The Helianx Propostion/page 9

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Commentary


The catastrophe that had precipitated the Helianx off their planet and into space, and that had so thoroughly destroyed their world, made them a rarity amongst the multitude of intelligent species of the second superuniverse. There were a few races who found it necessary, generally for social or [[politics|political] reasons, to invest their collective assets in space travel. But, due to their limited life spans they seldom ventured far from their own solar systems. Consequently there was no real space-faring tradition within the confines of the two original superuniverses.

The Helianx inadvertently had become one of the few exceptions,. Their remarkably long lifetimes allowed them the luxury of drifting on the cosmic winds from star to star. When they had located the world they wanted to study, they secured the Great Ship in orbit around the planet and attempted to open up diplomatic relations telepathically. In most cases they knew what they would find since these were planetary cultures on which the Helianx had spied in their out-of-the-body adventures. Once the diplomatic overtures were completed, the envoys of the host culture were given the choice to be teleported up to the luxurious meeting chambers of the Great Ship for face-to-face exchanges. Certain risks were involved with teleportation and this was explained along with a self-effacing warning as to what to expect on first sight of the Helianx. Due to their inconvenient size and their dislike of the effects of gravity, the Helianx had made a rule to never descend to the surface of the host planet. This only added to the sense of mystery surrounding these galactic wanderers. The extraordinary size of the space glider, the alien luxury of the surroundings and the high weirdness of the Helianx themselves were well-nigh impossible to describe when the envoys returned to their own cultures.

It was in this way that the legend of the Helianx grew amongst the many peoples they visited. Having spent so much of their previous existence traveling out-of-the-body and peeking ineffectually into the lives of other beings, there was a particular delight for the Helianx in the pure physicality of these exchanges. They found that there was so much more that could be accomplished by direct communication with other races than could ever be discovered by hovering around in the astral, half-hoping they would overhear something they considered significant.

Yet, despite the frightening disparity between the size of the Helianx and that of the planetary representatives, the visiting envoys invariably found a charming and interested audience amongst the immense creatures. Well-fed and lavishly entertained, the planetary ambassadors were more than willing to discuss the social and philosophical issues that were engaging the best minds of their world.

In this way the Helianx became the first of the early cosmic cultural anthropologists, accumulating vast libraries of holographic recordings of the many thousands of cooperative intelligent species they encountered.

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