While they aren’t nearly as pervasive as they appeared to be, first-contact stories are still a mainstay within the science fiction genre. Depending on the era that they come from they are laden with different ideas on how aliens might function, and what a proper response would be to said lifeform. Instead of doing a deep dive on that however, I have decided to go a wholly unserious route and examine the following stories as if they were instead first dates. It’s a bit of fun, but it might also give a better understanding of what to expect if you decide to pick these stories up. I don’t disclose anything about the books themselves, you can click on the reviews afterwards for those that exist if you want to dive a little further.
Blindsight by Peter Watts
You’ve just received the notification from your app that someone is interested in you. You don’t know who they are and have never seen their profile before. You’re not particularly interested, but everyone in your friend group seizes the opportunity to make this your next date. They all begin to scour the internet, searching for any evidence of this person. Your friends all come with different skills and are themselves on various different apps. They want to know who this person is, and they want you to help them figure it out, but you’re still just trying to figure out who you are and recover from the trauma that is your past.
One of your friends knows all about the psychological natures of the varying genders that you happen to be attracted to. In their treasure hunt, they are trying to parse through the various strategies you might employ to gain their attraction in person. Another has a long history of engaging in first dates. Most of your friends think their approach is unconventional and irrational, being far too empathetic and emotional about every date. But you also know she gets results, even if it’s only one more date.
But no matter what you and your friends do in the lead-up to the date itself, all the preparation is for naught. Your first date is completely unpredictable. They provide you with an ill sense of ease that you find both interesting and incredibly disconcerting. You can barely keep track of who they are from moment to moment. As the date progresses, every strategy you’ve been told to use becomes useless and you’re pretty sure that this person will tear you apart right as they begin to show you who you really are. Is this love?
Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis
There you are, minding your own business at work, when a meteor slams into the earth, literally and metaphorically. Something or someone sweeps you off your feet and pulls you into their orbit through sheer charisma and a little bit of fear. You don’t really know what to do, but honestly, nothing else is going on in your life, you might as well see where this takes you. And the places it takes you are both dangerous as hell, and more intimate than you could have imagined. After all, the person of interest to you is also wanted by not only your government but theirs as well.
But that doesn’t stop you; you’re hooked on them. You’ve formed an inexplicable bond with them. You didn’t have a choice; you’ve been swept off your feet by your own feet and also a chemical concoction that allows them to be able to effectively communicate with you. They’re in your mind and in your heart always forevermore. At this point, your first date is evolving into a full-on relationship, and the date hasn’t ended yet. How can it be when you feel impossibly close to someone who doesn’t even seem human?
Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
Someone really interesting has just passed by you on the street. They’re wandering without any intention to find somewhere to settle down. They catch your eye in a way that sprouts instant curiosity within you. You don’t know why, but you feel you have to approach this person and find out who they are. You begin to start telling yourself stories about who they are as you watch them pinball across the plaza. You track their movements, sometimes even follow them into the deeper stores. You make judgments on the types of latte they order, which books they pick up, and who they engage with in conversation. You don’t even know what they are saying, but they are the object of your desire, and you can’t get over how cool their outfit is or how on point their hair is today.
As the day goes on, your curiosity grows, but you can only follow them. You’ve lost who you are in the search for who they could be to you. The day begins to wind down, and you know it’s only a matter of time before they leave your sight forever. There isn’t much you can do about it. Except approach them. You see them on the corner, it’s a couple of blocks away. You start to make your move. They see you from across the street and flash a smile at you. You feel as if they have known the whole time. A bus cuts in front of you, and they’re gone. All that’s left is their impression on you.
A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
After so many dates of people regurgitating their profiles and expanding on the various facts that make up who they are, it was only a matter of time before you found someone with some real personality. But Jesus Christ, did they have to be so charismatic, so grounded within their own opinions, and so filled with awkward questions that dug deep into your soul? Usually, you’re ready for a few odd jokes that didn’t quite land well and a few exposition dumps that sounded vaguely made up or self-aggrandizing, but this, this is too much. Oh, they have an opinion about the need to leave the planet in order to succeed as a civilization? Or about how to raise your child? What’s next, they’re going to tell you that your path to saving the world is not a guaranteed success?
There is a part of them that is righteous debate, but since you’ve given them what for, they are curious about you. You get the sense that people often flinch in their presence, and since you have yet to submit to their personality, they want to know what makes you tick. They want to know why you think their opinions need to be questioned. They want to know why you identify as who you are and practice the life that you do. You feel put on the spot, ill-equipped to handle such the heavy weight of defending who you are as a person. After all, most other dates ended cordially but with no intention of follow-up. But you’ve been sitting in the same booth of this diner for 6 hours, and not a drop of alcohol has been sipped. You’re invested to see where this goes, it might be a bright future after all.
The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
Your friend has been telling you about someone they think is perfect for you. You ask them why they aren’t dating them, and all they can really say is that they have a history best left unmentioned. You get the feeling that it led to some internal strife amongst their friend group in the past but that there is still a small amount of devotion still left for them. You say, “fine, I’ll go on a blind date with them.” A few days later, you get a package in the mail from your friend. In it is a set of instructions, a strange game meant to prepare you to understand the friend they want to set you up with. You think it’s weird, but you start to play along.
It’s a weird game filled with physics puzzles and strange characters. After a little while, you start to see one of those characters as your friend and the other as the blind date. You start to sink further into the game; you’re invested. You want to know who they are before you meet them. You want to be able to impress them and show them how smart you are for figuring it all out before you get to meet them. What you don’t realize is that they too, are watching you, learning about you, what drives you. When you finally finish this little game, having totally forgotten its origin, you’re hopelessly in love. And when you finally reach out, it could possibly destroy you.
