Case File: First Appearance #3

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On Wroug, alien arrival zones have nearby diplomatic buildings. They build even non-diplomatic buildings to have extra privacy areas. They keep rents low; so visitors have stores to visit and store owners are OK with isolated alien troubles.

Shortly after the Lan made the visa application, the streets cleared quickly. The privacy areas were well used. In the diplomatic offices, there were planning sessions. Special equipment is in place. Staff is being scheduled to permit workers to swap out. Drones are flying this way. Many in the meetings were mindful of the quick arrival time and the population of 70 trillion.

When morning came, the Lan started arriving. Several Wroug men in black suits stood near the arrival area. Many of those that did not make the cut for the four Lan team; volunteered for the 10,000 visa holders. They arrived in ten by ten groups. They walked forward and narrowed to four wide. On narrow roads, the group would narrow to two wide. This was repeated 100 times, which took about two-and-a-half hours.

As groups of Lans would walk down a street, one might stop quickly and pick up a rental flyer. A very quick flip of the pages and the flyer would be returned. Some Lan would stop at a store and seek currency exchange into Wroug money. They traded quite a few unusual currencies, including a gold coin from the Dragos Empire.

Eachrental office was visited (just once) by a single Lan.   Long streams of Lans inspected available rentals. The murmur of Wroug on the street was becoming a din. There were more Wroug on the streets than usual.

At the end of the day, many Lan went into dining establishments.

It was in this time of day that I was doing what I usually do. I was using alleys to move from work to my home. At the end of an alley, a Lan man looked directly at me from the street. I was frozen in the shared gaze. I was internally counting to see how long it would take for him to look away. There was a voice down the way, and the Lan looked that way and walked away. I felt hopeful; maybe the Lan really could help me. That was the first time that I, Ami, ever saw a Lan.

In one of the dining establishments, a Lan entered and went to the bar. There were about eight Wroug men in black suits there. One Wroug came and sat down next to the Lan. There was light conversation. It seemed nice. The Wroug suggested that the Lan buy drinks for all in the bar, and the Lan complied. After everyone took a drink, the Wroug leaned in near and said, "If I told you, we knew how much money you have. We know how much was just spent. You are short to pay the tab. What will you do now?" The door opens and two Lan walk in, handing money over the Lan that bought drinks and leave. They give payment in full to the barman.

The Wroug says, "So you could predict our gambit to question you?"

"Yes, I used our communication systems to request the funds tallied."

"What would you have done, if we were not satisfied with the fresh money supply?"

"Well, you might go look out the door"

The Wroug looked out the door and saw Lan along the road, four deep in all directions.

"If I asked you all to leave, would you comply?

The Lan at bar said, "Yes. Sure. We might ask for a meeting to resolve concerns"

"Yes, 9:00 AM tomorrow at my office. Here are my office details. Though the meeting might be with my boss or my boss's boss."

The Lan left the dining establishment. When the door closed, there was a slight sound of a thump and the outside became silent. The Wroug security officer looked out. There were no Lan to be seen. There were no Lan on Wroug.



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