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Questions and Answers

chapter 1

Mixing the sticky bread ingredients in the bowl in front of me, I watched as my informal students chatted while waiting for the last of them to arrive. I was glad to see Walter in attendance as he missed missed a few classes previously. He looked paler than usual but still chatted animatedly with Lily. As usual Wes was giving a doe eyed look to the oblivious caramel skinned woman.

When Heath and Geoffrey arrived I decided to get started.

"Well everybody," I said, grabbing their attention. "Last night were covering the Bears social dynamics, so would you like to hear more about that or another planet tonight?"

I scattered flour on the counter and tipped the dough out of the bowl as people started calling out requests.

"I wanna hear about the dragons again!" Jamie exclaimed. I smiled, he couldn't seem to get enough of them.

"Is there anything we haven't covered from the fire planet yet?" Heath pondered.

"I was wanted to know something about Earth actually."

Intrigued, I looked up and saw it was Wes who posed the last question. "Wes, what would you like to know about Earth?" I frowned "If it's about the technology we use I'm afraid I don't-"

"Oh, its not that," I paused, allowing him to explain as I got into a rhythmic kneading motion.

"When you tell us about the other planets, the Souls always have nicknames for the planet and the host species. You also give a couple of key features as what you perceive as the most unique features of that world."

He frowned as he thought of the best way to continue his query. "...What do the Souls have as a nickname for Earth and humans?"

I blinked in surprise, pausing my kneading for a moment. I hadn't expected that. I was so used to trying to see my Soul society from their perspective to explain it better, I hadn't expected them to wonder what the Soul's perspectives were of them. "What's unique about our world that you'd tell to a Soul who'd never been here?"

I could tell the others had been equally surprised by Wes' question. Jeb leaned forward, his eyes alight with curiosity. Walt's eyes widened as he realised that there may well be Souls across the universe who's first introduction to Earth could be under the moniker of the 'Planet of the Apes'. Lily was also looking at Wes as if seeing him for the first time, making him shift nervously and blush at her stare.

As I got over my surprise I slowly got my rhythm back as I pondered. I cast my mind back to when I was looking for a new planet as my See Weed life term was coming to an end. How did they describe Earth? I remember there was a great deal of excitement over the reports we were getting of souls actually getting quite a lot of resistance from their hosts, both from the wild and occupied. Most of the names seemed to center on this because we See Weeds enjoyed the novelty of excitement so rare in our own stories, I couldn't remember one particular name that had been settled on though...

"Well to answer your first question; we didn't have a nickname for Earth or humans, or rather, we had so many we couldn't agree on one." My brow furrowed as I puzzled over what made Earth so hard to name, but shook my head and returned to my point. "I was with the See Weeds before Earth, among the names they had for Earth was 'Covered World'. Being rooted in one place in such a deep ocean meant we never ventured outside of our comfortable temperature range. Clothes were considered quite an oddity, even among many of the mobile species due to thick fur or scales."

"It was also known as Planet of the...well, it translates as 'Walking Death' but don't read too much into that!" I tried to waive my hand dismissively before remembering they were trapped in dough. I settled on a shrug. "It's a name of a predatory species on that world that humans bear a passing resemblance to, if you ignore the lack of tentacles and beak anyway." I glanced up to gauge how this was being received. Most looked thoughtful, although a few looked chagrined, possibly at being compared to the 'Walking Death' creature.

I scattered more flour to knead into and continued, "there was also 'Planet of Resistance' after the unusual amount of resistance this world gave, and still gives, to occupation." This resulted in smug faces all around at the news that their defiance was acknowledged by their oppressors.

"There were many others, but most who live here choose to call it by its human name; Earth. Much like how many souls choose to adopt the name of their host, the majority have adopted their Earth as their planets name too. I even met a soul who named themselves 'Earthborn' after it."

I started separating the dough into loaves and continued, "as for the unique features of this world; although this world has many amazing features I'd have to say the most interesting, and sometimes infuriating one is right here," I said, tapping my head. I regretted the gesture immediately as I got dough in my hair.

"Humans have a pretty narrow range of perception. You don't see half as much of the spectrum as the Bears, can't taste as wide a range of molecules as the See Weeds or hear subsonic or ultrasonic like the Bats. But though the range of your senses seem limited, the intensity of them is astounding. The desert, for example is quite striking, the endless blue sky set against the burnt sienna rocks and vibrant green and yellow Creosotes...it's quite beautiful." I paused and smiled at the memory of it, although I was too distracted on my last desert stroll looking for 'critters' to stop and 'smell the roses'.

"And smell! I thought it was ridiculous how reduced the human sense of smell is, practically blind! But scent is, though weak, powerfully linked to sense time and place. I don't think I'll ever be able to smell smoke and baking bread without thinking of this kitchen and all of you," I smiled fondly as I considered how close I felt to these humans now, closer than any soul friend I've ever had. Realising I was inadvertently giving the bread dough a inappropriatley loving gaze, I peeked up to see if anyone had noticed. Seeing a mix of smiles and surprised expressions, I blushed and hurried onward.

"Anyway...I guess what I would also tell someone is how little the future seems to matter. I-I'm not saying you don't care though! Ungh how do I put this?" I sighed frustratedly.

I pondered how to describe this as I gazed around me looking for inspiration. Bread, flour, humans, a Cheetos packet...

"Cheetos! Ok, Let's say you eat Cheetos everyday, you might think they taste alright. Same as they tasted yesterday, same as they'll taste tomorrow. But if you haven't eaten one in six months? Your senses say this is The Best. Cheeto. Ever. Created."

This got a ripple of chuckles from the crowd. "Eat a gallon of ice cream even though it'll make me sick? That's future Wanda's problem! These bodies live for the present and while, it can make life a little difficult it only makes the present that much more what it is: a gift to ourselves."

Questions Chapter 2

I was trying to figure out why Souls would have reflective eyes and this is the answer I came up with.

"Um...I have a question about Souls Wanda?"

I glanced towards Lily and paused in forming the bread loaves to brush my hair behind my ear. "Sure Lily, what would you like to know?"

"Well, I'm curious about the purpose of your eye shine. At first I thought I could see the silver because you used it to see, but I think just connecting to the optic cord would work for that. There's no reason that I can think of to make yourself visible in your bodies eyes." Her brow furrowed with puzzlement, "for species that relies on stealth to...obtain new territory, it seems strange to me that Souls would have such an obvious tell."

I smiled at her, they were asking such interesting questions these days! I thought perhaps she was responding to Wes's insightful question the other night about Souls, trying to show that she could be thoughtful too. The fact that she surreptitiously glanced at Wes to gauge his intrigued expression confirmed it.

"That's a very good question! It's actually one that Souls have been trying to figure out for a long time. We've had 'eyeshine' as you put it for as long as we remember. I can no more stop it than you could stop blinking. Most scientists agree that its probably because it's an innate survival trait."

I paused to stoop and retrieve the baked bread rolls from the oven while I thought how best to explain. I smiled gratefully at Ian as he fanned the smoke away so my eyes wouldn't tear up.

"Picture the scene, if you will, of me walking through a forest."

Standing up straight, I started stacking the cooked rolls on the counter to cool.

"Suddenly a creature appears, a predator. I have two choices: I can stand my ground against the creature and almost certainly die, or I can run for my life. There's only one path of escape. It's dangerous but slightly less likely to kill me than the creature. But if the predator were to see me and step into the light to show me its eyeshine, I would instantly know it was a friend and I wouldn't need to run."

I looked up to see if my story had made sense to my students. Lily looked surprised "Huh...so Souls use the eyeshine the same way we do? To tell who can be trusted?"

I was a little stung by this comment, as it implied that she still couldn't trust me, but I tried not to show it. Ian's comforting hand on my shoulder told me he'd seen, of course.

Lily realised what she had said and began back-pedalling, "I-I mean, I didn't mean you..."

"Of course she didn't mean you," Mel interjected in my head. "You're hardly a standard Soul, it makes sense that she wouldn't lump you in with the others."

I smiled and waived off Lily's apology, realising Mel was right and I was being silly.

"Not at all, you're quite right, they serve essentially the same function. We couldn't always rely on our hosts ability to communicate with each other and most species have some sort of visual system so we most likely evolved these eyes to show each other what we were."

"While I appreciate the practicality of it, being so convenient for Souls and humans," Ian interrupted, "I think they look nice too."

My eyes widened, "Y-you do?" He liked my eyes? My eyes, not Melanie's?

"Yeah, I like them too! They're pretty," Jamie agreed with a grin.

I was flabbergasted. The fact that any human could see my eyes as anything other than the symbol of their oppressors was astounding. The idea that not one but two humans would go so far as to say they were pretty was impossible. The stunned faces of the rest of the class mirrored my feelings to a tee.

Blushing furiously, I stammered, "I-I...you mean I..." Giving up on expressing my incredulity, I simply settled on, "...th-thanks."

Unable to stop the smile blossoming on my face I considered how completely we Souls had underestimated humans.