A few days passed, and Eldon quickly became a part of everyday life in Argos. He

  learned the language and became a friend to many. He even began his first romantic

  relationship. He did hope that he could bear a child with one of the women, but

  Gakuto quickly explained to him that although they were so similar in appearance, it

  was impossible to have a child with a human. His appearance, however, brought up

  new questions. Gakuto believed that for his form to be so close to their own, the

  planet on which they evolved had to be extremely similar to Earth. That was not the

  case with the planets around Solis, however. This brought new scenarios as to the

  origin of so many species in this system.

  Gakuto began forming a hypothesis that those species must have evolved on

  different planets and been brought there. His idea was very complex and brought

  forth new questions that were even harder the answer, so for now it remained a

  hypothesis without much research behind it. His request to sample DNA from

  thousands of species and prove that there is no evolutionary link between them was

  too costly and time consuming to be granted the green light, so for now he remained

  in speculation.

  Eldon’s memories of the past began painting a detailed picture of what

  happened in the years after the start of the war. While satellites were scanning

  Eldon’s home planet, they decided to drop a few drones so they could remotely

  monitor some key places Eldon wanted to see. When the maps were ready, Eldon

  pointed out the approximate locations of the ancient command centers. Eldon also

  provided the system that notifies him of any electromagnetism being used. In all

  cities, some of the buildings have installed within their walls a simple yet durable

  system, which acts like a receiver and an antenna. It gets its energy directly from A

  concrete. Most of its systems have failed over the years, and the network can no

  longer even pinpoint the location of the source; it still functions as an alarm, to inform

  of the existence of the technology.

  Margaret and Steve were eager to get his replication machines in their hands,

  in case they could help them decode the crystals. Eldon allowed them to visit his

  bunker and see the machines firsthand. Those turned out to be very sophisticated 3-

  D printers but with an existing library of items to make. It seemed that it was

  designed so that no one, even Eldon himself, could tamper with the machines and

  make something new. The machines did not provide insight on how to decode the

  crystals, but they did help with the creation of very sophisticated 3-D printers for

  Argos.

  Y:18 D:60

  The mapping satellite left Spi (Solis-D) to move to the outer, colder, and smaller

  planets. Meanwhile, the drones sent there were approaching an ancient city in ruins.

  Although the planet seemed to be well built, there were far fewer species and villages

  still active there. Eldon explained that it was most likely due to the existence of the

  largest concentration of his people there. They would not easily leave anyone alive

  over the period of those years. At least not in close proximity to themselves. There,

  just outside the tall structures, an area that looked like a lake from the airborne

  images now seemed like a well-polished metal sheet. Upon close inspection of the

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  area, it looked like the top of an underground launch platform, under which should

  still be a working base. They deduced that because the area was kept clean and no

  vegetation was present around the pad. Without much searching, a smaller,

  hangarlike gate with a human-sized door next to it was found.

  “It looks like they only use flying to travel. There are no roads,” noticed Jain.

  Eldon seemed excited and worried at the same time. “Can we knock on the

  door?” he asked.

  “Weird as it sounds, we actually can,” said Steve.

  “Can I also speak to whoever answers?”

  “Yeah, you can,” said Jain, who was organizing the operation. “Steve, knock

  on the door please.”

  Steve looked like he was waiting for this the entire time. “Look at this

  maneuver,” he said and made the drone bash its belly on the door twice, in what

  would seem like a dance maneuver, much the way a human would knock on a door.

  Hearing no answer, Steve continued to bash on it for a while, waiting for something

  to happen. About ten minutes later, the door opened. From within, another Vampire

  appeared. He looked at the drone with a questioning face and a weapon pointing at

  it.

  Eldon began talking to him in a yet-unknown language. Jain stopped Juuda,

  who was ready to begin asking Eldon to transfer questions. “Let him speak alone,”

  she said. After a while, Eldon stopped and turned to the group. “Well, this is

  amazing,” he said with excitement.

  Alex, who had arrived once he heard the news, asked, “What were you

  talking about?”

  Eldon turned toward Alex. “His name is Rhain,” he said. “He is a much older

  Vampire than me, and he was very curious about you. But he is a friend, and he

  would like to talk again. He will speak with his superiors, and he would like to talk

  again tomorrow.”

  “What did he ask you, and what was this language you were talking?” asked

  Jain.

  “Is this the language you mentioned a few times before?” asked Konoya. “The

  language of the stars that your elders spoke?”

  “Yes. I had not spoken that language since I was a kid, thousands of years

  ago. Also, his reaction when I told him that you look like us was very strange.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Jain.

  “When I told him that there are visitors from the stars, he asked me what you

  look like, and I told him you are just like us but require a far more complex diet than

  us to survive,” answered Eldon. “At that point, I have to admit, the reaction on his

  face was that of shock.”

  “What did he say after that?” asked Jain again.

  “He said that he will speak to me again tomorrow. He went to talk with

  someone else inside the base.”

  “We need to wait and be ready for more communications. Let’s take a break

  for a bit and gather tomorrow, once we have him back. Steve, put the drone on

  standby, looking at the door. Once it detects movement, let us know.”

  After almost everyone left the room, Alex, Jain, Juuda, and Konoya gathered

  to talk alone.

  “It felt like something is wrong,” started Konoya. “He looked like he thought he

  knew us.”

  “Konoya, once the language they spoke is complete, make sure you do not

  inform them that we understand. Keep it a secret from anyone out of our current

  circle for now,” said Jain.

  “Are you suspicious of Eldon?” asked Alex, to which Juuda nodded in

  agreement with the question.

  “Not really,” answered Jain, “but if Rhain is his superior and he thinks he

  knows us, then he might pass sensitive information to him. It’s good to know what

  they are talking about, to avoid any surprises.”

  “Don’t you think that will be very hurtful to him once he realizes?” said Juuda.

  “I think it’s better to tell him the truth immediately. Let them talk, and before we test

  him, we tell him the truth without making him feel like we don’t trust him.”

  “As always, you are the voice of morals here, Juuda. We usually don’t listen

  to you, but I think you might be right on this one. Since the language is not yet ready,

  we will let them talk, and after we have decoded the language, we will let him know

  that we understand.”