nytroclip

I remember opening my eyes when my escape pod crash-landed on a strange planet. The first thing I see is a tall hairy human, covered in milky white strands of long straight hair; but something was off. Its face protruded like that of a wolf, and yet it had a small mouth, with teeth that would look more at home on a teething toddler. Pale blue eyes stared back at me as I lay dazed in my pod. Its pointy snout twitched as it said “Are you alright?”. At this point my mind raced faster than a greyhound. Where am I? It can speak! But it looks like a mix between a yeti and a wolf – how is this possible? Just as I was thinking this, the creature scooped me up with its gangly arms. I thought it was going to eat me. Boy, I was wrong. The being introduced itself as I sat cradled in its arms, “I am Credfnor Mlyxis, but you can call me Cred”. The voice was soft and low. “What on earth are you?”, I enquired. “Ah, Earth, so that’s where you’re from”, said Cred. The lofty oddity added, “We are the Dopnons, inhabitants of the planet Lupix”. My head was banging, but Cred went on, “You must be a first iteration humanoid. Us Dopnons are of the sixth iteration, quite far removed from your species, but we share the same Creator”. “What time is it?”, I said, panic rising inside of me. “Oh, we gave up on measuring time, so inaccurate. A futile exercise, but by your understanding, it would be 65,000, give or take a few millennia”. I could hardly believe what came out of Cred’s disproportionately diminutive mouth. I blacked out, and when I woke, I was in some sort of settlement, that looked to me like a teepee tried to turn into an igloo, but got stuck somewhere in between. Sleep encrusted the corners of my eyes. I blinked a few times, my vision fuzzy, and my senses dulled. I could see Cred’s silhouette nearby. “How long have I been asleep?”, I asked. “About five and a quarter rotations of the planet, by my estimations”, said Cred. “How do you like the place?”, asked Cred. In my head, I thought that it looked surprisingly primitive, given that this was more than 60,000 years in the future, from my perspective. “Oh, it’s not bad”, I said, nonchalantly, as I yawned, and wiped a heap of sleep out of my eyes. So this is how aliens live… not quite what I expected. “Cred, are there others like you?”, I wondered aloud. “Oh yes, plenty!”, said Cred, rather more enthusiastically than I expected. Cred stretched across to me, and gently caressed my forehead, and what was said next truly touched my heart. “I know I might not be your mum, but I’m going to have to look after you from now on. You’re incredibly lucky to have survived that crash without a scratch,” she paused, and continued, “The other pods’ occupants are pulverised beyond recognition, but I did capture, and analyse some DNA samples. From what I can tell, you are the sole survivor from an indescribably tragic disaster. The results came back shortly before you came to just now”. My very soul sunk in anticipation of what Cred would reveal to me about my family’s fate. “Your relatives did not survive the crash, Nytroclip”, she said, her voice faltering, and tears swelling in her eyes. “I’m going to look after you no matter what. Not just me, but my husband Wooji too. You’ll get used to him, he’s working, but will be back from the office soon”. My whole world shattered faster than the Twin Towers of ages past. A kaleidoscope of feelings erupted; my brain imploded in on itself. So many things made no sense at the time, like how did I get here? How did Cred know my name? Why do sentient beings from the future still go to work, and abide by gender roles? Why me? Why did my family have to die? Why am I so important that only I should live? To this day, some of these things still haunt me. One thing is certain. I do not regret being raised by wolves.