The Genesis Saga

“Holy shit, that man’s purple,” Connor exclaimed. He did a double take when Irric appeared onscreen, making sure that he was seeing things correctly. “Ellie, are you seeing this?”

“Yes, Connor, I can see that the man in front of us is purple. He really went all out with the costume,” Ellie said, leaning in to take a closer look. “He even dyed his hair purple and put on lavender coloured contacts.”

“You think this is a costume?” Connor asked, incredulously. “He’s clearly an alien,” he said while pointing towards Irric.

“There’s no way aliens would look so similar to us,” Ellie chided. “The odds of that happening are so small they might as well be zero. The strange man is clearly obsessed with the colour purple. Why, though, is beyond me.”

“You know he can probably hear us, right?” Connor pointed out. Ellie’s eyes widened. “Hello, strange person,” he said, shifting his attention back to the screen. “Who are you and why are you purple?” Irric didn’t say anything and gave no indication that he’d heard them, save for the occasional blink. Connor and Ellie shared a look.

“Maybe not?” Ellie asked, unsure of herself.

Irric stared at the screen in mute shock, his mind processing the implications of his discovery. If Adrian was indeed telling the truth, and Irric was inclined to believe him, that meant that he was the first person to have contact with an alien civilization. He needed to enact first contact protocols. His mind drew a blank as he struggled to remember them.

Their voices rang out in a musical language that he didn’t understand as they spoke. Irric guessed that they were asking questions, if their tones were any indication. He snapped his head around to his data slate, hoping that it was recording properly. Remembering himself, he turned back to face them.

Clasping his hand over his fist, Irric bowed slightly. “Greetings,” he said formally. “I do not wish upon you any harm. May I know if your intentions are the same?” While he knew there was no way for them to actually harm him, Irric chose to give the textbook opening that he finally remembered. He saw Connor and Ellie startle at the sound of his voice and waited patiently for them to reply.

“He spoke!” Connor said, nudging Ellie. She nudged him back, annoyed by his antics. “What should we say?”

Ellie rolled her eyes and took control of the conversation. “Do you speak English?” she asked slowly. When all she got was a confused frown in reply, she figured that the answer to her question must be that no, he did not. The figure onscreen spoke again in a language that sounded unlike anything she’d ever heard.

She eyed him carefully, focusing on his attire. He wore a black outfit of some kind that appeared to be body armour. Ellie inferred that the man might be military or a contractor of some kind. She noticed the gun-like weapon hanging from his hip. Most definitely military, she decided.

“Can you understand us? Raise your hand if you can,” Ellie ordered. A blank stare greeted her, and Irric once again spoke in his nonsensical language. She turned towards Connor. “This is going nowhere. Why would Ava have a device in her room that contacts such strange people?”

Connor shrugged. “Maybe the device has subtitles?” Ellie shot him a flat look. “What? It’s a hologram. Who knows what else this thing is capable of?” He stepped towards the keyboard and hesitantly pressed one of the keys.

“Wait! We don’t know what those do,” Ellie said in alarm.

Nothing happened.

Tentatively, Connor pressed a few more keys. The floating image fritzed, eliciting a panicked cry from Irric. The screen flickered several times and then winked out of existence, as though it had never been.

“Great, you broke it,” Ellie said flatly. She stared back at the empty space where the screen had once been, wondering if they would ever solve the mystery of the purple man.

“Wait, no!” Irric shouted as the screen began to bug out. He didn’t know how contact the people that appeared. If he lost the connection now, he would be back to square one. The screen disappeared and Irric’s shoulders drooped. He turned towards his data slate and said, “I would like to let the record to show that I did nothing that could have caused the connection to be terminated. It appears to have been caused by the other party.”

He then walked over and stopped recording. Opening his files, he replayed the events that just occurred, watching with a critical gaze to ensure that he didn’t miss anything. Once he was certain of the events that took place, Irric prepared his report and did the only sensible thing someone in his position should do.

He called Cyrix using their emergency number.

Nessah had just finished informing Cyrix which dates she would travel with Orryn and Cirrus to go visit Adrian when his data slate received Irric’s call. Cyrix looked at the emergency message displayed across his screen and bid Nessah goodbye, explaining the situation. Nessah promptly told him that she would get in touch with Jyn’s team to inform them of the evolving situation in the meantime.

Nessah’s serious face was immediately replaced with Irric’s nervous one. “What happened?” Cyrix asked, annoyed that he had been interrupted during such an important call. He hoped dearly that it was an emergency worth his time.

Irric gulped before launching into an explanation of the series of events that had occurred. Cyrix immediately straightened in alarm. “Are you sure?” he asked. If true, then Irric’s news did indeed warrant the interruption. He needed to know if there was another player on the board that they needed to watch out for.

“I’m sending you the recording now,” Irric said. “You can see for yourself what happened. If this truly is an alien civilization, then perhaps we can get Adrian to translate for us what was said.”

“That’s assuming that they speak the same language,” Cyrix replied. “Adrian mentioned that his planet had many languages. What if he doesn’t speak the same one as the others?”

“Then we’ll never know what was said. At least we do know now that there are others that look like him. The ones I saw were wearing lab coats, so they must be researchers of some kind.”

“How come researchers on his home planet have access to gru’ul technology? Adrian claimed that his civilization was less technologically advanced than ours. Do you think he was lying?”

“I don’t know,” Irric said. “Perhaps they contacted me by accident?”

Cyrix leveled him a flat look. “Are you capable of accidentally calling them back when you can’t read their language?”

Irric flashed him a sheepish look. “No,” he replied. “Probably not.”

“That’s what I thought. No, they must be working with the gru’ul in some manner that’s related to the facility. Why, though, remains a mystery. Do you think Adrian would know?”

“I honestly have no idea. I doubt the test subject knows what was happening behind the scenes, so I wouldn’t get my hopes up. He’s even said such before.” Irric paused his reply for a moment, typing away on his data slate. “There, I’ve sent you the video file.”

“Good,” Cyrix said. “I’ll look it over and determine what to do next.” He ended the call and opened what Irric had sent him. He watched it once. Then he watched it again. And again. Finally, he swore, admitting that maybe there was some truth to Adrian’s claims.

He called Nessah back, laughing at the incredulity of it all.

Adrian and Reya returned from their afternoon walk to an empty house. They’d taken the time to go over what happened during his appointment with Kell away from prying eyes. Reya was happy for him that he might be able to receive medical treatment for his inability to sleep.

The house being so silent was an oddity, given the amount of people living in it. There was normally somebody in the kitchen or the living room that greeted them whenever they came back from a walk. “That’s odd,” Reya noted. “Where is everybody? Usually there’s at least one person here.”

Adrian cocked his head, listening intently. “I don’t hear anybody in the house either. Could they be out on patrol?”

“All of them at the same time? I doubt it. Hold on, I’ll try calling Rann on the data slate and see if she picks up.” Reya made her way to the coffee table in the living room and picked up the device laying atop it. Adrian followed her and waited silently while she called Rann. Several moments passed before she answered.

Rann’s face appeared onscreen. “Hey, guys. What’s up?” she asked, fighting to be heard over the din of voices in the background.

“Where is everybody?” Reya asked. “The house is completely empty.” Eyeing a corner seat of the couch, Reya sat down and made herself comfortable. Adrian moved to stand beside her, peering over to see the screen.

“We’re having a meeting,” Rann said. “On the ship,” she specified before Reya could ask where.

“Did something happen?”

“Not yet, which is why we’re having a meeting. Jyn wanted it to be private, so we’re not having it in the house. I’ll fill you in on the details when we’re done.”

“Is there anything we should be worried about?” Reya asked, finding the need for secrecy bizarre. She looked at Adrian, who simply shrugged. He had no idea as to what was going on anymore than she did.

“Nope,” Rann assured her. “Not for now, at least.” An irritated cough came from off-screen. Rann shot an annoyed glance at the culprit. She turned her attention back to the call. “I’ll talk to you once we’re finished. Not sure when that will be.” The call ended abruptly before Reya had the chance to respond.

“I guess we’re on our own for the foreseeable future,” Reya said, turning towards Adrian. “Is there anything you want to do?”

“Maybe watch a movie?” Adrian proposed, eyeing the circles under Reya’s eyes. Since running out of medication, she’d been having a rough time sleeping. He’d noticed that she was less energetic than usual during their walk through the forest. “I don’t really have the energy for anything else, and we just came back from a walk. I think we could both use a bit of a rest.”

Reya flashed him a wan smile. “If only. A movie sounds like a great idea. I’ll set one up.” Together the pair went through a wide selection on the data slate. Adrian occasionally pointed out a few as Reya scrolled and they eventually landed on the lucky winner. “I’ve watched this one before, it’s really good,” Reya said. “Do you mind watching a romance movie? I know it’s not everybody’s thing. Beor and Rann don’t like watching them with me.”

“A romance movie sounds fine to me. I used to watch them back home often enough.”

“Really?” Reya perked up. “I never took you for the romance sort.”

“I’m a total sucker for a good romance movie,” Adrian admitted. “It’s not something I shout from the rooftops, since I usually watch them alone. I lived vicariously through the romance of others,” he chuckled.

“No romance in your life before all of this?” Reya asked, surprised at the admission.

“Sadly, no. I’ve had girlfriends in the past, just not around the time when I got abducted. And now, well, who knows when the next time that will be. I’d be surprised if anybody could love me the way I am now.”

“You’re a great guy. You’ll find somebody. I’m sure of it.”

“Easier said than done,” Adrian chuckled dryly, “but thank you for the kind words.” Reya smiled. “Who knows, maybe one day I’ll find somebody. I won’t get my hopes up, but it would be nice to be loved again.” Reya’s smile drooped at his implication that he had nobody that loved him.

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” she said softly, yet firmly. She was convinced that one day somebody would see him for the amazing man that he was and not just his scars and skin colour.

Reya started the movie and the opening credits appeared on the holoscreen in front of them. Placing the data slate back on the coffee table where she’d found it, Reya curled up on the couch and settled in. Adrian took up the opposite end of the couch and lounged where he sat, eyes focused on the movie.

It was quiet in the house, the only source of noise the drama that unfolded before them. Neither Adrian nor Reya said a word as they became engrossed in the story. Halfway through, Adrian’s eyes grew heavy. His earlier activity was catching up to him now that he was sitting down. Before he knew it, he began paying less attention to the movie and slowly shut his tired eyes. Blinking, he forced himself awake, not wanting to appear rude to Reya.

He cast a sidelong glance towards her to see if she had noticed him nodding off, only to find her curled where she sat, head propped on her arm with her eyes closed as well. Spending a long moment staring at her dozing form, Adrian looked around and spotted a red blanket folded on the recliner next to the couch.

With heavy limbs, he heaved himself up from where he sat and picked up the data slate, pausing the movie. He turned around and went over to the recliner to collect the blanket. Walking over to where Reya sat, he carefully draped it over her still form.

Reya’s eyes snapped open as the blanket settled on her. Blearily, she looked up and saw Adrian standing over her. “Is it over?” she yawned. “That went by quickly.” She struggled to keep her eyes open as the world before her slowly came back into focus.

“No,” Adrian replied softly. “I thought you were sleeping so I paused it for now.” Noticing the blanket for the first time, Reya clutched it closer.

“You got me a blanket?” she asked, her voice laced with exhaustion. Adrian nodded. “Thank you. I’m sorry I fell asleep during the movie.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was nodding off as well. How about we keep it paused and take a short nap before continuing it? Make yourself comfortable,” Adrian offered. Reya’s eyes were closed again as she mumbled an affirmative. She nestled into the corner of the couch, laying her head down on its arm and stretched out her legs somewhat, her feet poking out from under the blanket. Adrian went back to his seat and spotted Reya’s legs now occupying where he previously sat. Amused, he simply lifted them out of the way and sat down, placing them over his lap.

Surprised by the disturbance, Reya realized that she was now partly lying on Adrian. Embarrassed, she tried moving her feet but Adrian simply placed a hand on her legs, stopping her. “It’s fine,” he said. “I told you to make yourself comfortable and I meant it.”

“I didn’t mean to lie directly on you,” she said, looking at him. “Are you sure it’s alright?”

“Absolutely. Just let me get comfortable.” Adrian extended the recliner for his corner of the couch and lifted his legs up. He grabbed Reya’s partially extended legs and fully draped them over his lap. “There, much better.” Reya nodded in agreement and closed her eyes once more, drifting away into oblivion. Adrian followed suit and slowly nodded off, hoping that this time he might actually get some rest.