The man looked at me for a moment, then said: "You are not surprised." And it was true that I wasn't, not in the slightest. I felt… well, nothing really. I was on a spaceship with alien beings, and everything seemed absolutely normal.

"I have Welcomed him," the Prophet said, sounding less gentle than I'd heard so far. "His emotions have passed. For now."

"Yes, of course," the man said, his eyes still on me. He watched me for another moment, then said: "My name is Vek. I am the Captain of this ship, whose name is Prime. Do you know why you are here?"

"Because you have activated my chip," I said.

"That's right. Do you feel abused?"

"No."

"Good. There are those who do, despite our Welcome. These we must leave. Others are unsure, and we do our best to show them our true intentions. In the end, of course, it is entirely up to the individual about whether or not to proceed. Would you like to proceed?"

"Yes."

"Good,' he smiled, running a hand across the console as the screen flickered back into view. He stared at it, the same way those outside had stared, and a grid appeared in green. Shapes in a darker green began to attach themselves to it, a diamond of crosses, some rectangles, all arranged in a symmetrical pattern which clearly had some sort of order, and which struck me as vaguely familiar. The shapes were hard, there were no round edges. Space Invaders came to mind.

"This is a representation of your chip," Vek said. "You already recognise it, as all who have been chipped do, and you will come to see it better. As you know, it was implanted in your brain when you were one month old. It has now been activated, allowing us to communicate with you, and you with us. Are you comfortable with this?"

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