firstofitskind | Spaceship Parking, and then [Location Redacted], The Mainland, Wednesday Afternoon

"Drones, soldiers, or workers?" Verity asked. "Or something completely different? I need to write this down! I need a pen and--I don't have a pen." She felt up the sides of her dress like there would suddenly be pockets and stationary there by magic. Space-magic? "...I don't suppose your ultra-cool, very fancy spaceship has a notebook or pen on it, does it?"

Not warning her to wear better shoes for a trek through the Amazon was fine. Not preparing her to have notetaking equipment when introducing her to a new species? Might need to have a talk about that.

"I don't have a notebook," Liam said apologetically. "If the Queen agrees, though, you could use my Global to take some recordings?" He took the phone out of his pocket, sliding open the screen.

A noise that sounded like some sort of combination of a purr and a chitter rose from the underbrush, and another skrill appeared, this one noticeably larger than the others.

"They won't be seen by anyone from this world," Liam told the Queen. "Unless and until you're ready to share your family with them."

That purr-chitter came again, followed by a small blast of skrill energy that landed at his feet. A warning shot, of sorts.

"She says she'll trust me on whether or not she can trust you," Liam translated, handing over the Global. "So, go ahead."

Edited 2017-12-29 20:01 (UTC)

"You have my word that the only person in this world who will see my notes are Liam," Verity said, speaking directly to the Queen. She wasn't sure if the Queen could understand human speech or if Liam was going to need to translate for her, but it seemed rude to talk about her rather than to her. "My people keep many species secret from humans who would hurt or fear them if they knew of their existence. And I am honored by your trust."

Sure, it was mostly in Liam, but the Queen still could have said no.

"Telepathic communication?" she asked, raising the...Global?...to snap a picture. "Or some kind of alien connection? Or something else?"

"All of the above?" Liam answered. "She understands us, and I can understand her, but neither of us is really built to speak the other's language proplerly."

"Fascinating," Verity said, glad she'd gone with her instincts in addressing the Queen directly. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said, looking back across the stream. "My name is Verity."

"Is there something I can do to show respect?" she asked. The Queen was sapient enough to have conversations with Liam, so there were likely traditions and modes of respect that Verity could adopt while speaking to her.

"You're pretty much doing it already," Liam said with a smile.

"Technically, plenty of people know that the skrills exist. That they're here, in the wild... that's the part we're trying to keep secret, for now."

"So how did they end up here?" Verity asked. "Either on this world or in this spot, whichever." Or both! Verity was always down for both. "They don't look to be native, not really."

"May I come a bit closer to see you better?" Verity called. "Or have someone come to me? You're really quite lovely. I won't touch without permission, of course."

Or make any sudden movements! Because, again, not an idiot.

One of the younger skrills apparently took this as a cue to skitter over until it was merely inches from them.

"Like just about everything in my life... it all started with Taelon meddling," Liam explained. "The skrills were taken from their homeworld, and bioengineered to be given to certain humans as weapons."

"Can they not go home again now that they've been bioengineered?" Verity asked, taking pictures of the tiny skrill from as many angles as she could, sometimes pausing to politely request that it change positions slightly. "Or is this home now and they have no reason to leave?"

"Their homeworld was a casualty of the war between the Taelons and Jaridians," Liam explained. "So, there's nowhere left for them to go. This was... the closest Earth had to offer to the climate they lived in on their planet."

"I'm glad you were able to adapt here," Verity told the little skrill. "And you have my sympathies about losing your home."

"How were they turned into weapons?" she asked, glancing up at Liam. She couldn't help but smile when she met his eyes, even though they were discussing a fairly unpleasant topic. "I noticed the lasers, is that natural, or...?"

Liam smiled back; while "unpleasant" was certainly an apt description of how the skrills had ended up here, it was nice to be able to share their existence with someone who would care about their fate, even if this wasn't Verity's world.

"The energy blasts are natural," he nodded. "What was engineered was their ability to form a sort of... symbiotic relationship? With a human. They'd attach themselves here," he said, indicating his right forearm, "and then be linked to the Companion-Protector's central nervous system, allowing their energy blasts to be controlled with a thought."

"That could've make a handy camouflage for you," Verity noted. "Asking them to stay still so anytime you used your abilities, no one had any reason to think it was anything but the skrill."

He could probably even rig up a fake one for the island if he didn't want anyone to realize what he could do. Not like anyone there would know what a skrill was supposed to look like anyway.

"Thank you very much for your modeling," she told the young skrill. "I appreciate it very much." She held a hand out, offering the skrill a chance to explore her in turn. It seemed only fair.

"Are all of these skrill genetically engineered?" she asked Liam. "Or are some of them of the original genetic stock before the Taelon took over. Bioengineered on an individual level or across the species?"

"Unfortunately, it would have raised even more questions," Liam explained. "Most Protectors were required to have something called a Cyber-Viral Implant that, among other things, enhanced recall and made the connections with the skrills possible. Da'an- the North American Companion, and the one who'd chosen me to act as his Protector, insisted I be permitted to go without one. Their leader allowed it because he thought it would weaken the both of us."

The skrill crept a bit closer, forelegs tentatively reaching out to touch Verity's fingers.

"The Queen here is... they called her gamma series, I think? Alien, but born here," he added. "Like me, I suppose."

Verity stayed still while the skrill explored. Once its movements gained a little more confidence, she touched the little creature back, her movements gentle and deliberate. It wasn't unlike the first visit with infant Aeslin mice.

"But Da'an knew it would provide evidence of what you really are?"

The skrill's head lit with glowing energy as Verity's fingers made contact.

"Careful," Liam said gently, to the skrill more than Verity. "She's a friend, remember."

"Da'an was, in many ways... the closest I had to anything like parental guidance. In fact, he was the one who led me to the truth about the skrills."

Edited 2018-01-03 04:34 (UTC)

"I'm sorry," Verity said, letting her fingers fall still again, "if I concerned you by moving. I can hold still if you prefer."

"The truth about them?" she asked. "That they were more than just weapons?" She offered him a sympathetic smile, noting the past tense. "I'm glad you had someone like him, someone who cared about Liam and not just the last Kimera or a useful freedom fighter."

The Queen chittered at them, and Liam translated dutifully.

"It's young still, and doesn't have much conscious control over the energy blasts, is all," Liam explained. "You're fine."

"Da'an was... complicated," he allowed. "But up until the end, he always thought there might be a way we could all work together. When a group of extremists managed to steal the Queen from the Skrill Development Center... well. He understood why I was 'unsuccessful' in bringing her back."

"Terrible loss," Verity said with a small shake of her head. "I'm sure you did all you could though. However she ended up down here is a mystery that will likely never be truly solved."

How sad.

"Until humanity is ready to accept aliens living on Earth again, at least," Liam said. It would help that these ones were mostly interested in just keeping to themselves.

"Let me know if it happens," Verity said, "and how you manage it. We've got a cryptid crisis coming up in a matter of years and we're still not sure how to handle it."

"Cryptid crisis?" Liam wondered. "Like a population boom, or some of them are just getting tired of hiding?" If he had to guess, he'd figure some combination of both.

"Frogs," Verity said with a solemn nod. "My brother's doing a study, out in the Midwest while he's helping some basilisks mate."

Her brother had incredibly weird and nerdy hobbies.

"A lot of frogs are dying out because of some kind of fungal infection, and the frickens--frogs with feathers--are moving in to take their ecological niche. It's too soon to say if the frickens are going to also fall prey to the fungus, but Alex thinks it's doubtful, something about their feathers insulating them or something. But once the frickens have a large enough population boom to replace the frogs, regular science is going to notice. And while frickens themselves aren't all that important, frogs with feathers are going to make them take a long look at some other heretofore considered 'impossible' animals and reconsider."

"Yeah, I can see how that might make some people sit up and go 'hey, wait a minute'," Liam said with a nod.

"So, we're talking five years, maybe a few more before at least some cryptids get outed. I think that's one of the reasons my parents are so quietly freaked out by the possibility I'll stop being a cryptozoologist at the end of the year."

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