Red Sea

Jake tried to ask calmly, but his voice trembled. Kashan had a tendency to convey brutal truths without any pretense. Nervously, Jake scrutinized his face, wondering if he would respond affirmatively. The faintly glowing red patterns on the featureless face drew his attention. From the faceless visage, Jake struggled to read any reaction.

[That can’t be true. You are human. That is why you have value to me. Becoming a Thermo is truly a strange and meaningless notion.]

“…I’m relieved. You have no idea how worried I was that my body might change even more strangely here. I’m trying to act nonchalant, but… I still find it hard to accept reality.”

[Hmm, I don’t quite understand why you’re so scared if it’s not changing in a worse direction. Do you want a specific explanation of how your body is changing?]

“I’m not sure if hearing an explanation is better than not hearing one. The saying ‘knowledge is power’ coexists with ‘ignorance is bliss’ in human society. Radical changes are bad enough on their own. I wonder what criteria you use to distinguish good from bad, really.”

[If it changes in a way that is advantageous for survival, isn’t that good regardless? I thought humans liked change, but I guess I need to reconsider. Aside from the formation of a shell and other incidental changes, there shouldn’t be any significant mutations. Incidental mutations vary greatly by species, so it goes beyond what I can explain. Humans will likely change in their own way. And you are the first human to come to this planet for trade.]

“So, to sum it up, you don’t know everything either… about incidental changes.”

It seemed that only a shell would form, but it didn’t appear that radical changes like growing extra limbs or losing eyes would occur. However, it was too early to feel reassured. The body that Kashan considered advantageous for survival would likely be very different from what humans thought.

“Well then, now….”

Jake glanced sideways at the alien, gauging the situation. The only thing he did when he went out and came back was sex. Sitting across from him in the darkness made his heart race excessively due to the tension. Imagining being in a state of losing control, gasping for breath, and having sex until no bodily fluids remained was mentally exhausting.

What was he thinking?

Jake shook his head, trying to dismiss any perverse thoughts. He had spent time without realizing it, but looking back, he realized his stomach had been quiet all day. Of course, if he got worked up again after what had happened in the past, that would be serious too. Jake, who thought such acts should only happen once every few days, casually lay on the sand and said,

“Aren’t you tired after going out? Lie down.”

[Thermos do not feel fatigue.]

Even as he said that, his massive body flopped down onto the sand. Since it was a remark thrown out to guide the situation regardless of whether the alien felt tired or not, Jake didn’t mind the response. As he pressed his solid body against Jake’s bare skin, he quickly felt warmth spread. Kashan effectively blocked the cold air pouring in from the cave entrance.

“Sleep well. You don’t need to answer that you don’t sleep.”

[I understand.]

After the well-wishing, Jake quickly added and closed his eyes. But was he really going to just let things be and sleep without doing anything? He focused on the sensations he felt behind him. The giant remained still, wrapping his solid arms around him in silence. It was as if his muscular body was trapped within the enormity of his form. After a while of not being able to sleep and thinking about various things, Jake ultimately gave up on being wary of him.

*

It was strange. The giant, who had once lunged at him terrifyingly when they couldn’t communicate, had been behaving very gently for several days. In Jake’s mind, the alien was akin to a cruel apex predator mercilessly trampling and violating humans. However, it seemed that Kashan had realized he had no will to escape and no longer acted coercively. Like a beast that did not hunt more than necessary, he was relaxed. That was a crucial difference from humans. He did not have a hobby of abusing humans for amusement.

Yet, it was also ambiguous to say he was entirely gentle. Kashan was somewhat distant from being kind or meticulous. He was always rough and had an alien way of thinking. It was difficult to fully grasp the Thermo’s intentions with a human mindset.

Still, it was clear that his moderate treatment and attitude quickly diminished human hostility. Now, Jake could not deny that, although their methods were different, Thermos were beings with advanced intellect.

Sitting alone in the cave, he looked out at the vast land spread beneath the white sky and wondered where he might be wandering now. Remembering that the small pillars that looked like black rods in the distance were actually production slaves sent a shiver down his spine. The experience of descending the cliff was enough to suppress his curiosity about the unknown.

Including the small patch of land in front of the cave, the space Jake could move in was extremely limited. He was gradually growing tired of pulling out various objects and pretending to be creative. The thought of wanting to see Kashan felt awkward. He had passed the stage of denial, as he had when he was trapped below, but still, the fact that he depended on and cared for that massive being felt very strange.

Jake was a man who had never been so entangled with anyone in his life. In his childhood, he had fought for survival, and after enlisting, he had moved under orders, exhausting his mental and physical strength, falling asleep as soon as he lay down. Aside from firmly believing in animosity or conspiracy theories about the indigenous life forms and searching for their traces, he rarely engaged in deep thought.

Now, this cave was an excessively contemplative space for a human. With nothing to do, various thoughts kept arising, and the focal point of his recent thoughts was Kashan. The unfamiliar being invaded his mind like a chaotic intrusion, occupying his thoughts.

Was he lonely?

Including the time spent on the spaceship, it had been nearly ten months since he had last encountered another human. Since this was a rough estimate, perhaps even more time had passed. The warmth and excitement he felt from the only being capable of direct contact and conversation slowly dismantled his displeasure.

He might need to think simply.

After all, he rarely assigned much meaning to things, weighing immediate gains and losses without clear answers. Jake recalled that he had said humans were too complicated. He felt increasingly strange as he kept relying on frameworks like rethinking customs and trying to judge whether something was good or bad.

After all, it was a topic far removed from thinking and studying.

He had often been directly scorned for it. He belonged to a class that specialized in thinking and acting simply. It was frustrating to feel his emotions becoming so complicated.

No matter how much he pretended to be erudite or intellectual, humans could not escape their biological characteristics. Despite the increasing frequency of such thoughts, Jake found himself repeatedly thinking about the physical relationship or the alien’s body, especially the many tentacle-like appendages. The six arms, which seemed grotesque at first glance, became mesmerizing and even lewd the more he looked at them. There was a peculiar beauty in the unique shapes of the hands. It was hard to imagine what it would feel like to have those hands simultaneously caressing his body, applying pressure just enough to feel good, until he experienced it. Once he became accustomed to the fear of the unfamiliar forms that made his body tense, the next stage would be a transition to pleasure.

What was he thinking?

As Jake daydreamed about the red and black grasping hands, he suddenly looked around, startled as if he had been caught in his thoughts. It had been a while since he had engaged in any relations since coming up, so perhaps his body was starting to demand the alien’s fluids again.

If he thought that his thoughts were being dominated by physical desires, a scheme of the alien, it was horrifying, but on the other hand, it was not strange since humans were inherently such beings. Humans were animals that became violent when hungry and irritable when sleep-deprived.

“Indeed….”

Wouldn’t it be better to do it periodically and finish cleanly rather than begging for something ugly and losing one’s reason? The one left alone in the cave thought this. It seemed wiser to mix their bodies at a moderate intensity when the sexual desire was just beginning to stir.

As he kept thinking about physical matters, Jake unconsciously looked down at his own body. There were traces of scratches from sharp objects scattered across the areas where his muscles were prominent. The white scars of glory were as old as the gray hairs that covered half of his head. A middle-aged human male with a fit body and gray hair. If one were to summarize Jake’s appearance in one sentence, that would be it.

To the naked eye, there were no visible mutations. Considering he had survived on food whose nutrients he didn’t even know, his body was excessively healthy. There had been no minor changes like weight loss or hair loss, in addition to the radical transformation into an alien. He was exactly the same as when he crash-landed. The only difference was that he hadn’t seen sunlight, so his skin had lightened, and his hair and beard had grown a bit longer.

Looking down at his body, he felt relieved that there were no changes from before, yet he also felt embarrassed. Focusing on his body, which he hadn’t realized was naked, suddenly made him feel awkward. Once he became aware of his nudity, his ears turned red. It would have been nice if he could at least cover himself with a blanket, but there was nothing to cover his body on the sandy bed.

If one were to trace all the causes of this, it was that giant. Thinking that he needed to come quickly to alleviate his shame, Jake climbed onto the bed. Looking at Kashan, who was also naked, he felt he could forget his embarrassment.

The giant returned to the cave just as the sun was about to dip below the horizon, as always. As soon as he arrived, Jake lay in the middle of the bed and shifted to the side to make room, greeting him.

“You’re sharp as a knife.”

[Are you talking about me?]

To the alien, who seemed puzzled, Jake replied sheepishly.

“It’s a human idiom meaning precise. You always come back at the same time without any tools.”

[Well, my main task is to wander around the places I’ve always been.]

“Right… You must have your own methods that I don’t know about.”

Having run out of things to say, Jake absentmindedly began to pull and push the sand piled on the bed with his toes. He had simulated how to naturally bring up the topic without sounding like he was in heat throughout the remaining time of the day. It was extremely difficult to suggest that it was about time to do something without being blinded by lust.

“…Shouldn’t we?”

[What are you talking about?]

Kashan, who was lying down and stretching his body while burying himself in the sand, responded to Jake’s mumbling. Reacting to the small sound that Jake had squeezed out, Jake was startled and moved a little away from him.

“I-I’ve been thinking. I don’t think it’s good to hold back until the body can’t take it anymore. Don’t you think so?”

[I don’t quite understand what you mean by holding back. You’re speaking without addressing the essence.] 

“Sexual desire… I mean. I don’t know if it’s because a cycle of heat has developed or what, but usually, I’m fine, yet as time passes, I find myself thinking about it. So, I mean, having sex with you…” 

[You want to mate?]