“The first thing you need to know,” he continued, “is your essential role in meeting with extraterrestrials. You will learn about their culture, lifestyle, technology, and many other aspects to pass it on to humans.”

“What?” I blurted out.

“Spooky, spooky, spookeh” Kailus muttered, whom I saw wiggling his fingers.

Both Notemi and Lyviria sat in silence, but Kemia was looking with wondrous, wide eyes—so wide she may have unlocked extrasensory powers for those tiny socketed organs. In contrast, the person who seemed a bit constipated was the brawny Olma, who was uncharacteristically silent from the news. Did he understand what was being said or was his size protecting him from the mention of extraterrestrials?

“So, any questions?”

“That’s it?” Kailus asked dumbfoundingly. The Integrator returned his answer in a nod. “Well that’s disappointing.”

“What did you want to hear?” The Integrator asked with furrowed brows.

“That you were going to build up some tension—like how I was chosen as a candidate because I have good acting and improvisational skills, how aesthetically pleasing I am with my navy blue blazer, and things like that,” Kailus asserted. A pause followed in Kailus’ vain, yet agreeable attempt at having the Integrator introduce the situation more properly.

“So Kailus,” the Integrator started.

“Yes?”

“You were chosen as a candidate because of your good acting and improvisational skills, and you look quite goo-”

“No!” Kailus interrupted. “You missed the timing; what good would it do to tell me this now?”

“You wanted to hear it, no?” The Integrator asked. Kailus looked bewildered and was at loss for words, so he slumped in his chair with arms outstretched on the table. Olma held Kailus’ fingers and lowered his head, paying his respects to his deceased vanity in silence. A smile spread across my face, which gradually transitioned to a chuckle, then laughter.

Kemia and Notemi joined with fists thumping the table, while Lyviria giggled in her usual poised posture. The Integrator stood silent without noise peeping through a single fiber of his being—allowing us to let our ripples of joy sink into Kailus to dissolve his residual pride.

Lyviria was the first to settle back into her natural tranquility and commenced with the first question. “So what does being the spearhead of humanity’s evolution mean?”

“Like I mentioned, it will involve you all going to explore star systems and worlds beyond our planet. There are things that not even your minds are capable of perceiving and understanding at your stage, so there will be a training period after today’s meeting before I send you off on your adventures. With your increase in perception, you will garner knowledge other humans can use so that it can benefit the planet as a whole—think of yourselves as an intermediary between our planet and the stars.”

Sounds of enthusiasm prickled my ears, with Kailus reawakened and invigorated by the call to adventure. He leaned forward with a knee on his table to high-five Olma; briskly pushing his chair back to clash with the one behind him.

In my peripheral, Kemia reached for two-handed high-fives from Notemi, then Lyviria. Kailus turned towards me with two raised fists for a cheer – matching the beat of my heart at the exciting news – while Kemia made her way to high-five me and the two boys across the aisle.

When calm and stability returned, Lyviria continued. “What do you mean by things we are not capable of perceiving?”

“What I am allowed to tell you is: at your current stage, you cannot see extraterrestrials. Although you all are quite close to reaching that point in perception, it is not sufficient; especially since you will be interacting with them more in the future than humans on Earth. You can say this will be the primary aspect of your training.”

“What kinds of extras will we encounter?” Olma asked.

“We can call them ETs for short,” the Integrator assured. “But I cannot give you any details because I, too, do not know what beings are out there.”

“Ooh, I hope we can learn more about our health,” Olma said.

“And any herbal or healing technologies they have!” Lyviria said, seeing her more animated now since I arrived.

But their joy seemed to ignore one question that probed me since the Integrator started talking about ETs; something didn’t add up. He must have encountered ETs in some form or another if he said we can’t perceive them. This meant he could perceive them and had already planned our training for a long time, which was also mentioned in the letter.

“You must have encountered ETs somehow. When and where did you have that experience?” I asked.

“Hmm…” The Integrator pondered for a long moment as he walked to the right side of the room and leaned on a table, then walked back to the center. “You could say that it was a hunch.”

“So you don’t know whether ETs exist or not, and you want us to visit their worlds?” I pressed.

“I wouldn’t say they don’t exist, but the meeting with them was not physical in nature, so words are insufficient to describe that experience. It will be a surprise for you, so I don’t want to spoil it,” the Integrator smiled. “In regards to visiting their worlds, it will be a mystery to me, and we will all be experiencing that surprise together.”

The presence of ETs is the present awaiting us, huh? Although the idea of meeting ETs and their worlds is exciting, his unwavering faith in his ‘hunch’ was disarming. It was on the border of carelessness that riled up my thoughts of ‘What could he be thinking?’ and ‘Do I trust his trust in himself?’ I didn’t want to hinder my joy because of distrust, so the obvious choice was clear.

My trust in him was supported by his young, smiling face resembling childlike wonder. He must be at least forty years old, yet despite his still and uneventful form, I could feel his infectious exuberance which found its way into my thoughts; telling me I could smile unceasingly for the rest of my life—an invitation I refused solely for the reason that my cheeks would become sore.

I wanted to see how he remained so young because he looked just like the rest of us candidates, but the bagginess of the ceremonial robes obscured his natural figure, leaving me only with hints of youthfulness through how he portrayed himself. This gave me a sense of ease and connection with him that implied we could talk about anything. It was similar to that feeling when I first met Kemia—with how familiar and at home I felt, but less in-your-face and smothering with love. It was much more refined and subtle. Even the single thought of distrust that I momentarily manufactured completely swamped this subtlety into a distorted mess.

He was also similar in aspects to Lyviria and the structure we were in—except… it was much more powerful? It was a mix of blending into the physical environment and the ambiance. His clothes certainly did not match anything around him because that was only a facade. There was a caring and motherly impression coming from him, but it was devoid of masculinity and femininity. It was puzzling and mysteriously inviting and welcoming.

“Is there something that you can tell us that you do know?” Notemi asked.

“There are many things, but they can only be pulled out if you have a question. You can continue to probe, but my answers will only be as good as your questions. Some answers may be prevented from reaching you because I do not deem the time necessary and I do not want to remove the fun for you. And of course, the rest is for your curiosity.”

Notemi displayed a contorted look on her lips, contemplating as hard as she could to rebel against the Integrator’s non-provocative statement before surrendering to her lack of questions.

“If there are no questions left, we will proceed to the next matter,” the Integrator said.

Silence.

“None? Then let me introduce your new teachers.”