Page 6 of Swipe Right for Stardust

Zarnak moved methodically around the room, his yellow eyes narrowed in concentration. I watched him, admiring the way his muscular form moved with such purpose and grace.

“Vanessa,” he called, pulling me back to the here and now. “I believe I’ve found something of interest.”

I joined him at a sleek, black pedestal at the side of the room. A large, curved screen hovered above it, displaying a complex array of alien symbols. My fingers itched to touch the smooth surface, but I held back, not wanting to trigger anything prematurely.

“What do you make of it?” I asked, leaning in close to study the symbols.

Zarnak’s brow furrowed as he examined the display. “These symbols bear similarities to several known alien languages. See here?” He pointed to a row of glyphs. “This structure is reminiscent of ancient Zygonian script, while these elements...” His finger traced another set of symbols. “They share characteristics with modern Thalaxian pictographs.”

I tried to follow his explanation, but the complexity of it made my head spin. As he continued his linguistic breakdown, my mind wandered, searching for a connection I could understand. Suddenly, it hit me.

“Wait!” I gasped, interrupting Zarnak mid-sentence. “I think I have an idea.”

Zarnak raised an eyebrow. “Please, elaborate.”

“Okay, this might sound crazy, but... what if we approach this like Earth emojis?” I pulled out my communicator, bringing up the emoji keyboard. “Look, we use these little pictures to convey emotions and concepts. What if these alien symbols work in a similar way?”

Zarnak’s eyes widened slightly, a look of intrigue crossing his features. “An interesting hypothesis. While I’m not entirely familiar with Earth’s ‘emoji’ system, the concept of pictographic communication is not without precedent in xenolinguistics.”

“Great!” I beamed, feeling a wave of confidence. “So, let’s try to match these symbols to emotions or ideas. You can provide the linguistic insights, and I’ll make the intuitive leaps.”

Zarnak dipped his head. “Very well. Let us begin with this symbol here.” He pointed to a swirling glyph near the top of the display.

We worked together, Zarnak offering detailed explanations of linguistic patterns while I connected symbols to emotions and concepts. As we decoded more messages, our confidence grew, but we also encountered setbacks.

“No, no, no,” Zarnak insisted, his fur bristling slightly. “That symbol clearly indicates a state of agitation, not joy.”

I stood my ground, gesturing emphatically at the screen. “But look at the way it curves upward at the end. That’s got to be a positive emotion!”

We stared at each other, then both burst into laughter.

“Perhaps,” Zarnak conceded, his yellow eyes twinkling with amusement, “it represents a complex emotional state. Both agitation and joy.”

I nodded, grinning up at him. “Like how we’re feeling right now? Frustrated but also having fun?”

His gaze softened as he looked at me. “Indeed. A most accurate assessment.”

As we neared completion, the final sequence of symbols glowed brightly on the screen. Caught up in the excitement of our progress, I reached for the input panel.

“Wait-” Zarnak began, but it was too late. My fingers danced across the surface, inputting the sequence with a flourish.

The room hummed, the walls pulsing with increased intensity. A mechanical voice spoke in an alien language, its tone unmistakably confused.

Suddenly, ports opened in the ceiling and walls. A storm of colorful, sticky confetti burst forth, engulfing us in a whirlwind of shimmering particles. I yelped in surprise, instinctively moving closer to Zarnak as the confetti swirled around us.

When the storm subsided, we stood covered head to toe in sticky, rainbow-hued confetti. I locked eyes with Zarnak, taking in his usually pristine white mane, now a colorful mess.

Then, unable to contain ourselves any longer, we burst into laughter. The tension of the challenge melted away as we giggled like children.

“I believe,” Zarnak said between chuckles, “we may have made a slight error in our translation.”

I nodded, still grinning. “Yeah, I think we might have accidentally told it to ‘celebrate’ instead of ‘proceed’.”

I raised my hand to my forehead, only to feel the sticky confetti clinging to my skin. When I pulled my hand away, I knew I’d left a colorful imprint behind.

“Well,” I sighed, still smiling, “at least we made this challenge more festive.”

Zarnak’s expression grew serious, though his eyes still held a glimmer of amusement. “We should correct our mistake quickly. The challenge is not yet complete.”

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