Y:5 D:18

  Argos

  Albert, one of the guards stationed at the wall, heard approaching steps during the

  night hours. Accustomed as he was to these sounds coming from animals, he gave

  no attention to it. As the steps started approaching the wall, he heard whispers.

  Something outside of the wall was clearly talking to its partner in some sort of

  language. His immediate reaction was to take cover, continue to listen, and record

  without making any noise. He knew those were the Goblins, but this was the first time

  they approached the wall. This was his chance to see one up close, as the order was

  not to approach them by any means. After they reached the wall, they began

  touching it. Then they moved away. Albert unsuccessfully tried to get a clear view

  through his weapon’s scope. He then immediately set a drone to follow the creatures

  and notified Bara about the event. In his turn, Bara woke Alex up to discuss the

  situation. By the time Alex was checking the monitor, the drone had lost them in the

  vegetation.

  Next morning at the agora.

  “I understand that most of you want to start venturing further out and that you are

  eager to meet our Goblin neighbors,” said Alex. “This will happen soon.”

  “I for one would like to start exploring this world. We don’t have anything to

  fear from those creatures,” said Jonah.

  “Yeah, I don’t understand why we can’t go further than the perimeter,” said

  Maria, adding to the argument.

  “We have a protocol,” said Alex. “Before we left Earth, we made scenarios to

  prepare us for many different threats. One of those was for the existence of a

  preindustrial species.”

  “And these protocols dictate for us to be closed into this small area?” said

  Maria, frustrated.

  “The protocols increase our chances of making it here,” said Jain. “Your

  failure to understand why we have not made contact or entered their territories yet is

  no argument, Maria.”

  “As Jain already mentioned,” continued Alex calmly, “we should not make

  moves that might be considered hostile to them. That is why Clive is not flying his

  Eagle over them. This kind of technology might trigger responses we do not expect.”

  “And what could the worst-case scenario be?” asked Jonah. “I am honestly

  trying to understand this. Most of you had training before you left Earth, but Maria,

  myself, and many more here were born in the Hera. We do not see things the same

  way as you, so you should make things clearer.”

  Alex looked at Jonah with understanding. “The worst case is hard to imagine.

  But an army surrounding us might force us to use a Cerberus, one of those war

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  machines the Hera has in it. A massacre against a primitive species would not be the

  best way to begin finding our place in this world.”

  “I get it yes,” answered Jonah. “How will we approach them once the time is

  right?”

  “We do not know yet, but last night, they made the first contact themselves.

  This might be a sign for either direction, so we must be cautious. Soon we will have a

  plan ready and proceed to meet them and make sure we can coexist here.”

  The following nights, more and more of the Goblins were approaching the

  wall. The expedition required a detailed map of the planet, and the Hera was not

  optimized to make detailed maps. Just subterranean imaging and basic surface

  mapping. The details were supposed to be made with the instruments on board the

  Eagle that Clive was piloting, but it was grounded until the natives were approached

  calmly.

  “Alex!” said Jain. “The meeting is in five minutes.”

  “I am coming.” Alex looked at himself in the mirror and got prepared for the

  meeting.

  “I think we should start with Konoya’s observations,” said Jain. Alex nodded in

  agreement.

  “As you all know, we have become very slow,” began Konoya. “Since the

  invention of our immortality vaccine, we have become slower and slower at an

  alarming rate. We sleep a lot; we don’t rush almost anything. We like to walk, and we

  enjoy taking everything as it comes. This is changing here. We have been here for

  over a year on Earth time, and we want to explore more. We have seen the Goblins,

  as we came to call them, and we have seen that they are not alone. There is another

  species that has briefly come close to us. The people are eager to explore and see

  new things.”

  “I have to agree,” added Gakuto. “There is so much diversity here that I feel

  imprisoned. I want to explore and learn. It feels like we don’t have a clear plan yet.”

  “I want to add to this,” said Steve. “We really are starting to wake up from our

  slumber. The city’s progress is much faster than anticipated. Most people are

  working hard because they feel that when the city is done, they will be able to go out

  and explore.”

  Alex calmly raised his head. “The time to start exploring is indeed now. Some

  of you are aware of the protocol. For those who are not, the protocol is simple. We

  wait for them to make first contact. It has been so long since those protocols were

  made that I have forgotten the logic behind them. Those creatures must fear us. I

  never expected that after so long, they would have not made an effort of making

  contact. Albert even volunteered to stay out in a visible location one night, but they

  steered away from him.”

  “However, we have managed to gather a lot of intel about them,” added Bara.

  “We have indeed, but not of their bigger cousins,” said Gakuto with a smile.

  “Yes, they seem more cautious,” continued Bara.

  Margaret raised her hand to say something, and everyone looked at her.

  “Before we decide on going to meet with them, I need to inform you. As of today, a

  few hours ago, we have the terrain maps from the Hera. They are not detailed, but

  they pave an image, which is,” she paused for a second, “expected perhaps. Helen

  has more info about it.”

  With all eyes on her, Helen said, “We need the Eagle to fly and give us

  details, but from the first analysis, it seems that deltas and big rivers host a plethora

  of cities. As you can see from your maps, there is deforestation and zoning, which

  indicate a preindustrial civilization.”

  “This is strange,” added Konoya.

  “Why is that?” Alex asked.

  “Well, they are nocturnal and live underground. They also don’t seem to like

  water so much. They are mountain dwellers. At least the profile we have made of

  them is that they should have no intention of settling next to rivers.”

  “It is clear that we have a lot to learn. Let’s organize the first expedition to

  meet our neighbors. There is what seems to be a city not too far from here,” said

  Alex.