Starsnatcher - Trapped In An Alien World [COMPLETE]

Chapter 2.3

Day 19

Was this the real reason why they had abducted me?

Was it so that they could figure out a reliable way to communicate with humans? I was inclined to say "yes", but there were several holes in this hypothesis. For one, why kidnap me to their moon? Couldn't they bring their equipment to Earth? And how did Iris already have a telepathy device? Did they give her one that only works on humans? Unlikely, since their approach with me implies that they had to start from zero. I mean, I get that every human has a different mental language, as we don't communicate with others through our minds. However, Iris had no trouble reading mine.

All of this was beside the point, as I still had no idea whether they were malevolent or not. Now that we could communicate, I was about to find out.

A gate opened and let the light of the outer room stream in. It was an LED-lit room so bright and wide that I couldn't see its end from here. In the door frame stood the same Seizers that experimented on me - the one with red eyes and the slightly smaller one with pink eyes. I couldn't tell their exact size from here, but I could roughly estimate that the Seizers would have reached to my breastbone had we been standing closer.

Their robot was behind them, but they didn't handcuff me this time. This was a conversation between free men.

One of the two sent me a message. If I had to roughly translate it into words, it went like this:

"How is your state of mind?"

Tough question. The honest answer would have been that it was terrible thanks to them, but that's not what you say to people with power over you. Then there was the problem that I had no idea what their culture valued. Politeness or honesty? Spontaneous or well-thought-out answers?

"I see you are burdened with internal dilemmas," a Seizer transmitted.

'I', not 'we'. Which of the two was talking?

"D-did you just read my mind?"

"No, you made accidental and subconscious transmissions. The way your device works, a brain-computer interface microcomputer interprets your neurochemical patterns and transmits them as radio waves which our microcomputers pick up."

They put a chip in my skull while I was tranquilized? Why was this, like, the least surprising thing in the world?

"With enough practice, you can create a transmission with the same ease and control as moving a limb. Your lack of experience is unsurprising, given the low level of your society's sophistication."

Many thanks for that last part.

Since I got no response, I could only assume that this time, I kept my thoughts under control.

"Mind if I ask a few questions?" I asked.

"Ask."

"How many can 'hear' our conversation?"

"Only us three. Our radio waves are limited in range as we value privacy."

"M'kay and who am I talking to right now?"

"We take alternating turns with our transmissions. At the moment, we probably both sound the same to you. You will eventually learn to distinguish our mental languages. Stabs at your civilization will always be the transmissions from my red-eyed colleague, however."

The red-eyed Seizer produced bioluminescent flashes that, as its accompanying radio waves showed, demonstrated anger. Friendly bickering?

"Do you two have names?" I asked them.