WEBVTT 00:00:04.460 --> 00:00:08.460 Welcome to Biome, Season 2. I am your host and 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:11.320 narrator, Alex Zoubine. I'm so excited to have 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:13.740 you join me as we kick off our second season, 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.280 where we will hear about life, death, magic, 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:21.320 mysterious alien minds, and much, much more. 00:00:21.899 --> 00:00:24.120 If you listened to season one, you will know 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:26.160 that in addition to sharing a story with you, 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:29.100 I follow each one with a digest, sharing what 00:00:29.100 --> 00:00:31.300 I see as some of the most interesting elements, 00:00:31.539 --> 00:00:34.740 themes, and techniques. Often these are tied 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:37.060 to broader trends in science fiction and literature. 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:40.240 So by more deeply understanding the stories you 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.560 hear on Biome, you may have a chance to appreciate 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.960 stories you hear elsewhere too. I've heard from 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.280 listeners that many of you enjoy these discussions, 00:00:48.539 --> 00:00:50.880 and I wanted to let you know just how much I 00:00:50.880 --> 00:00:53.060 appreciate seeing your messages and comments. 00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:56.159 I read every comment on whatever platform you 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.740 use to listen to Biome, and your comments help 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:01.159 the algorithms share this podcast more widely 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:04.140 too. So please drop a comment or rating. I'd 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:06.519 really appreciate it. You can also support this 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:08.859 show on Patreon. For just two bucks, you can 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:11.159 help Biome continue to share great stories like 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:13.500 the one you'll hear this week. Our story today 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:16.920 is called Homecoming by Proxy by Aaron Cullen, 00:01:17.099 --> 00:01:19.920 and as you will soon see, it is truly the perfect 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:23.319 story to open the season. Erin Cullen is a neuroscience 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.120 researcher and speculative fiction writer based 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:28.680 in New York City. Erin's writing has appeared 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:32.000 in various magazines and anthologies, plus scientific 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:34.680 journals even experts only look at for the pictures. 00:01:35.260 --> 00:01:38.920 Erin is nominally on BlueSky at aaroncullen 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:42.400 .bsky .social, but more often coming up with 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:45.939 excuses to be offline and outdoors. And now, 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:48.340 dear listener, let's live this story together. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:16.819 The translator left with the land dweller ambassador, 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:20.060 because a new story is the best thing that can 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:23.139 happen to a Fanduan. When the three new individuals 00:02:23.139 --> 00:02:26.419 who are all that remain of the translator submerge 00:02:26.419 --> 00:02:28.960 themselves in their native ocean for the first 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:32.159 time, every Fanduan close enough to hear of their 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:35.919 arrival gathers to welcome them home. The others 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:38.479 do not care that these three are new, that they 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.139 are strangers. They bring stories. The smallest 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:45.110 one is barely a person. It is conscious enough 00:02:45.110 --> 00:02:47.729 to understand this, and perhaps its capacity 00:02:47.729 --> 00:02:51.129 for self -reflection is itself a mark of personhood. 00:02:51.310 --> 00:02:54.229 But the Fanduan swimming towards it are big. 00:02:54.509 --> 00:02:58.050 Not a mere two or three times its size, like 00:02:58.050 --> 00:03:00.750 eldest and middle, but bigger than the three 00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:04.030 of them combined. Perhaps as big as the translator 00:03:04.030 --> 00:03:07.449 had been before it was destroyed. The Fanduan 00:03:07.449 --> 00:03:10.849 swim in undulating ribbons, jostling the water. 00:03:11.370 --> 00:03:14.189 even eldest the boldest of the three of them 00:03:14.189 --> 00:03:17.729 shies away from the flood of attention the others 00:03:17.729 --> 00:03:20.150 are close enough for the smallest one to see 00:03:20.150 --> 00:03:23.830 the units composing their bodies each glimmering 00:03:23.830 --> 00:03:26.370 with a unique hue that reflects the memories 00:03:26.370 --> 00:03:29.289 stored within some of the units are bigger than 00:03:29.289 --> 00:03:32.069 any the smallest one has seen in the eldest's 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:36.009 body or middle's or its own if the translator 00:03:36.009 --> 00:03:39.030 had any parts that old they hadn't survived its 00:03:39.030 --> 00:03:42.449 land -walker suit being shot through. New units 00:03:42.449 --> 00:03:44.870 attach themselves to the smallest one's outer 00:03:44.870 --> 00:03:48.909 edges. Each brings memories, knowledge, and ever 00:03:48.909 --> 00:03:51.349 more of the curiosity that drives the Fanduan 00:03:51.349 --> 00:03:54.930 to form bodies, to build ships and seek new worlds, 00:03:55.069 --> 00:03:58.009 and to introduce themselves to others, no matter 00:03:58.009 --> 00:04:00.930 the risk. It tries to cling to the new units 00:04:00.930 --> 00:04:04.169 in the murky water. The ambassador had painstakingly 00:04:04.169 --> 00:04:06.409 collected them in her efforts to preserve the 00:04:06.409 --> 00:04:09.379 translator. each of the three new bodies had 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:12.919 hoarded whatever units touched their edges by 00:04:12.919 --> 00:04:15.460 the time eldest developed enough to absorb the 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:18.199 others they were already too differentiated to 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:20.699 merge every unit that had become part of the 00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:24.600 smallest one is essential every unit is precious 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:28.220 here in the currents kicked up by the swimming 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:31.500 fonduan it can't hold on The new units drift 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:34.699 away, and some of the smallest one's own units 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:37.740 detach from its body and disappear from its perception. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:40.620 Could it lose so many that it would no longer 00:04:40.620 --> 00:04:44.139 be itself? Could it shake apart entirely? I'm 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:47.500 scared, it says to Eldest and Middle. This is 00:04:47.500 --> 00:04:51.019 what happens at homecomings, says Eldest. The 00:04:51.019 --> 00:04:55.160 words provide no comfort. It too is afraid. Focus 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:59.079 on what you can remember, says Middle. That strategy 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:01.610 may work for Middle. but the smallest one's memories 00:05:01.610 --> 00:05:04.790 are disjointed flashes, intense and ephemeral. 00:05:05.089 --> 00:05:08.370 It remembers the ambassador's laugh, the dazzling 00:05:08.370 --> 00:05:10.629 beauty of the Jint's many -tongued language, 00:05:10.870 --> 00:05:14.069 the ecstasy of creating new experiences to bring 00:05:14.069 --> 00:05:17.529 home. Its thoughts are drowned out by more units 00:05:17.529 --> 00:05:20.810 bringing kisses of memories. The smallest one 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:24.110 learns of its progenitor, the translator. It 00:05:24.110 --> 00:05:27.149 learns how it had so often rearranged its shape, 00:05:27.310 --> 00:05:30.199 how curious and clever it had been. the impression 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:33.100 of youth it had cultivated by trading older parts 00:05:33.100 --> 00:05:37.139 for younger ones. It learns of this ocean. Most 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:39.639 of its units were born here, so it knows the 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:42.040 taste of this salt water and the light eaters 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:44.759 within it that nourish the Fanduan, the calming 00:05:44.759 --> 00:05:47.259 stillness of the caves where they keep their 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:50.040 workshops and precious things, the bustle of 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.319 the half -submerged market where the Fanduan 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:55.560 trade with land dwellers. What it learns now 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:58.759 are practical details, where to rent a land walker 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:01.279 suit. how to acquire the currency it would use 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:03.759 to do such a thing, who the local leaders are, 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:06.000 what the ocean trades with the rest of their 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:10.100 species. It learns and learns. It has learned 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:12.540 nearly enough to forget itself when the current 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:15.980 slows. The other Fanduan drift away, leaving 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:19.560 smallest one with only eldest and middle. There 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:22.240 are too many now to exchange units. Instead, 00:06:22.500 --> 00:06:25.319 they swim in a sphere with the three young ones 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:29.709 at the center. Story, the circle demands. The 00:06:29.709 --> 00:06:32.449 smallest one cowers at the attention. Eldest 00:06:32.449 --> 00:06:36.949 speaks. The story starts in this ocean. The translator 00:06:36.949 --> 00:06:40.089 had agreed to the Ambassador's request. It had 00:06:40.089 --> 00:06:42.470 requisitioned a suit, and for the first time 00:06:42.470 --> 00:06:45.610 in its existence as a body, it had walked on 00:06:45.610 --> 00:06:48.509 dry land. It had gone with the Ambassador to 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:50.850 the human -built meeting place where the Jint 00:06:50.850 --> 00:06:54.689 waited. Here, middle interrupts. Eldest knows 00:06:54.689 --> 00:06:57.319 the narrative. but only Middle remembers the 00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:00.759 details. Middle describes the Translator's observations 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:03.980 of the Ambassador's ship, the permanent home 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:07.339 of its occupants, decorated and furnished haphazardly 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:10.120 over years by individuals with diverse tastes. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.220 It speaks of how the ship had been both dwelling 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:16.600 and village to humans living there. The Translator 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:19.620 believed no Fanduan had been in a place like 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:23.139 that. A human home, so cloistered, where humans 00:07:23.139 --> 00:07:25.560 loved each other so dearly their relationship 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:28.879 almost resembled that which exists in their own 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:32.079 species' bodies. Middle speaks of the Ambassador, 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:35.500 who became the translator's special friend. Being 00:07:35.500 --> 00:07:38.259 human, she couldn't swap units and memories with 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:40.899 the Translator, but the conversations they had 00:07:40.899 --> 00:07:44.459 were perhaps even more illuminating. She asked 00:07:44.459 --> 00:07:47.500 questions of the translator no fond one would 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:51.079 have ever considered. Do you have thoughts? Or 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:53.519 do your units talk to each other? Are the Jint 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:57.540 more like you, or more like us? More Fanduan 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:01.360 have assembled, swimming in a complex swirl of 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:03.959 a dance with the three newcomers in a pocket 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:07.720 of stillness at the center. The units composing 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.240 the smallest one remember being at the edges 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:12.759 of homecomings like this one, in other forms. 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:16.189 So it remembers the ecstasy of these times, the 00:08:16.189 --> 00:08:19.230 chaotic swapping of units between Fanduan in 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:22.649 the dance, the epic length of each second as 00:08:22.649 --> 00:08:25.050 new stories merge with the species' collective 00:08:25.050 --> 00:08:28.350 history. The smallest one should feel great pride 00:08:28.350 --> 00:08:30.610 to be at the center of something so marvelous. 00:08:30.850 --> 00:08:35.190 It feels meek and vanishingly small. Eldest cuts 00:08:35.190 --> 00:08:38.190 in, impatient with the stillness of the story. 00:08:38.610 --> 00:08:41.299 Middle has been describing a moment. And Eldest 00:08:41.299 --> 00:08:43.620 understands the universe only in progression. 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:46.720 None of them are whole. None of them are big 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:50.139 enough to be translators themselves. All of them, 00:08:50.139 --> 00:08:52.820 more than likely, are fated to be absorbed into 00:08:52.820 --> 00:08:56.360 others. Units were almost certainly lost forever 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:59.899 when the translator was destroyed. But even if 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:02.860 they hadn't been, their progenitor could never 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:06.200 have reformed into the same shape, the same person. 00:09:06.580 --> 00:09:10.789 They are three clumps of broken pieces. Eldest 00:09:10.789 --> 00:09:13.389 tells the others of the ship reaching the satellite 00:09:13.389 --> 00:09:16.549 where the species met. The Ambassador took the 00:09:16.549 --> 00:09:19.429 translator to meeting after meeting. The humans 00:09:19.429 --> 00:09:23.250 said this. The Jint said that. Middle tries 00:09:23.250 --> 00:09:26.009 to interrupt again. Eldest tries to continue. 00:09:26.429 --> 00:09:29.809 The other Fanduan, swirling around them, push 00:09:29.809 --> 00:09:33.909 closer. There is plenty of time, they say soothing. 00:09:34.309 --> 00:09:39.929 We want to hear everything. Everything. At the 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:42.350 encouragement, the smallest one tries to describe 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:45.389 one of its own memories. It doesn't remember 00:09:45.389 --> 00:09:48.710 what the Jint said, but it remembers the Translator's 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:51.230 joy at the beauty of the species representative. 00:09:51.470 --> 00:09:53.870 It tries to speak of the fourth -dimensional 00:09:53.870 --> 00:09:56.629 flickers the translator had glimpsed with its 00:09:56.629 --> 00:10:00.389 millions of sensory units. The Jint's indescribable 00:10:00.389 --> 00:10:04.090 shape, its poetic speech, the glee that had radiated 00:10:04.090 --> 00:10:08.210 from it like light. No one listens. A terrible 00:10:08.210 --> 00:10:12.190 stillness surrounds the smallest one. Its flicker 00:10:12.190 --> 00:10:15.090 of memory had not been enough for the others 00:10:15.090 --> 00:10:19.669 to understand. It goes quiet. The reassurance 00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:23.210 has eased Eldest and Middle's rivalry. Each patiently 00:10:23.210 --> 00:10:25.490 waits for a thought to be completed before cutting 00:10:25.490 --> 00:10:28.169 in with their own perspective. Together, they 00:10:28.169 --> 00:10:30.929 tell the story while the others listen and pepper 00:10:30.929 --> 00:10:33.570 them with questions, swirling in an intricate 00:10:33.570 --> 00:10:36.830 choreography that is its own beautiful memory. 00:10:37.500 --> 00:10:40.620 The smallest one listens. It does not speak again. 00:10:41.299 --> 00:10:44.320 The Jint had come to stop a war, as the Jint 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:47.080 are known to do. There were two rival groups 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:50.179 of humans, a social construct the Fonduan have 00:10:50.179 --> 00:10:52.620 never quite understood, but have known humans 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:55.600 long enough to accept. The humans the ambassador 00:10:55.600 --> 00:10:58.799 worked for provoked another contingent, and the 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:01.419 satellite became a battleground. In the battle, 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:05.200 the translator, the story halts. The world narrows 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:07.830 to the present. The pulse of rushing water and 00:11:07.830 --> 00:11:11.450 curiosity radiating from the dancers. Why the 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:13.909 silence? The smallest one knows what happens 00:11:13.909 --> 00:11:18.350 next. Realization comes like a sunrise. The smallest 00:11:18.350 --> 00:11:20.970 one knows what happened. The units of the Translator 00:11:20.970 --> 00:11:24.450 that remember its demise are in it, not in Eldest 00:11:24.450 --> 00:11:28.710 or Middle. Eldest has story. Middle has details. 00:11:29.049 --> 00:11:31.450 Knowledge of the way things are in particular 00:11:31.450 --> 00:11:35.029 moments in time. Smallest has their progenitor's 00:11:35.029 --> 00:11:39.059 feelings. Mostly joy. The ecstasy of seeing the 00:11:39.059 --> 00:11:41.639 Jint speak. The warmth of conversing with the 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:44.759 Ambassador. Delight as it formed new stories. 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:48.279 But at the moment before the rival humans shot 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.419 through its landwalker suit to stop it from 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:52.559 translating between the humans and the Jint, 00:11:52.700 --> 00:11:55.860 the translator had felt conviction. It was feeling 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:59.519 that led it to choose the end of its story. Smallest 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:02.940 breaches the silence. It tells the others how 00:12:02.940 --> 00:12:05.299 the translator wanted to preserve the Ambassador's 00:12:05.299 --> 00:12:08.250 ship. the home those humans had built and that 00:12:08.250 --> 00:12:11.450 it had so admired the translator knew it was 00:12:11.450 --> 00:12:13.809 the target of the attack and so it had sacrificed 00:12:13.809 --> 00:12:18.169 itself to save the humans smallest is hardly 00:12:18.169 --> 00:12:21.090 finished relaying this memory when it is inundated 00:12:21.090 --> 00:12:24.049 by units the curiosity of the others overwhelming 00:12:24.049 --> 00:12:27.330 it some of the units are from Eldest and Middle's 00:12:27.330 --> 00:12:31.110 own small precious bodies and these just as much 00:12:31.110 --> 00:12:33.929 as the others threaten to collapse the fragile 00:12:33.929 --> 00:12:38.909 thing smallest knows as itself perhaps collapse 00:12:38.909 --> 00:12:42.370 would be better smallest has memory that is clearly 00:12:42.370 --> 00:12:45.370 important to the rest of the fond one the others 00:12:45.370 --> 00:12:50.169 are older larger wiser Smallest could dissolve 00:12:50.169 --> 00:12:53.409 into nothing, let each of them collect a piece 00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:56.370 of it for themselves. But Smallest holds on. 00:12:56.549 --> 00:12:59.110 It is the keeper of its progenitor's feelings, 00:12:59.370 --> 00:13:01.889 those guides that had led it to make significant 00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:06.029 decisions, the stuff story is made of. It clings 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:08.509 to the memory of the Ambassador's laugh, her 00:13:08.509 --> 00:13:11.710 gentle voice and curious questions, the awesome 00:13:11.710 --> 00:13:15.370 sight of unfamiliar stars, excitement at the 00:13:15.370 --> 00:13:18.210 chance to leave the ocean for an adventure. The 00:13:18.210 --> 00:13:22.529 certitude of that final decision. Smallest remains 00:13:22.529 --> 00:13:27.269 itself. The swarm eases. In the sudden peace, 00:13:27.570 --> 00:13:31.210 smallest finds that it has grown. It is still 00:13:31.210 --> 00:13:33.889 smaller even than Middle, who is smaller than 00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:35.990 any of the Fanduan in the circle around them. 00:13:36.110 --> 00:13:39.210 But it has more units now, nestling into its 00:13:39.210 --> 00:13:42.370 form and contributing knowledge of history and 00:13:42.370 --> 00:13:45.830 memories of language. Smallest knows suddenly. 00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:49.539 What the Jint was saying in those flashes, it 00:13:49.539 --> 00:13:54.600 also knows what it is. War-forged Fanduan are 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.700 rare these days. The translator hadn't been one, 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:00.340 and never could have been. But the little ones 00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:03.379 had created themselves from dregs. If the remains 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:06.480 of the Translator hadn't been isolated in its 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:09.059 tank, they likely never would have grown to self 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:12.240 -awareness. the only possible youth would have 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.240 been the Translator's falsified sense of it engineered 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:18.539 deliberately from composing itself of young units 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:21.899 most Fanduan that had ever been so fractured 00:14:21.899 --> 00:14:24.399 as the three of them had been absorbed into someone 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:27.620 else but the Translator's continuations will 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:31.240 last they each have a unique perspective and 00:14:31.240 --> 00:14:33.840 they will make stories worth telling for as long 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:38.110 as they wish to exist Smallest, Middle, and Eldest 00:14:38.110 --> 00:14:41.090 all tell the story now, their words overlapping 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:44.029 each other. They tell of how the Ambassador and 00:14:44.029 --> 00:14:46.289 her people had cared for them, spoke with them 00:14:46.289 --> 00:14:48.750 as they relearned human language and brought 00:14:48.750 --> 00:14:51.049 them home. They speak of the homecoming itself, 00:14:51.190 --> 00:14:54.409 from the perspective of the small, fragile things 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:57.090 they were. They speak until the storytelling 00:14:57.090 --> 00:15:00.509 has caught all the way up to the present. With 00:15:00.509 --> 00:15:03.090 the story finished, The other Fanduan welcome 00:15:03.090 --> 00:15:06.830 the three little ones into their currents. They 00:15:06.830 --> 00:15:09.789 swap units, celebrating the abundance of new 00:15:09.789 --> 00:15:13.309 memories. Smallest gains units that remember 00:15:13.309 --> 00:15:17.149 listening to the telling. It watches itself try 00:15:17.149 --> 00:15:20.549 to be understood and fail. It watches itself 00:15:20.549 --> 00:15:25.370 grow and succeed. It basks in attention, in story, 00:15:25.570 --> 00:15:30.429 and in memory. Welcome, the ocean says. Welcome 00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:58.379 home. Those last lines echo in my mind long after 00:15:58.379 --> 00:16:01.399 I finish reading the story. Welcome, say the 00:16:01.399 --> 00:16:05.179 Fanduan. Welcome, says the sea. The conflict 00:16:05.179 --> 00:16:07.879 in this story is not against some violent enemy 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.840 or a struggle to survive against merciless forces 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.220 of nature, although we get hints of the violence 00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:15.399 that led to the birth of the smallest one in 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:18.960 this story. Instead, the struggle we see in Homecoming 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:22.200 by Proxy is a pair of beautifully rendered internal 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:25.240 struggles. One is the struggle to be understood. 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:28.820 The other, the struggle for individuality within 00:16:28.820 --> 00:16:31.620 a collective. I think this story resonates so 00:16:31.620 --> 00:16:34.799 powerfully because all of us at one time or another 00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:37.559 have found ourselves struggling to find our voice. 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:41.299 Smallest one is a tiny little thing with very 00:16:41.299 --> 00:16:44.039 little knowledge of the people it came from and 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:46.820 only flashes of memory of the events that created 00:16:46.820 --> 00:16:49.559 it. Think back to a time when you were an outsider, 00:16:49.820 --> 00:16:52.799 unsure about what you should do. what you should 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:55.480 say, whether you have anything to contribute 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:58.659 at all. We all had moments like this in our childhood, 00:16:58.820 --> 00:17:01.120 when we were just like smallest from this story. 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:04.000 But experiences like this one can appear later 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:07.380 in our life as well. Anytime we start a new hobby 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:10.500 or travel to a new country, we are metaphorically 00:17:10.500 --> 00:17:14.559 smallest again. I adore the way the older Fanduan 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:17.579 patiently encourage smallest and its slightly 00:17:17.579 --> 00:17:20.700 larger siblings. We can all be inspired by the 00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:23.680 grace that they extend. It's a wonderful reminder 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:26.640 that often, when someone is struggling to speak, 00:17:26.859 --> 00:17:29.559 the best thing we can do is give them space and 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:32.420 time to find their own way, to find their words 00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:35.720 and share their story. But finding its story 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:38.640 is not the only struggle that Smallest One experiences. 00:17:39.339 --> 00:17:42.420 As a being made of many smaller units that could 00:17:42.420 --> 00:17:46.019 disperse and become parts of other Fanduan, Smallest 00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.880 One struggles to justify its existence as an 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.880 individual at all. Why not dissolve into the 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:54.420 collective, sharing its story directly with the 00:17:54.420 --> 00:17:57.740 older, larger Fanduan, and in so doing, also 00:17:57.740 --> 00:18:00.880 end its own struggles and doubts? There is something 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:03.880 of Shakespeare and Hamlet in this thread of thought. 00:18:04.539 --> 00:18:08.279 Smallest one is so small, so fragile, can it 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:11.319 bear the weight of existence? At that vulnerable 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.460 moment, smallest one has the realization that 00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:17.680 makes all the difference. What it knows is valuable, 00:18:17.960 --> 00:18:21.460 but what it is... The unique experiences that 00:18:21.460 --> 00:18:24.940 form the core of its individual being are absolutely 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:27.819 singular. The perspective that the smallest one 00:18:27.819 --> 00:18:30.599 embodies, forged through a combination of its 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:33.559 progenitor's emotions and the tragic events that 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:36.519 created it, mean that the smallest one understands 00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:40.140 the world in ways no other fond one ever will. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.480 Not even the siblings with which it was forged. 00:18:43.859 --> 00:18:47.519 Here, smallest one learns it is not just knowledge 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:50.240 that matters. but the storytelling that emerges 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:53.640 within a community of many individuals, each 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:56.819 with their own experience of the world. This 00:18:56.819 --> 00:18:59.180 message is incredibly powerful at a time when 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:01.660 we wonder whether we can contribute to the world. 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:05.319 In social media, we see people who seem impossibly 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:08.220 talented, and each day we hear about the different 00:19:08.220 --> 00:19:11.559 ways that AI can create things faster and smoother 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.440 than people can, from short poems to entire novels. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:18.440 But no AI will ever see the world that you see, 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:20.980 or create memories with friends and loved ones 00:19:20.980 --> 00:19:24.440 the way that you do. We are valuable not because 00:19:24.440 --> 00:19:27.200 of what we know or a skill that we have, but 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:29.619 because of the way the world has shaped us and 00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:32.079 the ways in which we choose to shape the world 00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:35.279 in return. The author of Homecoming by Proxy 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:38.519 tells us that the aliens in this story were inspired 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:41.579 by a real sea creature right here on Earth, the 00:19:41.579 --> 00:19:44.460 salp. If you haven't heard of them, that isn't 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:46.779 surprising. They're simple animals that look 00:19:46.779 --> 00:19:49.900 a little bit like jellyfish. Salps often form 00:19:49.900 --> 00:19:52.319 linked colonies, and these colonies can break 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:55.180 apart and become new beings, just like the Fanduan 00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:58.039 in this story. Although the salps are abundant 00:19:58.039 --> 00:20:01.079 in the seas, there is still a lot science doesn't 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:03.240 know about them, reminding us that while we look 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:07.019 to the stars, there's still so much unknown right 00:20:07.019 --> 00:20:10.000 here at home. So, what did you think of this 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:13.079 story? Drop me a comment on this episode or send 00:20:13.079 --> 00:20:15.180 me an email through the address in the show notes. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:18.400 I'd love to hear from you. If you loved this 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.380 story, share your love on Patreon. Your support 00:20:21.380 --> 00:20:23.859 means I can keep doing this, and I can keep paying 00:20:23.859 --> 00:20:26.900 authors for their work. As always, I am especially 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:30.039 grateful to Shanella, our Biosphere -level supporter. 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:32.839 I invite you to join me for our next incredible 00:20:32.839 --> 00:20:35.519 story coming out next Tuesday. Thank you for 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:38.099 listening to Biome, with me, your host and narrator, 00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:42.049 Alex Zoubiner. Until next time, farewell, wherever 00:20:42.049 --> 00:20:42.990 the days take you.