Terramen

"They're here!" Sri^^m\ hummed to Sri\\m^ through the door, then jetted away so quickly, the resulting waves buffeted Sri\\m^ backwards.

He, unlike Sri^^m\, had little desire to meet the Terramen, four armed creatures with no fins and black, blubbery skin (although he had heard that the blubber was some form of synthetic covering used for protection and warmth). As fascinating as they were from a biological standpoint, Sri\\m^ preferred to keep them at tail's length. It was just too unsettling to float in front of the stuff of legends.

Unfortunately, he had little choice in the matter. His talent for language had instantly sunk him a job as translator for the two species when they came to visit his village. While neither Sri\\m^ nor Terramen could vocalize the other's language, they could communicate through writing, albeit slowly. The position required constant contact with the dry-worlders. Their heads, pinched off from the rest of the body by a floppy, weak section; and their misshapen heads and backs, their two legs. They looked lumpy, like all terrestrial creatures.

Yet these weren't just creatures, they were talking, thinking things. Sri\\m^ might have preferred them if they at least had the upper body of a man, like he had been raised to expect. Then, at least they would not seem like such aliens. Then, they would be intelligent by merit of their similarity to us, he thought, and I wouldn't feel so insignificant. I preferred them when they were myth.


He propelled himself from his coral abode, braced himself for the inevitable awkwardness. When he located the group of Terramen, he swam over, marking "hello, my name is Jack" on a writing tablet (he had discovered that Jack was the closest translation for his true name).

"hello, Jack. We are honored to finally meet merpeople," the obvious leader of the group scribed.

Sri\\m^ floated for a moment, dumbstruck. Merpeople, he thought, heh, what a funny phrase.