31st JULY 2517

I landed the ship some way away to prevent scaring the natives.  Around my landing zone, all I could see was a barren wasteland in every direction.

Even though the air was warm and humid, I still like this planet.  The sky overhead seemed to permanently glow from the bright sunlight above the thick cloud layer.  Skeyla’s Sun seems to be closer to it than our Sun is to Earth, but it is also cooler to compensate.

I travelled over the horizon and to the lake, hoping that my skills with alien languages would be any better than mine with human ones.  I then began to trudge up to the forest.

Where the forest began, I ran into a lone Skeylan who appeared to be tapping one of the strange trees and extracting a thick milky liquid from within its bark.  When he spotted me, it was difficult to accurately gauge his expression from the Skeylan’s face, but from his stance, I certainly picked up an element of fear.

I tried my best to calm his fears by raising my arms.  He remained apprehensive, but he did not flee, even as I slowly approached him.  He nervously looked up into my alien face and then I signed what I believed to mean ‘Hello’ (Or at least their equivalent, since this gesture was how they seemed to start most conversations from what I have seen).

At first, he seemed surprised, which soon morphed into relaxation.  He then signed something very quickly, which I had trouble understanding.  He did it again more slowly and I recognised a couple of ‘words’, he seemed to be asking what I am.  This, I had trouble answering.  It was impossible to say my name in their language, as they had no alphabet, just certain gestures for certain words and phrases so I saw no way to introduce myself.  I did my best by pointing to the sky, but I don’t think he understood.

He introduced himself by saying his name, but of course, there is no way for me to write it since it is only a gesture.  Therefore, for the purposes of my journal, I shall call him ‘John’.

John livened when he realised I was friendly and gestured for me to follow him back to his village.  Needless to say, there I was met with quite a bit of attention.  John took me to the largest building, which seemed to be a kind of meeting hall.  It was full of Skeylans drinking that milky treesap out of stone bowls through their trunks.

The crowd amassed and they began to examine me, they were particularly fascinated by my teeth and long finger nails (which they used their words for fangs and claws for, as if describing an animal).  They were also captivated by my long hair; a few of the braver ones even touched it.

Blinking seemed to amaze them also; they looked at each other in excitement as they watched me do it.  I felt one of their hands in return and was amazed to find it so soft and squidgy, for lack of a more scientific term.  I truly believed that, if I applied enough effort, I could’ve easily ripped off one of their arms.  Of course, I would never want to, I was just amazed by how soft and fragile they felt.  They, in turn, were similarly interested by how hard my hand felt when they touched it.

I was offered some of their treesap as a gesture of hospitality, which I drank, not wanting to be rude.  Of course, I first tested it with my portable spectrum analyser and it contained nothing harmful to humans.  It tasted rather bitter in my opinion, but certainly drinkable.

They were in awe at the way I drank and by the time I had finished, John had fetched a new Skeylan, which I called ‘Gramps’ in my mind once I was told he was the Elder.

The Elder took me alone to his home for a more detailed examination.  In his roundhouse, he had what I noticed to be scientific equipment.  The most impressive of which was a large machine made of a type of rock I had never seen before.  It was dark brown, but with a slight bronze shimmer.

There doesn’t seem to be anything made of metal within their village.  Perhaps none exists on Skeyla, of if it does, the Skeylans have not yet the technology to refine the ore.

The stone machine turned out to be a kind of microscope.  Gramps gestured for me to hold out my hand and then he took a sample from my skin.  As he examined the sample under his microscope, I clapped my hands very loudly but he didn’t turn around, confirming my suspicion that they were a deaf species.

The conversation that followed lasted a long time and it sometimes took several attempts to communicate something, but I think what follows is a pretty accurate approximation.  Gramps seemed amazed at two details regarding my body on a microscopic level.  He found it interesting that I was mostly made of water, for starters, but the second was very peculiar.  He said he was fascinated by the fact that I appeared to be made of billions of tiny cells working together.

I asked why this was strange and he responded by revealing the fact that Skeylans were made up of only one cell, one giant five-foot tall cell.  Inside, they had a nucleus that acted as their brain amidst what was mostly cytoplasm (rather than blood) contained within the cell membrane that acted as their ‘skin’.  These truly are remarkable creatures.

And yet he found me more remarkable.  Due to the fact that I was mostly made of water, apparently unlike the Skeylans, Gramps gave me a name.  The Skeylans have a word that they use to refer to themselves, as we call ourselves the humans.  The true word for ‘Skeylan’, as it were.

When referring to me, Gramps used this word preceded by their word for water.  I suppose the most accurate English equivalent of my new name would be ‘Waterman’.

Gramps seems to believe that I came from the Lake, as that is where John found me.  He seemed to think I formed from the water and arose to the surface.  It was beyond my abilities to correct him so I just let it go.

He wished to discuss more but I was tired from the day, a concept he had trouble grasping.  I told him I must return for a while and I would be back the next day.  I think he took this to mean I could only stay as ‘solid’ water for a certain amount of time and hence, must regularly return to the Lake.