“The difficult part is going to be to get them to understand us. Words, communicative gestures—they didn't understand the patterns there. They probably still don't, actually. I mean, it's not like they listen to us. Not on an individual level at least...”
image source: https://pixabay.com/en/alien-crocodile-eye-reptilian-3144944/
“But Professor, why can't they equivocate our methods of communication to theirs? They must talk to each other somehow.” Stem was too eager. He didn't understand certain concepts, social hierarchies chiefly amongst them. I think it was autism. He was always too smart or too anxious for a situation, but he never paid enough attention to the vanity of others. An odd counterpart to Stem, I was keenly aware of social awkwardness, and thereby feeling quite embarrassed for my friend who just rudely interrupted the beginning of the lecture.
Professor Rasmid was a bit thrown off by the interruption, looking around the room of dignitaries blankly before glancing back to Stem and I, who were sitting on the stage alongside PR people from the White House and Pentagon. In an accomplished fashion, Rasmid threw us a scowl while simultaneously introducing us energetically to the audience, “The brilliant young minds who made discovery, Ladies and Gentlemen.” There was momentary applause and Stem basked in it, smiling and waving, and even standing for a short moment. I typed five characters into my handheld device and displayed it to Stem: STFU! He blinked in such a way that indicated to me both surprise and understanding. “As I was saying, Stem,” Rasmid continued, “this species does not communicate directly with each other as you and I do. But rather, if we two were both of their biology, I would first tell the entire room here what I would want to communicate to you, and the room itself would tell you the following.” He typed very quickly into the keyboard at the podium and gestured to the audience who then read in unison off of the screen on stage, “Wait your turn, Stem!” The auditorium echoed with the collective voice of the audience, and was followed by a wave of laughter.
image source: https://pixabay.com/en/conference-public-speaking-2705706/
I watched the ridicule stiffen Stem's posture. He cracked a small smile, and looked over the audience with calculated measurement, being sure not to make eye contact with any individuals, all the while feigning appreciation of Rasmid's joke. He was hurt. “You see,” Rasmid said, “Theirs is a hive-mind. A sort of collective consciousness that is hard-wired into their DNA. Rather than speaking to any other individuals, each one of them communicates solely to the hive. The hive then communicates any necessary information directly to the individuals. You must understand that this process occurs very quickly. Raw condensed thoughts/feelings are packaged and shipped to and fro where they are broken down and interpreted by either the individual, or on the other end, the hive.”
The audience began to murmur, and hands started to be raised into the air. “How?” someone shouted. “We don't know,” Rasmid said. “There could be a specialized 'queen' or network of queens with the ability to 'share' information. We assume that there either has to be at least one central server, or an integrated web, like our internet, and they're all tapped into it. We don't know for sure.” More murmurs. A single voice in the crowd spoke the words "Telepathic mind control," and the room silenced itself. "It's not Telepathy in the way you might imagine it!"Rasmid insisted. "Certainly it is extra-sensory, and likely electromagnetic in nature, but they can't control our minds. We can be sure of it."
A government official sitting to my left suddenly stood up and demanded, “How smart are these things? Are they as smart as us?”
image source: https://pixabay.com/en/alien-science-fiction-futuristic-1712692/
Professor Rasmid paused for a moment, and then pulled out his handheld device. In an instant it made a sound to indicate he received a text message. He nodded to the phone, and then said, “Yes, we believe they can be. In fact, they can be much more intelligent in some ways. Even more versatile, you might say. You must think of each one as a blank piece of hardware without any particular occupational information on it. We think that any single one of them can become a doctor one moment and an engineer the next, and subsequently reduced to a drone immediately thereafter. That somehow an entire lifetime of occupational knowledge can just be given and taken away as if you were moving files on a computer."
It was at this particular moment that the White House broke its silence--the Chief of Staff remotely tapped into the AV feed in the room, suddenly appearing on screen to the audience. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is imperative at this moment that we galvanize...”
