Counselor Gibbit looked across the room at Bado and began, “In all my years on the Interspecies Mental Health Council I have never seen beings that have such significant psychological impact as the Humans. The responses they invoke are always extreme.”

Readjusting in his chair he continued, “Most of the council races begin with fear bordering on terror until they get to know them. What happens after that initial impression passes is anyone’s guess really. We see no discernible patterns here. What we are observing from the species that have the most interaction with them is, oh, what’s a good term…’metamorphic’ perhaps?”

Bado nodded his head while listening intently the whole while. After a short pause he asked, “I am not sure I am getting the full picture. Can you start from the beginning? Maybe choose one species and draw an image of it from start to now?”

Gibbit looked thoughtfully at the ceiling and elaborated, “Well, the two species with the greatest interaction with the Humans are without question the Broda and the Say-veds.”

Bado inquired in a calm tone, “Start with the Broda. It seems to me they are the logical first place to begin. They were after all the ones that found Earth.”

Gibbit leaned forward in the soft chair and consented, “Yes, that does make sense.”

“The Broda response to Humans was initially less fearful because they did not understand they were dealing with a predator species. Once that was revealed to them, the reaction was the quite typical fear response that is common to all our races.

Through the rather extraordinary events that led to the humans taking action on their behalf, the Broda had solid evidence that Humanity meant them no harm. Earth also took a very passive stance in interacting with them. This made getting through the fear response much faster than most. Really, almost all individual Broda now avoid it entirely.

Next they began displaying a large amount of curiosity in their new friends. The two species have now become incredibly close. Each displays a strong loyalty to the other. Humans, barely out of the interstellar nest so to speak, took what everyone perceived as extreme measures to protect the newly met Broda after the invasion of Oom Three. The Broda for their part have aggressively sought the uplifting of human technology and standards of living to galactic norms.”

“I see,” Bado muttered, “But what do the Broda act like on an individual level now toward them?”

“Ah, yes, very good,” Gibbit answered as he realized he had digressed from his train of thought. “Well, their response was almost regressively childlike.

The Broda began acting rather playful with the humans. They apparently have long held a sense of mischief that outsiders have never seen from them before. They love to play jokes and laugh. It is quite amusing to see how they tease and play with humans. It is almost as if a great weight has been lifted from them when a human is in the room.”

“Really?” Bado exclaimed at this revelation, “You have seen them behave this way?”

Smiling and nodding his head Gibbit beamed back, “Yes, it is wonderful.”

Silence hung in the room for a moment before Bado prompted Gibbit again, “What about the Say-veds? What did their progression look like?”

Gibbit stretched his back and a few of the scales popped as the soft rasping of his plates indicated he was really starting to relax.

He said, “The Say-veds had an altogether different reaction to the Humans due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding their first contact. They were the ones who started calling Humans the ‘Apex.’ They insist earthlings are called that in their presence and it is catching on with the other council races as you are aware I am sure.

In their first contact, the humans literally descended from the heavens to save them from certain extinction. To my knowledge they have never displayed fear around them. They see them in a nearly religious or holy kind of light. Humans attempt to correct this, ‘Aggrandizement,’ whenever the Say-veds get too explicit about their views on the subject. I think it actually embarrasses the earthlings.

The Say-veds changed their whole society based on what they learned about earth beliefs. They have as a society found purpose in the ideology that helping others as the Apex do is the responsibility and calling of all sentient life.

I asked one of them about it once and she said, ‘We do not have the abilities of the Apex. We are, however, capable of relieving the suffering of others. Many of the Apex now train their hands for times of war to protect us. We train or claws to help them in those times of strife, and the peace that follows.’

That is why they started directing their society to pursue medical sciences. They have begun building hospitals and food distribution centers on not only their own worlds but also on any worlds they have been given permission to do so. I understand the Broda take a percentage of all their food shipments to supply these facilities.

Similar stories have been occurring slowly with all the various species. The humans seem to provide something subtle and beneficially transformative to all the races they encounter. In my personal study of the factors I theorize it is what happens when our races no longer need to live under the natural fear we feel as non-predators. It is almost as if they provide an absent piece of our own souls we never knew we were missing.

By all rights, the humans should affect us in exactly the opposite way. They are of course the most fundamentally dangerous species known in the galaxy. Despite this reality, they have a truly magical way of disarming the fear responses of the species they encounter.”

Bado leaned forward on his char causing some of the plates on his back to rasp quietly and asked, “You talked about them just now like they are some sort of holy or magical beings. Do you believe they are?”

Gibbit glanced up with a slightly ashamed look on his face and answered, “No…at least not that I have ever noticed.”

Bado studied him for a moment and commented, “I think it would be a natural and healthy response if you did really. Of course we are Grend of science and such beliefs would need to be ratified by reality. Still, it never hurts to keep some space for magic. It makes the universe a little more tolerable I find. Fanciful beliefs provide a kind of coping mechanism. It distracts us from the mundane reality that threatens to swallow us all in a grey world of responsibilities and daily patterns.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. Humans are something different, unexpected, and more wonderful than anything the galaxy has seen before. As you just noted they have given us all something we were apparently missing all along. If that’s not magic, maybe nothing is.”

Gibbit let out a long breath and quietly sighed, “I can see the wisdom in that.”

Bado changed the subject by recalling, “You said earlier that when the humans encountered the Broda they took a passive stance. Tell me a little more about that.”

Gibbit nodded his head and leaned forward in his chair and explained, “It was a very masterful stroke psychologically on the part of the humans. It is unknown currently if their passive stance of letting the Broda come to them was a predetermined tactic or if it was simply an aspect of the way humans interact. For my part, I believe there is something in their approach to the non-sentient beings of their world that transferred in one form or another into this interstellar diplomatic stance.”

Bado tilted his head to one side questioningly. A few of his scales popped as they scraped over one another as he asked, “How so?”

“Well,” Gibbit expounded, “As everyone who hears of them learns almost immediately, humans come from a high gravity death world. What I have learned from my colleague Da’roo at the Broda Xenoanthropology division is that any species intelligent enough to feel fear on Earth seems to experience that as the default response to interspecies contact. There are a few exceptions, but overall that is the case. It makes sense. With so many predators around nothing ever knows if it’s safe or not.

Humans learned over time to pacify hostile creatures and ultimately subjugate them. To use their term they have, ‘Domesticated,’ many of the creatures of their planet. They have what I believe to be an almost genetic need to befriend other forms of life. This has taught them instinctively to put other species at ease. After the fear response has been minimized their pack bonding drive takes over. In many cases they incorporate the given species into their society. A small number of the creatures on Earth that went through this process were used for work, others for servitude, some for food, and still more for companionship.”

On hearing this, Bado became slightly agitated and sat up in his chair a bit. He probed, “Do you feel they are doing this with those they contact? Do you think they are domesticating the other galactic species to become their servants?”

Gibbit suppressed a laugh as he returned, “No, I think they can’t help it. They try to befriend almost everything that doesn’t immediately try to kill them. Given time they even try to make friends with the ones that do.

Besides their apparently instinctive ability to determine the best way to present a safe persona to other species they also have another advantage; humans love to touch and groom other species they find, ‘cute.’ I have never been able to compile the specific criteria is for that classification unfortunately. When they make physical contact with others they possess an almost telepathic understanding of what physically feels pleasurable and relaxing. A common term used to describe human physical contact by most of the species I have asked about it is, ‘Intoxicating.’ They do it almost as an afterthought.”

Bado shifted slightly uncomfortably in his chair and asked, “Do they seek us as life-mates?”

Gibbit’s eyes shot open in surprise and he blurted out, “Oh no, nothing like that! If they did have that impetus, no humans ever admitted it to me.”

Calming down after his outburst he explained, “It seems to calm them. They mostly behave this way toward non-sentient species. I once saw a human sitting in a chair casually stroking the back of an animal sitting on the floor next to it. It was almost like an unconscious activity. The human was reading something on a screen in front of it and the creature was sitting at attention with its eyes half closed enjoying the experience.”

Bado leaned back in his chair and inquired, “You have seen one of the other creatures native to Earth? When was that?”

Gibbit gestured dismissively and responded, “Oh, it was on Remembrance Station. The creature was called a ‘Dog.’”

Bado tilted his head to one side and further inquired, “Did you know at the time that dogs were one of the predator species humans, what was the term you used…”

“Domesticated?” Gibbit supplied.

“Yes, domesticated,” Bado confirmed, “They are one of the only species allowed off Earth, and then only after going through strict behavioral testing and sterilization. I had to learn about them after one of my clients had an event a few weeks ago. One of these canines started licking her profusely. The traumatized Cheech thought the affection the dog was showing her was to see if it liked how her species tasted. She was convinced she was about to be eaten. Of course, when its human discovered she was in distress he removed the dog from her presence immediately.”

Thoughtfully Gibbit reflected, “Yes, the one I saw definitely could have been considered dangerous.”

Bado shook his head a little and replied, “I doubt it was the same kind.”

Surprised, Gibbit shot back, “There are different kinds?”

Bado gestured in the affirmative and explained, “Oh, there are many kinds of dogs humans have genetically selected for various purposes. They call them, ‘breeds.’ In one of the earliest encounters between Broda and Humans the entire crew of a Broda medium transport landed and exited their ship in a very rural area of earth. They contacted the farmer that owned the land in hopes of trading for some of the crops in that area. The entire entourage was surrounded and chased into a fenced area by three dogs. After they all got in, they closed the gate behind them to keep the dogs away. They were effectively held captive until the human came and dismissed the animals and let them out of the enclosure. That breed is known as ‘Border Collie.’ They are not even one of the aggressive bloodlines used for combat or hunting.”

Gibbit was considering this new information. He scraped at one of his plates and asked, “What kind was it that evoked such a response from the Cheech female? Was it one of those kinds used for hunting or combat?”

Bado looked up and said, “That kind is called a, ‘Pug.’”

The two Grend sat in contemplative silence for a moment as the word hung in the air.

Bado was the first to continue. He adjusted himself in his chair and queried, “I would like to get back to something you mentioned earlier. You were talking about the reactions other species have to humans. Tell me a little more about that please. You mentioned last week that you are counseling various species’ scientific advisors to the humans. How is that work going?”

Gibbit straightened up, popping many of the plates on his back and sighed, “It is never easy. As I mentioned before, Humans evoke extreme reactions in other beings when they meet them. The general reaction of the technology specialists is bewilderment. The humans have an innate ability for violence that is, well, singular.”

Bado stood up and walked over to examine a sculpture on the wall as he asked, “How so? Can you give any examples of this phenomenon?”

Gibbit’s back plates scraped a little off each other as he twisted at the waist to face Bado and replied, “More than I can count offhand. A few notable ones do stand out though.”

Bado turned a bit to look at Gibbit and prodded, “Yes? Go on.”

Gibbit eyes lost a little focus as he said, “Well, when the Cheech communications specialist interviewed with the humans it was one of the more severe examples of this phenomenon. Are you familiar with the Cheech home system?”

Bado perked up at the question and replied, “Why, yes, my mate and I went there on our most recent vacation actually. Their mountain top sky cities are truly amazing to behold.”

“Did you ever notice the odd communication system they used?” Gibbit asked as his eyes wandered to the art piece on the wall. “It isn’t radio based. Nothing they have is radio based. Everything they developed is based on light for communication. Their system is bathed in radiation that saturates most of the radio spectrum. Also, the Cheech have an affinity for light as a means of communication given its importance in plumage and its use in social interactions.”

Bado looked at him with a quizzical expression and asked, “I didn’t notice that really, but that is interesting. What does it have to do with the Cheech science specialist being traumatized by human interaction?”

“Well,” Gibbit began, “The Cheech are far more advanced than any other species in regard to their light beam technology. Before QE-COM became an option, they were using highly focused directed beams of light as the basis of their inter-system communication net. They could target specific stations and even small communications splitters from pretty much any location in their star system. The targeting systems they designed to accomplish this were beyond anything any other species ever needed as well. Do you see what the ramifications are for weaponry in that? If not, don’t worry. When I was asked that I had no idea.”

Bado examined Gibbit for some hint of where he was going with this but gave up, confused. “No,” he said, “What is the significance you are getting at?”

Gibbit’s” scales shook a little in amusement and he revealed, “As soon as the humans understood that technology, they increased the power output if the emitters dramatically. Cheech light beam technology now forms the basis for a major part of the human weaponry on their ships. They literally use them to burn holes in enemy vessels.”

Bado stood in stunned silence for a moment before mouthing, “That…that’s terrifying.”

Gibbit’s plates began really shaking with amusement and he exclaimed, “Oh, that’s not all! The Cheech beam splitters that were designed to break up a communication and relay it to hundreds or even thousands of different receivers were weaponized as well. What once directed news or entertainment broadcasts to homes became an effective tool in the hands of our new friends for combating the Krador. They used them to fracture their larger capital ship beams into thousands of individually targeted facets for destroying whole Krador swarm formations.

I think you can understand now how the Cheech specialist found all this hard to comprehend and understand. It is always particularly traumatizing how quickly the humans think of new and destructive applications for the technologies we introduce them to. It really does put the human capacity for violence on display like few things can.

Luckily, I am able to prepare the latest waves of specialists for this experience. Well, most of them…for the most part. It’s not a perfected science yet.”

Bado was struggling to maintain composure at this stunning information and said in a very soft voice, “How many months did it take them to think up all these ferocious ideas?”

Gibbit couldn’t contain himself anymore and laughed, “Months? Oh no Bado, not months. That all took them under five minutes! I have no idea what they could do with months of study. I heard rumors the Cheech communications technology is one of the components in the new planetary defense grid specifications, but that’s all.”

Bado sat down heavily in his chair a little in shock and huffed, “Surely that is not the case with every technology they encounter. This is just the most dramatic that you encountered I am sure!”

Gibbit regained some of his composure and asked, “Oh, like our own cross-star communication systems? You remember those from the days before the humans developed QE-COM?”

Bado sat up in the chair and questioned, “The cheap little FTL pods?”

Gibbit affirmed, “Yes, those. As it turns out, none of the other species had a binary system like ours. When the New Grend colony was established in the system around our sister star, it took many hours if not days to communicate to or from homeworld depending on where the orbits were at the time. My grandsire told me about it. He worked for the Finrex Corporation when they designed the compact FTL drives for the pods. They cut important communication time significantly. They were only designed for one jump given their lack of power generation. Once they had been expended and delivered their data they were relatively inexpensive to collect and reuse.”

“I am almost afraid to ask what the Humans did with them,” Bado said in a soft yet curious tone.

Gibbit realized he was bordering on inflicting the same kind of trauma on Bado as the scientists had experienced. He changed his approach.

He asked Bado, “How familiar are you, generally, with FTL travel?”

Bado responded, “Well, I know as much as most in society I suppose, but I am not an expert in vortex-based mathematics by any means.”

Gibbit pressed on, “Just the basics is all. What does it take to make a successful jump?”

Bado played along, “Well, you need to have a significant power expenditure that is sent through the Jump Coil. That gets you up to FTL speeds. After the first capacitor is expended, a second capacitor sends a reversed energy flow through the Coil to slow the ship down again.”

“So,” Gibbit proceeded, “What would happen if you never sent the energy back through the coil to slow down again?”

Bado looked confused and asked, “Why would you do that?”

Gibbit prodded him, “Just tell me what would happen.”

Bado got a contemplative look on his face and replied, “Well, the ship would just keep going off into the void without anything to stop it. Without the energy flowing through the coil to destabilize the particles around the ship eventually it would get eroded and destroyed by the atoms that float around in space. I would assume that would take a few minutes.”

Gibbit confirmed, “All correct so far. Now, what would happen if that ship were to impact something like an asteroid before it eroded away?”

Bado nodded in thought and speculated, “It would transfer whatever energy had been put into the system initially into kinetic energy and make quite an impact I would assume.”

Gibbit concluded, “Well, that is exactly the thought process behind how the humans turned our innocuous communications pods into capital ship killing FTL torpedoes.”

Bado stared in stunned disbelief at Gibbit and queried, “They really did that? That is how those work? It’s our technology?”

Gibbit nodded his head and said, “Yes, those are a modification of our technology.”

The two Grend sat for a moment in silence until a small device on Bado’s desk chimed. The two looked at it before Bado silenced it with a swipe of his arm.

Counselor Bado looked over and Gibbit and said, “Well, our time is up for today. Oh, I had an appointment come up that I can’t avoid next week. Could we move our session to the first half of the day?”

Gibbit rose from his chair and responded, “I can make it work. I get too much benefit out of these counseling sessions to skip a week. They help keep me balanced and in tune with reality.”

Bado’s body language showed approval as he said, “We of all people know that life doesn’t have to be broken to seek ways to make it work better. You showed real wisdom by getting some more objective eyes on the things you are dealing with. Too often people think counseling is just to fix things. They stigmatize it and the people that we help because of it. They don’t understand that all sentient beings sometimes, or oftentimes, need psychological maintenance to stay in a healthy place.”

Gibbit began walking slowly to the door and agreed, “Such words of truth are rarely uttered.”

As the two reached the door Bado contemplated, “We had it all along. We could have defended billions of lives from consumption by the Krador with our technology.”

Gibbit stepped out of the office and gently corrected, “No, we didn’t have it. We had a part of it. The humans had the other part. That goes for far more than weapons technology as well. In so many ways all of our species have been in one capacity or another missing, and needing, the human touch.”