still sat it down. And it looked up at me and panted, with it's tiny tongue out. I looked back down at it. It looked happier, when our eyes met. And, with a careful, unsteady motion, it got on it's hind-legs (stubs) and wriggles it's front legs (stubs) at me. I still did not know what to do with it, though. When I reached down to pet it, there was instant happiness. My halfhearted pets already did that. Mh. After a few seconds of pets, I retracted my hand again. Immediately, it looked sad. This time, I didn't give in. So it got back and all four... and then trotted off. Perfectly fine. So it just went and annoyed the first being it found. It will be fi- "YIPP!", the tiny thing exclaimed. And panted some more, looking at me. ... it stood next to the nightstand. When I looked, it padded it's tiny paws on the side of it, making pleading noises. And there were... leaves up there. The bloody leaves the alien had brought me. The little thing started to scuttle back and forth between me and the table. Back and forth. Back and forth, one 'yip' at a time. So pulled myself up and made my way to the edge of my bed... reaching over and taking the veiny things between my fingers. With a frown, I leaned down: "... bon appetit?" It came hopping like a bunny, happy and excited. And then put it's mouth into the leaf. I didn't know if it actually had teeth to rip it to shreds, but it certainly sat there and made chewing motions at the leaf. All the while looking happily at me, thankful. What a simple creature. It took ages to consume this single leaf. But then it wanted back up. And did not give up. At least not before I did. The sound of little, desperate feet on one of the bedposts was not nice. So I took it and put it back up, where it draped itself over my lap again. Not exactly very imaginative, but... well... it's that's what the tiny thing wanted... I sat there and pet the purring thing. Admittedly, it was somewhat nice. Reassuring, cause it was a living, breathing being, which was actually... kind of normal. It was soft, too. A plus. ... still not convinced, though. When the alien came back in, he looked, saw me with the tiny thing and looked pleasantly surprised: "You've bonded already!" To which I raised a brow: "... you... do know that no one likes to be referred to as a 'specimen', right? I'm a person!" "Uh... opinions vary and... you chose to be a slave, so y-" "I!", I interrupted him, "I did not CHOOSE to do anything like that. I was coerced. Forced. The other option would have been death. WORSE than death. Who the hell would choose to be a slave?! This is ridiculous!", because that was the second time he said that. Choosing to be a slave. Don't make me laugh. At which he blinked at me. And the little thing nudged it's weirdly wet nose against me. I shoved it away. Gently, but determined. "Oh. Ah. There are some races that like to subject themselves to slavery, declared another way of life would be unnatural... it happens. And that should be the kind that is actually purchasable. Trade of unwilling people is...", he rubbed his head, "... I suppose I will have to look into this for a bit. So... ah... you are a person. Yes. You did bond, though. It sat on your lap, your... personal space" I shoved it away a little more. He would... 'look into it'. Well *great*. "... it is a helpless, living being, no one would simply let it die. It doesn't deserve that", I shook my head, "... I don't really know what to do with it" He looked at me like I explained nuclear fusion to him. Nuclear fusion was probably easy for him, though. Then he tilted his head: "... bond with it? It provides warmth and physical sensation, also a sense of companionship?" I looked at the thing, then said: ".... it's a noisy ball with hair" "... oh", he looked disappointed. I shook my head and sighed: "... what does it eat? It desperately wanted the leaves on the nightstand" He looked over and grimaced a little: "You gave it powerbars? Oh... well... it seems fine" After scratching the back of his head, he continued: "... you can replicate some food!" "... I have nothing to replicate", I grumbled "Oh! Nono, it's got models that you can replicate, you simply have to choose" "What, like Star Trek?" "... uh... what is 'Star Trek'?", he said it very carefully. "... nevermind, just explain to me how the 'replicator* works. And so... I got a course in Replicator and computer... for further use. Well it would be slightly less boring.

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 9

Apparently, I slept in. After he left. Not that there was much to do in here, so it was just as well, but it did feel... strange. I didn't feel like getting up, either. I laid there, covered in blanket, smooshed by pillow, in a terribly strange environment that was almost all white and just couldn't be bothered. I pulled my knees further up and crumbled my pillow into a firmer piece of laying ground.

Felt heavy and I still felt rather sleepy, so... really, just as well. Thinking too much would simply make me unhappy, so I left it. Like it was. Wasn't hungry or thirsty either, so... yeah. Just as well. I wriggled a bit to get more comfortable. When I heard a noise. "Yipp!", which was a nonsensical sound. An animal noise. I realised with relief that I thankfully could not translate lil critters. "Yipp, yipp!", it said again. And I turned, slowly, to look where it came from. What I saw... was a box. With holes. But apparently a pretty sturdy one, since it didn't even slightly move, whenever the yipping thing inside hopped. And hopping it did. Heard the padded feet hitting the ground every few seconds. With more tiny yips. Whatever the thing was, it was excited. Did I mention the yipping? It was somehow more aggravating than I thought. Exactly a pitch that was uncomfortable... distressed, maybe. ... maybe it would help if I opened the box. Apparently, the poor thing was trapped in a box, it wasn't much better off than me. Carefully, I wrapped myself in the blanket... reached over as far as I could... and tried to finagle the thing open, just touching an edge, wanting to flip it open like that and... It did. Without me even trying. I touched the edge of the package and... it opened, the side-flaps tilting in a calculated manner. And then it was open. And the yipping did sound different. I had returned to the bed as soon as the package had started moving. When I looked at the package again, I saw the hopping. Something small... hopped. The tiniest bit: "Yip!" And then it put it's tiny - the tiniest of tiny - paws on the edge of the package - and looked over the ledge. With shiny, wide eyes. It could barely look over, but it did, and when it saw me - it saw my eyes - it started to get excited and hopped and yipped and spun in a circle and managed to jump on the side often enough to topple it over. And now I saw it completely and it was a tiny, round ball. Made of fur. And the tiniest of legs. In white. With only a pink tongue and two black eyes and a black nose interrupting the pure whiteness. and it saw me and hopped and ran towards me, far further up on the bed. It was so slow, I couldn't believe it. It was just so tiny with such short legs... it just couldn't go very fast.

It was possibly the least threatening thing I'd ever seen in my life. And it was happy to see me. When it reached the bed it stopped, looked up - just to much fur - and yipped once. And then ran in circles, yipping constantly. Again, it was not very big, and not very fast, but full of energy and movement. There was this terrible, nagging suspicion that this was a bugged animal, something to... to watch me and see me 'relaxed' or in my 'natural state' or some bullshit, the 'your species sure is great'-speech sure did that to someone. But the tiny thing just hopped... and yipped... and the yips just started to get less. And a little tired. And the more I looked at it, I just *knew* it didn't have a bug on it. Nothing metallic. No plastic. It was simply made of fur and skin and bones and... possibly adorable. The longer I looked at it, the more certain I was that adorable was actually a component. Because it had gotten too tired, ploffed on the floor for about three seconds, then looked up and had started up the yipping rounds again. After the fifth round, I  reached down. It did not fit neatly into one hand, I did need to use two, holding it properly, safely on it's short way up. It made questioning noises all the way. And then it was up. And snuffled. All around. And then it actually noticed me and made the most high-pitched yip yet. Then it hopped over on my lap. And promptly slept in, flomped to the side. Fur squished, little fur-chest raising and falling. I didn't know what to do with it. But it DID make a purring sound when I pet it lightly. It continued the sound when I continued moving my hand. ... I really did not know what to do with it. But at least I didn't harbor much ill will against it.

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 9

When I came back in and walked into the beanpole of an alien, he raised his arms and looked down at me, very confused. I stared at him before I pointed at the door: "This doesn't make SENSE!" His eyes grew a little wider and wandered to the door and then... he looked down again, slight frown in place: "... but it does. Most everything does. What is the matter... 'Gabrielle' ?", again, he said it weirdly. "These houses FLOAT!", it was an accusation, definitely.

He nodded. Once. And continued to look at me. Apparently, he needed clarification: "That's NOT normal, these things are HEAVY!" After he blinked his eyes a few times, he seemed to have gotten it: "Ah. You... you assume you have a gravitational pull on you!", he smiled. Like talking to a child. "That is actually not the case. The nanites in your bloodstream also have a balancing function, it simulates the gravitational pull of... 9.81 meters per square second. So your muscles and bones do not degenerate. It is a very delicate balance. Important for all kinds of species across the universe. Death can be the result of wrongly adjusted gravitational forces", he nodded seriously. "And so HOUSES FLOAT?!", because that was the issue here. Houses aren't supposed to float, bloody hell! "Well, the houses have been equipped with solar energy generators, so it can effortlessly stay on that level, the proximity to this system's sun really helps", he shuffled his feet a little: "... this planet was a good find" I stared at him. He apparently believed in the righteousness of flying houses. I, decidedly, did not. They were crimes. Against nature. Just like everything else out there. Holes in the floor. No roads. No walkways. Nothing. "Next thing you tell me *I* can fly too!", I sounded angry. Actually angry. His open, slightly concerned expression didn't make me feel much better. When he lifted his feet in the air, lifting his robe against his feet, floating, I punched his shoulder: "Come ON!" He didn't float away, either. "This is stupidly ridiculous!" A head tilt later, his face fell: "I am sorry... I did not know it would be such a cultural shock, I almost exclusively deal with space faring races..." "Bullshit! It's not a cultural shock, this is a crime against NATURE!" I felt like I was repeating myself. He probably did, too. He returned to the floor. Like a NORMAL bloody person. And stared at me, long and hard. And I stared back, furious and shaken and I hated everything about this. Absolutely everything. But especially him. Just when I wanted to turn away and stalk off, his eyes widened and he stood back up, disbelieving: "... you're a packbonder" "I'm a WHAT?!", it took about two more seconds until my - WITHOUT MY WILL UPGRADED - brain supplied to me that this meant I bonded with other beings of my or other species and thrived only in company. "OF COURSE I am, you nitwit! NO one can live alone!" He looked at me with PITY then. *PITY* Somehow, this was all too much. Really, way too much. I flung myself on the bed and curled into a maybe even artificial pillow. Wouldn't want to know, really. At least it felt real and fluffy. And smelled of washed things. And that was fine, at least. "... that... is not quite true, actually. A lot of species are solitary, now. Mine is one of them... in almost all cases. It is a very old, recessive gene. Packbonding... is outgrown, at a stage of post-scarcity. It is not necessary anymore. Company. Since one can live on their own. It is not necessary for survival, so the bonding... gets lost", he rubbed his face: "Lord, of course, you were on the nuclear stage and blew yourself up. Of COURSE you are a packbonder. It explains why yo talk so much. And care. And are actually offended by things I say. It's not custom, it's your instinct, it's what you do" I hadn't even said much. I had stayed silent most of the time. "... no wonder you didn't want your thoughts known. It wasn't greed, it was worry and shame and all those... feelings", he shook his head again. "I am terribly sorry, I should have recognised you miss your... I suppose pack is the wrong word. Your closer circle? The ones you bonded with one way or the other", he sounded terribly sorry, "... and you could be mistaken for one since you miss them terribly. That's why your serotonin and dopamine levels are so low" He put a blanket over me: "... do you know how to find one of yours?" I just turned away. I've had enough. After a while... he went away, too. Good.

[asheewrites]

Gabaliens 8

There was nothing to do in this place. Nothing. And I was still captured. Going out exploring my ass! I was here and had to... be bored. Just be bored. Because after I read the stupid book about the screw I was even MORE bored, since I was right: The screw DID fall to the floor. And the SMALLEST bit broke off. 

The weird-ass people here simply thought that is was actually impossible for a thing to break when it hits the floor. How... how decadently arrogant can you even be?! I threw the book against a wall. When I walked over and looked at it, I was almost angry to see that it wasn't even crinkled. There wasn't even a dent in the spine. I knocked at it and it did indeed feel like a normal book. sounded, felt and looked like a proper cover. The pages also looked, felt and sounded - even smelled - like proper paper. ... I tried my darnest to rip it right now and... no. No chance. I put my foot on it and tried to rip out a single page. This... this was not okay. It was light, too! ... I didn't want to think too hard about it. In the end, I built book-houses. Since they were unbreakable - and less useful that bricks, entertainment-wise -, I had no remorse in doing so. shuffling every page together and trying to pull them apart was also kind of interesting... because it was NOT difficult. There was no adhesion between the pages, I could pull them away without problem and- "Oh, why are you still here?", said the alien, blinking his eyes. Apparently, walls opened silently.

"Well, you left me here. What did you expect?", I kept flippancy out of my voice, sounded level and even a little gentle, really. I did well. Anything that wasn't throwing a book at his head was well. "... right. You... are not aware how to move through the city", he scratched his head, "... the information flow is cut both ways, of course. Ah. I am terribly sorry. It is very rare for anyone to not share their information", he looked apologetic. "... everyone want their thoughts read", because that's the thing I had refused, wasn't it?, "Really?" "Well, why would it matter?", he shrugged, "It's information. It makes more sense if it is accumu... lated..." There and then he stared at me, looking me in the eyes. I looked back at him, as neutral as I could, not giving him anything to... to remark on. "Mh", he stretched his shoulder a little, "Alright. Then... we have to give you a designation. And a word. 'Open' with suffice, yes?" I warily nodded. "What is your designation?", he looked at me. I looked back. "What." "Ah... your... your name. Yes", he looked a little crook-antenna-ed, again. Suspicious? Doubtful? "... Gabrielle. My name is Gabrielle" At that, he twitched again: "Different languages, then. Well. We will designate you as... 'Gabrielle' then...", my name sounded very strange on whatever he had instead of a tongue. But apparently, he tried, "... it identifies you, activates your access-data and will open any door for you. Please, try..." He pointed at the wall behind him and said: "Go to it, say your name and say... open" I raised my brow, but did as I was told: "Gabrielle... open" ... and the wall slid to the side. Seemlessly. It disappeared. Now that I could see: There was no room for the door. Well. Maybe in the wall, but... it WAS the wall usually, so... So... I wished my Earth physics back. But at least the presence of hallways was still a thing. And so I followed it til then end, ended in font of a wall and said: "Gabrielle... open" And it did.

... I didn't know what to say. Everything was wrong with that picture. Absolutely everything. Starting from the pitch-black sky. Except for the GIANT SUN looming directly above us. It was a hundred times as big as on earth. One could see the explosions. The solar flares. One could see them with the naked eye! Then there were... buildings. If you wanted to call them that. There were blocks or orbs in different colours. Either flat - probably sunken into the ground - or floating. The only halfway normal thing was the one I just came out of. And that seemed just as bizarre. Like the fact that there was a hole in the ground. Going down. Just down. Things seemingly growing out of the walls, making something resembling ways, but not actually. But it also went upwards. There were strange forms, intertwined, threads of metal forming... things. Whyever. There was a door somewhere. And there was vehicles. They float or drive or hover or just... just be. With people inside them. Their movements did not actually follow any rhyme or reason. There was no road, or even orderly rows or anything. There was efficient movement. And houses - or whatever you might call the... maybe-buildings - went out of the way. Everything looked like things I ad never seen before. Certainly not like they fit together. And there was no noise. Nothing. I also wasn't burnt by the sun. And I was glowing. ... so was everyone else. I walked backwards, back inside. The door closed. What... what the HELL.