We Knew Without Knowing

By: Domus Vocis

Monday, September 24^th

            Where do I honestly begin?

My name is Connor Clayton. I'm fourteen years old, am related to the famous astronomer Marcus Clayton, and am supposed to be a normal student in a normal world. Sadly, my world is no longer normal and is on the verge of a massive change. I need to type this to remind myself what happened was real and not some schizophrenic episode. It was an extraordinary event that's been leaving humanity's future uncertain for all of us. It's affected everyone. The religious, intelligent, unbelievers, poor, rich, and leaders of the world.

Even me. To make a long story short: we are not alone in the universe.

            It all happened several weeks ago, on August 17^th. It was my birthday, a day that started off nicely. It ended with a cake made by my mother, topped with a cherry. She acted a facade of being very happy, even though I know she was angry at my older brother for not being home five hours ago.

            I wasn't mad or anything, but he has been working at the observatory for too long. Later that night, we finally got a call after the cake was eaten and turned into leftovers. I knew what was going to happen, so I went into my room. I heard my mother yank the phone up and scream at Marcus for being late, and I waited for a shouting match between them. At first, I thought she would keep me up all night and forgive him right away. But then, her screaming stopped.

            Mom suddenly called me into the kitchen of our apartment to see the TV turned on. It was tuned to the news, lighting up the darkened room. And what I saw I couldn't believe. 'Unidentified Object Heading towards Earth' it read. I thought they meant a meteor at first, but NASA explained it seemed to be slowing down. It wasn't an asteroid or a moon, but a spacecraft. When those words were said, I couldn't help but laugh and believe this was a joke of some sort, like a hoax played on national television.

            But then, Marcus appeared on screen, saying that it sounds out of science fiction, but he and other colleagues discovered the object several hours ago, earlier traveling almost faster than the speed of light. NASA did believe it was a massive asteroid at first, but they found it was moving out of orbit, and calculated its trajectory.

            And the best part is it was slowing down, toward us.

            “It's official ladies and gentlemen of the press, the country and the world," the President announced in front of cameras and reporters. “We are not alone in the universe, and if Dr. Clayton's calculations are correct, we have new neighbors to greet soon. Good night, and God bless us all."

            If somebody asked me off the street about the idea of aliens, I would've scoffed without a second thought. I would say I'm an unbeliever, but the entire idea of aliens coming here was incredible beyond comprehension. I even at first thought it was all a really expensive joke or something, but nothing could prepare me for how real this would become. I especially remember my Mom being hysterical, but in the same way of her baby boy leaving a mark in history or winning a scholarship to Harvard. I even saw Marcus calling her on his phone behind a reporter at the observatory, congratulating each other.

            Days passed after that night, which made the entire world shutter. I watched as ET believers came out of their shells, and according to the news, doomsday preppers and claims of abductions skyrocketed. I know several kids at school that are preaching their existence, closeting themselves or trying to act like nothing has changed. I know one guy named George that believed we were in for an invasion, and decided to hook up with as many girls as possible. Heh, I know I would if I had the courage.

            That day also led to radio contact with the vessel. Astronomers estimated it to be roughly half the size of a large aircraft carrier, and its trajectory began to pass by one of Saturn's moons. The world watched with my mom and I as scientists and astronomers, Marcus included, along with the nation's leaders were in a SETI observatory, nearing to witness history in the making. School was only days away, but I only cared about the aliens and what their mission was.

Even if I wasn't as big into the alien subculture as everyone else, I knew back then there were some possibilities: 1) the extraterrestrials were long-gone and this happened to be an unmanned (un-aliened?) craft abandoned from when they destroyed themselves. 2) the craft was a beacon probe similar to the Voyager 1. Or 3) it was a weapon to destroy us. I hope the last one was wrong.

As we waited for a message that was sent, my mind raced with thoughts of uncertainty. I don't know what to make of those past few weeks. I wondered what the outcome of this would bring. I felt as if a weight had been put on everyone's shoulders. Everyone didn't know if they would be friendly or it would be a hostile race about to destroy us like parasites. I remember to memory the minutes of radio silence passing by, so did any hope of a response. Then suddenly, we heard a deep noise that grew louder and louder enough to hear.

            It was a raspy, translucent sound, almost like a dying voice.

            A moment later, it was reported that several satellites had gone down for fifty-nine seconds, most of them Internet. Some information was downloaded and traces of the copies were left. Some say it was a hack by some terrorist, but evidence pointed that the signal originating came from the spacecraft itself.

No matter what everyone thought, the truth was bare to see: They now knew about us. They knew we existed.

             It frightened many, but it proved that whoever was on that object was not only intelligent, but very advanced in order to copy data that quickly. To quell the fear a bit, astronomers got a closer look at the ship, and announced there were no signs of weaponry on the craft. Even so, some people went off their knockers, from a couple of riots, protests, mass prayers, even my neighbor a couple apartment rooms down left everything behind to move his family into the Canadian woods.

            After that day, NASA officials kept an even closer eye on the object as it came in, bringing in unknown individuals from another world. Controversy stirred on the issue, on whether we should actually allow first contact to happen. Either on fear, tactile religious beliefs, and especially on the fact of not wanting to prove evolution. I knew it was a possibility something would happen, but I had a good feeling it would all end in good terms.

            The night after, NASA reported a big discovery with the spacecraft; it wasn't a spacecraft. It was too small to even hold a person. There were no signs of door frames, windows or anything. It did have an energy signature that was massive, carrying a very powerful engine of some kind behind it. From what the government and scientists guessed, it was some kind of machine, not a vessel.

            Meanwhile, I was walking through the halls and trying to ignore the bullying I constantly got as a bad grade kid. I'm smart, but the truth is that I don't want to be. I was about to do a math test that I barely studied for when I couldn't help but think of a good question that wasn't on the test.

            'What do they look like?' was what ran through my mind. Many people believed that they would look like the typical little green men from Hollywood, or angelic beings with the world's cures at their fingertips. I for one believed in the second hypothesis. They may or may not look like humans, but they had to be more technologically advanced than us to travel almost faster than sound, and be more evolved.

As I was going to one of my classes the next day, rumor spread the object had landed at Ronald Reagan Airport outside Washington, and I couldn't help but think it was garbage. Suddenly, as I was taking a math test that afternoon, an announcement echoed across the room, and saved me from overthinking myself on a problem. “All students please head to the auditorium at once," the PA speaker said, and I remember her speaking giddily over the microphone. “I am proud to announce that First Contact is about to begin. I repeat…"

And they say school hallways are supposed to be safe. Everyone rushed into the large auditorium, myself included, to see a large projection of the news. As everyone got packed into the cramped seats, I remember being so scared, excited and shocked to witness history being made. Some boys gripped their seats, a couple girls whispered in hushed tones for the TV to turn on, but no one didn't turn their eyes away from the screen. I still couldn't believe that it was here, in Washington, DC. I could feel the insatiable curiosity everyone held, and it gnawed at me to know if Marcus was okay.

            Soon as a news camera showed an image of the object, we sat surprised. It was some sort of triangular based machine, its front flat and sides smoothly circular. It had wings that pointed out to its back, which strangely had no engine. From afar, I guess it would look like the shape of a fly, a fly that had a halo around its neck.

            “Why is it so small?" a boy named Jacob Evans, who had me in Geology later that day, asked me. I didn't know, and I didn't answer him.

            Reporters talked back and forth on what the government did during the fiasco, deciding if it was a threat to airspace or the human race in general. Just as me and the students relaxed in our seats out of adolescent boredom, something happened to the object. It was moving, changing before our eyes. The wings folded away on its body, and strange panels popping out of the front of the machine like a monster's teeth.

            The crowd panicked, and the soldiers stood ready to fire on order. The front of the machine spun like a windmill. It kept going and going at a faster speed, causing my eyes to become dizzy with awe. I recall seeing colors, such as deep magenta, swirls of blue and bright white encircle the panels like a light show, followed by an audible hum on the screen.

            And like that, a crackled explosion made me flinch in my seat, along with some gasps from everyone else in the auditorium. To my relief (and reminding myself this wasn't a damn movie theater), the shaking camera zoomed in closer to see a figure standing within the portal. With one step, the being slowly walked out.

            Everyone held their breaths, including the people onscreen at the scene. This was it. This was the moment me, Marcus, and the rest of humanity have been waiting for. The moment of truth. We were going to make First Contact with an alien race.

            The mysterious figure in the portal looked to be a robotic android at first, until I slowly realized the fluid motions and gestures showed it was a suit. It was greyish, with strange biped legs, and a mysterious mirrored glass visor. Most would guess it was a lone Christopher Columbus, but I knew that there had to be more beings behind that portal. I thought it was most likely a representative of the civilization, or maybe the lone leader who came to shake either claws or hands with the President.

            Fortunately, in the corner of the television screens, the soldier's guns lowered down. The spaceman, or space creature, turned its head toward the group in bio-hazard suits. They were stiff too, but the creatures gazed toward one man in particular. Marcus, who stood still in his place in front of the crowd of soldiers. He froze wide-eyed, much to my amused delight, but kept a sense of calmness like he usually did whenever Mom yelled at him years ago.

            They began to use the lights to communicate with the being. It comprised of Morse code and gave off a message of peace. The being watched as dots and dashes appeared on the large screen that stood out, not showing any emotion. The entire time, my heart raced and I felt my palms sweat. I didn't know what would come out of this. Would we have friendly relations? A war? Or more attempts to make communication plausible?

Once it ended, the alien looked forward and instantly paused. And then, something happened. We noticed a tail, one that gracefully swayed back and forth behind the being. Like the entire spacesuit, it swished fluidly with his body movements while gleaming in a metallic aura. The soldiers once again lifted their guns and followed orders to be vigilant, like we stared at a walking time bomb.

            The creature did something human though; it nodded toward the crowd of scientists and to Marcus. In a flash, the helmet retracted into the spacesuit, revealing a face to humanity. As I narrowed my eyes at the screen, suffice to say we all were incredibly shocked by what it was.

            An animal. A canine. A dog.

I swear to God and all that is holy in the Bible, a walking dog.

            It had a muzzle and even perked up ears. Everyone around me stood up from their seats. I couldn't accept it myself back then, and I still doubted for a while. The soldiers seemed terrified too, but the creature's graceful…unworldliness distracted them. I also remember seeing Marcus and a few other scientists began to approach the dog, carefully stopping a few feet away.

            “Do not be afraid," it spoke (with a thick accent). “We are not here to harm you."

            Everyone stared at the screen in disbelief.

            “You can speak," Marcus said onscreen to the alien visitor. Even with the bad imaging, I swear a smile grow on the dog's face beneath the blue and white.

            “Do not be afraid," it repeated, this time in a calmer manner. “I mean absolutely no harm. This...is a very momentous event. For you, for me, for all of us."

            My brother nodded slightly, and the high-definition of the camera caught beads of sweat fall down his forehead. Chuckling for a quick moment, Marcus calmly asked it, “Do you represent an advanced civilization?"

            The dog imitated Marcus's nod. “Yes we do," he said.

            And then, three or four more aliens walked out of the portal, further alarming everyone, this time to a lesser extent. I can't remember what happened, but there was so much commotion on camera that it went to static.

            Everyone was pushed back to class, but the students and I still didn't concentrate on anything. Aliens came to Earth via transporter, and they are animal-like. I spent a while on the web searching for anything on them, and I found thousands upon millions of images made prior to the alien arrival. And with that, there are people out there that prefer to dress as animals over regular people. Go figure.

            This was a mystery to me, but there were more questions to be answered, like who are they? Where did they come from? And why are they dogs? The whole world watched like hawks that day, so I guess I wasn't the only one.

            Mom and I couldn't get a hold of Marcus, considering that he was on a now-classified event. What we did know was that they weren't here for invasion, they knew bits and pieces of our language, and that they showed no intention for an attack. From bits and pieces of rumors both online and in the news, I managed to find out that they were negotiating with the UN on their hospitality.

            From what I've heard, there's a group of fanatics that formed after First Contact, who were trying to shoot the aliens. They are religious, and believe the aliens are unholy demons sent to rain down Hell on Earth. I hoped they were wrong. 

            Public access to the machine has been restricted forever, and Ronald Reagan has become the new Area 51. Hell, the entire Internet has dubbed it 'Area 52'. Some would say I'm obsessed over it, but truth be told, I'm longing to know how that transporter works exactly. But that won't ever happen, even with Marcus's new position in the history books.

            A day later, the White House held a press conference for the dog-like creature.

            It began with the President making a long speech on space exploration and the race of creatures aboard the spaceship. Later, one of them came out to talk, wearing clad greyish uniforms that shone in the lights.

            My eyes glued themselves to the TV like a magnet, and I realized it was the black and white dog from the night before. He shook hands (paws?) with many government officials on his way to the podium. Behind him stood several other aliens, ranging from a fox to a tiger-like appearance to even an otter. They each wore a mysterious uniform respectfully, one that shone like their suits, tails wagging while standing like Secret Servicemen.

            The dog took a deep breath. “Greetings, citizens of Planet Earth," he said happily amid the flashing of cameras. “I would first like to apologize for the event that took place a few weeks prior to our arrival. As the Bridger came closer to your world, the programming in it analyzed the radio waves and electrical archives you've collected on yourselves. We had no idea what intelligence the Empire I represent were dealing with, which has led to us learning immediately your language and behavior on the satellites orbiting your home planet. But since we are merely guests here, standard protocol had to be taken, and minor...setbacks happened the day on our arrival.

            “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rajhinx livu Hakrin (I couldn't pronounce his name correctly), an ambassador to our leader and the head of my team. As said earlier, we are sorry for the deception, but precautions had to be made. Do not be alarmed by that single event though: We come in the name of science and our civilization, to learn more about different cultures and ideals apart from our own. I am proud to say that this is a grand day for both humanity and the Anthralaen race. We are deeply humbled by your kindness, and I am free to answer any questions at this time."

            He was asked the obvious, “Where do you come from?" from a dozen reporters. My breath stopped for a second. Rajhinx calmly paused for a second before telling his story, which I listened to very carefully.

            They came from Anthralae, a planet similar to the Earth that happens to be a few thousand light-years from our solar system. They are members of the Anthralaen race, extraterrestrials from another world similar to the creatures of Earth, like wolves, foxes, etc. They don't know how or why they're anthropomorphic opposite to our wildlife, but the Anthralaens know something else. Ten years ago, a rogue radio message from space reached them. The message was from SETI, maybe in the seventies or eighties. Their best scientists deciphered it in little time, and were as shocked as we were to discover alien life.

            After a year of trying to find its origins, the message was traced back to Earth. And a few years later led to them deciding on a course of action. Their leader knew it would take decades to reach Earth with conventional space craft, so the Anthralaens decided to send the Bridger, a machine of theirs that has the ability to cross galaxies, and when it reaches Earth, would gather any intelligence on us and send it to Anthralae, where the ambassador learned Earth's languages.

            It turns out they're a very peaceful civilization, but is now facing a rebellion within. They have an enemy that wishes to commit genocide on certain subspecies, and the Anthralaen leader wishes to use Earth as a safe haven for refugees until the civil war ends. In return, they'd give us the technology to change our world. They're centuries ahead of us, and have offered to give us the formulas to cure diseases, grow crops in the wastelands of Earth, regenerate lost forests, synthetic food and paper that can literally be made from sand, and only for the hospitality of their race's exiled.

            The entire time, listening to Rajhinx was fascinating. It's not every day that one sees an alien talk to the world. They are fascinated with the cultures of our civilization, and hope that we will be at peace with them. “That is all the questions we will answer today," the Anthralaen named Rajhinx then left the stage underneath a flurry of chatter. “We plan to negotiate with the United Nations on a way we can expand our newly found friendship. Let us hope it will go accordingly as we are a now much larger family. Thank you, and good night."

            The United Nations was heated up with debate the next day, arguing on whether to allow Earth to become a refugee camp or not. Ambassador Rajhinx swore to the General Assembly that the rebels would not interfere with their relationship to Earth, as long as we kept peace with them. And from that, the reluctant superpowers agreed, and decided to have the Anthralaens live in secrecy.

            Reagan is now considered the new Statue of Liberty to all Anthralaens, a central hub for the Bridger to bring refugees, and perhaps someday, tourists and scientists from Anthralae. A military complex has been built nearby it, where all Anthralaens have the ability to explore the city freely. I still have no idea how they'll walk around without notice.

            First off, I learned that on their home planet, life thrives through nature and diversity. They know how to make a power source with very little, they can create food from the dust on the ground, and they know everything. And because of this, I am obsessed with the Anthralaen race. I am obsessed with their cultures, their world and so many things. I'd even love to one day meet the Di'Havrii, the Anthralaen royal family. It is strange, to see something from your childhood in real life. I can't believe it at all. That's not all that happened with the alien race. Days later led to treaties of refugee citizenship being signed, Marcus now being more busy than ever, and the first Bridger pilgrimage from Anthralae to Earth.

            From a news feed, everyone across the globe watched as Reagan Airport officially became the newest alien immigration hub of the 21^st century. It was like the early 20^th century all over again, with people flocking to America for a new life. I remember seeing many diverse Anthralaens, like hyenas, foxes, dogs, even a couple otters and mouse-like humanoids that left me agape. It was an amazing sight, to see how much we have come to meeting a new species.

Despite all this change, I tried to bring things in my life back to normal, like working harder in school. But my old life is dead. There's no going back to normal. We made contact with an alien race, are holding refugees from their home planet here for safety, and this is just the beginning. More secrets are being revealed, how their technology works, trying to make frequent visits between us and their home, and even the idea of helping the Anthralaens in their civil war. I hoped that they would go well.

            I once predicted that this would end badly. I believed that the peace was only temporary. After all, I've been hearing about hate groups forming despite the Anthralaens being more advanced than us, like the religious assassins from the day of first contact. It makes me sick to my stomach, for us humans to be afraid of someone different than us. But to be fair, the Anthralaens are from a different solar system, not a different country. So the fear of meeting someone of a different world is kind of expected. And even with that, I didn't know how this will turn out.

            Nonetheless, I yearned for things to return to normal. I wanted to be that kid who was a faceless loser again, to be literally invisible in the shadows. But now, I went from unknown to infamous. While a third of the entire school is congratulating me for the work, the rest are keeping silent from me, maybe because they don't know how to make of things. I tried to spend less time at school, trying to make more sense of life.

            In fact, my apartment complex seems more....empty of the life it once had, now it's filled with the uncertainty of the future. Every time I went outside, I noticed people staring at me unusually, like I could know what was going to happen. This one elderly couple tried getting me to tell them about 'the New World Order' the president was planning. I'll never forget their faces, of fear and disgust in jealousy. I don't blame them, after all, it's not every day that their own brother is responsible for finding an alien spacecraft. And not every day that the aliens would be animal humanoids.

            One day, I got out of lunch and roamed around the school. I decided to go out to eat and followed a couple of people. One of the boys in the group was a boy named Jason, who I swear needs a brain transplant sometime. On purpose they ran to the restaurant to get rid of me, and because of my carelessness, I didn't look where I was going and bumped into a teenage girl on her shoulder. I was going to turn and apologize when I heard a woman gasp behind me.

            I turned around slowly to see an Anthralaen fox standing still in fright. I recognized it to be the same girl I bumped into, and I was more shocked of how many people were surrounding us, murmuring and a couple shouting into shushes.

            It happened so quickly, but I remember being stiffened in place, I could see close enough to realize it was female. She wasn't wearing normal clothing, but its sleek design mesmerized me. The vixen had to be one of the recent refugees from Anthralae, trying to restart on a new planet. I remember that everyone's faces were a mix of curiosity, wonder, disbelief, and somehow fear.

            By some force of nature or the cosmos, I found myself walking toward her from the crowd's grip and deeper inside the cleared area of people. There were murmurs from everyone, even the police officers stopped trying to break everyone away from the scene. I felt the weight of a thousand eyes on me and the vixen, the flashes of a dozen phones made me feel even more scared. She looked as terrified as I was, but she was more confused than fearful when I began approaching her.

            She was around my age, with the same triangular face and head of a fox, yet the face had a few qualities that were human-like. What stood out was her feminine body, her biped legs that ended to barefoot claws. A set of loosely red hair matched her fur on the vixen, with a strand that covered her anxious eyes. I can't imagine what she was feeling; to be approached by an unfamiliar creature on a new world. I felt sorry for her, but the way I knew it, she'd end up like me.

            I was a few feet away from her when my legs finally stopped moving. The vixen started to back up. “Don't worry," I said with my hands held up. “I'm not gonna hurt you." She didn't reply back to me. I don't know if it was either because she couldn't understand me or because she didn't want to speak. However, she did stop moving and took a few steps forward.

             I remember that my heart was in overload and my palms were breaking a sweat. Everyone around us was quiet, nothing except the birds chirping and cars that slowed down were breaking the ice. I thought to myself that it was going to be a pain. Still, I marveled at what was going on at the moment.

            Words can't describe what happened next. Without realizing it, I lifted my hand and touched the vixen's left cheek. All she did was stay still in petrification, not even move an inch. As my fingers gently felt the warmth of her fur, I saw the vixen grasp onto my hand with her paw, her four fragile fingers entwined with mine.

            The fox's eyes looked at me with a mix of emotions off of her scared face. I don't know how to say it, but I felt something happen within me. I saw something link between us, one conscious pass to mine. I saw images flash before me, a young Anthralaen girl in some kind of wooden hut on a distant planet, the girl laughing with a family, that same girl running away from an unseen danger, the girl looking at a boy fox's closed eyes in grief, and the girl looking into the stars for hope with a love, longing for deliverance from pain. I know this will sound crazy, but I think what I just saw was a memory.

            I felt as if I was weightless, like a harmony of other happy memories were playing through my mind. I just...had this feeling that in front of me was something grand, something spectacular beyond the reaches of space. It was an echo of euphoria, making me feel intense with curiosity and joy to know we weren't alone in this expansive universe. I felt like I was seeing through the eyes of God.

            But it was all thrown away when I heard yelling. “Step away from her now!" Our locked eyes broke off and the vixen looked as dazed as I was. I turned to see a man in a black suit and dark sunglasses. “Everyone go to your business or you'll be arrested. You too!"

            Everyone walked away, and two more men appeared with the vixen. “Please come with us," and like that, she turned her back and began walking unceremoniously away with the men in black.

            I felt disappointed. However, as the vixen and men were ignoring the stares of everyone on the street, making their way toward a black car nearby, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. I remember hearing a mumbling in between the men in black, yet I saw the fox lift a paw to them.

            She turned around slowly and looked straight at me. The vixen just quietly stared at me for several seconds, and gave to me a warm, kind smile which I unknowingly mirrored. The vixen then disappeared into the black car, driving off into the distance and away from what I remember was a phenomenon. Later, I found that Jason was nowhere to be seen, and my backpack was untouched. Realizing it was getting late, I grabbed it and got to school before the lunch bell rang.

In school, everybody asked me a dozen questions each on what happened and even congratulated me. Even Jason stopped trying to find and torture me, like I'm a different person after what happened. My mother and a dozen news reporters also bombarded me with questions all night, asking me what her reaction was and if I could meet her again. I kinda want to.

            That close encounter happened today, and it's still embedded in my memory. I know that after meeting an Anthralaen up close, I'll never see things the same way again. After what happened today, I know things are gonna change, whether for bad or for worse.

This is Connor Clayton signing off for now.