A couple of days passed with preparations and anxiety. The people of Argos


    had changed, from the slow and lazy group of people to a fast-paced society.


    Advancement was accelerated, and exploration was progressing, but people were


    not happy. There seemed to be no ease of mind. No peace inside the hearts of


    humans. Fear was often discussed, and Konoya spent most of her days trying to


    work her way through people’s minds. Then, in the middle of the second night, the


    north cameras went offline, and in a matter of seconds, everyone was up and alert.


    “This is what we waited for,” said Bara. “Anais, Giuli! Do you see anything?”


    “I can’t see anything in infrared,” answered Anais.


    “Quickly turn all lights on. It might be cloaking its body heat,” said Bara.


    Giuli’s voice proved how pumped with adrenaline she was. “I have visual. I


    think. Its wearing something that makes it hard to pinpoint. It distorts light.”


    “Dispatch the drones and shoot on sight,” ordered Bara.


    “He is incredibly fast, and it looks like he is trying to approach you with what


    looks like swords. The few bullets that make it to target seem to be washing over


    him. Is it due to his speed or his armor, I can’t be sure,” said Anais.


    “Swords? Don’t take chances. Shoot, everyone shoot!”


    Jain, who was looking at everything through the monitors, turned to Alex. “He


    is very fast, but it seems like it’s working. He is slowing down.”


    “Everyone, get out and shoot it until it can’t move. Aim for the chest,” ordered


    Bara.


    His maneuverability made him a very hard target. It looked like he was


    dodging the bullets.


    Albert, who was the one further out on the wall, saw him approach from


    underneath and sheath his swords.


    Then he climbed the wall with one agile leap and stopped. He stood in front of


    Albert for a brief second, then a hail of bullets fell on him. Some words in a yet


    unknown language came out of his lips. He fell down immobilized, and Jabir came


    above him pouring some liquid on the edge of his hands, which dissolved the foam


    and allowed for Bara to tie his hands and legs. They removed his weapons and took


    him to a room while wrapped with restraining bands like a mummy.


    For four days, everyone worked hard to gather as much information as they


    could from his weapons and armor. Meanwhile, Konoya, who was the only one in


    contact with him, tried to learn basic things about him. She started decoding his


    language with the help of Orcish that he was fluent in. He was very comfortable with


    technology, and he understood the process of teaching the machine his language


    immediately.


    His weapons were made of some strange metal alloy, which at first look did


    not have anything special other than being incredibly tough yet lightweight. Upon


    further investigation, it turned out that the blade was made with some technology that


    would vibrate the edge of the sword and keep it sharp. Although it weighed next to


    nothing, it could cleave through a tree. He was also equipped with a small


    weaponlike device that fired short bursts of electrons in a cone shape that could fry


    electronics within a few meters’ distance. It could also focus the beam and burn more


    precise targets further away. His uniform was a mesh of one-atom-thick layers of


    different elements with composite sheets in between providing protection from


    virtually anything and could distort most electromagnetic signals that tried to bounce


    off of it. It was hard to categorize his arsenal as that of a warrior or an assassin.


    In the couple of days it took to identify the properties of his equipment,


    Konoya had made a complete translation of his language. He spoke something that


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    looked to be the root of all the other languages of this world. Also, his looks would


    categorize him into the elf kind of lore back on Earth, but since his diet consisted


    primarily of animal blood, they decided to call his race Vampires. The statue that had


    long troubled humans finally had found its origin. A species that was nearly


    impossible to separate from humans unless thoroughly examined.


    “Hello, Eldon. My name is Alex. I am the leader of these people here. Let me


    start by asking you, why did you attack us?” said Alex in his native language.


    “Who are you? Where did you come from?” asked Eldon.


    “We are humans, and we came from the stars,” Alex answered vaguely.


    “What are you doing here?” asked Eldon fearlessly.


    “I would rather switch this conversation into one where I ask the questions,


    Eldon. You attacked us by taking out our cameras. Now you should focus on


    answering questions.”


    “I did not attack you. If I wanted to attack you, you would be dead by now,”


    said Eldon arrogantly. “I was merely curious about you. I thought you were someone


    else.”


    “Who did you think we were?” asked Alex.


    “I can’t answer any more questions now,” said Eldon.


    Alex left the room to talk with the others.


    “Bara,” said Alex, “from what you saw, is it the truth? Could he had taken all


    of us out if he wanted?”


    “I hate to admit it, but it’s possible,” said Bara. “If he hadn’t stopped, he would


    have entered the city without much effort.”


    “I don’t know if that’s useful now, but I know how to defeat him,” said Steve.


    “So, if we were to go against a few of them, we have weapons that are


    effective against them?” asked Bara.


    “Not exactly,” answered Steve. “A direct plasma shot would probably go


    through the armor he was wearing, and even if it did not, it would cause a lot of


    damage. But plasma is slow, and he seems to be able to somehow dodge bullets.


    The answer is quite simple. Lasers. A high-power laser would go through the armor


    like it was paper.”


    “Have you tested this on his armor?” asked Bara.


    “No,” answered Steve, “but we don’t need to. The camouflage technology he


    uses works in a way that would not reflect a laser beam. It would try to absorb it.


    Also, it is impossible to dodge a light beam.”


    “Great job, Steve,” said Alex. “Prepare a couple of weapons like that as soon


    as you can.”


    “And how will we aim them?” asked Bara. “If he starts moving the way he did,


    then we can’t aim at him”


    “Any solutions to that, Steve?” asked Alex.


    “Not really. It’s hard to program a robot arm to target something it can hardly


    see. His armor renders him almost completely invisible to most sensors.”


    Alex sighed. “Prepare the weapons, and let’s hope we don’t have to fight


    more of him. In the meantime, we need solutions for the targeting,” said Alex and


    took a deep breath. “Now, what do we do with him?”


    “We might need to let him go immediately,” said Jain.


    “That makes more sense,” said Juuda. “Why do you say so, though?”


    “If he is not back to his base, there might be more coming soon,” answered


    Jain.


    “Well, I think that he has not harmed us, so we let him go in a gesture of good


    will. Also, we have a prisoner now? What are we?” said Juuda in an angry voice.


    Alex raised his eyebrows and opened his eyes wide. “You’re right!” he said.


    “This is not the right way. What are we to do if he does not comply and talk? Kill him?


    No! We need to let him go!”


    They all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.


    “I will try to talk to him one more time and then let him go. It’s a risk we have


    to take. In the meantime, a weapon against a possible fight with him should be our


    top priority,” said Alex, as he moved toward the room in which Eldon was kept.


    “I am quite disappointed, Eldon,” said Alex, sitting in front of him. “You made


    an aggressive move against us, and then you refuse to talk to us.”


    Eldon leaned his head to the left and curiously watched Alex talk.


    Alex continued, “Your aggression, however, has not put any of us in danger,


    and therefore, you are free to go. I only wish you could understand that we are not


    your enemy. If you need something or you decide to talk with us, come to the front


    door during the day. Like a friend. We would have much to discuss.” With that, Alex


    stood up, and Nick entered the room, giving him his gear.


    While walking toward the gates of Argos, Eldon could hardly hide his surprise.


    Partly because he was let free and partly because most humans would approach him


    as he walked to take a better look. Like they had no fear. They were amazed by what


    humans would consider his near-perfect characteristics.


    The following days went by with Argos spending more time and resources developing


    technologies based on the items found on Eldon. Without them, however, research


    was not very fruitful. The glass that everyone on the planet seemed to be using for


    various applications had its own unique abilities, which were discovered and


    reproduced. With just a few artifacts, Argos began developing technologies and


    materials that would otherwise be far from conception.