91... The Tale of the First Flying Saucer

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He pulled on his wave cap and floated full stretch as he studied the constant sway of the starlit galaxy. Today had gone by seamlessly, as he had expected it to. The whole Jin clan had been proud watching him compete. Over and over again the numbers in the game had been made more complex, but he had seen through all of them. Now all he had to do was keep his head for tomorrow, and eternal life would be his.

He moved away from the window, and drifted towards his flying bow. Picking it up, he made to exit the living quarters.

"Jin-91, where are you going?"

With practiced skill, he exquisitely turned and bowed his head.

"I leave to meditate, oh master Jin."

"You are worthy of the Jins, 91. You may go."

He lifted a hand to his chest to acknowledge his respect and understanding, but he remained in his position until the master Jin had taken his leave. Only then did 91 power his bow and zoom away...

...

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He saw her as soon as he arrived. She was tending to a sickly looking Platypus, one of the odd animals which still survived in the galaxy. He sometimes wondered why they didn't simply send all down to earth as they did with the apes. Such creatures were too similar to others to be distinct, yet at the same time still distinct enough to be similar. They only represented chaos and confusion, a phenomenon he neither understood nor liked. Which made this his recent habit all the more disturbing to him.

He couldn't stay away from her, and she was much like them, a disordered being. She was neither a Jin nor a judge, and someone like him shouldn't be seen in her company. Yet he came here everyday, not knowing how not to. Not even wanting to think about it. And it bugged him. It bugged him deeply.

"91, you are here."

Her smile and aura sent his thoughts fleeing into oblivion. "Yes, I errr... came around for a few moments of meditation."

"Oh, true, you certainly need it. Tomorrow I hear, is a very big day for you."

He fought back the urge to smile sheepishly back at her. She always made him feel warm inside, like he was growing soft. That was supposed to mean a sign of weakness, but he didn't want to think about that now. He drifted low, close to her,

"Well, so they say. What are you doing to it?" He said, pointing at the squiggly Platypus.

Her smile faded as she touched the creature ever so tenderly. "It swallowed a spiddle." she said, "I have extracted it, but it needs a moment to get its mobility back."

She touched the creature again, and 91 felt that warm vibration again inside of him.

"It is okay now though" she said, smiling at him again as she placed the Platypus down at the edge of the cloud. "Tell me about you. What name would you like when you get down to earth?"

He smiled this time. Toying with names had always been one of his secret indulgences, and he had long known what he would bear after he won the games.

"I would like to be called George. It's my favorite name." he beamed.

She looked at him, amusement clearly written on her smooth smiling face.

"Isn't it a fitting name?" he asked, confused at her expression.

"It is" she answered still smiling. "It's just I wonder why you don't get so excited about 91. It's also a name too, no?"

"Well..." he drawled, scratching his head. "It is different I believe. Numbers play a different role down on earth."

"And what about you?" he asked, eager to return to the topic of choosing names. "What name would you like if you were to go down to earth?"

"Oh I don't think about that. You know we aren't allowed to compete for life."

"But what if you were?" he asked, not willing to let it go.

"Well..." Her face became thoughtful as she pondered, and it was her turn this time to scratch her head. But before she could say anything the trumpet sounded.

91 stood quickly and bowed just before the lines of drifting Jins passed through. He winked an eye at her as he joined the drifting lines returning to the living quarters. Tomorrow was a big day for him and others from different clans, but all he had in his mind as he approached home was the girl with no name...

...

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This was the moment. The last question in the third and final stage of the competition. He knew the answer, he had known even before the question was asked. This was his thing, his daily meal, and there was not even a possibility that he would have failed it.

But he delayed. While the whole galaxy watched and waited he delayed. While the Jin clan prepared to rent the air with victory songs he delayed. And the silence was deafening. A correct answer would affect not just his life, but the other contestants as well. For only one winner could emerge. He delayed while his mind wrestled over the pros and cons of what his actions would mean. Mean to him, and mean to her...

Winning would crown his achievements and hardwork with eternal life, beginning with a span on earth. He would bear his beloved George, and his place in the galaxies would be forever assured.

But he would lose her. Unlike him, she didn't have a chance at eternal life. She couldn't compete in the games, and a lifestyle like hers meant she wouldn't even be likely to win if the laws were changed and she was allowed to compete. If he won, and left, she wouldn't be alive when he returned. He would have to spend eternity without her, and the prospect made him for the first time ever, become truly terrified.

The silence broke like a shattered glass as his words descended like a hammer blow. Jin91 had lost the competition...

...

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As they approached the ground, she thought back on the last twenty four hours. It had been more like a dream. A large flying bow, one of those used for inter galaxy travels had stopped at the aquarium. He heart had been in her mouth with fear, and she had searched her mind for the crime she may have ignorantly committed.

But the door had opened and 91 had ordered her to step in. She hadn't said a word, she had obeyed. Far from being an outcast, she had loved him silently for as long as she could remember. Both her heart and duty had dictated that she followed.

He didn't say much throughout, not until they had approached earth's atmosphere. Then he had explained that following his failure, he had been earmarked for extinction. Another 91 was been born, and his name was needed. The only choice was escape. To answer the unasked question of why he had taken her, he had put his mouth close to her ears and had said he wanted to offer her the chance to taste pancakes. She had smiled, and he had smiled back...

He settled the flying bow on the ground and both of them stepped out. They noticed a strange creature approaching in the distance. When it got close, 91 sighed, it was a man on horseback. For a moment he had had a feeling of disorder...

The man stepped off the horse and approached slowly, in his hands a black object glinted.

"Who are you?" he shouted.

91 bowed a bit out of habit as he replied, "I am George, and this is..."

He lifted his head up and looked around him. The mountains and hills filled him with desire, but it was the words on the man's hat that struck. He looked to her as she met his eyes.

"Monica?"

As she nodded and her eyes sparkled, he knew he had made the right choice back up at the games. For to truly live, one first must die...

Much later, other flying saucers landed. They came searching for 91.

THE END

#SladenSpeaks

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Written for @tygertyger's Electric Dreams Contest and @mctiller's Twenty Four Hour Shortstory Contest

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