[Fan Fiction] Sufficiently Advanced
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 5:12 pm
So some of you may recall I recently got into a bit of a discussion with fellow forum-goer dragoongfa about his story The Pale Horse. The content of the discussion is rather irrelevant, but it did get me thinking: what else could you do to make an encounter between a race like the Loroi and a TL16 humanity interesting, without turning the Humans into Q or the Doctor? The question wouldn't go away, so here we are. Hopefully this will kick that pesky bug out and I can go back to my other projects.
Originally this was going to be quite a bit longer, but as I ended the second scene I realized I didn't need any other scenes. I also realized I didn't need the first scene either, so my short story suddenly became quite short indeed.
Feedback is quite welcome.
Part 2 is now up.
Part 3 is now up.
The conclusion has been published.
All dialog is mental unless otherwise noted.
---
Doomed scout ship. Lone survivor. Alien rescue. Some things don’t change. But some things do.
SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED
“Body temperature, heart rate, and breathing have all stabilized. Brain activity has been slowly climbing for the past few bima. He is waking up.”
Fireblade nodded, sending her two subordinates to stand on either side of the prisoner. At the insistence of the medical staff and the energetic little Tozet that kept buzzing around, they weren’t pointing their weapons at him, but she insisted they keep them ready. There was no sense in taking chances.
A surge of emotions crashed against her mind without warning, so swiftly she almost couldn’t make sense of them. The alien’s eyes had shot open and now darted around the room, before quickly relaxing again. Unable to muster the concentration for a mental strike, Fireblade instead resorted to raising her rifle to shoot the creature in the head. Before she could pull the trigger, the mental attack subsided, and the alien laid back calmly.
GREETING
It wasn’t a word, just a sensation backed by enormous mental pressure. Judging from the reactions of the rest of the room, she hadn’t been the only one to receive the message.
“We suspected, but…you are capable of sanzai?” asked the Tozet, her mental tone a mixture of fear and surprise.
Fireblade was ready this time, but the torrent of sensations and jumbled images that radiated from the alien still almost overwhelmed her.
“I am sorry, we could not understand that,” stated the Tozet as she pressed one hand to her head. Fireblade didn’t blame her. To one unskilled in the stresses of mental combat, the alien’s attempts at mental speech were likely quite painful. “Perhaps, do you speak Trade?”
NEGATIVE
Though still forceful, this sensation was milder than the previous one. It appeared that simple concepts were easier for the creature to transmit. Fireblade wondered if it might have the same problem she did with her psychokinesis: too much power with too little control. She instantly dismissed the thought as irrelevant. She faced an unknown creature with powerful abilities, it was hardly the time to dwell on her personal failings.
“…how unfortunate,” the Tozet replied when the echoes of the alien communication had faded. “Can you identify yourself or your nation? We have never encountered a species such as yours before.”
NEGATIVE
“Perhaps the question was too broad? Can you simply tell us who you are?”
Another tidal wave of emotions smashed against Fireblade’s mind, but this time she could recognize some of them. The feeling of laughter at a joke. The satisfaction of executing a clever ploy. The curiosity of exploring a place she had never been. The sorrow of losing a friend. The mixture of emotions was not a name, but perhaps it came close.
“…thank you. I think I understand,” said the Tozet after a few moments. She appeared exhausted and in pain, but gamely continued onward. “What can you tell us about your people?”
Without warning, Fireblade felt a memory rise, so strongly it felt almost as though she were there again. It was during her EV training, the first time she had released her magnets to drift without any support. She had felt so helpless, staring at the millions and millions of stars that stretched on forever. It was one of the most humbling experiences of her life, seeing the vastness of the universe and realizing just how tiny she really was.
Then the memory was gone and she was left gasping. She actually reached up to touch her face, feeling for the EV mask that wasn’t there. It had felt so real… In front of her, the alien reached up a hand to point at her and nod knowingly. This calm agreement with her feelings almost distracted her from the shock of realizing he had somehow slipped his restraints. Almost.
Her gun came up in an instant, and she lashed out with a telekinetic strike that would flatten him back to the medical cot where he lay. The alien didn’t even move. Instead, she felt something inside her mind bend, and the attack rebounded. She was thrown across the room, smashing into a console in a burst of sparks.
Fireblade saw stars, and when her vision came back she realized the rest of her squad appeared to have been subdued in a similar fashion. One of them had gotten a lucky shot off though. The alien’s head had been reduced to a smoking ruin, the scent of burnt flesh filling the room and almost making her gag. The little Tozet wasn’t so fortunate. Fireblade could hear her vomiting.
She climbed to her feet, but even as she began to survey the room she caught a glimpse of movement from the alien’s body. She started to raise her weapon, then stopped in sheer disbelief.
The creature’s head had reappeared. One moment the alien was a burnt corpse, the next it was completely unharmed, glaring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. It was as though the injury had been completely erased. She almost shot him again purely out of shock, but something in his stare stopped her.
A new memory sprang up, of her own bidding this time. She had seen that look before. It was during another phase of her training, this time an exercise in the jungles of Perrien. One of the local predators had mistaken them for an easy meal and pounced on one of her squadmates. The cadet had worn that same bored expression while she watched the creature try futilely to maul through combat armor with its claws, before casually flinging it off into the jungle with her telekinesis.
The pieces fell together, and Fireblade took a step back in horror. She understood now why the monster had shown her the time she stopped to stare into the darkness.
Somewhere in the brown eyes of this unassuming alien, the infinite abyss of the universe was finally gazing back.
Originally this was going to be quite a bit longer, but as I ended the second scene I realized I didn't need any other scenes. I also realized I didn't need the first scene either, so my short story suddenly became quite short indeed.
Feedback is quite welcome.
Part 2 is now up.
Part 3 is now up.
The conclusion has been published.
All dialog is mental unless otherwise noted.
---
Doomed scout ship. Lone survivor. Alien rescue. Some things don’t change. But some things do.
SUFFICIENTLY ADVANCED
“Body temperature, heart rate, and breathing have all stabilized. Brain activity has been slowly climbing for the past few bima. He is waking up.”
Fireblade nodded, sending her two subordinates to stand on either side of the prisoner. At the insistence of the medical staff and the energetic little Tozet that kept buzzing around, they weren’t pointing their weapons at him, but she insisted they keep them ready. There was no sense in taking chances.
A surge of emotions crashed against her mind without warning, so swiftly she almost couldn’t make sense of them. The alien’s eyes had shot open and now darted around the room, before quickly relaxing again. Unable to muster the concentration for a mental strike, Fireblade instead resorted to raising her rifle to shoot the creature in the head. Before she could pull the trigger, the mental attack subsided, and the alien laid back calmly.
GREETING
It wasn’t a word, just a sensation backed by enormous mental pressure. Judging from the reactions of the rest of the room, she hadn’t been the only one to receive the message.
“We suspected, but…you are capable of sanzai?” asked the Tozet, her mental tone a mixture of fear and surprise.
Fireblade was ready this time, but the torrent of sensations and jumbled images that radiated from the alien still almost overwhelmed her.
“I am sorry, we could not understand that,” stated the Tozet as she pressed one hand to her head. Fireblade didn’t blame her. To one unskilled in the stresses of mental combat, the alien’s attempts at mental speech were likely quite painful. “Perhaps, do you speak Trade?”
NEGATIVE
Though still forceful, this sensation was milder than the previous one. It appeared that simple concepts were easier for the creature to transmit. Fireblade wondered if it might have the same problem she did with her psychokinesis: too much power with too little control. She instantly dismissed the thought as irrelevant. She faced an unknown creature with powerful abilities, it was hardly the time to dwell on her personal failings.
“…how unfortunate,” the Tozet replied when the echoes of the alien communication had faded. “Can you identify yourself or your nation? We have never encountered a species such as yours before.”
NEGATIVE
“Perhaps the question was too broad? Can you simply tell us who you are?”
Another tidal wave of emotions smashed against Fireblade’s mind, but this time she could recognize some of them. The feeling of laughter at a joke. The satisfaction of executing a clever ploy. The curiosity of exploring a place she had never been. The sorrow of losing a friend. The mixture of emotions was not a name, but perhaps it came close.
“…thank you. I think I understand,” said the Tozet after a few moments. She appeared exhausted and in pain, but gamely continued onward. “What can you tell us about your people?”
Without warning, Fireblade felt a memory rise, so strongly it felt almost as though she were there again. It was during her EV training, the first time she had released her magnets to drift without any support. She had felt so helpless, staring at the millions and millions of stars that stretched on forever. It was one of the most humbling experiences of her life, seeing the vastness of the universe and realizing just how tiny she really was.
Then the memory was gone and she was left gasping. She actually reached up to touch her face, feeling for the EV mask that wasn’t there. It had felt so real… In front of her, the alien reached up a hand to point at her and nod knowingly. This calm agreement with her feelings almost distracted her from the shock of realizing he had somehow slipped his restraints. Almost.
Her gun came up in an instant, and she lashed out with a telekinetic strike that would flatten him back to the medical cot where he lay. The alien didn’t even move. Instead, she felt something inside her mind bend, and the attack rebounded. She was thrown across the room, smashing into a console in a burst of sparks.
Fireblade saw stars, and when her vision came back she realized the rest of her squad appeared to have been subdued in a similar fashion. One of them had gotten a lucky shot off though. The alien’s head had been reduced to a smoking ruin, the scent of burnt flesh filling the room and almost making her gag. The little Tozet wasn’t so fortunate. Fireblade could hear her vomiting.
She climbed to her feet, but even as she began to survey the room she caught a glimpse of movement from the alien’s body. She started to raise her weapon, then stopped in sheer disbelief.
The creature’s head had reappeared. One moment the alien was a burnt corpse, the next it was completely unharmed, glaring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. It was as though the injury had been completely erased. She almost shot him again purely out of shock, but something in his stare stopped her.
A new memory sprang up, of her own bidding this time. She had seen that look before. It was during another phase of her training, this time an exercise in the jungles of Perrien. One of the local predators had mistaken them for an easy meal and pounced on one of her squadmates. The cadet had worn that same bored expression while she watched the creature try futilely to maul through combat armor with its claws, before casually flinging it off into the jungle with her telekinesis.
The pieces fell together, and Fireblade took a step back in horror. She understood now why the monster had shown her the time she stopped to stare into the darkness.
Somewhere in the brown eyes of this unassuming alien, the infinite abyss of the universe was finally gazing back.