Though he coughs, the dust in the surrounding air so thick it could be heavy fog, it’s mostly for show as he buys time. The forms around him, disarmingly humanoid, are armed with what look like rifles; they surround him quickly and efficiently. One of them, slightly taller than the others, steps forward. A female, wearing unusually thick glasses that stretch all the way to her ears. Instead of a rifle, she has a silken black rope in her hand—attached to a shiny black handle. She considers him, and his coughing, for a moment before sighing quietly.
“Human. Stand up.”
He does, though he staggers; his legs feel weak and rubbery. A side effect of the explosion.
Even with her expression hidden mostly behind her glasses, he can tell that she’s annoyed. Her mouth is a thin line.
“Please explain yourself, human. I don’t have all day.”
He coughs again. “Excuse me?”
Icy this time, “Explain yourself. You have activated a Central Beacon. This has been a prohibited action for more than five hundred standard years, since the Mag’nari Treaty was formed.”
Nothing she says makes sense to him, and his blank face surely expresses that fact.
Instead of a reply, he chooses to press for information. “What are you? You look—human.”
Her shoulders stiffen sharply. She reaches up and grasps one end of her glasses. “I look ‘human’, do I? I think you’ll find that statement lacking.” And with that, she takes her glasses off.
He drops the strange, metallic object in his hand; it clatters to the floor. Behind her glasses, there are a set of dark red eyes—instead of white surrounding them, they are surrounded by pale jade green, the pupil long and narrow like a reptile’s. And above the eyes are another set of the same eyes, more to the side of the head. All four blink in unison.
“You look Balal,” she continues, “if only just. Now, please answer my question. Why did you activate the Central Beacon?”
“I’m sorry,” he stammers, the words coming in a sudden flow, “I didn’t know what it was. I just—touched it. That was all, I swear.”
She rolls her four eyes. “Yes, that’s all you need to do to activate one. Am I to understand that you activated a Central Beacon, which cuts into the deepest and most dangerous parts of the Black Abyss, putting millions of lives at stake—because you didn’t know what it was?”
“…yes.”
She hisses something, then, a guttural sound in a language he doesn’t know. It sounds like swearing to his ears. “—you humans are among the dumbest—why would you even—” More hissing. “That’s it. I’m bringing you back with me. My superiors will never accept what you’ve said unless you say it to them.”
Two of the ‘Balal’, stocky but short females, march forward and grasp his elbows firmly. The leader clasps a device to the front of his vest. He pales.
“Wait, does that mean—?”
“You’re coming up to our vessel.”
They’re from the stars, he thinks; they’re not talking about a seafaring vessel. He’s going up into a spaceship. ”Wait, um… Do I get a choice in this matter?”
She glares at him. “No.”
“…Oh.”
(Source: velvetdemon.net)
