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> DEFIANCE. We would have found a way out.
“The alien responded without hesitation, lowering its head to expose the photophores arranged along the dorsal curve of its head. Waves of amber light ran down its tapered skull, crashing forward with aggressive insistency.
“No. Your certainly would not. My lineage/kind rejects your stated answer.”
“Know that no species would willingly risk themselves to pursue a solution that they cannot even conceptualize.”
I dictated my rebuttal carefully, watching as my words were transliterated into swirling motifs and transient color-patterns.
“I…We are human, and we have made that choice – willingly, and without regret. Defiance - and defiance alone - is sufficient reward.”
“Even if we do not know what it may lead to.”
Red light on orange. A tilt of the skull. An expression of disbelief.
“And the risk to your lineage/self?”
“Has always been extinction, as you very well know,” I replied.
