Ch. 4 - They Walked...

Content Warning: Mild Panic Attack, Vertigo

↓ This is the Audio Companion for Chapter 4! ↓

Joshua, having already seen the veil a few days ago, had assumed seeing it up close once again, even in the evening light, would be easier.

He was wrong.

The veil's movements, and the fact it was completely solid and seemingly unmovable by force, continued to confuse him. It was no different with experience, not for him. At the very least, watching it all move in place didn't give him any nausea or motion sickness.

'Ichael was absolutely mesmerized by the thing. He slowly approached it, his head aiming further and further up as he got closer, until he was close enough to reach out and touch the veil. Putting his hand on it for the first time, he simply stood there in silence, drinking in the sensation.

"This is unreal," 'Ichael said in a hushed tone. With the desert wind picking up, it made it hard for Joshua to hear anything else being said, if it was being said at all. And since he was looking at the folder in his hands, he couldn't tell either way.

"I guess we just wait here then," Joshua said, mostly to himself, in a dismissive, matter-of-fact way. They more than likely would just have to wait for someone to come down... whatever that would look like. In the meantime, Joshua decided to join 'Ichael up next to the veil, mostly just watching him react to it.

He almost looked like a little kid, watching fireworks for the first time. It was interesting, watching his... well, interest, in this alien thing.

And... considering the only thing they could really do is wait for someone... Joshua lost himself, in his own reactions and fascination with the veil.

Soon enough, Joshua could see something moving from behind the veil. Nothing clear came through, at first, mostly a blob of browns and beige.

And then the mass came closer, slowly but surely. And it was splitting up from itself, turning into multiple distorted shapes.

It was people.

People from the village, young and old. People, who came by just to see what was happening outside of this thing that surrounded them.

Some of them seemed to be talking amongst themselves, from what Joshua could see of their mouth movements, as foggy as the movements appeared to him. Joshua couldn't hear any of it, and even if he could, he probably wouldn't understand what they were saying.

The thought reminded him of what he was expecting the aliens to be.

...

That was a bit ironic to him.

After all, they were human beings. They'd been here for years. Likely longer than Joshua's been alive, let alone 'Ichael.

But they were perhaps just as alien to him as the aliens that seemed to be protecting them.

...

As alien as he might feel to others around him.

Or himself.

The memory of a few nights ago, when all of this started, came sharply to mind. That conversation with Brandenson... while it didn't turn out as bad as Joshua had expected it to be, despite Bran's understanding... it had left him with that ever familiar feeling.

Of being alien.

For being the way he was. For even occasionally wanting to be happy with it, or feeling the complete opposite. Feeling complicit.

...

Joshua heard a faint, vaguely metal sound, dragging him out of his thoughts. He turned to his right to see what could be making the noise, but didn't find anything. Not nearby, not on the horizon, nowhere.

Joshua turned to his left to see more of his surroundings. Nothing.

'Ichael noticed his wariness and started looking around as well, silently.

But Joshua still couldn't see anything. There didn't seem to be anything happening behind the veil either, as far as he could tell.

Was he just hearing things?

He turned to 'Ichael to corroborate the noise, but... 'Ichael was looking up.

Turning to see what he could be looking at... Joshua saw something moving steadily towards them. An oval shape, with a very small line leading all the way back to the ship high above them.

"Oh my god...", 'Ichael faintly uttered.

Joshua fumbled his folder back into both of his hands, his nerves shooting into the stratosphere all of a sudden as the oval started slowing it's descent to the ground. 'Ichael slowly moved closer to the object, and Joshua, still feeling so unsure, followed. As the oval touched the sand, it stopped moving, and the two of them kept their ground a good six feet away. It was about a foot taller than Joshua, and fairly wide around.

Then the oval started shifting in one section facing towards them, roughly in a circle. Joshua could hear what sounded like thousands of dry rice grains colliding with each other as the oval opened apart from itself.

Nothing else happened for a few seconds.

But then something grabbed the side of the opening. Something looked out and, while it was obscured by shadow, Joshua saw it definitely didn't look human at all.

"Oh my god," 'Ichael whispered again, his heart obviously picking up it's pace.

The thing stepped out, and stood at it's full height, a little taller than the oval, and Joshua tried to keep his breath steady.

The alien was a sky-blue furred creature, with a canine-esque head with tall ears, clothes that looked like drapes with a very colorful and varied pattern on them, on top of a pattern of lines and shapes on their face(?) colored pure white, feet that almost looked like talons in what Joshua assumed to be it's shoes, and a long, thick tail vaguely reminiscent of an otter's.

It wasn't at all what Joshua was expecting to see, to say the least. And, despite the alien's almost... softly cheerful look, it was intimidating.

Joshua, 'Ichael, and the alien all stood in silence for a few seconds. Joshua was at a complete loss as to what to do next.

Then the alien leaned down slightly and tilted it's head. Joshua leaned back a little bit, and 'Ichael took one step behind him.

"Do you understand me?"

...the alien said, softly... in perfect Galvanan.

Joshua was taken aback, as was probably obvious from his expression, wide-eyed and like he was holding in his breath. Which he was.

Joshua tried to respond, but found some difficulty in getting the word out until he inevitably, softly, and slowly said, "Yes?"

The alien stood back up to full height, looking unsure.

"We understand you, yeah," 'Ichael said, nervously, but also louder than Joshua. Likely by accident, as his voice trailed off a bit when he got to the end of his sentence.

The alien's expression then became more lively and excited as it clasped it's padded hands together.

"Ah, good! It seems to be working without any problems now!", it seemed to say to itself. "Sorry about the awkward silence, sometimes the translator can take a few seconds to get acclimated to new languages."

Joshua felt a significant portion of the tension in him dissolving at the very readily friendliness of this... person, but was still very much not sure what to do next. Now, he mostly just felt confused.

"I take it you're here on behalf of your government? To make first contact?"

Joshua then realized that this whole conversation was happening and he hadn't really said anything yet. He then forced almost all of his breath out trying to get himself to say anything of value.

"Yes, that's why I'm here."

"Of course. Naturally," the alien continued, stepping forward a bit, and bringing it's hand out like it was ready to shake. "Let me introduce myself: I'm It'kara. It's nice to meet you."

Joshua was a bit slow to meet the hand, but met it nevertheless, gingerly. Their hand's fur felt rather smooth, and was relaxing to touch. "Like- Likewise. My name's Joshua."

It'kara turned to address 'Ichael. "How about you? Are you an assistant? Understudy, perhaps?"

"Uh...", Joshua started, bringing himself to stand side to side with 'Ichael and encouraging him to shake hands. "No, actually 'Ichael is here to... see what's happening. That's about it."

It'kara seemed to have their interest piqued. "Ah. I wouldn't think Galvana would allow for such leisure within it's ranks," they said to 'Ichael.

"Oh, I'm not really of a rank... I'm... a soldier. I'm with him because... I just wanted to see what he was... doing."

It'kara looked confused. But they seemed to shake the feeling from their head pretty quickly.

"Well, either way, it's nice to meet you, 'Ichael."

"Yeah, uh... like-likewise."

Joshua heard 'Ichael's voice shake ever so slightly in those words. Anxiety? Maybe a little bit, but it was more than likely giddiness. This is 'Ichael we're talking about.

"Now I'm sure the sun is nice to feel on your skin, but if we're going to be talking, you might want shade?"

Neither Joshua or 'Ichael responded.

"Well, assuming so, I already have a room up there," It'kara pointed back up to the ship, "which I can take you to. If not, that's fine. I'm just... not entirely sure I'd fit well into your car. To be honest," they finished, with an embarrassed chuckle.

Looking back to the car himself, Joshua had to admit, while it might not be impossible to get It'kara to fit in, they likely wouldn't be comfortable doing it, having to bend forwards a bit for their head and do something with the... tail.

Joshua took in a deep breath. "Yes, I think that would be for the better. Going to the room."

"Well, then, we can take this. There should be plenty of room." It'kara walked back to the oval shaped pod, gesturing for Joshua and 'Ichael to go in first.

Joshua, after securing the binder in his grip, walked to the opening, with 'Ichael following him, slowly but closely.

The space inside the pod was surprising, to say the least. Despite the light being darker than the sun outside, it was still bright enough that, once you were inside, you could see everything clearly and with no details obscured. There were seats lining the walls(?) that were fitted with lavender cushions of some sort. The walls themselves seemed to actually be windows, but tinted to a significant degree, which would explain why it looked so dark from the outside.

Joshua found himself a seat, and 'Ichael sat next to him. It'kara followed them in, tapped the wall next to the door twice, and the wall closed back in on itself, melding into the rest of the architecture like it was never there.

It'kara looked to them as they sat down. "I will also say, if you have vertigo-any fear of heights-I would recommend not looking outside. Other than that, don't worry; this won't take very long at all."

Well, Joshua looked outside anyway. And he saw that they were already several hundred feet above the ground.

But he couldn't even feel the movement of the pod or himself at all! He watched as his perspective of the outside changed drastically in seconds, now being able to see all of Galvana from the corner of his eye. And then in a split second, Galvana was likely a mile away, the Emerald Tower small and insignificant.

If Joshua didn't have vertigo before, he felt that he definitely knew what it was like now. But he also couldn't stop himself from looking at the view, it was almost mesmerizing. Watching everything he knew, everything that he had ever seen in his life, becoming so small to him.

He could hear 'Ichael silently laughing to himself. The kid didn't seem taken aback by any of this at all.

Joshua just hoped to himself that he hadn't brought him into something he shouldn't have.

Suddenly, clouds obscured his view. Joshua looked up from the ground to see the sky becoming darker in hue. Looking to the right, the double ended obelisk - the space ship - was almost completely engulfing his perspective.

Soon, the pod looked like it was going to crash right into the side of the ship, and Joshua instinctively flinched and blinked. But when he opened his eyes again, he could see a large room, built in a way he'd never seen before.

How did we...

"How did it do that?" 'Ichael asked, excitedly. "We just, like, squeezed through the wall!"

"That's something I can explain later," It'kara responded. "For now, I'll need both of you to follow me, please."

It'kara then stepped out of the pod, with 'Ichael following behind closely. Joshua, still in a state of confusion from the seconds long journey to the outer edge of the planets atmosphere, grasped his binder, and slowly left the now open pod.

The room they were all in was dark at the walls, and yet at the same time, vividly colorful. Joshua didn't pick up the colors all that well, but the hues were absolutely there, and they left a significant, if subtle tone. And the patterns that he could see everywhere in the walls, ceiling and floors, while indecipherable to him, were intricate, and had the effect of appearing to be moving while actually being completely still. It was like an optical illusion.

Walking around slowly, absorbing everything in his view, he heard his footsteps echo faintly. He listened more closely, and he could hear a lot more than that. Muffled, and very quiet to him, but distinct sounds of people.

"Joshua?" It'kara gently called, from the other side of the room, where another of these beings could be seen, waiting.

"Uh--Yes," Joshua responded, snapping out of his mesmerized gaze, and fast-walking over to 'Ichael's side. They faced some kind of gate - a metal detector? - which seemed to be manned at a terminal by the other being.

"This is Tor'me," It'kara explained, gesturing to the one creature hunched over the terminal. "Tor'me, this is Joshua, and 'Ichael."

"Pleasure," Tor'me simply said, keeping his expression serious. Joshua nodded shortly, and 'Ichael waved shyly.

"Now, before we go any further," It'kara started, moving to the side of Tor'me, "we need to make sure that you won't have any problems while your here, such as contracting any diseases we're immune to, and such."

Joshua became worried at the statement.

"To clarify, you don't have to worry about picking up anything bad here; we've made sure this space is clean for you, and we've disinfected beforehand. And of course, if you do have anything that might be harmful to anyone else, we can take care of that easily and we'll be on our way."

Joshua was hesitant on the whole thing.

"Uh... how would you check?" 'Ichael asked, taking small steps to the gate.

"With this!" It'kara exclaimed, pointing at the gate. "He'll take a brief scan, but it'll be more than enough to check for anything dangerous."

"If you take a step inside, I can do that now," Tor'me said, looking at 'Ichael, who was one step away from the scanner. "One at a time kind of deal."

'Ichael looked back at the scanner, and took a nervous step inside.

"Can you stretch out your arms from your body?" Tor'me asked, looking at the terminal.

He brought his arms out, at shoulder height, almost touching the sides of the scanner itself.

"Just like that, thank you," Tor'me said, bringing their hand to some kind of button. "Try to keep still, if you can."

A very quiet humming came from the scanner, as a faint light in the top of the arch moved from 'Ichael's right to his left. Then the inner sides of the scanner came to life with their own faint lights, which moved down from the top and touched the floor. Then the two lights quickly moved back up through the arch, met together, and turned off.

"Your healthy!" Tor'me exclaimed, in a partially triumphant tone. He then leaned to the right to look at 'Ichael and pointed over to It'kara, who was now holding a cup with water and opening a bottle. "Now, move to them, and they'll give you something to make sure you stay healthy here."

"A little vaccine cocktail. Swallow one with water, and..." It'kara continued, but Joshua couldn't hear what was being said any more than that, as Tor'me moved their attention to him.

"I can hold onto your binder, if you want."

Joshua, still a bit wary, quietly gave the binder to Tor'me, who then placed it onto a sliding desk from underneath the terminal. Joshua then moved into the scanner, and brought his arms out with a deep breath.

"Just-- yeah," Tor'me said, reacting to Joshua getting ready. "Try to keep still."

The scanner came to life once again, and Joshua was met with the uncomfortable sensation of wondering how much of his body this was looking into. He understood the reasons for something like this, but it still felt off putting to have his body examined, however briefly.

"And you're good." he said simply as the scanner finished.

Joshua moved out from the scanner and slowly walked up to Tor'me, finding himself to still be a little shorter than the alien while they were leaning over the terminal. "So... how far into my body is that going?" Joshua asked, a bit timidly. It was a bit embarrassing to ask something like this on top of all of the other bizarre features of today. It made Joshua feel small. Like a child.

"Well, it's rather extensive to make sure we don't miss anything," Tor'me said simply, but sympathetically. He was looking at Joshua now, his expression a bit softened. "If it makes you feel any better, none of the info the scanner picks up is kept, it's only used for this checkpoint. A way to make sure nothing happens to you before or after you come here."

That didn't sit entirely well with Joshua, still unsure of what to think of all of this. But... if it keeps me and 'Ichael safe, he thought, then I guess there isn't much to do about it.

"I'll take my binder," Joshua said, keeping his eyes down at the terminal as Tor'me brought it back to the side.

Bringing the binder under his arm, Joshua walked over to 'Ichael and It'kara, took a vaccine pill and swallowed from his own cup. He listened to It'kara tell him that if he feels just a bit sluggish or warm inside, that means the cocktail was working, and that if he feels more intense symptoms, that he shouldn't hesitate to mention them. Joshua vacantly nodded to this information.

"Right! Now if you two follow me and Tor'me, we'll take an elevator to make our way to the room where we can begin talking about things in detail." It'kara gestured the other two towards the elevator in question, which sat open at the other end of the room, away from the scanner.

Joshua followed behind 'Ichael, who seemed to barely be able to keep himself from beaming the whole time. And as the echoes of their footsteps stopped, the 'door' to the elevator melded into itself from the walls.

Joshua then felt his body moving upwards. A startling feeling after already having ascended so high and not felt a thing. All he could bring himself to do was to stare at the wall... or, door, in front of him.

"So..." 'Ichael started, almost at a whisper, "...how did we squeeze through the wall earlier?"

"Well," It'kara began replying, in their typical cheerful tone, "both the wall and the pod you were in are made of the same... stuff. For the most part at least. In fact, much of everything you're looking at right now is also the same material! A metal alloy..."

The rest of their conversation didn't make it into Joshua's mind. Something about the door in front of him was distracting him.

...is it getting lighter colors? he thought to himself, as he noticed much of the same look of the patterns he saw moments before were coming back, and didn't seem to be attached to the elevator itself, if they even were 'actually' in one at this point.

But as everything moved around more, the shades were becoming lighter. In fact, it was getting brighter. The door was transparent, and the wall in front of it had enough space between them that light was coming through, flooding everything. The wall was a calm shade of multiple purples stacked on top of themselves... if that's even possible.

And then suddenly, the wall itself came away from Joshua's view, and he was left stunned as an impressively populated multilayered public space filled his view. Many more of these aliens were walking all around, alongside a few smaller brownish creatures, here and there as Joshua could faintly see. He couldn't tell if these things were also supposed to be... intelligent, but the others cared about them a lot; some were sitting or standing on the shoulders of these people.

And then, deeper in the groupings of blue and brown, Joshua saw...

...people.

Human people.

People from the village far below.

Conversing with the aliens, and amongst themselves.

He even thought he could see children in the mix.

What is happening here?!

Soon enough, the elevator stopped at a separate floor; a hallway, decently lit and largely devoid of other people. Joshua, off kilter and confused, stepped out, and looked around, trying to gather himself.

"Are you alright?"

It'kara stepped towards Joshua as he turned around, looking to see them holding a hand out in concern. Joshua, trying to compose himself, held up his own hand, stopping It'kara from coming closer.

What the hell do I even say right now?! he thought to himself, as he saw 'Ichael peek out from behind It'kara.

Joshua took in a very deep breath, and looked down at the floor. Okay, just... try to stay calm. All of this is weird, and it's having an effect on me. Everyone can tell. Just... breathe... and continue on like normal.

He certainly didn't feel normal. He likely wouldn't feel any better still being here, with all of this... what do you even call it at this point?

...

"I'm... fine," Joshua said, trying to speak calmly. Looking back up, he kept a smile on his face, and could see the expressions on everyone else soften. "This just... this all must be a bit much for me."

I'm here to learn a few things, and try to establish some through-line for Galvana. Let's just focus on that for now.

"...huh," Tor'me softly uttered, from behind the other two. "Maybe it was better that you chose a smaller room for this." He looked at It'kara, who seemed a bit confused now, as they glanced over to the door nearest and opposite to the elevator.

'Ichael took a moment to go to Joshua and put his hand on his shoulder. For now, Joshua simply waved his hand in mild dismissal, and shook his head. "Really, I'm fine." 'Ichael's face eased up a bit, and he pulled his hand back in acceptance.

I'm more worried about you.

"Well, then I'm sure you'd be happy to hear we're at our stop for today," It'kara said while gesturing to the closed door to Joshua's left. They were clearly trying to bring the formal energy back.

"Wait," 'Ichael chimed in. He looked at Joshua inquisitively. "Your stop?"

Tor'me looked at 'Ichael, confused. "Your with him, right?"

"Uh..." 'Ichael began, before It'kara stepped in.

"It's a bit complicated, and I'm not too sure if I understand it myself." They chuckled a bit as they looked between 'Ichael and Tor'me.

Joshua remembered the deal he had made with 'Ichael before the both of them had left Galvana. 'I'll even stay out of your way, whatever it is you're doing.'

Obviously, being here now, he felt a bit differently about it; now, he wasn't too sure if he wanted 'Ichael to be out of his view for any longer than necessary. He might not have much good reason to be wary of these things... but he was regardless.

'Ichael clearly felt differently. He's completely eager to see more of this.

"Long story short; I came with him to see what's going on here. I don't know if he'd be okay with me seeing what you guys have to talk about," 'Ichael said, glancing to Joshua, implicitly asking for input.

Everybody looked back to Joshua, who didn't know what to say.

...

...

If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself.

...

But... I'll trust you.

"Well, that's true," Joshua began. "My... superiors likely wouldn't look kindly on that, if they found out. So... he should probably stay out of the room for now."

'Ichael positively beamed with excitement, and then quickly composed himself back down to a calmer demeanor.

"Heck," he began, looking between It'kara and Tor'me, "maybe... I could have a look around the ship? Maybe that public place we saw?"

Tor'me looked to It'kara, more confused than before.

"I don't see why not," It'kara said plainly, after briefly thinking it over. "As long as you go with him," they continued, nodding to Tor'me.

The two of them shared a few expressions between each other, ones Joshua couldn't really decipher. But after some seemingly confident looks from It'kara, Tor'me drew back, and sighed quietly.

"Stick close to me, yeah?" Tor'me said, ushering 'Ichael back to the open elevator. 'Ichael followed, shaking slightly from excitement, and turned back to Joshua to give a confident thumbs up before the elevator closed. Joshua returned the gesture, a bit late.

...please be safe.

"Ready to come inside then?" It'kara asked, bringing Joshua back out of his mind, and into the now open door behind him.