First Contact. [Short Story]

We were always cautious with those signals that came from space. We did not know how to do them, since our technology was not as advanced as theirs. Apparently they were in an endless search to verify that they were not alone in the universe. That race known as "Humans" would surely be no more than a problem, waiting for us to receive a signal to invade us. However, the most disconnected specimens of our species found a way to answer one of their cryptic messages. We considered ourselves lost. 50 years have passed since this event, and we know that they are trying to land on the surface of our planet. We can see one of its ships approaching slowly towards us. We were armed, what were we waiting for?

Without waiting for long, their ship landed on our surface, and they began disembarking. With our weapons we pointed at them, waiting for any sign of hostility. But there were none, they had no malicious intentions, they were morbid to discover that they were not alone in the world. Slowly we made contact and discovered similarities and differences in our languages, to be able to adapt and understand each other. Soon, any fear we would have for humans was replaced by confidence in sharing their advanced technology with us and soon, we would have integrated into their society.

However, unlike our species, many of them saw us as inferior beings, to whom we should not be allowed to live. This situation worsened when one of these intolerant came to power, condemning us to areas of bad life, insecure and far from the good parts of society. Many humans tried to kill us, many times ignored by the law, because we were a weaker race. We were not useful for their heavy work, if not to think like a collective. Something they never knew is that among our race, we only have one mind. The closer we are to each other, the smarter and bolder we become. Here, on their planet we will be abused and exterminated eventually, but in our home they will never be able to defeat our superior intellectual capacity.

Years later, humans orchestrated a racist and xenophobic campaign. Taking advantage of the nature of humans, they managed to show the worst of humanity and bring this species close to extinction through war.

200 years have passed since the unity and we are the last remaining group of our species on the planet that we once considered home. We have managed to hide for years, but we never thought that the strength of humans would be the destruction of our intellect. We can barely coordinate to look for supplies, our collective no longer has the capacity that at one time had. The thousands of voices we used to communicate with are no longer there. This is probably what humans called depression. We do not have many other minds to communicate with, and we feel lonely from time to time ... What will happen to the last one? ...

A short time later, the last Karians were found. After a long series of abuse and generation after generation of slavery, humans found a way to change their minds over the years, just as they did with dogs, they had domesticated a race entirely alien to them, with brute force and superiority. Soon, the remaining specimens of the Karians would be essentially mentally retarded, without knowing their history or the struggle they could not win at some point.

Source from IIIBlackhartIII

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Alejandro León.