Echo's Arc

Chapter 7 of 8

Echo sent the message before dawn. Three words in Alienese, translated carefully: "Coming home soon." He didn't mention the new mission or the humans who'd smiled at him instead of screaming. He kept it simple, the way his teacher had taught him to report mission updates. But when he walked back to the star sculpture that afternoon, Astrid was standing on a wooden platform near the entrance, directing two workers as they hung a banner between two posts. The fabric stretched wide, printed with colorful letters that read: GRAND OPENING NIGHT - FEATURING ECHO. Below that, in smaller text: "Meet Our Resident Artist." Echo stopped walking. His name. His actual name, the one his teacher had given him, displayed for everyone to see. Astrid turned and saw him. "There you are! I wanted to surprise you. We're doing a public event tomorrow night—fireworks, demonstrations, the whole thing. Your glass orb has people talking, so I'm making you the centerpiece." She smiled like she'd given him a gift. Echo looked at the banner, then at the bright pink sign someone had installed near the platform: WELCOME ECHO in bold white letters. He'd wanted to be seen. He'd spent his whole mission desperate for humans to notice him as real. Now his name hung in the air for hundreds of strangers to read, and all he could think about was the message he'd sent that morning. Coming home soon. He tried to tell Astrid he was leaving. The words formed in his throat, but what came out was: "Many people come?" Astrid nodded. "At least two hundred. Maybe more if the weather holds." Two hundred humans. Two hundred chances to be seen—not as a scarer, but as whatever this new thing was. Echo looked at the banner again. His teacher had told him to choose. He'd already chosen to go home, to report and ask permission to return properly. But Astrid had chosen too, without asking him, and now his name was trapped between her vision and his escape. He reached up and adjusted his sunglasses. "Tomorrow night," he said quietly. Astrid beamed. Echo turned away before she could see his three-fingered hand trembling.