Utopia War

Chapter 12 - Those Who Are Called 'Us' (ii)

The interior of the alien building was an eclectic mix of consensus technology and waxy organic building materials the same color as the aliens. The two melded together as though the human tech had grown from walls, ceilings and floors like ganglions. The juxtaposition of the familiar and the alien held a strange sort of beauty to Min-ji's eye. Sparkle found it ugly.

The tall ceilings all contained false windows that displayed images of the orange sky of the alien's homeworld. Every so often a muffled gurgling noise, like something from a digestive system, could be heard moving behind the walls.

Bandit and Goldie led the group inside, and they immediately attracted the attention of a gaggle of aliens. They huddled around the humans, groping and probing at them with the thinnest of their tentacles. It tickled a little, and Sparkle giggled un-selfconsciously.

As suddenly as it began, it was over. The aliens lost interest seemingly at once and scattered in different directions to return to what they were doing. Only Goldie and Bandit remained.

There was a long silence.

<You have come to our habitat,> signaled Goldie, breaking the tension <To what end?>

<we extend to you our most complete and proper hospitalities and would endeavor to further the purpose for which you have come,> added Bandit.

<To do so requires data,> Goldie continued <So I will reiterate my question: to what end do you visit our habitat?>

<I suppose you could say we've come to learn,> signaled Min-ji.

<State the subject about which you require education,> replied Goldie immediately, coming off much more harshly than the alien likely intended.

<We want to learn about you,> signaled Min-ji <Your people.>

<That is a broad subject,> stated Goldie.

<Would you feel comfortable beginning with a more narrow focus for the purposes of our shared short term goals?> asked Bandit.

<Well, I do find the biodiversity on your part of the ring fascinating. I'd love to know more about how and why your people are accomplishing that,> said Min-ji.

<This option lies within the cube of potentialities,> signaled Goldie <We will take you to the appropriate laboratory.>

<Thanks,> replied Min-ji smiling <I really appreciate it.>

<We both reflect and exceed your gratitude,> signaled Bandit.

<I do not object to this characterization,> added Goldie.

The aliens took the group up one of the spiraling, asymmetrical ramps that littered the walls of the complex. This led up to one of the roof levels and across a connecting bridge into the adjacent building.

The general aesthetic here was similar, but a much larger portion of this building seemed to be given over to consensus tech. Here as well were the first examples Min-ji had seen of the aliens own high technology. Sheets of holographic geometric shapes hung in the air, the interfaces for bubbling chemical brews and humming crystalline scanners. Two aliens worried at the machinery, signalling at each-other but broadcasting the conversation to anyone in the vicinity.

<The neural substrate is insufficient to run both the EMFM and the creature's autonomous functions,> signaled the first alien.

<Could we program a sub-sapient AI to perfectly mimic the creature's instincts? Sufficiently advanced automatic flight patterns would be indistinguishable from direct control,> proposed the second alien.

<Obtaining sufficient data would be prohibitive,> replied the first.

<I sense humans!> announced the second alien, nearly cutting off its partner.

<That would be us,> signaled Min-ji, as her group descended another spiral ramp <Greetings. I hope we're not intruding.>

<You are,> stated the first alien, matter-of-factly.

<This is an acceptable action on your part,> added the second.

<We endorse your intrusion,> agreed the first.

<My name is Min-ji Cerulean,> Min-ji began <These are my friends Sparkle Amaryllis and Caesar Janesdaughter, who has a litany of middle names he'll share with you shortly.>

Caesar would have, too, but Min-ji took all the wind out of his sails.

<I don't suppose either of you have names, do you?> she continued.

<I don't understand the question,> replied the second alien.

<Is there a word anyone, humans I suppose, use to differentiate you from others?> asked Min-ji.

<Humans have difficulty differentiating between themselves and other objects,> Goldie explained <Therefore they give names to specific iterations of entities as a memetic device.>

<We have no such custom,> said the first alien.

<Would you like names?> asked Sparkle.

<I have no preference,> said the first alien.

<Nor I,> added the second.

<You can be Buster,> said Sparkle, pointing at the first alien <And you're Socks, okay?>

<Understood,> said Buster.

<As you say,> agreed Socks.

<The humans are here because they require information about the foundational concepts of your work,> said Bandit.

Socks stroked Bandit with its thinnest tentacle before turning to "face" Min-ji.

<We modify the genetic structure of non-native life forms to enable them to survive in the habitat of Hercules Ring without out-competing the local life,> it explained.

<We also perform biological sculpting and cybernetic recreation when purely genetic solutions prove untenable,> added Buster.

<Much of the technological support apparati are derived from Human Consensus science,> Socks admitted.

<We could convey additional, more ephemeral information to you by way of example,> Buster suggested.

<That would be lovely,> replied Min-ji.

<This is that which is,> Socks seemed to think it was explaining, as it indicated a living creature held inside a gas-filled terrarium with a thin tentacle.

<The centrifugal "gravity" of Hercules Ring would prohibit locomotion and the oxygen would poison it. We will make it what it will be so that these situations do not arise,> it continued.

<It is almost what we would have it be, but the simplicity of the life form results in specific difficulties,> added Buster.

<I think I received the two of you discussing this when we came in. Forgive me if I'm simply revealing my ignorance-> Min-ji began.

<You are forgiven,> interjected Buster.

<I agree,> signaled Goldie.

<We offer the forgiveness sought,> added Socks.

<-but couldn't you enclose off a section of the ring, recreate the conditions of your homeworld inside, and use it as a habitat from some of the creatures wholly incompatible with the conditions of Hercules?>

<No!> insisted Bandit immediately.

<Absolutely not!> agreed Goldie.

Socks and Buster weren't having it either.

<I didn't mean any offense,> signaled Min-ji <May I ask why not?>