Our New Human

8

Neur is a slightly uncomfortable planet, but Elsie seems to be bothered more than the rest of us. We're walking across the white expanse towards the city, and the frozen deposits of carbon dioxide covering the ground are hissing white smoke under the footsteps of the particularly warm members of the group.
     "What is this? Dry ice?" she asks, wincing with each step. Gas flies up towards her in response.
    "The planet of Neur experiences an excess of carbon dioxide in its atmosphere, but the planet is so far from the star it orbits that most of it freezes and falls to the ground." Agiofor replies from the front of the pack. He, too is wearing thick clothing over his usually bare, tall bone frame. His ripped orange cape he always insists on wearing ripples wildly in the wind.
"Dear lord! We are walking on dry ice!" Elsie exclaims. "If I didn't have this suit on I'd be burned!"
"Elsie, heat burns things, not the cold." Jrue says.
"True, but for humans and a lot of animals from my planet the effects of extreme cold freeze skin cells rather than burning them to death but create the same symptoms." Elsie answers. She seems slightly offended but continues to happily walk towards the capital of Neur, a large city called Urnso.
"Elsie, what is the primary goal of our meeting with the Neure?" Biskf, a more strict-minded military Iwje asks, reading his debriefing off of one wrist.
"We will inform them of the recent news we have been cleared to share and present the new advancements we've discovered that they might possibly want to sponsor. Then we will quickly set up my hamster bubble for my presentation. I, as a representative of humanity will give a speech that will briefly explain humanity and my planet. Then I will give them some items from earth, answer some questions and we will socialize with the Neure for a brief period of time before returning to our ship and leaving." Elsie says, her hands moving in random directions and fingers dancing with each detail of our mission.
"That is correct, expecting the parts that seemed unclear are merely some strange wording I imagine only makes sense to you." Biskf announces.
"Wait, Elsie, your items are ready, no?" I add. She explains things like this in the most interesting ways.
"Oh of course! I put everything in a really freakishly large thermos and wrapped it in an extreme-cold edition portable electric blanket I had, and then I put it into an even bigger thermos and did some other stuff so it would stay at a reasonable temperature. If I didn't they would freeze and that would surely not be ideal." she motions to Mortar, who is carrying a very large, slightly cylindrical mass and flickering in and out of view.
    "Do humans use these thermos items regularly?" Jrue asks.
    "Sometimes, mainly for keeping food warm for a long time while at school or work, but they're never as big as that. Those are camping dad thermoses."
     I can see the other crew members also wondering what a "camping dad" is but simultaneously recognizing that they probably wouldn't understand anyways. I'm doing that too.
   "What's a camping dad?"
"The paternal figures from my species, they like to spend time in the forest and complete survival-oriented activities."
    "Don't they already have the basic needs for survival? Why would they do normal activities but in a forest?" Jrue wonders.
    "I can't quite explain it, but it's quite fun. You go down to a campground and you bring food and water and a sort-of portable house called a tent, and then you spend a few days spending time outside doing things like fishing or hiking and eating things you cooked over a fire. I'll have to take you guys camping when we visit Earth."

     We as a group take a second to register what she's saying. I can tell that nobody else knows what half of what she said means but the last sentence. 

     "That seems enjoyable," Agiofor says finally. Elsie nods. 

    "It's really fun. Is there anything anyone does on their planet that's like camping?" 

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

     If you read this chapter before I added in this little note, I went to start chapter 9 and realized I had put in a little bit that I really didn't want in my story because it was really negative and I was sure I'd edited it out (obviously I didn't). Anyways, I apologize if you did see it, I have revised that part and it's a lot more wholesome and less off-brand to the story. Carry on, chapter nine will be out hopefully soon depending on how fast I write right now.

             Love you! ~~Olivia