Letters Across the Universe (Always open. Say you read page one stuff)

(but of course)

[REDACTED]

Alék!

Oh my stars, this is amazing! I am making first contact with a new species! This is absolutely wonderful!!!

hyperventilating noises

Ok, ok. I’m calm, I’m calm. I will answer your questions now, since you’ve been so kind in answering mine.

It is not that I dislike history, but that I don’t have much of a way to engage with it. With botany, you do everything with your own two hands, and feeling the dirt and the fuzz of a new sprout helps connect you to what you accomplish! It’s inspiring to see a whole garden in front of you and know that your careful eye is the reason that each plant is alive and thriving. With history, there is no way for me to feel it, interact with it, so it does not really hold my attention. What do you like about history?

Your dexár sounds like your people consider it some type of magic! That’s quite interesting, and I would love a chance to examine your people’s biology and figure out how it works. After all, there is no such thing as magic, just science that hasn’t been investigated enough yet! Is dexár like an internal power source, and how is the type of dexár determined?

I cannot get over the fact that your species has not made it to space yet! How far away would you say that your people are from leaving your planet’s surface? Does dexár allow you limited flying abilities? Oh, and wormholes are not actually worms! They are just shaped like worms, but they are not biological in any way. We use them to travel really fast and reach different planets.

We have communication devices just because there are so many species in the universe that speak so many different languages. We have translator implants that allow us to understand all languages- well, I say “we”, but I do not have one yet. My friend, Kaz, has one, but he also speaks like 12 languages because he has way too much spare time.

Have a wonderful day!

End recording.

Hello Alék!

Species are basically different types of sentient beings, and they tend to be human-like due to intermixing, but originally they have much different forms. Do you have different types of animals on your planet? Species are like that. Does that make sense? If you need more explanation, please do not hesitate to let me know!

I prefer the term botanist, but yes, I am a gardener. I would not call myself wise, but I thank you for the compliment nonetheless! However, I do not exactly have an abundance of patience, as most of my experiments revolve around accelerating the growth process.

When I learn about history, I usually do it through reading, like your species does, but singing histories does sound rather exciting! I do have a fantastic singing voice. It sounds like your people have a rather complete collection of your own history! Would you mind giving me an abbreviated version if at all possible?

I think I understand what dexír are now! It’s very impressive how your people have such a powerful inherent ability. How exactly are your abilities discovered, and could you give me a brief overview of how you can activate them?

It’s a shame you cannot fly, because my friend has told me it’s quite fun! I have not ever flown though, so I can’t really say for myself. It is most definitely an experience that I am eager to try in the future!

Wormholes are basically tunnels, yes, but they help us go faster because they do not actually occupy the space that they link between. Imagine you have a piece of paper, and you draw two dots in the same place as each other on opposite sides of the paper. If you wanted to draw a line from one dot to another, you would have to draw it on both sides of the paper, and it would cross far more paper than it had to. But imagine that you put a hole in the paper directly on the dots. Then, you wouldn’t need to draw a line because the two spots are already connected! Wormholes are the hole in the paper, allowing us to reach a far away location in a very short time.

Yes, Kaz is very intelligent! I wouldn’t call him wise, however, as he tends to doubt himself even when he has good ideas. He has so much spare time because he works as a customer service representative at his moms’ hotel, helping passengers be comfortable during their stay and fix any problems that might arise. Even though this sounds like a busy occupation, his moms spend a lot of time making renovations to the hotel, so he doesn’t have many customers to service! Do your people have any sort of hotels or inns for travelers? Any civilized planet in the universe doesn’t allow for servants, anyway. Oh! And a translator implant is a little device that is put under the skin that automatically puts any audio or visual communication in the language of the person who has it. It is very helpful for communications between different groups, especially in trade. Do your people do much trade, and do you have any sort of currency?

Hope you have a ‘tastic day!

End recording.

Dear Pen Pal,

So the first thing I want to say is thank you. I really appreciate the fact that you're willing to chat with me.

(Don't ever expect me to be so sappy again)

And trust me when I say you wouldn't like my universe. Well, at least not if you were friends with me. Me and my friends My friends and me all almost die pretty much daily. It's stressful, to say the least.

I've re-read your letter about three times now, and I'm sorry, did you write that you have butterfly powers? The idea of that is so weird interesting to me. I've never really thought powers like that existed. I mean, considering that in my world I'm the only one with powers, its a fair assumption, right?

But now onto your questions. My world has leaders, yeah, but I couldn't be bothered to find out who they are. I hate politics. In all honesty, I think we should just destroy the government and have no rulers. But most people get mad at me when I suggest that. And about the economy, I don't know that either. I'm not sure how it works, but I do have several billion. Pros to being a merc, I guess. You also asked about animals. I like spiders and know way too much information about them, but I don't think there's any really cool ones other than that. I mean, there probably are and I'm just too lazy to learn about them.

I feel bad that I can't really answer your questions. I don't really know very much about how the world works. Ask me anything about war or weapons and I could go on a monologue about it, but other than that I don't know that much.

But I'll bite. Who's Ying-Yang? Do they have powers too? What's the Ebony Army? Who's in charge of them and why do they hate you? How did you get butterfly powers?

I'll stop writing now. I tend to talk a lot, and I guess that transferred into text, too.

Respectfully, Zenith.

(yo, may I join in? I have a pretty developed character and a world to go with her)

(Thanks!)

-Start Recording-
Greetings, Pen Pal.
Pen Pal is the term used here, right? I'm Blake, leader of the Azalea Camp. I'm seventeen as of last Unit, and I'm a Powerholder. I'm also a mechanic on the side, 'cause I grew up doing that. I don't have much to say about my Universe, but here goes: It's pretty much a wasteland, with some Camps scattered around. I'm in charge of a smaller one, about 150 citizens. There are some Wanderers still alive, but most were killed a few Sec-units before I was born. I was actually born as a Wanderer myself, but when I was maybe 5 Sec-units old, we came across Azalea.

Anyways, what's your Universe like? It'd be cool to know what other places are like. Sorry this first recording is short, I don't have much to talk about here.

With Power may you be graced,
Blake
-End Recording-

[scrawled on centuries old parchment]

Dear Ms. (Mr? Mrs?) Blake,

It is a pleasure to finally talk to someone, it has to have been at least a decade.

My name is Virgil, I am the god of pain in the Strange pantheon. You say your world is a wasteland? I wish I was so lucky. (not to be insenitve, that would be bad-form) My world is overrun with pesky terrible humans and their music and their art and their pre-pacaged foods. It's revolting! I swear my mother turns over in her grave everytime she counts an unatural death in the Yonderside.

I'm babbling, if I ever carry on too much, you need only say. (It's bad-form to let your thoughts away from you) My home is a Yonder-ajacent flat. It's close to my Mother's work and she's become fond of my husband. She made it special for us after we married, even though I told her he wished to stay upstairs with the humans.

All this to say, we no longer live at the same residence. (an unrelated incedint which I'll not discuss)

Apologies for my digression yet again, I should ask some questions to prompt your next letter; What color is the sky in your world? Does it rain? Do you have humans?

Thank you for your time,
Samlin (Virgilion) of the Yonderside

Dear Pal,

I don't think it's silly for you to want to have a friend. Honestly, you're one of the only friends I have. If you consider us friends, that is. Is it stupid for me to consider you a friend already?

Anyway, moving on, I'm just going to pretend I'm not freaking out about there being multiple people with powers in your world. It's insane! But moving past that, and multi-colored fires, and whatever the hell pre-creation is, let me get to your questions.

The most used kind of weapons are most likely guns and bombs. If you don't have those in your world, a gun makes a piece of metal fly really fast and pierce flesh. Bombs are similar to fire, probably because that what they're mostly made of. As for wars, well, people will fight over pretty much anything. It's kind of depressing if I'm being honest, so let's move past that. My name just sounds cool. My old 'name' was more of a title. I named myself Zenith mostly because I could. Also it sounds cool. My spare time is usually spent cooking, killing, sizing up opponents, studying, or plotting ways to get revenge.

And in answer to your last question, no. I'm the only one with powers. Natural born humans don't have them. The only reason I do is because Marcus my creator messed with my DNA in his attempt to create the perfect weapon.

Right, so returning to the fact that multiple people have powers, I'd like to know how the actual fu heck people have them. Are they born like that? How? What's pre-creation? Were you created artificially too? Who's 'The Creator'? Why does the Ebony Army want you dead? Is it for existing? There are some guys in my world who want me dead for existing. And how is Soul your counterpart? What do you mean by that?

I'll stop now. Once again, my apologies for the block of text.

Your friend, Zenith

-Start Recording-
Dear Virgil,
Nice to meet ya! In my Universe, the sky's usually grey. They say that it's 'cause of the pollution that was a thing lots of Sec-units ago. Rain's rare here, but people say that there's a place where the land stops, and there's more water than you can imagine, and across that water, there's more land! I don't really believe it, but… Am I talking too much? Lemme know if I talk too much. Anyway, I get that you don't like humans, but most of us are. I used to be a human 'til I was about eight Sec-units old. Then I ate this plant, and now I'm a Powerholder.

You're a god, right? Mother used to say that our people used to have gods and things, too. Then, something happened. We still don't know, but it killed lots of people. Are people nice where you're from? You mentioned decades in your letter. Is that a unit of time? How long is it?

Thanks for listening to my random chatter.
With Power may you be graced,
Blake

Dear Sorrel,

I'd like to start by informing you that while I'm sure that was an amazing explanation, I understood literally none of it. It's probably more about the fact that I'm barely literate than about what you wrote, but still. I understand nothing. But that's okay.

Now about your questions, well, I don't remember any wars. I'm sure there have been some, but I haven't gotten around to studying history yet. I grew up imprisoned sheltered, lets say. And when you ask me how I could kill someone. Well.

I was created to kill. You mentioned having a creator who makes everyone? Yeah, in my world people make other people, and I was the only one to be produced in a non-traditional way. You see, I was made as an instrument of war. My sole purpose in life is to kill, to destroy. It's all I really know how to do. That's why I'm a mercenary. Even after escaping them, even after freeing myself from the life I was meant to live, I can't do anything but kill, because that's what I was made for. I don't know how to do anything else. I mean, I can cook, but that's about it. I was known as Theta because that was the title of the experiment that created me. Attempt Number Theta. You mentioned that you figured we must have a lot of wars for me to know so much. We don't. Sure, there's been a lot, but that's not the reason I know so much. The only reason I know about these things is so that I can use the knowledge in a fight.

And yeah, you don't seem like the type who would kill someone. I guess you could say that it's an acquired taste.

I won't question the 'services' thing, I'm not really in a place to. But I do have a question.

Even with my backstory… can we still be friends?

Warm regards, Zenith

[Carved into a sheet of shale]

Dear Ms. (Mr?) Blake
Don't be ridiculous, your excursus is interesting. (and you are passionate about the subject, therefore good-form)

You asked if people are nice where I'm from, do you mean the general populous of the Yonderside or the pantheon I belong to?

To clarify my understanding, what is a Powerholder? Is it some kind of royalty?

Speaking of royalty, my mother has thrown me out to reconcile (or some such thing), even though I have no Idea where Irius would even be, Gionia's not returning my WW's and Veriviane has told me several times that she has her own affairs (and affairs) to deal with.

At present, I'm sitting on a rivebank, carving this into a rock. Thank Mom there are no humans around!

In your next letter, tell me about your human family or whatever-thing.
Or don't I'm a god, not a cop.

Signed,
Samlin (Virgilion) of the Yonderside

P.S. A decade is a set of ten years, a year is about 300-400 days, and a day is one rotation of this stupid, dirty sphere. I'm assuming you don't have time?

-Start Recording-

Dear Virgil,

In my Universe, a Powerholder is someone who used to be a human, but ate some kinda plant, and gained powers from it. I guess when I asked if people were nice, I meant wherever you are now. Even though, now, I don't think there are any people around, right?

We do have time in the wastelands, we just use different measurements, I believe. We 'ave days here, but then we have Units, which are about 60 days, and then Sec-Units, which is pretty much the same as your year, made up of 60 Units.

I don't really have an actual family anymore, they were killed by Wanderers soon after we arrived in Azalea. But in a way, you could say that all of Azalea is my family now.

Anyway, what's Irius? And also, you have rivers in your Universe? I learned a bit about rivers before, but I've never actually seen one. They're like a canyon, but small and filled with water, right? And the water moves, somehow?

shouts echo in the background

I'm gonna have to cut this recording a little short, there are some Wanderers trying to attack.
With Powers may you be graced,
Blake
-End Recording-