Love this, especially the last bit there. Great story and great conclusion!

"You know," Gregory said, as he regarded the basketball-sized blob of luminous plasma floating beside him. "This isn't how it's supposed to go. It's backwards."

"In what way, Representative?" the blob inquired -- somehow. It had no mouth, despite somehow giving the impression of an obsequious smile.

"Well," Gregory said, as he followed the blob down the corridor, watching colorful translucent wisps swim through the air around him. "I've heard people say that drugs made them see aliens. But I've never heard of anyone getting abducted by aliens, and only then do they start hallucinating."

"You are not hallucinating, Representative." the blob said, cheerfully. "You are merely recovering."

"Yeah, you keep saying that." Gregory mumbled, irritably. "Recovering from what?"

"Chronic malnutrition, mostly. Though your species, as well as the other three sentient species native to your world, seem to have adapted remarkably well, all things considered." the blob replied.

"That's another thing! We tried to tell you when you brought us on board, before you separated us: Dwayne, Ben, Penny and I are all the same species," Gregory said.

"So you have said, Representative. While we recognize that taxonomy may be reckoned differently on your world, for the purposes of membership in the Confederation each of you represents a different sentient species, albeit ones that doubtless share a common evolutionary ancestor," said the blob.

Gregory sighed. "I see how you got there, I guess. I'm about average height, Ben's a little person, Dwayne must be almost seven feet tall...Penny's actually pretty average too, though I think she might be autistic or something, so maybe that's what you're picking up on? Either way, we're all human."

"And we think it is good that you feel a sense of kinship with the other species from your homeworld," the blob said, encouragingly. "The ability to see past species differences will be beneficial, as you join the broader galactic community."

"Except there are no differences, we're the same!" Gregory protested.

"Yes, yes. No need to virtue-signal, Representative. Your strong attachment to your fellow homeworlders has been noted." the blob said, somewhat testily.

Gregory let out another long sigh.

"Now then, since you've completed quarantine and had time to recover while receiving nutritional supplements, we'd like you to join the other representatives for a meeting, so we can discuss how best to conduct a formal First Contact with your species."

Gregory perked up. He hadn't known Ben, Penny, and Dwayne before they were all abducted, and he hadn't spent much time with them before the aliens had separated them, but he found that he was eager to see them. It had been almost a week since he'd seen anyone who wasn't a flying orb of goo.

"Are they hallucinating, too?" Gregory wondered aloud.

"No, and neither are you," the blob reminded him. "We have not given you any psychoactive substances."

"There's something in that food." Gregory grumbled, watching a ghostly six-winged eel swim by through the air, and briefly swivel its eyestalks around to look at him.

"That is true. Specifically, the food we've provided has been fortified with Element 104, a rare mineral formerly present in your planet's food chain, and vital to the life cycle of many species around the galaxy. It appears to have been depleted on your world sometime between now and our last survey of your world some 15,000 years ago," the blob explained. "It's actually quite remarkable that so many of your world's species were able to adapt to living in an ecosystem without it."

"How does a mineral make me see things?" Gregory asked.

"In much the same way that many trace minerals are vital for your biological function, Representative, including that of your sensory organs," the blob said. "Though in point of fact, your species is actually the least sensitive to Element 104 -- only a small gland at the base of your brain is directly impacted by its presence or absence."

"The...pineal gland?" Gregory asked, frowning.

"Yes, I believe that it is your term for it. It was severely atrophied when you were brought aboard, but bioscans indicate it is now recovering nicely," the blob said. "The other species' recovery has been more...pronounced, however."

"I told you, we're all--" Gregory began, and then trailed off, as a door slid open before them, and they entered a large chamber. Inside, were two people he barely recognized.

Ben had grown -- not taller, but broader, and his limbs and facial features had become thicker and more robust. What's more, while he'd been clean shaven when they'd been abducted a few days earlier, he now sported a long, bushy beard.

"''Sup, Greg!" he called cheerfully.

"Ben?"

Ben grinned broadly. "Yep! I'm as surprised as you are, but I had a half-dozen different back and joint conditions that were giving me hell, and now they're all gone, so I ain't complaining."

"In the absence of Element 104, many of your species' connective tissues fail to develop optimally," the blob chimed in to Ben. "We are pleased that its reintroduction into your system has caused such rapid reversal of atrophy."

Before Gregory could even begin to process this, Penny appeared beside him, scaring him half to death. How had she snuck up on him like that? When he'd last seen her, she'd been curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth and trying to process the sensory overload and understandable anxiety created by her abduction.

Now she was different, only slightly taller, yet almost as transformed as Ben, in her own way. Her eyes were large and almost uncannily blue, and her ears had become long and pointed. He remembered her being afraid of anyone touching her, but now she stepped in front of him, and placed long slender fingers on his cheeks, before leaning in to touch her forehead to his. When she opened her mouth, she didn't speak, so much as she sang.

I greet you as a friend, here among the stars.

Share with me the light they shine.

Share with me the songs they sing.

Then she let out a laugh of almost childlike delight, and literally tumbled away from him, before coming to rest on the floor near Ben, calmly sitting cross legged.

"Yeah, she's...she's like that, now." Ben grumbled, eyeing the smiling woman seated on the floor beside him. "Not sure it's an improvement to be honest. But from what the blobby guys tell me, that's actually her natural state, like this is mine. What about you?"

"I..." Gregory said looking from Penny to Ben in confusion. "I mean, I-I just started seeing things." He glanced at the other side of the room, where a strange pufferfish-like like spectre was floating by. "Like right there, I see--"

As he extended his hand towards the thing, an inexplicable gout of flame leaped from his fingers towards the space-pufferish-ghost, and set a nearby decorative plant ablaze.

"Shit!" Gregory cried.

"Ah," said the blob, as a nozzle extended from the ceiling and sprayed out a jet of gas that smothered the fire. "It appears you have recovered your species' ability to modulate local quantum fields. Please refrain from doing so while on board, as it may interfere with our vessel's systems."

"Well," said Ben, soberly. "That's a helluva thing." Penny simply clapped excitedly.

"Sorry." Gregory said, his mouth suddenly dry. He glanced around nervously. "Where...uh...where's Dwayne?"

"He should be along shortly," the blob assured him. "In fact--"

One of the wall panels slid aside, and an immense shape ducked down low and squeezed through the opening into the room. As it straightened, all three of the abductees gaped up at it in amazement. It wore the ragged remnants of Dwayne's clothing, but stood almost ten feet tall, despite still being partially hunched over. Looking down at them, it blinked its dark, beady eyes, and then its face split open in a wide grin.

"Hey y'all." Dwayne rumbled. "Or, uh...'fee-fi-fo-fum', I guess."

aww yayy thank you :")

Reread my comment. I hate netflix too. One too many masterpiece thrown aside. Imperfects was perfection. Netflix is a stain.

Silly Fish.

Netflix doesn't know how to make money ;D

That's kind of a running theme in most of my stories. Humans are uniquely terrible when measured against spacefaring species of higher intellect. We're the only species that would ever even consider genocide. Other species of intelligent life lack a word for it in their lexicon =P

As a realist, I'm sure other species of intelligent life have rough histories of deceit, war, and genocide. But as an optimist, I believe that for them to have evolved to become a tier III civilization (on the Kardashev scale), they would have had to have long moved past all of their differences, and work together as a planet.

But then the realist side of me takes over again. Evolution has mathematical principles that constrain intelligent life. All intelligent species (that we know of) work together. The better they work together, the higher intelligence they accrue. Crows, dolphins, chimpanzees, etc. are all great communicators and brilliant animals.

Sociality appears to be a construct that is unavoidable for intelligent life. Sociality is an evolutionary trait that arises because of a need. Hunting, agriculture, tool making, specialization, and things like that. So it's probable, to me anyways, that all intelligent spacefaring life had a similar start to us humans, albeit under different unknowable circumstances. It's incredibly doubtful that aliens didn't work together or communicate to get to where they got.

There are too many X factors however to conclude something like that. We humans are still similar to our great ancestors in ways we don't innately understand. We know we're afraid of a dark as children, but we don't know that it's an evolutionary trait passed down from those who came before us. Predators used to lurk in the dark; rival tribes of humans struck by surprise under cover of night. We still have the same impulses from when we were sitting around a fire wondering how it got there.

Aliens, however, may not have genes at all, at least not as we know them. It's a possibility they haven't sexually reproduced in thousands of years, and instead jumpstart their young genetically so that they're born with a grasp of concepts and skills that we spend our formative years learning manually through books and guidance. In that circumstance, they wouldn't need to be social anymore. They could branch out all over the cosmos just downloading all the important stuff into the new generation before they even burst out of the chest they've been incubating in.

Holy smokes did I just rant. Should I just delete all of this? ... Nah, y'all can know I'm crazy xD

Thanks for the prompt and the praise.

Leave it to the aliens to remind us that crypids are people too. :)

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

Reminders:

>* No AI-generated reponses 🤖 >* Stories 100 words+. Poems 30+ but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* [RF] and [SP] for stricter titles >* Be civil in any feedback and follow the rules

🆕 New Here? ✏ Writing Help? 📢 News 💬 Discord

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Grew up in Ohio and live in Illinois.

I haven't noticed any difference in the weather.

Only the scenery.

More Humans are Space Orcs writing?

I like this. Sounds like a Video game main character that is on the verge of self awareness.

"Love conquers all". Sometimes literally.

Haha I love this- please do a second part!

>And then a light bulb went off. But that was just Corny in the living room.

I snorted

Welcome to the Post! This is a [PM] Prompt Me.

Reminders:

>* All top-level comments should be prompts for the submitter to answer >* Prompt submission and comment rules still apply >* Prompts must be responded within six hours or this post will be removed >* No AI-generated reponses 🤖 >* Be civil in any feedback.

🆕 New Here? ✏ Writing Help? 📢 News 💬 Discord

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

This is really good, you even came up with a good explanation for the walking, you did well. Thank you for using this prompt

I refuse to believe that all the others senators, themselves seasoned politicians, would fall for this. Unless only humans produce politicians and all other species of the galaxy are decent people.

If you keep going I would love to read it!

There was something in the basement of that old, wooden house. It lurked in shadows and behind walls shrouded with cobwebs and dust, but it made itself known in small ways - a blanket pulled from a bed, a whispering when none were present.
There was something in the basement of that old, black house, and Sam was quite determined to meet it.
They'd bought the house just last month - nice neighborhood, shops within walking distance, and close to work - for a unbelievable price. They didn't know if that was because of the eldritch horror in the basement or a far, far worse nightmare, the area's strict HOA.
Their first day, they found a list of rules nailed to the door - not taped, or glued, nailed.
It seemed everything was forbidden - from planting trees in the yard to parking more than one car outside the building.
When they had come that morning to yell at Sam, they made one fatal mistake.
It was five in the morning, Sam hadn't had their coffee, and they'd told Sam to call a exorcist to get rid of the nameless god of the sightless realm that had apparently messed up a few people's yards.
Anyways, they were soon driven from the property, and Sam stomped down the rickety steps.
"Hey! I know you're down here!"
"Mortal. Leave," whispered the walls
"Look, you can co-operate with me, or the HOA'll have you sent back to the Sightless Realm."
"They could not, I am too powerful," whispered the ancient copper pipes.
"Look. I'll get kicked out. They'll hire some expensive person to come deal with you at my expense, and we'll both be out of a home."
"This 'HOA', you speak of - is it the one that banned the ice-cream truck."
"Yep."
The shadows twisted and writhed around Sam, and they could swear they could hear breathing. The air grew mustier and ancient and something crept from the corner.
"Yards," it mused. "So obsessed with the neatness of yards, they are. So obsessed with keeping children quiet and the ice-cream truck away."
"Yeah, so go destroy some landscaping!" Sam gestured broadly at the crumbling brick walls of the basement. "Heck, even go cave in their basements!"
"I would rise up in a tangle of shadow and horror and smite them all! There is, however, one issue."
"What? Surely-"
"I need you to carry something to create shadow. I cannot exist, without shadow, and those damn folks have spotlights in their yards."
Sam pulled a umbrella from their bag.
"Let's get em'"

Really cool story, small nitpick is horses absolutely won't charge into spears, that's why infantry squares were so effective, cos there was no "flank"

I have never heard of nor can I find record of children being employed in this role - but having someone skitter under the lines of pikes to stab the enemy in their legs and groin was a real thing that happened.

David Brin's Uplift series, starting with Sundiver.

buh BUH bu-buH bUH buh bu-bu-BUh

I want to hug you.