Tisis

Contact! (N)

The coming days quickly turn into months, but we never encounter another of those creatures during our hunts, making it slowly fade into a terrifying memory...one among the far too many, since we landed on Tisis.

It's getting hotter each day again and both Sirus and I have begun to lose quite some clothes to make the heat more bearable.
Fortunately, much of the attraction I felt towards him has faded over time and by now I feel silly for even suggesting having sex with him.

Turns out he was right to turn me down...I can see that now.
Stupid hormones, honestly...I really should have known better than that.
Goes to show that I am little more than an animal myself.

I push these idiotic thoughts to the side, check my observations and calculations again and look up to the sky.

I shake my head and mutter, "Any day now...any day we'll know whether it was a fluke, or if it really is a regular phenomenon..."

I remember, that Zero had gone missing shortly prior to the event last time...we later found him in that cocoon, where he changed into his adult form.

I guess, if Ray is still alive somewhere out there, he'd also be in a cocoon by now...not that it really matters, we'll most likely never see him again either way.

At the end of the day, after Sirus returned from his hunt, we enjoy a surprisingly bountiful meal and I remind him, that he needs to be careful when going out.

And, sure enough, only three days later, during noon, Sirus comes speeding into the cave, panting and wheezing heavily.
No three steps behind him, a fireball explodes, spilling liquid death into our cave, but it burns out before doing any actual damage.

I look up from my crafts and ask with a wry smile, "Got caught by a nasty weather I guess?"
"Yeah, kind of...I thought I'd be safe if I kept myself in the shadows of the trees...but that stupid fire just fell through the leaves and almost roasted me alive, if not for the fur shield mantle you made me wear."
"You're welcome."
"Yeah, thanks for that...anyway, I'm afraid I had to leave what I gathered behind...once it lets up, I can go back and..."

Just then, something inside of me, something I had almost forgotten I even had jumps to life.
My eyes grow wide instantly and everything around me fades from existence.

My communication implant receives a transmission request and is now asking me for permission to establish the connection.

I hastily give my approval and yell into the opened communication channel, "This is Nympromedonalas Voxamy Lushomagans, survivor of the destroyed Asmodean star ship ARK-3! My coordinates are..."

But there's nothing but static coming as a response and then the connection is lost.

"Nym? Nym, are you okay?" Sirus asks, waving his hand in front of my face.
"There...there was...a connection, Sirus. Someone...something...contacted me just now."
"...contacted you? As in...okay, I don't get it."
"I am equipped with a communication implant, that once allowed me to interface with the ship systems and to talk to other people with the same implant, even if they were kilometers away...and just now, there was a signal. Do you know, what that means?!"

But Sirus just shakes his head, apparently unable to comprehend what I am saying...not that I can blame him, I never really told him all that much about the implants inside of me...and we never really explained our abilities to the humans either.

I take a deep breath and try to calm down, while the onslaught of fire from the outside continues mercilessly.

"...that means...somebody is out there, Sirus. Someone out there managed to send out a signal...an electronic signal. They were using the proper handshake protocol too, so there's a good chance, that it was other survivors from the Ark! We are not alone after all, Sirus!"

"Y-you mean...you actually mean there's others out there?! Seriously?! You...you're not joking, right? Cause that'd be beyond cruel."
I shake my head energetically and reply earnestly, "I wouldn't even dream of joking about something like that!"
"Where did it come from?!"

I want to blurt out an answer, but my thoughts freeze.

Eventually, after endless seconds, I have to admit, "I...I don't know, Sirus. There wasn't even an actual transmission...just...white noise."
"...Nym, this is important...I know you've been under a lot of stress lately, what with predicting that stuff out there and a number of near-death-encounters and everything...how certain are you, that you didn't just...imagine this contact?"

At first I want to strangle him for even suggesting that.

But after taking another deep breath, I have to admit that he does have a point.
The probability of someone else crashing down here and contacting me, during this fire storm no less, are just about zero.

I close my eyes, a tear escapes them and eventually I sink down on my bed and reply, "I...I'm not sure, Sirus. I just don't know. I...I just want it to be true, y'know?"
"...so do I, Nym. But you yourself taught me, that 'holding on to a false hope' will only get us killed."
"But...but what if it is real?!"

Sirus puts his strong and rough hands on my shoulders and says, "Then there will be another contact. Whoever it might be, they will try it again."

I wipe away the tear and nod thankfully.

Even if it was just for a second, there was a contact.
Someone else is out there...and if they are following protocol, they will try again, just like Sirus said...especially since the handshake should have triggered a feedback on their side as well...all that is left right now, is to carry on...and pray to Garkla, that they didn't just receive static on their end.