Ben already told me that people are free to take whatever they want, whenever they want, so I didn't waste much time and immediately reached for a fresh cup of coffee while my chaperones were talking to the cafeteria staff.
Drinking the delicious elixir of life has always managed to comfort me, so I expect a simir calming experience this time. And before you ask, no I'm definitely not addicted to the stuff at all.
I sip my coffee with my eyelids closed, pnning to suck in every bit of emotional support it can possibly provide me with, but quickly realize that this is the most disgusting coffee I have ever had. It is absolutely revolting to the point of throwing up, so I stealthily refill the cup with the intention of making it magically disappear. God, that was one heck of a disappointment!
And of course someone managed to see me grimacing."Awwww....I'm so very sorry, Kiwi .. you can't eat human food." Healer Nalea gives me a pitiful look, knowing that this is yet another setback for me. She takes the cup out of my hand and puts it on a used tray to get rid of it.
"Thanks, but that's not my name. Whatever. Anyway, what do you mean... 'can't eat human food?' Are you serious? Granted, it was disgusting, but I need my coffee!" Besides, coffee is a drink, so it's not a food, right?
"I'm very serious. If you drink that human concoction, you will be in my medical bay in less than 15 minutes. How much did you drink?" She frowned. "C'mon, be honest."
"Nothing! I swear! It was absolutely disgusting!" I raised my arms in defense.
"Thank the goddess, you'll probably be fine then. Trust me, it happens a lot around here. Humans often insist when politely offering their coffee and expect us to drink it. Don't. Or do you want to experience severe abdominal pain?"
"Ah....no...if you put it like that, no thank you. It at least expins why it tasted like the worst coffee ever, so don't worry, I won't try that again. Now tell me what I can drink that's hot, gives me a power boost and definitely comforts me?"
Ben now joins us, probably surprised to see why our trays are still empty. His tray includes a cup of coffee and it's still calling out to me...it looks so incredibly delicious.
"Um....were you addicted?" She carefully studies my expression with a smile forming on her lips.
"Hey, don't look at me like I'm an addict! Nalea, drinking coffee is not an addiction, right, Ben?"
"I have to agree with Christie on that, Nalea. Coffee and tea are respected in the most sophisticated of circles. Even Kings and Queens are known to love drinking those. It's a culture thing too, I guess."
"Hence the addiction assumption." Nalea grins for a moment, which is a very unusual sight to say the least. For a brief moment, her mouth revealed tiny fangs in the upper corners. Suffice to say that it looked kinda creepy. At least Ben and Nalea seem to get along pretty well, so that's a good sign.
"Take a seat, young dy, I'll bring you something you'll appreciate. It's one of our traditions. Think of it as our version of your precious coffee." She winked and pointed towards a seat near the window.
The cafeteria is mostly devoid of people, even when considering the sheer vastness of the area. But those who are enjoying their breakfast, actually seem to prefer the company of others.
Humans and Lantosian diners seem to mix without any issues, so that's a good omen as well. Maybe these aliens aren't that bad after all? But still....am I really one of them now?
The view from up here is amazing, except for the fact that not much is going on outside. Almost zero trafic, just buildings, and not much green. Also, I'd rather be home right now.
A few minutes ter, Ben and Nalea join me at the breakfast table and Nalea puts a tray in front of me. The smell coming from the colorful, but definitely alien looking food, is simply irresistible.
I guess I really do have an alien body now, since Ben doesn't seem all too happy to smell my food. I never, ever would have thought that I would one day hate the taste of freshly brewed coffee.
"I see that you don't like coffee any more than other Lantosians do?" Ben said with an evil grin on his face. He's enjoying this, I can tell.
"Yeah....it's strange, Ben. I mean, when I first smelled it, it was fine like always. But right now... yours smells like....I dunno....chlorine and sulfur mixed with motor oil?"
"I see....and your food smells less than appetizing to my nose as well. Good luck getting used to that food, Christie." He points at my 'food.'
Yes....eating this won't be easy for me. "Thanks...I guess. This is going to be difficult to get used to. So....Nalea? At least tell me it's not alive?"
Nalea coughed a few times, almost suffocating in her alien coffee surrogate."Kiwi...really! We only eat vegetable based foods, never any meat... alive....or dead for that matter. Unlike humans." She gnced at Ben.
I shake my head to show my disagreement. "Nalea, I kinda take offense to that. Anyway......what is this weird stuff called?" I point at whatever dark and suspicious looking liquid is contained in the cup in front of me.
"Don't look like it's poisonous! It's a perfectly normal drink and is called Sukufa, and it is a herbal solution. It's mostly water with minimal pnt parts. You can add sweetener if you wish, but most people prefer it like that in its purest form." She points at my cup where I now notice a few bubbles making it to the surface. Yeah....not alive...sure....so suspicious.
On the bright side, it smells like cinnamon, but that might only be my human mind trying to make sense of what my alien nose is detecting."So what you're saying is that it's basically tea? Sounds very tasty." I rolled my eyes.
"Ha ha ha....you seem to be getting used to your new body already. Rolling your eyes like that." Nalea said after which she sipped her tea.
"We humans do that too, you know?"
"Oh...you do? Interesting. I thought you didn't do that. And that..." She pointed at my pte filled with weird light blue transparent rectangur vegetable thingies....,surrounded by something resembling spinach, and a dressing reminding me of dark red beet juice. ".....is called Ibokka root. There's a mild dressing on top and it's all very healthy. Also.....em....something wrong, Ben?"
"Not at all. The way you expined her breakfast to her, makes me crave some of that as well. It looks...
Yeah, he finds it disgusting, but she seems to like the compliment. She's not very good at reading humans, is she? Is it my imagination or are those two even closer than I had expected? She's blushing....gosh, even aliens seem to do that. And her furry ears seem restless, twitching...but only for a moment. So weird.
Nalea stares at Ben for a moment, probably trying to figure out if he is truly interested in trying the stuff. "Em...you could try some of mine? I need to give you an injection however, since your stomach can't digest this."
"No, it's okay. Maybe another time? Why don't you start expining what happened, while Christie starts enjoying her first Lantosian meal?" He noticed me grimacing and definitely seemed to enjoy seeing me suffer.
"By all means, Ben, but I first need to register Kiwi as one of the Lantosian staff in this City, since I couldn't find an ID on her. And to be honest....her human name is slightly insulting to us. Like you humans, we have had our fair share of difficulties, wars and altercations.
Kiwi is a name best not said, since it reminds us of general Kiwina, who destroyed a significant part of our southern continent centuries ago. He....no, that can wait. May I suggest a Lantosian name for you, Kiwi? It will be much easier for you when you're speaking to...well...one of your people. When speaking to humans, maybe still use your human name?"
Can someone please tell me...why in heaven's name does she still think that my name is Kiwi?"Em....okay, but again, my name is not Kiwi. Whatever, I guess I don't have much choice anyway, do I, Ben?"
"Not really, no. Besides, a fitting name will help you settle in. It's not like we're taking away your humanity, it's only for official use and to help you get along with other Lantosians. You really don't want to cause any diplomatic issues in this pce."
Diplomatic issues...just for a name?
I sip my tea and can confirm that it really does taste like cinnamon. "Mmm....nice, I like it. But okay, Ben, Nalea...I don't want any issues while I'm staying here. I mean....I'm not a prisoner, am I?"
Nalea shakes her head. "No, not at all. That's why you were able to leave this building when you did. I'll expin everything in a minute, but first your name.. Mmm....let's see. I think 'Kaya' would match your personality very well."
"Kaya? Mmm...okay..sure." Who cares anyway? I'll be out before the end of the day. Every pce has its vulnerabilities, and this city must have those as well. It's just the isoted location part that worries me.
"Very well, henceforth your Lantosian name shall be Kaya, daughter of Funami. It's a very respectable name."
"Wait....Funami? Is that like my st name?"
"No, it's actually my grandmother's name. Women introduce themselves as 'daughter of...,' while men introduce themselves as 'from the house of...' So men refer to their fathers and women to their mothers."
"Oh, like that. Um......are you sure I can use that name? I mean, ...your own grandmother's name...for me?"
She smiled. "Awwww.......aren't you polite? Of course it is, dear. I can't have any children....and I always wanted to name my girl Kaya......so I hope you can accept? I'm sure my grandmother would be happy to lend her name to help you."
"It's an honor, Nalea," and I meant it. Not sure how long I'll stick around, but for now it's a nice name. And if it prevents any diplomatic issues, who am I to judge? Besides, I can see it in her eyes that she feels emotional about the name.
Nalea suddenly moves closer to me and rubs my cheeks before I could prepare myself for that odd ritual of theirs. "Kaya, you could really pass as my child.... maybe in the next life?"
"Emmm....I think that would be nice, yes?" Just being polite.
"That's a promise then." She must have seen my confused look, but didn't comment on it. Probably a religious thing, better not ask. She's very kind, I can't argue with that. But having zero respect for my comfort zone is a truly alien experience to me.
She takes a cell phone-like object, don't ask me where she hid it all this time, and pulls on both ends, unfolding it to reveal a dispy. It turns into a tablet-like device, after which she starts entering information into it, but I can't read it from here.
While she was entering the information, I asked "Ben? Do you know what happened to my belongings? My cell phone, purse and such?"
"So far we haven't found any traces of your belongings, not even your clothes. We did manage to trace your cell phone's signal for a while, but it stopped transmitting around the time you met the two agents. After that...not a single trace of it."
"Awww....a pity."
"You can't use it here anyway."
"I know, but still, you know.......messages, contacts and such."
"Of course, I can understand that."
Nalea stops using her device and says "alright, all done. You are now officially one of us. The humans in this city will also get a copy of this. You will receive your ID within the hour, which will allow you to walk around this city without any problems. Well, in most pces at least."
"Okay....thank you." If anyone asks during my escape, I'll simply pretend to be enjoying an evening walk. Cool, this might just work.
Ben coughed, making me focus on him. "I have to ask you to stay within the city limits however. You, as a...non-human...won't be able to leave it without approval from BETA."
Oh no....did he...read my mind just now? Nah...stay calm...he can't know."Of course, I understand. So I'm a prisoner after all?"
"No, Christie...eh....Kaya. Please don't see it like that. Allow me to expin a few things to you. And Nalea, please interrupt me whenever you feel you need to add something."
"Of course, Ben." She said with another smile. Yup, definitely good friends.
While Ben put an old fashioned paper notepad on the table, I prodded my vegetables and could confirm that they were definitely not alive. They tasted better than they looked too.
He sips his coffee, visibly enjoying it while making me incredibly jealous."Kaya, we're still investigating what exactly happened to you, but let me tell you what we do know at this point. Hopefully you can understand the big picture then." He waits for me to nod and then continues.
"You met a few drones yesterday. Two of those are official Lantosian drones, and they were involved in the crash. The origins of the st one, which attacked our agents, cannot be confirmed at the moment. Again, we're still investigating the situation, but it brought you here. This pce is called Valley City, and it's a compact, but still spacious city in the Death Valley desert.
As for the drones themselves, they are like a reasonably smart humanoid robot, nothing sinister usually."
Bingo....I'm in the middle of a desert! There go all my hopes of escaping. It's not only a desert, it's one of the worst! They freaking knew that someone would eventually want to leave this godforsaken pce! I'm trapped! And I would probably die of starvation anyway, unable to eat human food. I can't even drink coffee anymore! Sheesh...this sucks! Alright, let's py along for now, I don't see any other options at the moment?
Nalea raises her hand to interrupt Ben and says "Kaya, apparently the agents heard you say, whether you understood the words or not, that you demanded a 'haluuuh varuuhl.' It means 'immediate soul extraction.' Now listen carefully as this might be confusing or at least difficult for you to understand."
Yeah, she lost me already!"Soul?"
"Yes. The crash site you happened to stumble upon was caused by one of our shuttles crashing. By the goddess...I don't know how to expin all of this to you without making you feel overwhelmed. Just try to keep up with me, okay, Kaya? Good.
The crashed shuttle had 4 occupants, all were Lantosian women. However....to complicate matters...they were disguised as humans for a joint project with the humans."
"They have cloning technology." Ben added. "Do you know what that means?"
"Um....I know my sci-fi stories, so yes. You basically transfer someone's consciousness to another body. Is that what happened?"
Nalea answers. "Yes, before the mission, their souls were transferred to artificial human bodies through cloning. I don't have all the details, but after the crash they were about to die.
In such a scenario they are trained to transfer their souls...or consciousness as you called it, to another body using nanites. Ah...em...those are tiny machines that can swim in your bloodstream. Some can repair damaged tissues, others can carry information. Em...still with me?"
"Yes, I understand."
"Impressive knowledge for a human civilian, maybe this isn't that hard for me to expin after all? One of their drones found you and injected their souls into your body, hoping that you would find your way here. And you did. The drone you met ter, brought you here and insisted on having them extracted without dey. However....that's when things....happened."
"Wait...wait...wait a moment." I'm shaking my head.
"What's wrong?" Ben asked. "Do we need to expin it differently?"
"No, so far I can understand what happened. But you're wrong with the st drone. It attacked the agents, and after I said those words to it.....it said that I would be valuable. I clearly remember it being pushy and determined to kidnap me."
"Valuable? That's new information." Ben said. "Are you sure about that?"
"Ben, I swear! Why don't you check its memories or something?"
"Because it brought you here, and then left the building. It traveled north for over a mile and then self-destructed, taking any evidence along with it."
"Yeah... not suspicious at all."
"Kaya...we're still investigating this. We know that the drone attacked our agents, so we are aware that something is going on. Let us deal with it, we will keep you safe."
"Right. As long as you understand that something's really wrong. Nalea is really nice and all, but I'm sure that some aliens are not."Nalea nods. "Kaya, just take it step by step."
The discussion pauses for a minute, without anyone talking. Instead I'm mostly just staring at my food. "This food is really good. What?" I said that st part in a surprised tone, after Ben stared at me.
"You seem really calm. I think I would be very upset if our situations were reversed."
"Oh, but I am upset, Ben. Saw burned bodies, got injected by terminators, abducted, transformed into an alien, and now I'm eating disgusting looking blue alien food which actually tastes amazing. Just a normal day like any other, right, Ben?"
"Em....now you are worrying me. Maybe we should let you rest?" Ben suggested.
I sighed. "No, I can handle it. It's a coping thing, I guess. I act cool now, and crash and burn much ter. It's how this human brain works. Well, what's left of it anyway."
When looking down at my alien food again, a few strands of my white hair ended up in front of my eyes. I tried to put them behind my ears, until I realized that those were now on top of my head. It was a strange sensation, but I managed to make it work.
"I'll assign a counselor to you, just to keep you safe." Nalea offered while gently patting my back a few times.
"Yeah...might be a good idea. Anyway, please, continue the story. I can handle it."
Her phone-thingy made a beeping noise, prompting her to read a message. Ben and I both waited patiently for whatever horrors might unfold next.
Nelea shakes her head in disbelief. "It seems that we finally found some answers. Our security team finished analyzing the sensor logs which were recorded st night. The sensor in the cloning room was disabled...damaged beyond repair. However, not many people know that we have a secondary unit which....no, nevermind those details.
Apparently two Lantosian men, wearing official healer uniforms, brought you inside the cloning room. One hour ter another healer entered that room to care for the 4 survivors whose souls had been extracted from your body in the meantime.
At some point a heated discussion started about maintaining proper protocol and thus Security was called by the healer, after which the two men made a run for it. Security is still trying to locate them, but our sensors couldn't track their IDs.
A Security officer then brought you to the room you woke up in, probably assuming you were one of our operatives who somehow also got involved in the crash. A healer was alerted to check your health, but you woke up much too soon and escaped before he arrived. That's when I was made aware of the incident and took over the case."
"So that's why I was alone in that room?" Crappy Security, if you ask me.
"Exactly. Your soul was transferred to a new artificially created Lantosian body and your lifeless human body was recycled, so I'm sorry to say that it's gone."
"So I didn't just change......this is a whole new body? And they basically let me....die?" I suddenly felt reality sink in, making me blink and massage my forehead.
"Exactly. I'm sorry, Kaya." She pats my back again.
"Oh my god...this is soooo not happening." I took another deep breath and somehow managed to find the strength to keep myself from losing the tiny bit of sanity I had remaining.
"We're here for you, Kaya. Things will be alright, even though it doesn't look like that at the moment. We are your friends." She noticed me nodding, and she definitely saw my moist eyes."Anyway, I know for a fact that you were illegally cloned, but nothing more than that. You may not want to hear it, but you actually saved four people, Kaya. I'm sure they will want to thank you someday, but it's much too soon for that now."
"At least something good happened, but why me, Nalea? Why clone me?"
"Rest assured, we will find out." Ben said, sounding determined to uncover the truth. "You didn't have an ID nor were you using a transtor to speak English when we first met. All of that is in line with the fact that you were cloned. Even your story of yesterday's events checks out perfectly."
Nalea nodded. "This should never have happened, so this matter is now a top priority and under investigation by the Hierarchy itself. Someone has abused our equipment, and we're doing everything we can to find the ones who did this to you."
"Wait...what is a Hierarchy?" I asked.
"Their government...sort of." Ben replied.
"Ah, like that." I took another sip of my weird alien drink and tried hard to stay calm. Trust me, just one more bit of weird news and I'm going to scream, seriously. "Nalea, when I realized that I was no longer human, I assumed that you were conducting experiments on me. From my point of view I had to escape and warn the outside world about an alien invasion or something like that."
"Awwww....well, I can certainly sympathize. But, Kaya...listen to me. This should never have happened. We didn't mean to change you without your consent, this was truly an illegal action. Please believe me." Nalea said.
"I do....but can you please change me back, so I can go home?" My voice carried lots of raw emotions.
"I can't decide about that. Cloning technology is still experimental and was only allowed for use on real Lantosian people here on Earth. The idea was that our people would covertly, together with Earth Force of course, determine if humans were ready to learn about our existence. It's something we have longed to share for decades, but our human friends here don't seem to agree."
Decades?
"It's complicated." Was all that Ben replied after seeing my confused expression.
"True, it is. I'm sorry, Kaya." Nalea stared at her tea for a few moments.
"So...in other words...I'm stuck like this?" I once more point at my furry ears.
"For now, yes. We'll answer all your questions, but first you need some time to adjust and process what happened to you. You have all the time in the world. It will take some time before the Hierarchy decides what to do about your situation. They are our leaders and they decide how we can use our resources. So please...take your time.
Cloning you into a human body right now is not possible. Besides, I don't even have your life code. The report here said that the cloning computer is totally messed up...no data remains. We have specialists working on it."
"Life code?" I looked at Ben.
"She means DNA."
"Ahh...gotcha."
Ben nodded, understanding that it was a bit much for me. "Now it's my turn to give you a little history lesson. Are you still with us, or do you need time to process this first?"
"No, I'm good for now. I'd like to learn about this city and such." 'Especially if there's a way out. But that ship has sailed. I'm not leaving without some serious help.
"Of course. I'll give you the Cliffnotes version, so ask me anytime if you need more information, okay? You might not be going anywhere, but at least your security clearance allows you to learn about your surroundings. Learn...not share with people outside this city, do you understand?"
"Yes, so I can leave the city?" I looked hopeful at Ben.
"No, as I already tried to expin, you can't. I meant via phone or internet. We're in the middle of a desert, and this pce has a sophisticated climate control facility to keep things nice and comfy. We even experience the passing of seasons here so the flora and fauna stay healthy, hence the low temperatures right now. Just saying....if you want to leave....you won't get very far. They call this region Death Valley for a very good reason. Are you pnning on leaving already?"
"Em...no?" I hoped that it sounded completely convincing. Crap, this guy is good at reading my thoughts, better be careful. "I never heard about this pce, so security must be tight, right?"
"It is, trust me. You don't want to be causing any issues, but I know that you are smart enough to understand the consequences should you ignore my warning."
"Em....yeah. So....nobody else knows about this city?"
"Nope. We can't even be seen from orbit. But let's not discuss technology right now. Time for a quick history lesson. Do you know about Roswell?"
I blinked a few times and leaned back, crossing my arms. "No way....you're kidding me. Roswell, New Mexico?"
"Yes, and I see you understand where I'm going with this. In July of 1947, a Lantosian scout ship crashed, like the one yesterday. We recovered their alien bodies, after which one of our scientists accidentally triggered their radio to start transmitting an automated SOS signal.
One event led to another and finally a Treaty was signed in which both them and us promised to work together and find a way to coexist in this universe.
The reason why they were so interested in us became clear in the te fifties, when they shared some rather unsettling news with us. The Lantosians and other advanced races nearby use a space portal system, which enables them speeds beyond the speed of light. It's like a slingshot in space. With me so far?"
"Yeah....so jump gates?"
"That would be a very accurate description, yes. I see you know your sci-fi literature."
"Not literature....internet."
"Ahhh....the internet generation, of course. In any case....and this might get a bit technical. Those gate networks have an entry and exit point which is determined by the ws of physics. In other words...for their gate system to work, the entry and exit points have to be in our sor system.
Whether we like it or not, our little quiet spot in the middle of nowhere, will soon become a serious hub of activity. Many space faring civilizations will be traveling through our sor system, heading for the next gate, or taking a break......on Earth."
"You're kidding me?!" I closed my eyes and parked my head on the table for a moment. How much more of this can I take?
"Not at all. I'm dead serious. But since we were not ready for any of this, and still aren't, we built this city to let us exchange knowledge and culture. The next step is to build a joint space station in orbit where alien visitors can take a break, avoiding the pnet altogether.
Our Lantosian friends will keep any and all visiting aliens away from Earth, so they'll be like a police force...keeping us humans safe. Most humans will continue to enjoy their blissful ignorance until all of this will be revealed to the general public.
The gate system still needs many years of work, since it's incredibly complex technology. The gate system technology itself originated from far beyond Lantosian space, so we'll probably meet new races as well. Races whose names are even unknown to our friends. Having said that, we're only activating the gate to Lantosia at first, until we can manage the traffic. In due time the other gate will go live, allowing traffic from far beyond Earth.
In the meantime, our Earth governments will start an education program to prepare humanity for a new future. Think TV shows, debates, games, politicians talking openly about the possibility of aliens...and so forth. When the time is right, our Lantosian friends will make a calm entry and show the world that we are no longer alone in the universe. Things will get progressively complicated after that."
"Wow.....just...wow."
"I think that's a fair summary of events, yes." Ben snickered.
Our discussion was interrupted when another Lantosian approached us....or rather me!