Patreon Exclusive Story: Aliens Can't Imagine (Patreon)

What do you do when you’re the only one in the room who can visualize a circle? Or maybe a square? Keep going, what is it you can or can’t visualize? Go on then. Can you turn that square into a rectangle, sharpen the front, narrow it down a bit, same with the back, and add those circles I mentioned on the bottom of it? Give it a few seconds, now you have the most basic abstract representation of a car. Keep going, add the bits and baubles you want. A hood ornament? Shaded windows? White-walled wheels? Keep going, now the car’s becoming more 3-dimensional. You can start to visualize it from more angles… now, throughout all of this. Have you even considered what color it was? Probably right? I heard black’s the most popular, though white and even blue came in at a close second and third respectively. I myself prefer an ashy gray, but that’s just my personal tastes.

See what you just did there? Haha… see. That’s the gift that we as humans have, that the rest of the galaxy does not. That’s the gift of the mind’s eye, the ability to visualize, to see without seeing. We can dream up entire towns in a boring maths class. We can understand, communicate, relay ideas based on verbal description alone, creating composites, images, moving images even, without any visual aids (though those do help).

But the aliens can’t.

What they see when they close their eyes is nothing but darkness, blankness, blindness. And that’s a terrifying prospect to me.

But what does this say about humanity’s potential? How does this seemingly innocuous superficial difference translate into real world practical effects?

Well, here’s where its implications become truly terrifying…

=====

There was a collective sense of excitement amongst the crew of the merchant ship Light of the Morning Star as reports of a new species was due to arrive. A species that had remained enigmatic until very recently, who did not conform to the technological, or even the cultural status quo of the rest of the known galaxy. Indeed, they had been a bit of a hermit kingdom amidst a sea of interconnected stellar nations that (for the most part) were quite cordial and civil.

Fear of the humans naturally abounded for a long while after their accidental first contact. They’d refused further contact, refused further attempts at diplomacy ever since the Frigate Veil of the Evening Star incident. An incident that apparently was classified soon after word got out. But that the governments of the galaxy reassured their people, as merely a cultural misunderstanding, and not an act of wanton aggression. Nobody knew what happened in particular that day, what we do know is that despite everyone on that frigate coming back home safe and untouched, something had changed in them that they were obligated to not discuss, even as they were offered millions upon millions of mints as compensation for revealing that which we all wanted to know.

Regardless, it might be easy to understand then, the types of rumors that abounded within the ship. But today, all of that anxiety would be leveled as the ship docked halfway between Union and Human space, on what was perhaps the most alien looking craft any of the crew had ever witnessed.

What emerged from the airlock however wasn’t the monster rumors had created, no. Instead what the crew received was a rather inoffensive looking creature. A biped, first and foremost, so the second rarest form of morphological configuration in the galaxy. Secondly, it was short, standing at about 174 centimeters which was on the lower end of the galactic average for height. Thirdly, it was unfurred save for a small portion of its head that remained covered by a thin tuft of fur. Its face, was decidedly warm and welcoming, which reassured the crew to perhaps a species that was simply too shy to continue contact at first, but now were willing to join the galaxy properly.

But rumors started arising again when the human began… drawing. Now this action alone shouldn’t have been surprising to the crew, a few would-be artists did exist on the ship, and their illustrations were nothing short of mini-masterpieces. But what the human did was well and truly bizarre…

It started with a few whispers, of the human, sitting alone in the mess hall, drawing up scenes beyond the mess hall. Not merely the bridge or perhaps the scene of the stars outside the window, but scenes of verdant forests and lush plains.

Now, most in the crew would’ve assumed that a reference image was brought up, or perhaps this was inspired by some sort of a conversation before hand which then led to the searching up of a plethora of reference and composite images. But no.

The human was “freehanding it” in his own words, and what was created on those pieces of paper was nothing short of reality shattering.

“How is this possible?” The Captain finally proclaimed, sitting across from the first office on his bridge.

“It shouldn’t be possible.” Was all the First Officer could say as the pair of Biltranites sat there in genuine discomfort. Their long, centaur-like bodies flinching with concern as they stared down at the offending piece of art. What was clearly an alien landscape belonging to perhaps the human’s own world, of lush violet fields of grass and trees of pink cotton-like material.

“And you’re certain no reference images were used for this?”

“Certain sir.”

The pair could only stare at the confiscated piece of art with increasingly frustrated curiosity.

“The rest of the crew are growing concerned.” The First Officer began. “They want to figure out what’s wrong with the human. They want to know how this is even possible.” The female Biltranaite attempted her best to relay the growing concerns of the crew as the Captain nodded, closing his eyes in understanding.

“The human’s not breaking any rules by doing this, or any laws for that matter. We shouldn’t confront him from that stance then, at the very least.” The Captain replied with an air of certainty. “However. That doesn’t preclude me from facing him, confronting him, and asking him about all of this. So. This evening, I want you to make sure you gather all off-duty crew to the mess hall, so we can get this situation cleared up.” There was a confidence in his voice that seemed to reassure the first officer somewhat as the two got up and bowed.

“Yes sir. This will prove to be an interesting evening…”

=====

Later that evening, in a fashion that almost resembled a prime time holovision show, a crowd had slowly piled into the mess hall, causing the human to stand on edge as he looked on at the eclectic collection of aliens with wariness.

“Is… is there something I can do for you guys or-”

“Everyone, everyone, give your poor crewmate some space!” The Captain finally arrived on scene, as if on cue to clear up the whole situation. “Ah, Steven, I would like to discuss something with you if you’re up for it?” The man declared, once more exuding that confidence and that reassurance that a veteran of his experience and years was expected of.

The human sat down slowly, his hands bunched up in front of him and the drawing tablet that lay (paused).

“What can I do for you, Captain?” The human spoke warily, as a response would soon appear in the form of his own artwork being placed on the table.

“You sent this to the ship’s chatlogs did you not?” The captain inquired.

“Oh, yes sir, I just thought it was a fun gesture t-to just, post what I get up to on my downtimes on the chatlogs since it was designated as an R&R channel. I didn’t know if there were rules against posting art or images or anything of the sort sir, I’ll refrain from this in the future. I’m sorry if there’s any cultural boundaries I crossed with this-”

“No no! Not at all Steven.” The Captain cut him off before he could finish his thoughts, as he patted the human on the shoulder. “There’s no such rules against it, no. In fact it’s encouraged to share what you’re feeling or even what you’re up to. We’re a family out here after all.” The rest of the alien crew seemed to smile and nod, a few bearing their fangs as a gesture of good will which did little to placate the human’s anxieties.

“So… you all gathered here to ask about my art then? I mean, I’m flattered, guys, and erm, sir, but it’s really nothing-”

“It’s not about the art itself Steven. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but the point isn’t the skill behind the artistry.” He leaned in closer as if examining the table and the drawing tablet for anything that would tip him off to this theory being moot… “Where are your references?”

“References? Erm, oh. Well, I don’t really use references? I mean, sometimes? But I’m… You see guys I’m working on a sort of an original fantasy sorta thing so a lot of it just springs to mind y’know? I wanna be as whimsical as possible and all that so I try my best to refrain from any refs or whatever.” The human offered, which immediately shifted the attitudes of every single alien present, their expressions turning to shock, to awe, but most of all, to complete disbelief.

“So what you’re saying Steven… is these images, they, just, appear in your mind? And that’s how you convey them to the screen?” The Captain attempted to ensure any and all miscommunications were gone from the conversation as he laid the chips out for all to hear.

“Erm… yeah? Like, isn’t that how most artists do it? Haha. I mean don’t get me wrong, painting like scenery or realistic art or like portraits or whatever’s great too! I’m sorry if that’s like, offensive or anything it’s-”

“Steven. I’d like to do a little experiment if that’s alright with you?”

“Erm. Sure Cap, what would you like me to do?” The human replied warily.

“Please, if you’d humor me. I want you to draw what immediately comes to mind when I say, a Belkath Sweetsnap.”

“Erm, okay, do you have any other descriptions I can work with here or-”

“Just do it, Steven.”

With that order given, the human got to work. He seemed to pause for a moment, staring at the ceiling, the crowd, even out to space, before he began sketching. The whole crowd seemed to be zeroed in on every motion, on every flick and gesture of the human’s movements, entranced by what was manifesting before them.

After a few solid minutes, sketchy lines evolved into shapes, which later evolved into… “Here, done!”

After 10 minutes a sketch complete with a few dollops of color was displayed to the crowd. An image none had ever seen before, and as a few began to wildly search on the extranet, found nothing of.

It was… entirely original, with no founding or no correlation in the real world.

Gasped and exasperated breaths were had, as a few of the aliens actually started to chitter with excitement.

“Erm… fuck did I draw something offensive? Is this like, wrong or sacrilegious?” Steven began to smile as he forced out a dry chuckle. “Oh! Or is this like a weird hazing thing you guys do-”

“No, Steven. You… you’ve created something from nothing. That does NOT look like a Blekath Sweetsnap. I would know, it’s a rare fruit from my world that barely anyone has seen images of let alone descriptors of. But I know of it, and I can recall memories, images of it. But what you’ve come up with, does not exist, and did not exist, but now does exist. It’s… here.” The Captain tapped the screen with great energetic vigor. “Out of nothing. How Steven? How?”

“I…” The human sat, confused and dazed as he simply shrugged. “I just went off what immediately came to mind? Like, I thought, Blekath, fuck no idea what that is. Sweetnsap? Hmm, like a sweet pea? Snap, like an alligator? Wait, what if it’s a snap like a mantis shrimp’s claw. What if… it’s a weird plant that had the ability to snap bolts of energy from its ‘mouth’ to capture prey! And I just visualized that and so here it is.”

He held up the painted sketch with a certain level of enthusiasm, grinning nervously all the while as the rest of the crew marveled on with genuine disbelief.

“You can create a fortune out of this, Steven.” One of the crewmembers yelled out, which was quickly reaffirmed by a loud smatterings of hoots and hollers.

“Oh, gee guys thanks it’s erm. You know I’ve always wanted to be an aritst? Like an illustrator. Heh. You know what’s funny? The image I sent over the ship-wide chat was actually my concept art for the children’s book I wanted to get painted and written up. But like, I asked around to various publishers and they just rejected me for being too unoriginal.”

The crowd grew dead silent at that, all doing a double take on their tablets to once again view the image in question. As murmurs began to build up and an angered snarled followed. “Unorignial?! What… this… there’s nothing in the universe that matches these illustrations! I’ve parsed them through the extranet, there’s not a single existing landscape that even remotely resembles this! How in the name of-”

To which Steven quickly cut him off. “Oh erm. I mean, yeah of course it doesn’t exist in the universe. It’s a field of like, I don’t know, magic flowers and a tree made of cotton candy. But again, I guess that imagery’s just too common now back home.” The human shrugged in despair and dissatisfaction at his own abilities as he forced out a brave smile.

“Wait. Are you saying there are more of these… unreal illustrations on your world? Amongst your kind?” The Captain interjected once more.

“How many of them are there that this… this insanity is considered unoriginal?!” Quickly followed up by another crewmember.

“Just how many people are capable of such a feat? Surely it can’t be more than just a rare select few with a mutation that allows for such a brilliant mind!” Quickly followed yet another alien, as the human would simply stare at all of them with a blank, almost vacant expression of disbelief.

“Erm… I mean, I’m not sure how many people there are that dabble in this specific genre? But in the children’s book world I don’t know… there are probably like a few hundred thousand active authors and artists? And artists in general that are capable drawing something similar? God… I can’t guess, like, I’d say a quarter? A fifth of our population probably knows how to draw”

“And… they all draw from their minds, Steven?”

“I mean yeah, some, some are like more portrait artists or whatever but like. I mean, I’m not sure why you’re all so fixated on the fact that I just made this up from out of nowhere and-” And then it dawned on the human. He smacked himself in the face as the realization hit him like a semi. “Ya’ll… can’t… imagine up images?”