Part 16 of some new science fiction. If you're just tuning in, consider starting with part 1. The image above was created with stable diffusion.
When James announced his tour to the Visitors, only Ochre and Pink chose to come along. Everyone else was too busy exploring their new lives. Suit and Janet both stayed behind to supervise the Visitors, but the government supplied an eight person security team for the tour. Their first stop was Chicago, for an appearance on a wildly popular talk show.
In front of a live studio audience, James sat with Ochre and Pink, listening to host Wendy Franklin ask pithy, uninteresting questions. Then the conversation took an unexpected turn. "And how are you managing the cost-of-living crisis?" asked Wendy, joking. "Hopefully eggs aren't too big a part of your diet."
"As part of our initial education about the current state of your society, we studied your economy," said Ochre. "The figures I saw don't support the claim that there's a cost-of-living crisis. They instead point to a vast conspiracy of greed in your ruling class. So the crisis is a crisis of economic governance, which is separate from your political governance structures."
"What do I even say to that?" asked Wendy, making a face. "Are you saying inflation isn't real? Come on, we're all feeling the pinch."
"That pinch is just another game you humans play," said Ochre. "Like the game of pretending that there's not enough housing because property owners collude to keep prices high, in part by limiting the number of vacant units they list on the market."
"Is that how you see us?" asked Wendy. "Like children playing games?"
"Of course," said Pink. "Your whole society is built on games with no basis in concrete reality. That's part of what drew us here?"
"I have a question!" shouted a man in the front row. James rolled his eyes. It was Gray, the Object cultist.
"How are you tending to your spiritual development here on Earth?" asked Gray.
Wendy looked relieved. "Normally, we don't accept questions like that, but I think we'd all like to know the answer to that one," she said.
"Oh, we're all Catholic," said Pink.
"Really?" asked Wendy.
"Of course not," said Pink, laughing. "Our immortal souls need no shepherding. And if there's a god, we haven't encountered him in all of our travels through the cosmos."
"This is not to suggest that we see no value in religion," said Ochre. "Actually, it seems most useful for social regulation when applied correctly."
"Fascinating," said Wendy. "So what exactly do you believe, if anything."
"To sum it up?" asked Ochre. "Perhaps simply that there is always more. There are always larger things than the largest thing. Smaller things than the smallest. Time and timelessness beyond anything that's measurable."
"And what about purpose?" asked Wendy. "Do you believe that we all have a purpose?"
"Yes," said Pink. "But purpose is only revealed in memory. Considering it any other way is speculation."
"That's deep," said Wendy. "And we're just about out of time. James, we haven't heard much from you. Anything you want to add?"
"Oh," said James. "Maybe just that my life didn't feel like it had much purpose in it before the Visitors arrived. And now I'm a famous alien babysitter."
After the show, James was sitting backstage with Yarn when they heard shouting. Yarn poked her head out the door, and was quickly driven back by a pair of government security officers. "They got Pink," said one of the officers. "We're going to shelter in place until the building has been cleared."
"What do you mean they got Pink?" asked James. "Who got him? How?"
"The situation is fluid," said the officer. "All I know is that Pink disappeared from his dressing room and no one can find him."
"Where's Ochre?" asked James.
"Sheltering in place," said the officer. "We'll get this all sorted out as soon as possible."
"Like hell," said James. "If he left, he must be on camera somewhere. Bring me to the security office."
"I'm not authorized to do that, sir," said the officer.
James waved his want and put the officers to sleep. "You coming?" he asked Yarn.
The security room was crowded, but James and Yarn pushed their way in. "Where is he?" demanded James. "Where is Pink?"
"We think he was rendered unconscious and brought out of the building by these two," said a senior officer, pointing at a screen where two figures were loading a large box into the back of a truck. "Law enforcement is searching the area, but they got a ten to fifteen minute head start on us."
"Where's Ochre?" asked James.
"I'll bring you to her," said an officer. "I'm going there now."
Sitting, relaxed in her dressing room, Ochre sipped cucumber water, waiting for the crisis to pass. "Is he found?" she asked James. "Is he dead?"
"God I hope not," said James. "Looks like he was kidnapped. Did you notice anything strange when you two left the stage to come back here?"
"Nothing out of place," said Ochre. "I guess it was only a matter of time until they got one of us."
"Do you ... know who might be behind it?" asked James.
"Your government, I assume," said Ochre. "But maybe some enterprising criminal group is cutting Pink into bits to sell on the black market. I guess we'll see."
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