1

The Due

Year 290475
Captain Isa stared out the window of her ship. She watched
the streaks of colors stream across the window. No matter how
many times she flew through space, she was still amazed at the
sight.
“How close are we to Dumigar?” Isa asked her navigator,
Elliana. Half a year ago Earth had received a radio signal, telling
them a set of directions to get to a planet, known to Earth by the
name of Zenada 53, and a name for it, Dumigar. Isa’s crew had
been sent to meet the people who had sent this message.
“About 3 light years away.” Elliana responded. Their ship,
using the newest light-speed travel technologies, was traveling
at about a light-year an hour, faster than ever before. Before, it
would have taken them decades to travel a distance that would
take mere hours now.
——————————————————————————————
Year 290475
As Isa tucked the cord of the translator into her left ear, as
she looked around at the surface of Dumigar. It was clear that

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this area was inhabited, Isa could see a town that looked similar
to ones on Earth, but all of the houses were made of stone. A
wall, about five feet tall, surrounded the village, and a thin curl
of smoke was rising from the center of it. Fields of a plant that
looked like wheat, but red in color, surrounded the town. It
looks straight out of a storybook, Isa thought as her crew walked
cautiously towards the village. As they approached the wall, a
humanoid figure jumped out from behind a gate.
“Who goes there?” The figure shouted at them, the translator
turning its words into English. As Isa got closer to the figure,
she could tell it was not human. While its upper half looked like a
human, it had tentacles instead of legs and its skin was a brilliant
sky blue. It had a spear held in front of itself and a musket-like
object, which looked almost like the ancient guns used by the
Americans in their long-ago revolutionary war, slung over its
back.
“We are a space-crew from Earth, but we do not mean to
hurt you or your people.” Isa told the creature, gesturing to
the people surrounding her, “Our people received a radio signal
from this planet and we are responding to it.”
“A what-signal?” the alien asked.
“Do you not know what radios are?” Ethan, an engineer,
asked, voicing the rest of the crew’s surprise.
“No,” the alien said “I don’t”
“I don’t feel good about this.” Ana, Isa’s first mate, whispered
to Isa, “They could be lying to make us feel more at ease.”
“Perhaps they just call radios something else here.” Isa said,
and turned back to the alien. “Could you take us to whoever’s in
charge here?”
“Follow me.” The alien said, turning towards the gate. As
Isa’s crew walked into the village, their eyes were bombarded

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with a rainbow of colors. It seemed each of the aliens had a

different color of skin, each a vibrant shade.. As Isa looked closer,
she could see that some of the aliens had more tentacles than
others, but she could not tell why.
The alien led them to a building in the center of the village.
It was taller than all of the others, and looked to be made of a
silver-like metal, not stone like the rest of the village. When
they got to the door, another alien walked up to them. This alien
had dark, forest green skin, and a lot more tentacles than the
one from the gate.
“State your name and business.” the alien said, before
recognizing the sky blue alien. “Azani!” it shouted, clearly
recognizing the alien from the gate, “What brings you here?”
“Just bringing these strangers, who claim to be a ‘space-crew’
from somewhere called Earth, to see the Ethnarch.” the blue
alien, Azani responded.
“What’s a ‘space-crew’? And what’s Earth?” the green alien
asked
“Don’t know, but I’m sure the Ethnarch will want to see them.”
The alien called Azani led Isa and her crew inside the silver
building. When they walked inside a pink alien sitting behind
a desk looked warily at Isa’s crew, but eyes lit up when it saw
Azani.
“Morning, Azani!”
“Good morning.”
“Why are you here? I thought you had gate duty.”
“I did, until these people showed up, saying they’re from some
place called ‘Earth’ and asked to meet with the Ethnarch.” Azani
walked toward a set of stairs and motioned for Isa to follow.
“Hold on!” Isa shouted after Azani. “I’m not going up there
alone.”

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“You may bring one of your people along, but no more.” Azani
called over their shoulder. Isa turned back to her crew.
Isa turned around, “Who wants to come?”
“I will.” Ana said as she stepped forward to join her, then
turned to the rest of the crew. “The rest of you go back and
guard the ship.”
——————————————————————————————
Year 290475
Isa and Ana walked through the door, both out of breath. After
catching up with Azani, they climbed up so many flights of stairs,
Isa had lost count.
“Why don’t they have elevators?” Isa whispered to Ana, once
she sat down.
“Maybe they don’t know what elevators are. I mean they don’t
-” The blast of a trumpet cut off the end of Ana’s sentence, as an
alien with soft yellow skin and lots of tentacles walked through
a door at the end of the room.
“Rise before the Ethnarch” yelled a small red alien, possibly a
child, standing beside the yellow one. Isa and Ana stood up, still
tired from climbing up the stairs.
The yellow alien, who everyone seemed to call the Ethnarch,
walked down the room. As Isa’s eyes followed her, she took a
look at the room for the first time. It was a long hall with walls
of light tan bricks, with floors made of soft corn-flower blue
wood, and groups of chairs scattered around. Groups of the
aliens gathered near these chairs, whispering to each other and
pointing at Isa and Ana. At the end of the hall sat a small couch,
the same blue as the floors, with gold edges. The Ethnarch
reached the end of the hall and sat on the throne-like couch.
When the Ethnarch sat, every other alien in the room took their
seats.

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“I am Ethnarch Acacia, the leader of this sector.” The yellow

alien said to them. She did not look scared, or alarmed, but Isa
could see a shimmer of fear in her eyes.
“I am Isa, captain of an Earthian spacecraft.” Isa responded.
“What is a ‘spacecraft’? And why are you here?” Acacia asked
them, taking no time for pleasantries.
“A spacecraft is a vehicle used for traveling in space. My crew
and I are responding to a radio signal-”
“What is a ‘radio’?” The Ethnarch asked, interrupting Isa.
Clearly it was not just Azani who did not know what a radio was.
Isa sighed, getting a little exasperated with these aliens, then
explained, “A radio is a device that transmits and receives
electromagnetic waves, usually ones carrying sound messages
or recordings. On Earth they are used to communicate over long
distances.”
“Sounds quite similar to our Kigids.” The Ethnarch muttered
to the red alien beside her.
“As I was saying, we are responding to a radio signal received
from this planet.” Isa said. “That is exactly the same thing they
said to me when they approached the gate.”
“Go find someone to take over Azani’s gate shift for the rest
of the day, and find some soldiers to investigate the Captain’s
ship.” the Ethnarch said to the red alien, then turned to Isa, “I
hope you don’t mind Captain.”
Isa shook her head, “Not at all, Ethnarch. My crew are already
back at the ship, but they won’t stop you from taking a look.
They’ll make sure you don’t break anything, or send yourselves
flying off into space with no idea of how to get back.” The small
red alien slithered out of the room, its tentacles moving in a blur.
Ana turned to Isa and whispered,
“If they don’t know what a radio is, how did we receive a signal

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from here?”
“I heard the Ethnarch say something about a ‘Kigid’. Maybe
they call it that here.” Isa whispered back.
“Well, Captain, do you wish to return to Earth and tell your
people what you have found?” Isa and Ana jumped at the sound
of the Ethnarch’s voice. “Maybe you could take one of my people
with you, so we can know more about your planet.”
“That makes sense. Who will you send?” Isa asked
“I’ll send…” Acacia looked around at the aliens in the room,
before settling on an orange one near the back. “My adviser,
Aspen.”
——————————————————————————————
Year 290475
Isa turned to look at the alien sitting in her spaceship. They
were sitting in a large red chair by the window, where Isa usually
sat, looking around the room. Isa looked around at the shiny,
metal walls, the windows wrapping around the ship and the
screens floating above the various stations around the room,
showing maps, coordinates, and other information. This is all so
normal to me, but what does this look like to Aspen? It’s so different
from the village we saw. Isa thought.
“What do your people want with Earth?” Isa asked as she
joined the alien by the window.
“Well, you’ve been on our planet and seen how we lived.
Believe it or not, that small town used to be part of a bustling
city, full of bright lights and tall buildings. It was just one of the
huge cities that floated over the entire planet.”
“Floating?! How?”
“Not important. Anyway, it had gone so far that we wouldn’t
even go down to the surface to grow food. All of our food
was grown by robots. My grandmother started a movement

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to destroy the cities, fancy tech, and all things like that. It took
her 20 years, and a few off-planet allies, to get people to agree
with it. When they did, we got rid of all the technology we didn’t
need. If this” Aspen waved a hand at the interior of Isa’s ship, “
is true for the rest of Earth, your people need the same help that
mine did. You seem to rely on technology too much.”
“I agree. The Inventor’s Guild just invented this new type of
house, which does everything from making dinner to shampoo-
ing your hair for you. While we still go onto the planet’s surface,
more and more people are moving to the floating cities everyday,
and buying these new do-it-all-for-you houses. Soon enough
we’ll forget how to load a dishwasher! I understand improving
spaceships, so commercial spaceflight can be fast and easily
available, but they’ve gone too far.”
“Do other humans share this opinion? If some of your leaders
do, this could be peaceful.”
“And if they don’t?”
“If no one in a position of power shares this view, then we
will have to take over your planet. We will bring in those allies I
spoke of earlier, and fight your people. It will most likely result
in many deaths on all sides, and the destruction of some of your
cities, and no one wants that. But we will do everything in our
power to stop your planet from becoming like ours was all that
time ago.”
“Captain, we’re nearing Earth.” Elliana’s said, startling both
Isa and the aliens
“Alright.” Isa sighed then walked to stand in front of her crew.
“I have a question for you all. If this comes to a war, will you
come to the Dumigarian side with me? If you won’t, I suggest
you quickly apply for transfer to a different ship.” A look of
surprise washed over the faces of Isa’s crew.

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“I don’t know about all of them, but I will.” Ana said, looking
at the rest of the crew. A chorus of ‘Me to’s and ‘I will’s came
from the rest of Isa’s crew. “Looks like we all will.”
“You should know that we won’t be bringing families or
partners with us. I don’t want to leave my brother behind, but I
don’t know if people outside of this ship, people who haven’t
been to Dumigar, can be trusted.” Isa said as she looked every
member of her crew in the eyes. “If you want to reconsider, I
won’t blame you.” All the crew members looked at each other.
They were not going to reconsider this. All of them shook their
heads, they would be sticking with their captain.
——————————————————————————————
Year 290475
Isa’s boots clicked on the floor as she walked up to the door of
the council room, Aspen’s tentacles slithering along the floor
behind her.
“Wait out here. I’m going to report to the Council and I want
to tell them about your planet before they meet you.” Isa said
without looking at Aspen. She pushed open the door and was
bombarded with a flurry of voices. As the council members
noticed her, they quieted.
“Report, Captain.” Alina, the head of the council, said to her.
“When my crew and I landed on the surface of Dumigar, the
planet our radio-operators received a signal from, it was clear
that something intelligent lived there. There was a small town
with houses made of stone and one building made of a silver
looking metal. We were met by a guard. My first mate and I met
with the Ethnarch and brought back one of the aliens, who is
waiting outside.” The council room exploded. All the council
members were shouting over each other until Alina raised her
hand to silence them.

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“You brought an alien here?”

“Yes ma’am. Would you like to meet them?”
Alina looked to the other council members, then nodded her
head. Isa opened the door and motioned for Aspen to join her.
“They’re ready for you.” Aspen followed her back inside. The
council members’ eyes widened when they saw the alien walk
into the room and a few turned to whisper into their neighbors’
ears.
“This is the alien?” Three of the council members called out
at the same time
“Yes, I am one of the aliens.” Aspen said as they stepped
forward, “I am Aspen, sibling and head advisor of Ethnarch
Acacia.”
That’s what it sounded like to Isa, but to the council it sounded
like a bunch of gibberish strung together.
“Do they not speak English?” Alina asked Isa
“No, but the translators work for their language, and they can
understand English, just not speak it.” Alina calls for translators
to be brought for the whole council, and the aliens wait for them
to arrive. A few minutes later, a human runs in the door carrying
a case of translators. She hands them out to the councilors, and
they all tuck them into their ears.
“Hello, I am Aspen, sibling and head advisor of Ethnarch
Acacia.” Aspen re-introduces themself.
“Hello. I am Alina, head of the council of this sector of Earth.
What intentions do your people have towards Earth?”
“All my people want to do is offer our help to cleanse your
planet.”
“Cleanse our planet?” A council member asks, shocked.
“Yes. If what I have seen is true for all of your planet, you and
your people have ingrained technology into your society, and

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are in need of assistance to cleanse your planet of it. My people

are very experienced in this matter. We ourselves once had to do
this to our planet and have been much happier since then. My
family in particular is quite good at it. My grandmother led the
charge against technology on our planet, and passed along her
techniques to me and my mother.”
“We will have to discuss this matter with the rest of the
planet.” Alina says, shocked, just like the rest of the council.
——————————————————————————————
Year 290475
“Councils across the globe are discussing the Dumigarians
offered aid to ‘cleanse’ our planet of technology.” The news
reporter’s voice came from the television.
“Isa, did you know about this?” Isa’s twin brother asks as he
gestures towards the TV with a knife.
“No. All I did was fly there, inform their Ethnarch that Earth
existed, and bring Aspen back here.” Isa lied. “I’ll be flying
back tomorrow with the councils’ responses to their proposal.”
But I will not come back here in the end, she thought. She and
her crew would be staying with the aliens, and fighting against
their home planet in the war. As this regret passed through Isa’s
mind, she reminded herself why she was doing this. It’s for mom,
she thought, It can’t be so bad if I’m doing it for mom.
Isa’s mother had been killed a few years ago by a malfunc-
tioning security robot, and nothing had been done to protect
others from the same fate. It had been written off as a one-time
problem, something that would never happen again, but Isa had
always thought it was more than that. Now she had a chance to
do something about it, and she would not be throwing it away.
———————————————————————————————
Year 290475

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Isa, Aspen, Acacia sat down to open the responses. There were
50 or so major councils, all with responses. Acacia opened the
first one, from the Sivina Council. Inside was a thin stack of
papers.
“This one says that they want to keep their technology.”
Acacia said as she flipped through it.
“They all do.” Isa said, a note of bitterness coming into her
voice, “We just can’t give up our precious technology. Some
of them even gave weak excuses.” Isa picked up one of the
responses, this one from the Adelyna council. “Technology is
too ingrained in our life. Many would die if it was taken away
and we are unable to risk that.”
Acacia picked up one and flipped through it before stopping on
a page “This one says almost the same thing: ‘many of our citi-
zens are unable to survive without technology.’ They don’t even
know what technology we’re going to take away! Why would
they think we would take something that is keeping someone
alive?!” ———————————————————————————
Year 290475
Isa pushed open the door to the council room and walked up
to Alina and handed her the papers sent by the Dumigarians.
Isa already knew what they said, and not just because she had
written them for the Dumigarians.
“What does it say, Alina?” one of the council members asked.
“We’re at war.” Alina said. The council room exploded into a
flurry of voices, all saying something along the lines of ‘what
will we do’ and ‘how could this happen’. Under the cover of
this confusion, Isa slipped out of the door and walked out of the
council building. Once she got a few blocks away, she slipped
her hood over her head and started running back to her ship,
where her crew was waiting.

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——————————————————————————————
Year 290486(10 years after the wars end)
Aspen’s tentacles slithered down a hallway to their new
apartment on Earth. They were one of the 100 Dumigarians
sent to Earth, two for each council. In exchange, 100 humans
were sent to Dumigar, but Isa was not on one of them. She had
died fighting in the war. Isa was honored by the Dumigarians,
but seen as a traitor by the humans, including her family. When
Aspen opened the door a little figure jumped out from behind
the couch and launched itself at Aspen. The person was Aspen’s
4-year-old-daughter, named Isa, in tribute to the captain. She,
along with all of her crew, had been poisoned by a Dumigarian
assassin, who was working with the humans. During the war,
Aspen had become close friends with Isa, whom they had been
working with to develop strategies to counter Earth’s. Aspen’s
daughter had been born a dark, ruby red, but her skin had
changed to a surprising emerald green by the time she was two
years old. Maybe it was just chance, or maybe it had something
to do with the name of Isa’s ship, The Emerald.

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Author’s Note

In “The Destruction of Technology”, Earth’s inability to give

up their technology shows just how hard it can be to give up
something you think you need, but do not. My short story
is centered around two very different planets, one that lives
without technology, and one that has it so ingrained in their
lives, they would go to war over losing it.
When Isa mentions the house-that-can-do-everything-for-
you to Aspen, it showcases the differences between the Du-
migarian society, and that of Earth. The house-that-can-
do- everything-for-you shows us the extent of how deeply
ingrained technology is in human’s lives. By mentioning this
to Aspen, it shows the huge difference between the Dumigarian
society and Earth’s society.
The differences between the lifestyles of the Dumigarians and
Humans shows the difference between a society that was able to
give up something, and a society still holding onto something
that they should give up.
Through its theme of holding on to what you should not, “The
Destruction of Technology” shows that while it might be hard

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to give something up, it can be better to move on then hold on

to everything.

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