Microstory 732: Credos, Convention Six: Communication, Chapter Two

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Once the war was over in the remote village, the villagers resettled their lands. And once the spacefaring migrants had begun building their own, far more advanced, settlements, a group of them went out to explore. They were looking for valuable resources they could use to thrive on their new world, but what they found, was the village. Being wary but friendly, the migrants attempted to communicate with the natives, but were met only with fear. The villagers were not completely cut off from the rest of their planet. They knew other villages existed, as there was once a significant trading economy amongst them. Upon finding ways of sustaining themselves without branching out, however, they adopted a culture of isolation. They were not afraid simply by encountering others, but what these invaders represented. They wore unusual garments, spoke a strange tongue, and carried magical rocks that produced light and frightening noises. They did not know the truth behind these things, and most of them did not want to know. They just wanted to be left alone. The migrants attempted to show the villagers that these were merely metric equipment that they were using to survey the land, but the natives resisted the lessons. They could not comprehend, for their upbringing did not support such creations. Remember, these were the ones who were physically unable to see the shuttles flying down from the sky, because their brains could not process the information. Still, the migrants continued to work with the villagers, leaving with them a sort of ambassador who would hopefully slowly learn to communicate. Fortunately, there was a young woman villager with a stronger sense of curiosity, and she was chosen as their ambassador. The two quickly became friends, even though they could not at first understand each other. They eventually came up with a system, though, that allowed them to convey messages to each other using gestures. Yet they would still speak their own languages, and over time, they began to learn each other’s words. After months of this, each was fluent in each other’s language. Empowered with this, they each went back to their own people, and retaught the new language to anyone who wished to learn. They were hopeful that the village and the migrants could live together in peace, but after more months of communication, everyone had to accept that the villagers were not comfortable living so close to all this strange technology. And so the migrants moved far away, leaving the village alone, which is exactly what they wanted.