Of Men and Spiders

With Scott busy talking to all the She and Cleo locked in her room so as not to "cause problems," Alice had to spend a little more time working on the garden than usual. Not that she minded too much. Yeah, it was kind of boring, but it was necessary, and Scott was working hard for them so Alice could do the same.

However, as Alice worked her way down another row, Charlotte kept her on track. "Watch out, Alice. You're getting close to the roots of the plants you're supposed to be helping." Alice looked down and saw the line she'd been hoeing had gotten a little crooked, so she went back to an earlier point and started working her way back again, trying to stay more straight this time.

Alice was just about done when the door to the main ship opened, and in walked what looked like a giant beetle with an upper torso not too dissimilar to Charlotte's. The beetle portion looked kind of like a ladybug but was all shiny and black, and the upper portion had more rounded features than Charlotte's, which looked even more dainty on top of such a round base. She walked over and touched on Alice's mind in the introduction. "Hello Alice, I am the one you apparently named Dotty. Charlotte said it would be alright for me to speak with you for a bit if that's alright with you?"

Not sure how to respond, Alice finally nodded, speaking out loud. "Yeah, I guess that's okay, but I'm not as smart as my brother Scott, so I don't know if I can tell you anything he can't." While she spoke, she sent an image of Scott sitting at a desk, poring through a pile of books next to him, like he'd done while studying for school. Or at least she tried to, but she wasn't very good at sending images yet. It took more focus than she was used to, so some additional ideas might have mixed in.

Dotty nodded. "Yes, I am aware Scott is your primary representative, as you are still in your developmental stages. However, after nearly twelve of your hours of speaking with us, he requires a reset and refresh procedure you refer to as sleep. Charlotte had informed us that you require considerably less sleep than your brother and so allowed one of us to speak with you briefly. It was decided I would probably be the best candidate. Do you mind speaking with me?

Alice shrugged, then looked a little closer, realizing Dotty's carapace had a slight rainbow hue. "You're really pretty! How do you get your shell so shiny like that?"

Dotty looked back at her shell, then returned her attention to Alice. "That is just a natural combination of the minerals and the ridged texture of my outer shell combined with the lighting in this room to refract light into its component wavelengths. Do you like it?"

Alice nodded. "Yeah, it looks really neat!"

Dotty nodded. "Good, I'm glad you like it. Perhaps we can have Charlotte make you an appendage like it."

Alice clapped. "That would be wonderful!"

Looking down at what Alice had been working on, Dotty changed subjects. "So tell me, Alice, what are you doing here?"

Alice looked down at the ground and realized she'd gotten distracted. She resumed hoeing while answering Dotty's questions. Multitasking was becoming easier for her. Perhaps that had something to do with getting used to controlling all these legs? "Oh, since Scott is busy speaking with you all, I'm working on the garden to keep it healthy. Usually, Scott does most of this, but I'm trying to help him out since he's so busy."

Dotty watched Alice work for a moment before speaking again. "So this is how humans grow their food? Do all humans grow gardens like this?"

Alice chuckled and shook her head. "No. Most farms are a LOT bigger than this. I think Scott said one regular farm could feed hundreds of families! This is just something Scott came up with when we were stuck alone on the planet where we met Charlotte. We keep doing it now to have fresh food and because Scott says it's relaxing. I think it's kind of boring, but it is neat to see the food we grow cooked for dinner!"

Dotty looked over to Charlotte. "Is this accurate? Can one human feed hundreds of families? How many humans are in a family?"

Charlotte shrugged. "I have not witnessed any normal human farms myself, so I cannot confirm that. However, based on some of what I've seen humans accomplish with their tools, it certainly falls within the realm of plausibility."

Dotty was quiet a moment as she considered that, then turned back to Alice. "So, is this what you do all day? Work in the garden?"

Alice shook her head again. "No. Scott is much better and faster at this than I am, so it only takes him about an hour a day to do what takes me three or four. Most of the time, I either work on school work or play games with Charlotte, Scott, or Cleo."

Dotty tilted her head in a way that reminded Alice of Charlotte. "And what does school consist of?"

Alice harumphed as she thought about school. "School is *reeeaaally* boring, but it's how you get smart. Right now, I'm learning about how to divide, which is a lot less fun than multiplying, and in history, I'm learning about when humans first went to space. Did you know it took people over a week to fly to the moon and back then? A whole week! These days, we can cross all of space quicker than that!"

Charlotte spoke up to correct some of what Alice claimed. "Humans have explored less than one percent of the galaxy, and most of that in unmanned drones. I believe Alice is referring to all of settled space, which is spread out over perhaps a thousand stars, although humans have only fully settled on a little less than a hundred planets, with many smaller exploratory structures, space stations, and settlements making up the rest of their territory. It is hard to determine exact numbers since humans often exist in fragmented or isolated communities, making any actual accounting almost impossible."

Dotty looked shocked. "The humans have spread that far, but don't know how many planets they've settled on?"

Charlotte nodded. "That is correct, though for clarification, perhaps it would be better to wait for Scott to awaken to answer any further questions."

Turning back to Alice, Dotty continued. "And what is this play you mentioned?"

Alice brightened. "Oh, play isn't just one thing. It's a lot of things! I could be playing board games, like checkers, tic-tac-toe, or computer games, which are super fun, but I'm not very good at them, or just running, swimming, or climbing and having fun!"

Charlotte spoke up again. "Play is a function of several activities designed to stimulate the brain in other ways, teaching children things ranging from fine motor control to deductive reasoning and problem-solving. It serves a similar function to school, but is seen as desirable as it more easily stimulates serotonin production, a trait that evolved to encourage humans to master the world around them."

Dotty seemed to think about this for a moment. "Then, can you show me how to play one of your games? I understand you taught the first She how to play one of the games you just mentioned. Perhaps that would be a good place to start?"

Alice got excited for a moment before remembering she had work she promised her brother she'd do. "I'd like to, but I got to finish working in the garden. I promised Scott I would."

After a moment, Charlotte spoke up once again. "Perhaps, just this once, I can take over and finish your chores as a special treat since Dotty is here to visit you."

Alice brightened again. "Really? You mean it?"

Charlotte nodded. "Yes, but don't get used to it. This is a special occasion, and tomorrow, you'll be expected to get all your chores done *before* visiting with anyone. Alright?"

Alice bounced a little in place. "Yes! Yes! Yes! I Promise!" Then, looking over at Dotty, she added. "Are you very fast? I bet I'm faster! Wanna race to the door back to the ship?"

Dotty looked back and forth between Alice and Charlotte, then tilted her head. "Your body was better designed for speed than this appendage. I do not believe I would be much of a challenge to overtake."

Alice didn't skip a beat. "Oh, don't worry then. Come on, follow me! I'll teach you how to play tic-tac-toe, then maybe we'll move on to checkers or something!"

-

When Charlotte first agreed to allow Dotty to speak with Alice, She'd worried the girl might not be up to the challenge of winning over yet another She. But now Charlotte wondered if perhaps Dotty had not been prepared for the secret weapon that was Alice's open and welcoming nature.

Charlotte would continue to oversee the interactions between the two but suspected She'd only be needed for the occasional clarification, as once again, the younger girl seemed to have things surprisingly well in hand.