Allyanna shifted in the next room over, the sounds of blankets shifting evident. She slept quietly, her breath light and even. The door had been left open, and if Al moved, she would be able to see inside. It was much quieter than anywhere on earth. No animal sounds, no cars rushing by outside, no voices.
As she thought about her tattoo, that fact dawned on her. It was almost silent, any sounds to be heard were so quiet one would have to strain. It was also very clean-looking.
Allyanna slept for what felt like several hours, though it was closer to just one. She still probably needed more, but she felt uneasy leaving anyone in a strange environment, including Al. When she woke up, she changed clothes quickly and smoothed out her hair before walking back into Al's room.
Al was sitting in the exact spot Allyana had left her, staring aimlessly at the poster of Taurus. She seemed deep in thought, and didn't notice the other being entering the room
"Are you alright?" Allyanna asked, worried about the other creature. "Are you still thinking about the patterns?"
She turned her head to Allyanna and nodded. "Yeah, but I'm alright. I'm mostly noticing how quiet your planet is"
Allyanna nodded. "Yes, we have very sensitive hearing. Everything is engineered to be quiet. Transport, technology, all of it. Nature's sounds are the loudest, and most of them are quiet as well. I am speaking louder than I normally would, as the volume we normally speak at seems to be out of your species range of hearing."
She nodded. "That explains a lot." She mused. "Can I go outside? I might be marooned but i still got a job to do.."
Allyanna looked worried at that. "I- well- that might not be the best idea-" She said, grabbing some of the screens and leaving them to float in front of her. "You are still healing, you should stay in place! And I am still not sure if the atmosphere is suitable for you, I have special air filters in here that scanned your biometrics and created an air that is suitable for both of us, and I need to compare it to the planets atmosphere."
She explained, then mumbled something the translator didn't fully pick up.
"Andβ¦ Might notβ¦. You here" the translator caught.
She cocked an eyebrow. "What was that last part?" She asked calmly
Allyanna turned away. "Legally, I should have left you to the authorities, who would not have been there for several more units of time" the translator didn't translate that well.
"If you had managed to still be alive at that point, they would have assigned you to a lab to be studied and poked and prodded, no madder the sentience you showed. Maybe after a year, if they understood your biology well enough, you may have been released to be a companion. But we have no way of finding your place of origin, and nobody in their right mind would let a foreign species roam without a keeper⦠I would be considered crazy and arrested! But I could tell from your tech that you do not deserve to be treated like a pet, even if you seem to worship out patterns!"
She now raised both eyebrows. "Wow, crazy. I'm out" She replied with a shrug, getting up. She had no idea what she planned to do, but she wasn't getting paid if she came back emptyhanded, and she desperately needed to be paid
Allyanna froze. "You are still healing. I have risked everything to help you heal and get out of here. If you leave, you will be captured, I will loose my job, you could die-"
At each point, the things floating around her sunk lower.
"They⦠Might execute me for keeping a foreign species out of containment."
At that, she sunk to the floor, the gravity of her choices catching up to her.
Her mouth moved, but Al couldn't hear the sound that came out, and the translator didn't pick it up. Yet, based on how Allyanna was acting, it was probably something along the lines of "what have I done"
She sat down by a window and looked out. "Where would I even go?" she asked, framing her point simply
Allyanna's breathing seemed erratic as she sat on the floor, curled into herself. The things she dad been floating around her had landed on the floor next to her. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her halo thing above her head seeming duller. She looked up slightly, murmuring under her breath. The translator picked up some of the words. "I⦠So⦠Am⦠Sorry.."
She stood up, tapping her on the shoulder. "Relax, m'not goin anywhere"
Allyanna looked up, shaking slightly. "I should not have- I am sorry- I did not think. I am sorry that you are essentially trapped here. I collected as much as I could from the wreckage of your ship, and I will try to build you a ship and get you home. However, I am a doctor, not an engineer. When I saw you, all I could think about was getting you better and giving you your best chance at getting home. I did not think this fully through. I apologize."
She knelt down, looking the alien in her eyes. "Stop apologizing. It's causa you I'm alive. I saw the capture of the wreckage, and I'm not sure how I even got out. I'll survive here as long as it takes you. My entire job here is to collect information about a planet. I'm sure i can do that from here"
Allyanna nodded, taking a deep breath. "I am still sympathetic for your situation. I will do my best to teach you about this planet and surrounding ones, as well as to get you a way home. Until then, can you promise to stay inside as much as possible and to hide if you see anyone else? At least of a species that is not your own, if you see another⦠Human? You are fine to approach. This is just to make sure neither of us are discovered in a hostile way."
She nodded. "Will do. I'm certain you don't know what a Marine is, but I used to be one. Marines are soldiers on my planet. Stealth isn't a problem"
Allyanna considered the word and the translation for a second. "Sounds like a Zephyr to me." The word came through several times- 'Zephyr, Sky, Air, Military Soldier.'
"Unless you meant the other translation- water or of the sea?" Allyanna said. "Though that wouldn't make much sense."
She nodded, smiling slightly. "Military Soldier" She hummed, thinking about the word. "We're called that because we're trained to be on boats and near the sea though"
Allyanna nodded. "The Zephyrs are called that because they fight in the sky." She had stood up at this point, picking up her screens and floating them around her again.
"It is fairly early in the morning right now, so I cannot contact anyone about the patterns at this time, and I will soon have to head off to work. The hospital needs as many hands as it can get right now, parts of your ship blew off and landed more that three buzzes (unit of distance measurement) away. Nobody was killed, but several people have bumps, and the hysteria- The authorities believe whatever flew the ship is dead -I am still not sure how you are not- and it is helping to calm some, but I cannot call out of work today. Will you be okay by yourself? I will prepare compatible food for you, and I can get you paper and pen to draw to pass the time. Unfortunately, I do not have any books that will connect to the translator, nor any screen programsβ¦"
(in case you can't tell, she doesn't talk to people often.)
(I can, it's kinda endearing lol. She's tryin so hard)
She nodded. "I'll be fine here. You go to work, I'll survive" She replied, also having stood. "I'll probably just nap, to be honest, I hurt" she responded
Allyanna nodded. "Alright. I'll make you some food in case you get hungry. Do you have any allergies or intolerances? And I'll leave paper and pen out for you. Does that sound good?"
"That sounds good, no allergies" she replied simply
Allyanna nodded, heading into the kitchen. "I'll leave you a way to contact me if you need it." She called, preparing some food. She was quick and efficient, bringing the food into Al's room and arranging it on a tray. She grabbed a pen and paper, and a screen, which she fiddled around with, before showing it to Al. "If you need me, press this button. It will sent an alert to my mobile device."
She nodded "Got it. Anything I should know before being left to my own devices?" She asked, looking over the items that had been brought to her