Chapter 36: Teach It Your Ways.
A year passed.
Three hundred and sixty-five days since the impossible happened. Three hundred and sixty-five days since humanity made its first contact with extraterrestrial life form.
And after one entire year of research....nobody understood a single sentence the visitor spoke.
Not the world’s greatest linguists or the most advanced translation AIs. Not even the quantum pattern analyzers developed exclusively for Project REACH.
Every attempt produced the same conclusion.
Unknown language.
Its layered harmonics shifted frequencies faster than any human vocal cords could replicate. Sometimes it sounded like singing. Sometimes like dozens of voices speaking together. Other times it resembled clicking crystal or insects communicating through vibrations.
It was unlike anything Earth had ever encountered.
So naturally, Edith stopped trying to translate it’s language.
Instead, she decided to teach it.
The flourescent lamps flickered on as Edith walked into her private laboratory.
"Good morning." She greeted out of habit. Their alien friend sat up from the large bed they had built her. The porcelain-faced woman watched her intently.
Edith smiled, "Good,"She pointed at herself. "Morning."
Roger yawned as he walked in. He planted a lazy kiss on his wife’s forehead and stood beside her. Followed by Katie, who looked like death in the flesh.
The alien tilted her head.
"...Good."
Katie’s dreary expression brightened as she slapped Roger’s shoulder.
"Oh my gosh! Did she just...?"
Roger nearly dropped the data pad in his hands from the impact.
"Again!"
Edith nodded encouragingly, moving closer to her. Around this time last year, they’d had been separated by a solid wall of glass due to Quarantine and Detox protocols. Now, she walked freely around the lab.
Though she was restricted to it.
"Good."
"...Good."
"Morning."
"...Mor...ning."
"Good morning."
The floating rings around the alien brightened.
"...Good morning."
The trio erupted into cheers.
Katie threw both hands into the air and high fived her friend.
"She did it!"
Roger scribbled something so quickly across his notes that the stylus nearly snapped.
"Subject continues displaying accelerated linguistic adaptation. Learning speed exceeds all projected estimates."
"Hold your horses, cowboy. It’s just two words."
The alien blinked. "...Ho...se"
Edith laughed and waved dismissively at her.
"Horse"
A small pause.
Then the porcelain woman slowly raised one hand.
"...Horse."
Her hand wiggled as she tried to mimic the motion. Rigid. Almost mechanical.
Katie copied it.
The alien copied Katie copying her.
Edith joined.
Roger burst into laughter and joined as well.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"We’ve started an infinite loop."
Sure enough, Katie waved.
The alien waved, the movement smoother now.
Katie waved again.
The alien waved harder.
Eventually Edith had to step between them.
"I think that’s enough waving for today."
The alien looked down at her hand.
"...your hand must be sore from all that waving."
She approached the alien, gently took her porcelain hands into hers and began to massage the area.
"Sore."
Edith’s nodded.
"Sore means hurt."
"...sore."
The lessons became part of their daily routine.
Edith pointed.
"This is water."
"...Water."
Roger held up an apple.
"Apple."
"...Apple."
Katie accidentally knocked over a tray of instruments.
"Oops!"
Metal scattered across the floor.
The alien stared.
"...Oops?"
Katie burst into laughter.
"No!"
Too late.
For the next three days every minor inconvenience received exactly the same response.
Roger sneezed.
"Oops."
Someone closed the wrong file.
"Oops."
Katie spilled coffee over herself.
The porcelain woman calmly looked down at her.
"...Oops."
Even Edith couldn’t stop laughing.
The more English she learned...
The more curious she became.
She wanted to see everything.
Earth.
Its oceans.
Its forests.
Its towering cities.
Edith took her through botanical gardens where she spent nearly an hour crouched beside flowers, gently brushing her fingertips over each petal.
She stared at butterflies as though they were priceless treasures.
Children fascinated her even more.
One little girl shyly offered her a daisy.
She accepted it with both hands.
"...Thank..."
She searched for the word.
Edith whispered quietly.
"...Thank you."
"...Thank...you."
The little girl beamed.
"You’re welcome!"
For the rest of the afternoon Tuk’Ina carried the flower everywhere. Tucked in the the crevice where her bioluminescence ran.
She visited Meredith.
Edith had managed to sneak her past security.
The blue oceans stretched endlessly beneath elevated cities.
She watched cargo ships disappear into orbital elevators.
She watched artificial rain nourish kilometer-wide farms.
She stood silently on Arcadia’s crystal cliffs while twin suns dipped below the horizon.
Sometimes she’d stand perfectly still.
Looking toward the stars.
Her rings dimming.
Edith never interrupted those moments.
Instead she jotted down on her data pad.
Sasha, as she had come to name the alien, showed emotions through the ring like structures found rotating around several parts of her body.
Neck.
Waist.
Ankles.
Wrists.
Fingers.
It didn’t take long before the researchers noticed something else.
Wherever Edith went...
The alien, Sasha, followed.
Into laboratories.
Into meetings. They had to have Edith stand close to the door so Sasha could see her without entering the boardroom.
Through gardens.
Down hallways.
If Edith stopped walking... So did she.
Katie leaned against a doorway with folded arms. "I think..."
"You think what?"
"...she likes you."
Roger chuckled. "More of attached." He added.
Edith looked behind herself.
Sure enough, the porcelain woman stood less than two feet away.
The instant Edith looked back, her rings brightened with a low hum.
"...Hello."
Edith sighed dramatically. "You know..." She reached over and gently nudged one of the glowing rings floating around Sasha’s shoulder." ...you’re becoming my shadow."
The alien blinked.
"...Shadow?"
"Yes."
Edith pointed. "You."
Then herself.
"Follow."
Her index and middle finger imitated a walking motion.
"...I follow you."
Katie immediately clutched her chest.
"I’m adopting her."
"No, you’re not."
"Aww chucks!"
...
..
.
Late one evening, Edith closed another mountain of paperwork before rubbing her tired eyes.
Roger appeared in the doorway carrying two briefcases.
"You’ve been here twelve hours. Ready to bounce?"
"Twelve?"
"Closer to thirteen."
She groaned.
"...we should go home."
"So should she."
Both of them looked toward the corner of the office.
Sasha sat quietly on the floor. Exactly where Edith had left her hours earlier.
Edith frowned.
Which was very unusual. Most times, after teaching her new things, she would smash through the building’s wall to return to her ship. Stay there for a while and then return back to the lab.
The facility has upped maintenance fee because of this.
Blame security and their stressful protocols.
"...She waited?"
"She refused to leave."
Roger shrugged.
"Every time Katie asked if she wanted to go back to the ship..."
He demonstrated her response.
"...No."
Edith smiled.
After a long pause, she whispered to her husband.
"...Would it be irresponsible if I brought her home?"
Roger stared.
"...Probably."
"Illegal?"
"...Definitely."
"...Dangerous?"
"...Potentially."
Edith stood.
"Let’s do it."
Roger laughed.
"I married a terrible influence."
EARTH—District A—Burkman residence.
The front door opened.
Small footsteps echoed down the hallway.
"Mama!"
A tiny blur shot around the corner before launching itself into Edith’s arms.
"There you are. My little sunshine!"
She laughed, lifting the seven-year-old effortlessly.
"Did you behave today?"
"I did!"
"You didn’t."
Roger smiled knowingly. "Hey there, Xavier."
Xavier pouted.
"...Maybe."
His bright blue eyes suddenly wandered past Edith. The smile froze.
The porcelain woman stood quietly inside the doorway, draped in a large cloak that concealed her stature and half of her face.
Watching him with the same curiosity she gave everything else.
"...Mama?"
The boy shrunk into his mother.
"It’s alright."
Edith lowered and knelt beside him.
"This is our friend."
Xavier peeked around her shoulder.
"...She’s tall...and scary."
Roger coughed into his fist.
"That’s certainly one way to describe her."
Sasha slowly lowered herself onto one knee until they were almost eye level. Just like Edith knelt.
"...Hello."
Xavier’s entire face paled and he shrunk even more.
"You can talk! Mama, she has no mouth but she’s talking! Waaaah!"
"... oh dear, look at her neck for a moment."
Xavier peeked from behind his mother.
"Hello..."
His mouth fell open.
"She has a large circle on her neck!"
"Yes dear, and that’s how she speaks. Now don’t be rude and say ’hello’ back."
Hesitantly, he waved. "Hello."
The alien stared at his tiny hand then slowly waved back.
"...Hi."
Xavier giggled.
"Your face is shiny."
He reached toward the smooth porcelain covering her face.
Edith instinctively tensed.
Sasha didn’t move.
Instead, she leaned forward to allow the child to touch her. His tiny fingers tapped lightly against the porcelain.
"...Cold."
He looked up at his mom.
"Can she feel that?"
"I..." Edith smiled awkwardly. "...I don’t actually know."
Sasha looked down at the child for several long seconds. Then one white palm gently rested on top of his head.
"So..."
The words came slowly.
"...Small. Sha’vek Aon na."
Xavier puffed out his cheeks.
"I’m seven! Mama says I’m a big guy!"
Sasha tilted her head.
"...big guy?"
She rested a hand unconsciously over her own abdomen.
"...Small."
Xavier crossed his arms dramatically.
"I’m going to get bigger."
The alien looked genuinely thoughtful.
She nodded once.
"...Yes."
EARTH—District A—The Smith’s residence.
Inside a polished executive office overlooking Earth’s capital, Merit Smith watched the evening news in silence.
"...Project REACH continues strengthening diplomatic relations with humanity’s first extraterrestrial visitor..."
"...Dr. Edith Burkman..."
"...historic cooperation..."
"...global scientific achievement..."
His fingers tightened around the television remote.
CRACK.
Plastic splintered beneath his grip.
One of his assistants quietly entered.
"The paperwork has been approved."
Merit’s expression slowly relaxed.
"And?"
"The financial oversight committee unanimously agreed."
A thin smile spread across his face.
"The REACH Institute now falls under Smith Technologies’ infrastructure division."
He stood and walked toward the panoramic window.
Far in the distance, communication arrays reached toward the heavens.
"Enjoy your little miracle while you still can, Edith."
His reflection smiled back at him.
"History has a funny way of remembering the wrong people."