Blob, Chapter 31 - Not Always As They Appear
Palo Alto, California
By the time they returned to Aurora’s house, it was just after 3:30 p.m.
After Seridan materialized them in her bedroom, he placed his hand on his stomach.
“I am stuffed,” he said with satisfaction, as if the word itself were delicious. He sounded like a kid who’d just pulled off his first bike ride without falling.
Aurora smiled but felt a flicker of disappointment. The food had been sublime, and she’d genuinely enjoyed Seridan’s company—but she hadn’t been able to ask a single question about his mission or his opinionated views on AI.
A couple of times, she had tried to gently steer their conversation in that direction, but he’d been so enthralled by the act of eating that she didn’t push it.
Had he been evasive? She wasn’t sure, but her instincts told her he might have sensed some heavy questions coming and purposefully sidestepped them.
“Well,” Seridan said, “I hope you enjoyed the…the…”. He doubled over slightly, grabbing his abdomen. “Oh!”
“What’s wrong?” Aurora asked, alarmed.
“I…I…”
“Are you going to throw up?”
He blinked, his face pale. “Vomit? No… I don’t think so.”
“Then what’s—?”
His hand shifted lower. “I think I have to… to…”
“Go to the bathroom?”
He nodded quickly.
“You know where it is,” she said, pointing to the door.
Still clutching his stomach and waddling slightly, he shuffled in that direction like a child with a full diaper.
Once inside the room, he glanced around—first at the toilet, then the bidet, the sink, and finally the bathtub. “I don’t know exactly what…”
Aurora rushed in, flipped up the toilet lid, and pointed. “Sit there. When you’re done, push down this handle.”
“Flush?” he asked.
“Right.”
He began fumbling with the waistband of his slacks.
“Wait!” Aurora said, retreating quickly and closing the door behind her.
She leaned against the wall outside, hand over her mouth, torn between laughter and disbelief. Am I going to have to toilet-train an alien?
From inside came a symphony of noises: a surprised groan… the creak of the toilet seat…a flush…then another…the bidet spurting to life…water running in the sink.
Finally, the door opened.
Seridan emerged, looking slightly disheveled—his slacks twisted a bit to one side, his face still pale.
“I think I figured it all out,” he said.
She suppressed a smile. “Are you okay?”
“That was… really strange.” He stepped forward with the wide-eyed look of someone who’d been through something traumatic but not disastrous. “I guess that’s the dark side of eating food, huh?”
Aurora laughed. “I never thought about it that way, but yeah… it kind of is.”
He glanced longingly at the couch.
Aurora checked the time on the alarm clock. Her flight to DC left in less than three hours, but she didn’t want to be rude.
“Won’t you sit down?”
As he seated himself, rather gingerly, she decided maybe now she could talk to him about his goals here on Earth.
“I’m curious about something,” she said, and sat down across from him, on the edge of the bed.
“What’s that?”
She wasn’t sure how to approach it. “It’s kind of delicate…but don’t you think your opinions about AI are a bit…extreme?”
He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I know what’s taking place on your planet is…unthinkable, heinous, horrible beyond anything we Earthlings could ever imagine…but AI also has a lot of valuable benefits.”
He smiled. “You mean am I suggesting ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater?’ as that podcast host put it?”
“Exactly,” she said, relieved that he didn’t take offense.
A faint smile played on his lips, but he didn’t speak.
“What?” she said.
“Things are not always as they appear, Aurora.”
She frowned at him, confused. “I’m not sure I understand.”
He patted the couch. “Why don’t you come sit closer, rather than light-years away?”
Aurora glanced at the clock again. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I really have to get to the airport.”
He glanced across the room, where her carry-on was neatly parked beside the door. “You’re all packed.”
“I know, but it’s Sunday evening, and getting through security will be the usual nightmare. I don’t want to miss the flight.”
He let out a long sigh, looking disappointed. “When can we get together again, Aurora?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly. Meeting in Washington would be far too risky. “Is there some way we can communicate securely?”
“I can send text messages to your phone. After you reply, I’ll make them disappear.”