The beginning

Ray suddenly woke up and sat up.

He didn't know the room. He looked out through the tall double doors, a sunny, bright sandy beach and the calm, smooth sea in the morning light. He searched for an explanation of where he was and how he had gotten here.

"You're in the south of France, on a beach from your memories, and we teleported you," said the voice in his head. Ray knew the voice, she had spoken to him in countless dreams, although he could no longer remember the content. He was alone in the room, he could only hear the voice in his head. He was obviously plemplem, he heard voices!

"It's about time we met in person," said the voice, "and no, you're not going insane! It may seem unusual to you, but you'll be fine!" Ray said he didn't understand and was surprised that his voice sounded so loud.

"You don't need to speak" said the voice, "I understand you too!" He sat motionless for minutes, trying to think clearly. The voice laughed very softly.

"Are you ready for some information that will change your life immediately?" The voice fell silent and Ray clawed his fingers into the covers. He was terrified, he had no control over the situation and this was the only time since childhood. He got up and went to the double doors. The sea, which he loved so much, had a very calming effect. He relaxed his hands, which were clenched into fists.

"We've known each other a long time Ray, we've spoken hundreds of times. Your inability to remember is by design. We wanted to get to know you better before we got in touch. We had to make sure that you are the right one." Ray's mind raced, the right one for what? The silence was liberating and suddenly Ray wasn't afraid anymore. He knew somehow inside that he knew them. That he knew what they wanted from him.

"We are Jareel, we've talked about this many times. We've been observing the planet for thousands of years of your era and occasionally found a few right ones who understood us. It wasn't necessary to intervene in the course of your development until now. But before 70 years In the last few years you have made a significant leap in technological development. We knew from our own history that humans are very violent and have been at war for thousands of years, but we haven't been at war for a million years. And the fact that you have nuclear weapons developed and used so recklessly triggered the next step in our process. We had to wait for the next right one. That's you." The voice trailed off and Ray thought.

He suddenly knew everything again. He had dreamed that he had told his whole life story in detail, including his sexuality, that they had discussed his thoughts with him and talked to him for hours about his special gift. He knew they were real and out of this world. It was a little spooky that they were aliens, but they had explained to him in his dreams why they didn't approach all of humanity directly, why they kept a low profile. They were like that.

Ray felt an urge to see the Jareel. The voice seemed to laugh as it told him to lie back down. Before he could even stretch out on the bed, he was there.

He sat up again and looked around. It seemed to be a technical room, the entire equipment of the small room was crammed with devices of all kinds and apart from his couch there was hardly any space for living beings. He realized, sobered, that he was only wearing his boxer shorts. But he noticed immediately that his clothes were lying next to him. He dressed quickly and tied his sneakers. The voice said, "Follow the signs on the ground." The blinking LEDs on the floor zigzagged him forward for a long time until he was in a larger room. The LEDs ended in front of a small gilded bench and he sat down. There was no one there, just an exquisitely decorated wall, in front of which a bright ray of light glimmered briefly.

"Welcome to the Jareel, Raimund!" said the voice.