Rifts in Space-time

The crash reverberated throughout the Sand Jurrasic zone, and the MF Headquarters sirens blared a “Priority One” alert. Patrol guard Ivvo received notification on his communication watch of the exact coordinates he was to investigate and made his way over to the Northern Flatlands.

By the time Ivvo reached the forest clearing as indicated by his watch radar, he found swirls of smoke engulfing a... spacecraft? But it was nothing like the spacecrafts at the MF Headquarters. Ivvo did a quick scan of the area and identified a life form inside the spacecraft, though suspiciously, the life form’s biodata did not register on his holographic risk assessment watch. Ivvo materialised the emergency recon first-aid kit every patrol guard is required to bring. The holo-stretcher brought out the alien from the busted spacecraft hatch. While waiting for the emergency clean-up team, Ivvo dripped this foreign alien some pixohealing potions that Chief Alchemist Sid had recently refined. The foreign alien slowly regained a steady breath and, after a quick bioscan, Ivvo determined that he was ready to be transported to the patrol tower’s guest room. Having left instructions for the emergency clean-up team, Ivvo followed the holo-stretcher away from the wreckage.

Patrol Incident Report

Reported by: MF 070 — Ivvo

Date of Report: M, 9283 zen20

Incident no.1

Casualties: 0

Clean-up time: 68284 beep laps

Transmission fuel consumed: 10278 pix

Details: Unknown spacecraft carrying unregistered lifeform crashed at coordinates 2406.27 X, 482.977 Y, 39.520 Z. Subject non-conscious. Threat level TBD.

Three days passed before the foreign alien finally awoke. During this time, Ivvo deduced that this foreigner must be an Irrelevant, alien species that he had once learned of as a childhood fantasy story. And yet here was an exact image of a UFO Irrelevant, the elite exploration team of Irrelevants. When the UFO Irrelevant finally awoke, he was still too weak to communicate much, so Ivvo once again assumed the post of the personal nurse. Everyday, he prepared a bowl of mixed Jurassic herbs, his own local specialty and a small vial of Sid’s potions.

It took them what would be considered a month in human time before they finally both tuned into a common frequency to telepathically communicate. Then it took another two weeks before they found the right combination of code to auto-translate their conversation into a common language.

“Name?” Ivvo looked at the UFO Irrelevant, who responded with a quizzical look.

“ID?”

Ivvo squinted his eyes, “Name?”, he tried again.

UFO Irrelevant let out a series of beeps that may have been a mildly distressed signal, but eventually—correctly—inferred what Ivvo was asking, “UFO number 88.”

Ivvo hesitantly nodded and extended his two arms, the common greeting among Monster Friends “Ivvo.” Number 88 scooted forward and mirrored Ivvo’s actions, and after a lifetime travelling alone in his UFO spaceship, he finally learned what a “hug” was.

They traded stories of their worlds and experiences, the differences—how Smolworld and zen0verse functioned, and the surprising similarities—sporadic light flashes and the faraway voices that seem to act upon the world.

“The false sky... Smolworld have too?” Ivvo asked.

Number 88 looked upwards the blanket of dusk that began enveloping their vision. “No dark and pretty like this. False sky in smolworld just.. light and no light.” He paused, “Lots of lines. ”

“Voices?”

“Yes. Then new UFO friends join, sometimes found.”

“Monster Friends say voice is Creator, Zen0.”

Number 88 nodded, “Voices in Smolworld, maybe is Roving God.”

Hesitant irreproachability turned into an amicable routine, each still wary of the other, but comfortable enough to share more personal stories.

“Zen0verse big?”

“Very big,” Ivvo beamed, then as if a cloud of memory misted past him, he added “but Monster Friends little.”

“Miss friends.”

“Ivvo friend.”

“Number 88 friend also.”

The days passed relatively uneventfully, mostly with Number 88 asking numerous questions about the world he had landed in. Vocabulary of different flora and fauna in the region, modes of transportation across zones, the communication mechanisms between Monster Friends, who managed the Headquarters, what is Creator Zen0 supposedly like? In exchange, Number 88 also taught Ivvo the Irrelevants’ culture, the genesis of the UFO fleet, his journey going through combat and intelligence training to become a UFO sergeant, and the Roving God Norikami the Irrelevants send their signals to.

Their chatter blossomed as the days rolled by. For Ivvo, being a patrol guard stationed in one of the Outer Ring regions felt a little less lonely now; for Number 88, being away from “home” became a little less disorienting.

But one day, an unknown static transmission began crackling in for both aliens, Be quiet. They will hear you.