“So I’ve learned. I guess the physics work differently where I’m from, who knows?”
He glances towards Sym. “You were concentrating on your own planet. Hard to look outwards if you have to keep constantly maintaining where you are.”
He smiles, waving it off. "I just wonder if we did get entirely too focused
on our own planet. And, if it was different, would we have noticed the
Earthlings' arrival."
"Yes," he nods. "But I do like to specify since there are some who look human and might call themselves human but who are not from Earth. They are from other planets. Apparently humans are quite prolific."
“Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense too. I’ve met some people who’ve traveled through space, so it wouldn’t be so far fetched to think humans have wound up on other planets.”
Feldspar frowns. “So Earthlings came to your planet?”
"Because they threatened the planet," he explains with a bit of a sigh. "The first thing they did was begin to strip down the planet's resources to build their colony. They brought in their exotic seeds and tried to plant them in the soil. They brought their bacteria and viruses with no regard for the local wildlife. What else were we to think other than they were - pests to be controlled?"
"That is the nature of humanity, I've found. There are those who are different, of course. Those who care and who can be taught. But as a whole, they - don't seem to understand. They carry a great sense of entitlement about the land. But...I didn't agree. I didn't agree when the Overseer and the other Gardeners began to get more aggressive with their tactics. Making the place inhospitable in retaliation for cutting down the trees seemed like the right thing to do. Reward them when they worked with the planet. That's what I proposed. But - I was outnumbered. And threatened with erasure."
Feldspar falls silent, their expression soft and solemn. It’s not often they let themself get this way, but they’re humbled by what Sym is sharing with them.
“So what happened?” they ask gently. “Is that…why you’re here? To escape the erasure?”
"No," he says and there's a bit of relief in his tone. "No, they made a deal with the humans. If the humans don't hold their side of it, there isn't much more I can do. That's why I'm here. To save humans and - perhaps escape erasure."
“That’s a lot of pressure,” they say sympathetically. They’re sincere too, recognizing how much Sym must have on his computer-generated shoulders. They understand that kind of pressure, even if their own experiences were never life or death or really even significant.
They take one more glance at the file with their name on it - and just how did they manage to get Hearthian script here - before turning back to the screen and kicking up their legs. As long as Sym doesn’t draw attention to it they won’t ask.
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He glances towards Sym. “You were concentrating on your own planet. Hard to look outwards if you have to keep constantly maintaining where you are.”
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He smiles, waving it off. "I just wonder if we did get entirely too focused on our own planet. And, if it was different, would we have noticed the Earthlings' arrival."
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Feldspar frowns. “So Earthlings came to your planet?”
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Sounds like something they would do.
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“To wipe them out? The earthlings? Why…?”
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But if the humans came along and started destroying the planet, what was Sym to think and do?
“I don’t understand, why would they do all that? It’s not their planet.”
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“So what happened?” they ask gently. “Is that…why you’re here? To escape the erasure?”
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