Thursday! The day we all gather together for the first time since being stranded in China...oh wait, Cheonha and Suha weren't there. Uh...lemme think. Wow, the original four of us hadn't been all the in the same place since that very first day, when Aldaris had us all trapped in the back storage room of his spaceship. No wait, we all hung out once in the observatory that day when we found that hamster, yeah. Cheonha took that hamster home. I really should ask her how it's doing.
In any case, we were together again, this time with Lee Suha, all at the Kensley house. Specifically, we were in the back yard, having a nice cookout. Suha was the one who wanted it, but apparently John somehow managed to be in charge of the grill. He's supposedly the best griller out of all of us, which makes sense because both Toby and Cheonha don't have yards to grill in, and I don't have a grill. Technically there's a public grill at the park down the road from my place, but I've never used it. People throw cigarette butts in there.
So John's manning the outdoor grill, intending to make her "a genuine American hamburger." That was cute enough to work, but was pretty surprising since I know for a fact they make children sing songs about killing Americans over in North Korea, and Suha would have been steeped in anti-American sentiment.
Suha let John have his wish, but that didn't mean that she just sat around. She had me and Cheonha running around like her servants as she chopped up various vegetables for side dishes. I don't know why she thought she could order me around. Granted, she's completely right, I'm just not sure where she got the idea. Also, I'm not sure if anyone told her that this isn't one of our houses, but we're already guilty of breaking and entering, so Suha gets to be an accessory with us.
Honestly, it was a great afternoon. Between Suha's vegetables and John's burgers, dinner was delicious, if a bit unmatched between East and West. Aldaris, despite his upcoming announcement, spent that whole time away from us. After he teleported us down, and then himself, he just disappeared, leaving us in Kensley's back yard. I dunno, I think the guy just doesn't like to watch us eat.
Fortunately, Mr. Kensley had enough chairs for all of us. Me, John, and Toby all had lawn chairs, and we let the Lees take the outdoor sofa. Cheonha's got english pretty well figured out, for someone who hasn't been learning it very long. She translated as much as she could for her mother as all of us talked. Charlie came back at about that point. His own chair was already set up in the yard, so he sat as we talked. Not that we were just going to ignore him.
"Charlie!" Toby said. "Don't keep us in suspense anymore. What's this all important announcement you're going to make?"
Aldaris, relaxed enough to ignore his human nickname, seemed vaguely amused. "If you are impatient, there is no need for delay. I have discovered a means of returning to, as you term it, the 'Starcraft universe'."
Us Westerners cheered, and Suha applauded politely until Cheonha finished translating into her ear. Then she clicked her tongue and said something that sounded a little sad - she said it too fast for korean noob me to catch.
"I know some of you are fond of me," Aldaris glanced at Suha in particular. "But it is high time I returned home. The issues Starcraft presented, as well as ones beyond its scope, call for my restoration."
"Great." Statkus said, reaching in the cooler for another beer. "So how did you manage to figure it out?"
Aldaris shook his head. "Even if I were convinced you both understood the science concerned and required notice, the words necessary for explanation are beyond my english vocabulary, if indeed such words exist for processes that involve returning a 'fictitious' character to his own reality."
"Fair enough." Statkus shrugged. "I have to say this situation ended a lot more peaceably than I thought it would."
Toby laughed. "Yeah, you're the one that thought Aldaris was going to blow up the Earth when everything first happened."
"I don't know." Statkus leaned back in his chair. "Now that he's been here a while and nothing too exciting has happened, it's hard to imagine what he would have done that's so bad. I misjudged you. I guess I have to apologize."
"Your misgivings were fully justified," Aldaris answered. "As I am foreign to you and potentially very dangerous, logically you should not have felt otherwise. Indeed, upon witnessing the first of you, I had suspicions of my own." Aldaris looked towards me. "When a human from seemingly no place at all appears at the same time my vessel is thrust into chaos, can I not but suspect interference?"
"What?" I said. "You really thought I had messed up your ship?"
"For mere seconds. It was clear quite clearly from basic observation that you and Cheonha possessed neither the talents nor tools necessary for stealth operations."
"Well, I was standing there like a complete idiot," I chuckled. "That doesn't come with training."
"If there was misjudgement," Aldaris continued. "It was my own. The four of you proved far less of a threat to me than I had assumed. Indeed you are far too welcoming in my case, for as much as Starcraft portrays of me, it is neither much nor particularly accurate."
As you can imagine, I tried to keep thoughts out of my mind about how the game and real life Aldaris compared. Since I'm not with him now as I write this, I'll go ahead and tell you that they're a little more similar than he's willing to admit. Judging by Statkus' tense expression, he was having a little bit of a harder time keeping his opinion to himself. Distraction time!
"One thing that I think is accurate is your moral position," I said. "It's clear that even your Starcraft incarnation has clear moral distinctions. And as happy as I am for you that you get to go home, well, I'm sad I won't have an alien buddy around anymore. I pout."
"Content yourself with this evening, then. For you all shall dwell here until the morning, when the recall unit has recharged."
Toby cleared his throat and set down his beer beside his chair. "Now, that's funny. You didn't seem to worry much about saving power on the recall unit when you were getting Suha out of North Korea. I was talking about it with Bethany, and you teleported people 14 different times in fairly quick succession. So, why can't the recall unit work now?"
I raised an eyebrow - okay fine, both eyebrows. I can't do the one eyebrow thing. So, Toby was going to call him out on the teleporter issue, was he? Well, I'm all ears.
Aldaris did not seem at all perturbed by the question, and answered without hesitation. "I now am fully certain of my ability to return to the Koprullu Sector. Shall I not preserve my vessel's power for this purpose?"
"Sure, but, why weren't you careful before?"
"It was necessary," Aldaris continued, equally calmly. "If you have discussed this with Bethany, you already know of North Korea's dangers. I could not allow these women to remain."
"Alright, I suppose." Toby sighed and leaned back in his chair. "... Now I feel sad. Hanging out with you guys has been awesome. It makes me wish I'd played Starcraft when I was growing up. I mean, I got to meet an alien, and to go out in space!"
"And I got to swim with my favorite sharks!" I added.
"We all got to have misadventures in China." Statkus grinned and rubbed his head, where only the faintest mark remained of his adventure-gained scar. "Though that wasn't the most, uh, comfortable situation."
"And I still have a Chinese internet friend because of that," Toby rejoined. "I'm happy for you that you're going home, of course, but these past six months have been the most fun I've ever had in my life. I can't believe it's all going to come to an end. I'm going to miss you, Aldaris."
I raised my Coke can. "To our dear companion, Aldaris, and his safe return to the K Sector! May his adventures grow ever more inexplicable!"
"To Aldaris!" the guys lifted their beers, grinning wide.
Cheonha snickered, until Omma gave her a stern look. Aldaris, on the other hand, looked at me like I'd grown a third eye.
"Why, my dear, dear Aldaris," I said. "Why are you offended? It's just a line in a game, no? You didn't really get on Tassadar's case for having a human friend, did you? 'S totally a misquotation, right?"
Aldaris said nothing, but rolled his eyes and looked away. Toby snorted and wiped some beer from his lips before speaking.
"That proves it!" he pointed at Aldaris. "He really did say it! Haha!"
"Guess that makes you a hypocrite then." Statkus grinned at Aldaris like it was going to be illegal tomorrow. "Dear friend."
"You may say that as often as you like," Aldaris kept his tone under control, barely. "But it shall not prove true. I merely pity you, and must tolerate your presence until my departure."
"'S cool, Charlie, 's cool," I said. "Sorry, it's just that your insult is probably my favorite line in all of Starcraft. I'd have to look again to be sure, but it's up there."
"For what reason?"
I shrugged. "I'm a writer. At all times I have to be open to a certain degree to alternate opinions and feelings, or else my characters, particularly the ones not like me, will always be flat. Besides, it's the hallmark of a good writer to show as much meaning in as few words as possible. Your insult speaks volumes about your character's feelings on humans, traditions, your subordinates, tons of things like that. It says this more efficiently than an essay on your nature ever would. Or your Starcraft equivalent's character, anyway."
"If we're talking about favorite lines," Toby added. "I think I like best the part where Mengsk says he'd rather rule Korhal or see it burnt to ashes around him. When he said that line, oooh! That gave me the creeps!"
"I know!" I exclaimed. "Mengsk was such a great character! And then Blizzard goes and says, 'his story has already been told.' Yeah, no. Man, I always wanted to see him do something really, really crazy. Something that would make everyone else in the K Sector lose their minds." Given that Aldaris was looking at me funny, I relented. "Uh, well, of course, that's only when thinking of him as a fictitious character. As a real person, not...so...oh no, noooo...guys, why? That's so mean!" I turned back to Aldaris and pointed at John and Toby. "I had nothing to do with this, swear to God."
I really didn't, and buried my face in my hands so that I wouldn't see the horror. At some point, the guys apparently decided that they wanted to bring along some Latvian beer. I peeked through my fingers. No, my eyes weren't tricking me. On each label, in pretty cursive, was the name "Aldaris." The boys quite helpfully held their bottles above or below the label.
Apparently Aldaris knows his own name with Roman letters. He sat forward in his chair, and all the color bleached out of his eyes. "What madness is this?!"
"We-eell..." Toby said. "As it turns out, in Latvian, 'Aldaris' means 'brewmaster.' And it's a beer company."
"What?!"
"It's true." Statkus said, his laughter not the slightest bit damaged from the radiation of Aldaris' anger. "There's a beer with your name. That is absolutely real."
Aldaris stared at the bottles and at the guys as if the universe had unwound before him. "You...human...this...impossible!"
Too stunned and angry to do anything, Aldaris dropped his face into his hands. The guys grinned and sipped their beers, 100% enjoying their joke. I tried to pretend I wasn't enjoying it even as I defended our offended alien.
"You guys are jerks. You broke Charlie!" I said, still smiling. "Dude coulda lived his whole life without knowing about that."
"And you knew of this?"
Aw, great, Charlie's wrath was directed at me. I suppressed another giggle. "Yeah, but I wasn't going to say anything. Relax, it's just a coincidence. ...If it makes you feel any better, I read some reviews online, and it's supposed to be good beer."
I earned a death glare with that one. At this point, Cheonha figured out the unfamiliar letters and laughed as well. Suha clucked her tongue disapprovingly. She gestured over for one, and since Toby was sitting closer, he got out another beer and removed the cap for her. Suha tasted it, then shook her head and turned to Aldaris. She frowned and said something that involved the word shiro, so clearly she wasn't a fan.
"Guess she doesn't like your beer, then." Toby snorted.
"To be fair, we did have to import it from Europe," Statkus said, taking a sip. "It's flat by now."
"The Guinness company was supposed to have invented a widget that keeps beer longer." Toby added, glancing with mild disapproval at his own drink. "I guess Aldaris beer never caught on with it."
"I am only too glad to be gone from this mad place," Aldaris non-beer snarled. "The more I learn of Earth, the more I learn to despise it."
"Don't be so upset. You don't even have the most embarrassing name," I said. "Poor Artanis does. In elvish, his name means 'noble lady'."
Unfortunately, Aldaris didn't laugh. "Truly?"
"Oh yeah. In the Lord of the Rings universe, it's one of Galadriel's alternate names."
"What?" Toby asked. "Is that in the book? I don't remember reading that."
"They don't mention it in the trilogy, but if you read the Silmarillion, it's there. That's the name she was born with."
"Ah," Toby nodded. "I only knew that 'Artanis' was 'Sinatra' spelled backwards."
"What is 'Sinatra'?" Aldaris asked.
"He's a jazz singer from the 1950s," Statkus answered. "He's considered to be one of the best singers of his time."
"That is preferable to alcohol, at least, though I do not know that Artanis would see this as a compliment." Aldaris' face wrinkled with foul anticipation. "I assume there are human meanings to the other Protoss names as well?"
"Some of them," Statkus said. "Fenix is the most obvious one. Too obvious, if you ask me."
"Not to a Protoss. Explain it, if you would."
"In human folklore," Toby explained. "A phoenix is a bird that burns to death, then rises anew from its own ashes. It's spelled differently than Protoss Fenix, but it means the same thing."
"What is spelled the same way as Protoss Fenix is a name of a city in North Carolina. Not makin' that up, saw it on a map once. Oh, and Phoenix, Arizona. But burgh," I muttered. "I never liked his name. From the viewpoint of someone writing Starcraft, it's clearly a bad pun on Fenix dying and then being put in the dragoon machine. The pun hurts me. It hurts me a lot."
Statkus came out of his thoughtful trance. "I think that's everybody. None of the other Protoss characters have names with obvious meanings."
"One of the Aldaris brand beers is called 'Zelta'," I said. "I always assumed 'Zeratul' was extrapolated from that."
"Oh yeah!" Toby snapped his fingers. "I saw that on the website."
Aldaris facepalmed.
"Well..." Toby said, apparently starting to feel guilty. "Don't let it bother you. I mean, this is probably an alternate timeline, isn't it? There probably isn't an Aldaris beer on Starcraft Earth. Maybe not even a Latvia."
"There is almost certainly no Latvia," Aldaris said, lifting his face and blinking warily. "The United Earth Directorate was supposed to have 'promoted unity' by eliminating most national borders."
"What, really?"
"From what I am told. Though the Protoss know little of the UED, none of the humans I had met in the Koprullu Sector had anything pleasant to say about Earth's government."
"But you only met Raynor and his crew," Statkus piped up. "You probably got a skewed perspective."
"Yes, but I have no other source to draw upon." Aldaris leaned into the back of the chair. "The Protoss discovered little of the UED before my departure."
Out of nowhere, Kensley's dog appeared. I have no idea where that thing goes at night. Isn't it supposed to be with a neighbor, or something? Charlie must have sent out some kind of mental signal to it or something, because up it came. It sniffed us out and started to growl, but with one swift gesture from Aldaris, it cantered right over to him and hopped in his lap. With that, Aldaris ducked out of the conversation and started scratching the dog. Pfft. Those guys did have to ruin our last meeting with an alien from outer space with those stupid beers.
Statkus wiped his foamy grin as he worked on finishing his bottle. Clearly dude wasn't feeling all that bad about the whole name thing, and as he took his final swig, he turned again to the alien.
"So Charlie," he asked. "If I had something in my mouth and you read my mind, could you taste what I was tasting?"
"No," Aldaris retorted, his face wrinkling in disgust. "The Protoss brain cannot process such sensory information."
"That's too bad." Statkus glanced at his bottle and chuckled. "You'll never be able to know the taste of your own beer company."
"You're so bad." I shook my head with a laugh. "Just awful."
"Hey Bethany," Toby reached into the cooler. "We've got one more of these Aldaris beers left. You want one?"
"No, thank you. Nerd girl's not a drinker."
"Really? Why not?"
"I don't want to start," I answered, yawning as I watched the sun go down. "I've always suspected that I had an addictive personality, and it turns out that people with my personality type are very likely to abuse substances."
"What, really?"
"Oh yeah. INTPs apparently are number one in...uh, I can't remember if it's alcohol or drugs. Pretty sure we're number one so far as drinking to excess, and almost number one in drugs on a college campus. Something like that."
"That's Myers-Briggs, isn't it?" Statkus said, with all the contempt I expected. "That's fake. It's basically astrology."
"Not at all," I snorted. "It's not the best personality sorter, but it's based on people's preferences, in the sense that what people like and dislike sorts them into categories. You probably have seen some really terrible Myers-Briggs quizzes online, so your skepticism is logical, but astrology is based on the positions of the stars. I think that being based on preferences is a little more reliable than being based on vast burning orbs at ridiculous distances."
"Oooh, this is like that Starcraft character thing, isn't it?" Toby leaned forward in his chair. "What personality am I?"
"Sorry, Toby," I said. "As it so happens, I'm really terrible at predicting people's Myers-Briggs' types. Every time I try, I get it wrong. Except I'm pretty Charlie here is an ESTJ. Normally I can't guess, but I was reading the description in my book, and it sounded exactly like him."
"What it say?"
"Forbear," Aldaris commanded. "I am far from interested in any such preponderings. Needless to say it would be inaccurate in my case."
"Give it a chance before you say no. Actually, ESTJs are apparently the most successful personality type. ESTJs have a drive for cultural stability, and tend to fill any perceived leadership voids when they have a chance. But whenever they recognize that someone else is the real authority in a situation, and the authority is not an idiot or something, then the ESTJ defers to their leadership without ego."
"Y'know, that does sound like Aldaris." Toby nodded. "I can see that being real."
"I still cannot be certain it has any accuracy for Protoss. Whatever this 'Myers-Briggs' may be, it is a human system that can determine only the human."
"Dude, a personality test is about one's inner self. It has nothing to do with if a someone is psychic, or has hair or nerve cords, or something else entirely." I stared at my uplifted hand, wriggling my fingers about. I'd been contemplating things like this for years. "Protoss? Human? Those things are just clothes. They aren't who a person really is. What makes a person himself is the spirit within."
"And what, by your definition, is a spirit?"
"Well, somebody once said that a spirit is everything about a person that disappears when they die. Their personality, mindset...all the intangibles."
Aldaris said nothing to that, but casually stroked the dog's ears as he grew contemplative. He still didn't say anything, though. He seemed happy enough just petting the dog and thinking about things. Well, why not? I was feeling that way, too. The stars were starting to come out, and as me, Charlie, and Toby all got quiet, the quiet murmur of a conversation between the Lees and Statkus. It was pleasant, being out there in the quiet.
"Omma...noraerul chom puruhseyo." Cheonha teasingly elbowed her mother in the side. "Omma..."
"Omma-ni choa puruseyo?" I said, with probably very bad grammar. "Omma-ni can sing?"
"Ne," Cheonha answered. "Omma is very good. She sang...hakkyo-ehso, ah, in school, long ago."
"Oh really?" I turned to Suha. "Omma-ni, puruhhashimsheeyo! Please?"
"I think you should sing." John gave her a thumbs up. "Why not?"
"I'd love to hear it," Toby added. "Bethany, what did you say again?"
"Puruhhashimsheeyo?"
"Yes, that." Toby stuck out his bottom lip. "Puruhhashimsheeyo!"
Suha blushed, chuckling at us in a very motherly way. But she kept saying ani, and then added something about Aldarisu sansangneem. Aldaris, I think, likes Suha better than he likes the rest of us. It makes sense, because she's the oldest, and the least doofus-y. Besides, he still had the dog in his lap, and I think animals must make him tolerate other people better. Humans, at least.
"Do not let my presence stop you," Aldaris said, very tolerantly as he contentedly stroked the dog's back. "By all means, Omma-ni."
Suha immediately started giggling, like she thought Aldaris was just the cutest thing. Cheonha also giggled, and blushed.
Charlie, I thought at him, grinning pretty wide myself. 'Omma-ni' means mother. Probably shouldn't call someone that who's younger than you.
It didn't bother Suha any, and it didn't seem that anyone who looked at Aldaris with those kinds of happy eyes would ever be offended by him. She just said something else, and took a deep breath to begin. I managed to catch what she said next; something about being too shy to sing with everyone looking at her.
"Omma!" Cheonha teased, hugging her mother's side.
"Kwenchanna, kwenchanna."
Suha wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulder for a quick squeeze, then became for a moment lost in thought. She looked up into the sky, then began singing an unfamiliar song. It was a Korean folk song, and like a folk song from any country, it had a strange melody, one that didn't quite click with my Western ears. But it sounded like a song from a bygone era, something cheerful but a little sad. Maybe it was a love song, or something. It sounded exactly the way it feels to travel through space...or at least, how I think space travel would feel.
I don't know how long it lasted, but at some point, Suha stopped and we applauded. She blushed, but Cheonha hugged her and told her she did a good job. D'aww, I don't think I've ever seen Cheonha smile so much since I first met her. She's like an entirely different person. It made me extra sad to think how far we'd come since I first saw her timidly spy on me that first day we appeared on Aldaris' ship.
Speaking of the Protoss, I turned to find him looking at me, a bit amused. "If I recall correctly, we have another among us with a pleasant voice."
"Charlie, you are a lying liar that lies, and I won't have your nonsense," I retorted.
"Bethany!" Toby grinned. "Puruhhashimsheeyo!"
"How very dare you. And uh, that's in formal style. You shouldn't use formal style with me, because we're the same age, aren't we?"
"Uh, I'm twenty-seven."
"...A lady does not tell her age."
"So I can use formal style with you?"
"...Technically, yes. But don't."
Suha turned to me, and whatever she said, it was insistent. Cheonha translated for her.
"Omma says she wants to not sing alone. You sing too."
"Bah, I say, bah. ...Oh well, can't disobey Omma-ni."
Much to Suha's surprise, I sang a Korean song. It was Four Seasons, a song from Korea's industrial age that's about someone working in a factory all four seasons of the year, while life passes them by. Despite its cheerful tune, it's pretty melodramatic. Then, much to my surprise, Suha joined in. For some reason, Cheonha didn't appear to know it, but Suha made everyone clap to the song anyway. Except Aldaris, who just listened.
That finished, and Suha laughed heartily, then started gesturing towards the guys, presumably to get them to sing something.
"Eh, no thanks," Statkus said, apparently getting her drift. "I'm not quite drunk enough, yet. I only sing when I'm drunk."
"I think I'll give it a go," Toby said. "Bethany, help me out. You know some Beatles songs, right?"
"Blech. In the interests of not starting an argument, I will remain silent on the topic of the Beatles," I chuckled. "But anyway, for some reason I'm only good at singing songs in foreign languages. I get too nervous on english ones."
"Do you know Celtic ones? There was this good one I learned over in Ireland..."
Aldaris suddenly sat up. "What did you say?"
"Huh? ...Oh! Ireland. Yes," Toby said. "That's a country next to England. Why do you...oh...oooh..."
Statkus started snickering.
"You mean to say there is a place called Aiur-land on Earth?" Aldaris turned to me. "Why did you not speak of this?"
"I didn't think about it." I shrugged. "But that's not its real name. Ireland is only what they call it in english. Technically it's the Republic of Eire."
"...You claimed that 'Aiur' meant 'air'."
"It does. In romanian. In english, 'ire' means something like 'wrath' or 'strife'. It's uh, not spelled the same way, though..."
Aldaris sank back into his chair, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Do not speak anymore of this. I have no wish to learn more Terran flummory, and upon my return I shall treat all of this as nothing more than a bad dream."
"Maybe that's for the best," Statkus said, a grin spreading over his face. "You can pretend that it's just a video game."
"Omma says you are noisy," Cheonha said to John. "You sing now."
"Do I have to?"
"How come no one's asking me to sing?" Toby asked. "I've actually had training."
"By all means, take my turn." Statkus groaned and reached for his beer again. "Go. Hurry."
We sang some more after that. Out of all of us, Toby is definitely the best singer. Well, Cheonha wouldn't sing by herself, so technically I don't know that for sure. Technically. Despite Statkus being about average, he can do an excellent metal voice. Suha and Aldaris hated it, so he stopped, but I'm totally going to make him sing something later. Maybe I'll get him to go on Skype, or something. Toby would love that.
All the while we were singing, though, Aldaris was silent (except to tell Statkus to shut up with the metal voice), and he wasn't paying a lot of attention to us. I kinda figured he would get annoyed with our singing, but he never said anything at all.
Statkus was the first one to get tired. We were in his time zone, after all, and it was pretty late. Apparently he'd had work that morning, too. Suha was next. Between the singing and not quite being as healthy as she looked, Suha needed more rest. We let her and Cheonha have the bedroom. Huh, I just realized that nobody told Cheonha that this house didn't belong to any of us. Oh well, we'll just let her and her mom be the creepers that go sleep in a stranger's bed. I'm claiming the lounge again. I love lounges.
I think Toby got annoyed at all of us, because in his time zone of origin it was early morning. That meant he got stuck cleaning up. I helped, because I'm a night owl anyway, it was still around eight or so in my home town. Aldaris disappeared at about that time. It made me nervous, because I didn't know if he'd teleported away or walked off. Dude better be careful out here in the middle of the night.
Aldaris didn't like the dark. Some found it peaceful, but he preferred the daytime sky. Especially when his disorder left him feeling so weak.
Perhaps this time it is not inparsynthesis... Aldaris rubbed his shoulder. I ache only with longing for Aiur.
He winced, remembering "Aiur-land." Not until that night had Aldaris ever put much faith in Toby's alternate universes theory, but now he hoped with all his heart that he'd simply fallen into a mad dimension with no connection whatsoever to his world, the real universe.
Aldaris gazed diffidently at the house. The humans had long since gone inside. Most of them were asleep, leaving him outside to sit in the dark. The kitchen entrance had double doors, so he would only have to duck a little to get inside. That is, if he had any inclination to do so. Aldaris wasn't even slightly tempted to try and join them. Still, this evening hadn't been a terrible idea. The humans, nonsensical people that they were, did appreciate what he'd done for them. It warmed his heart a little that he could at least do something that mattered while stuck here.
He gazed at the sky. Dark thoughts are for dark times...which of these lights is Venus?
Probably it was one of the brighter ones. Aldaris didn't bother guessing. He'd already scanned and located it on the computer. Since he was going to very shortly get a much, much closer look at the planet, he didn't much care to see it, even from this distance. Now that the night was in full force and peace claimed the yard, peace claimed the Protoss, too. His thoughts, inevitably, returned to ever shrinking remains of his life.
Why must I destroy my work before I fall? If I am to plummet myself amidst the acid waves, the work shall be done for me.
Aldaris recounted the trajectory numbers in his head. If all went well, the trip to Venus would take about 127 days, or something just over 144 Earth days. He'd run the math for his inparsynthesis in his younger years, but knowing that genetic conditions affected everyone differently, it was impossible to know how much of that time he would survive. It would be a lingering death, a painful one: slowly starving as the distant stars, unfiltered by an atmosphere, offered him only minimal sustinence. Yet who knew? He might even linger all the way to Venus, his faint but unconscious body ready to be eternally silenced by gravity and sulfuric nightmare. Aldaris found himself suddenly far more interested in Earth poisons.
He knew she was coming outside. With everyone asleep, it wasn't difficult to sense the one active mind in the vicinity. It was Bethany, unfortunately. Aldaris didn't feel like putting up with her. For a few moments, he hoped that the human girl was just stirring and would try to sleep. But alas, her mind was wide awake, and she seemed anxious about something.
So it was only a matter of time until her face appeared in the glass doors. She pulled back the drapes and peeked out, spotting him.
"Return, Bethany," Aldaris said, unintentionally growling from his desire for solitude.
"In a minute." The girl opened the door. Pale in the moonlight, she paced over to him. "Oh, brrr, 's cold."
"If you returned inside, you would be warm," Aldaris said, not himself bothered by the temperature.
"I just wanted to come out here a minute." Bethany shivered. "I couldn't sleep, and whenever I can't sleep, usually something's wrong. Like, someone's in trouble or something. Everyone else seems okay, so I wanted to check on you."
"As you can see, I am well."
Bethany blinked. "Um, are you sure? I just can't shake this feeling that something's not right."
"More of your 'intuition'?" Aldaris asked. "I believe the more appropriate term is 'paranoia.' Now go. Your exhaustion dulls your wit."
The girl stood there, her forehead wrinkled in doubt. Aldaris turned away.
How annoying this girl is!
It was a simple matter to transmit the anger he felt, creating around him a field of emotional repulsion. Aldaris didn't really want to do it, as Bethany's heart was fragile, easily hurt. But he also was dreadfully tired of those insufferable human creatures, and if casting a wrathful aura was what it took to make her go away, then so be it. He did at least restrain the full force of his irritation. Bethany didn't get upset. She just blinked, nodded, and wandered back to the house. She looked back only once, then entered back in. Aldaris only relaxed when she finally disappeared from sight.
Feeling vague and sick, Aldaris didn't want to move. But he also felt possessed by an obsession to get away from that stinking human building. He'd lied to the humans, and saying those lies made him sick regardless of who they were aimed at.
I am not returning. Aldaris felt his arms starting to shake. Nor if I could, would I ever see Aiur as it was, as it was meant to be...
He stood up. The Protoss walked into the darkness of night, letting it set the tone for his thoughts. The scattered trees blocked out any sign of humans, that this planet was Earth, and for the moment he could pretend he was anywhere else.
He didn't care about anything here anymore. Only the home, the people, the ideals he loved so much. They were all gone, and all that remained were the memories in his head, soon to be cast away. Though he tried to resist, tears formed in Aldaris' eyes. He covered his face, but the tears escaped nonetheless.
No... Aldaris angrily swiped his hands over this face. This madness shall not control me. I shall go to my death with my dignity intact. I shall not-
"Freeze! Don't move!"
Aldaris, startled, turned to see an unfamiliar human. Some brown haired stranger held a rifle of some kind firmly in the alien's direction. Aldaris briefly checked the human's mind. Yes, this man was a neighbor, the one who was taking care of Kensley's dog. Aldaris didn't bother wondering why or how this person had appeared. He didn't care. He simply turned his face away and stared at the ground. He'd been a fool to let himself get caught.
Damn these foolish creatures! Can I not have the loneliness I seek?
"Uh..." the human said. "Are you...are you okay? You lost, or something?"
Aldaris looked again, and saw that the human had gone soft. The rifle fell downward, and the hostility turned into a curiosity.
Yeah, he must be lost, the human thought, completely unaware Aldaris could hear him. Aloud, the man continued, "Look, uh, do you need to call your friends to come get you? ...Do you speak english...?"
There it was. Pity. Even this human who had never seen or heard of him before felt sorry for him. In disgust, Aldaris flicked his hand to his quorrian embelm and recalled back to his ship.
Let the humans remain, he spat as the walls of the Juniadros formed around him. I shall bother with them in the morning.
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Author's notes:
- As a reminder, Protoss count in base 8. So 127 Aiur days really means 86 Aiur days, and 144 Earth days means 100 Earth days. This means that Aiur's days are longer than Earth's (so sayeth my personal canon) as it takes fewer Aiur days to equal the same amount of Earth time. Confusing, no?
But that is an accurate statement about how long it takes to get to Venus. In 90 to 100 Earth days (depending on the orbit of the planets), our current technology can get us there. Aldaris does have superior technology, but due to having minimal power and wanting to avoid detection, he's reluctant to use his FTL engines. He doesn't know if even our technology can detect that kind of speed.
I don't know much about current day NASA, but from what I've heard from my dad and the sort of advances we've made in fighter jet technology (remember, the super cool SR-71 was retired in the 80s and we don't know what replaced it), NASA has probably progressed far. I would not be surprised if they could detect higher speeds in our solar system, particularly as close as something in Earth orbit.
Fun fact: Venus' days are longer than its years - it takes longer for Venus to spin on its axis than it does to orbit the sun. Immanuel Velikovsky surmised that Venus joined our solar system roughly 3,500 years ago, and that could be an explanation of why Venus' orbit is so different.
- Shiro means to not want something. Puruhhashimsheeyo is the formal way to respectfully tell someone to sing. The -shimsheeyo suffix should only be used with those who are deserving of a special amount of respect, like elder family members, company presidents, and important political powers. Technically Cheonha doesn't have to be too formal with her mom, but she wants to be. That, and I still have trouble getting formal, polite, and informal styles correct, so I'm going to err on the side of formal or polite. For some reason my korean textbooks aren't terribly great when it comes to teaching the various respect styles. All I want is one big chapter with all the respect levels explained, with their korean names given - informal language is called banmal, but that's the only one I know.
Oh, and norae means song. Again, because I'm sure I've mentioned it before, -rul is the object particle, to be used whenever you're talking about something. It gets attached to the object of the sentence. In "I gave him a book", -rul would attach to "book." Well, actually -ul, because ch'ek (book) ends in a consonant. Nouns with vowel endings get -rul.
Author's Notes New:
- I actually found some North Korean pop. As you might imagine, it sounds super 70s. Just goes to show that technologically outdated does not mean artistically outdated. Seriously, listen to it yourself: watch?v= yDJwlUNiJBQ
- Aldaris is only technically not lying about tastes. While it's true Protoss don't comprehend taste normally, they do get sort of an idea psychically. Not that Aldaris wants to encourage the guys to start experimenting.
