#scifistories1977 #hfy #scifi #scifistories1977 #hfy #scifi =================================== This story is written by a human author and adapted with care into a visual audiobook format by our team. How This Video Was Made: Narration is performed using AI voice technology (ElevenLabs), guided and edited by a human to preserve tone and pacing. Visuals are created with AI image tools, but every image is manually prompted and selected to match the story's themes. All elements — audio, visuals, and timing — are manually assembled in a video editor to produce the final format you see on . The story format and video structure are fully planned, produced and uploaded by humans.
00:00The nurse finished giving the final few topical injections to the alien,
00:03who made a noise of delight as she said,
00:05Okay, I think we're about done here.
00:07Next treatment won't be for two weeks, she said, pulling off her gloves.
00:11But until then, just keep an eye on the injection site and let me know if you have any adverse reactions.
00:15Sound good?
00:16The alien, roughly quadrupedal being with a body that looked like it was made out of pockmarked sponge,
00:21gave a sound of enthusiastic agreement, saying,
00:24Absolutely.
00:25And my thanks for helping with this.
00:27I've had flake nodes since I was a hatchling, so it would be nice to have some relief from it for a time.
00:32Well, she said, that's the idea in theory, but it'll take several treatments for the full effect to kick in.
00:38Here, let me sweep up my nurse droppings.
00:39As she started to clean up the bits of trash, gloves, gauze, empty syringes, and other detritus from the procedure,
00:45the alien quickly said,
00:47Oh no, don't worry yourself about it.
00:49I can help clean up.
00:50They were a species known as swilliffs in their own language,
00:53along with a number of unpronounceable high-pitched clicking and a key-associated psychopheromone,
00:59but most other species simply called them void sponges.
01:02The human nurse smiled as the habit of void sponges to want to be helpful in tidying up was quite well known,
01:07although she thought as she finished closing up and repacking her bag,
01:11and went back through the ship's door to her waiting shuttle taxi,
01:14it did seem like no one ever knew exactly where they all put it.
01:17Within the privacy of his own room once again, Rill let out a stutter click of triumph.
01:24This attracted the attention of his first mate and good friend, Boll,
01:27who poked his head in to see what was going on.
01:29He stared in amazement as he saw the pile of trash the nurse had left behind, saying,
01:33What is that?
01:34With excitement, Rill let out a sound of surprise.
01:37You mean you've not had a chance to deal with humans before?
01:40Only once or twice, said Boll.
01:42And Rill could tell his attention was still fixed on the pile of human trash,
01:46despite their species' lack of eyes or even discernible heads.
01:50Well, said Rill, emitting some new pheromones indicating excitement and a willingness to mentor.
01:55Humans are messy, he said matter-of-factly.
01:58It's so exciting.
01:59Boll was slightly confused.
02:01Yes, but many species are messy.
02:03Some of them are just unaware of cleanliness and tidiness,
02:05and others have fur, scales, or spines that attract and collect bits of dirt and debris.
02:10But this, this is clearly different, he said, admiring the pile of refuse once more.
02:16Well, yes, humans are messy in ways that are permanent, or at least permanent enough.
02:20Would you like to see my collection?
02:22Boll let out a series of clicks of excitement so loud and numerous
02:25that it vibrated the metal surfaces in the room.
02:28Absolutely.
02:28It's been some time since I visited yours, I believe, he said with undisguised enthusiasm.
02:34Yes, said Rill.
02:35I believe it has been quite some time, but the route is still the same.
02:38You remember it?
02:40Oh, I haven't forgotten, said Boll.
02:42And I'm locked in.
02:43I'm ready to travel there when you are.
02:45Rill's room was fairly spartan, with only a desk, a computer stand,
02:48a small table with cup holders for beverage containers and food, and a small chair.
02:53There was also a small stool by the window looking out to the stars,
02:57now showing the human shuttle taxi as it prepared for the final departure sequence.
03:01But now the two void sponges were ready,
03:04and as one they stepped into the void between the dimensions.
03:06This was how they got their name, for their species had long ago developed the ability
03:12to shift into an extra-dimensional pocket dimension to escape predators and dangers.
03:18The route was not without its risks, and as Rill passed through he could feel the ravages
03:22of the space between punching literal holes through his form.
03:25Luckily for their species, almost the entire disintegration of one's body was needed in order
03:29to perish.
03:30However, it did mean that he would lose a few memory clusters here and there.
03:34In particular, it seemed like the largest casualty from this shift was the memory of what Catorpaste
03:39tasted like.
03:40Judging from all the negative emotions and memories surrounding the gap that was the flavor of this
03:44food, he wasn't necessarily eager to refill that memory.
03:48He finished the shift into the large cavern that housed his collection.
03:53Ball also arrived a moment later, both of them sporting fresh holes through their already
03:57Swiss cheese-looking forms.
03:59But Ball simply let out a noise of wonder as they saw the size of Rill's collection.
04:03The space was psycho-reactive and resembled the caves that their species once called home
04:08long ago.
04:09Damp, moist, with luminescent mineral patches dotting all across it.
04:14There were also tens of thousands of small alcoves, each containing priceless items.
04:18There were entire wings that resembled ones Ball had seen before in his own collection,
04:22with a different organizational style and different nuances that he could appreciate,
04:26if not necessarily wish to incorporate.
04:29But they contained perhaps the ten or twenty thousand different bits of discarded items
04:32that might be found amongst their own culture.
04:35There were a few rare items that it looked like he and Rill were both missing.
04:39But overall, they both had very respectable collections of their own species' leftovers.
04:43But absolutely dwarfing this were cavernous holes upon holes of human items, seemingly near-endless,
04:49each massive room filled with vibrant colors and shapes, text and words, images on plastic,
04:56wood, paper, and even some parts that were metal or more exotic substances.
05:01Ball was stunned and said nothing for a long moment as Rill drank in the awe of his companion
05:05with naked glee.
05:06Finally, Ball said,
05:07There has to be hundreds of thousands of items here.
05:10Do you know how much of the total human collection this is?
05:13Rill, still clearly having a good time, amazing his friend, said,
05:15Oh, this isn't even a fraction of a percent.
05:18These are just what I was able to collect in the last century or so.
05:21But their history goes back thousands of years more.
05:24Humans have been producing remnants like this for almost as long as they've had fire.
05:28Ball let off some involuntary clicks of amazement at the statement.
05:31You're telling me that there's more of this in their history?
05:34He asked incredulously.
05:36The collection from his own species was a fraction of this size,
05:39starting from the ancient history of tens of thousands of years ago,
05:42when they first emerged from their caves and began to dream of the stars and more.
05:47There were pieces here and there,
05:49advancements made as they began to create more and different things,
05:52but always carefully, bit by bit,
05:54very rarely changing anything more than a little bit of filler here or a small nodule there,
05:59certainly not enough to warrant a separate place in the collection
06:01until hundreds of such minor changes had gone by.
06:04But with humanity, here was a collection of various pieces and remnants,
06:08odd and ends that dwarfed the entire collective output of the species
06:12by orders of magnitude, and all from an odd biped,
06:15little more than some electrical signals bouncing inside a bag of water and sticks of calcium.
06:20Yet they physically produced this,
06:22far more enduring than even their own bodies would be,
06:25and in an ecstatic array of variations.
06:28Rill, clearly no longer able to contain his excitement,
06:31ushered Ball towards the rest of these treasures.
06:33Walking along the nearest segments,
06:35he pointed out alcoves and new shapes and colors of items within.
06:38These are all plastic wrappers,
06:40a carbon polymer that humans use to preserve and protect their foodstuffs.
06:44But why so many colors?
06:45I see languages across them as well,
06:47several of them, if the sigil differences are any indication.
06:50Well, said Rill,
06:52their culture still is heavily entrenched in a selfish barter system called capitalism,
06:57and as a result,
06:58each merchant of foodstuffs tries to attract others to purchase it with credits,
07:02changing the appearance to make it more enticing
07:04or to convey vital or desired information about the contents within.
07:08They passed by dozens of rows of these wrappers,
07:11almost all of them different shapes,
07:12with colors rarely shared from one to the next.
07:15On several of them,
07:16Ball's photoreceptors were drawn by the twinkle of metallic coating on the inside,
07:20clearly some variations of the material to help protect the foodstuffs it covered.
07:24They turned towards another adjoining cavern.
07:26They began walking in that direction,
07:29their short footsteps crossing many long striding distances,
07:31thanks to the non-Euclidean and thought-reactive nature of the pocket dimension.
07:36Reaching this wall,
07:37Rill began to rattle off names of what they were looking at, saying,
07:41Over here we have packaging.
07:42Humans like to put almost everything into something else.
07:45These often display not only the item inside,
07:48but also a fictional or fantastical context,
07:50further enticing passing eyes.
07:52Then he saw Ball stare towards the glimmering and shimmering lights from another room.
07:56This is one of my favorites.
07:58Follow me.
07:58They passed into a room that was one of the most beautiful Ball had ever seen.
08:04All across it were shapes, all translucent, mottled,
08:07and reflecting the lights carefully displayed behind each.
08:10The result was an unpredictable and chaotic yet mesmerizing mosaic of reflections and flicks of
08:15illumination that scattered all across the floor and ceiling of the cabin.
08:19What is this beauty?
08:20He finally stammered,
08:22involuntarily clicking as his photoreceptors were entranced by the beauty.
08:25This is an outdated form of human containment, Rill explained.
08:29It fell out of favor due to its stubbornness to decompose in landfills and such thanks to this type of polymer.
08:35But for a time it was some of the most ubiquitous and varied creations I had ever scarcely dared to imagine.
08:40This stunning art form is known as clamshell.
08:43Ball felt confusion as he remembered that it referred to the name of a mere mollusk from the humans' home planet.
08:48The pictures he remembered seeing were boring, white, and plain, with some organic variations, sure, but nothing as magnificent as this.
08:56I must say, he said at last, they certainly improved on nature's design.
09:00Rill nodded empathetically.
09:02But if they don't make it anymore, how did you come to acquire such a collection?
09:05Ball said, gesturing at the tens of thousands of arrayed pieces covering all the surfaces around them.
09:10Well, it turns out that humans, when they dispose of their waste, most often simply put it in a heap.
09:15They call it a landfill.
09:16Ball could tell Rill had been waiting to drop this particular bombshell, as he felt a wave of cautious questioning trying to temper his sudden kindling of unreasonable excitement.
09:26They just made a pile of this stuff that never breaks down, never decays.
09:29That's right, Rill confirmed.
09:31Sometimes they cover with a thin layer of earth, but mostly for aesthetic purposes.
09:36Functionally, everything remains almost the same, with minor if any cosmetic damage dot be, but it's still there for anyone to clean up.
09:42Those who keep the landfills are not typically predisposed to dig it up on a whim, but for a nominal fee they are happy to let curious beings such as ourselves take a closer look.
09:52Ball let out a subsonic screech as he felt his membranes stiffen with purpose.
09:56We're going.
09:57Next shore leave, you and I.
09:59You're going to show me these landfills filled with treasure.
10:01Understood?
10:02Agreed?
10:03Rill smiled.
10:04I thought you'd never ask.
10:05Johnson heard a noise and looked up, starting with surprise as he saw a pair of aliens in front of his desk.
10:12They looked as if a child had tried to badly carve a life-size cow out of a kitchen sponge, but the translators quickly spoke up, saying,
10:20Hello, is this the new Centauri Waste Management Office?
10:23Keepers of the new Centauri County Landfill.
10:25Johnson's eyes widened, recognizing the aliens from descriptions he had been warned about.
10:30Yes, that's right, he said, but stood from his chair to be at eye level with the creatures, or at least where he would guess their eyes were.
10:37Hope you know that void shifting inside the landfill is not allowed, understood?
10:41Anything you want to dispose of, you put it in here, he said, handing them each a five-gallon bucket.
10:46Even without any recognizable face or features, he could sense the disappointment from them as they saw the minuscule space for items.
10:53Johnson sighed.
10:54There's also a scale cart around the corner as well.
10:57Anything you find and want to keep, pile on there.
10:59Price is ten credits per half-ton.
11:02Understood.
11:02The first alien quickly stumbled out of the room, excitement visible even across species differences.
11:08The second stood thinking for a moment and then held up a credit link wrapped around one of its odd blocky limbs.
11:13He scanned it over the receiver in front of Johnson, and with a beep it registered a deposit of nearly fifteen hundred credits,
11:20causing the employee's eyes to nearly bug out of his head.
11:23I think my friend may be a little bit eager, they communicated, so I figured it might be good to pay in advance.
11:28Stunned at seeing more money in a single transaction than he had seen for anyone dropping off even the largest loads from construction megaprojects,
11:36he slumped back in his seat with a nod.
11:38The aliens stomped out, and Johnson, still in amazement, looked out the window as he saw the two strange creatures leaping happily between and through mountains of trash.
11:46I guess one man's trash really is another alien's treasure, he thought to himself with a smile.
