Jasmine stared at the strange tablet in her hands, alien script stared back at her. Uniform squares and circles, a triangle thrown in for good measure, it all seemed too simple really. She had played around with the paint program they had given to her, one so easy a 3 year old could have figured it out, this one, was a recording program. The aliens seemed to have given her a very limited piece of tech, idiot proof almost, the tablet started recording as soon as she started speaking. It wouldn’t be long before they could exchange alphabets and other knowledge, now that she had a translator that wouldn’t explode at random intervals.

Jasmine rotated the tablet one final time, getting a feeling for the almost paper light device. She had to record her story while it was still fresh in her mind, before it faded away in the flurry of excitement.

Personal log of Owner #0001

Owner: Uhh, umm, testing, testing, one two three… I guess its recording now. Umm, ha, I really should have thought about what I wanted to say before I started… That would have been smart. Okay. I should start from the beginning I guess. My name is Jasmine Howe. I’m 22 years old, I was born on November 13, 1994. I dropped out of university in the first year of my chef apprenticeship. You know, exactly the sort of person you want making first contact. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to try and remember any sort of math higher than division or any sort of algebra after Pythagoras, A squared plus B squared equals C squared, that's Pythagoras right? The triangles? I remembered pi though, they were impressed with that one. Oh. Uhh I’m getting off track.

Owner: On January 20th, 2017, I was with three friends - Katherine Nguyen, Daniel Chamkov, and… Warren Baker, we were making our way back to the city- uhh damn I forgot their ages, okay, before I go any further and you all think I’m a scatterbrain, I just want to point out that I can’t take any notes ‘cause the tablet they gave me only runs one program at a time. It’s frustrating as hell, cause I can’t check notes while doing the recording, or draw while listening to the alien audio books. When the hell was the last time you worked on a computer without at least having some background music or something?!? Everything is in audio form by the way, but I guess when the species who created the translator is psychic you care more about listening than writing things down… God I'm off track again, anyway my point was that if this doesn’t sound like a proper fluid essay it’s cause I have to say these things off the top of my head, I’ll have to ask Xant to send me another tablet so I can get these audio files sorted.

[Long pause]

Owner: Okay, back to what happened, the three of us had been out in the bush somewhere north of the city, and we stopped by the coast to have one final night on the beach before making the long drive back to proper beds…

We were around the campfire, drinking, but not like totally sloshed or anything, I needed to uhh, relieve myself, so I called them all names and trekked off to find a suitable bush… I, [<anxiety>] I won’t go into too much detail about what happened next, a bright light engulfed me and I was weightless, then everything went [<anxiety>] black. I woke up while they were studying me, and I’m going to leave it at that ‘cause when I try too hard to remember it, the memories come back and I kinda want to sleep tonight.  What I can say is that it fucking hurt though… Whatever the fuck they were doing to me was like, liposuction without anesthetic, it hurt like….[<despair, terror>]  [System error, input non compatible with this device]

[Long pause]

Owner: The worst part of it all was I knew they didn’t fucking care.

[Long pause]

Owner: I don’t know. [Deep breath] Sorry...I know I should try to remember all the details but, it is a lot to deal with. I'll try to come back to it, and see if I can remember anything else, but I need some distance first, this whole thing is.

[Long pause]

Yeah. Anyway, when I woke up the second time in the fakest zoo enclosure ever, then I really had no idea what the fuck was happening. It would have been kind of hilarious if it wasn’t real. Doing nothing felt like the best option. Well, some combination of ‘nothing’ and ‘crying’. I’m not really sure how long it was between being shocked and crying that I realised I couldn't really stand up on my own, I was really light headed and nauseous. It was a struggle to get to the water feature they put in, it was humiliating trying to dig a hole to pee in.

[Long pause]

I didn't have the appetite to eat, So I was getting weaker by the minute, my vision was blurry. I slept a few times, don't know for how long, there wasn't a night cycle in the enclosure. A door opened from the side I had decided was north, and that's when I saw Dr. Xant. He’s big, probably over 6 ft, with blue-black and grey skin, a long snout and thin ears on the top of his head. He has two arms, but only four fingers on each hand and he walks on, the backwards knee thing, Uhh, dragon legs? He also hunches over a little, his tail balances him out. I knew he had to be some sort of caretaker, he wore a white coat over a protective grey suit and black gloves, the uniform of a mad doctor is apparently the universal standard. I'll draw a picture sometime.

[Long pause, heavy breathing]

Anyway, of course I was scared shitlessof this thing coming toward me, but I could barely sit up straight, let alone run away. I think the first thing that helped put me at ease was how he approached. Never looked me in the eyes directly, like I was a wounded animal, I mean, technically I was a wounded animal, but he was slow, kept his distance and stayed low to the ground, didn't want to startle me, waited on me to make the first move. I guess it was just instinct that I started to relax, he didn't seem like the uncaring bastards who took me, maybe they didn’t find what they were looking for and dumped me down the line? I really had no idea what to expect. Xant was careful, he didn't try to move or touch me unnecessarily. He approached slowly and reached out, gently guiding my head to either side, feeling for something in my throat. After I took a deep breath and looked up, I saw Xant watching me and gesturing towards something out of my vision, before tapping on my arm using a little white tool. I figured it was some sort of medical equipment and tried to be cooperative since it seemed like he wanted to help. I held as still as I could while he used the med-stick to scan my arm and take some readings. Oh, the med-stick is so cool by the way, it's about the size and shape of an epi-pen, it's an all-in-one diagnoser, has a little laser to scan the eyes and temperature, needle on one end to take skin, blood and saliva samples then tells you what's up with this cute little voice -

[Door com chimes]

Other 1: Jasmine, may I enter?

Owner: Oh! Yeah Xant, come in.

[Door slides open and closed.]

Owner: So how did the board meeting go?

Other 1: It was, [sigh] even more, disruptive than usual.

Owner: [Confused] Disruptive? That doesn’t sound very professional.

Other 1: Even professionals can argue from time to time, but the situation is complex. We will have to wait a while longer before we can obtain you a custom translator. Duuarn had gone over the Director's head and made a request from the company, which Laandi was not exactly thrilled about.

Owner: Guessing that was what the major disruption was about?

Other 1: Not exclusively, but by far the most pressing disruption. He suggested that my use of department funds was irresponsible. Personally, I believe communication with an educated Creator species is more important than mapping a new User-class genome, but Duuarn seems compelled to prove his choice of specimen superior.

Owner: Duuarn sounds like an ass(hole).

Other 1: He can be unpleasant to work with, but he wouldn't be assigned to this station if he did not have the credentials.

Owner: (<Surprise, Admire, Concern>) (No resentment toward Duuarn?)

Well, I guess we can work with what we have now, it seems to be working OK for me most of the time.

Other 1: It is broadcasting your more dominant Frequency from time to time, interrupting your speech, your emotions are not being filtered as well as they should be.

Owner: Is that a bad thing? I mean, aside from having to avoid thinking anything embarrassing all day.

Other 1: Only if your emotions remain erratic; strong emotions are keenly felt by my people, and the amplification from the translator can make the sudden change give off a mild nauseating effect.

Owner: Wait, are you saying my emotions can make you sick?

Other 1: Only when they're unstable, I didn't want to exacerbate the condition further, but with training you will be able to contain your emotions yourself. We have two hours before we are required in the medical wing for Dr. Krydon’s examination. If you are willing, I would like to guide you through a meditation session.

Owner: If you think that will help? Does it have something to do with your telepathy?

Other 1: Sudden changes in Frequency are uncomfortable, but manageable, I want to stress that it is not your fault. There will always be a need for adjustments when integrating a new species, and this is one adjustment I am happy to make.

Owner: Xant, if meditation helps then I can't say no, I especially won't say no if it means I can leave this room. Is there any word when I'll be able to walk the facility unsupervised?

Other 1: I don't foresee Laandi keeping you under restrictions after the Perception tests, although some areas of the facility may be hazardous if you're sensitive to chemicals or certain audible or electromagnetic Frequencies. After the examination we should have a better idea of your compatibility with our standard environmental settings.

Owner: Okay, I understand that, I guess I'll just have to hold your hand until then.

Other 1: Such proximity is not necessary, I can-

Owner: That was a joke, Xant…

Other 1: Ah, humour, such a pleasant surprise. We can relocate to my quarters, I have more comfortable furnishings to accommodate us while joining.

Owner: (Nothing suss about that statement at all.) Lead the way, [<relieved>]

[Long pause]

[<Embarrassment>] Oh, I completely forgot, umm, how do I stop the recording?

Other 1: This button here, just-

[Session Ended]