My Diary

2002-11-24

Woke up just before dawn from a strange dream where I was sharing a bed with two sea lions, and discovered it was nearly true.

I lay there, listening to Green and Black breathing evenly over the other side of the room. It felt... odd. At university I frequently crashed in friends' rooms, and vice versa; this was just like that, except the friends were non-human sea creatures and the room was on an alien planet on the other side of the galaxy, as far as I could tell. It was a very strange mixture of comfortingly familiar and unnervingly weird, at the same time. The slight acidic sea-smell that I was sure now came from the two sealin didn't help, either.

I pondered this for a while and went back to sleep.

When we all woke up a little after dawn, I was a little apprehensive. As far as I could tell, the only toilet on the island was in my apartment, which didn't have any partitions. I didn't mind being naked in front of the sealin ---- they were just too alien for me to care ---- but some things... let's not go into any details. However, things were considerably simplified when Green greeted me courteously and promptly hurried off, presumably back to their own apartment. Black followed, giving me one of his patented glares.

They returned about an hour later. "There is no sealin food here," Green explained. "Also the pool is not true."

"Not true?" I replied.

"Not sea." Black said something to her. Green hesitated, and then continued: "Black says I am not learn today. Black says I learn many yesterday and day before yesterday and I am more tired." Another rattle. "Black says if you teach today..." Rattle. Green glanced round and stared at Black for a moment, who was fixing me with one eye. "Never mind."

"I'm tired too," I said diplomatically. "I usually sleep longer than this."

"Day more long on your planet?"

"No, I'm just lazy."

Green thought about 'lazy', visibly wondering whether to ask about it, before Black caught her eye again. "You sleep, I sleep. I will return later."

I bowed my head, and Black herded Green out of the room, catching my eye again as he left. I was beginning to rather like Black. He looked like a creature of firm convictions.

I spent the morning dozing in the big chair by the open window, watching the sea and listening to the breeze. Some of the seabirds had come back, and were swooping and calling outside. In the few glimpses I caught I thought I could see two sets of legs; this would fit the evolutionary model of the sealin, with the two sets of flippers plus the rear flukes. Perhaps they evolved here?

There was no sign of a storm. The weather had returned to the perfect climate it had had when I had arrived.

Green showed up again while I was finishing up lunch, having apparently given Black the slip. The invisible chefs had given me a plate of cheese-like yellow and orange blocks and a stack of bready disks to eat them with; I offered her one, and she ate it happily.

I suddenly realised, as she juggled it around in her mouth like a cat, that she had no hands. Those flippers would be completely useless for manipulating anything. I thought of the machines I had seen her use ---- the database thing on the beach, the projector ---- all operated by wanting, or other thought control. The projector even had a handle so that a sealin mouth could carry it.

How could a non-tool-using species achieve intelligence? How could a non-tool-using species build tools sophisticated enough that they could be used by a non-tool-using species?

Those melted-looking machines did look rather similar to the Builders' machines. The Mysterious Pyramids, the Disc Pyramid... the machines in the bubbles were definitely related. Did the Builders make them for the sealin? But they were now at war...

Unless the sealin were given the machines by the Builders' enemies. That made a lot more sense. The Builders put down an installation on this planet, that was inhabited by a primitive intelligent species. The Enemies fed high-tech equipment to the sealin to counter this. Eventually the sealin helped drive the Builders out, with the assistance of orbital bombardment from the Enemies to create the megastorms. (Those blue lights I saw in the newsreel.)

But they couldn't possibly be primitive. Yesterday's performance by Green was so much better than anything a human could have done... although that could just be my prejudices talking. Who says humans are sophisticated?

I was about to ask, when Black rang the doorbell, looking well pissed off. When I opened the door he pushed me aside, stormed up to Green, rattled furiously, and practically chased her back out. And I haven't seen them since.

Black is really strong.

In the afternoon I went for a short walk, taking care not to get too far from the Hotel. The island is looking much better, now. The ground has drained and a lot of the mud has dried up. The hills are still looking pretty ghastly ---- damage like that is going to take years to mend ---- but the bare mud patches were the trees have been ripped away is already starting to bloom green in places. I reckon I could even find a way up to the lake without too much trouble, given enough motivation.

The Generator is crackling away happily once more. Apparently it had just been given a beating by the storm, and it's not going out after all. The Observatory is just as pretty as ever, the Pit is now empty again, and the Invisible Fountain is still Invisible. I dropped in at a Mysterious Pyramid and found that the big patch of light on the front is about the same size, but has changed colour.

Other than that, the day's been quiet. I spent some time sitting on my rock, watching the sea; there was a small, confused-looking sea creature like a centipede with more feelers crawling along the waterline. No more black heads popping out of the water to scare me.

If I look up at the Hotel I can see one window that's a slightly different colour than the rest. Green and Black's room.

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