Chapter 39: Interspecies Communication
"Hey, hey, hey, human ... are you awake?"
Noticing that the girl's body temperature had returned to normal and her pulse had strengthened, Red Spider realized she had woken up. Would she be willing to have a normal conversation with him now?
"Who… who's talking? Where's my mother?"
Great. Was it shock? Or selective amnesia? Had she forgotten everything that had just happened?
"Hey, hey, hey! What's wrong with you, human? Look out the window ... don't you remember me?"
Red Spider remembered meeting her before. She had screamed at him before fainting. She should remember that clearly, right?
Prompted by Red Spider's words, the girl glanced out the window ... and immediately went pale.
First, she saw a giant mechanical arm, gleaming red, sliding past the plane's window; then, Starscream's head lowered into view. Wasn't that the terrifying "demon" who had just wiped out those desert bandits?
"Mister… sir… did you swallow me? Am I inside your stomach? Why… why can't I move?"
Right. From her perspective, what else could she think? To a human who had never even heard of Transformers, this probably did look like being eaten alive.
"Ugh, I can't stand these ignorant, insignificant creatures! If you want to talk properly, we'll do it outside. I don't care if you freeze in the wind!"
With that, Starscream opened the cockpit door. The desert wind at dusk was brutally cold, and the girl, who had been warm and comfortable just a moment before, instantly began to shiver.
"M-Master, I was wrong! Please don't hurt me! It's so cold! I'll tell you everything you want to know! You can have anything you want!"
Wow. Humans were really fragile ... unable to handle even a light breeze. Still, Red Spider should probably close that door; if desert sand got into the dashboard, it'd be a nightmare to clean.
"Alright, now I'll ask the questions. Tell me everything you know. As for the information I need, I'll verify it myself."
"Yes, sir!"
Although she didn't fully understand what was going on, after witnessing this giant's overwhelming power, the young girl ... the only human Red Spider had encountered so far ... began humanity's first real contact with an alien civilization.
"Let's begin. My first question is…"
It was, indeed, an interspecies exchange ... one between a higher-dimensional being and a lower one. Obviously, it wasn't going to be easy.
After less than twenty minutes of questioning, Red Spider gave up.
The girl, whose name was Lyriana, could only provide minimal information: there was a nomadic tribe about thirty kilometers away, and she shared her own name and that of her family. As for advanced technology or energy reserves, she had no clue what any of that meant.
"Mr. Red Spider, that's all I know. Why don't we go back to my tribe and ask the elders? They're the oldest in our group and have traveled to many places ... maybe they'll understand what you're talking about."
Well, for humans still living in a medieval-like era, Red Spider's questions were about 500 years ahead of their time. Even the elders probably wouldn't have the slightest idea.
Still, if he wanted to gain a basic understanding of this planet, he needed to talk to more people ... especially those elders. So, he decided to go to the girl's tribe. After all, he wasn't planning to return anytime soon; he definitely didn't want another encounter with that annoying Six-Faced Beast!
"Alright! I'll trust you this time, but I'm not entirely confident in your sense of direction, little one. I'll need to use your brainwaves to guide me ... it might be a little stressful. Please cooperate! Red Spider ... transform!"
Because of the chaotic logic within the Lyriana system he'd constructed, Red Spider couldn't be bothered to let the girl lead the way manually. He transformed directly into a jet. But afterward, he wasn't very gentle with her ... a device similar to a metal detector extended from the control panel and clamped directly onto the girl's head.
"Bzzzt… bzzzt… bzzzt…"
It wasn't just a mild tingling ... it was a strong electric discharge. The girl gasped and fainted immediately.
"Host, this human's brain capacity is limited. Using electrical impulses to extract map data for a long period could cause serious damage. Are you sure you want to continue?"
The Transformer System sounded almost kind ... it even seemed to have a certain degree of compassion for these ordinary lifeforms on a strange planet. In contrast, Red Spider was completely indifferent.
"Don't be so dramatic! Just control the output. Stop when she's almost at her limit. It's only 30 kilometers ... just a few minutes at my speed. I can probably see that grassland from here anyway!"
Red Spider wasn't exaggerating. As one of the most powerful aerial warriors in the universe, locating a human tribe on a flat plain was trivial once he had a general direction.
"Understood. But I still think appearing in front of these humans in our current form might be… excessive. I hope we don't cause unnecessary chaos. What we're doing technically counts as interference in the development of a lower civilization."
Well, who would've thought the Transformer System followed cosmic civilization ethics? But this was Starscream, commander of the Decepticon Air Force! Since when had a Decepticon ever cared about the rules of the universe?
(End of Chapter)
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