Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Speculative biology is simultaneously a science and form of art in which one speculates on the possibilities of life and evolution. What could the world look like if dinosaurs had never gone extinct? What could alien lifeforms look like? What kinds of plants and animals might exist in the far future? These questions and more are tackled by speculative biologists, and the Speculative Evolution welcomes all relevant ideas, inquiries, and world-building projects alike. With a member base comprising users from across the world, our community is the largest and longest-running place of gathering for speculative biologists on the web.

While unregistered users are able to browse the forum on a basic level, registering an account provides additional forum access not visible to guests as well as the ability to join in discussions and contribute yourself! Registration is free and instantaneous.

Join our community today!

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Strangers in the Dark; a.k.a. Graes
Topic Started: Oct 18 2009, 09:58 PM (1,266 Views)
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

My latest short story:

Strangers in the Dark
 
Strangers in the Dark
York Randall clutched his ears as he rose from his slumber, screaming out in pain as he stared at the clock on his bedside table. 3:00 in the morning, it read.

Fourth time this week, York thought. Don’t I ever get a break?

He sat on the side of the bed, tossed on his jacket, slipped on his slippers, and walked to the kitchen to grab himself some booze. York figured that since he was already up, he ought to stay up. In case the buzzing came back.

The buzzing had started about a year ago. Every night in his dreams, he would hear some sort of buzzing.

On one of those first instances, he dreamt he had been eating dinner with his family when an owl suddenly lighted on his shoulder, screeching. That was a low, slow buzzing sound.

However, his dreams had changed over the past few months. The owl had continued to appear, but it was always screeching, high and fast. Sounding like someone scratching a chalkboard while a bat screeched in the background.

Tonight was another classic episode. He had dreamt his girlfriend was sitting on the couch with him. About five minutes into the dream, the pretty twenty year-old’s body slowly morphed into that of a frail, grotesque owl. The beak was open and it was constantly buzzing, high and fast.

York sleepily stumbled into the kitchen, ramming his right shoulder into the wall as he went. He opened the refrigerator door, reached for a beer and some ham, and slammed the door shut.

Then, turning to the sliding glass door, he saw them.

He never thought they could exist, but there they were.

The late night darkness had a tendency to swallow up all visible light, making seeing anything impossible. But he saw them, staring at him through the sliding glass door with their cold black eyes.

He could not help but think of Heather O’Rourke’s lines in “Poltergeist” as he stared at them. “They’re here” just about said it all.

The owls had appeared.

* * * * * *

York dropped the unopened beer bottle on the floor, soaking his feet with the drink. He rushed back into his bedroom and fumbled in his closet.

At last he saw the gun case, left there by the home’s previous owner. There were about five rifles, with the bullets lying in a shoebox not far from the gun case. York had lost the key a few years back and, figuring that he would never use one of those guns, never got a new one.

So, as an alternative, he gripped a Louisville Slugger, which was leaning against the case, stepped out of the closet, and launched it. The all-glass case shattered and there was a dent in the closet’s back wall, but York paid no heed.

“Shoot first, fix ‘er up later,” York said to himself as he quickly loaded the bullets. He ran out of the room, switching the safety off as he ran.

Once in the kitchen, he crouched beside the table and rested the barrel of his rifle on the surface. He attached the scope and aimed at the small space between the owl’s large eyes.

But, as York crouched there, owls in his scope, he realized these creatures were not owls. Rather, these were something altogether new.

The first evidence against these strangers in the dark being owls was their apparent lack of any wings or feathers. In fact, they did not seem to possess any kind of body covering at all. Just pale, grey skin.

Then it was their heads. Owls had circular heads. These marauders’ heads were shaped like teardrops.

The mouth and nose of these creatures did not seem to be apparent either. Nor were the ears obvious.

What was obvious were the eyes that seemed to dominate the face. These eyes were almond-shaped, nearly taking up the whole face. These eyes, jet-black and forlorn-looking, appeared not to give away any emotion. They appeared to just stare right through his heart. Studying him. Reading his emotions.

York crouched for about fifteen minutes while the creatures stared at him, not appearing to do anything but study.

Then, the creature closest to the glass, being of a more purplish hue than the rest, held up its hand. Its hand appeared to be covered in some sort of white form-fitting material. It pressed this hand against the glass, which seemed to melt before York’s eyes.

York fired, but the creature dodged effortlessly.

How could a creature dodge a bullet? York wondered. I ain’t gotta chance!

As soon as the purplish creature stepped over the lump of melted glass, it aimed its hand at York’s forehead and fired.

* * * * * *

York had no idea what hit him. All he knew was that some red light had flooded his body and he became unconscious. Now he lay on his back, on a cold metal table, staring into a red overhead light.

He was completely exposed to the cold metallic feel of the room, his clothes appearing to have disintegrated. But that was the least of his worries: the creatures were entering.

As they entered, he noticed their foul odor for the first time. It smelled like a rose covered in a skunk’s scent. Horrible, and wretched, to him, but his captors did not seem to mind.

The creatures surrounded York’s body, each one’s left hand covered in a white glove-like tool. These beings were more grayish than their purple counterpart, which York simply referred to as Purple.

These gray-skinned creatures, which York called Grays, just seemed to stare at him. As their cold black eyes perused him, he felt emotionally drained. Incoherent and out of touch with the world.

The Grays began screeching that high and fast buzzing noise York had so often heard in his dreams. This time, however, York could not cover his ears and was forced to deal with the torture of their piercing, tormented scream.

Purple was now entering the room, both its hands covered in those alien-looking gloves. The Grays began to calm down, silently communicating amongst each other.

As they were communicating, York felt as if he had entered a crowded concert hall in which all the audience members were a wide combination of scents, both sweet-smelling and foul. He soon figured out they spoke with these scents.

Lucky me, he thought.

Then, he smelled a particularly sweet-smelling scent. One that seemed to represent comfort. Soon after this scent had filled the room, Purple, who had emitted the scent, was up by York’s head, hands clutching his ears.

And slowly, as before, York began to slip out of consciousness.

* * * * * *

The next morning, York found himself sprawled on the floor of his kitchen, emotionally drained.

Then, feeling some sort of pain and sudden warmth in his groin, he rushed to the bathroom. He slammed the door, kicked the toilet seat up, and let it flow.

Afterwards, he felt drained again, continuing to feel pain down there. No warmth; just pain.

Suddenly, he became cognizant of the pain in his forehead. He winced and screamed, then rushed over to the mirror just above the sink.

While looking in the mirror, he noticed a mark on his forehead, hidden just below a bright red line, which appeared to be a neatly-cauterized surgical cut.

“It’s mocking me,” York said as he stared at the symbol. The symbol, which looked similar to , reminded York of the Grays and Purple, the thin perpendicular line separating the half-circles, just like the nose separating the creatures’ large eyes.

As if on cue, he struck the symbol with his palm. A burning sensation raced from his groin to his hand and burned into his forehead, as if to activate the symbol.

“Stay right where you are,” a sinister voice from within the symbol hissed. “We’re not done with you yet.”

The buzzing began again. High and fast.




And the movie trailer that started it all:














Reason I'm posting this:

What's your opinion of the Graes (the aliens)?

And how can we make them more plausible while still keeping in mind the basic things people see? Basically this list:

  • A high and fast buzzing noise, which may be either interspecies communication or just another mode of communication for the Graes.

  • Pale-gray skin

  • A bipedal, humanoid stature

  • A lack of opposable thumbs

  • A frail, child-like appearance

  • Large eyes, which may or may not be a sign of strong vision

  • An underdeveloped or non-existant olfactory, auditory, digestive, respiratory, or reproductive system. However, since a Grae has never been autopsied or studied in detail, these may just be based on outward appearance

  • An interest in human abduction, which appears to be grounded in fact

  • An interest in cattle mutilation and crop circle formation, which appears to be overly stereotypical

  • An enlarged, teardrop shaped head

  • An apparently well-developed civilization
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
Empyreon
Member Avatar
Are you plausible?

Quote:
 
Don't worry if it's hard to keep up, i leave stuff out sometimes.


You could, y'know, explain what you meant...
Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus!

COM Contributions


food for thought
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

Sorry, i can't.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
sam999
Member Avatar
Adult
 *  *  *  *  *  *
Get back on topic please.
I am not suffering from insanaty. I truely enjoy being mad.
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image
Comeon, thy dragons need YOU! Visit them here please...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Ànraich
Member Avatar
L'évolution Spéculative est moi

A whole page of gibberish, removed. Back on topic:

Cows? How would cows go extinct? They're a huge source of food, not to mention they're protected by humans, even the ones who don't eat them (i.e., India). And why, come to think of it, would they study something they are descended from. Surely they still would have all that information about their ancestor's biology. Unless it was lost somehow...

I like the idea that maybe they want to be more like us as well. Think about how seemingly perfect our form must appear to other intelligent lifeforms; we walk on two legs and have two more limbs with dexterous hands free to manipulate the environment. Now imagine how difficult it is for something that looks like an octopus or crab or some other unusual shape to make and hold tools, even if they are specifically designed for their body plan. We must be as gods to them.
We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar.

"The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming

Tree That Owns Itself
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

Even though they're more advanced. Maybe it is religion.

Anyway, the greae usually have shape-shifting powers in popular culture, so this isn't too far-fetched.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Graes with shape-shifting? I've never heard of that.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

The X files, etc.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Canis Lupis
Member Avatar
Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.

Never seen the X-files.

Anyway, what sort of space-faring tech would you all presume the Graes use to get around. Obviously not sleeper ships.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Holben
Member Avatar
Rumbo a la Victoria

They use over-unity engines. That could allow them to hover and break the light barrier, since they have no mass.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · The Habitable Zone · Next Topic »
Add Reply