capitalh | it's raining turians

Who: Nihlus and you! Or anyone, really
What: Yet another goddamn alien arrives
Where: Some relatively secluded and open place in/close to LA
When: Now?? Probably??
Warnings: None

There is a protocol on establishing contact with new (sentient and deemed worthy of the Council's attention) species. The protocol, sadly, is reserved for big ships with crews of more asari and salarians than turians. As for the Spectre protocol, there is, as usual, none.
As usual, Nihlus chose to improvise.
After a couple of days of research as intense as his ship's dwindling resources and his concern for security would allow, he finally decides he's almost ready to go out in the open. The decision is driven more by necessity than his actual readiness - his ship and equipment is running out of power and Nihlus himself is running out of food. The only thing he's not too short on is ammo, which is almost miraculously useless in this situation.

So what happens is this: not unlike another spaceship some time earlier, an obviously alien, unindentified one-man (judging by the size) vessel disables all of its cloaking shields in the sky over LA. It's not much more than a dark spot in the sky at first, but it quickly grows larger before appearing in all its glory (of which there isn't all that much, with how battered the ship is) and landing. The rumble of its engines dies down, and barely a minute later the ship opens as Nihlus steps outside, his omni-tool already running scans of the area (and his gun still strapped to his back - discreet, but readily available).

This world is still new to Nihlus and he blinks a couple of times, vaguely disoriented by how overwhelming it all is. Without his suit's filtration and adjustment systems working (and with several days of minor malnutrition) the air of this world feels too sharp to breathe and the colours of the landscape feel off to his eyes. He shakes his head briefly and reverts his attention to the matters at hand - that is to say, his omni-tool.

His choice of location isn't random - the landing spot is remote enough not to warrant unwanted attention and close enough to warrant wanted attention, as well as providing enough space for maneuver, both on foot and in his ship (in case things take an unfortunate turn). What he is banking on, though, is coming in contact with the authorities or at least people of certain standing to establish his position on the planet (and get some help). The last two days have been spent analyzing the local language (despite being a rather advanced planet, it's still multi-lingual) and according to the computer's estimations, Nihlus should have a fully working (if still incomplete and a bit wobbly) translator in just about--

This is the moment his omni-tool informs him with a quick flash and a beep that energy reserves are at a critical low, and therefore all but most basic and combat functions will be cut access to.

Nihlus can't find anything better to do than swear.

((Tl;dr: there is now a baffled and vaguely annoyed catbird alien in the vicinity. Have your character ever wanted to communicate with an alien using nothing more sophisticated than signing, drawing pictures and repeating words slowly and loudly? This is your big chance!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's alright, Ben, he doesn't understand what your noises are either.

Nihlus gives Ben's outstretched hand another incredulous look, but doesn't hesitate long before reaching out with his own hand (two fingers and a thumb)... without, however, actually touching Ben's. Hand contact as a form of greeting is not uncommon, mostly favoured by the asari - but Nihlus isn't familiar with the ways of this planet. He tilts his head expectantly, waiting for Ben's reaction.

The other gesture, though, he identifies as introduction easily enough. He nods and repeats what he thinks is the boy's name.

"Eyme Ben," his pronounciation is still off, some sounds too rough, but he's managing it better than his attempts at pronouncing "earth". Similar to Ben's gesture, Nihlus rests his other hand on his chestplate. "Nihlus Kryik."

Ben just sort of stares at Nihlus's hand for a moment - is that not a thing they do? - before taking hold of it awkwardly in something resembling a handshake.

Then he realizes he was kind of... misunderstood when introducing himself. Crud. "No, actually, it's just, uh-" He points at himself. "Ben." Then at the alien. "Nihlus Kryik?"

If Nihlus's pronunciation is sort of off, Ben's is an absolute travesty. He's trying, okay.

Yeah, well, you try to invent the handshake when everyone has only three fingers. It's harder than you'd think.

Nihlus vaguely shakes Ben's hand - well, that really could have gone less awkwardly. He gives a small sigh at Ben's attempts at pronounciation - that is not how you roll a turian "r" - but nods when Ben points at him again. Ah, so this species also uses polynyms. "Nihlus," he repeats, mirroring Ben in stating his first name only. "Now, Ben..."

He pauses, unsure what to ask of the child. What he needs in one word is help, but how could a kid help? He needs someone with knowledge and, preferably, influence. He needs an adult.

In an attempt to get his point across, Nihlus raises his hand in the air next to Ben's head and pauses for a second, before raising it up to an adult human's height and fixing Ben with a questioning stare. "I need to find someone who can help me. Can you get me to anyone?" he says, counting on the tone of his voice to do the trick.

What Ben gets here is that this alien is looking and sounding confused while placing his hand several inches above Ben's head.

It does not occur to him that this could be intended to be about his age, because mostly what he gets is that this is about his height. Unfortunately, this is a topic he has very strong feelings about.

"Hey, I'm not even all that short, okay?!" He snaps, drawing back defensively and crossing his arms. "It's not that big a deal!"

So much for going to any effort to communicate properly.

Nihlus pulls away as well, but in confusion instead of anger. Why is this child native angry at him? He raises his hands in a defensive and calming gesture, palms facing Ben. "Look, Ben, I don't know why you are upset. I just need to find someone who can help me. A grown-up, like me," he tries to explain, tapping his own chest a couple of times to indicate himself. Let's just hope this doesn't make things worse.

Ben squints at him uncertainly for a moment - is he looking for more aliens? Maybe that's it. Then that clicks with what he had interpreted at a jab at his height.

"Ooh, wait, you want to talk to an adult? ...Fine." He's still a little offended at that honestly, but he can't be too upset - it's not like this guy knows what a totally cool superhero Ben is. "Uuh, I guess if you want help you could go to CONDOR or something... they do alien stuff, I think." Wait how does he tell that properly to an alien who only speaks alien language.

After a moment of thought, he digs around in his pocket for a moment, pulls out a marker (as well as several gum wrappers, three pennies, and a wad of lint the size of a gold ball, all of which he puts back), and scribbles an approximation of the organization's logo on his palm. He holds up his hand, pointing at the drawing. "These guys! Maybe they can help."

Nihlus leans in a bit, taking Ben's hand carefully to take a closer look at the logo. It is simple enough to remember, but he still activates his omni-tool, a kind of orange holographic glove appearing over his forearm, and scans the image on Ben's palm. Now he has something to show to people, and he should have no trouble explaining what he needs - if a child knows this symbol, anyone else will.

"Thank you," Nihlus says with a polite nod. He then pulls up the freshly-scanned picture - a small holographic screen hovers over his omni-tool - and then points first to it, then to the city in the distance. "Will I find them there?"

It takes Ben a moment to respond again, this time because he's too busy staring, fascinated and delighted, at the omnitool. He is very tempted to ask like a million questions about it, and what it is, and how it works, but that probably wouldn't work very well, considering that they're kind of struggling to exchange basic information here (besides, it's not like he would be able to understand how it works even if he was told).

"Uh, that's the thing..." He shoves his hands in his pocket with an exaggerated shrug. "Nobody really knows where they're based, but... y'know what, you should be able to find someone in the city, though. Might as well try it." He nods toward the city and gives Nihlus a thumbs-up (do aliens know what that means? oh well).

it's raining turians

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