HUMAN

“Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say.”

The creature was the last of its kind and it whispered those solemn words into the infinite night. Waking from a thousand year sleep that should've been its permanent death.

“Or so they say…. Or so they say,” the creature repeated. Shivering erratically from the final phase of its cryo-reanimation.

Uttering a dead language that nobody else on the spacecraft could possibly understand.

Emerging from a millennial coma that seemed as long and empty as space itself.

The Vazré had travelled through several different solar systems and this new life-form, whom they had cryogenically resurrected, was unlike any they had ever encountered.

They had captured small neon organisms floating en masse upon the low-gravity moons of a planet whose name was unpronounceable. They had narrowly escaped a hive of monstrous parasites whose body fluid was highly corrosive. They had found broken and glyph-tattooed machines on a dead desert orb; but even these did not reveal much (other than that their extinct makers were fairly sophisticated yet still intellectually primitive.)

And that was it. Out of 27 different solar systems and 317 different planets. That was all this galaxy had to offer.

“Nobody can hear… Nobody can hear...”

But this creature was different. It appeared to be extremely sentient, even capable of symbolic communication. If only they could understand it.

They had already spent much time attempting to reactivate the frozen capsule in which it was discovered (floating in space), but other than the occasional electronic hiss from radiation-damaged equipment, there was no progress. No trace to the phantom in their midst.

The creature was kept in a clean airtight examination room where medical bots continually scanned it for dangerous microbes and viruses.

But so far, it was clean. Coming in and out of consciousness. Exhaling and inhaling in a soft steady rhythm. Speaking in strange words that were totally alien to every crew member onboard.

The Vazré watched it from the many screens of the spacecraft’s control room. They had grown attached to it. It had childlike features and two large eyes that wordlessly expressed both fear and wonder. Here was something very precious and rare… a life-form of higher intelligence that must’ve evolved as they had once evolved, or else how could it be anything like them?

Sure, its capsule was barbaric and primitive compared to the technology they wielded, but this is also what made the creature so lovable. It was like the infant who attempts to mimic the expressions of the adults around it. Nice try.

Surely such an organism would be empathetic once it regained full consciousness. Surely it came from a species of moral animals who were not only intelligent but also highly adaptive — and being so adaptive meant one thing — this creature desperately needed others in order to survive and thrive. It had to be social and sensitive and must've based its life around acquiring the attention of others. The constant stimulation of endorphins and mirror neurons.

The Vazré had evolved from something similar; fragile creatures who needed love just as much as they needed food and water. Most of their communication was via telepathic vibrations, what they called connecting, and through this they created a civilization advanced enough to transcend all social divisions and prejudices. Politics was completely outlawed. To hold the highest power amongst them was to hold the deepest connections with others. Theirs was a system both simple and genuine, and it worked.

By such connecting they attained an energy source that allowed them the means for interstellar transportation.

And here they were, on the edge of a solar system containing only 8 planets, and with their single greatest discovery almost fully recovered.

“Nobody can hear a scream...”

Whispering this the childlike animal opened its eyes like never before and realized that it was alone; yet not alone. It began to scream. Ripping off the sustenance tubes attached to its body. Violently knocking over the bots that monitored the exam room.

“Where am I! WHERE THE HELL AM I?” It continued to shout at the four metal walls.

The Vazré didn’t like to see any living thing in such a frantic state. With a button’s press a mild tranquilizing gas wafted into the exam room and the life-form was sedated without losing consciousness. It cracked a weak smile and the euphoric fumes were stopped.

They all thought on what to do next. It was obviously frightened because it didn’t know where it was or who it was surrounded by.

They agreed to make first contact. Having resisted such prior action because they weren’t sure if the specimen was clean, nor was it even in a mental state that could recognize them.

They knew that by simply tapping the creature on the head, while it was partially conscious, they could connect with it — they could read its memories and thoughts and origins. All of these connections would instantly and telepathically replay in the control room as the rest of the crew watched and evaluated the ongoing situation.

Two of them entered the exam room and found it sitting on the floor with its back propped against the cryo-bed. It stared at them with wide eyes. Trembling with disbelief if not outright shock.

“What — what are you,” it gasped.

The Vazré made the universal hand gesture for hello, but they had four arms a piece so several open palms were raised into the air all at once.

The creature began to scream again, but this soon abated as it entered a catatonic state. The freeze mode of all frightened lower vertebrates.

The Vazré closest to the creature extended an arm and gently touched its sweat-laced forehead. That’s all it took. In cerebral waves that rolled faster than lightning everything about this life-form was instantly revealed.

The screens in the control room came alive with different mind-connected images. The creature was an adult male from a planet called Earth.

The connecting showed exactly what such "intelligent" animals had done to themselves and to their home planet:

Pollution.

Climate crisis.

Ecological collapse.

Nuclear war.

Genocide.

Mass extinction.

A visual symphony of terror and tragedy flashed before the Vazré's eyes.

Crimes unspeakable in any language and amongst any species.

The dying screams of an entire world could be heard in one singular moment.

It was shown that the wealthiest among their kind had managed to escape such world-ending disasters by constructing space vessels that contained “life boat” capsules. But, those who had been responsible for much of their planet’s ruin were also the only ones who could afford to leave it behind.

The Vazré finally knew what they were dealing with here — this was the most lethal organism in the universe — it was a human.

Oh no.

Alarms went off and the two crew members turned to exit the exam room. One of them caught a glimpse of a broken medical bot on the floor — its syringe needle and scalpel blades were missing — a deep pain rippled across this Vazré’s neck and a primal cry echoed throughout the spacecraft.

A scream so loud and vast that perhaps it pierced the vacuum of space itself… “Or so they say.”