I awoke sitting against what was starting to become a familiar friend. The ash tree was tall and sturdy, I felt safe beneath its dense canopy. I reached up to wipe the tears from my face, the experience was heavy. It also hurt, knowing how much pain Myc has been in since the beginning.

Understanding that it is as scared of this situation as I am, feeling like you are going through everything alone. Like there is no place in the world for you, trudging through life without anyone to share the burden of it with. “I’m sorry.”

There is nothing to apologize for. You know how I felt, not only because you are connected to my memories. But because you have felt the same since this all began. It is not a pleasant feeling and I doubt it will ever truly go away. Although knowing that I am capable of going through it with you makes me hope for a brighter future.

“That is a kind thought. I suppose we have already done this before.”

In somewhat of a fashion, yes we have. Although I believe it may not be the last time we do so.

“I suppose so. Well now that we have gotten all the mushy stuff out of the way. I suppose we should figure out plans for the future. Looking to see what, if any, kinds of creatures may have been in the other meteorites that crashed. Advancing our understanding of both your species and its interactions with humans.”

Exactly. Unfortunately, to do so we will need resources for travel, food, and information. This will mean finding some way to gather the money, and without criminal activity I do not know of an easy way to do so.

“Hmmm, my job sucks. So, yeah, maybe we can rob some rich asshole or something.” I would have to find someone, but it couldn’t be that hard to find some guy who got off easy cause he was rich. Or even worse, someone who couldn’t get tried because what they were doing was technically legal. “Fucking assholes.”

I understand your blight. Although I am not sure of my origins, it fills me with disgust to see how your species is capable of treating each other in kind. Hurting each other for some minor gain is bad, although it seems that some cause harm for no real reason at all. Your differences are nearly non-existent in the planetary scope, and yet you fight some of the most dangerous and devastating wars.

“I know, I mean if we could just forget our own pride and greed. Imagine the possible wonders that we could create, technological and medical advancements. Hell, we could have easily colonized Mars by now.”

Yes, your species has advanced surprisingly far, despite your extremely competitive and aggressive nature. However, with cooperation it could have progressed far more.

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“If only we were capable of having a better understanding between each other. Like the one that me and you have, being capable of having that kind of kinship and empathy. Everything would be so much easier.”

Yes, as if we were all one big collective.

“Yeah, wait what are you thinking of?” I stopped to concentrate on the little feeling in my skull for a second. What came wasn’t a memory so much as it was a vision, or maybe a fantasy.

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I was sitting on a comfy bench watching the streets, and the people on it.

Everything was strangely new and different, all the houses were neat and clean.

They were colorful, mixes of greens and purple or blues and oranges.

The tall buildings covered in vines, flowers, and trees.

But it was orderly, done on purpose.

The streets were clean, paved, and straight, it was like a little town of the future.

I turned around, scanning the horizon at all the different structures and floating railways that dotted the tiny utopia.

There were clear solar panels instead of windows, in the distance you could see tall wind turbines blowing gently high in the sky, even drones carrying people from place to place.

It was hard to find any single fault, the people walked about happily and with purpose.

Then turning fully around I saw what had to be the biggest tree on the planet, it pushed past the clouds with ease.

Spreading its roots out all over, every single other tree seemed to be just an extension of the massive Mother Tree.

It was hard to look away from the sheer size of the tree.

That was until someone walked right in front of me, he was a younger man, his skin was tanned.

His hair was black and short, with a neatly trimmed beard that sat cleanly on his face.

Wearing a simple outfit of gray pants and a yellow jacket, it was easy to tell he was a good looking guy.

That was if you could ignore the crawling paths of bright teal that crisscrossed his face, snaking down his neck and even through his hands.

He looked over at me with a content smile that spoke of a happy life, fulfilled and gratifying.

When my eyes met his, I wasn’t expecting to see my own face looking back at me.

I could see through his teal eyes as easily as I could see through my own.

So as everyone on the street looked up into the sky, it was hard to miss the massive planet that took up most of the view.

Through the vision of over a dozen different sets of eyes I could see that this wasn’t even Earth anymore, we had colonized a moon far out in the stars.

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“What the hell was that?” I was a little panicked to be honest, Myc’s memories were usually intense. Myc had been through a lot since getting here, it was hard, dangerous, and filled with the unfamiliarity of the unknown. But this wasn’t me being Myc, it was us together, living. I could feel Myc’s thoughts as clearly as my own.

It was nothing but a vision, or perhaps just wishful thinking. I am not sure of my abilities, but the longer I am here the more I am sure that I am not meant to be as alone as we are right now. There are meant to be more of us, and what we could do if we wished, could be better than any future your kind can even begin to imagine.

It was kind of worrying, listening to Myc’s idea of a future. Ruled over by human fungus hybrids, although it was hard to truly be afraid. When all the people in it were happy, healthy, and creating a world that was caring and accepting as the one we imagined. I couldn’t think of any real reason to be against those ideals. So with a push of effort, I got up from my position sitting against our tree. With a determination that I had never felt before in my life, feeling the strong bark on my hand, I asked Myc. “So how are we going to start?”