I fell in love with a human: part 2
I woke up to the sound of water boiling. Coffee is what they called it.
My room had its own mini kettle, and it could make coffee on a timer. Nathan, the human who picked me up, recommended it. I tried it after having the ship run an analysis on biological compatibility.
According to the results, the effects of this coffee should be similar to drinking bebica from back home, it was chemically the same. Humans have similar biology to us, apparently. It’s common biology among intelligent beings due to how “life came to be,” or so the ship says.
Savoring the golden crystals of sugar between my fingertips, I cautiously mixed it into the steaming liquid. My eyes roamed around the room, soaking in its foreign opulence. The facilities on this ship were unlike anything I'd ever seen, an echo of human grandeur that was at once alien and awe-inspiring. Even the room service was the same as a hotel, with robots cleaning up my room once a day. Was this a ship or some sort of vacation spot?
“Hey, ship. Good morning.”
“You have a meeting in 10 minutes. Make sure to keep track of your calendar. Would you like me to set up an alarm to wake you up at a more appropriate time?” why did the ship sound kind of annoyed at me?
The first sweet sip of coffee enveloped my senses, a delightful sensation that warmed the chill of this alien morning. As I savored the foreign but pleasant taste, I slipped into the outfit the ship had replicated, taking comfort in its familiar feel against my skin. I had entered the ship without any extra clothing, but the ship manufactured multiples of what I had on at the time. I’m not sure how it did so, but it was comfortable and felt worn in, even though it was new.
“Uhhh, OK.” the ship replied after a moment, prompting me to quickly down the rest of the coffee. well, It has an interesting attitude for a ship.
I had only been on board for a day. I arrived in the early morning when the team mostly slept except for the captain, who was out doing who knows what. Once everyone woke up yesterday, they introduced me to many human concepts and answered questions I had around them. Well. they couldn’t tell me much. HR won’t officially process my employment til I finish all the meetings this morning, and till then, there’s a lot they can’t tell me.
Stepping into the cool metallic corridor, I was met by a hovering robot. Its lively hum mingled with the sterile silence of the starship, and its neon lights flashed an insistent 'follow me' in my peripheral vision. I knew where to go, but I enjoyed watching the little thing buzz around like a flower-sucking Abrolik.
In the gleaming metal corridors of The Abyss, a familiar figure came into sight. Nathan ambled away from me, his stride relaxed and characteristic military precision softened. As he noticed me, a grin spread across his human face. His chiseled features were caught by the ship's ambient lights, creating a soft aura around him that seemed almost warm.
'Kadra!' He greeted, excitement in his voice echoing off the ship’s cold walls. He raised one hand, giving me a typical human informal salutation, an open-handed wave. ” Good morning. How was your sleep? Any dreams?” He took a sharp turn and began to walk towards me. The buzzing robot started flashing as if telling me to continue on the path.
"Dreams? Well..." My thoughts fluttered to the tales of human bravery and adventure I'd been lost in. "My dream today is to do well. To learn, to grow, like heroes do." I added with a little chuckle. All this dream talk at the crack of dawn sure brought a whole new perspective to my day. Is that why humans are so often the leaders, I wondered?
"No," Nathan said, watching the flicker of confusion play across my features. His voice dipped, a soft tone, "Dreams as in sleep, Kadra." And now I’m back to being confused.
The ship’s AI interrupted. “Their kind does not have those types of dreams, Captain. It is more of a uniquely human condition.” what does it mean by type of dreams? I have dreams, I came on this ship because of one. I want to travel the universe and meet heroes and humans because of one.
“Oh, that’s interesting.” Nathan, the Captain, froze. He seemed to be thinking. “You see, humans have intense, uncontrollable hallucinations every night, and the word we use for that is also used for whatever word the translator gave you for the word dream.” WHAT? Uncontrollable hallucinations? Is that what the stories meant by dreaming? That’s so cool.
“OK, so I’ve read about dreams telling the future. How does that work? I thought it was a fancy way of asserting, ‘This is what I want the future to be like, so it already is like that,’ but if it sounds like you’re saying they predict the future through these hallucinations, right? Dreams seem so useful”
“No, you can’t see the future with dreams, well. Some people might say otherwise, but if you dream about the future it’s usually what your mind is worried about. And that does tend to happen since humans are good at worrying about the right thing. But that said, dreams are pretty useful. It’s interesting only humans have them though. I had no idea.”
The ship AI replied, “So far, all nonhuman species have very stable minds and don’t require dreaming to organize their brains, but the lack of dreaming reduces creativity. This makes nonhuman progress in science, technology, and art highly predictable due to them discovering things in order and not randomly jumping a few hundred or thousand years ahead in a field at a time. Lack of creativity makes development slow but steady”
I had my notebook open and was scribbling down notes madly. “Fascinating. Oh yes, to answer your question, no dreams. By the way, what are you? What do you do? I never asked yesterday.” I pointed at John, who had joined us halfway through the ship AI’s reply. I only spoke to him briefly yesterday, the buzzing robot bouncing into my shoulder trying to get my attention, but we all ignored it.
“I’m an artist. Mostly watercolor,” He replied.
“I didn’t know the ship needed artists.” Humans can be rather curious creatures, and I was willing to accept the idea that all human ships had an artist on board.
“It doesn’t. My job is in medical, as a doctor. And you? What do you enjoy doing?” He could have started with that, I was obviously asking what he did on the ship, not as a hobby.
“I graduated as an engineer, mechanical. but everything I learned is apparently useless here. Although Nathan thinks I can get certified as a technician after going through the education program.”
“Work doesn't define someone completely, you know? When I meet someone new, I'm curious about what sparks their creativity, their passion. It tells a lot more about who they truly are. Is there something creative that you enjoy?” I wasn’t sure if he was looking down at me or just curious. Doctors usually have that matter-of-fact tone that feels a little too much like elitism, even when they mean well.
“Uhh, well, I’ve been getting into writing; it’s the only creative hobby I have so far. Creativity for the sake of enjoyment isn’t really a common thing back on my planet. You’d have difficulty meeting new people if that’s what you usually ask.”
“Oh, is that why you’re taking notes?”
“Yes, I want to write a story about my adventures with humans one day. But for now, I’m mostly doing fan fiction. I think that is the correct term. About Alexandar being teleported into the future and going to space with... Me and other people. Alexander from…”
“Yes, I know what, Alexandar, you’re talking about. I saw you clutching the books earlier. It’s a great series, pretty popular back on our planet. You have good taste.” I couldn’t help but smile from that comment. Hmm, maybe I judged John too soon. He seems like a good guy.
The buzzing robot crashed into my face, and I almost fell backward; its light was red. Oh shit, I’m late for the meeting. I ran towards the room I was supposed to have a meeting with a hiring department back at hatnode HQ. John was laughing loudly in the background as I arrived, just in time, actually.
In the small room was a large screen with 8 human faces with their names floating above them, some sort of voice call from multiple people at once. They were already sitting down, and I felt embarrassed to arrive and sit down clumsily while they watched.
[Presence detected, virtual process activating]
reality spun around me. One moment, I stood in a metallic chamber of the spacecraft; the next, an emerald forest enveloped me.
The ground softened under me, with moss springing to life where metal once lay. Overhead, metallic walls and ceiling dissolved into a network of towering trees beneath a clear sky. The transition was abrupt, assaulting my senses.
My claws sprang out involuntarily, scraping against the edge of the table, which had transformed from cold metal to rustic wood, startlingly real to the touch. As I retracted my claws, they left faint scratch marks on the surface
“Calm down, this is normal,” one of the people sitting in front of me said, wait, sitting? All the faces that were on screens before were now suddenly in the room with me. “This is how we conduct remote meetings in hatnode. What you see around you is called hybrid VR. It’s a type of VR that creates realistic holograms in your surroundings. We tend to use this over normal VR since it works for everyone and every age. Not just people that have nanomachines in their brains.” The person talking was a man, a very short and hairy man dressed in what seemed like armor. Was he a Dwarf?
“We are here to conduct your interviews for joining Hatnode. Remember, this is an incredibly hard interview, and a lot of it relies on who you are as a person. Personality can be more important to us than professional experience. You will be notified tomorrow if you have been accepted or not. You will not be interviewing for any specific position but as a general intern. If you perform well you will be given the opportunity to join a specialized position within two years. By then, we expect enough certifications and a good report from your superior to qualify you for that position. Any questions before we begin?” the woman was tall and skinny. She seemed really young and wore a white glittering dress with gold jewelry, I know this one, elf! The ears were pointy. She had to be an elf, right? And then there’s Adriana, I think I know this one.
"No, no questions, Adriana, are you a Fae?"
Adriana's eyes lit up immediately. "Yes! I can't believe you recognized that!" She got up and twirled around, giving me a glimpse of the sparkling fabric and intricate detailing. "Not many people can tell. I'm impressed," she added gleefully.
I blinked a couple of times. I didn't expect such a burst of excitement from her. "Oh…yes, I love it," I replied somewhat uncertainly. Adriana's enthusiasm threw me off momentarily; she seemed a bit too excited about me guessing her species right.
The rest of the interview went great. It was mostly them talking about human culture with me, something I was heavily prepared for.
When I awoke the next day, it was to some of the best news I had received since getting on this ship – I was in, accepted to Hatnode. A rush of joy lifted me off my feet, my heart drumming out a rhythm of giddy excitement. It felt like I belonged like I was one step closer to the grand adventures of my dreams.
Nathan gave me the news. “People back at HQ are all nerds, I guess your hobbies came in handy. I can’t believe they were in full getup for a convention. Even I was surprised when I met with them later that day. Those people back at HQ really are something.” Nathan’s eyebrows raised as he nodded his head. I didn’t quite understand that expression, but I was ecstatic I would be able to stay onboard. Well, I've read many books, so I felt like I was almost an expert in humans and adjacent humanoid species back on their world, Arda, or as humans like to call it, Earth.