"CP 1765, September 5. 57 days have passed since landing. Local time: AD 2016, October 13."

  "For now, there is one deeply troubling matter. According to Ye Min, I appear incredibly cute in his — or rather, their — eyes. I'm certain that word means 'cute'. It's terrifying. I'm also certain Ye Min wants to stroke me because I look cute and is fluffy. But I'm a fully grown adult! I can't fathom what kind of bizarre aesthetic this is, it's as if I've stepped into a space opera written by someone overly full of themselves. If this is what they call cute, what do they think of children?... Never mind, let's not go there."

  "Ye Min also asked about my gender. That part was actually quite interesting. At least seven or eight theories discuss the origin of bisexual (or more?) reproduction, the conclusion is essentially that it serves to concentrate beneficial mutations and eliminate detrimental ones. From that perspective, I'm not surprised life on other planets evolved this mechanism too. As for defining which is male and which is female, I guess only the simplest method works now: see which one dying after mating won't affect the birth of offspring."

  "Yes, Milan, if you're reading this, that's exactly what I meant. Open your eyes and see who the joke is on. No matter how much you preach your theories, I'm living on a planet full of aliens now. This's the only working definition."

  "That said, the sexual dimorphism among the local aliens is much more pronounced. Even using height alone would likely be a strong enough metric to differentiate between them. It probably heavily influences their occupational distribution and so on. Such pronounced differentiation suggests that gender carries significant social implications for them, which is probably why Ye Min is curious about this."

  "I sincerely hope that's the case. Rather than him wondering if I'm female and available for mating."

  ***

  Moments ago, Min suddenly had a question.

  "Xi P?"

  "Ra?" Xi P replied.

  Xi P's "Ra" essentially means "Ah". Fortunately and coincidentally, producing human sounds isn't difficult for Xi P; he can pronounce all the sounds, although some syllable combinations require pauses to adjust. Despite the odd tone, it at least sounds like human speech with an accent.

  He has been here for almost two months now, and the problems with daily communication are gradually decreasing. However, his adaptations are mostly still conditioned reflexes. When it comes to deeper conversations, the two of them still have to guess and piece things together with the help of a dictionary.

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  "I've always been curious about one thing: how big was your original ship?"

  "Ship?"

  "Spaceship."

  'I really don't understand why they associate sea vessels with starships. Terms related to flying craft would be a much more logical place to derive from.' This is the first thought that crosses Xi P's mind when he hears Min's question. But he quickly refocuses. After a moment's silence and a quick conversion of units, he replies: "39 metres long, 18 metres wide, 6 metres high."

  "Smaller than I imagined. Must be cramped living in there."

  "It's actually quite big, and the... quota is high." Quota refers to the maximum mass of personal items allowed on missions. When Xi P first heard about the quota, he almost wanted to move his entire household onto the research vessel — a two-ton quota was simply fantastic, "Even after bringing a lot of personal belongings, still much space left."

  "And then you drifted here after running out of fuel?"

  "I don't know." Xi P shakes his head. While fuel depletion is true, how he ends up here couldn't be explained away with just "ran out of fuel".

  "Hmm... Is fuel expensive for your ships?"

  At this question, Xi P suddenly starts laughing. Though his kind also uses the act of "laughing" to express joy or satisfaction, their manner of doing so is vastly different. Min even doubts whether he can actually lift the corners of his mouth. Xi P's smile consists of rapid, small movements of his mouth opening and closing. It is only recently that Min has grasped this nuance. In this regard, the gap between them remains considerable. Even now, despite becoming accustomed to each other, they sometimes struggle to interpret each other's emotional expressions.

  Using ear movements to convey meaning doesn't help either. Min finds himself focusing more on the ears themselves than on the underlying meaning of their motions...

  "Yes... the government pays for it." Xi P says, still laughing.

  "..."

  Xi P briefly outlines the interstellar exploration mission, mentioning that he had felt some regret about joining it before departure. After all, habitable planets are scarce and FTL travel is unbearably boring with no internet connection whatsoever....

  No internet in FTL? Upon hearing this, Min is struck by a wave of admiration for Xi P. His ability to carry on without the internet for a month or even just a week is truly remarkable. Min is certain he'd go mad under the same situation, no matter how many games he had stored on the ship.

  "So, thank you for telling me that. I still have one more question."

  "R-Ah?"

  "Well... can you guarantee you won't be bothered by what I'm about to say? I'm not very familiar with your culture." Min asks, his tone tinged with an indescribable quality.

  "Sure, ask."

  "Can I stroke you? I really like touching your fur."

  Xi P falls silent for a long moment before replying: "...I guessed many disgusting things, aliens might do, things we tuefue find disgusting. I am wrong about all of them. Never imagined you like to touch our heads."

  "Is that disgusting?" Min asks, somewhat surprised.

  "Not exact. Sometimes, we do it to... each other too. Just... Ra... strange. Anyway, not okay." Xi P answers.