Chapter 136: The Meeting
Chapter 136: The Meeting
Fifteen days before the agreed meeting time for both civilizations,
the Outlook Observation Array had already observed a small starship, less than a kilometer in diameter, departing from the Planetary Fortress of the Stuo Civilization.
To avoid misunderstandings, the Stuo Civilization had informed Human Civilization in advance that this starship carried their delegation.
After leaving the Stuo Civilization’s Interstellar Fleet, the starship accelerated towards the Jupiter’s Orbit position within the Solar System.
The HCC’s Outlook Observation Array also allocated dedicated observation resources to track the flight path of this Extraterrestrial Civilization vessel.
Although both sides had achieved some basic understanding and reached the stage of formal meeting,
obviously, for both civilizations, it had not reached the point where they could completely let go of their mutual wariness.
There was no doubt that at this moment, similar observation devices within the Stuo Civilization’s Planetary Fortress and Interstellar Fleet were monitoring the activity in the Inner Solar System,
while weapons suitable for Interstellar War conditions were aimed at Human Civilization’s settlements, ready to fire.
On the Human Civilization, HCC side, electromagnetic railguns and laser weapons positioned on the Lunar Surface, Mars, and even near Jupiter’s Orbit were aimed at the Stuo Fleet, ready to fire at any moment.
During these past two years, enormous starships built using the DT04 Electric Propulsion System, the size of entire stellar cities, were docked away from the Stuo Fleet’s direction, hidden behind some planets.
People selected to board these starships had already been relocated to live inside them.
These starships equipped with the DT04 Electric Propulsion System were also ready to depart at any time.
The previously planned project to push the Moon into the Sun had not been abandoned.
Preparations were complete, and execution could begin immediately upon HCC’s order.
Human Civilization did not hide these actions, or preparations, from the Stuo Civilization. In fact, allowing the other civilization to see these moves was part of the intended effect of these preparations.
To prevent unnecessary misunderstandings arising from cultural and cognitive differences between the two civilizations, Human Civilization had given clearer explanations about the purpose of these actions during communications with the Stuo Civilization.
It was about being ready for the worst-case scenario, while also trying to prevent it from happening.
Both civilizations understood that these actions were currently unavoidable.
The formal meeting of the two civilizations was a significant milestone, a key point in the contact between two civilizations in the universe.
Its symbolic importance was immense, even if its practical role in their entire future interaction might be limited.
Simultaneously, this was also the most dangerous time during the exchange between the two civilizations.
Especially for Human Civilization, this was their first encounter with an Extraterrestrial Civilization.
Though they had learned some things about the Stuo Civilization through years of communication,
much about another civilization outside their own remained unpredictable for Humanity.
Anything could happen.
Contact between two civilizations in the cosmos, no matter how smooth, always carried an element of challenge.
…
At the same time,
on the Human Civilization side, the delegation tasked with the meeting, dispatched by the Negentropy Research Institute, also set off from Earth.
After leaving the ground, the Human Civilization delegation, comprising over fifty people, boarded one of their own starships.
They traveled towards the Human Stellar City on Ganymede.
Because of the distance, the fact that the Human delegation started from Earth meant
they arrived at Ganymede earlier than the Stuo delegation.
After settling on Ganymede, the leaders of the various research teams within the Human meeting delegation waited for the meeting time and the Stuo delegates’ arrival. They spent their time discussing and refining the details of the upcoming meeting.
During this period, the public across Human Civilization felt excitement but also tension about the impending encounter between the two civilizations.
“I wonder what the outcome of this meeting will be? Will we make any deals with the Stuo Civilization?”
“I’m so nervous I can’t sleep. What if, when we meet them face-to-face, we just start an Interstellar War over the slightest disagreement?”
“Quiet! Don’t jinx it… This is our first meeting, so actually agreeing on much cooperation is unlikely. Its symbolic meaning is bigger… But if this goes smoothly, future exchanges should be much easier.”
“Friends, prepare for the worst… Though, if things do go well, I wonder if we could ever travel inside the Stuo Civilization, experience their culture?”
“Will this meeting be televised? I’m really curious about what the actual Stuo individuals look like?”
“We’ll know then. Live TV might not happen, but if the two civilizations don’t immediately start fighting, the Huaxin News Agency will probably report on it.”
During this time,
the vast majority of people within Human Civilization focused their attention on this formal meeting between Human Civilization and the Stuo Civilization.
This meeting, without a doubt, would affect the fate of Human Civilization as a whole, of every person within it, and that of the Stuo Civilization.
For Human Civilization,
this was their first encounter with an Extraterrestrial Civilization. Compared to starting an Interstellar War between them,
achieving deeper communication was clearly the more beneficial outcome.
But how the civilizations interacted wasn’t something Human Civilization alone could dictate.
The situation was likely similar for the Stuo Civilization.
…
Time passed quickly.
Under the “gaze” of both the Human Outlook Observation Array and the Stuo observation equipment,
the journey of the Stuo delegation’s starship towards Ganymede, at the current edge of Human territory, proceeded relatively smoothly.
After passing through the Kuiper Belt, it continued beyond the orbits of Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn.
During its deceleration, the Stuo starship arrived near Jupiter’s Orbit.
The Human Stellar City on Ganymede also received the Stuo starship’s request to dock at its Stellar Port.
Having secured Human approval, the Stuo starship began its descent and finally docked inside Ganymede’s Stellar Port.
Acting as hosts for this meeting, the Human Civilization delegation
naturally received the Stuo delegation at the Stellar Port within this stellar city.
Here, the two civilizations would meet face-to-face for the very first time.
“Welcome, members of the Stuo Civilization delegation, to a city of Human Civilization.”
“We thank Human Civilization for this invitation.”
The Stuo starship’s hatch opened.
Members of the Stuo delegation disembarked.
Every minute detail of the meeting protocol had been carefully communicated and agreed upon by the two civilizations beforehand.
Now, they followed these steps exactly.
Both civilizations aimed to avoid almost any spontaneous action or unforeseen event outside the meticulously planned protocol,
thus preventing unnecessary misunderstandings during this crucial meeting.
Within the Human extraterrestrial city,
the environment wasn’t naturally suitable for Stuo individuals’ survival needs.
Therefore, every member of the Stuo delegation walking down the ramp wore devices similar to Human space suits, ensuring they could move safely within the Human settlement.
However, through the overall structure of these suits and their transparent sections, some physical characteristics of the Stuo individuals were discernible.
By Human Civilization standardswere quite unique.
The Stuo Civilization walked upright, with a total of six limbs. Two limbs touched the ground, providing support for the entire body. The other four limbs were located on the upper half of their bodies.
Among these upper limbs, two were shorter, each less than half a meter in length, while the other two were longer, stretching from the torso to their tips for over two meters.
The ends of these upper limbs weren’t skeletal joints like those in Human Civilization. Instead, they formed something which appeared like forked, soft tentacles? Each tentacle was attached to the end of a limb, roughly twenty to thirty centimeters long, with eight tentacles per limb.
These tentacles connected to the limb ends of Stuo individuals looked rather strange.
Perhaps the Human Civilization delegation was being biased—before the formal meeting, the two civilizations had already exchanged images of what individuals from each civilization looked like.
Previously, the Stuo Civilization had mentioned that these tentacles at the ends of their limbs were not natural. They were flexible limbs they had created for themselves through later advancements in their biological science.
Looking at Stuo individuals overall, likely due to the need for stability during evolution while maintaining upright posture,
their bodies curved slightly forward. What could be called a back seemed to bulge outward.
Additionally,
the entire body of a Stuo individual was covered in a hard structure akin to a carapace or scales. The surface appeared extremely smooth and was dark yellow in color.
This might have some connection to the environment of their home planet.
Finally, there was the head of a Stuo individual.
By Human Civilization standards, the head seemed out of proportion with the body.
It protruded only slightly from the body, with no distinct neck structure. The head was also covered in a similar hard, scale-like carapace.
Based on this structure, it was guessed that if the Stuo had something like a brain, it was probably situated directly beneath the head and directly above the main torso,
unlike humans where the brain is within the head.
On the head, the eye structure of the individual and the mouth structure used for eating could be seen.
The auditory structure was difficult to see with the naked eye at this moment. From the previously exchanged visual information, it was known that
Stuo individuals did not possess external structures like human ears.
Their auditory structures consisted mainly of one very small, closeable aperture on each side of the head.
Furthermore, Stuo individuals lacked a structure fully comparable to the human olfactory system.
Instead, they possessed an extra structure humans do not have.
Atop the head of a Stuo individual were two structures, resembling antennae but much larger, like horns, which could move freely.
Directly translated from their own Stuo naming, they should be called “Resonance Horns”.
The Resonance Horns of a Stuo individual could sense changes in temperature and humidity in the surrounding environment.
They could detect subtle vibrations from relatively far distances. When touching a substance, they could sense some differences in its texture, somewhat like a blend of the human senses of smell and touch, yet not identical.
They served as a vital supplement to the auditory system and the entire sensory perception of the Stuo individual.
However, according to the Stuo themselves,
after entering the technological era, as noise pollution in their living environment grew increasingly complex,
the primary vibration-sensing function of the Resonance Horns became difficult to utilize, having largely grown “dull and numb” over the course of evolution.
By now, they existed more as just a physical symbol on a Stuo individual.
At this moment, during the very first instance of the formal meeting,
delegations from both civilizations inevitably began observing the external characteristics of the other.
Knowing beforehand was one thing; seeing them with their own eyes was entirely different.
Overall,
by Human Civilization standards of aesthetics, Stuo individuals definitely did not look very pleasant.
But similarly, the Stuo viewing humans likely felt exactly the same, probably finding humans strange-looking.
Presently,
Human Civilization extended its hand towards the Stuo Civilization, performing a handshake gesture.
The Stuo Civilization similarly performed their customary greeting ritual:
raising their four upper limbs and holding onto their Resonance Horns.
In more primitive environments, the Resonance Horns of Stuo individuals were linked to a significant part of their sensory abilities.
Covering the horns greatly impaired their perception.
This act served to express absolute trust towards the other individual facing them.
Thus evolved an important Stuo greeting gesture.
The leader of the Stuo delegation first extended one upper limb and shook hands with the leader of the Human Civilization delegation.
Similarly, although humans lack horns, the human delegate made a fist with one hand and placed it near his forehead for a moment as a response to the Stuo sign of respect.
The scene, taken by itself, did seem somewhat comical.
Yet, amid the tense atmosphere, clearly no one found it easy to laugh.
After this simple greeting,
the Stuo Civilization delegation honored the etiquette of their Human Civilization hosts.
They officially entered the primary process of the meeting between the two civilizations.
The human and the Stuo individual, each serving as the leader of their respective delegations, walked side by side at the front.
The remaining members of both delegations followed behind.
Both sides had prepared in advance
real-time intelligent translation devices specifically for inter-civilization communication,
so there weren’t any significant language barriers.
The voice of a Stuo individual somewhat resembled the sound of summer cicadas,
though higher in pitch, but much shorter and more regular.
“Honorable leader of the Stuo delegation. I am Qiu Yiming, the leader of the Human Civilization delegation for this meeting with the Stuo delegation. On behalf of Human Civilization, I once again welcome the arrival of Stuo Civilization.”
“Thank you for Human Civilization’s warmth and respect, Mr. Qiu Yiming. You may address me as Sies. I have been dispatched by the ‘Sacred Decider of Stuo Civilization’ to represent my people. I earnestly hope that Stuo Civilization and Human Civilization can establish friendly communication and cooperation.”
“Mr. Sies, please believe us, our Human Civilization shares this expectation.”
The Stuo delegation was somewhat larger than the Human side, numbering over a hundred individuals.
Following the pre-arranged itinerary,
after the Stuo delegation arrived at the Human Stellar City,
neither side rushed to discuss cooperation or technology exchange immediately.
Most of the schedule for the Stuo-Human meeting consisted of tours.
Tours visiting Human Civilization’s cities and museums.
Naturally,
at this stage, Human Civilization couldn’t reveal its entire nature to the Stuo Civilization.
All locations shown to them were carefully selected.