In their world, they were shown, from the time they were very small, movies where aliens of all sizes and shapes were killers. Taking children and eating them, powerful, cunning, and deadly. Their world, gone now due to a planet-killing radiation storm thanks to an unstable sun, never prepared them, and all the others, from child to adult, for being around actual aliens. The therapist teams had a lot of work ahead of them. -- Anon Guest
There were halls upon halls of identical houses. Not the kind Jorn was used to at all. They were used to bright ochre plaster and gentle, handmade curves. This place had too many bare, flat planes.
The houses were the same on the inside. A space for seating, a table, some shelves. A space on one side with niches and enclosures and a seat with... a lid? The space on the other side was... artificial outdoors. Plants from Jorn's neighbourhood, true, but the weeds and the food plants and the decorative ones were all smashed together as if someone had done it in a hurry[1].
Families found each other, having been herded into the gigantic boxes of ships by the frightening beings in heavy armour. They were capturing everything, even the pests[2]. And in a situation where the sun was visibly growing and throwing off chunks, even an alien invasion looked good. Jorn ran, with all the others, and was now trying to find their friend groups, family, and some level of familiarity.
All the people were present. The big scary aliens had rounded up the animals one by one and taken them away. In cages, in bottles, in nets. Nobody knew why.
There was a lot of panic.
Jorn picked up a baby because the poor little thing was just as lost as them and kept wandering the halls, peeking inside the alien houses. Trying to find someone who knew what was happening.
One hallway had an alien at the other end of it. Frightening and huge inside the armour. Just standing in the way of a door. Not armed. Not really doing anything at all.
Nevertheless Jorn froze, curling themself protectively around the baby. Waiting for something to happen.
What happened was a preternatural sense of calm and a spidery tickling of their memories. The baby in their arms had stopped crying, too. Then, Jorn suddenly knew where to find the baby's guardians, and their own immediate family. With a helpful vision of a least-cost path to take.
They also knew that this alien was called Ysa, and that ze was a telepath. Apparently, they had come in peace.
Jorn had heard that one before. In so many movies and on so many shows, the aliens said they came in peace. They never meant it.
The aliens always came, conquered, took what they wanted, and left wreckage and ruin in their wake.
Nevertheless, the vision Ysa gave them was accurate. The baby was happier in the arms of their mama, and Jorn was happier with their Da and sibs. Huddled together in one of the strange alien houses.
"They mustn't mean to kill us all at once," said Da, snatching doom and gloom from the ashes of optimism. "These places are kind of comfortable?"
A picture of scenery on a wall faded into a face. An artificial face, made to resemble the average Pectraulian. It spoke in a pleasant, neutral, and disturbingly artificial voice.
"Please remain calm. We are working towards achieving your comfort. We are sad to convey the information that your homeworld has died. You have been rescued, and we will be gifting you with a new world around a more stable star at the earliest convenience. This face is part of an artificial intelligence designed to assist you. If you wish my attention, my name is Dee."
Ciq hid his face under Da's arm. "Go 'way!"
The face did.
They gathered what food they could from the gardens, all their neighbours pooling their resources to make what they could with what they had.
Jorn crept off to find a smaller picture. "Dee... are you in these as well?"
Dee's face faded into view. "I am present in all interface surfaces. How may I assist you?"
Not that they expected an honest answer, but... "What are your people really after here?"
The image stuttered a moment. "We come in peace. A planetary survey was underway on your planet when they received a distress call from one of your citizens. The Cogniscent Rights Committee then issued an all-points action call to save as much as we could. Living beings first, cultural artifacts second."
That made sense. Save the people. Things were just... things. Some losses would be heartbreaking, true, but the people would persist, and make new things.
"But why take us?"
"Your world is dead. Would you have preferred to perish by solar eruption?"
"Uh... no." Jorn considered this. "There has to be a reason why. All the shows I've seen, all the books I've read... the aliens always want something. What do your people want?"
The AI was singularly unhelpful. "We want to make friends."
[1] This was true. Teams of emergency evacuation biota specialists had done what they could, gathering samples of soil, plants, and animals for a month before the predicted disaster. It was the distress call that changed everything. Gardening tip - never let a new AI design your air recycling system.
[2] Because planet death by trophic cascade is a bitch.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / TsuneoMP]
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