Part 6: Second Contact

: Would you believe that I've also never been to the public gardens?

Far From Home (Isol's Theme)

This is my favorite of the character themes. Nikita's smooth jazz is cool and all, but Isol's vocalized theme puts me in mind of an alien savannah.



: A what?



: Oh. Yeah, it was repurposed as an outlook station during the war, but it's been open to the public this whole time. I'd never taken advantage of the opportunity until today.

: How have you not noticed? The whole building lights up like the sun during the night. It's got the big, bulbous top and the telescope can be seen jutting out of one side every hour of the day. You can see it pretty clearly from the lookout at East Peak.



: ... I guess, if you squint, the telescope could look like a cannon of some kind from a distance.

: But did you never think that would be odd? We live in an aerodrome. If the observatory shot missiles, they'd have to go straight through the dome and expose the rest of us to the vacuum of space.

: I did! I always considered us lucky that the Riklid hadn't reached us yet on that exact reason!

Okay, Isol's cluelessness here is endearing to me.

: Hahaha! Would you like to go sometime? I can take you, if you'd like.



: Well... I probably would never have come here to the public gardens if you hadn't suggested it. I'd either have gone straight home, or I would have loitered until it was time to get drunk again.

: So, I guess you can say that I owe you one.

: I think I'd like that. And with the ongoing carousing, our scheduling is unrestricted. Just choose a day and things ought to work out.

: I'll keep that in mind.



: Yes. Now, no more questions.

: ...

: I'm kidding, Isol, you can ask me anything.

: Right, that's what I wanted.

: Why did you take Carla's suggestion in joining the three-way?

: Uhh... well... there's a bunch of answers to that.

: You said it yourself last night that the Ghians aren't unlike humans when it comes to getting randy over good news. I imagine the whole solar system is celebrating, whether it's having parties that last for days...

: ...or hooking up with strangers to do something wild. Or both.

: Back in the nineteen-forties, all of the nations of Earth were wrapped up in a war with each other. Once it ended, the population on the winning side, well... nine months later, there was an entire generation of babies being born, all at the same time.

: Ghi is... likewise storied. Our greatest-renowned generation was written into history once a drought lasting two hundred years ended with rains that lasted weeks with altering intensity.

: Point is: humans generally take any excuse they can to... enjoy themselves. We're a pretty sexual species like that. Some people might try to disagree, but don't let them fool you – the topic comes up way more often than you might think.

: But we're also fairly monogamous, and we usually only take one partner at a time. Having more than one is usually just a fantasy.

: One that I took the opportunity to fulfill. And you might be surprised how often 'having sex with an alien' is a fantasy, too.

: ... But that's a pretty heavy-handed answer. The short version: I was drunk and two hot ladies asked if I wanted to get into a threesome; I wasn't about to say no.



: Ghians aren't unalike Earthlings. We usually take one equal at a stage, yet we're known to get a little... wilder when the resources are right.

: ... Did your relation with Carla guide your decision at all?

: I mean, in the sense that she was the one to pitch it in the first place, yeah. I certainly wouldn't have had the guts to ask a strange Ghian I had never met if she wanted to jump into bed with two humans.

: Hnn.

This conversation would have played out a lot differently if we had chosen to pass on the threesome. But Ezra is misremembering: it was Isol who suggested joining her in bed. Carla only agreed to it. How much of Isol's sexual aggressiveness is forced? I'd ask why she wanted two partners at once at this juncture, myself.

: But now that you mention that, it's my turn to ask: why do you ask? What made you bring that up?

: It's not such a wild thing to ask, is it? We saw each other naked last night, and here we are again, talking as though it was a regular thing. Like we had... gone to the theatre instead.

: Calling what happened last night a 'performative show' is one hell of a way to put it.

: I guess it's fair to say that things are... going pretty quickly between us, yeah. I can get wanting to slow down and just, you know, assess where we are right now.

: ...



: It's not?

: What you said is correct, yes. Things are going quickly right now, and taking a while to understand the... cadence, I guess, is a good thing to do.

: It's just–



: Sorry, I didn't intend to get all intense like that. We had a good night last night and I don't want to take that away.

: The reason why I asked was one-sided. Idiosyncratic, as it were.

: ... You mean 'personal?'

: I do, yes, though I can't say that word. Earthling languages are hard.

: Well, I mean... is there anything I can do to help? It sounded kind of heavy.

: Like you said, we've already seen each other naked; I don't mind helping you sort your personal thoughts out, if it'd help.

: Although, I guess there's a pretty big difference between 'getting drunk and having sex with two strangers on the assumption that you'll never see them again afterward' and 'airing out your dirty laundry with someone you met yesterday.'

: Hahaha!

: You're sweet, Ezra. And you're kind to suggest a thing like that to assist.

: It's alright, though. You're doing all that you need to do when you say things like that, I assure you.





: No, I got it too.









: That's what it looks like.

: Hnn.

: Luckily, I should wake earlier than when it starts. One day isn't adequate to ruin our wake cycles.

: Depends on how drunk you are, I think. I sleep like the dead if I get too much booze in me the night before.

: That's true. That's not unlike how the Ghians can react to alcohol, too.

: I, though, wake at six o'clock, each day, regardless on what had occurred a night ago.

: On greater or worse. It's easy to get seriously... 'hung-higher-than,' to say it one way.

: Did you? I hardly noticed.

: But then again, well... I slept like the dead.

: Ghians are a quiet race, Ezra. I also wake like the dead.

: ...

: ...

: Wait, that sounds wrong. That saying doesn't quite work like that in your language, does it?

: Uhh... well, usually, the dead don't wake at all. And according to popular fiction, whenever they do, they're usually loud as hell about it.

: But I get it.

: Well, that's good.

: Anyway, I enjoyed tonight, Ezra.

: I did too. As much as I enjoy the merriment and the gallivanting, it's nice to relax and... take in what's happened recently, you know?

: It's going to take more than a few days for all of us to adjust, but... this is our life now. No need to worry about interplanetary wars or evil, invading aliens. We can finally go back to what we were doing just over a decade ago.





: I... would retire each day, wondering when the Riklid would turn their sights elsewhere. To what they hadn't yet touched in the solar galaxy. To us.

Given the Ghians' home planet hasn't been mentioned as being invaded or turned against itself, did the Ghians send reinforcements to save their own kind and assist their human allies? They must have, but the Riklids' might must have been tremendous to be able to fight on two fronts. Isol mentioned Ghi as being three light-years away, and if we assume there is either faster-than-light travel or even just lightspeed travel in this universe, the Ghians should have been able to mount a defense against the Riklid too. Maybe the Riklid have been wiping out other life, and that's why the Ghians only found humanity?

: And when I woke, I wasn't at all rested. Dozing wasn't its own reward.

: Now that they're gone... I know what it's like to rest well again. To not retire and need to stay alert as I doze.

: I said earlier that I usually wake at six o'clock, right? Today, I actually woke earlier. I woke entirely rested and ready. It was a struggle to doze again, at least until I usually wake.

: Wow, and after drinking like a fish? It's been one night and you're already taking to civilian life, Isol.

: Hnn... not yet, I think. It's too soon. Yet...

: I want to. It's like... going to where I was thirteen years ago and starting again.

: *Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn*

: Speaking of sleeping...

: Yes, it's getting rather late. As nice as this is, we should start heading down, I think.

: Tell Carla that round two will need to wait. She's an adult; surely she'll understand.

: Ah, bummer. We were both really looking forward to it.



: Hah, no, not really. Regularly getting into parties with multiple people is a hard thing to keep up with and, frankly, we're privileged enough to have it once.

: Besides, it's not like you need a reason to say 'no.' The word 'no' is all that we need.

: Thank you and your understanding, Ezra.

: Like I said, tonight was nice.

: We should do it again soon, Ezra.

: Message received.





: Now it is.

: Now, walk us to the train.

: You got it.

*The music fades out.*



"Twice, my entire world had been turned upside down. Once, thirteen years ago... and again two days ago. It was like turning on a light in a dark room: my reality was changed forever."

"Three days ago, I was nose-deep in my studies, believing that I was going to design war machines for the good of humanity. And now I'm asking every person I meet what they make of the situation."

"All it took was one alpha mothership falling out of the sky and after a night and a day of revelry and reflection... I barely knew what to do with myself."

"The night was still young, and the partying hadn't even slowed since the day before. When I went to bed, I could still see the lights of the city behind my eyelids."

"But as for me... I took Isol's advice and just went to bed. I wanted to try and sleep with a clear mind; to get some real rest unlike any I'd had in the past decade."

"Turns out, I had needed it more than I realized."