forum Letters Across the Universe (Always open. Say you read page one stuff)

Started January 29, 2020 by @Althalosian-is-the-father book

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Hello Alék!

You’re 14 too! That’s great! History is not my favorite subject, but I like reading about the origins of different species in our galaxy. I am very glad I received a reply from you! I appreciate that you are concerned about me only having one friend, but it is completely alright. Aboard Vera City, I am the only kid, and while I consider myself to be very close to the other scientists, it’s more like having a dozen parents than having friends. My one friend lives in a hotel halfway across the galaxy, so we communicate through our holopads. To answer the question about my humanity, we don’t have tribes here exactly. We have species and and different sub-species. Both my mother and father are mostly human, but have “alien” ancestors somewhere in their family trees. And science! You don’t have science on your planet?! HOW?!

a shushing noise

Sorry! Anyway, you’re really missing out! Science is basically the pursuit of understanding and figuring out how the world around us works. It sounds sort of like your ‘dexár’ is science too, but your people just don’t call it that. Is dexár a weapon or physical skill your people have? I’m afraid I don’t really get what it is.

Wait a second, your people have never left their planet? Do you not have technology advanced enough to leave your planet’s orbit? We have spaceships, which are like ships, but you know, in space, and we use wormholes, big metal circles that surround rips in space-time, to travel faster than the speed of light. How advanced is the technology on your planet? Do you have any sort of instant communication devices or artificial lighting? Please, tell me all that you can!

End recording.

Translated from high Menna

Hey Artimae!
Why do you not like Histories? How else do you learn the stories of your people? It sounds like different species are like the tribes; Because the tribes were once all the same family, but then they formed the tribes. The tribes were also changed to be different. The Dweorv tribe is small and strong, and the AlFen tribe is tall and darkest.
Is a holopad something to write letters on?
So scientists are like teachers that search for knowledge? You must be very wise to work among them.
A great dexár can be used as a weapon; but they should be used as tools. Zol taught us that way. He had the great dexár, which was light, which pairs with the greatest dexár, which is life. Zol had the power to heal or to kill as he wished. But he refused to fight unless it was to protect his life or other. He taught us to do the same. Our dexár is like an orb of power within us. We can used that power to use the great forces of the world. The lesser dexír are in all people. They can be mercy or wisdom or skill with a sword.
I do not know what orbit is. But we stay on the ground. You have ships that go into the heaven that go fast? Why would worms have metal holes in the heaven? It sounds like our worms are much smaller creatures.
We have many tools. Things for melting metal to make things with. We have no tools for talking with. Why would you need that? Are there many mute? I don't know what artificial means, but we have the light of Solíos and Selún and the many stars.

im still wondering if My god-o can join…

[REDACTED]

Dear pal,

I honestly don't like writing 'pen' when it comes to pen-pal. I write with a pencil, so it makes practically no sense. Anywho, greetings, Zenith! Your Universe sounds greatly intense, and I honestly would come to admit that I'd rather it over mine. My Universe is peaceful, see, and hardly anyone has a problem. It gets boring, having everything all prim and precious. I have the Abyss to go to for war, but it's too intense, so I guess I'm at a standstill. So, um, let me answer some of your questions.

My name is Sorrel, Sorrel David Takane. I'm going to be twenty years old in a few months, and yes, I'm a guy. You asked about powers, and I'm glad to say that I have them. I have this neat ability to create butterflies, it's insane. I can fire butterflies at people, I can fly with butterflies, and butterflies are attracted to me when something rough is about to occur. (Honestly, the last time it happened I almost died, ha ha.) Arch-rivals are common for me, I tend to make enemies with a lot of people, but I'd say the whole army that's against me seems to top the charts. In fact, their leader's a counterpart of mine, it's awful. Curse you, Ebony Army. my best friend's Yin-Yang fire is my favorite weapon, if it can count as that. Does your world have leaders? What's the economy like? Are there any cool animals there?

Signed with love, Sorrel.

PS: Dashan says hi as well.

Alék!

Oh my stars, this is amazing! I am making first contact with a new species! This is absolutely wonderful!!!

hyperventilating noises

Ok, ok. I’m calm, I’m calm. I will answer your questions now, since you’ve been so kind in answering mine.

It is not that I dislike history, but that I don’t have much of a way to engage with it. With botany, you do everything with your own two hands, and feeling the dirt and the fuzz of a new sprout helps connect you to what you accomplish! It’s inspiring to see a whole garden in front of you and know that your careful eye is the reason that each plant is alive and thriving. With history, there is no way for me to feel it, interact with it, so it does not really hold my attention. What do you like about history?

Your dexár sounds like your people consider it some type of magic! That’s quite interesting, and I would love a chance to examine your people’s biology and figure out how it works. After all, there is no such thing as magic, just science that hasn’t been investigated enough yet! Is dexár like an internal power source, and how is the type of dexár determined?

I cannot get over the fact that your species has not made it to space yet! How far away would you say that your people are from leaving your planet’s surface? Does dexár allow you limited flying abilities? Oh, and wormholes are not actually worms! They are just shaped like worms, but they are not biological in any way. We use them to travel really fast and reach different planets.

We have communication devices just because there are so many species in the universe that speak so many different languages. We have translator implants that allow us to understand all languages- well, I say “we”, but I do not have one yet. My friend, Kaz, has one, but he also speaks like 12 languages because he has way too much spare time.

Have a wonderful day!

End recording.

Translated from high Menna

Hey Artimae!
What is a species? They sound a lot like tribes, but you don't seem to thinks so.
How do you do your Histories then? Normally we of the Kasptit Dodaskux read them. (Reading is the first important thing we learn there.) And we have what are called the Biblúv histúrux. {translation: Books of histories} They were written and passed down by one who is named Orena the Scribe. We do not know who this person was, but we now have all the stories of our people. The AlFen read them as well, but they also tell them aloud. The Dweorv even sing them! Would you like it better that way? To sing your histories? I think it would be odd. But it is very good to read the great tales of our ancestors and the heroes of the past.
So you are a gardener. Perhaps that is what makes you wise. Gardeners have patience. I do not. Though I hear the Dweorv very much like gardening.
I have heard of magic, but I do not know any. It is written the Prokustis {Uncertain translation. Possibly guardians, or lesser gods, or demigods} know magic. But I don't know if any mortals do. Dexír are inside of us. It is a power. It can run out for a time if we overspend it. Some dexír are found quickly, like mine. But some take a lifetime to discover and there are few that never find out.
We cannot fly. I do not know how we ever would. Unless if maybe we had a large kite on poles. There are few of us Menna who have a dexár of wind. Perhaps if one of them made a great kite and raised it…
So your worm holes are tunnels in heavens? How do you go so fast in tunnels?
Many languages! Your friend also sounds very wise. I only know Menna and a little bit of AlFen. Sorás's son Rogín teaches me sometimes. How does Kaz have so much time? Does he have servants so he doesn't have to work? And what is a translator implant?
Bolós diím tu-va ept!
{translation: Good day to you as well!}

Hello Alék!

Species are basically different types of sentient beings, and they tend to be human-like due to intermixing, but originally they have much different forms. Do you have different types of animals on your planet? Species are like that. Does that make sense? If you need more explanation, please do not hesitate to let me know!

I prefer the term botanist, but yes, I am a gardener. I would not call myself wise, but I thank you for the compliment nonetheless! However, I do not exactly have an abundance of patience, as most of my experiments revolve around accelerating the growth process.

When I learn about history, I usually do it through reading, like your species does, but singing histories does sound rather exciting! I do have a fantastic singing voice. It sounds like your people have a rather complete collection of your own history! Would you mind giving me an abbreviated version if at all possible?

I think I understand what dexír are now! It’s very impressive how your people have such a powerful inherent ability. How exactly are your abilities discovered, and could you give me a brief overview of how you can activate them?

It’s a shame you cannot fly, because my friend has told me it’s quite fun! I have not ever flown though, so I can’t really say for myself. It is most definitely an experience that I am eager to try in the future!

Wormholes are basically tunnels, yes, but they help us go faster because they do not actually occupy the space that they link between. Imagine you have a piece of paper, and you draw two dots in the same place as each other on opposite sides of the paper. If you wanted to draw a line from one dot to another, you would have to draw it on both sides of the paper, and it would cross far more paper than it had to. But imagine that you put a hole in the paper directly on the dots. Then, you wouldn’t need to draw a line because the two spots are already connected! Wormholes are the hole in the paper, allowing us to reach a far away location in a very short time.

Yes, Kaz is very intelligent! I wouldn’t call him wise, however, as he tends to doubt himself even when he has good ideas. He has so much spare time because he works as a customer service representative at his moms’ hotel, helping passengers be comfortable during their stay and fix any problems that might arise. Even though this sounds like a busy occupation, his moms spend a lot of time making renovations to the hotel, so he doesn’t have many customers to service! Do your people have any sort of hotels or inns for travelers? Any civilized planet in the universe doesn’t allow for servants, anyway. Oh! And a translator implant is a little device that is put under the skin that automatically puts any audio or visual communication in the language of the person who has it. It is very helpful for communications between different groups, especially in trade. Do your people do much trade, and do you have any sort of currency?

Hope you have a ‘tastic day!

End recording.

Dear Pen Pal,

So the first thing I want to say is thank you. I really appreciate the fact that you're willing to chat with me.

(Don't ever expect me to be so sappy again)

And trust me when I say you wouldn't like my universe. Well, at least not if you were friends with me. Me and my friends My friends and me all almost die pretty much daily. It's stressful, to say the least.

I've re-read your letter about three times now, and I'm sorry, did you write that you have butterfly powers? The idea of that is so weird interesting to me. I've never really thought powers like that existed. I mean, considering that in my world I'm the only one with powers, its a fair assumption, right?

But now onto your questions. My world has leaders, yeah, but I couldn't be bothered to find out who they are. I hate politics. In all honesty, I think we should just destroy the government and have no rulers. But most people get mad at me when I suggest that. And about the economy, I don't know that either. I'm not sure how it works, but I do have several billion. Pros to being a merc, I guess. You also asked about animals. I like spiders and know way too much information about them, but I don't think there's any really cool ones other than that. I mean, there probably are and I'm just too lazy to learn about them.

I feel bad that I can't really answer your questions. I don't really know very much about how the world works. Ask me anything about war or weapons and I could go on a monologue about it, but other than that I don't know that much.

But I'll bite. Who's Ying-Yang? Do they have powers too? What's the Ebony Army? Who's in charge of them and why do they hate you? How did you get butterfly powers?

I'll stop writing now. I tend to talk a lot, and I guess that transferred into text, too.

Respectfully, Zenith.

Hey Artimae.

So species are different animals that are also people? How odd if that is true.
Do all botanists "accelerate the growth process"? What does that mean? Am I right in guessing that it makes your plants grow faster?
You sing? Does it make you happy? I don't really sing, so I don't know if I am well of it.
Almost complete. There are some parts that are missing. But we have many books still. There is too much history to tell. Should I tell you how we moved to the island first?
I do not understand dexír well. But I can tell you about mine. Mine is darkness, so I can feel it. It is rather like walking through the grass with hands hung down. I can feel it brushing me all around. But I also cannot. Have you ever thought of pain, and felt it, and yet not felt it? It is like that. I can feel the darkness as if I am thinking about it. And it calls me. Not like a voice. But like one who returns to ocean and hears the loving voice of the waves once more. (I sound like a poet don't I? There are few poets among the Menna.) But I can let that friendlove to darkness be strong where I wish and so the darkness grows stronger and I can hide the power of the light of Soliosi or Seluni.
I wish I could. Perhaps I could try to build a kite.
What is paper? Is it like parchment? If so, how do you bend the parchment if the parchment is heavens?
I would tell Kaz that doubt does not make wisdom less. For even the wise must mediskept {possible translation: ponder} on their actions.
We do not have an inn here. But there is one only a day's journey away.
No servants? Why not? I don't have any servants. I must serve when I am grown if I am needed. But I shall be honored for it if the time comes when I do a great deed.
So you can hear other speech as your own language? How wondrous. I would ask you to explain, but it seems too much of me.
Oh, I know about trade! The Menna created it. That is a dexár that all the Menna share. We can create better than all other tribes. Therefore the other tribes learn to speak our language. We were the first traders in the world. We would trade either for any things of worth, or afterwards, for money.
Vant {translation: Goodbye}

Dear pal,

Zenith, it's my pleasure to be writing to you. It feels almost perfect to finally be connected to someone new, someone different than the others. I have too many random acquaintances that I wish wouldn't bother me so often, you're much better than them. To be honest, I wish you were the only one around sometimes. Is it silly for me to say that, after all we aren't even close.

To answer any and all things you've asked, yes, butterfly powers. I can do things with butterflies, I promise you it's real. Powers exist everywhere in my 'verse, it's insane. Most of them are pretty neat, we have everything from my butterflies, to mirror-warping, to foresight. It's kind of scary when you think of what the powers can do. Dacchan's powers are the Yin-Yang things you seemed to wonder about. Black and white fire, both hands have an opposite appearance of it. One of them heals, except I forgot which one it was. Ebony Army's some people that want me dead, my counterpart, Soul, leads them. Soul hates me because I got more famous than him during our pre-creation stages, that's when we're being created by our Creator. Surprising that the creator even lives here with us, honestly, it makes me wonder things.

You said I should probably ask about war or weapons. What are the primarily used weapons in your world, and what kind of wars do your people wage? I've only heard of distinctive wars here, and I'm not going into the Abyss, so that's that for me. Where'd your name come from? What do you do in your spare time? Did anyone else ever have powers before? I'd love to know.

With agape, Sor.

-Start Recording-
Greetings, Pen Pal.
Pen Pal is the term used here, right? I'm Blake, leader of the Azalea Camp. I'm seventeen as of last Unit, and I'm a Powerholder. I'm also a mechanic on the side, 'cause I grew up doing that. I don't have much to say about my Universe, but here goes: It's pretty much a wasteland, with some Camps scattered around. I'm in charge of a smaller one, about 150 citizens. There are some Wanderers still alive, but most were killed a few Sec-units before I was born. I was actually born as a Wanderer myself, but when I was maybe 5 Sec-units old, we came across Azalea.

Anyways, what's your Universe like? It'd be cool to know what other places are like. Sorry this first recording is short, I don't have much to talk about here.

With Power may you be graced,
Blake
-End Recording-

[scrawled on centuries old parchment]

Dear Ms. (Mr? Mrs?) Blake,

It is a pleasure to finally talk to someone, it has to have been at least a decade.

My name is Virgil, I am the god of pain in the Strange pantheon. You say your world is a wasteland? I wish I was so lucky. (not to be insenitve, that would be bad-form) My world is overrun with pesky terrible humans and their music and their art and their pre-pacaged foods. It's revolting! I swear my mother turns over in her grave everytime she counts an unatural death in the Yonderside.

I'm babbling, if I ever carry on too much, you need only say. (It's bad-form to let your thoughts away from you) My home is a Yonder-ajacent flat. It's close to my Mother's work and she's become fond of my husband. She made it special for us after we married, even though I told her he wished to stay upstairs with the humans.

All this to say, we no longer live at the same residence. (an unrelated incedint which I'll not discuss)

Apologies for my digression yet again, I should ask some questions to prompt your next letter; What color is the sky in your world? Does it rain? Do you have humans?

Thank you for your time,
Samlin (Virgilion) of the Yonderside

Dear Pal,

I don't think it's silly for you to want to have a friend. Honestly, you're one of the only friends I have. If you consider us friends, that is. Is it stupid for me to consider you a friend already?

Anyway, moving on, I'm just going to pretend I'm not freaking out about there being multiple people with powers in your world. It's insane! But moving past that, and multi-colored fires, and whatever the hell pre-creation is, let me get to your questions.

The most used kind of weapons are most likely guns and bombs. If you don't have those in your world, a gun makes a piece of metal fly really fast and pierce flesh. Bombs are similar to fire, probably because that what they're mostly made of. As for wars, well, people will fight over pretty much anything. It's kind of depressing if I'm being honest, so let's move past that. My name just sounds cool. My old 'name' was more of a title. I named myself Zenith mostly because I could. Also it sounds cool. My spare time is usually spent cooking, killing, sizing up opponents, studying, or plotting ways to get revenge.

And in answer to your last question, no. I'm the only one with powers. Natural born humans don't have them. The only reason I do is because Marcus my creator messed with my DNA in his attempt to create the perfect weapon.

Right, so returning to the fact that multiple people have powers, I'd like to know how the actual fu heck people have them. Are they born like that? How? What's pre-creation? Were you created artificially too? Who's 'The Creator'? Why does the Ebony Army want you dead? Is it for existing? There are some guys in my world who want me dead for existing. And how is Soul your counterpart? What do you mean by that?

I'll stop now. Once again, my apologies for the block of text.

Your friend, Zenith

-Start Recording-
Dear Virgil,
Nice to meet ya! In my Universe, the sky's usually grey. They say that it's 'cause of the pollution that was a thing lots of Sec-units ago. Rain's rare here, but people say that there's a place where the land stops, and there's more water than you can imagine, and across that water, there's more land! I don't really believe it, but… Am I talking too much? Lemme know if I talk too much. Anyway, I get that you don't like humans, but most of us are. I used to be a human 'til I was about eight Sec-units old. Then I ate this plant, and now I'm a Powerholder.

You're a god, right? Mother used to say that our people used to have gods and things, too. Then, something happened. We still don't know, but it killed lots of people. Are people nice where you're from? You mentioned decades in your letter. Is that a unit of time? How long is it?

Thanks for listening to my random chatter.
With Power may you be graced,
Blake