A Breath of Air and Light

“Here, piggy piggy…”

The Mokum stood eerily still, crouching near a vent and cycling through its memories from the previous compact. It attempted to locate the source of the whisper. The Mokum turned in all directions, flashing a floodlight on the now-illuminated room around it, but to no avail. The whisper did not repeat.

The Mokum bristled before its voice pierced the air, spoken in choppy, rigid English: “We find the degradation of our persons discourteous and unprofessional.” The Mokum turned around in a slow circle, continuing to scan its environment.

Years of research had led The Mokum to this precise time and place. Humans, as they called themselves, were a surprisingly advanced species considering the stagnation of the other animals surviving on the Blue-White Habitat. The Human development of language, infrastructure, and biology impressed The Mokum, and further studies would be necessary for future inter-planetary research and acquisition.

These Humans lived on one of the Spheres, the one they fondly referred to as “Earth.” The Mokum picked up on this kind of language quickly, being able to swiftly incorporate these words into the research and nomenclature of the Blue-White Habitat — beginning with what is considered “Earthly.”

Note: Something “Earthly” is anything unique to the Blue-White Habitat – things the Humans refer to as rock, dirt, and water.

Then pacing in small circles, The Mokum shone the floodlight toward the door, noticing that it stood ajar. Before approaching the entrance, The Mokum paused for a long moment, reviewing its notes on this unique species.

Note: Humans were physically resilient and could even heal themselves, but their body composition paled in comparison to The Mokum.

Note: Humans were intelligent, but their overall brain capacity was not nearly as sophisticated as that of The Mokum.

Note: Humans were certainly the strongest and most capable life The Mokum has observed, mentally and physically, and yet — they didn’t do anything.

Year after year, generation after generation, The Mokum watched as humans behaved almost identically to one another on a wide scale. Behaving, in many ways, like sheep, these Humans spent the majority of their time performing labor as a herd. For such advanced creatures, it was a puzzling truth of the matter.

The Mokum was able to classify and condense the stages of Human life into a simple list:

1. Birth
2. Raised by Mother
3. Learned from Others
4. Worked for Others
5. Death

Of course, there was some deviation from Human to Human. Some had many offspring, some had none. Some died old, some died young. Overall, however, The Mokum made a clear connection between the lives of Humans and the lives of other hive creatures on the Blue-White Habitat, such as honeybees or some types of fungus. They exist briefly, a breath of air and light between the eternity of What Comes Before and What Comes After, and they spend this breath working towards a common goal. What that goal is, however, The Mokum had not yet been able to understand.

“Here…pff..”

The Mokum had turned at the whisper and lunged, ripping directly into flesh.

With a sickening thud, something hit the ground. It sounded wet.

The Mokum peered down at the mass on the floor. The misshapen lump had been immobile for a moment, but it began to stir. The Mokum leaned in closer, trying to ascertain if the movement was, in fact, Earthly in nature.

Gazing up at The Mokum was a Human. The Human was missing an arm, its blood seeping out in scarlet waves, splattering across the floor in a macabre work of art. Even with the most advanced technology, it was clear — this Human had no chance of survival.

That wasn’t the horror, however, of the situation. Upon closer examination, The Mokum tilted its head, confused. The Human was smiling.

It was almost pitiful. The Humans truly did live and die for nothing — had they convinced themselves that they were fulfilled? Had they convinced themselves that their labor meant something?

Immediately, there was one thing The Mokum had failed to anticipate: the extreme, visceral, deep-rooted hatred that Humans possess.

In a single moment, a shriek pierced the air as the Human lunged for a thin blade, still grasped in the hand of its detached limb, and plunged the dagger deep into the heart of The Mokum.

Humans did not measure action by outcome. The Mokum fell to the ground, motionless. Two corpses spotted the gray room, their hands seemingly reaching out toward one another.