Wisdom always desired the correct choice. In every situation, she would thoughtfully consider each possibility to find the optimal decision. In many situations this was impossible, which was why Wisdom enjoyed chess. There were only a discrete number of options and, with enough time and effort, the best move could always be found -- even if it was just in hindsight. Wisdom would spend hours playing games of chess with any and all challengers, and then spend days after analyzing the moves that led to victory or defeat.

As Wisdom improved and won more and more games, she still took joy in them. After all, she could still find the correct choice for her opponents even if they chose otherwise. To be helpful, she would always let her opponents know what they should have done differently after each move.

Eventually, no one would play with Wisdom anymore -- not because she won, but because of her actions in winning. For there is no greater blessing than wisdom requested, but wisdom offered when unasked causes vexation.

- Excerpt from “Fables of the Five Siblings”

I hold my machete up, waiting for the monster in front of me to make a move. My companions have each raised their own weapons and Melete has turned to face the back of the creature. Styx and Pallas take a few steps away from me in either direction to further encircle the monster.

Sam stands there, teeth bared in a parody of a smile. But then it seems to notice our raised weapons and actions, and the terrifying grin fades from its face. It continues to stand there silently until I can’t bear the tension any longer.

“Why is that the…” I start.

“I have a proposition for you.” Sam cuts me off. I feel a pulse of anger at its interruption but push it down. If there’s ever a time to keep a level head, it’s when conversing with a potentially hostile alien-monster thing. “I will explain my purpose with seeking you out, and in return you will promise to give my proposal due consideration.”

I nod hesitantly. My machete is still in front of me, and after Sam’s erratic behavior in the last few seconds I don’t want to let my guard down again. “Go ahead.”

“An explanation, first. Throughout this universe, there are only two types of species that acquire Numbers. Two types that rise to dominance over their respective worlds before their own inclusions: cooperative and individualistic. The cooperative species are those that are strong only as a group, which work together with others of their kind to dominate their planets. The individualistic species are those that refuse to work together, that see others of their own kind as competition, to be merely tolerated or, in the worst case, outright killed for their Numbers. The swarm you mentioned is cooperative -- their stings only paralyze, allowing for many in the swarm to participate in the kill sharing the Numbers among them. The trolls, individualistic -- they would take advantage of a weakness in another of their kind just as quickly as they would take advantage of a weakness seen in you.

“We Alatir are cooperative. While our natural illusions can help us survive, it is only through cooperation with each other that we can truly thrive. I am...a diplomat of my people. Of the new creatures added to this world, we know of many -- but we do not know of humans. I am here to learn about humans. Can they be an ally in the never-ending struggle? Are they a competitor for control over this world? Or are they just prey?”

I shudder at its last words. Compared to every monster we’ve seen so far I’ve felt like prey.

Sam continues. “From my conversation with you, I see potential. You are clearly working together to survive, and the fact that you did not immediately kill me upon realizing my nature shows that an alliance is possible.”

“So what is your ‘proposal’ then?” Styx asks. She sounds impatient.

“Let me travel with you.” It says, and I inhale in surprise.

“You’re insane!” Melete calls out. I can’t ignore the irony of it coming from Melete, but I agree with the sentiment. I decide to hold my tongue for now and let Sam continue, but Styx has no such reservations.

“Why would we trust you?!” She yells.

“I can be very useful in many situations. I would be able to give additional information on the inclusion and any other creatures you may face. I believe you would find my presence would greatly increase your chance of survival. After all, Alatir are almost exclusively a communal species, and yet I have been alone since the inclusion and still am perfectly fine. My illusions could save your life.”

“That all may be true.” I finally speak. “But you still haven’t answered Styx’s question: Why should we trust you? How do we know everything you’ve said so far isn’t a lie?”

Sam turns and stares at me, silent for a moment before it finally speaks. “What would it take to gain your trust?” It asks.

“...I don’t know.” I say after a moment of thought.

“Let us see your actual body.” Pallas says with a deep voice.

“...Okay.” Sam says in response after a short pause. “But know that this displays a large level of trust in you from my end. I expect to have gained at least some trust in return.” I shrug my shoulders noncommittally.

I wait for a monster to appear, turning my head back and forth. I’m not sure what to expect, but some part of me is imagining a big-headed green alien to suddenly step out from behind a tree. I know that all of the other monsters have been aliens just as much as this new monster, but I can’t help but picture E.T. when I try to envision what I’ve been speaking to for the last half hour.

As the seconds pass without any sign of the monster’s body, Melete gets impatient. “So, where are you?”

“I am here.” I hear Sam’s voice, but Sam’s mouth doesn’t move. And the voice isn’t coming from where it’s been standing -- it seems to be coming from the ground a few feet to the left of Sam.

I stumble backward and point the machete at the spot. Moments before, I would have sworn that the ground in that area was empty except for a few twigs and grass. But without seeing any movement or noticing anything the area is now occupied.

It’s about three feet tall with four skinny legs that look remarkably like a spider’s and a thin elongated body stretching to my waist. At my motion, the others finally notice the alien’s true body and startle. Melete lets loose a loud expletive before she turns away from the human-looking body and instead faces the alien.

It has a single large yellow eye in the middle of the body, currently directed at me. The rest of its body is completely black with no sign of hair, ears, mouth, or any other sort of sensory organs. The only break in its monochromatic skin is a small patch of blue Numbers on the left side of its body and a few blue squiggles on the right. I try to focus on the Numbers, but they seem blurred to my eyes. Looking at the shape of the monster, I can’t help but be reminded of a certain depressed turret from one of my favorite video games.

I shake my head. I can’t allow myself to have any preconceptions about this...thing. I have to be careful and ready for anything.

“How do we know that’s really you?” I ask suspiciously.

“At some point, there has to be a base level of trust or else we will get nowhere.” Sam’s voice replies back to me from the direction of the alien creature. There still isn’t any discernible emotion in the voice, but I get the impression that it is exasperated.

“Why do you want to travel with us?” Styx asks. “I mean, I know you’re a ‘diplomat’ and everything, but...why us? And what else are you trying to learn that you haven’t already?”

The eyes of the human and the creature both turn to Styx. When Sam speaks, the mouth of the human opens in time with the words but the sound comes from the direction of the creature. I shudder.

“I was being honest earlier. You are only the second set of humans I have encountered since the inclusion, and the first set died before I made contact. I do not have any other options. As to what I hope to learn...from our conversation I know an alliance is possible. But is it desirable? What does humanity offer the Alatir? What would the Alatir be able to offer humanity? The more information I have, the better. And some of the information needed cannot be supplied only with words: I must see humans in action.”

I stare at the monster, ignoring the illusion of the human. “Give us a chance to discuss this.”

“Of course,” It replies. “Take all the time you need.”

Melete circles back around and we huddle together, moving a few feet further away from the monster. Before I have a chance to speak, Styx starts talking.

“No way. No. Not a chance. We aren’t letting that thing follow us around.”

I turn to her. “Hold on. First -- have you tried using your skill?” I lower my voice even further when she frowns in response. “With it activated, are you able to see through the illusion?”

“I didn’t think of that…” She says in response. She closes her eyes for half a second then glances over to where the monster and the man stand side-by-side. “No change...wait, I think the alien may look...clearer? I’m not sure, I might be imagining it.”

I’m disappointed. “But you can still see the person?”

“Yeah, he looks exactly the same.”

I grimace as I explain. “I was hoping that its skill to make illusions affects the brain and that your skill would let you see through it. I’m guessing it’s actually doing something with the light -- not directly affecting you, which means your skill wouldn’t cancel it out like it does to Melete’s skill.” I pause in thought. “Try to keep that skill activated for as long as you can though. If you can get stronger with it and use it like the trolls…” I leave the rest unspoken.

“I can try, but after a few minutes my head starts killing me.” Styx says.

“Just do your best.” I reply. “Back to Sam...the biggest problem I see is that we have no way to verify anything it says.”

“Really? That’s the biggest problem you can think of?” Melete says. “Not the fact that a literal alien spider-monster wants to follow us around?”

I ignore Melete. “It could be lying about everything or it could be lying about nothing, there’s no way for us to tell.”

“Well, it was telling the truth about some things. At least everything it said makes sense with what we’ve encountered.” Styx says.

“Why would it lie?” Pallas asks.

I shrug. “Why wouldn’t it? It’s literally an alien.” I glare at Melete before she tries to critique my use of the word ‘literally.’ “There’s no way we can guess it’s motivation.”

“So we say no.” Styx says. “Problem solved.”

I frown. “One second,” I say to my friends. Aside from when it was pretending to be human, Sam has been remarkably upfront about its actions. I raise my voice and turn to face the monster. “If we were to say no…what would you do?”

“I would follow you stealthily using my abilities and observe from a distance.” It replies instantly.

I nod. Thought so. I turn back to my friends and whisper. “I don’t like it. But the way I see it, we have two choices: we let it stick with us,” Styx and Melete are both shaking their heads. “...or we lie and kill it the first chance we get.”

At my second option, Styx and Melete stop mid head-shake, staring at me with troubled eyes. “Why not just force it away?” Styx asks.

I give her a skeptical look. “How? It can completely disappear from our sight. How would we know it wasn’t right behind us? We either trust it, or it dies. Those are our only two options.”

I stare at them in silence. Melete looks torn, half of her desiring the death of the monster and half of her appalled at the idea. Pallas is looking at his feet, and Styx is staring at my face. “What do you think?” She finally whispers, her voice weak and unsure.

“...I want to hear what you think first.” I say. More than any decisions we’ve made before, we need to be together on this. This is a first contact situation with sentient alien life -- humanity, small though our sample size may be, has to be united. I’m afraid to voice my thoughts before getting more of a sense of what my friends are feeling.

There’s another pause until Pallas looks up. “We can’t betray it.” He says. “Not when it hasn’t attacked us. That would make us as bad as the monsters.”

I look to Melete who reluctantly nods along. “We would be as bad as those two...people in our class who left us for the wisps.” She spits out the word people with venom, her hatred for them seemingly even deeper than her hatred for the monsters themselves.

Finally I turn to Styx. She sighs, and nods as well.

“Okay, we let it stay with us.” I say. “But we don’t let our guard down. We set up ground rules. We play it safe. And the instant it tries to break any of the rules…” I punch my right hand, still holding the hilt of my machete, into my left. “We don’t hesitate to take it down.”

They all nod along, Melete baring her teeth in a snarl of agreement. We spend the next half hour discussing what rules need to be set up.

When we finally break from our huddle, Sam is in the exact same position we left it in. We walk within a few feet of the monster, side by side with weapons in our hands.

“You can travel with us.” I say without preamble.

“Thank you very…” It starts, but I cut it off.

“But we have some rules you’ll need to abide by. First: You do what we say when we say it. You don’t get a say in our group decisions. The second you disobey, you’re gone.” I don’t use the word kill, but from the way its single eye dilates when I use the word ‘gone,’ it understands what I mean. Or I’m just projecting emotions onto it.

“I can follow directions.” It says, and I nod before continuing.

“Second: You explain everything you know about the inclusion, skills, any monsters we face, everything. You help us fight any monsters that attack us. You help keep us alive, we’ll help keep you alive.”

“Of course,” It replies.

“Third: You explain everything there is to know about that illusion skill you’re using. Everything. And you don’t use it around us unless we specifically ask you to.”

This time there is a short pause before it replies. “I would be willing to do that, provided you would be willing to provide information on at least one of the skills you possess?”

“This isn’t a bargain.” I say. It simply stares at me. After a moment, I relent -- we weren’t planning on hiding Melete’s skill from it anyway, and it may be worth it to show humanity has the ability to compromise. “Fine. We’ll tell you about one of our skills. If you agree to the above three rules…?” I wait until it replies.

“I do.”

I slide my machete into its sheath and put as much menace into my voice as I possibly can. “Then welcome to the team.”

S: 100

D:100

W: 308

I: 97

C: 57 (+1)

0

Skills: Adjust:Self