Original Design

by William Latoria

  “We had to leave this system for millions of years. It was only recently that we regained control of this section of space and returned to this solar system to gather the resources we thought would be here. We did not expect to find you here the way you are now, but we are very excited and interested to figure out how you have come to exist the way you have.” Tremendous continued, its mood clearly muted by the last image. The projection suddenly sprang back to life, showing a human form of Omega design, and the male human form of a current human being.

  There were murmurs from all over the room as the delegates quietly discussed this information amongst themselves. Blackshade looked around the room to try to gauge how they were reacting to the information. He saw that many of the politicians looked nervous, even scared, judging by the looks on some of their faces. Others were more encouraging, seeming to accept what Tremendous was telling them, and that gave Blackshade hope. After a few minutes President Silvia tapped a gavel on his table which was the signal for silence.

  “Thank you for answering my question so elegantly, Mr. Tremendous.” the President said, “If you don’t mind, I have some follow-up questions.”

  Tremendous appeared amused by this, “Feel free to ask all the questions you have. I would expect nothing less.”

  The President seemed to take a moment to decide if Tremendous was being condescending or not, in truth, Blackshade couldn’t tell either, but after a moment the President apparently decided the Omega was being sincere.

  “You say that we are different, that you are surprised to find us here as we are. Can you explain that?” he asked.

  Tremendous nodded, “Of course!” it said, sitting back in its chair, a bemused grin sliding onto its face, “As I explained, when we first deposited your kind here, all of you were ceased. Which means you were, as you understand it, dead. This was done intentionally, because to leave you active while you decomposed would be unnecessarily cruel. This world was also bombarded and conditioned by us to break you down into your baser elements expeditiously. After we were expelled from the system, we made note of this world in our logs so that when we returned, we could harvest the resources that would be abundant on its surface. This was all under the assumption that the Kritchet had not discovered or destroyed this world before we could return, of course.” Tremendous explained, “Now that we have regained control of this section of space, we were dispatched to determine the status of the planet and retrieve any resources the Kritchet may have left behind. As you could imagine, when we saw a thriving society on this planet, created by our creations that we thought were ceased, it more than surprised us. The changes your species has undergone are extraordinary!”

  President Silvia motioned impatiently, “Please elaborate on those changes.”

  Tremendous continued, “To begin, you have split into two separate types of humans. You call the separation… genders.” The Omega struggled with the word, “I apologize, there is no word in my language for… gender… as no other species we have ever encountered is split into… male... and… female... counterparts.” Again, Tremendous stumbled over the human words as it was forced to give voice to them. Blackshade thought it seemed annoyed by this.

  “The fact that your species has split itself like this, and that you have thrived even so divided, is a miracle in of itself.” Tremendous explained as its projection changed to show a highly detailed view of a naked human man and naked human woman rotating around in front of them. The images were so real, Blackshade thought he could see them breathing. “How, and why this adaptation has occurred is just one of the many mysteries we hope to understand. Why your species split, how it split, and what caused it, are questions our top researchers are currently trying to understand. It is absolutely fascinating to us that the… males… of your population are typically, but not always, larger than the… females, more aggressive, typically have more dead cell production prevalent on their bodies, and cannot independently reproduce. Females… are just as strange as they are typically slimmer than… males, more sensitive to the world around them, and physically weaker, which from an evolutionary stand point makes little sense. Also, did you know that the males of your species process information in a completely different way than the females of your species do? Males tend to be more logical and deeper thinkers, while females tend to take things at face value and are quicker to react! Simply marvelous! Not only that, but the females of your species are much more manipulative than the males, yet from what we understand of your history, the males are typically the decision makers and rulers of your people. With so many contradictions surrounding your species, we cannot help but be curious.” Tremendous said excitedly.

  As Tremendous declared its revelations about the differences between males and females, an angry murmur began to rise from around the room. Blackshade had to stop himself from sighing in frustration; he knew that what Tremendous was saying was not meant to be offensive. What the Omega obviously hadn’t learned yet was humanity’s ability to take offense to just about anything. These insights were apparently far too sexist for the delegates of Kansas to tolerate as the three female team jumped to their feet with outrage plain on their faces. Blackshade read on their foreheads, ‘Male pig’, ‘Chauvinist’, and ‘How dare he mansplain’.

  “Mr. Tremendous!” the lead Kansas delegate began, “Alien or not, what you’ve just said about the mentality of men and women couldn’t be further from the truth! Men and women are equal in every way and for you to state otherwise is not only ignorant, but shamefully insulting! How dare you, Sir!” she shouted, folding her arms across her chest. She gave the Omega a withering glare that would have been intimidating had it not been aimed at a being triple her size. This fact didn’t stop her co-delegates from mimicking her posture perfectly, however. “I demand you recant your statement and issue an apology! At once!”

  Minder pushed itself out of its chair using nothing but its tail. The wooden chair creaked alarmingly, but no one in the room other than Blackshade noticed. The look of malice on Minder’s face as it glared at the delegates was all anyone was paying attention to. It felt to Blackshade as if the entire room took a step back. Tremendous stood more slowly, using its arms to raise out of its chair, making a statement with every motion. It turned to face the women, who no longer looked very smug, and considered them for a moment. Blackshade felt like humanity’s fate rested on the edge of a knife, he held his breath, waiting for the end to come.

  “Perhaps I spoke harshly.” Tremendous finally said. Blackshade was not surprised to hear a collective sigh of relief escape from around the room, it echoed his own. If Tremendous or Minder noticed, they gave no sign, their focus was completely on the three female delegates from Kansas.

  “I wonder what argument you would make to counter my theory.” Tremendous said to the women. Blackshade was no politician, but he knew when someone was being baited. When none of the women made any attempt to engage the Omega, it pressed its advantage. “You claim that a… woman’s… mentality is unlike what I claim it to be, and I admit, I am very ignorant to the ways of humans, especially their information processing procedures. However, by your own actions, you prove my point. Instead of considering my words and logically countering my theory, you allowed your emotions to overcome you, leapt to your feet, denounced my claim without any substantiating proof, and then demanded I apologize for having an opinion that differs from your own.” Tremendous took a step toward the women before continuing, “How do your own actions do anything but prove my theory? None of the… males… in this room shouted at me, none of them let their emotions overwhelm them and cause this outburst. Yes, they were uncomfortable by my statement, but if I am wrong, then prove it to me with facts and healthy debate, not with raw emotion and unprocessed rage. I understand that you disagree with my statement, and I will apologize for the duress it causes you, but right now, you are proving my point better than I ever could.”

  The two delegates from Kansas that had flanked their leader look
ed abashed and meekly returned to their seats. The lead delegate was clearly shaken, and understandably so. She would go down in history as the first human to ever be chastised by an alien. Still, she took a deep breath and looked into Tremendous’ eyes. Blackshade couldn’t help but admire the woman’s steel, “Mr. Tremendous, I apologize for speaking to you the way I did. You are correct, I did react poorly to your statement and for that I can only beg your forgiveness.” she began, finding herself in her words, “However, my original statement, no matter how poorly communicated, stands true. The mental capacity of a woman is no worse, or weaker, than their male counterparts. To say otherwise is a grave injustice to all of the women of this world.”

  Tremendous smiled but didn’t return to its seat, “I never said it was. I simply said it was different and that was intriguing. Thank you for your apology. I look forward to working with you in the future.”

  As the Omega leader finished, it returned to its seat. Blackshade looked up at the Kansas delegates to see if they were going to be a problem anymore and was astounded to see what was on their foreheads. The two subordinate delegates had the word, ‘APPROVAL’ scrolling across their heads while the delegate that had just been directly chastised had the phrase, ‘Almost wish I liked men’ on hers. Blackshade had to turn away to stop himself from screaming at them. Say what they will, women were an enigma to him. By the time he had returned his attention to the center of the room, Minder had retaken its seat, and all three of the Omegas were looking expectantly toward President Silvia.

  The President smoothly asked his next question as if nothing had happened, “You say no other species in the universe has multiple genders. If that is so, how do they reproduce?”

  Tremendous grinned, “I am glad you brought that up, for it is another amazing mystery of your species we wish to study.” With a wave of its hand the projection brought up an image of an Omega. “When an Omega reproduces, we do so the same way as all other sentient beings do in the universe. When the environmental conditions are correct, we consume large amounts of nutrients. When our intake reaches the correct level, one of our limbs becomes numb and gelatinous. Eventually it falls off and congeals into an embryo. Usually we are prepared for this, and the embryo develops inside a specially designed incubator while the host watches over it. Omegas become fiercely defensive of their embryos and will fight to the death to protect it. After what you would measure about a month, the Embryo is a fully developed member of our society. They inherit all of the knowledge and abilities of their host, and will develop their own personality and interests as they mature. Newly developed Omegas do tend to be slightly smaller than their hosts at first, but they will quickly grow to their full size. Sometimes they grow larger than their host, and sometimes they remain smaller, but usually the differences between host and spawn are minor. Once the proper amount of time has elapsed, the newly spawned Omega joins our society, taking on a role similar to its host’s until its own personality and interests take shape, and they can choose their own path. The time frames for gestation vary from species to species, but the process is more or less the same in the universe; until now of course. However, no other known species in the universe requires another individual of their race to create a spawn. Humanity’s way of reproducing is as unique in the universe as it is inefficient.” Tremendous explained.

  A delegate from Saskatchewan stood up to address Tremendous. Blackshade knew who the man was, but by reputation only. He was an advocate for children’s rights and had worked very hard to push for families to receive tax breaks and other government aid dependent on how many children they adopted or fostered. He believed that it was better to raise a child that someone else had given up, rather than for a couple to produce their own when so many children were in desperate need of families. His efforts were very successful and because of this, Saskatchewan was known for, amongst other things, as being the adoption capital of the world. Some countries even sent their orphans there to be adopted out to willing families. Blackshade thought he was a good man but was concerned when he saw him stand now. With the words, ‘Those poor children’ running across his forehead.

  “Mr. Tremendous, I’m sorry to interrupt you, I truly am, but I must ask you a question.” The delegate called out, drawing everyone’s attention.

  President Silvia motioned towards the man, “Omegas, may I introduce Mr. Dalton Abernathy, delegate of Saskatchewan.”

  Delegate Abernathy nodded his thanks to the President and then turned his attention back to the Omegas. Tremendous and Artificer were looking at him with interest, Minder was watching everyone else.

  “If what you’re saying is true, and I do believe you are telling us the truth, do you truly not raise your young? Your children simply come into existence knowing everything its parents… or parent in this case… knows and just join your society like it’s no big deal? I find that scenario difficult to accept, if you’ll pardon my bluntness.” Abernathy stated.

  Tremendous seemed to consider the man for a moment before replying, “That is correct, Delegate Dalton Abernathy, a newly spawned Omega has all of the memories and abilities of the host Omega after they fully mature and can therefore join our society immediately after the gestation process completes. It is the way all species reproduce in the universe, and it is a far more efficient process than the twenty cycles it takes human spawn to develop.” Tremendous explained patiently. “To answer your unspoken question, Delegate Abernathy, not all spawn leave their host after joining society. Some spawn stay with their host for millions of cycles, working at their side for long periods of time.

  Tremendous then motioned towards the largest Omega in the room, “Minder was one of my first reproductions.”

  Blackshade looked closely at Minder at this revelation. He could see the resemblance in some of Minder’s features to Tremendous, but that wasn’t saying much. To Blackshade, the Omegas mostly looked alike. He could tell them apart by their voices and their size, but other than that, it was hard to see the differences.

  Tremendous motioned toward the projection again and a male and a female human appeared in the throes of intercourse. Congressmen and women turned their heads away in embarrassment, while others leaned in to get a closer look. For Blackshade’s part, he was so caught up in trying to figure out if Minder was really the offspring of Tremendous that he didn’t notice right away. When he did, he only just contained a startled laugh.

  “Your species though, you do not split like other species do.” Tremendous continued, “Well, not exactly. Instead, you engage in a violent mating ritual where the male inserts itself into the female, and then they both gyrate until the male voids his genetic material into the female. How long the gyrations last seems to vary dependent on the male, and the male seems to enjoy the act far more than the female. Yet females encourage the ritual almost as often as males do! Then over the course of nine of your months, the female contains the gestating human inside of itself! Almost a full cycle! The female’s body is absolutely thrashed, lethally in some cases, by the Scrapper developing inside of them. Then, in what is obviously an incredibly painful and traumatic experience, the female expels the newborn, in yet another violent birthing process. What is even more fascinating being the fact that the female’s body creates a false memory of the birthing process, so that they forget how traumatic the experience was and allow themselves to mate with a male again!” Tremendous explained with enthusiasm, clearly enthralled with the subject. As the Omega explained its findings to the assembled politicians, the display it was projecting depicted the acts in amazing, graphic detail.

  “It is interesting to us that the males seem to have nothing to do with the process after expelling their genetic material, although most appear to stay near the female they have mated with in a hunter, gatherer capacity. The savage, painful, and nonsensical way your species has adapted in order to reproduce is astonishing! How the whole process works, and how it developed, is another mystery to us as well! It seems to be a subject of g
reat interest to your species as well, considering how prevalent reproduction videos are on your internet.” Tremendous finished by having the projection show dozens of pornographic scenes all at once.

  President Silvia jumped up from his seat, “Please! Mr. Tremendous! Turn that off. It’s incredibly offensive!” he insisted. Blackshade saw how red in the face the President had become. He understood completely; he himself was feeling incredibly uncomfortable, considering some of the acts on the Omega display were as imaginative as they were enthusiastic.

  Tremendous looked confused but did as asked. Sighs of relief, and groans of disappointment, comically came from the delegates around the room. “I am sorry, little one. With all the data available on the subject and your own personal videos, I did not realize this subject would cause you discomfort.” Tremendous explained. As the President’s personal sex videos were mentioned, a collective gasp carried around the room. Nothing caught a politician’s attention faster than a potential scandal.

  President Silvia’s eyes grew huge as Tremendous mentioned his sex videos. The words, ‘HOW DOES HE KNOW’ blazed across his forehead. Blackshade was embarrassed for the man.

  The President’s face became beet red as his tempter flew out of control, “How dare you!? How DARE YOU!?! I invite you here, bring you into my home, MY HOME, and you show me gratitude by making repulsive allegations like this?! You may not understand what it means to have basic human decency, Sir, but here, on Earth, and in my presence, you will learn to treat me with more respect!” the President said in a huff, “I have made no such videos!”

  Tremendous made no outward gesture to indicate that the President’s outburst had upset it. The only indication that the Omega had even taken notice of President Silvia’s tirade was its tail moving from around its shoulder and resting on the chair. Blackshade wasn’t sure what it was exactly about the gesture that made him so tense, but it left no doubt in his mind that the Omega didn’t enjoy being talked to like that.