"Wha...Excuse me?" Sophia ventured. Everything was happening too soon. She just couldn't process it. She....

"That's not funny." Sal stated empirically.

Sophia looked over at her co-anchor. Sal was normally a genial sort, but every now and then...

"No. It's not. Why would you even think about humor right now?" Gabe couldn't comprehend what the confusion was about. Humans really are weird. Most known species would already be enacting plans for their survival by now. Instead, every single golem is either being ignored, chased by government/corporate black ops, or being questioned about their veracity. As far as any of us can tell, not a single human being is preparing for the destruction of their planet!

"I said what I meant!" Salvitore slammed his fist down emphatically on the table. "This joke has gone on long enough!" He shook his head ruefully. "You had me going there for a while, I admit. But whatever sick joke you're trying to sell us is repugnant in the extreme!"

Sal looked around the room. "I don't know how you slipped through our security and magic tricked us into suddenly appearing here, or how you make those wings of yours seem so lifelike, but this has gone on long enough! Who is pulling your strings!? What billionaire playboy thought it was a good idea to spend an exorbitant amount of money to pay actors to dress up as angels and proclaim 'The End Is Nigh'!?" By the end of his rant, Salvitore's face had turned crimson with rage.

"Ahh... Denial. This is the first stage of grief, correct?" Gabriel only knew about this because one of the other golems was getting a rambling, semi-coherent explanation by another reporter under high amounts of mental stress.

Sal shot to his feet! "Don't psychoanalyze ME!" He shouted. "GET OUT! OUT! I will not let you terrorize us any further!" He moved towards Gabriel, most likely to restrain him or physically remove the angel from the set.

Gabriel calmly adjusted the coloring of his skin, hair, clothes, and feathery wings, easily blending into his surroundings. This action brought the older man up short. Again, it looked like his brain was having difficulty with a software update. The only thing fully visible were Gabe's cerulean eyes.

"It was expected that...issues...might crop up when we came down to Earth and revealed the horror about to descend upon you all. Granted, we didn't fully expect this type of reaction, but we did come prepared for several possible responses. One of the most basic parameters accounted for is limiting your visual processing."

Gabe held out his right hand and with a thought shifted it to a bright green. Then he held up his left hand and shifted that hand to a deep purple. For the rest of his body he started radiating light, giving himself an effervescent glow.

"Humans' main sense is through vision, so much so that you have an occipital lobe devoted to processing what your eyes perceive. We came prepared to evade capture, just in case it was necessary, and what better way than by disappearing into the background?

"Certain terran governments are actually capable of reproducing something similar, but definately not for the use of pulling a worldwide prank amongst the populace. In fact, I believe concealment is a specialty of a few marine creatures, using skin cells called "Chromatophores" to blend in with their environment. Before risking ourselves, we studied this phenomenon sufficiently." Of course, other alien species have seamlessly blended their technology and genetics to even greater heights, but that's not something to declare right now. We just need to state clearly that this isn't some divine will or some unattainable magic.

"Umm... Forgive us, but we have a saying here: 'Trust, but verify.' What else can you show us to prove to us that this isn't some elaborate prank?" Sophia cautiously inquired. Sal nodded mutely. He seemed to have a harder time keeping up to the rapid changes. Also, he might be regretting standing up and revealing his leakage spot to the camera.

Gabriel considered that request for a moment as he returned his coloring back to 'factory standard'. So far, this has been one of the best responses! I've nearly gotten farther along than any other golem AND I started later than most! It also helps that the local black ops team is delayed by the New York City traffic! It's so sad that a computer virus has infected the local network of stoplights and created "gridlock." Such a shame! Gabe couldn't stop the smile blossoming on his face.

"Well...I guess that I can allow you to inspect my wings as well as allow the camera to get a close up view on how my wings are attached to the rest of my body. However, this will require me to remove my garments currently covering my torso. Will this cause any issues?"

Sophia dazedly nodded her head before correcting herself and shaking her head in the negative. "No! Men can expo... I mean... reveal their upper halves." A pinkish hue slowly creeped along her cheekbones.

"Very well." Gabriel undid the strap at the bottom of the garment, which wasn't technically a shirt. It composed of a chest plate woven into the cloth fabric covering his front, while a thick strip of cloth that went between the wings was attached via the collar. A strap or belt was looped through rings in order to fasten the garment into place.

Gabriel stood up and removed the article of clothing and started to move closer to the main camera. "Soph, if you want you can take your hands and rub them along my wings and feel for yourself while I turn around and let the camera get an in close view. Sal, did you wish to participate as well?"

The older man glared at the winged being. "I will remain seated for the duration of this show, thank you very much." The tone of his voice expressing very little gratitude.

As Sophia started to feel Gabriel's right wing it caused the golem to involuntary shiver, causing her to accidentally squeak at the sudden reaction.

"Can you fly?" Her voice betraying her wonder.

"Wings would be fairly useless without the ability to fly. Although they are used mostly for gliding. Achieving lift from ground level can be problematic so it helps to start from an elevated position or have a high power fan generate the necessary air pressure to aid in lift."

"But...how?"

Gabe couldn't help chuckling a bit. "Well, several factors really. First, my wingspan when fully deployed happens to be four times greater than my height. Second, my bones are lighter and more durable than yours. Carbon nanotubes. Most species capable of multi-world colonization find ways to genetically modify themselves. Even my feathers are designed for maximum efficiency."

"Can I pluck..."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"No."

"I'm sorry!" She quickly retracted.

"Let me clarify." Gabe took a breath. "I believe you and nearly any other human lacks the physical strength in order to separate one of my feathers from a wing of mine. Also, eventually this studio will be visited by men in black suits and will most likely take whatever they believe will be vital to national security. Or, at least, that will be the excuse. I believe moon rocks retrieved during the Apollo missions were given to foreign dignitaries as a sign of friendship between countries. A lot of those rocks mysteriously disappeared. From humanities own media it is believed that they were sold in a black market. I do not wish for history to repeat itself today. Aliens have a tendency to pay attention to historical precedences when it comes to space news."

No one was willing to gainsay him upon that observation. Also, a somber quiet descended upon the studio. A couple techs off camera were spotted by Gabe to be backing up data to mobile devices after his speech. Good. Gabe thought. It will be harder for political factions to pull off a successful misinformation campaign if they are unable to control the entirety of the source data. Of course, their data encryption is several centuries or even more behind our own. If they wanna play stupid games with more technically advanced aliens, then they are gonna win some stupid prizes. (Some idioms are universal)

"Thank you for your insight. Would you mind going through the motions necessary for you to lift off the ground in front of the camera?"

"Sure, but you might want to collect any loose papers or lightweight materials before I start." Gabe waited for roughly a half minute before engaging his muscles to create lift. He started off slowly for the camera and gradually increased the speed. Within three minutes he was creating enough force to lift his feet several inches off the ground before he stopped and returned back to Earth.

Gabe looked around and smirked at the result. The place was in disarray. A lot of lightweight material was missed in the initial collection. All carefully applied hairdos were now ruined. Sal's toupee was hastily reapplied. I do not believe I will be able to win that particular individual over, based on the hostile look I'm receiving. Sophia though, even with wind-swept hair, still looks stunning.

Although Gabe was just a golem, he was given an education to best maximize his interactions with humanity. Data collected included human studies on beauty and facial cues to determine human reactions. His golem exterior was designed with what humanity typically regarded as beautiful and/or handsome. Basically, ugly, old farts were more often ignored while youth and virility was paid closer attention towards. If hunkiness was required to save the species, then hunkiness shall be utilized!

"So, have I proven myself not to be a human pulling a grand prank?" Gabe humbly inquired.

"If you are human, then I'm a duck!" Sophia snorted then covered her face with a hand briefly. Quickly changing the subject she asked Sal if he was convinced, which Sal grudgingly nodded his assent.

"Okay, with that established I hope that this will help convince you and humanity in general to heed my warning. Honestly, that is all we feel required to acheive to assuage our conscience." Gabriel took a deep breath and released it slowly. Some of the tension discretely held during this interview released from his posture. However, he was the only one in the studio. Everyone else tensed up.

"Wait a second!? You're... not going to help us!?"

A slight tilt of Gabriel's head denoted his confusion. "Well, I didn't come here to solve all of your problems. Quite frankly, if we didn't think that you were capable of saving yourself via your own means then we wouldn't have even bothered. All species are inevitably responsible for their own salvation. Incurred debts, real or imagined, can sour a relationship. The harsh reality of this galaxy presses upon us all the need for self-determination. To deny you the struggle would stifle your potential growth and could damn your future just as assuredly as the beings coming forth to destroy your world."

Gabe sighed as he could tell no one was really following along with his reasoning. "There is no magic formula for survival. What may make sense for one species may not work for another. Like I have mentioned before: the threat that draws closer has caused the extinction of many species, but not ALL. Creativity and innovation are KEY, and luckily that is something that humanity excels at! I would love to tell you how other species have found their ways to survive, but that would cause several problems.

"Most assuredly, it would narrow your possible solutions. 'If it worked for them, then it should work for us as well!' That might end up not being the ideal solution. Also, and most importantly, your society is geared towards free accessible information. I commend that! But anything I say NOW is currently being transmitted out into space where your enemies will be listening. I do not want to give them the information that they can then use to become more efficient killers."

Sophia wasn't the only one to pale at that revelation.

"Yes, your broadcasts have reached far enough out into space that a lot of information about your world is now freely available. However, that was not how you were most likely discovered by Those That Destroy. Radio waves experience significant signal degradation when talking about parsecs or light-years. Blame telescopes." Gabe shrugged.

"What is important to note is that any information I give to you has the potential to be given to The Galactic Enemy." Gabriel tried to give The Merciless Horde different labels, some that they weren't even known by in order to sell the golems' origin story.

"That being said, I am willing to give you information on potential technological advancements for your race that is also commonly used by multiple species in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Caveat, of course, is that this information will be freely disseminated to all people throughout your world. Also, if myself or fellow members of my race become 'detained' by government or private interests, we will consider ourselves free of any further obligations of assistance. Granted, I do not believe any 'interests' will prove themselves capable of detaining any of us, but it is better to clearly state such consequences, no matter how improbable."

Because, if humans somehow find out our ruse, it could cause difficulties down the line. The fact that no one is protesting such allegations of possible misconduct is telling. Though, not as telling as the several attempts that have already occurred. And we're just over half an hour into our grand reveal! Although, none so far have proven successful. Gabe smiled.

Besides the ability of turning invisible, the skin, bones, and clothing of the golems were all bullet resistant. A .50 caliber round might be able to punch through, but short of that they were likely safe. None of the golems had been cornered yet either, but if they were eventually captured there were still failsafes at play. Implosion devices were the final deterrent. Any capture that could lead to negative consequences for the ancient alien or his species would result in the destruction of the golem in such a way as to prevent ANY physical evidence from being left behind while also mitigating the potential for non-golem destruction. Currently, golems were restricted to non-violent measured. Humans loved their propaganda, and any visual recording could and would be used against them in the court of public opinion.

Gabe received an alert from a sensor placed just a few blocks from the studio.

"Well, it looks like my time here talking to you and your wonderful audience is about to end shortly, whether I like it or not. This studio is about to receive some guests! Any final questions before I vanish?" Luckily, human encryption is so far behind, otherwise a phone call, text, or email would have ended up cutting this interview even shorter! Too bad everything was redirected to a busy industrial complex in China!

"How long do we have?"

"Well, I can say that you have at least a decade and probably several decades. You aren't a high priority since you haven't set up any colonies on other worlds in your solar system, so they currently believe that there is no rush. However, they DO tend to stop every so often along their path to collect data, so once they realize that you are taking steps to prevent your destruction they have the ability to speed up.

"Short version: less than one hundred years but most likely more than fifty years. We will not release any information on possible technological advancement until we have a better understanding on how our warning is being received. Some may ask about our intentions during this time. Let me make this as clear as possible: You are in control over your own destiny. We refuse to be held accountable for your actions. If you want our help we will do what we believe is enough to help you without stifling your future. If you want us to save you then you will be left wanting. Be the saviors of your own story."

With that Gabriel blended into the background.