Dan: New Earth | MM, Alien, Soulmate

Chapter-2

Dan

Dan had very little patience when it came to human fickle minds. He sat uninterested, barely keeping a yawn in as the new fuel strategist spoke about his lowering fuel costs.

"I think investing in subterranean methane mining in the Southern Crater Fields of Jenovaterra would be beneficial. It would be highly beneficial; we could cut down our fuel rates by up to 5%," the man declared with an air of triumph as if he'd just discovered faster-than-light travel.

The man listed out some figures that Dan found amusing. Dan let the man babbler even though all he wanted was to leave the meeting room. The environmentalist sat silently beside him, probably scared of the Chief of Energy Operations, who seemed more interested in laundering his black money than addressing the planet's critical energy needs.

Dan didn't want to be part of this discussion more than he wanted to sleep on a nail bed. The stone-headed humans were hell-bent on destroying this lush Earth-like planet that humanity had colonized after rendering their homeworld uninhabitable.

Dan leaned back on his chair and looked at the holographic display filled with numbers and charts. He was disinterested. Grosh has outgrown this phase of development millions of years ago. Yet Dan couldn't remember them ever being this stupid. Even when their brains hadn't evolved to their current extent, they knew what happens when you destroy the planet you live on. A successful civilization knows to respect its home. It was a miracle humans hadn't gone extinct by now. Perhaps their astonishingly high reproduction rate had something to do with it—a biological compensation, as if the universe, in its peculiar sense of balance, had given them one redeeming trait to offset their reckless self-destruction.

Grosh didn't usually take an interest in interacting with lower intelligent species, but their King, Dan's father, saw something in the future that prompted him to send Dan to rescue these reckless species. And it wasn't the first time this had happened, either. Grosh had rescued Earth time and again.

"What do you have to say, Dan?" The Chief asked, turning to him. Unlike the other aliens at the Embassy, Dan actively participated in New Earth's geopolitical issues. His opinion was taken as the last word in many cases, and rightfully so. His suggestions always helped humans. This is why he was here anyway. Humans were going intergalactic and at a crucial stage of species development. When his grandfather found out about Dan's departure to the Human civilization, he looked excited. Like he had been waiting for this day. He knew why his father had sent him here, but he wasn't sure why his grandfather was so eager. His father's intentions weren't so noble, but his grandfather had the sight of seeing the future, millions of years further, actually, so it intrigued Dan when his grandfather showed interest in this alliance. But his grandfather spoke in riddles and never disclosed what he saw to prevent the future from altering.

Dan sighed as he stood up. These meetings always led to controversies, and nothing riled up these small humans more than stamping on their egos.

"Mr. Krick is absolutely right; the methane reservoirs beneath Jenovaterra hold significant potential. It seems he's done his research this time," Dan said, putting no effort to hide the condescending smile he gave the man. Dan rose from his seat, his towering frame commanding the room as he strode to the front, his gaze sweeping over the gathered officials.

"But what he conveniently failed to mention," Dan continued, "is the catastrophic consequences of tapping into those reserves. Jenovaterra's southern region is already geologically unstable, and extracting methane at that scale will only exacerbate the problem. Fractures in the crust could trigger surface collapses and atmospheric contamination, further destabilizing the delicate balance you've barely managed to maintain on this planet.