Fiction Fragment Friday
What started as an expression of my current state of mental exhaustion from the holidays ended up developing into a story I enjoyed writing. It was an exercise in world building through dialog which is something I tend to gravitate towards. Like usual the story went in places I could not have imagined when I started.
“My social battery is completely drained.” I collapsed on my couch much harder than I intended to and heard a loud cracking sound come from it. That was absolutely the last thing I needed after such a rough week, but fairly on theme as a way to end my year.
“I was under the impression humans didn’t have batteries. Are you not fully organic?” I had begun to recognize the facial expressions of my new housemate. I could see the confusion on its face and couldn’t help but wonder if the expressions mirrored those of the alien race that had created it.
“It’s a figure of speech. It means being around people so much this week has left me mentally exhausted.”
“Do you not like your relatives?”
“No, it’s not that. I’m just what we call an introvert. It takes a lot of energy for me to be social, no matter how much I like the people. The more people, the harder it is.”
“Is it the same for all humans?”
“No, a lot of people are extroverts. They actually get energized being around other people.”
“It seems like that would be more advantageous.”
I had to push down my initial inclination to be defensive. Self-awareness told me that the annoyance I felt had more to do with my mental exhaustion than it did with actual offense. It was just making an observation that I myself had frequently thought and not a judgement call. “Do your people not have similar tendencies?”
“If they do, I am unaware of them. I have been programed with knowledge of the creators, but did not actually live with them to learn of social inclinations. They did not want my observations to be tainted by preconceived notions.”
“How can you know what differences to focus on if you don’t have a context to compare to?”
“I cannot. I feel you may not fully understand my role. I am not intended to highlight similarities or differences between your culture and that of my creators. My goal is to understand your culture and what is important to it.”
“Well, if that’s the case living with one introvert isn’t going to accomplish much. We don’t have a single culture on this planet. We have thousands of them. I’m not even sure if I could define what a culture really is.”
“I never said that I was the only observer on Earth.”
“There are more of you here?”
“Of course. There are 300 individual observers currently active across your planet. We were all transmitted from a single base image and will merge our data at the end of our one month mission to create a more comprehensive understanding of your planet.”
“Wait, you said transmitted, not sent.”
“Yes, the creators like your own species cannot achieve speeds for matter greater than the speed of light. They can however, transmit data with no mass at a faster rate. Observers are transmitted and then assembled at their destination. After a duplication process, we then go about our mission. This also serves to ensure that each observer is exactly like every other observer and thus do not introduce a variable that could impact the resulting data.”
“To what end though? What are your people going to do with this data?”
“I do not have that information.”
“You do have information about your creators though, and I’ve seen you make some pretty strong inferences. I don’t believe for a second you don’t have a theory.”
“You are correct. I believe the consolidated data will be used to determine the optimal method of first contact with your planet.”
“Ok, explain your logic.”
“My observations are supposed to be limited to culture and understanding your species as opposed to analyzing technology. If my creators intended an invasion, they would be more interested in resources and defenses. Additionally, the inability to physically reach your planet limits the utility of the outwardly aggressive intentions your media would tend to ascribe to alien species. If they were interested in scientific observation, they would have us focus on history and biology. The focus on culture along with the logical removal of other goals, would tend to imply a desire to understand and communicate.”
“Well, that is comforting. Unless of course you were programed to say that.”
“I assure you that I was not, however if I were I might not be allowed to be aware of it. May I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“If social interactions have, as you said, drained you mentally, is this one making it worse? I do not wish to cause you discomfort.”
“Honestly, it is, but I think the conversation is too important to wait. You just expressed concern for me. Do you still believe yourself to be an impartial observer?”
“I am not. I consider you my friend and thus am partial towards you and your people. I do not believe remaining impartial is necessary for my mission. It is only necessary that I arrive with no preconceived notions. If you do not change me after interacting, could I have learned anything of value? Your people believe that observation changes the observed, but I believe that it also changes the observer.”
“As always, my friend, you seem to understand things better than I give you credit for. I just hope you understand your creators as well as you do yourself.”
“As do I.”