The World We Wanted

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I got a very lovecrafty vibe off the second piece (good lovecrafty, not racist and addicted to adjectives).

Looking forward to more!

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Dok- ill see if i can make the next two work a bit better.

Gojira- thanks. Now that i think of it the rontarans do remind me of some creature of his. At the mountains of madness? I cant remember.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I will admit that tholians were a partial inspiration since tos was better about aliens that were actually alien rather than members of the forehead club for men.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Dok- ill see if i can make the next two work a bit better.

Gojira- thanks. Now that i think of it the rontarans do remind me of some creature of his. At the mountains of madness? I cant remember.

Yep, that's the one I was thinking of. Elder Things. Really one of his best works, although it still suffers from "Cyclopean" syndrome.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yeah that was a good one but youre right. He would have done well to consult his thesaurus more. Or go for the occasional good enough bisyllabic word.

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

Yeah that was a good one but youre right. He would have done well to consult his thesaurus more. Or go for the occasional good enough bisyllabic word.

When I was reading it to the kids we played a game where every time he used the word "Cyclopean" they jumped up and ran around the coffee table.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Thats a way to burn calories lol

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Angle 3:

Sarah held up a picture of a Rontaran to Charlie, and asked, "What is this Charlie?"

Charlie looked, and said, "Charlie!"

"No, not your name. What is this?" Charlie thought. Rontarans didn't identify each other by appearance, since it was entirely possible that the Rontaran in question was the product of self-fertilization, and therefore identical to the parent. It then let off a series of chirps and whistles. Sarah made a note of it, and then said, "Rontaran." Charlie repeated, "Rontaran."

Sarah was part of a scientific team trying to determine the linguistic capabilities of Rontarans, to see if they could learn enough English, or for that matter, any other human language, in order to gauge their ability to follow orders. She took the job because she was genuinely fascinated with them, much as earlier primatologists were genuinely interested in chimps and sought to teach them sign language. Rontarans, however, had the vocal capacities of a parrot, and could mimic an astonishing array of sounds. Charlie, in fact, sounded a lot like Sarah, but with a limited vocabulary. Sarah was also able to get the job because her boss was able to pull some strings for her. She noted the Rontaran word for Rontaran as a matter of mutual intelligibility. It was difficult, but if humans were able to get to the point where whales and dolphins could understand human, and humans could understand whale or dolphin, it should be possible for Rontarans too.

"If you are a Rontaran, then I am a human."

"Human. Sarah is human."

"Good! And how do you say human in Rontaran?"

Charlie let out another series of whistles. Sarah dutifully made note of it. Charlie continued. "Split-half." Sarah looked up. This was the first time that Charlie had indicated a nuance to their vocabulary and rendered it back into English. "Split-half?"

"Humans split-half. Two sides. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs.... two types. Shes with two lumps. Hes with no lumps. Is why Mike looks at Jenny lumps?"

Sarah laughed, "Yeah, he's not very subtle, is he?"
"Suddle"
"The lumps are a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Men like women's lumps."
"Talking more lumps explain soon?"
"Yes."

Later that night over dinner, Michelle asked how the progress was going.

"It's going very well. Charlie seems to have a grasp on our language, albeit a broken variety. It's, well, alien to him. I'm having a bit of trouble determining how his language works."
Michelle looked up from the plate, "Well, it's not your goal to understand Rontaran. It's your goal to make them understand English." Sarah swallowed some of her food, "yes, well, depending on how sophisticated Rontaran communication is, it may suggest their level of intelligence and have ethical implications." She winced as soon as she said it. Michelle put her fork down and looked at Sarah. At the moment, she was Sarah's boss again, and not her wife. "Sarah, you are not to get overly attached to the Rontarans. It is your job to determine how we can put them to use, if at all, or if they are merely an exobiological curiosity belonging in a zoo."

Sarah tried to recover, "well, the ethical concerns would largely impact how cooperative we can expect them to be," she started, suddenly disgusted with what she was saying, "and whether or not people will begin to object to clinical trials for example...." Michelle continued to look at Sarah over the top of her glasses. "I mean, we can't have that can we? If the Rontarans expect something in return for cooperation, we need to know that in advance before we run into problems... and if they are more intelligent than we suspect, it could open the door to other uses for them." Sarah couldn't believe what she was saying, but she kept going anyway. "There could be, for example, military opportunities. Imagine, if the Allies were able to use Navajo to mystify the Japanese, what could we do with Rontaran? Or even further, imagine a soldier with seven guns aiming in all directions?"

Michelle raised an eyebrow in thought. "Military applications...."

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I now have three angles to choose from. Not sure yet which one I'll go with.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

Angle 3:

Sarah held up a picture of a Rontaran to Charlie, and asked, "What is this Charlie?"

Charlie looked, and said, "Charlie!"

"No, not your name. What is this?" Charlie thought. Rontarans didn't identify each other by appearance, since it was entirely possible that the Rontaran in question was the product of self-fertilization, and therefore identical to the parent. It then let off a series of chirps and whistles. Sarah made a note of it, and then said, "Rontaran." Charlie repeated, "Rontaran."

Sarah was part of a scientific team trying to determine the linguistic capabilities of Rontarans, to see if they could learn enough English, or for that matter, any other human language, in order to gauge their ability to follow orders. She took the job because she was genuinely fascinated with them, much as earlier primatologists were genuinely interested in chimps and sought to teach them sign language. Rontarans, however, had the vocal capacities of a parrot, and could mimic an astonishing array of sounds. Charlie, in fact, sounded a lot like Sarah, but with a limited vocabulary. Sarah was also able to get the job because her boss was able to pull some strings for her. She noted the Rontaran word for Rontaran as a matter of mutual intelligibility. It was difficult, but if humans were able to get to the point where whales and dolphins could understand human, and humans could understand whale or dolphin, it should be possible for Rontarans too.

"If you are a Rontaran, then I am a human."

"Human. Sarah is human."

"Good! And how do you say human in Rontaran?"

Charlie let out another series of whistles. Sarah dutifully made note of it. Charlie continued. "Split-half." Sarah looked up. This was the first time that Charlie had indicated a nuance to their vocabulary and rendered it back into English. "Split-half?"

"Humans split-half. Two sides. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs.... two types. Shes with two lumps. Hes with no lumps. Is why Mike looks at Jenny lumps?"

Sarah laughed, "Yeah, he's not very subtle, is he?"
"Suddle"
"The lumps are a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Men like women's lumps."
"Talking more lumps explain soon?"
"Yes."

Later that night over dinner, Michelle asked how the progress was going.

"It's going very well. Charlie seems to have a grasp on our language, albeit a broken variety. It's, well, alien to him. I'm having a bit of trouble determining how his language works."
Michelle looked up from the plate, "Well, it's not your goal to understand Rontaran. It's your goal to make them understand English." Sarah swallowed some of her food, "yes, well, depending on how sophisticated Rontaran communication is, it may suggest their level of intelligence and have ethical implications." She winced as soon as she said it. Michelle put her fork down and looked at Sarah. At the moment, she was Sarah's boss again, and not her wife. "Sarah, you are not to get overly attached to the Rontarans. It is your job to determine how we can put them to use, if at all, or if they are merely an exobiological curiosity belonging in a zoo."

Sarah tried to recover, "well, the ethical concerns would largely impact how cooperative we can expect them to be," she started, suddenly disgusted with what she was saying, "and whether or not people will begin to object to clinical trials for example...." Michelle continued to look at Sarah over the top of her glasses. "I mean, we can't have that can we? If the Rontarans expect something in return for cooperation, we need to know that in advance before we run into problems... and if they are more intelligent than we suspect, it could open the door to other uses for them." Sarah couldn't believe what she was saying, but she kept going anyway. "There could be, for example, military opportunities. Imagine, if the Allies were able to use Navajo to mystify the Japanese, what could we do with Rontaran? Or even further, imagine a soldier with seven guns aiming in all directions?"

Michelle raised an eyebrow in thought. "Military applications...."

I kinda wanna bitchslap Sarah here. If you go with this angle, please tell me Charlie kicks Michelle's ass somehow.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Angle 3:

Sarah held up a picture of a Rontaran to Charlie, and asked, "What is this Charlie?"

Charlie looked, and said, "Charlie!"

"No, not your name. What is this?" Charlie thought. Rontarans didn't identify each other by appearance, since it was entirely possible that the Rontaran in question was the product of self-fertilization, and therefore identical to the parent. It then let off a series of chirps and whistles. Sarah made a note of it, and then said, "Rontaran." Charlie repeated, "Rontaran."

Sarah was part of a scientific team trying to determine the linguistic capabilities of Rontarans, to see if they could learn enough English, or for that matter, any other human language, in order to gauge their ability to follow orders. She took the job because she was genuinely fascinated with them, much as earlier primatologists were genuinely interested in chimps and sought to teach them sign language. Rontarans, however, had the vocal capacities of a parrot, and could mimic an astonishing array of sounds. Charlie, in fact, sounded a lot like Sarah, but with a limited vocabulary. Sarah was also able to get the job because her boss was able to pull some strings for her. She noted the Rontaran word for Rontaran as a matter of mutual intelligibility. It was difficult, but if humans were able to get to the point where whales and dolphins could understand human, and humans could understand whale or dolphin, it should be possible for Rontarans too.

"If you are a Rontaran, then I am a human."

"Human. Sarah is human."

"Good! And how do you say human in Rontaran?"

Charlie let out another series of whistles. Sarah dutifully made note of it. Charlie continued. "Split-half." Sarah looked up. This was the first time that Charlie had indicated a nuance to their vocabulary and rendered it back into English. "Split-half?"

"Humans split-half. Two sides. Two eyes. Two arms. Two legs.... two types. Shes with two lumps. Hes with no lumps. Is why Mike looks at Jenny lumps?"

Sarah laughed, "Yeah, he's not very subtle, is he?"
"Suddle"
"The lumps are a little more complicated than that, but essentially yes. Men like women's lumps."
"Talking more lumps explain soon?"
"Yes."

Later that night over dinner, Michelle asked how the progress was going.

"It's going very well. Charlie seems to have a grasp on our language, albeit a broken variety. It's, well, alien to him. I'm having a bit of trouble determining how his language works."
Michelle looked up from the plate, "Well, it's not your goal to understand Rontaran. It's your goal to make them understand English." Sarah swallowed some of her food, "yes, well, depending on how sophisticated Rontaran communication is, it may suggest their level of intelligence and have ethical implications." She winced as soon as she said it. Michelle put her fork down and looked at Sarah. At the moment, she was Sarah's boss again, and not her wife. "Sarah, you are not to get overly attached to the Rontarans. It is your job to determine how we can put them to use, if at all, or if they are merely an exobiological curiosity belonging in a zoo."

Sarah tried to recover, "well, the ethical concerns would largely impact how cooperative we can expect them to be," she started, suddenly disgusted with what she was saying, "and whether or not people will begin to object to clinical trials for example...." Michelle continued to look at Sarah over the top of her glasses. "I mean, we can't have that can we? If the Rontarans expect something in return for cooperation, we need to know that in advance before we run into problems... and if they are more intelligent than we suspect, it could open the door to other uses for them." Sarah couldn't believe what she was saying, but she kept going anyway. "There could be, for example, military opportunities. Imagine, if the Allies were able to use Navajo to mystify the Japanese, what could we do with Rontaran? Or even further, imagine a soldier with seven guns aiming in all directions?"

Michelle raised an eyebrow in thought. "Military applications...."

I kinda wanna bitchslap Sarah here. If you go with this angle, please tell me Charlie kicks Michelle's ass somehow.

Charlie doesn't understand humans entirely yet, other than men like boobs and we have bilateral symmetry. Note that Rontarans don't describe us as sky-people. They don't consider that the strangest thing about us.

So far, the chronology is, Angle 2, Angle 3, Angle 1.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Also, Sarah's motivations are trying to keep her job, and trying not to rock the boat with the missus.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

For Angle 4, factory human perspective, factory Rontaran perspective, or human religious perspective?

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

Also, Sarah's motivations are trying to keep her job, and trying not to rock the boat with the missus.

I understand her motivations. You wrote her really well.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Billy was working the assembly line with three hands, working the consoles with four, working diligently.

Item after item, Billy cranked them out. Minute after minute, hour after hour. Product after product, Billy made sure that the humans had their toys.

One day, Billy's hand was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Billy's arm was severed.

Injuries were unheard of on the assembly line. The Rontarans were unusually adept at manufacturing tasks. Mr. Klebanov came scrambling down. "Billy, are you ok?!"

"Ok am is, boss."

"You lost your arm!!!"

"Yes."

"We care about you. We don't want you to lose your livelihood."

"Working still can, Mr. Klebanov."

"But you've lost an arm!"

"Arm come back, after time."

"What do you mean, Billy?"

"Off comes arm, back comes arm. Some time, with arm return."

"You... regenerate limbs?"

"Reejennerrate."

The klaxon sounded. Billy punched out.

"Tomorrow more see, Mr. Klebanov."

"Yes. Do svidaniya."

Billy crabwalked out of the factory towards the Rontaran slums, 7 legs, 6 arms. Oleg Vladimirovich Klebanov looked down at the severed arm, and said to himself, "They regenerate...."

He looked around, even though he was the boss, washed off Billy's arm, wrapped it up, and put it in a cooler. For later.