Humans Are Encountered

Manual Driving

Knycuz had grown accustomed to these researchers at this point. They were no longer abrasively loud. They were loud, yes, but xe had accepted this noise. It certainly made these excursions...interesting. The humans had climbed into the carrier, calibrating the compound registers they had. They brought these packs to retrieve physical objects this time. The female behind xem leaned forward to look at the control panel.

"So do you not actually drive this thing?"

It was the first time that one of them had a true conversational topic that Knycuz actually answered. "No. My biomarkers allow the carrier to move using stored solar energy, and the end point is programmed in a topographic map for the carrier to anticipate that terrain it will encounter."

"Wow." The guy next to her also leaned forward. "I don't think I've heard you say more than like seven words, Knycuz."

"That is quite possible." Even though xe did not control the carrier, xe was still responsible for ensuring that they did not encounter an unregistered piece of terrain or another species, especially if the base did not know they were nearby.

"Is there a manual drive, though?" Individually, their voices were much more manageable, especially the females.

"There is if necessary."

"Soooo," the male leaned forward, "I could drive it?"

"No, you could not drive it."

"But you said there's a manual mode. I'm a good driver. Back on Earth, we all had cars. I drove every day."

The female exhaled hard, the corners of her mouth upturned. "You are a terrible driver."

"I was not!"

"You totaled two cars!"

"Only one of those was my fault!"

Knycuz did not know what these cars were or how one totals one. This interaction was quite intriguing, though.

"I only had one wreck."

He crossed his extremities, leaning back against the seat. "I'm a good driver."

Knycuz found xemself asking, "what is a car?"

"Oh," the girl leaned forward, "it's like this, but not built for rough terrain. We build flat and smooth spaces and we manually drive everywhere."

"Doesn't manual driving cause errors?"

"Oh, yes it does. That's called a 'car wreck.' It's when you, in some way, hit something else or harm your vehicle."

"And this is a common occurrence?"

The female looked to the male next to her. "Yes. Very common."

"Why have you not created safer... vehicles?" The female nodded. "Why do you not have safer vehicles that use algorithms to avoid the errors and keep others safe?"

"We're working on it. It just hasn't exactly been completed yet."

Knycuz could see why Zork'ak spent so much time with this species. They were so different from the Klyls and the other species on the planet.

"We're almost there....so can I drive the last little bit?" The male was looking up to xem.

Knycuz was not sure why, but xe answered, "one time." Xe paused the carrier, switching into manual mode.

"Yes!" He was climbing up to the front of the carrier next to Knycuz. "How does this work?"

"This button here provides the forward motion." Knycuz pointed to one of the buttons with xer talon. "You use your, uh," Knycuz could not remember the word.

"Hand?"

"Ah, yes. You will place your hand on this sphere and the way you move the sphere, the carrier will move."

"Oh, shit." The female said from the back.

"I have this!"

The male presses the button to move forward, holding it down so that more energy is pumped into the processor to propel them forward faster. He was moving the sphere, practically racing up the sides of hills. It was a jerky, fast movement that Knycuz was not accustomed to. As they approached the collection site, the human was not slowing down.

As they sped forward much too fast, the human turned to xem. "Knycuz...how do you stop this thing?"

"Oh!" Xe reached forward, slowly applying pressure to slow the carrier to a stop.

"I told you he was a bad driver," the female said as she climbed out.

Knycuz could admit it was not gentle or smooth as the carrier normally was. Xe had felt that xe were in danger, but it was an experience xe were willing to endure again.

The humans spread out, retrieving their desired compounds. Xe watched this time, the way the humans inspected objects and conversed amongst them. Their behavior was something to observe. Knycuz was slowly understanding why these humans were at the compound, no longer seeing them as a loud inconvenience.

Knycuz noticed a group of Zuessrq down the hill from this group. The humans noticed quickly after xe did, the female xe had talked to in the carrier approaching xem. "Do you think we could meet them? We haven't interacted with another species."

"The last species you 'interacted' with, you shot."

"Actually, only two people here were on that first excursion and they did not shoot. We are well informed about the different species and the Klyl's relationships."

"Perhaps." Knycuz looked to see if one of the harsh leaders were with this group. Xe did not see any of them. "Walk slow and quietly and let me lead. Listen to anything I say." She nodded, turning to collect her group. "They do not know the human common language, though. Only our planet's common language." She nodded. There were individual languages for each species, but there was a common one for peace brokers and basic exchanges. Knycuz had heard the humans had the same circumstance.

She returned to xem. "We're ready."

Xe nodded, starting to walk, and then paused. Knycuz did not know why but xe asked, "what is your name?"

Her mouth upturned a bit. "Kai."

He nodded, continuing back down the hill towards the Zuessrq.