Official Transcript: HNN News Update: 07/25/2175 1300 Beijing Standard Time

LERMAN: Welcome again to HNN news, I'm Carrie Lerman. I don't know about you, but I'm still trying to get my head around the historic announcement this morning from the President, the Hegemony Diplomatic Corps, and of course our guest of honor, Zahal of the Zaha-Katchem. This is significant because not only is it the first time that an alien race, although perhaps it would be more appropriate to say "extra-terrestrial race" has made contact with earth since the Grushan over a century ago, but they are the first to make contact with humans intentionally rather than as some engine malfunction, as the Grushan Senate has frequently admitted to doing. The Zaha-Katchem came to Earth to meet us and engage with meaningful dialogue; now if only the Grushan had chosen to do that. The reaction to the announcement has been resoundingly positive worldwide. We're receiving reports of parades organized at the last minute in honor of the Zaha-Katchem all across the world, in Shanghai, London, Paris, Johannesburg, Sydney. Hamburg, Berlin, New York, San Francisco, and in cities and towns all over the world. However, there are some who have displayed xenophobia and doubt towards our new stellar neighbors, and in some places, protests have become violent. Peter Dryden reports from Moscow.

[Pause]

[Windows Shattering]

DRYDEN: That's the sound of a hundred angry citizens in revolt. The news of Zaha-Katchem first contact broke to a shocked midday crowd in Moscow, the base of operations for none other than pro-Novan agitator Gennady Semyonov. They were already gathered in Moscow from all parts of Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and other Slavic regions where Semyonov has a lot of influence to pay tribute to their icon. Semyonov himself has released no statement one way or the other, but he is expected to do so sometime within the next few hours. These protestors have anticipated his message and have begun to express their anti-Hegemony, xenophobic sentiment on street corners and shops here in Moscow. However, around the city, much of the response has been considerably warmer and more in keeping with true Hegemony sentiment. This group in downtown Moscow has opened local bars, restaurants, and businesses and have declared today a Russian holiday to celebrate first contact.

ELENA KASPEROV: (Translated) I just think it's amazing that we have made first contact with this new species, and I hope that they feel welcome and are willing to trade with us and join the conversation with our society!

STEPAN KORSIKOV: (Translated) I just want the Zaha-Katchem to feel welcome and make themselves at home here for as long as they choose to stay on Earth and in Terran space.

DRYDEN: All around the world, citizens are joining with these Muscovites in welcoming the Zaha-Katchem and coordinating with others worldwide through the Interlink, especially those with fourth gen. Some of those amazing collaborations can be seen at HNN web addresses in all languages, or you can link with HNN operators worldwide to show your support and appreciation to the Zaha-Katchem. Carrie?

LERMAN: Thank you Peter Dryden reporting from Moscow.

Official Transcript: Phone Call: From Ellensburg Police Department: To Gemma Aucaman: 07/25/2175

GEMMA: Hello? Gemma Aucaman?

WILLIAM: Hi, Mom, it's me.

GEMMA: Billy? Oh my goodness, it's you! Are you all right?

WILLIAM: I'm fine. A bit tired is all.

GEMMA: Why? Are they treating you okay?

WILLIAM: No, I was just up all night Monday night. I only woke up here about an hour ago.

GEMMA: Oh my goodness. What happened to you? The police say you started a firefight with police drones! They're saying you were stealing some kind of top secret weapon and planning on using it, and I know that's not true, but when you never came home that night and they showed us all the pictures...

WILLIAM: Mom, it's all right. Yes I was in a gunfight, and yes I did have an alien weapon.

GEMMA: What? But how did you...

WILLIAM: Mom, there was something in the woods that night. I didn't know it at the time but it was one of those black ship aliens.

GEMMA: The Zaha-Katchem? Who just made first contact yesterday?

WILLIAM: Yes. You remember the footprints I found a couple of days ago when we were looking for Cynthia's sister? I tracked those into the woods last night and ran into one. We killed it and stole its gun. Then we were holed up in a cabin and the police attacked us. They shot and killed Brent. Cynthia and I had no choice except to fight back.

GEMMA: Why were they coming after you?

WILLIAM: I don't know. They just showed up at Brent's cabin and started shooting. I'm afraid they might have killed us if we hadn't had the alien laser gun.

GEMMA: Oh my goodness.

WILLIAM: I didn't even know about those aliens until yesterday. A broadcast was playing in the room we were being held in and I caught sight of it.

GEMMA: Well, is it still out there? Could they find the body and tell the Hegemony?

WILLIAM: I think the Hegemony might know. Who called the police? It wasn't either of us. Besides, the body changed after we killed it. They would even believe it's one of those aliens anymore.

GEMMA: What do you mean it changed?

WILLIAM: I mean it suddenly had fur and an extra pair of limbs. I can't explain it further than that.

GEMMA: That doesn't seem possible.

WILLIAM: Believe me, I know.

GEMMA: Listen, Billy, I have to let your Dad talk to you. Stay safe; remember they have to give you your rights.

WILLIAM: The Miranda laws haven't been in place for over a century Mom. Not since China took over the Hegemony.

GEMMA: Billy, I love you. Stay brave.

WILLIAM: I love you too, Mom. Stay safe; I don't like how this is going.

GEMMA: I will.

DAVID: Billy, are you all right?

WILLIAM: I'm fine, Dad. How's Adrian?

DAVID: Oh, he's obsessed with this lightwave anomaly he found in the woods yesterday morning. Worried about you too, but you know how he gets.

WILLIAM: I do know. Tell him to be careful; I was out there last night and I ran into one of those black ship aliens. Zaha-Katchem, right? Anyway, that's how I ended up in here. I think that they may be working with the Hegemony.

DAVID: Is it still out there?

WILLIAM: We killed it, but there might be more.

DAVID: Billy, please give me your word you were acting in self-defense.

WILLIAM: You have it. It attacked us from out of nowhere. We were lucky to survive the night.

DAVID: That's all I needed to hear. Listen, we're going to take care of this one way or another. I've already called Dan's lawyer from the Three Rivers firm. He's a good man and no one knows Hegemony law better than he does. He'll be able to represent you in any court proceedings.

WILLIAM: What about Cynthia? She'll need someone too.

DAVID: Her parents are wealthy. They'll take care of her.

WILLIAM: I'm not sure that they will. The police did something to them and now they're refusing to acknowledge her. They turned on her faster than anything I've ever seen.

DAVID: Well, what does she expect? They're under Ambience control. They'll do whatever is convenient. She probably will too, or is this not the same Cynthia who you were talking about a week ago?

WILLIAM: Dad, she turned her Interlink off. She could've taken an easy way out by giving me up, but she didn't. I owe her for that at least.

DAVID: What model does she have? Three or four?

WILLIAM: Three, I think.

DAVID: Well, if it's really off, they can't reactivate a three remotely, so I suppose we could do what we can. You're the priority though. If we can't help her, we won't.

WILLIAM: I'm just asking to help her get legal support.

DAVID: And I'm thinking of other support.

WILLIAM: Do you really think that's necessary?

DAVID: We'll see.

WILLIAM: Just make sure we can help her too, okay?

DAVID: Again, we'll see. Be careful in there, Billy. Who knows what they'll try to do.

WILLIAM: I will. I love you, Dad.

DAVID: You too.

[End Transcript]

Personal Communication: From Ambassador Dumarith: To Praetor Almarith: 07/26/2175: Translated by Shenmarizh

My Lord Praetor,

You have asked that I report to you personally on the Zaha-Katchem situation unfolding on Earth. Here is the first such communication, and the situation seems, to me, distasteful in the fullest.

Zahal and his envoy were received with full diplomatic honors to a Terran palace in France. I'm sure you have received some images of the event; if so, you can surely tell that it was one of the most extravagant events Earth has ever organized. I spoke to Zahal at the function; he is a most unseemly character and was rather impolite to me. When I greeted him, he insulted me personally by referring to me as a "pre-sapient lizard" and the Federation as a "squabble of domesticated grass-toads." He told me that the Federation had best be on its best behavior in the next few months or something would have to be done about it. I confess, I did not have the most diplomatic reply for him, but an insult is an insult, and leader of his people though he may be, this Zahal is only master of a single ship. I told him that his threats would get him nowhere against the Federation, that his lone ship of war would be no match for the Federal Grushan Star Fleet and requested that he address me in a more respectful tone. He laughed at me and told me to go away. It is possible that these Zaha-Katchem may prove difficult to deal with, if you and the Senate choose to grant them legitimacy as a foreign state. I have requested many times to speak with Zahal but have received no reply.

The Hegemony, on the other hand, seems intent on embracing these alien peoples without reservation. I find this odd considering the intelligence I have received regarding the black ship's arrival in Sol and Alpha Ceti. But Zahal and his envoy have been in and out of President Yan's office for the past several hours. Zahal is not curt with the humans, as with me. I find the whole affair rather suspicious.

The human populace has, by and large, embraced their new friend and consequentially has taken to decrying me and the Federation. I hear protests outside my embassy daily, of course, but since the arrival of the Zaha-Katchem, they have reached a fever pitch to the point that my guards have been stationed inside the embassy to avoid risk to themselves, or an international incident, which is more likely if the humans do not restrain themselves. Our people are not, after all, known for the gentleness of their disposition when threatened.

My friend, Theresa Mwangi, shares many of my concerns. I have come to deeply appreciate her perspective on human affairs over the years, though the Terran internet control systems and the distance between Beijing and Kinshasa make conversing with her a difficult affair. She believes that the Hegemony may possess knowledge that has escaped her and me, and tells me that the President seems odd on broadcasts that she has seen since the ship's arrival. Yong An-Hong also shares my concerns; he tells me that he thinks this policy imprudent, but that his resources are, sadly, limited.

I will, of course, continue to keep you appraised on the matter of the black ship. Please send instructions if you require further action.

Signed Dumarith, Ambassador of the Grushan Federation.

The official first contact of the Zaha-Katchem is remembered as one of the key events of Earth history, but in a way that is very different than the Grushan first contact. In the latter case, Grushan first contact was itself an event and a harbinger of events later to come. However, when the Zaha-Katchem made first contact, the event itself had been brought on by the earlier harbinger of the black ship, and itself was only the public manifestation of what had already begun.

And yet, the shift that took place in Terran culture after the arrival of Zahal was perhaps one of the most dramatic ever to engulf any human culture. Before, Nova was spitefully ignored by Terran media; with the arrival of the Zaha-Katchem, it became outwardly vengeful. Before, suicide in China and the West was something to worry about; after, it was glorified. What use living in a world not yet made perfect? Before, the annual nude marches of Amsterdam and Brussels were discussed, but cameras were tactfully aimed at the head and legs. After, no more, as public broadcasts displayed the event in exhaustive detail, even lingering on a couple sharing their bodies with one another. Both anti-religious and anti-secular sentiment increased in frequency and toxicity, and the nude marches and public orgies were followed in broadcasts by the Johannesburg and Houston riots which claimed a collective death toll of over seven hundred, mostly children. So much media could have been considered that IHC historians were overwhelmed. We could, however, find no definitive turning point other than the arrival of the Zaha-Katchem. For better or for worse, they seem to have brought this shift with them; the coming months would see some of the greatest changes in human history, and pave the way for the greatest defeats of all time.

Jon Brain, Chief Archivist of the Interstellar Historical Commission

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Hey guys! Sorry I didn't post yesterday; I've been working a lot lately, and I didn't have this section finished in time. Since I'm going to be making new material from here out, I suspect the next few updates will be a bit slower. Any questions so far? What is the Interlink? What in the world are the Zaha-Katchem after? Please let me know what you think in the comments below and vote if you like it. Thanks, the real jonbrain.