§HermioneSims§ corner: This chapter actually is a late addition to the story, and it was also very funny to write XD I also would like to point out (again) that this chapter is a quite nice complement to the independent short stories I posted about Silas and Orion here and here ;)
From Orion's diary
Life at the new house is even better than I expected, and the view from up here is fantastic too! I suspect that also my family could think the same, because Leo and Aster started to come over to our place very often, bringing also all their kids to play in our garden and everything.
I mean, it's not like I dislike my nephews, not even when they invade our new house altogether like this. What I mean is that don't envy my brothers, I definitively prefer just being the funny uncle, and so does Silas.
And the kids seem to be enjoying their funny uncles too, otherwise they would probably don't ask us questions like:
Luke: Uncle, so were you using laser guns on Sixam?
Orion: Of course we were, it was the best way to get rid of some nasty beasts which...
Luke: That's so cool! Can you tell us about it, please, please?
Orion: Of course I can! It all started when...
Leo: Wait a sec!
Leo: Do you really think it would be appropriate to tell them this kind of stuff? Probably...
My brothers instead, and Leo in particular, always look so worried about the horrific stories I could be telling. C'mon, does he really think I have so little common sense? Also, does he really think that I did anything that despicable when I was on Sixam?
Evidently he's not even a very good observer either, because otherwise he would have noticed Silas laughing just behind our backs, for sure he had already figured out the story I had in mind. There weren't many stories about laser guns and alien beasts we could tell, actually, and for sure none of them was the kind of story Leo had in mind.
Orion: Don't worry, Leo, I'm sure Luke is going to like this story a lot! As I was trying to say before, it all started about three years before we returned back to the Earth, when...
Year 6, day 435 of the Sixam calendar
???: They are all over the place, again!
? ?: I can't even sleep, those octo-idiots invaded the whole dorm!
Silas: And they also entered the computers! As if this decoding this stupid old Sixam language wasn't hard enough already, how am I supposed to focus like this?
Silas: (to himself) Just ignore them, focus on the script...
That was the most frustrating moment we passed through, during those long years we lived on Sixam. We had been stuck on most of our projects for months, there wasn't much more we could do without being able to interpret the instructions written in the old Sixam language the archives were filled with. The translation of that language into Simlish became our absolute priority, and most of the actual work fell on Silas shoulders, as he was the only one who was good enough with algorithms and scripting to have some chance to decode that cryptic language.
Silas has always struggled with working under pressure, and the expectations of everyone at the base were stressing him as I've rarely seen him.
My work at the base in those weeks was, if possible, even more frustrating and less motivating: trying to keep the place neat albeit the invasion of those disgusting octopus-like small aliens which took control over the whole place.
Those stupid octo-idiots always popped out during that season, hiding in every small space in the base: the beds, the kitchen pots, every single door and drawer in all our furniture, behind any book, and even in any small empty space in our machinery, computers and everything else. Then, after a couple of months, they always disappeared again.
It's impossible to do anything when they are around, and the morale in the base always dropped because of the general frustration and exasperation. We had tried to fry them with laser guns, poison them, catch them with nets, and many other traps, but none of those methods really seemed effective.
If possible, that year the infestation was even worse than usual, I needed some help. Without even thinking I just asked Silas, knowing that some distraction could have helped him a bit too.
Orion: How about working on something else for a while? I would really need some help with those octo-idiots around the place.
At first he seemed frustrated, but the fact that he nodded and followed me outside meant he agreed with me. On the one hand he really needed a distraction from his script, and on the other hand the pest control of the base seemed urgent to everyone at that point.
Silas: What's your plan, this time?
Orion: I want to trap a couple of those aliens, and then study them from closer.
Silas: Um...
Silas: ... The script is all written already, I just need a key-word to be able to start the decoding. But that stupid language is so weird, how can I tell which word corresponds to what? Up to now I've barely managed to decipher their numbers, they used to work with a very uncommon hexadecimal system which...
Unsurprisingly, Silas wasn't able to stop thinking about his work decoding the old Sixam language. He can't stop thinking about a problem until he finds a solution, he just can't avoid it. This made him the best problem-solver we had on Sixam, but also meant that I had to remember to distract him from his work before he overworked himself too much.
Orion: Ehi, I think I found one! Do you have a jar?
Silas: Of course, here it is.
???: How can something so little be also so annoying...
Orion: I just don't understand, how can they be also immune to laser guns? Their skin doesn't seem so thick...
? ?: What about trying to boil them with water? This way...
We were in the midst of very acute reasoning on how to get rid of those little and annoying beasts, when the general alarm of the base activated.
It happened a few times before, but we had never managed to understand what had triggered it. The lab we lived in was originally intended as one of the old bunkers of the original Sixam inhabitants, and sometimes the old security circuit was triggered before we could realise what was wrong. Usually, all we could do was to wait for it to finish by itself, but this time all the screens around us switched on simultaneously, showing an unknown flashing message:
Silas: (exhasperared) C'mon, now the alarm too?
The alarm went on for a couple of minutes, giving us the time to see better the message on screen: it alternated some signs looking like letters to the profile of one of those octo-idiots.
???: (Sarcastic) Cool, even the base starts to protest against those small intruders!
Silas: Wait!
? ?: Wait what?
Silas: Don't you see it? Look at the message, that word probably means "octo-idiot" in the old Sixam language, it could be the starting key for decryption!
? ?: What? Are you serious?
Silas: Well, it's worth a shot... The decoding script has started running, no errors so far!
So, suddenly, the invasion of those small annoying octo-idiots turned into the best chance to decode the old Sixam language.
Silas's script continued running for days, "octo-idiot" wasn't a particularly strong key-word to start with, the program could have remained stuck any moment. Instead, we followed the list of deciphered words getting longer and longer on our computer screens, hour after hour, day after day. And, eventually...
? ?: That's great, Silas!
???: Can we really read the old archives now?
Silas: Of course we can! Where do you want to start from?
Orion: That's an obvious question! Is there anything about how to get rid of those octo-idiots in the archives?
Everyone was so relieved at the base, as we jokingly entered the word for octo-idiot in the search bar of the base archives. As expected we found several results, the first of which stated:
Silas: It says: "Freeze them by setting the laser guns on ice and then kick them out of the base. They dislike cold so much they won't try to return back." Do you know what it means?
Orion: Of course we do, now starts the fun!
Needless to say, in half an hour a quite conspicuous pile of frozen octo-idiots was accumulating just in front of our front door.
Orion: Well, you've really surpassed yourself this time!
Silas: (proud) I still can't believe it, the archives are ours now! I've checked the data about the teleport system, the final settings for the matter recomposer, and the records of the medical procedures, we could finalize all those projects in no time now! And also...
He was so proud and excited about what he had managed to do, and I was for him. Even if we didn't sleep at all the previous night to follow the latest progress of the decoding procedure, we just couldn't stop talking about all the new opportunities that single success opened to us.
Silas: All the knowledge of the old Sixam inhabitants is available, not even humans could be indifferent in front of such a huge milestone!
Orion: Not if they really have at least a micro fraction of the intelligence they claim to have. With teleport, recomposition of matter and more advanced medical practices, all their technologies would make a huge leap forwards in no time!
Silas: Yes, that's exactly what we should tell them!
Orion: Wait, do you mean you think it's time to contact them?
Silas: Why not? I know that the government consider us dangerous criminals since when we moved here, but don't you think that such an offer could make them change their minds? Maybe we would be also able to return back to the Earth, objectively we don't have a real reason to remain much longer anymore!
Orion: Well, my dear...
Orion: ... this is one of the craziest plans I've heard in a while, but I like it! Let's show the earthlings what Sixam can offer, it could be a real breakthrough!
Orion: ... and this was the story of when the freezing laser saved us from the invasion of the octo-idiots in the base. Now, who wants to try one of those lasers?
Leo: Orion!
Orion: I know, I know, I was just joking... (To himself) How boring...
So the day ended, with Leo saying it was time to return back home, the kids asking to try the lasers for real, and me and Silas who just couldn't stop laughing. The perfect family afternoon, isn't it, my dear diary?
