They first made contact in the year 2016, a mere 5 years before they brought the end to life as we knew it. No doubt there were some who knew, or at least suspected their existence prior to the contact. Most though were unaware of the threat that lay before us.
Looking back, I do not know what protection these protections would have offered. Policies could have been put in place to quarantine the new arrivals, but this likely would have had no affect on their spread. Their species is a scavenger, a parasite. Once they discovered that our planet was hospitable to their type, our fate was sealed.
Naturally, most people were excited to hear of the discovery. Throughout the history of our kind, we had always wondered if there was something—someone—else out there.
When we received the answer, naturally there were many different reactions. There were many who were filled with joy and excitement. I admit, I was one of them. The notion that other species lived out beyond our stars fostered a certain feeling of hope—it opened the prospect of a new frontier with questions and answers waiting to be discovered. If they were able to come and survive on our planet, surely there must be other planets out there that could support our kind.
Others were naturally filled with dread. Over the course of history, many cultures had placed their beliefs in fictional beings of power. Each generation passed tales to the next generation cementing the notion of their deities within their offspring. Many cultures revolved around these deities and the beliefs they shared. While some of these legends could support the idea of life outside our own world, many of them could not. There were many who found their belief systems shattered. This caused many to lose hope—indeed, many killed themselves before the parasites drove underground.
Still, most, once they accepted the paradigm shift, looked toward the revelation with growing excitement. The prospect that we would be able to share our cultures with those from another planet—a species that had evolved completely separate from us-- was certainly a thrilling idea to most, even if it was intimidating. They seemed to be as curious about our cultures as we were of theirs. It seemed to us that each group had a lot to learn from one another.
Initially, things were peaceful between the two races. Though we were very different, we also had many things in common with one another. It was obvious that their technology was far superior to ours. We of course hadn’t even managed to travel outside our own solar system by the time they traveled to our galaxy. Still, we were a proud people and we welcomed our new neighbors.
On the first anniversary of the first contact, we celebrated with our new friends. A few more ships had arrived by this time, but their population was still relatively low. These new guests would likely stake a life here as their life expectancy would not allow them time to return to their own planet. Our united planet council in an effort of displaying our welcome of them
erected a monument to their arrival. It was a large combination of religious symbols—some of theirs and some of ours, meant to represent the changes that had occurred to our beliefs when we found one another. We held a planet-wide celebration that lasted for days. We celebrated and shared our cultural histories with them with feast, song, dance and drink. At the time, they seemed appreciative of our efforts. A number of them spoke, along with our leaders about the cooperation that would exist between our people over the coming years.
There were some who were skeptical of the newcomers motivations. Behind the scenes, various groups worked to convince our politicians that we needed to establish safeguards against the inflow of these new creatures. Most though trusted what they had to say, and let their curiosity get the better of them.
Certainly during the first couple years, there was much to be learned. While they came with a limited amount of resources, their technology was far superior to ours as I have mentioned. Their scientists on their planet had engineered small microscopic machines that could perform amazing functions.
It also didn’t take long before each side realized that the technology and culture weren’t the only things that spawned interest amongst our populations. Anyone who has traveled knows the “foreign effect”—a person in a foreign land is at least 10 times as attractive as they would be at home. The same held true with these newcomers. Our evolutionary path was similar enough that we could mate with one another. This of course opened up a whole new world of possibilities and may have been the cause of the downfall.
I remember the first time I saw one up close. She was an attractive sort. I think we both felt a mutual attraction, or at least curiosity as soon as our eyes met.
We met in a dumping station. I was working on a big project, talking to my boss but my attention was on her. He was railing on about something..I was just worried about dropping the call in front of her, but she seemed to be working on a pretty big download of her own. Sitting there, our eyes met, and I have to say it was attraction at first site.
Now, you probably wouldn’t think a dumping station would be the ideal place to meet up for a romantic interlude, but she was anxious to interface then and there once I dumped my connection. It was a steamy scene, but in the excitement of the moment, I accidentally dropped some packets—hey, it was my first go with one of them. She didn’t seem to mind though.
We saw each other for about 18 months after that chance meeting. After about two months, she moved in with me. She didn’t really have any skills to offer, so I supported her, and her daughter. During the day, I would work, while I thought she was home keeping the place together.
Of course, I wasn’t the only mixed couple. Like I said, there was a lot of curiosity, which led to some casual flings—some more sordid than my waste station romance. Some though did get together like us. This led to some strange reactions from others, and may have ultimately led to the problems that brought us to where we are now.
Many, both our kind and theirs grew opposed to the mixed relations. Of course we weren’t able to form fertile couples--which may have been a good or a bad thing, I’m not certain—but even still, many opposed such close relations between two species. They felt it wasn’t natural and could lead to problems. In some places, legislation was actually passed prohibiting inter-special marriage and other commitment contracts.
This movement gained more support as more of them arrived. Instead of becoming more accepting of them, our people grew more suspicious as more and more ships landed and the xenophobic movement grew. Many of our people felt that our culture was being eroded by the influx onto our planet. Many were concerned that our birth rates would plummet if serious relations we re condoned.
It wasn’t until Princess Gabriella, the daughter of the viceroy of the planet council fell in love with one of them. No one knows exactly how long their relationship had actually spanned. There had been rumors of various socialites dating the outsiders in various tabloids over the years. Those of us in similar relations of course paid close attention to this. More than four years after the first encounter though, one of the rumors was substantiated. If an heiress to a high politician like the vice chair were able to maintain a relationship, we felt a change might be in the works to allow all of us more freedom with our relations.
The Princess’ father though, instead of supporting her, threatened to disown her if she pursued her love affair. He used the event to demonstrate how committed he was to the laws and the preservation of our society. The Princess refused to bend to her father’s demands though, and used the press to try to sway public opinion in her favor. The harder the Princess pushed her father, the harder he fought back.
Society’s stance had turned away from the outsiders now as well. Though their culture brought advanced technology and new sciences with them, they did not have enough resources to support themselves. Some were able to do so through teaching their knowledge to us, but many o them had to use our resources to survive. They began mining resources from our planet, and infringing on our markets. This of course led to more backlash from our people.
Princess Gabriella made one more public demonstration of resistance to her father.
On the fifth anniversary of the first contact, she met with her love at the monument. There, in front of the cameras and the crowds, they frolicked together in a public display of their love for one another. Some grew angry at the scene and protested, others protested the protestors. Most still are not certain how the event came to pass, but Gabriella climbed the monument, to the top. She then hanged herself from the portion that looked like an earthen cross.
The Viceroy witnessed his daughter’s death on streamed video. He was so angered by what he saw that he ordered the immediate death of his daughter’s love. The viceroy’s troops hung him from the monument not less than 30 minutes after the Princess’ death. His troops also slaughtered more than 200 of them that were present at the event.
Needless to say, events did not end here. The Viceroy’s actions were enough to cause a war between our two species. The humans retaliated against our people. Though their numbers were fewer, their weapons overpowered ours. After months of hard fighting, we were overpowered. Our people were driven into slavery by the humans, forced to mine resources for them to ship back to their planet. A few of us managed to escape underground. I have lived underground for more than ten years now after my human lover tried to betray me.
I use the computer I stole from her to broadcast this message to you, be assured I am one of you.
Look into my face, my eyes and see that I have the same fair skin, and same lack of pigment as you. I appeal to my people, and any humans that might sympathize. We need to stand together as one and rise up against our bonds. Our culture has been destroyed and we must fight to rid our planet of these parasites.
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