// System State: 27%, Degraded, Damage 77%//
As the sun came up, the man woke from his restful slumber, ready for a new day of opportunities. Unfortunately for Tony, he was a minimum-wage worker who commuted 45 minutes to a dead-end job.
He stood from his bed and walked to his kitchen, turning on the coffee maker. His morning cup of Joe was brewing. Heading to the bathroom, he brushed his fur and teeth, his orange fur looking bedraggled even after his quick brushing.
His coffee was ready, so he filled it with creamer and headed out the door for his job. He walked to his car and started to finagle the door key to unlock it finally when he heard an odd rumbling cracking sound. He turned to the sound just in time to see a fireball slam into the forest behind his house, with various scraps of debris littering the ground surrounding a large chunk of red-hot metal smashing the front of his car.
He stood in shock. He didn't know what to be more worried about: not being able to get to his job or the giant thing that just crashed into the woods. He snapped a pic of his crushed car and texted his boss the picture, "This happened this morning. I can't make it in. I'm sorry."
Making his way into the woods, he sees an odd object lying in a pile of dirt, with small plumes of smoke rising from the craft. It was now evident this was a UFO of some kind.
//System Rebooting
Complete//
I woke up in a smoke-filled cabin, the seat I was in lying upside down on the roof of the ship. All systems seemed to be offline. I unbuckled from the captain's chair, falling to the floor. I crawled over to the hatch and kicked at it until a small gap appeared. I then pried it the rest of the way open. I blocked my eyes from the bright light. The first thing I saw was a terrified individual staring at me with very wide eyes.
My data says the man is part of a race of people called Furanthropes. They speak a language called Furithrali. I downloaded the language and began to speak, "Hello, I am Nexus of the Protogens. I come in peace and do not intend to harm anyone." I stepped out of my ship the rest of the way, and he stayed frozen in place, more confused than awestruck now.
"What the hell?" was all he said. He put his hands to his face, then looked up. "Follow me, please." He gestured to me to follow him, so I did. We walked, which seemed to be only about 100 feet, before walking through a gate up to a building that seemed to be this man's house.
He opened the front door and pointed to a chair. I sat, and he looked at me. "So, what are you doing here? You only just got here and are already causing me issues." I raised my eyebrow and looked at him. "I apologize for any trouble I caused, but I am not aware of causing any. I just woke up in my crashed ship. I only remember passing out from blood loss." I got out of the seat, still having to look up at him, me being only about 5' 4". I walked to the door and went to open it. The knob did not move. "I locked it. I want you to tell me who you are, what you are, where you came from, and what you're actually doing here." I sighed and sat back down again. I leaned back and looked at him. "Fine, I am Nexus. I am a Protogen, a type of manufactured species often controlled by a central command. In my case, I'm not, but my objective is to study and make relations with sentient creatures across space. I am here because my ship crashed."
He looked at me and rolled his eyes, going to the door and unlocking it. "Come on, I am going to show you what your wrecked ship did to my car." We walked out to his car; it was very similar to the other planet but a little different. There was a chunk of melted metal on the front end of it. "I am very sorry. If you happen to have a different one, I could help you fix it, maybe. I don't think this one is salvageable." He sighed and told me, "I guess I have my grandma's crusty old Goldsmobile, but it doesn't run, and I doubt you know how to fix a car." I nodded and thought for a second, getting an idea. "I can probably figure it out. It can't be that complicated, can it?" He led me to the car; it was sitting under a cover made of thin, rusty metal. I opened the hood and looked into it.
