Chapter 5.11: Contact

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Luke: Oh, this was unexpected. Since when is there a cat here in the house?

Misty: Cat, what cat?

Luke: It's right here! Perhaps, this could also explain the amount of animal hair we keep finding in the house.

Misty: (Patient) Or, maybe, you're just so old to start seeing things are not really there.

Luke: Uhm, maybe you're right... Actually, there wouldn't be any reason for a cat to be here, isn't it?

*Nacho is very offended for having been ignored again, and leaves the room with indignation*

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From Cassy's diary

I often find myself spending some time with Dad at his library after work. Now he doesn't really work there anymore, he says it would be too tiring, but he just can't help but be in the middle of so many books needing to be dusted.

Among his books, essays and collections, he really wrote a lot. We even read a few of his first books back in school, so it's not surprising that people recognize him around the streets of New Sixam from time to time.

Cassy: (curious) Dad, but out of all the stuff you've written, what do you think is the most important thing?

Luke: (thoughtfully) The most important, you say? Um, that's a quite complex question...

Luke: I think there's not an absolute answer, it really depends on the situation you're in.

Cassy: Well, of course...

Luke: But there's something valid about every occasion, now that I think about it. You have to remember that every story loses details when being told again over and over, until it becomes so simplified and shallow to result misleading and detrimental to any rational reasoning. That's why I think it's important for everyone to be critical and think with their own head, instead of trusting what they hear from others.

Cassy: (chuckling) I already knew that, that's what you taught to us since we learned how to talk!

Luke: Which is why I and your mum have always been very proud of you and Venus.

Dad always gave wise-man vibes, but now that he's so old that tendency is more evident than ever. And I also think to have understood what kind of rumours he was referring to, with his answer.

The big news in the last few months had been the arrival in town of that small group of ancient sixamians, and now it's rather common to meet them intent on reading food labels with confused air, walking around looking at the sky looking with perplexity, or whatever else.

They preferred to move around in groups of two or three, and barely spoke with anyone else if not for answering direct questions. They were also very watchful and cautious in their actions, and I could not deny that they stood out as no one else here in New Sixam. 

Of course, the rumours about them are countless already. Someone says that they are secretly plotting to take over our government and conquer the rest of the planet, others that they can erase all your memories just by staring into your eyes, I even heard someone claiming to have seen them flying up in the sky. I think that all these stories are blatant lies, how could any of these statements actually be true? To me they mostly seem very disoriented and unsure about what to do from now on, to be honest

Considering their quite predictable routine, I was quite surprised when I met one of them at Dad's library, all alone, reading a dusty old book.

Cassy: Hey, what are you doing back there?

???: I read.

He said it as if he was answering to the dumbest question ever made, wasn't it obvious what he was doing? 

Cassy: Well, that's true. What I meant to say is that there are so many chairs around here, so you could sit in way more comfortable places than the floor. Or you could even take the book home with you and borrow it for a while, you know.

???: Uhm.

Meanwhile, I did my best to peek at the title of the book, trying not to be noticed. "Board games and their rules" that's what was written on the cover. I was beginning to suspect that he picked up a random book from the first shelf he found upon entering the library, but I was still too curious not to ask:

Cassy: Instead of reading that book, wouldn't you prefer to try playing one of those board games instead? There's a chessboard just over there.

He reasoned about what to answer for a few moments, before closing the book, getting up and answering:

???: It seems acceptable.

Cassy: So, how are you doing here in New Sixam? I guess it wasn't easy to settle in, everything is probably very different from what you're used to.

???: We have everything we need.

Cassy: But...

I admit I'm curious to know more about the newcomers, otherwise I don't think I would have flooded him with so many questions. I find his way of speaking our language still a bit uncertain, but so that he and his peers learned it a few weeks ago when reading the minds of the people they abducted, I should probably be impressed by how quickly they are mastering it instead. In any case he didn't seem too bothered by my questions, and as the game progressed we slowly started to talk.

So I learned that all their belongings were requisitioned by our government when they surrendered, just after we found them on the Moon. Now they were provided housing, clothes, food and a job by the government. 

All of them were proposed to work at the space command centre, and they will soon start helping us by providing new routes for the supply of rare elements. I can see the reason behind this assignment, that's what they are specialised in doing after all. But it means that soon enough I and Venus could start working with some of them, this could be interesting.

Hearing all this first-hand information is undoubtedly very interesting, but this is still a chess game. So...

Cassy: Checkmate!

???: (confused) I do not understand, what happened to the check?

Cassy: It's a figure of speech, it means that I won.

???: Oh.

At this point, it's quite clear to me that the ancient sixamians aren't really used to say any word more than what's strictly required. Or at least this is what I thought when that guy, who hadn't even introduced himself yet, had gotten up to leave the library, without saying anything else. Who knows how they've lived up to now, to develop such a different behaviour...

I was reasoning over this and much more, when I noticed that the poor guy had been intercepted right in front of the door by dad, who seemed at least as curious as me to learn something new about the sixamians past. Well, in some ways he surprised me that it took him so long to try to talk to him, what else could I expect from the person who wrote all the Sixam history books out there?

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From Venus' diary 

It's been a while now since Steve and I got married, but after his abduction and all the trouble that followed we didn't have a chance to find a new house all for us. But that doesn't mean at all that we want to stay at my parents' place forever, in fact we have very different plans.

Venus: The house is almost fully renovated, within a few months we should finally be able to move out!

Misty: Those builders really took it easy, everything should have been ready months ago... But better late than never, right?

Our future house looks great, now we pass by there almost every day to follow the updates. It's not that far from mom and dad's house, just a five-minute walk away. The place is definitely more secluded and quiet though, just like we were looking for.

Venus: Apparently the delays are due to issues in connecting the house to the power lines... That's unfortunate, but they seem to be progressing quickly with the rest.

Steve: I'm sure it will be finished in no time, don't worry.

After fearing losing Steve because of those squid-looking weirdos, this seems too good to be true. We just can't wait to move here together!

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From Cassy's diary

If possible, the guy I meet at the library seems even weirder than his fellows. He's on his own for most of the time, and also seems to spend a lot of time brooding thoughtfully through places like Dad's library or the art gallery down the street. It's not like there's anything wrong with that, it's just that it intrigues me. 

For example, he stared at that painting for more than an hour without moving or saying a thing. What was he thinking, I wonder?

???: Cassiopeia, you have been standing there for a while.

I jumped in surprise, I didn't think he noticed me. Perhaps it was somehow related to his telepathy... Yes, that surely was the case because, otherwise, he couldn't have known my name either.

Cassy: It's not considered very polite to read other people's thoughts without permission, you know?

He answered me with a confused expression, seemingly asking: "Why, spying on people is normal for you instead?". However, he didn't seem particularly bothered by the matter, since he just moved on to look at the next painting.

I have to admit that, at that point, I wasn't completely sure if he wanted to talk with me again or not, but I was too curious to understand more of what was on his mind to stop asking questions.

Cassy: Anyway, no one ever calls me Cassiopeia. I mean, it's not that I don't like it, it's also the name of a constellation, but usually everyone just calls me Cassy. What's your name instead?

???: Toq.

Cassy: (joking) I guess you don't often meet other people with that name then. Does it mean something?

Toq: (perplexed) No, it is my name. That is.

Cassy: Oh.

Toq: Cassiopeia, may I make you a question too?

Of course I was okay with it! I'm sure he has at least as many questions about us as I have about them, and I love answering questions. Then, some other interesting topic of conversation could come up this way. And...

Toq: (thoughtful) On this planet you seem to be spending a lot of your time in activities with no apparent benefit...

Before I could even answer, he already started to expose his question. Was he using his telepathy again to skip the casual chatting, and go straight to the real question?

 Toq: I mean, I can not figure out what is the purpose of things like these paintings, or the board game at the library. What is their use?

Cassy: Uhm, that's not an easy question... Do you ever do anything for fun, or to bring out your creative side?

Toq: ... no, I do not think so.

After all, both art and entertainment were things that we too had learned in the period our ancestors lived alongside humans, so probably it's a harder idea to conceive for someone born and raised on Sixam so long ago.

Cassy: I think that the best way to understand these things is to try by yourself. There's an empty easel back there, why don't you try and paint something?

As it already happened at the library, he thought about it for a moment, then nodded. At least he seemed curious about learning new things the same way we are.

Toq: It is more difficult than I anticipated.

Cassy: It takes years and years to learn how to make paintings like the others on display here, it's definitively very hard to master this skill.

Toq: ...

Cassy: It's very…um…simple. Not bad as a first try, though.

Toq looked at his sketched painting again, then moved on to the other paintings displayed around the art gallery. He appeared thoughtful, but also quite pleased with what he'd managed to accomplish.

Toq: (thoughtfully) Maybe I am starting to understand why you paint.

Cassy: Oh, I'm glad to hear this!

Then, just like the previous time we met, Toq left the gallery without even saying goodbye. This time, however, I could swear I saw him crack a smile.

Next Chapter -->

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§HermioneSims§ corner

There could be a lot of things I could be focusing on in this corner, but for today I want to focus on the way I named the ancient sixamians and which cc I used on them. 

So that I'm quite bad at inventing alien-sounding names out of nowhere, I took inspiration from some results I've obtained from an online generator of Klingon names. 

The tentacles, or tendrils, they have on their heads instead are a cc I downloaded in here that, as if the situation wasn't messy enough already, was originally meant to reproduce the Nautolans from Star Wars. 

Albeit the names and cc refer to other series, the ancient sixamians aren't intentionally characterised after any Star Trek or Star Wars alien species (but I can't exclude random similarities, stay tuned to see if there is any! ;) )