> "But, there wasn't any psionic signal from this direction !"
>
> What if Human are the only known sentient species who can't interact with some signal, like in the Wake comics ? How the first contact could look like ?
> (in the Wake comics, psionics signal are used as a mean of communication, something like telepathies. And human are "immune" to it. Meaning that we're just invisible to their system.) -- Anon Guest
Everyone knows now that Humans are 'space orcs'. They also know that Humans are insane. What they didn't learn until several First Contact scenarios was that Humans are the most egocentric species known to Galactic Civilisation.
Case File 0O9LP8IN6MU7. The Reliqhari Incident.
"Technician Falroth... Last survivor of the Investigation Vessel Reliqhari. I don't expect to last long on this Deathworld. I've improvised a filter to keep the particulates out and hooked it into my livesuit... there's no telling what's safe to feed into my nutrient synthesiser. Scanners are broken. I tried Sending... but no-one's in range. I'm recording this for anyone who finds my remains. Tell Tentho... I'm-- what?"
The pickup flips, and actual Deathworlders are approaching Technician Falroth and the wreck of the Reliqhari. They're cautious. They have scanning devices. And they are careful.
But they are _Deathworlders_.
Technician Falroth tried and failed to Send a psionic message to them, only to be met with blankness. According to the theory of instinctive reflective psionics, these creatures aren't intelligent life. And yet they are adapting to a situation that they surely haven't experienced before.
They even offer food that Technician Falroth would not find toxic.
They have a language. A non-psionic means of communication. They use electromagnetic transmissions. Quantum-entangled computers. Digital encoding. But they're _head-blind_. Their history had to be peppered with wars caused by so much misunderstanding. So much miscommunication.
And here they were. Deathworlders. Apex predators. Taking the time. Spending the energy. Wilfully working on understanding with the Other. An alien in their eyes. Technician Falroth. They know that he is fragile. They work with utmost care on his injuries.
They make a smaller vessel out of the wreck of the bigger one. Did their utmost to propagate what was left of the ships' garden. Gave what they knew to be helpful plants in sealed containers of their own dirt.
And explained, in a mutual mix of Broken Standard and a shattered version of their own tongue, with mime and handplay scattered within, that they had been looking for other intelligent life since they had the technology to do so.
They listened to the stars with their radio. They sought out signals like their own. And never thought beyond that limit. Because _of course_ intelligent life had to be like them.
Then again... Galactic Society was similarly egotistical. Egocentric. They thought that psionic signals had to be the only way to communicate.
Both sides were learning differently since then.
[Image <a href="https://www.canstockphoto.com">(c) Can Stock Photo / ragsac</a> ]
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