A green light blinked slowly across a great distance.

Once

Twice

Adam lay in blackness spinning slowly in the cool dark, not void dark, but the soft dark of a quiet bedroom during a snowstorm as the wind lashes the side of the house, but a fire burns somewhere to warm the darkness. The green light is the only thing that disturbs that darkness pulsing once, and then twice in and out.

In the darkness he can see flashes of color and shape but they hardly make sense.

He sees light as if he is looking up from the bottom of an ocean floor. Schools of fish swim around him and little bubbles trail upward towards the surface. The sun seems distant under the water, but the diffused light is calming. Little patterns of refracted light roll over his face and body.

It goes dark again, and the green light continues to blink in the black.

He sees the movement of strange alien shapes; they swim above him like sharks in the darkness.

In the sky there is a large white ring that vanishes as it cuts down towards the horizon, obscured by atmospheric haze .

And then he spirals downward, back into the cool darkness, to where the green light pulses steadily. Once annoying, the green light is now a comfortable companion, one he recognizes as he falls in and out of the black. As he sleeps images flash through his thoughts, miles and miles of open water, a shining city on a distant island, marble floors, fountains, artificial waterfalls, and then the visions fade, and he sees nothing of particular interest.

He spirals down slowly again, but he does not meet blackness . This time he sleeps.

***

The council of Shanshara had been convened, the council of Zealots under watch of the Theocrat had been immediately informed of the situation. Messages had been sent with some urgency.

Oh, great Theocrat, Shanshara has given sign from the heavens by way of an unknown variable. With respect we ask an Auditor be sent to evaluate the situation, with praise to Shanshara and her great light, your humble servant the Overseer.

The letter was sent and received immediately by way of chain warp communication, to the sacred hall of the Zealots, atop a steaming moon with a molten core and burbling hot springs. They said the warm water could keep one youthful and that the steam stimulated the minds of the zealots, but it was the strange geological architecture that made it holy, glistening white rock rising upwards in great arches and pillars over a thin filmy layer of porous white stone.

There an Auditor was immediately dispatched as there was always several on standby to deal with any major problems reported to the conclave and its council of zealots.

The Auditor arrived in his ship: sleek and three pointed with gentle curves and sleek amber accents. The Overseer, representative of the conclave and figurehead ruler of the city waited at the base of the landing pad, which jutted out as a great circular slab over the water. His body was swathed in long silver robes, and around his shoulders, supported by the skeletal structure of his chest and arms, there lay of structure of some sort, a rigid cage of coral than fanned out from his shoulders and head like a sort of baroque ruffle seen in old paintings worn by kings and queens.

Like the others of his planet he stood on two legs with a long wide, flat tail poking out from under his robe. He had two arms with three webbed fingers and a sleek triangular head.

The auditor, when he appeared was clearly no denizen of this planet.

He was remarkably thin and very small, not coming past the knees of his taller counterpart. He had a sort of gargoyleish appearance with large ears and a hunched posture unfamiliar with walking over long distances. His little body was rather furry and bluish. His feet were made more for climbing or gripping onto branches than they were suited to walking, and his incredibly long, thin arms boasted a set of seven fingers. Four of the fingers were almost as long as he was tall, and were webbed like the hands of the Overseer, though instead of for swimming they were used for flying. The other three fingers were short and protruded from the same place as the other four fingers, but they were not webbed and were primarily used for manipulating objects.

He also had a tail, long thin and tapered, except for at the very end which boasted a sort of fan structure that could be opened and closed during flight. The webbing on this fan structure had a gradient of purple to bright electric blue.

He also had a single eye, large and centered in the middle of his face colored mostly yellow. It didn't make for good depth perception, but what his eye lacked in that he made up for with his ears.

The overseer bowed as the Auditor hopped down the ramp, his ears flapping gently as he came to rest on the stone, "Your excellence I am so pleased you could make it."

"Enough with the formalities." The Auditor waved his tail, "We have known each other too long for that."

The Overseer's gills flared in pleasure, "Of course, Mitzen, right this way."

Mitzen followed behind with some struggle. He would have flown but found doing so would be rather rude. It was customary to take on the traditions and behaviors of the host species when visiting theirplanet, and he was not about to insult his old friend, "Tell me, what happened, I got the abridged version on my way here but I would rather know more from you before I see it."

The overseer nodded, "Naturally, The object was spotted in our sky shortly after the dawn prayer, multiple fisherman claimed to have seen it streak across the sky and splash down into the shallow ocean near the Eastern Tolp forest. One of those fishermen swam out to examine the object and came to us immediately with the news. We had it brought to the council chambers immediately for our inspection."

Mitzen's tail flared, fanning open and closed with some excitement, "I see, and this object. What do you know of it?"

"Well from what my third husband and my first wife tell me, it appears to be some sort of alien space suit. There was some debate as to weather or not it was an organic exo skeleton, but from what we can tell the outer shell is metallic of some nature, mostly steel alloy. We observed strange runes on what we think to be the upper chest."

Mitzen's ears perked at that, "So it has a familiar structure then?"

The overseer flapped his hands a bit, unsure, "I mean yes, but we could be wrong. We are examining it based on our own anatomy. If we are wrong, it has two arms, two legs, no tail, and a single head."

"Wings or fins?" Mitzen asked.

The overseer shook his head, "No It does not seem that it does."

"interesting, of course I would like to observe the object for myself."

"Of course, right this way." The overseer led Mitzen through the city, an abundant place of beautiful white architecture and sweeping organic lines shot through with hundreds and thousands of canals . All of the available land on this world was made up primarily of long dormant volcanic islands that popped up in droves some time around when the planet got its first moon. For the longest time, the world had been entirely water based until the moon showed up and activated hotspots within the planet's crust causing the world to break out in islands like skin might break out in lesions.

As the moon's orbit stabilized, the volcanic activity eventually died away leaving a smattering of islands across the globe though it was still mostly water.

A group of children raced past them, "Hail Shanshara." They shouted to the overseer and Mitzen before diving into the canal.

"By Shanshara's light." The two responded

They crossed a wide arching bridge parting the guards at the door to the council chambers before heading downward into a subterranean level. The walls here were mostly made of glass, and here at the edge of the city, the view looked out on open ocean, colorful reefs, and schools of aquatic life rolled in lazy circles outside the window.

More guards parted, and a room opened. Two figures waited for them, who Mitzen recognized as the overseer first wife and third husband. The three stepped forward briefly taking each other's hands and leaning in to touch noses before pulling away, but he ignored this exchange in favor of the thing at the center of the room.

Four limbed as suggested, with a metallic outer coating in an unusual shade of green and black. They were unholy colors to Shanshara and would not be permitted for wearing in Conclave territory. However, if the thing was alien they certainly couldn't be expected to know that. The Conclave was not unaware of other beliefs though they did ask visitors to abide by rules whenever and if possible.

Mitzen stepped forward hopping over to examine the creature.

The overseer's first wife, he thought her name was. O'har stepped forward, "We have been observing it since its arrival. So far there has been no movement. Perhaps it is dead?'

Mitzen could agree that was a distinct possibility, but he wasn't going to rule out life just yet. The thing had fallen from the sky so that was a pretty good indicator that it was dead, but then again if that was a suit of some sort perhaps it had ways of surviving they did not yet understand.

As an auditor Mitzen was expected to have several areas of expertise. Each Auditor was tasked with some manner of knowledge or another, and Mitzen was an expert in biology, with an emphasis in speculative xenobiology, religion, politics, and the preforming arts.

He leaned in to examine the creature. Long rear limbs, shorter forward arms and five digits on each hand. It had a very small head in comparison to the rest of its body which was quite thick, it had no tail which explained the flat feet. Mitzen hopped forward to examine the head, the green and black metal was gone here, replaced by a sort of metallic green visor. His examination continued for some time, his fascination piqued as he examined the runes on the chest.

"So, what do we know." The overseer asked, to eager to hold in his questions any longer.

Mitzen stepped back, "Well the creature is clearly a land based bipedal of some sort." He motioned forward so the others could lean in and look. Around the room, the posted guards did the same, "The flat feet and long rear legs with no tail suggest an impeccable balance. The arms and hands however are indicative of a creature that evolved for climbing perhaps." He motioned to the hand. All five fingers are very short, I imagine it is very dexterous with its hands, this is likely what spurred this creature's species into sentience since they are perfect for the use of tools." He walked around in a shallow circle.

"The torso suggests this is where it keeps all its vital organs, and the face plate is angled forward with no wide periphery. Generally speaking, forward facing eyes are indicative of a predator species." This was no surprise, to him as there were a few predator species in the conclave though their diets were comprised mostly of insects or aquatic life." Mitzen continued to examine the body of the creature, "I mean clearly it is sentient, but this body structure does not lend itself to, strength, speed, flight, swimming or any other major ability, so I can only assume it is intelligence that allows this creature to have made it this far."

They nodded eagerly as he spoke inching in closer to get a better look, "So what do we do."

"I would like to bring in extra guards, an engineer and a doctor, preferably one that specializes in animal care. I wish to see what is under that suit."

The overseer shifted nervously, "But what if it cannot breathe our atmosphere?"

"Then is why I am bringing in the doctor, we will test the atmosphere inside the suit.

They nodded and did not argue further before long they had a team of engineers and guards standing in a wide circle around the creature. The overseer had brought in his second wife to examine the armor as she was an experienced engineer and with some guidance from a biology expert she did some looking, "If what you say is true, Auditor, than the creature will primarily articulate its arms in a forward arc like this, any buttons or release levers are going to be on the outside of the body probably near the hed chest or neck."

She took a look and found what she was looking for. The doctors inched forward as she hooked one of her webbed fingers under the release catch and manipulated it. It took a few minutes for her to figure it out. She didn't mind though, any good exterior release lever was bound to be more difficult. You didn't want to accidentally catch your space suit on soemthing that would cause it to accidentally pop open. IN the end the first release required two more before the helmet finally popped open with a hiss.

The group looked at each other as she gently reached out and pulled the helmet off.

There was a murmuring around the room.

Mitzen leaned in for a better exam. He quickly sprayed his hand with a clear sterilization coat before reaching forward. The creature was selectively furry, mostly on the top of its head and in little strips on parts of its face. Some of the structures were familiar, two eyes perhaps, and a mouth. Its fur was sort of damp though it didn't seem to be a mucus secreting creature which was interesting.

Mitzen took a tool from the doctor who crouched next to him and lifted up one of the creature's lips exposing a line of hard white objects." Teeth perhaps, many of their species had soemthing similar though not in that color or configuration

"Omnivore." The doctor said

Mitzen flared his tail in agreement.

"But is it alive."

Luckily mitzen didn't have to answer that as just then the creature's eyes slowly blinked open. It was to Mitzen's shock and the group's horror when the creature's right eye swiveled around the room at them, contracting with an audible metallic hiss clearly separate from the second organic eye which sort of just wobbled there in confusion.

"By the Zealot." The overseer cursed shushed by both his third husband and his second wife.

"Heretic." Someone began before Mitzen raised a hand.

"No no, we cannot uphold an alien to our standards of religion brother. Perhaps when we know more a polite explanation may help. Let us not ostracize to begin with shall we." As if in response, the creature groaned and rolled onto tis side. It had an unusually deep voice, like the chuffing of a Dweller on Mitzen's own planet.

The group of them listened as the suit hissed and the joints flexed. It was halfway through a roll before its organic eye fell on them, and it paused. Mitzen couldn't have said what expression crossed the creature's face. Fear, Surprise, anger? But Mitzen saw its eyes move to the armed guards, and then to the group surround it. Sentient life is pretty easy to parse out and with slow deliberate movements it simple lay back down. It cooed at them once and then hissed.

Alien speech.

How exciting.

They hadn't seen a new species in nearly seven hundred years.

***

The green light turned red, and that is what woke uim.

EXTERIOR SUIT BREACH.

Adam didn't want to wake up and ignored the warning.

When asked later he might have said the smell is what woke him, sort of fruity, but also kind of..... chemically?

He opened his eyes slowly.

Leave it to his continued experience being either kidnapped or running into aliens that he did not freak out at the strange organic architecture in white. He wasn't even surprised when his mechanical ee marked at least ten living targets of unknown origin in the room with him. It was when he sat up on one elbow and came face to face with an electric blue fuzzy one eyed fruit bat that things finally dawned on him

He looked up.

Looked around at the weapons, listened to the strange chattering of aliens, saw them pull back in surprise, and made an executive decision.

He lay right back down.

"Oh, shit. Here we go again."