The Visitor from the Stars

The Visitor from the Stars. The visitor from the stars.

It was an unassuming Wednesday afternoon in the small town of Red Fork, where life moved at a pace slower than a snail carrying luggage. Inside Betty’s Diner, the hum of casual chatter was interrupted by the jingle of the door as a man walked in. Or rather saying, something resembling a man.

Hence, dressed in an oversized trench coat, a fedora hat tipped low over his oddly smooth face, and a pair of sunglasses that somehow seemed too dark for the weather, the newcomer paused at the dinners entrance as though calculating his next move.

Betty, wiping her hands on a grease-stained apron, was the first to speak. “Welcome! Please, sit anywhere you like, honey.”

The man nodded swiftly, almost seeming rude, scanning the room with a peculiar intensity before choosing a booth near the window. He slid into the seat, his movements were stiff, in the same way as someone new to the art of joint articulation.

Ten minutes later, Tom, a local reporter nursing his fourth cup of coffee for the day, found himself seated across from the stranger. It wasn’t his idea, but just happened. The man – if that’s what he was – had simply gestured to Tom with a beckoning wave that seemed hapenned casual and oddly commanding.

“You’re Tom Winters,” the stranger said, his voice smooth yet slightly disjointed, as if pieced together from a dictionary of human inflection.

Tom blinked. “Uh, yeah. Do I know you?”

“No. But I know you.” The man leaned forward, sliding his sunglasses down just enough for Tom to glimpse the faint shimmer of silver where his irises should’ve been.

Tom stiffened. “Listen, if this is about that parking ticket exposé I wrote, I swear I didn’t mean to.”

“This is not about your trivial civic journalism,” the stranger interrupted. “This is about Earth! Your Earth!”

Tom blinked. “O…kay?”

The man wrapped his hands together in an oddly deliberate motion, then looked at Tom with his silver could eyes: “Allow me to introduce myself: My name is… irrelevant! My origins are… complicated. But I have arrived here from beyond your solar system with knowledge your species desperately needs.”

Tom stared at him for a long moment before leaning back with a chuckle. “Right. You’re one of those UFO guys, huh? Are you here to warn us about the apocalypse?”

“Incorrect.” The man’s tone was flat and cold. “I am here to solve your problems.”

Tom was intrigued, despite this, he decided to humour the stranger. “Alright, Mr. Irrelevant. You’re here to solve our problems? Which ones? There’s a lot to pick from.”

The stranger tilted his head, his silver eyes glaring. “In fact! All of them, but one at a time. Let us begin with an easy one: traffic congestion.”

Tom almost spit out his coffee. “Traffic? You’ve come from another galaxy to help us with traffic?”

“Indeed,” the stranger replied, unbothered by Tom’s incredulity. “I have observed your urban planning deficiencies from above. You allocate 30% of urban land to vehicles, yet 95% of these vehicles are stationary at any given time. The inefficiency is staggering.”

“Right,” Tom said slowly. “And you’ve got the solution?”

“Of course.” The stranger pulled out what looked like a glowing tablet, though its surface shifted like liquid. With a few taps, he projected a holographic blueprint onto the surface of the table.

“What am I looking at?” Tom asked, leaning in despite himself.

“You are looking at a dynamic tridimensional flying framework for traffic flow,” the stranger explained, and “It utilises quantum-anchored hover nodes to eliminate the need for physical roads. With this solution, the vehicles will traverse the third dimension, reducing spatial bottlenecks by 97%.”

Tom blinked. “You’re saying you can make flying cars.”

“Not can. Will. The knowledge is yours, should you choose to implement it.”

“Okay, but – wait.” Tom shook his head. “How would that even work? What about power sources, regulations, costs?”

“All addressed,” the stranger said, tapping the tablet again. While the hologram shifted, displaying what appeared to be a miniature city with glowing streams of vehicles zipping through the air Tom was stunned watching the tablet: “The nodes draw energy from localised solar-collecting drones. Costs are mitigated through modular design, but regulations…” He paused, looking at Tom pointedly. “…are your department.”

Tom leaned back, rubbing his temples, despite he couldn’t believe, he said: “Alright, assuming any of this is real, why traffic? Why not, I don’t know, climate change or world hunger?”

“Your planet’s issues are interconnected,” the stranger replied. “Addressing inefficiencies in one system creates ripples across others. Traffic congestion contributes to carbon emissions. Alleviate it, and you take a significant step toward reducing your environmental impact.”

Tom sipped his coffee, considering. “Alright, so you’re a cosmic problem solver. What’s in it for you?”

The stranger hesitated, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face: “Let us just say… my people have an interest in your survival.”

“Your people?” Tom pressed. “Who are they? And why Earth?”

“Earth,” the stranger said slowly, “is a fascinating anomaly. Its biodiversity, its cultures, its… chaos. My people have observed countless worlds, but few possess your unique blend of resilience and self-destruction. We… find it worth preserving.”

Tom frowned. “So we’re some kind of cosmic experiment?”

“Not exactly.” The stranger leaned back, folding his hands. “Think of it more as… a partnership.”

“And what happens if we don’t take your advice?” Tom asked.

The stranger’s silver eyes dimmed slightly. “Then you continue on your current trajectory. Collapse. Extinction. The usual.”

Tom glanced around the diner, half-expecting hidden cameras or pranksters to jump out and yell, “Gotcha!” But no one seemed to notice the bizarre conversation unfolding at his booth.

“Okay,” he said finally. “Let’s say I believe you. Let’s say I write an article about this traffic solution of yours. Who’s going to take me seriously?”

“That is your problem,” the stranger said, sliding the holographic tablet across the table. “The knowledge is now in your hands. Use it wisely.”

Tom stared at the tablet, which felt oddly weightless despite its glowing surface. “You’re really leaving this with me?”

“I am. But before I go, a question for you.”

Tom raised an eyebrow. “Uh, sure. What is it?”

The stranger leaned in… his silver eyes locking onto Tom’s. “Do you believe in free will?”

Tom blinked. “What kind of question is that?”

“A relevant one,” the stranger said cryptically, but “Think carefully, Mr. Winters. For it will determine the course of your species.”

The stranger rose with his trench coat swishing while he made his way to the door. “Wait!” Tom called after him. “You didn’t answer my question! Are you real? Is this real?”

The stranger paused at the doorway then, turning back with the faintest hint of a smile. “That, Mr. Winters, is for you to decide.”

And with a jingle of the door, he was gone.

For days, Tom wrestled with the encounter. He tried to write the story, but the words felt hollow. The holographic tablet sat on his desk, its glowing surface a silent reminder of the stranger’s parting words.

Finally, he decided to test the waters. He shared the blueprint with a trusted engineer friend, presenting it as a “theoretical concept” he’d stumbled upon. The reaction was immediate.

“This… this could work,” then the engineer said, wide-eyed. “Where did you get this?”

Tom hesitated. “Let’s just say straightaway, I had a strange visitor.”

At this point, the engineer laughed, shaking his head. “Well, whoever they are, they’ve got some serious brainpower.”

As Tom left the meeting, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been handed a choice. To believe, or not to believe. To act, or not to act.

And somewhere, far beyond Earth’s atmosphere, a pair of silver eyes watched, waiting to see what humanity would do next…

See you visitor … I will meet you across the stars…

The End!

The Visitor from the stars

Curiosity – I dare you to Read this!

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Yours in Life,

The Magnetic Soul

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