Babar and the stranger

This short story began after a friend of mine, who's also an aspiring author, discussed writing in different point of views. We both love first person narration, we enjoy third person narration a lot, but we differ on second person narration. My friend dislike them, while I love the concept of them, but I have to begrudgingly agree that they are rarely done well (N. K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season is well worth a read if you want to see second person narration done well).

My friends main gripe with the second person point of view is the disconnect he feels from the story when the narraion talks about you, such as saying things like, "You shake your head at the sight of the mess." I thus suggested an alternative, a hybrid between first and second person: a story where we follow the first person point of view of someone who is spoken to, but never responds, and never narrate their actions.

Unsure of what such a story would look like, I decided to write it and see. It was a fun writing exercise, and I hope it makes for a fun read as well. You'll see I played around a bit with different font sizes to denote distance or volume, and different fonts for the rare occasion a new voice enters the story.

Day 1

"Hello there, don't be afraid! I didn't mean to startle you. I just want... oh well, catch you around I guess..."

Day 2

"Hi... me again."

"There you go. See, I am not dangerous! No need to run away again. You might wonder... Oh, okay off you go. Same time tomorrow then?"

Day 3

"Shush now, see here... This is what you want right?"

"And there you go again, why do I even... oh. You're not running off with your friends? You want this? Here you go."

"What? You want me to bring it to you? No, I want us to make a connection. I put it right here... And you come get it."

"There you go, that's a good... whatever you are. I've never seen your kind before. Mind if I sit down? No? Good."

"Wowowow, slow down, it's nothing bad. See, it's only water. I am thirsty, I want to drink. See, just water. I drink water, just like you."

"There you go. That wasn't so hard. Oh, you want more? I'm sorry, that's all I have right now. If you want more, you gotta dig it up yourself."

"It's a nice day today, isn't it? Both suns are up, I assume it means the night will be extra dark tonight then? I've not been on this planet long. What? What are you looking at? There's nothing there."

"Hey, no! Don't go! We were just making progress. Ah you silly crazy alien. See you tomorrow."

Day 4

"Shit! You startled me. Sorry, don't run away again please! I didn't mean to shout."

"There you go. That's a nice... six-legged hippo elephant monster, I guess... See what I have here. I dug up a whole dozen of these things you eat. Dig in."

"No, I am not giving them to you. They will lie here, just next to me. I want us to be friends. I give you free food and you sit next to me. That's the deal."

"There you go. You might be wondering why I want to chat with you. Oh, you might not be wearing clothes, or use tools out here in the woods, but I've seen your village. You have tools. You have houses. I know you're smart creatures. Sure, you might not understand my words, but Huh, come to think of it, I've never heard any of you make anything resembling speech. Hopefully you understand the noises coming out of me has meaning to them Where was I? Oh right, as I said you might not understand my words, but this is still a start, you know. First contact."

"Would you believe me that this is not the first time I have made first contact with a new alien species? It's in fact my fourth time! Fifth if you count the Churrans. Though I'm not sure if a mental meeting counts as first contact or not."

"Normally I would go about this in a much more diplomatic way. I mean, we would probably have surveilled you for generations before attempting to make contact. But here I am, stranded on an uncharted planet. A girl s gotta do what a girl gotta do. I just want to chitchat between us girls... You're a girl, right? I saw some of your friends have some dangly bits between their legs, I assume you work like we do."

"Now, we have a lot to talk about. But there's one pressing thing I need first. I need food. I cannot eat whatever... those things are. I've tried. I managed to catch one of those monkey-like lizards the other day, those I can eat. And I know you have them. Don't give me that look, I know you're not a dumb animal. I've seen the pens in your village; you have domesticated the monkey lizards. So, see here."

"Woah there, shush now. It's nothing bad. This is a screen, it shows pictures. See, this is me. This is you. And this... is a monkey lizard. Look, this is your food. Food, for you. This is a lizard. Food. For me. You think we can make a deal? You bring me a lizard. I bring you more food. Okay? Food for you. Food for me. Food. Yumyum."

"No, I don't have any more. How have you managed to eat them all so fast anyway? I've seen you guys, you spend almost half a day foraging to get a dozen pieces, and you want more? Hey, get your trunk out of there. That's my stuff. No, no I didn't mean to scare you. It's just personal boundaries, you know?"

"There you go. Can I touch you? See, I have nothing... There, see that wasn't so bad. We humans that's my species we show friendship by touching. We're friends. We're making a huge leap in your species history right here. The first sign of alien friendship."

"I am glad, we got a proper talk today. We start slow, but soon I will need more help from you. And maybe I can help you more? I got tools and all manner of knowledge. Strictly speaking I m not allowed to share technology with lesser civilizations, but who s here to stop me? But right now, we start small. Food for you. This. Food. Food for you. Trade for this. Food. Food for me. You got it?"

"Good. Your friends must be worried for you by now. Don t want them thinking I did you anything bad, so how about you head back and I'll see you tomorrow? Have a good day!"

Day 7

"Ah, there you are. I am so happy to see you again. I was afraid I d made a bad impression last we spoke, I have a tendency to ramble when no-one stops me. Where have you been these couple of days? Oh. You brought friends? Hello there!"

"What are you doing? Who s that? He s big. And he s certainly a he I see. And his color is different. Is he a leader of yours? Whoah there big boy, stay back. Fine, fine! Sniff all you like. But you're warned, I don't have any deodorant on this planet."

"Oookay that's enough of that. Oooph. Hey watch it!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound angry. Happy now? You determined I am not dangerous? Hey, where are you going?"

"Ah come on! Don't leave me again. I'll stay right here in case you change your mind. Twiddling my thumbs, slowly starving, failing my mission, bored out of my wits..."

Day 7-2

"-- have the same challenges as me. So they cannot hide out in the barren areas. Based on the last trajectory that have to have passed by somewhere in this region. Am I wasting my time with these beasts? No, the area is too large to search on my own, I got to Oh, hey you're back!"

"Sorry, I was completely lost in my own thoughts. I didn't hear you approach. To be two tonnes giants you sure move silently. Were your friends happy with me? With my... smell? Ah, you brought some more friends again? Another round of smelling? No? Oh! Oh! Thank you!"

"I knew you would understand me. Fascinating, I ve never seen you using a cart before. You built this just to transport the cage to me? You have to show me how you build stuff, since you don't have anything resembling hands, I mean."

"Are they dead? They are. You killed them for me? Or did you bring me the already dead ones? You didn t bring me sick ones?"

"No matter, my equipment will make sure they'll be safe to eat. Put them over there and I will get your payment. We never did agree on an exchange rate, would you say two of these roots for one monkey lizard? So here's ten roots. For five of those."

"No? Not good enough? Fine, three roots per monkey lizard. Hang on a moment. There you go, fifteen roots. Hmm? What are you doing?"

"Huh, so you do know maths. You only want to give me three for fifteen huh. That's a steep prize, but I guess you have me at a disadvantage. Fine, hang on."

"There you go. Twenty five roots. Mind putting those two back in there? Great! Pleasure doing business with you. Don't be alarmed, I'm just going to grab something from my backpack, that's okay? Good."

"There we go. See, isn't this cool? The device is a anti-grav load bearer. I simply attach it to whatever I need to move and it makes it weightless. See, I can easily carry the cage and all the monkey lizards I would like as easy as that. Neat huh?"

"Oh, but your cart was great! This is just easier, I don t have to worry about the wheels getting stuck in Ah, you're leaving? Not big on ceremony are you? Well then, I'll probably be away for a day or two to prepare my food. See you around."

Day 9

"Crud."

#

"What if I..."

#

"Ah come on, just get in there!"

#

"Hmm, oh well."

#

"Ah, of course."

#

"Hello? Are anyone there? Could have sworn I heard something."

#

"Shit!"

#

"Good night. Miss you."

Day 10

"Hi there, you're up early! Were you waiting for me? I hope you haven't been staying here for two whole days, I was busy preparing the food. Those monkey lizards will provide me for several weeks. The taste could be better, but oh well."

"By the way I have been thinking of calling you Babar. You kinda look like an elephant, and you proved to me the other day that you are smart. Just like Babar. Sounds good? Stare at me blankly for yes, look away for no. Sounds good, Babar."

"You might think, 'Hey, wasn't Babar a male elephant?', but to that I say that we are beyond traditional gender roles in this day and age. Also, no one else remembers Babar besides me. So I think your objections are rather academic, Babar. You shouldn't worry so much."

"Hmm? You're leaving? Already? But we just started... What? I honestly don't... You want me to follow? Oh, I'd love to."

"Where are we going? Are we going to your village? As I mentioned I have seen it before, but I didn't want to waltz right in and intrude, but I'd definitely love a closer look."

"Either you're taking the scenic route, or we are not going to your village. Where are you taking me?"

"Giving me the silent treatment Babar?"

"Alright, as you might have guessed, walking in silence isn't really my thing. So if it is okay for you, I'll continue to chat. Remain silent if you don't object. Great!"

"Now, I mentioned a while back that I need more of your help beyond getting food. I need help finding someone. Someone like me. I have a rough idea of where they might be, but the area is way too large for me to search on my own. Especially with two thirds of my drones destroyed in the crash. It's very important that I manage to track them down, before they have a chance to make their spaceraft operational again and escape. By my estimation, based on the damage they sustained during the battle, they would need to spend at least a standard Earth month to get the reactor core working again. Yes, I know. No one uses Earth months anymore, but my brain is hardwired like that.

"Anyway, that would be about forty of your day-night cycles. So time is of the essence. But sure, let's see where you're taking me before we go into details."

"Are we nearly there yet? Wherever there is? No? Yes?"

"Hey! Babar, I need to rest for a bit. We've been walking for hours, let me just take a quick sit and catch my Whoah! Let me down your crazy Um, sure, thanks for the lift. I haven't ridden a horse in almost a thousand years, let alone an elephant.

"Oh, you don't think I look that old? Well that's the nature of FTL travel, combined with cryo-sleep, and a healthy doze of extended life-span projects. I honestly don't remember how old I am anymore, sure I can look up the date in the Galactic Calendar, but then I gotta convert that to the Pre-Empire calendar and that one again to the Pre-Singularity calendar and so on all the way back to the one I was born under. Such a hazzle."

"We're going to that large tree over there?"

"Seems like we are."

"What's going on over there? Oh... oh no. Babar I am so sorry. It's a piece of my ship, I could barely reach the escape pod in time before it tore apart and fell all over the planet... But you don't know that this has anything to do with me, do you? You need me for something else? Or do you want to show me something? I don't Ouch! You could have asked me to get down, no need to dump me like a big sack of potatoes. If you ever join the Empire, I'll make sure to assign you a course on etiquette and decorum."

"Oh, you poor things. How many died here? Was this a settlement? No... something is clearly crushed underneath the wreckage, but it's too small to be a settlement. And what's this giant contraption you've built, it looks like..."

"Why are you all staring at me? Are you communicating now? On a frequency I can't hear? This is getting creepy. So let me guess then. This big thing, is a winch of some kind? You're trying to lift away the wreckage? There's something underneath you want out? And you saw me move the crate using anti-grav the other day and want me to move it for you?"

"Stare blankly at me for yes."

"Okay good, I will move the wreck for you. But I need to get back to my escape pod to grab my load bearers... You're kidding me... How... You went to my escape pod and stole my stuff?"

"You... understand more than I expected. Bravo. Very well, I will ignore this breach of trust and help you out."

"Alright, let me see what you've... procured for me. Good, this here is a multi-purpose scanner, hang on a moment."

"Wowowowo, calm down. You don't like the sound? Shush now, there you go. I have to do this, okay. Brace yourself..."

"Okay it is done, calm down. Please. I am done. See! It's on the ground. I'm not using it anymore. I got what I needed. We need to use at least six load bearers to lift the wreckage. Too bad we only have four."

"Although, I doubt the wreckage is structurally sound. You can surmise that from the fact that it is literally in pieces. Which means that it will most likely be torn to pieces when we start to lift it. Four load bearers will be enough for that."

"Come with me. We put one here. And one here. See the distance between them. Now, show me how smart you are. The next two. Take them. Here! Put them there. There. And there. There. Same distance as between these. Distance. These. Okay?"

"Okay I did not expect that! So thats how you do things that require finer motor functions! Amazing. Evolution never seizes to surprise. You're not genetically engineered right?"

"Okay everyone, get back! Shush, go away. We will move the wreckage over there. This. Wreckage. There. Things fall off. Blam. Smashed and dead aliens. Bad."

"Ready? Your blank stares fill me with confidence. Here we go."

"Slowly. Careful! Get away from the falling shit."

"Ooph, I should have worn ear protection. You guys don't mind the noise?"

"Yikes, okay we need to move that piece again afterwards. Stay back! BACK. Shoo! Wait until I am done. Wait! Oh for the love of..."

"Okay there, it's down. It's safe to approach. What is so important you couldn't wait until I was done moving the wreck?"

"Hey! What's wrong? Let go of me!"

"Put me down. Thank you. Now let me take a look-- PUT ME DOWN!"

"What? I am not allowed to see what's underneath there? I helped you! Well I hope you're happy."

"Is that... Okay that looked like a larva of some kind. Is this a food source for you? Or is this how you reproduce? Are those larvae your children? Hey put me down!"

"Babar! What? Okay, fine. I'll ride you. I really wanted to see what... Never mind, fine. I hope you appreciate me. And make sure someone brings my stuff you stole. Yes I use the word stole, that's what we call it when someone takes something without asking first!"

"Bye everyone I guess, Babar is taking me home it looks like."

"Seems like you know the exact direction to reach my escape pod. Have you been there before Babar, or did someone else tell you the direction? I wish I could figure out how you communicate."

"You know what, I think I'll just enjoy the silence for once."

#

"The larvae might not even have been a larva though."

#

"Even the most skilled engineer would need... So since he is not..."

#

"Less than twenty days then... Babar, tomorrow I'll have a task for you. For all of you."

#

"That's my pod alright. You sure knew the way. Definitely been here before then? Spying on me as I sleep? Didn't take you for a creep Babar."

"Thanks for the ride. Good night, Babar."

Day 11

"Good morning, Babar. Did you sleep well despite the storm? I hope whatever I helped you with is doing fine. Hmm? Oh this, it's a forcefield, it keeps me dry despite the rain. See, no water on me!"

"Huh, are you all well? Your color seems... off? Are you sick? Or do you change color depending on the weather? I've only seen you during sunlight before, I guess. Anyway, I would like to visit your village and talk to your elders. To this guy."

"Yeah, I've taken pictures of all of you without your consent, sue me. This guy, the big guy who kept smelling me. This, your village. I want to go here. Me. Go here. Your village. And I want to talk. Talk. Me. To you. To him. In your village. Okay?"

"What? You hesitate? Remember this. The wreckage. And this. The larva. Woah whoah whoah. I am sorry, I wasn't supposed to see the larva? Fine, forget that. But remember. I helped. I used this. Load bearer. To help you. You. With this. Wreckage. Now. I talk to you. Talk to this guy. In your village. Me. Village. Talk. Okay? No, look at me. Here! Okay? Okay. Good."

"Ooph! Again, you could have given me a warning, I am not used to being picked up like a small child. Although... Hmm. Fine. Let's head off."

"Hope you don't mind me being quiet for once. I need to think. You did not react well to me showing the image of the larva, so something tells me I should think carefully before showing stuff to the big honcho in town. Hmm."

#

"Wha? Oh, I must have nodded off. We're here. Wow, it's larger in person than it looked on the drone footage. And we've drawn quite a crowd I see. Good thing I am not shy, eh? And there's the head honcho."

"Wait a moment, it looks like they are expecting us... Did you tell them we were coming? How? Are... Are you telepaths? That's quite uncommon. If you are then you have a bright future in store for you. Maybe not you personally, but your species. Even if I leave a favorable report, I bet it will take several generations before you'll be asked to join the Empire. Particularly if you are telepaths. Empire secrets and all that. Can't have you reading minds willy nilly."

"Oouph! Please be more gentle, I bet my bones are much more brittle than yours. Alright, let's get down to business."

"I want to start by thanking you for allowing me into your village. In our short time together, we have been able to build the foundation of trust between our people. Yesterday I helped you out with a problem, today I ask you to help me."

"Babar, I am going to use some of my technology to show you some things, can you tell them not to be scared? Good. Now, see here. You remember this screen? It's not dangerous. Right? I am going to use it again, but with projection turned on so everyone can see. It is safe. Okay? Here we go."

"Good, very good. Now. This is me, and these other "me"s represent my people. Together we protected this, represented by a larva. I know you protect your larvae, so do we. Then someone took our larva! This man! Notice the hair on his face and the lack of these on his chest, this is how you tell us apart. This man took our larva!"

"Yes. Yes. I agree. It is horrible. Now, this man escaped from us, with our larva, in this... A Class Y Private... A big box that can fly. It is similar to my escape pod, the box I live in, this one. But it is bigger. A little while ago there was a battle, up there in the sky. This big box was shot down and made an emergency landing somewhere on your land."

"Now this... is a map. This here, is your village. There, this is that building. Okay? And this, this here, is my flying box. My escape pod. Recognize it? Good. This area, colored in red. I hope you aren't color blind. The area colored in red is the possible trajectory of the big box with the man who took my larva. And this blue area. This is where I and my small army of drones have been able to search. As you see, there is a lot left to explore."

"Here's the kicker. The man will be able to get his ship operational again and fly away. The man will take my larva and fly up in the sky. I don't have much time. I need your help. Help me look for the man, for the big box and my larva. Do you understand? This, this whole area. He can be there. My larva can be anywhere in this area. Help me. Find my larva! Please. You re my only hope."

"I would have loved a chorus of 'Yes we will help you', but I will take your silence and blank stares as your way of saying that you will help me."

"I will leave you to think about this. Babar, thank you for the ride. I can find my way back home on my own. No, Babar. Stay, talk amongst yourself. You know me the best, you should be here to convince the others to help me. I ll be fine. Hmm? You want me to go with him? Sigh, very well. Greetings, it s always nice to get to know new people, new six legged elephant monsters as well. I should give you a name, how about Dumno?"

Day 14

"Hey there Babar! I was wondering when I'd see you again. What have you been up to?"

"Me? Dumbo over there brought me here. These are definitely human footprints, I think we're getting close. I think maybe... okay see you around Babar."

"Dumbo, see the way the footprints over there don't quite match these? I think it's safe to see that the bad man is not alone. Which I think."

Day 17

"Just about any day now, maybe tomorrow."

"Wait, what s that sound?"

"Frickin hell, it s multiple vermin! Stay away! Shoo!"

"They re not going away Lem, do something!"

"Take that!"

"And let that be a lesson for you! There s more where that came from!"

"Disgusting."

#

"Holy shit!"

"Fuck, this is bad."

"Is that Babar?"

"Hang in there Babar!"

"Good thing you got me Dumbo, this is bad. They've been shot. See here, you grab this and point it at the wounds. Like this. Point. Then squeeze. There there, Babar, it will be over soon. See. Look. Keep squeezing until all the black goes inside the wound. Don't worry, it's tiny machines. They will enter the wound, sterilize it and clean any foreign elements and... Just trust me. See! Just do as I did on all of them, and the wounds will heal."

"There you go Babar. No, stay still. Rest, you need to rest. Try to sleep."

"Good job Dumbo, keep doing that."

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do for this one. I am so sorry."

"Good Dumbo, very good."

"No, it's too late."

"Now they need to sleep."

Day ??

"... Let them rest. The nanobots are amazing, but they use the body's own energy..."

Day ??

"... Looking good. One more day should do it. Let's just hope they haven't changed location by then..."

Day ?? + 1

"Good morning Babar! So good to see you up and about."

"It was absolutely dreadful. I hear you lost four friends. I am very sorry. My people can be brutal at times. Now, we tried to follow your tracks to where you encountered my target, but the rain had washed away too much. Can you bring me to him?"

"I know I know! You're afraid. I would be too in your shoes. But he has my larva! My larva, remember? I need to find him!"

"Can you take me there?"

"Right now? That's fine. I am armed and ready. Whoa, whoah, whoa... There, see. I put it away. I need it to deal with him. I will not allow him to harm anyone else. Okay? Okay."

"Lead on."

"Hey Dumbo, Babar is taking me to find the bad man, you want to join?"

"Take care."

"Seems like it's just the two of us Babar."

"We'll be fine, don't worry. You just stay back when we get there and I'll What? You're tired and want me to be quiet? Fine. I'll shut up."

#

"Hmm."

#

"Ouch."

#

"Bleh."

#

"Hang on."

#

"Carry on."

#

"What's the matter? We're getting close? Okay, I am going to grab my weapon from my bag. Okay? See. Just in case."

#

"What s wrong? Why did you stop? Where? Ah I see it. He did a decent job camouflaging it, no wonder my drones didn't pick it up. Did he... drill holes in the ground? Oh no, so stupid. He's using thermal energy to kickstart the reactor. Very dangerous. Illegal. Stupid. Stay back Babar, I'll deal with him."

"No, stay back."

"Fine, just, hang back a bit, okay? And let's be quiet, don't want to alert him to our presence."

"Shhhhh."

"Stop it. What is it? I don t understand what you re trying to tell me. Let go. I need to do it now. He s right there, with his back turned. I m sorry Babar, I cannot risk waiting any longer."

"There he is... Stay back Babar. Here goes nothing."

"Stand still! In the name of the Everlasting Empire and the Thousand Worlds, I demand your surrender. Drop everything and get down on the ground."

"What the "

"Get down! Get down! No stop!"

"Aaarrrghh, you fuckings bitch."

"I warned you. Now stay down and tell me where it is!"

"Fuck you, you fucking abomination."

"What's going "

"Get back Liv! It's a Sliver!"

"Quiet! Liv, whoever you are, come out here or I blow his head off! So, this was what you wanted me to know Babar, he s not alone "

"Don't shoot! I'm coming out."

"Oh, Lem! What has it done to you?"

"I only did what I had to. You stay right there! Now, are there anyone else here?"

"You abomination! You shot his foot off!"

"I don't care. He can always grow a new one. Are there anyone else here?"

"There's no-one, only us."

"Babar, keep an eye on the doorway for me, I m not trusting her."

"I am looking for the Phial, that man took it. Do you know where it is?"

"Don't tell it anything Liv!"

"I have to Lem, it will kill us. We... we buried it. About a mile in that direction, underneath three trees forming a cross. We took it as a sign..."

"..."

"You're lying. Stay right there."

"No, stop. We're telling the truth! Stop!"

"Down! Stay down. I am just going to Fuck!"

"Liv! Liv get up!"

"You killed her! Your fuckings monster."

"I did not. She's stunned. She should have stayed down when I told her to. But now I am curious... what did she not want me to see?"

"... Mom?..."

"Oh."

"Mom... Mom get up."

"Tom, get away from it. It's dangerous."

"Tom... Your mommy will wake up soon, but maybe you can help me? So that I don't have to hurt any of you. I am looking for this. It's called the Phial. Have you seen it?"

"Get the fuck away from him!"

"Aaaarrrghh."

"Dad!"

"Tom. Look at me. He's not dead yet. If you tell me where the Phial is I can heal him. And I'll leave the three of you alone. You can live the rest of your lives on this planet, or you can come back with me to the Empire. Look at me Tom. Your dad does not have much time left. Where is the Phial!"

"Tom... Don't... It's not human... Get away..."

"Tom. It will be fine. See, your mommy is waking up. Everything will be fine. Just tell me. Have you seen the Phial?"

"Uhm... yes..."

"Good Tom, good. Can you bring it to me."

"Tom. Get away from it."

"Tom, look at me. The Phial. Where is it?"

"It's gone! Leave us alone. Please!"

"What do you mean it's gone?"

"We don't have it anymore."

"Explain, where is it?"

"We lost it. In the crash. It's out there somewhere."

"Tom. Is your mommy lying to me? Did you lose The Phial in the crash? Look at me, not at her. Your daddy is dying. This is not the time for lies. Did you lose The Phial?"

"...No..."

"Good. So where is it?"

"... We don't have it anymore... We used it..."

"You... You used it? How?"

"I... I ate it..."

"What? How in all the Worlds have you managed to genetically engineer a human that can contain the Phial?"

"He's all natural! He will lead the Rebellion to end the Empire! You're not getting the Phial back. You're stuck... In fact, when you return to the Empress you will die. If you join us, you can stay living."

"Wait... Natural? As in..."

"Please! Can you... help dad?"

"Be quiet, I need to think."

"Think? Slivers don t think for themselves. You're just a copy. A drone. An abomination. When you return to the Empire you will die. Help us, and we can take you with us. You can live!"

"I won't die. I will be assimilated. Different thing."

"No, no, that's what they want you to think!"

"Please... Dad is not breathing anymore!"

"Oh, be quiet! Here, use this on him. You, help your mother. Be quiet! I need to think."

"Babar... Come over here. You three don't move a muscle."

"Babar. Can you hold this? Point it at them. If they do anything threatening, squeeze here. I will check out their ship. Things have changed."

"My friend here will keep you in line, don't try anything."

"Hand it to me."

"Dad, stay still. The monster will kill us."

"Lem, don't try anything. Patience. Quill will provide."

"..."

"..."

"Good job, Babar. Give me that."

"Well... Lem, was it? Are you aware of the consequences of powering a Kaminski IV Reactor with thermal energy? It's illegal you know. And dangerous."

"Like we care. There is no one here to take harm.."

"What do you call my friend Babar over there then?"

"Pft. Look at it, it's a beast. Quill teaches only humanity is life. Nothing else. Acceptable sacrifices."

"Alright. Good, I guess. Now I don't have to feel bad about doing this."

"What? No wait!"

"Lem!"

"Dad!"

"No, no, please show mercy! Spare my boy!"

"Mom!"

"..."

"Oh, Babar! Shush now. It's over. Shuush. I'm sorry you had to see that. I didn t mean to scare you. See, they are gone now. It s over."

"What?"

"What s wrong? Are you Are you judging me? They had to die. All of them. Yes, even the little one. I couldn t risk it. There s no time. I couldn t take them with me, and if I left them behind, I run the risk of someone else coming to their rescure before the Empire can come to apprehend them. And The little one had to go either way."

"They gave him The Phial. My larva. They let him eat it, and if my larva was left inside a living body for too long, then it would evolve. You don t know what evolve is, I gather? It would no longer be my larva. It would become something else. Now, inside a dead body, it will not change. But it will die! I must hurry back to the Empire so that we can extract it."

"Still not convinced? Oh, of course. You re missing a part of the puzzle. The ship. That flying box there. It drains energy from the ground. It eats the ground. The more people who fly in the box, the more ground it must eat. Right now, it has enough energy to take only one person. Me. Me and the head of the child that is. My larva cannot wait for it to eat enough ground to take all of us. I have to leave soon."

"So, there it is Babar. It's simple math. Energy enough for only one person, and not enough time to wait for the energy to build up for more. They had to die."

"But Babar... there's one more problem. And it pains me to have to tell you this. The ship. The box. Since its teeth are in the ground it means that when the ship launches When the box flies. Its teeth will rip open the ground. There will be massive tectonic activity... The ground will shake. Shake like this. And rip open. All over the land."

"I can't undo this. Not if I want to keep my larva alive. I need to take off as soon as possible.... Hurry back Babar, go to your village and gather everyone. You need to travel as fast as you can away from this place. I have no way to know how bad it will be. Maybe you can outrun the cataclysm."

"I pray that you actually understand me. Go. Go back. Gather your people, your larvae, and go away."

"Now! I cannot delay my take off for long. As long as the Phial remains in the child it is in danger of deteriorating, and as much as it saddens me to say... The Phial is more important than all of you."

"Go. Go now! I don't know how long your kind lives Babar, but maybe we will meet again. Not me me, but another one of me. This face, but not this body. I ve loved meeting you and getting to know you. But now it s time to say goodbye. Go Babar, gather your people, and hurry away."

"Please. Don't stay around, you re wasting valuable time. Go! Go!"

"There you go Babar! I knew you would understand me. Go as fast as you can. Live a long and happy life. I hope..."

"GOODBYE!."

Day 177231

"It is an honor to finally meet you Elder. We have heard so much about you. It is such a rare occasion nowadays for a new Member Species to have had any contact with the Empire before the First Contact Committee, let alone with the Empress herself."

"Today marks the day you officially joins the Empire, but I know there is someone who have considered you an unofficial member for some time."

"She's in there."

"..."

"..."

"Hello there Babar, long time no see."

END