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MidReal Story
Emotion's Deception: Uniting Worlds through Sincerity
Scenario:На планету прилетают инопланетяне, которые питаются эмоциями людей. Они помогают людям в технологиях и все что им нужно для поддержания их существования - зарядиться эмоциями. Поскольку эмоции бывают разного качества, то инопланетные гости выбирают позитивные и избегают негативных эмоций, однако могут их отличать только по внешнему проявлению. При таком выборе они часто бывают обмануты и погибают, ассоциируя внешнее поведение человека с качеством его эмоций. Например, когда человек улыбается, кажется, что он наполнен энергией хороших эмоций, но взаимодействуя с ним, инопланетянин получает отрицательные эмоции с тяжелыми последствиями, вплоть до смерти. Инопланетяне ставят себе задачу исправить человечество гуманными методами, научить искренности и устранить лицемерие во взаимоотношениях. Есть ли шанс у инопланетян на достижение цели и выживание?
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“Alex, come in.” I turned from the door to where my mother sat behind her desk.
“I’m on my way, Mom.” I hoped she couldn’t hear the rising panic in my voice.
I had the feeling that anything she wanted to tell me could wait.
“Now, Alex!”
I felt her anger and nodded.
“Yes, Mom.” I left the room and made for the general’s office.
My parents had been called to see the Supreme High Commander or whatever his title was, and now the general wanted to see me?
This couldn’t be good.
I took a deep breath before I opened the door and stepped inside.
The general looked up from his desk.
We have a problem.”
Yes, I was afraid of that.
But you know what they say about curiosity and cats.
“What kind of problem?”
“You don’t have a problem with your ears, do you, Johnson?”
I shook my head.
“No, sir.” I sat down without being asked.
I needed to make this as painless as possible.
“What is it you want to talk about?”
“It’s about Thompson.”
“What about her?”
The general leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together on his stomach.
“I want to know what happened between the two of you.”
“Nothing happened between us.” That wasn’t entirely true, but he didn’t need to know that part.
He looked at me for several long moments before he opened his mouth again.
“She’s claiming that you attacked her.”
“That’s not—”
“Let me finish,” he snapped.
I closed my mouth and swallowed hard.
Nobody ever yelled at me like that, but then nobody else was a general either.
“As I was saying, she’s claiming that you attacked her, but when we tried to question her further, she changed her story and said she tried to attack you.”
“That’s true,” I admitted reluctantly.
My mother had told me I needed to be honest with them if they were going to help me figure out humans.
So far it was proving harder than I’d ever imagined it would be, even with Mom giving me advice from homebase.
“I want to know what happened so that I can decide what kind of punishment is appropriate in this situation.”
“I don’t think I did anything wrong, sir.
She attacked me with some kind of weapon and I was trying to protect myself from the threat.
I just didn’t do it in the correct manner.
I lost my temper and my control, and I feel terrible about that, but I honestly did not mean for it to happen.
It was an accident.”
He looked at me for a long time before he spoke again.
“You know that there are no accidents when it comes to the loss of life, Johnson.
That’s not something you can take back once it happens.”
I nodded, feeling sick to my stomach.
I’d known that already, of course, but apparently sometimes I still didn’t think things through the way I should.
It was probably because I was so worried about Sarah.
I just couldn’t seem to think straight.
She was going to get herself killed if she wasn’t careful.
I didn’t know how else to explain that to her.
And then after everything she said—and did—I lost my control completely.
I thought I was explaining things to her the way I should have, but it only made her more angry.
It was like she wasn’t even trying to understand what I was saying.
I just didn’t know what else to do about it.
I was feeling frustrated again, and I tried to remind myself of the things Mom had suggested for me to try.
They weren’t working very well, which only made things worse.
I’d told Sarah that she was wrong, but I’d also told her that I wasn’t angry.
That was the wrong thing to say.
It made her think I was lying to her.
How could I convince her that I wasn’t lying?
She was already so sure that I was a threat.
I looked up and realized the general had been talking and I hadn’t been paying attention.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t understand why you’re asking me that question.”
“Your parents are here, and we’re going to get them in here in a few minutes.
They want to know what’s going on, and they want to know that you’re not going to try and kill anyone else.”
“I’m not going to try and kill anyone else,” I said automatically, but that’s not really what he wanted to hear.
He wanted proof.
Maybe he would understand if I asked him.
“Can you tell me why she thinks that?”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened from the beginning first?”
I took a deep breath and tried to explain it as simply as possible.
He didn’t seem very convinced by my story either.
Then he sent me back out of his office and went in search of my parents.
My father asked a million questions after he closed the door behind them, and I tried to answer them all as best as I could without leaving anything out.
He did not look happy with what he heard from me, but I didn’t care.
I could see the glare in his eyes though, and it made me wish I had kept my mouth shut.
He looked like he wanted to beat some sense into someone, but I knew it wouldn’t change her mind if he did.
I went back to my desk after he left and sat down glumly.
The general had told me I couldn’t go see Sarah just yet because he wanted them all in there together.
That was fine with me.
I didn’t really feel like talking to any more humans right now anyway.
I didn’t have to wait long.
The general called me back into his office less than half an hour later.
My mother was sitting on the couch with my father beside her, and he looked like he was bracing himself for a fight.
I didn’t plan on giving him one, but I couldn’t really blame him if he did.
After the way he’d been talking to me earlier, I might have wanted to beat someone up too.
He wasn’t going to get anywhere by doing that, but I could understand why he would feel like it.
I took my place beside my parents, but I could see them all looking at me expectantly.
“I need to talk to Sarah,” I said finally.
“I know I can make her understand if you just let me talk to her.”
My father started to say something, but I cut him off.
“I need to talk to her,” I repeated.
“I need to tell her how she is wrong.” My parents looked at each other, their expressions worried, but they didn’t say anything to me.
I looked at the general then, knowing he was the one who had the final say in this situation.
He looked like he wanted to argue with me, but in the end, he just let out a long breath and said, “Okay.
Sarah Thompson
Сара Томпсон
The general and my parents all watched me carefully after he let me into the room where Sarah was being held.
I could feel their eyes on me even when I couldn’t see them.
Sarah looked like she was trying very hard not to look at me at all.
The general had told me that she wanted nothing more than to study my behavior and figure out the reason for it, but now that we were in a room together, she didn’t seem so sure about that.
I gave her plenty of opportunities to figure me out.
I shifted from one foot to the other.
I looked around the room.
I looked at her.
I even glanced back at the other people in the room from time to time.
It took me all of two minutes to see that she wasn’t going to do anything on her own.
I knew then that if I wanted this over with, I would have to take the first step.
And so I did.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Sarah looked surprised that I had spoken first, but then she shook her head and said quickly, “I’m not looking at you any particular way.”
“Yes, you are,” I said.
“I can see it in your eyes.”
She blinked rapidly and sat up straighter in her chair.
“Do you know why I might be looking at you in a particular way?”
she asked finally.
“No,” I said truthfully.
“So you don’t know why I am so unhappy with you?”
she asked again.
“Why don’t we ask everyone else what they think?”
I turned around and saw that the general and my parents were still watching us intently through the glass wall, and there were several other people in the room with them now too.
I didn’t want to talk about them or their opinions of what was happening here though.
That would only make things worse for us both.
“Why don’t you tell me why it is that you are so unhappy with me?”
Sarah didn’t say anything right away though.
She looked like she wanted to though, and all the people behind the glass wall were talking very fast amongst themselves.
I didn’t want to hear what they were saying.
I wanted to talk to Sarah.
I wanted her to tell me what was wrong so I could fix it.
I didn’t think she would though.
She looked like she was having trouble meeting my eyes now that I was so close to her.
I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I needed to know what was wrong too.
I leaned in closer to her and said again, “Why are you unhappy with me?”
Sarah licked her lips and then looked past me at the wall.
“I—I don’t think I should say,” she said finally.
“The general wants us to figure it out together.”
I turned around and looked at the general then.
He was still watching us with the same grim expression on his face.
“Do you think I should say?”
Sarah asked suddenly.
I could see the general’s mouth move as he said something to someone behind him.
Then he sat back in his chair and shook his head very slowly at her.
Sarah’s shoulders slumped as she got to her feet and left the room without another word.
