Original Design

by William Latoria

  He heard Affinity exhale in irritation before muttering, “Men…” to herself.

  Blackshade did not respond. He knew she probably had a point but was through indulging her curiosity.

  When they reached the top of the ramp, Blackshade took them to a spot about thirty feet away from the opening. He made sure that his hand was nowhere near his weapon and stood staring into the intense white light of the opening. Try as he might, he couldn’t see anything on the inside of the ship. He was positive that the light coming from the opening was somehow blocking his vision, and the idea of light being used to hide something from view impressed him. He found himself wondering why human scientists hadn’t thought of something like that.

  Looking around, he saw dozens of voyeur drones circling overhead. Tapping into one of them, he made sure it was military-owned before commanding it to come to him. Dutifully, the little drone flew down, and with a few quick commands, the drone attached itself to the armor on his chest and began broadcasting everything from his point of view. He wanted to make sure that everything that happened was well documented so that, if he did die here, the world would know why. He opened up the feed on his own display and was happy to see the little drone broadcasting in super high definition all over the world. Closing the window, he stepped a little closer to the opening on the ship.

  He wanted to know what was inside the ship, but there was no way he was just going to walk in. He didn’t know if the light would have the same effect that the light under the ship had had on the campers that were unfortunate enough to be caught underneath it. He also had no idea whether or not the environment inside the ship would sustain him or not. There was just too much he didn’t know about this situation.

  An idea occurred to him then. It was so obvious; he was a little ashamed it hadn’t occurred to him sooner. Calling down another voyeur drone he took direct control of it and sent it into the alien ship. He kept the drone broadcasting what it saw and opened a display on his helmet so he could see what was inside. As the drone crossed the threshold, the display showed nothing but the intense white light he’d seen since the opening appeared. Taking a few steps closer, he realized that he could see the drone inside the ship perfectly; it was surrounded by the light, but that was it. It was as if the entire ship was just a massive container for the light, and there was nothing else to it. Nothing about this made any sense. He flew the drone around inside the ship for as far as he could see it. Nothing but the light showed on the display, and no matter what direction he flew the drone in, it found nothing but the light inside. Frustrated, and worried about offending the aliens, he flew it out of the ship and released it back into auto-mode. He was quickly becoming impatient with the aliens, and for the second time today, he felt immensely exasperated at the lack of information he had at his disposal.

  He knew he should try something else to make contact with whatever it was that controlled the ship. Sending in a camera hadn’t worked, so maybe another tactic would be better. After a few minutes of thought, he felt like he should say something, but he had no idea what. It occurred to him that he had been so busy planning for containment and communicating with the aliens, that he never thought about what he was going to actually say to them. After a little bit of contemplation, he decided to wing it.

  Raising his arms out in an act he hoped showed he wasn’t trying to be threatening, he spoke at the opening, “I am here representing the people of Candaerica! We greet you in peace! Please let us know why you have come here! I promise you we will find a way to accommodate your needs!”

  “Well spoken, if a little pedantic.” Affinity said quietly.

  Blackshade shot her a look, and she fell silent. He stood there for a few moments with his arms outstretched waiting for a response. Anything would have sufficed, but nothing came. Lowering his arms, he looked at the civilians he had brought with him.

  “Any ideas?” he asked, confused.

  All three of the civilians shook their heads. “We don’t have enough information on how the aliens communicate. It could be verbal, psychic, through gestures, or some new way we’ve never thought of.” Yoshi said excitedly, “Until we know more, we have no idea how to communicate with them, let alone if we even can.”

  “Well, what can we do to…” he began to ask, when the sound of thuds began to echo from the opening in the ship. Turning, Blackshade listened as the sounds of what he assumed were footsteps came closer. Looking into the white void, he saw nothing coming toward them. In fact, all he could see was the infuriating white light that he was quickly coming to loathe. The sounds were getting closer, and whatever was making them sounded big. Fear began to build up inside of him, and it took all of his will to not give into it and flee. He repeated to himself that he was an officer in the Candaerican Army Air Corp. He didn’t have the luxury of being afraid. Too many people were relying on him, and he would not let his country down, even if it cost him his life.

  Just as he was getting the upper hand on his courage, two aliens emerged from the ship.

  Time stopped in its tracks…

  They were massive, imposing, and beyond extraordinary to behold. The drone on his chest registered them immediately, began analyzing them, and posting all the pertinent information to his display. Both aliens were humanoid in shape, but only just. They had two arms, two legs, a torso and one head, but that was where the similarities ended. Both of the beings were immense. According to his readout, one was fifteen feet, five inches tall, and the other was fifteen feet, eight inches tall. Both aliens were completely naked, and their skin was smooth, hairless, and an almost glossy shade of jet black. Their bodies looked like organic marble that had been chiseled by a master artisan, with heavily defined masculine features. Layer upon layer of corded muscle covered every inch of their bodies, which were easy to observe, because neither alien wore clothes or armor of any sort. Neither had nipples nor did they seem to have any kind of reproductive organs. Where a penis or a vagina would be on a human, they simply rounded off in a similar way a child’s doll would. Blackshade saw that instead of five fingers and five toes, the aliens had seven fingers and seven toes that had four knuckles each. A burly tail of about eight feet in length grew from behind each of the aliens, the ends of which rested over their left shoulders, the tips flicking occasionally on their chests like a cat’s. Above all of these things, the most significant aspect of the aliens, in Blackshade’s mind, was their faces. In stark contrast to their masculine bodies, the alien’s faces were unquestionably feminine in appearance. Sharp, yet smooth cheek bones, narrow and sleek jaw lines, and large almond-shaped eyes gave them the distinct facial appearance of a woman. Yet, when he focused his attention on their bodies, Blackshade felt positive he was looking at a man. With no obvious reproductive organs, he had no idea if the aliens were male or female, or if they even had genders at all.

  Their eyes were what finally caught his attention, as their excited gazes held him in place like a ship’s anchor. The sclera, or the white part of a human’s eye, was not white but a lighter shade of black than that of the aliens’ skin. Their irises were shaped just like a human’s, but instead of being brown or blue, they were an unusual shade of pale green that seemed almost artificial to Blackshade’s perception. He noticed that both of the aliens’ irises were green, but not the same shade of green, with the shorter one having slightly darker green irises than the taller one. The pupils were what held his attention more than anything else. Instead of the steady black color that one would find in a human’s eye, the aliens’ pupils were a soft shade of yellow, as comforting as it was mesmerizing. Their eyes were not those of killers or savage conquerors. They were kind eyes that were full of wonder, interest, and intellect. It was the first sign he had seen from the aliens that their intentions on Earth just might not be domination or obliteration. Their eyes somehow put him at peace.

  The aliens looked down at him with what looked like excited smiles on their faces. A lot like how he remembered his parents lookin
g at him when he did well during a competition. It was an odd comparison, but that was the image that came to mind as the two towering aliens gazed down at him. He noted that the aliens’ teeth were identical to a human’s, which surprised him. Blackshade thought that blunted teeth always seemed like a human trait, and for some reason he had pictured the aliens having sharp, needle like teeth. He also noticed that the flesh of their bodies was perfect. Nowhere on either of them could he see any blemishes, defects, scars, or marks. Just their jet black, perfectly honed flesh and their smiling, non-threatening faces.

  Blackshade felt ugly and overdressed in comparison. He felt dirty, small, and unworthy to be in their presence. The urge to run and hide resurfaced inside of him, but this time it wasn’t fear that motivated the emotion, it was shame. He pushed the thought away with considerable effort, knowing that the option to run away had long ceased to be a viable one. He gazed up at the aliens, still not sure if they were male, female, or some sort of hybrid, and asked the only question he could think to ask.

  “Do you come in peace?” he asked, as meekly as he felt. Some part of him was ashamed of the feebleness in his voice and in his question, but he was so focused on getting over the shock of seeing the aliens that the humiliation barely registered.

  The taller alien’s smile got larger at his question. A thrill of excitement shot through him, as it appeared that it had understood him. The alien took a step towards him and replied enthusiastically. The sound that came from that perfect mouth was unlike anything he’d ever heard in his life. The voice was both masculine and feminine at the same time, almost like two people were talking to him through one mouth. He had seen a movie once when he was a child, that had alien ships racing around in the void of space during a massive interstellar battle. Some of the spaceship engines made a sound like a reverberating engine motor intermingling with the squeal of science fiction laser blasts. This was what the alien’s words sounded like to him when it spoke. He had no idea what it said, but judging by its body language, he didn’t think it was a threat. His earlier excitement that the alien had understood him vanished, and the task of communicating with them suddenly seemed insurmountable. Desperately, he looked to his team of civilians to see if they had made any sense of it. What he saw discouraged him even further.

  Affinity was on her knees, crying like a child. Yoshi appeared to have fainted, and Kevwin had broken and run, possibly the moment the aliens appeared. From what Blackshade could see, he was almost to the perimeter of the barricade his team had set up a good distance away. Dismay washed over him, as he realized he was completely alone and had no idea how to proceed. Turning back towards the aliens, he was again dumbstruck as he took in their forms. The entire situation was surreal, and a part of him was having trouble accepting that it was happening. The alien that had addressed him was still looking at him expectantly, as the shorter alien said something to it. The shorter alien had much deeper voices than its companion, but was just as feminine in the face. A look of surprise appeared on the taller alien’s face, apparently shocked by whatever the shorter alien had told it. The taller alien spoke to its companion again, only this time it spoke much slower and seemed to be trying to ask it something. Blackshade tried desperately to make sense of what the alien was saying, but nothing he heard gave him any inkling of what it was trying to convey. As apologetically as he could, he shook his head.

  “I’m so sorry. I don’t understand you.” he said, defeated.

  The taller alien’s smile broadened at his words. Elation surged through him at the alien’s response. He was positive it had understood him this time!

  “Can you understand me? You can, can’t you!? How is it you’re able to understand me, but I’m unable to understand you?” he asked eagerly.

  The alien said nothing; instead it raised its huge hand and pointed its index and second finger at his head. Blackshade froze on the spot, unsure what it was doing. The gesture didn’t look threatening, and he didn’t see anything in the alien’s hand that would signify it had a weapon. For a moment he considered trying to run, but dismissed the idea as soon as it occurred to him. There was far too much at stake here, and he would not allow himself to be overcome by fear as Kevwin had. He stood his ground and faced the alien that was pointing at him, waiting to see what would happen. He didn’t think the alien was going to kill him, but if it did, he would die on his feet, not fleeing like a deserter.

  At first, nothing happened. The taller alien was pointing at him, still smiling widely, but doing nothing else. Blackshade began to feel somewhat uncomfortable as time continued to pass, and he began to wonder if he was supposed to be doing something in return. He was about to give voice to his concern, when he suddenly felt something begin to itch on his forehead. It felt exactly like when his foot had fallen asleep for a while and then began to “wake up” after the blood flow returned. He felt his eyes close, as his brain began to feel a little fuzzy, like he was waking up from a dream. The feeling passed as quickly as it came, and he felt the strong urge to scratch at his forehead. Removing his helmet, Blackshade rubbed at his head until the feeling went away.

  “Can you understand me now, little one?” he heard the alien ask him.

  Still rubbing at his head, he didn’t look up as he responded, “Yes, of course I can under….” he stopped midsentence, his helmet falling from numb fingers. He looked up dumbly at the alien.

  “I… I can understand you!” he said in disbelief. “How is this possible?”

  The alien laughed…or at least, Blackshade assumed it was a laugh. It was a beautiful sound, unlike anything he had heard before, and it helped to put him further at ease. The alien looked at him with the same look his mother used to give him when he had been little and had figured out how to do something all by himself.

  “It is possible, because I put a translation program into your main cerebral.” the taller alien responded, as if this explained everything.

  Talking with the alien was strange. The words he heard from the alien were now in perfect English, but its mouth didn’t form the words like he would have expected. Ancient foreign films that were poorly dubbed in English came to his mind. He recalled seeing some in history classes, where the actor would speak in his native tongue, but English was what was dubbed over the audio, causing the words being heard to not line up with the actor’s lips. He remembered making fun of it as a child; now it made this whole experience even more surreal.

  “I don’t understand. Program? My main cerebral? What does that mean?” he asked, still shocked he could suddenly understand them.

  The shorter alien walked up behind the taller one and whispered something. Blackshade thought he caught, “they do not realize…” but he couldn’t be sure. The two aliens whispered between themselves for a few moments. At one point, the taller alien turned its back on him giving Blackshade a clear view of it from behind. He noticed that, while the aliens didn’t have a penis or vagina like a human would, they did have an anus, which was just as exposed as the rest of their naked bodies were. Embarrassed and not wanting to offend the aliens, Blackshade looked away quickly. He was relieved when the tall alien turned back around to address him.

  “Do you know what you are, little one?” the alien asked him gently.

  The question confused Blackshade, “What I am? What do you mean? Do you mean what I identify as?” he asked.

  The taller alien nodded.

  Still confused, Blackshade answered honestly, “I am a man. A human being. Homosapien. I am a Colonel in the Candaerican Army Air Corp and am from Earth.” he knew how foolish he sounded, but he had no idea how better to answer the question.

  The taller alien looked back at its companion and nodded before continuing, “That is true, although the term… human… is foreign to me.” it said sadly, “Do you know what you really are? Where you come from?”

  Blackshade didn’t like the sound of that and bristled slightly, “What do you mean?”

  The alien sighed disappointe
dly, “You are a machine. A contraption. A marvelous contraption to be sure, but a machine none the less. My people created you millions of years ago and left you here. Due to a series of unfortunate events, we have not been able to return to this planet for quite some time, and we certainly did not expect to find you here like this.” the alien explained.

  Blackshade felt offended by what the alien said, “How can you say that?” he asked heatedly, “I am no machine. I am a living, breathing, sentient human being. I wasn’t created by aliens. I had a mother and a father. I was born not manufactured. I think you’re mistaken.” To accentuate this, he walked over to Yoshi’s unconscious form and yanked the Vesalius off his arm. Turning to face the alien, he held the device up to them, “This is a machine! It’s made up of electronics, metals, plastics, glass, and a bunch of other nonorganic materials. I am a living, breathing creature! I am made up of organic, naturally occurring material.”

  The alien looked upset by this, but Blackshade saw that it also seemed to understand his argument as well, “No, little one, you do not fully understand. You are correct in your declaration that you are not a machine as you understand machines to be. You are what is known to us as a near-life, synthesized, perpetual, self-energizing, automaton. My race created you to help us in our war against the Kritchet and deposited you here when you became obsolete.” the alien gestured at him, “Granted, you did not look like this when last we saw you. Tell me, why is your skin so pale?”

  Blackshade couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Wait… hold on a second. What do you mean we didn’t look like this? Do you mean we looked more like Neanderthals? Were we originally apes? Do the evolutionists have it right?” he asked curiously.