underbrush of memory—things I could have saved had I only sat down at the time of these events and carved an anchor with which to bring me back to the moment?
underbrush of memory—things I could have saved had I only sat down at the time of these events and carved an anchor with which to bring me back to the moment?
As I have not imparted the story of Preponderance to anyone beyond my closest friends and colleagues, I suppose it is pertinent that I explain the events to which I refer. In the summer of 2011, I was contacted by an extraterrestrial. It came not in any grand display of holographic technology as typically assumed by science fiction, but in the form of a comically unassuming email. The sender introduced themselves as a traveler from another world, explained that they found my email address in a listing of biology faculty, and asked if there was way we could communicate verbally. Wanting to call the prankster's charade as cruelly as possible, and seeing the signature declaring that the email was sent from an iPhone (really? An extraterrestrial with an iPhone?) I requested that he or she contact me over FaceTime, leaving my personal email. To my surprise, I received a call several minutes later.
To my credit, the creature on the other end of the video was fundamentally humanoid, possessing a distinct head containing a mouth and multiple eyes—although its facial structure was more canine than primate. From the limited scope of its phone's camera, I could not see how many limbs it had, although I did occasionally see two hands free while the phone remained stabilized and pointing at the creature. Its body was covered in a reflective fur equally suited for a terrestrial or aquatic creature, and its voice—of which I regret not obtaining a sample—I can only compare to an empty bottle being dragged over sand.
The creature declined to give me a name, requesting to merely be called "Preponderance". My exchanges with it were short, often consisting of a few short questions about where it could find certain chemicals or if our planet had a specific type of medical device before giving a polite—if hurried—assertion that we would speak again later.
While the creature never spoke at length about itself, I was able to deduce some things. It was presently on Earth, though it had been keeping an intentionally low profile and had declined any information that would reveal its location (citing "bad prior experiences" as its reason). It had a knowledge of microbiology that rivaled my own, as well as a comparably robust understanding of molecular physics. Perhaps most intriguingly, Preponderance communicated in perfectly comprehensible English with the slightest Indonesian accent, a notion which struck it as completely unremarkable when I pointed it out.
At times, however, a certain spark of curiosity did shine through in Preponderance's words. In particular, it seemed enthralled by the idea of sexual dimorphism and gender identity, posing numerous questions about what it meant, what I was, and even holding a few magazines up to the camera and asking the gender of various celebrities, politicians, and animals. At one point, wearing the gleeful face of a student using a piece of freshly-learned knowledge in front of the class, Preponderance proudly asserted that the word "it" best described its own identity. Before I could catch my tongue, I responded that "it" was often regarded as being very dehumanizing. Seeing my expression immediately after I said it, Preponderance produced a melodic chirping sound I can only assume was laughter.
Over the two enlightening days Preponderance and I spoke, I picked up an increasing franticness in its intonation. At first I was hesitant to assume voice cues and conversational etiquette to be universal across species (or even cultures, for that matter), but Preponderance's hurried apology after one particularly quick exit solidified my assumption: this creature was most definitely afraid of something. Though the backdrops behind Preponderance changed between our conversations, I noted there was always a concrete or stone wall close to its back. The creature made no reference to its behavior until our final conversation: it asked where it could obtain a weapon. Taken aback, I refused to answer. Preponderance said it understood, thanked me for my time, and never contacted me again.
I don't know what became of my extraterrestrial friend. Scouring the news in a search for closure, I found reports of a spree of suspected burglaries in central Virginia—everywhere from hardware stores to hospitals—that seemingly ended with a gun store. No evidence for any of them existed, apart from the security cameras being melted to slag.
In the days since, I have kept my phone at my side without fail, hoping that Preponderance would reestablish contact and sate the curiosity it left behind. And for five years, I heard nothing.
At the moment of writing this, I am stranded in an airport. I had been on my way back from giving a seminar in France on my newest discoveries (which, I can now freely state, generated from my exchanges with Preponderance) when an unexpected snowstorm grounded all departing aircraft.
I am writing this because, one hour ago, Preponderance called me back.
It was no touching or enlightening reunion. In fact, I must admit I am not sure the individual on the other end of the line was Preponderance at all. The call lasted less than a minute, during which I could only make out muffled voices and an occasional flicker of movement across the camera. My attempts to call back receive no response. But before the connection closed, I could make out one frustrated shout: "Sweetiebell, I don't think we're even on the same planet".
Now, I can only wait.