What’s Underneath a Human’s Helmet: What Comes After the End? (2/?) Work in Progress (Patreon)

“I… removed my helm for one of the alien representatives that came for the annual review service.” Alana repeated, her eyes now narrowing, forming pixellated inwards-facing brackets as she continued to vigorously rub the back of her helm.

“Alana… is this some sort of like… listen I’m not judging alright. Like, I’m glad if you found out you’re a xenophile. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. But there are plenty of risks to consider. I have a few professionals I’d like you to consult, and not psychiatrically or psychologically, heck no, I’m not that type of human. But there’s just stuff about you know, health? Like physical health. Because certain aliens have certain… things you have to be wary of and-”

“What, wait no! No! It’s… it’s not like that. It’s… I wanted to reward her for her curiosity.”

To which the Guardian could only blink rapidly once more, a disparaging look of doubt plastered across his eyes as he crossed both arms across his suited chest.

“Okay I know that sounds bad but let me explain.” The embarrassed human practically begged as Archer could only look on silently, nodding, as if waiting for that explanation. “You know the Uplift camp, yes?” She began, eliciting an increasing expression of confusion from the Guardian.

“Yes. The camp that believes in the goal of uplifting all aliens to where we’re at in due course?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Okay, go on.”

“Well, I don’t necessarily fall completely in line with them, but I have adopted one of their tenets as a fundamental driving force in my policies in this galaxy. That being, I reward them when they demonstrate actions that fall in line with the traits I find desirable and that I wish to proliferate within their societies. In this instance it’s curiosity. I know the aliens in this galaxy have constantly been wary of us, Archer.”

“Wary? How?”

“I mean, just look in the mirror.” She conjured up a mirror to prove her point, part of the window in front of the Guardian increasing in reflectiveness and opacity to allow himself a clear look at himself. “Do you still think you look human?”

“Erm, yeah. I do.” The man raised a brow on his visor, only to quickly shift to a surprised expression. “Please don’t tell me you want to revive the naturalist camp-”

“No! No. Heavens no. What I mean to say is, nobody else in the galaxy, at least in this galaxy, truly sees as human. Not what we would consider human anyways. Archer… we’re used to this, but they’re not. They still live disconnected, unplugged, they don’t see what we see. And because of that they sometimes fear and are wary of what they don’t know. So I wanted to bridge that gap, or at the very least, award those who seek to bridge that gap.”