a dreamshaper lands on the terrible planet that needs more space
+ Show First Post
Total: 2368
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

"...Country level it is."

Permalink

" - okay. Anitam borders Tapa and various smaller countries and the Great Sea?"

Permalink

"...not familiar," Felix says, maybe this is a pocket dimension where people believe they are from another world? How hard should he poke? "Have you heard of the United States of America?"

Permalink

She shakes her head earnestly. "But you speak our language..."

Permalink

"Uh... that is weird. You sound English to me."

...And pocket dimensions can have translation effects. He looks around for some visible piece of writing.

Permalink

Next house over has a welcome sign on the door.

Permalink

...Yeah, he had seen it from the corner of his eye, did the letters look like the Latin alphabet then? It sure doesn't look like that now.

So, given what he knows, this sounds like a pocket dimension with some sort of translation effect. Huh. He would've heard of one of those near the Bermuda Conflux, it's the sort of thing that attracts tourists. "Uh, there is an translation effect going on. I didn't even notice it affecting me."

Permalink

"Okay," she says politely. "I can look up the United States of America for you? If it's very small I might not have heard of it."

Permalink

"Sure..." Felix says because he doesn't know how to continue the conversation. "Uh... I don't suppose there is anyone here that could... talk about your country?"

Permalink

"...what about it exactly?"

Permalink

"Uh... just generally what you would feel important to tell a winged person that had never heard of it?"

Permalink

"Ah. Anitam has six hundred million people? None of them have wings. People here don't have wings. None of them have black hair. We're the sixth-largest country in the world, I think - my neighbor would know for sure, she's a geography teacher. We haven't made contact with any aliens. We know there could be some in principle, of course, but we haven't met them. We live forty years and are grown up after five of them, we auction child credits by caste..."

Permalink

Felix nods along feeling a bit sad, because he thinks this person only started existing a few days ago and all this information is false...

"Only forty years?"

Permalink

"Do aliens live longer?"

Permalink

"Yeah? Forty is very young to die. I think the average is seventy five world wide? And the records are above a hundred. ...We also are considered adults at eighteen and only a subset of us have wings... uh, what do you call yourselves?"

Permalink

"Amentans, I suppose. Your years might not be the same length, if you're aliens."

Permalink

"Yeah, true. We call ourselves humans."

Permalink

"You should perhaps talk to scientists or the government or something. Maybe after the storm - they're saying it'll be a storm, though it doesn't look too bad out yet -"

Permalink

"Ah... uh... the storm isn't going to be a problem anymore."

Permalink

"...you changed the weather?"

Permalink

"...Would that freak people out?"

Permalink

"I think people will be pleased about very powerful aliens if they are friendly and scared if they are not."

Permalink

"Oh, I am friendly, I swear!"

Permalink

"Aliens might say they were friendly even if they weren't."

Permalink

Nod. "I just didn't want anyone to freeze to death."

Total: 2368
Posts Per Page: