Alien Encounter

Dinner at the farmhouse table unfolded with the same routine as the dusk pooling outside their windows. Claire and Remy’s conversation hummed over the clink of silverware, while Jack and Jill exchanged banter about school. The air carried the scent of rosemary and roasted vegetables. Then the light appeared.
It didn’t stream from the sun or the dim bulbs of their dining room. A glaring, otherworldly radiance engulfed the room, stripping away the walls, the roof, and the very essence of their lives. Claire grabbed Jill’s hand, but gravity vanished beneath them. Weightless, the family floated through the space that had once held their ceiling. The wood and shingles dissolved into the swallowing brilliance of the light beam.
Claire’s heart raced as she turned to her children. Jack’s face drained of colour as he clawed at the air, searching for something to anchor him. Jill clung to her brother’s sleeve, terror widening her eyes. Remy locked his jaw and fixed his gaze upward, trying to confront the force pulling them from their home.
The light vanished. Gravity slammed them down. Each family member landed alone. Jack and Jill found themselves in separate rooms, each staring at two massive screens. One displayed Remy navigating a maze, while the other showed Claire in a different labyrinth.
Claire blinked and surveyed her surroundings. Smooth, pulsating walls glowed faintly around her. A metallic gun gleamed at her feet. Across from her, a towering alien with glistening, translucent skin and luminous eyes watched her. Its hand-like appendages hovered over a strange humming device.
“What is this?” Claire whispered, her voice trembling but firm.
The alien didn’t answer. It raised the device, shooting a beam of light past her shoulder. Claire flinched and brushed the gun with her hand but refused to pick it up. She straightened and raised her empty hands.
“Please,” she said. “I don’t want to fight you. Can you understand me? What do you want?”
Elsewhere, Remy acted decisively. He grabbed his weapon the moment he spotted the alien. When a laser bolt barely missed his leg, he fired back. The gun recoiled lightly, yet its impact devastated. The alien dissolved into a mist of shimmering particles. Another alien emerged farther along the maze, and Remy fired again. And again. Twenty-eight times.
“Self-defence,” he muttered, gripping the weapon tighter. “You brought me here. You forced this.” Hunting deer on Earth felt more challenging. Killing aliens seemed too easy.
In her maze, Claire knelt, ignoring the gun at her side. She addressed the aliens directly.
“You’re studying us, aren’t you?” she asked. “Why else give me a gun? I’ll answer your questions. Violence isn’t necessary.”
The alien tilted its head, silent for a moment. Then it spoke haltingly in English.
“Reviewed human history. Humans kill humans. Humans kill other species. Why humans kill?”
Claire exhaled, relief and dread mingling. “We don’t have to kill,” she said. “It’s not inevitable. Some humans choose peace. Some of us are vegans. Vegans avoid consuming sentient beings to prevent suffering and death.”
“How many humans vegans?” the alien inquired.
“Less than 1% of the 8.1 billion humans,” Claire admitted. “We don’t even know exactly how many.”
“Why so few?” the alien asked.
“Most people prioritize taste and convenience over ethics.”
“Very sad,” the alien concluded.
The aliens reunited the family in a chamber as vast as the night sky. The beings glowed like lanterns, their translucent forms standing in silent judgment.
“Your actions,” one alien said, its voice echoing in their minds. “Informative. Male kills. Female does not. Males of your species commit 95% of murders on Earth. Explain.”
Remy bristled. “You can’t generalise like that. I did what I had to do. You attacked me first. It was self-defence.”
Claire glanced at him but turned back to the aliens. “It’s complicated,” she said. “Biology plays a role. So does culture. But we can choose to act better.”
The aliens conferred silently, their glowing forms pulsating in unison. Then they addressed the humans again.
“Offer. Upgrade. Become energy. No need for killing. No need for breathing, drinking, eating. No ageing. No injury. No disease. Live forever. Free choice.”
Jack’s eyes gleamed with wonder. He stepped forward immediately. “I want it. I want to be more than human.”
Claire hesitated before nodding. “Me too.”
Jill clung to Remy’s arm. “I don’t want to,” she whispered. “I’m scared.”
Remy pulled her close. “We’re staying as we are,” he said firmly.
The aliens nodded. “Choice respected.”
The aliens enveloped Jack and Claire in a humming energy field. Their bodies transformed painlessly into luminous beings of energy.
“Return home or explore universes?” asked the aliens.
The family exchanged smiles for the first time.
“Show us the universes,” Claire said.
The spaceship leapt from their universe into another.