A first contact between humans and a new species almost degrade to a war, until they hear humanity music for the first time... -- Tom
First contact is... risky. Both sides have no idea what to expect out of the other. One species' friendly greeting can be another's instant death threat, or grave insult to their grandmother. In a situation where any move could be hostile, it's safe to move very still and do one's best to try and read the other party. Which left the seemingly eternal question - eye contact or no eye contact.
Given these problems, it should therefore be no surprise that both parties, upon first meeting, make the very wise choice to run away. Those who dare return and take risks with their minds open to accepting mistakes are the ones who make great progress or, at minimum, interesting pieces of history.
Remembering this, Human Dio tried hir best. It was quite the process. Step one - divesting oneself of anything that could be a weapon but was also not hir livesuit. Which meant just about everything that wasn't actual livesuit. Ze felt... naked. Second step - waiting patiently where the last sighting took place. Dull. As. Heck. At least there were games in hir eyescreen.
Four hundred assorted games of solitaire after the exercise started, Dio spotted what had to be the alien's helmet peeking around a corner. They were carrying something that could be a weapon... could be a gift. That was... troubling. Dio was already looking up the multitude of ways things could go wrong whilst patiently Not Being Aggressive as the new species cautiously investigated.
Oh, there were so many ways this could go wrong. Dio checked once more that hir livesuit was recording. Just in case all that was left were sad remains and a locator signal. In the fields of the old and the bold, Dio preferred to be the old, but this... this was potential history.
That was close enough with whatever-that-was in their manipulating limbs. Human Dio moved, showing hir empty hands. Look and see, bugly. I don't actually have anything on me that isn't me. Look. I'm moving my own limbs so that it will be awkward to retaliate. Dio knew that nobody would be able to understand each other, but tone of voice counted. "I mean no harm," ze cooed.
And then realised that ze didn't have hir speaker on. Very slowly, Dio activated hir speaker, only to have hir calming music blare out through the extant atmosphere.
It could have been a historical failure. It could have been a helpful tip in a manual for future encounters, so that others would learn from Dio's mistakes. Fate had different ideas. As the music started out of Dio's speaker, hir new potential friend startled and took a step back.
It was a vertiginous moment. Dio could only focus on the item in the other being's arms. Which gradually lowered and was left on the floor, then kicked away. The newcomer then did their best to mimic Dio's I'm-harmless pose.
Who knew they liked Screamo?
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / soleilc]
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