thediscoveryofxanadu

[thediscoveryofxanadu]

Doing good work feels good.

Shaethen was feeling immensely proud of himself. He had accurately translated what was considered a dead language and successfully used it in a way that would benefit his and another’s species significantly. He felt incredibly lucky to be chosen for this assignment, and had gotten much positive feedback from his colleagues and superiors. Not many linguists make it this far, and he had consigned himself to a lifetime of structured research and essay writing. Not that that was a bad life, in his eyes, but with recent events and discoveries, his life had become that of a legend! This was the kind of excitement that he had only read about! Discovery of a hospitable planet, learning that it was once inhabited by an intelligent species, and then, finding what is believed to be one of the last of that species! He had had to work hard lately to not let his emotions spill over.

Shaethen looked out a port hole to glance at the verdant utopia. Just a few rotations ago he had set foot on the planet that he had dreamed of since younghood. He had breathed in the gentle and light atmosphere and smelled the scent of exotic flowers. He had heard and even caught sight of a few of the flying creatures that lived here. They were so small and fast, but you could study them when they paused for a moment to sing. He had even witnessed a freshwater rain. It was so soft and gentle on his skin. It didn’t dry it out or leave it stinging as the salt rains on his own planet did. He was told that the air here was too thin to support saline cloud forms. Shaethen was going to miss the light green colored clouds of his former home, but decided that the stark white of his new home were just as good.

When the human was found in a cryostasis chamber, everything had changed. Suddenly, Class 2 Planet #1-84a could not be classified as a colony planet. There were people living here already. The probes and the initial manned invstigations had shown that it was once inhabited, but that species was long gone. Many of the species’ remains had been found in the ruins. The anthropologists were still piecing together what exactly caused the demise of and entire race, but the one thing had been sure: no sentient race lived here anymore. They were proven wrong within a single moon cycle that the colony ship had been here.

The discovery of this planet had actually happened before his time. Many probes were sent out to evaluate the atmosphere, soil composition, and wildlife. The pictures and samples they had gotten in return were absolutely stunning! Blue skies, deep green vegetation, and creatures that had evolved along a similiar evolutionary tract as they had. It even had entire oceans of naturally saline water. It was a veritable paradise! The team that initially made the discovery were given the gift of naming the planet. After much celebrating, arguing, fighting, and intoxication, they unanimously agreed on Splendor.

Shaethen thought it was a bit too fantastical for his liking, but he had to admit, it was a very fitting name. The discovery and subsequent naming rocked his homeplanet and became an event that was now taught to younglings in mandatory education. In fact, that was how he learned of it, and it was a turning point in his personal development. He consumed all media since then about anything concerning Splendor. His living quarters were decorated with pictures and paintings, recreations of the planet’s ruins, and original printings of the news of its discovery. He had spent much of his stipend collecting rocks and soil samples and even keratin trimmings from the creatures that were brought back to be examined. Splendor was his obsession.

Again, Shaethen made sure to fully appreciate the feeling of satisfaction with his work and took a moment to count how lucky he was to be be born so privileged. Born and raised in the right place, time, and position to able to apply to be part of the first colony ship to Splendor. All of the opportunities in his life had led him here, in a grand ship floating only a few hundred miles above the most beautiful and mesmerizing place he had ever seen. 

[thediscoveryofxanadu]

“Whath is youw wersonal inicathow?”

“What?” the human asked, scrunching up their face in what Shaethen recognized as confusion.

Shaethen struggled to form his lips and pallette around the hard consonants of the foreign language. He looked down at his datapad and read this pre-prepared words and the translation again. 

:WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL INDICATOR:

Maybe the human did not understand the terminology he was using. He searched his self-made thesaurus of the human’s language for a simpler solution, and tried again.

“Whath are you calledh?” He asked in a slower, lighter, and hopefully more friendly tone.

“What am I called? Like my species?” The human seemed just as confused as before, but their response told him that they understood to a certain degree. This would be a lot easier if he was allowed to mentally reach out to sense the human’s emotions, but he understood the restriction. He would have to rely on facial expressions and body language for now. He thought to himself just how grateful he was that their biology was incredibly similar to his own. Of course, they weren’t anywhere near identical, but the similarities still made his job much easier.

“I’m a human, I guess. I’ve never really had to point-blank tell anyone that before,” they said, and ended their sentence with a series of small staccato barks and what Shaethen definitely recognized as a sigh.

He listened intently to the human’s words, ignoring the soft pings from his pad as his translation program worked. He wanted to learn and understand as best he could on his own before relying on other resources. It was a program that he had built himself, but he still kind of considered it to be cheating. His tech or not, he made it a personal point to be self-sufficient. He paused for a moment to mentally prepare his words ahead of time, before clarifying his question.

“I was meaninh you ah… swecifilly.” He was very proud of himself for using that word in the right context, even if the pronunciation was not as, ah, deft. “We know thath you are Humans, whath are you?” He emphasized that last word, and used his hand, palm open in what he hoped to be non-threatening, to gesture at the human.

“OH! You want to know my name! Haha, wow, I feel real dumb now…” The human lifted it’s arm and ran it’s own hand through the long, delicate keratin strands that grew from it’s head, and nervously began to tug at the ends. 

“Ah, yes! Youw name!” He exclaimed, happy and excited to be able to communicate his point in a language that he had never been able to use before with a native speaker. He felt an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment. These were very groundbreaking times! Before he could stop himself, he gave his own.

“I am Shaethen!” he spouted, and then inwardly winced as he heard his supervisor groan in his earpiece. He had just broken one of the terms he had been given by his superiors. He had been told to keep this first official questioning as impersonal as possible, at least for his side of things anyway. This was by no means an outright violation of the laws governing first contact with a previously undiscovered sentient race, but he knew he would still get an earfull during the debriefing.

Minor infraction or not, he was rewarded with what seemed to be a small smile on the human’s face. They had very straight teeth.

“Well, uh, nice to meet you, Shaethen. I’m Xanadu.”