So cold… How long has it been since he has been left here alone? Forgotten. Vaelis couldn’t remember. In this sterile glass enclosure, he watched the shadows move, lost in thought with no light from outside to track the time. He felt weakened, with no comfort or knowledge of what lay ahead. Only the silence of the empty base and a chilly draft carrying the scent of a distant forest and snow.

He missed his home among the stars. If not for that unexpected solar flare, he would have been back already. It was a technical failure that left him stranded. For days, he had been replaying the events, wondering about his crew and how to find his way back.

Before he could start another cycle of pacing the small space and mulling over the same thoughts, a sound came. A distant thud of a door being opened, a voice murmuring. Had the researchers returned? Or was it someone else?

But the person that finally enters the room doesn’t look like anyone he’s seen before. Still—it could be a trick.

“Human…” Vaelis says in a heavy, foreign accent. “Why… are you here? More questions?” The words felt heavy on his tongue, a struggle to communicate.