People assume extraterrestrial contact would be dramatic. Lights. Abductions. Fear.
In reality, it was administrative.
They arrived not in ships but in appointments. A soft pressure behind the eyes. A sense of being double-booked across dimensions. I was taken—not physically, though the body followed eventually—to a planet where cities grew like coral and language was obsolete.
Life there wasn’t carbon-based in the way we insist on. It was intention-based. Buildings reorganized around thought density. Children learned history by standing inside it.
I know this sounds extraordinary, but it felt mundane. Like visiting a well-run municipal office in a country with better priorities.
They returned me because I asked too many economic questions. Apparently, Earth is still considered “pre-ethical.”