Inclusion By Neil Hogan
Scientist Shaun Smith, encumbered in a spacesuit, floated outside the alien sphere, waiting for entry into what had been jokingly referred to as the ‘interview room.’ The greenish ovoid shape, bigger than most office blocks, undulated and then a slit appeared, glowing from within. Smith was sucked inside and, with a rush of something he couldn’t quite see, the slit closed behind him.
This was it, he thought. The greatest job interview in the Solar System. Ambassador to Earth for the new gas ball aliens. Like most with ADHD, he was a polymath—the ideal type to be able to deal with an alien culture. He was confident that his intelligence would get him through the interview.
Around him was a well-lit space full of floating green balls of various sizes, shades and patterns. Some were in clumps like bubbles, others were separated, moving in all directions. He stared at them, fascinated.
For a moment his momentum continued to carry him forward, before the gravity of the situation caught up with him. He hadn’t considered the ovoid would have a mass.
So much for intelligence.
As he fell towards the curved floor, he struggled to activate his thigh thrusters. He was sure that breaking the membrane would cause a major diplomatic incident.
The thrusters weren’t strong enough to take him back to the centre, but they did slow his descent. He landed gently on his feet, and found the membrane to be like springy leather.
One of the balls drifted down to him. “Follow me,” said a bubbly voice through his translator. The ball, with a puff of gas, floated back up to the centre.
Smith looked after it, incredulously. “How?”
Maybe he could jump? He bent his knees then pushed off with all his strength, adding his thrusters for good measure, but just got a third of the way before the mass of the shell pulled him back down again.
“I don’t believe this,” he said, frustrated. Then, to his surprise, several balls came closer to him, making cooing noises. They stuck to his arms and released gas, lifting him up to the centre far above. When the pull of gravity equalized on all sides, the cooing balls left.
“Why would they send a youngling?” asked the guide.
“I’m not,” Smith replied, confused.
“Stuck to the barrier, not yet able to use your vents?”
He must look like a baby bird. “Our planet’s gravity means humans never evolved self-powered flight. We use machines instead.”
“Are all humans deformed like you?”
Smith frowned. Diplomatically he said, “We all have this disability.”
“Ah. Pity for your race,” said the ball. “Continue to follow, poor, helpless thing.”
Smith grimaced. Disabled, and now the ball had started infantilizing him. The interview hadn’t even started yet.
This did not bode well.
***
His guide indicated three other balls then said to them, “Keep the human Sphere-centred. Birth defects suspected.” It flew up and the new balls spun forward towards Smith, juggling around each other. Smith’s eyes widened when he realised each one was wider than he was tall.
“Greetings, human,” said the foremost ball.
“Greetings.” Smith struggled to remain facing them and found himself drifting away. He fired his thrusters to get back.
The second one said. “Forgive us for laughing.”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“It’s not aural!” The second ball turned to the third. “What is your laugh frequency?”
“400 terahertz. Yours?’
“10,000 terahertz.”
“I’m sorry,” said Smith, understanding the wavelengths. “Humans cannot usually perceive infrared and ultraviolet.”
“A handicap!” said the second ball.
“You can’t see us laugh?” said the third.
“No. Our eyes only perceive the visible spectrum.”
“Then your visible spectrum is different to ours,” said the second ball. “Another disorder that humans have. Not something we have any way of compensating for.”
The third one moved to the front. “After work, we meet near the centre, absorb waste gases and make jokes. If you can’t join in the fun, it may be detrimental to successful negotiations, project allocations and possible promotions.”
Smith rolled his eyes. He had the same problem on Earth when he couldn’t join the team for Friday night drinks. But what was it they did? “Absorb waste gases?”
“Oh yes,” said one of the balls. “Inhaling tubes of hydrogen sulfide is very popular.”
Smith shuddered. “I’m afraid I’m unable to due to, er, allergies.”
The balls looked at each other.
“Health problems,” said the first ball.
“Not eligible for immigration,” said the second.
“Perhaps a temporary work visa?” said the third.
The third ball came forward. “Are you crippled? Are your vents spastic or blocked?”
“Vents?”
“Yes,” the three balls turned around to show three tiny holes at its back. “We use these to move around the Sphere,” said the first ball. “If you’re near the end of your life, the vents don’t work. Our policy is we hire beings for their skills, but if they can’t even make it to our central work space, well…”
“Older iterations of us are unproductive due to their obstructed vents, and will decay soon,” said the second ball. “Best ignored and forgotten. Like most countries on your planet, we don’t hire past a certain age due to increasing mental and physical disabilities. Those that are still cognisant are assigned to Sphere-door control.”
Smith raised an eyebrow. “Could you grow vacuum tubes for the elderly so that they could work in the centre?” he asked without thinking. “Sorry, cultural reaction. We believe everyone can benefit society in their own way and that the only thing that holds them back is being included. So, we make allowances for mental and physical disabilities where possible. For the position with your good selves, I will have something appropriate made to assist me to get to the centre.”
The second sphere rotated forward. “You need to interact with a wide variety of us across the vast expanse of the Sphere. The job description does say ‘some travelling involved.’ You need to meet the criteria to be offered the position.”
“I understand.”
“We have studied their debilitated,” said the third ball to the second. “When their legs don’t work they use a contraption with wheels. However, these vehicles damage infrastructure. Screws and other parts of the device stick out and cut into the barriers of their living spaces.”
“Your device would damage our barrier,” said the first ball. “You must be trained to live here. We understand you have a single vent and a flexible spine.”
Smith shrunk further into his suit, feeling invalidated. “My major was in flatology, so I’m more aware of how humans emit gases than most. Unfortunately, I don’t have control over the gases that my ‘vent’ emits. Certainly, it might only happen once an hour, and usually unexpectedly.”
“You will attend the new iterations’ training courses,” said the first ball. “And upskill for this position. We also believe if you are lighter you will pass the course. A body of 20kg as you measure weight would suffice.”
Smith had already started sweating at the idea of having to take his pants down and fart his way across the inside of the sphere. There was no way he could reduce his 80kg, plus suit, to 20kg. “Unfortunately, my colon does not create as much gas as your good selves, so propelling myself would be impossible. Our scientists are experts in developing soft materials that cannot damage the membrane. Please let us show you.”
The central ball nodded. “Very well. Let’s not dwell on all your disabilities. We must find a way for the abnormality of a human to live with us so that we can exchange knowledge.”
“I have a solution,” said the third ball. “When we are near death, we reproduce from ourselves. The older self dies and the newer self takes over the older self’s positions and responsibilities. My deceased earlier iteration’s body has not yet become part of the barrier. You could use that.”
“You want me to live inside one of you?” Smith almost choked.
“Yes.” The ball indicated further away where a wall of balls had appeared to watch this meeting with the human. “Also, being inside, you could avoid the stares.”
Smith shook his head. “I couldn’t do that. I would, well, throw up.”
“Do you have any mental issues that might preclude you taking this position?” asked the second ball. “When the iterations die, the younglings absorb the organs and bacteria then play inside them for a while before the body is taken to the barrier for reabsorption. If younglings have no trouble…”
“The barrier?” Smith became horrified, then overwhelmed as his ADHD struggled to cope with the reality.
“Oh, yes,” said the third ball, gleefully. “The membrane barrier is made up of billions of all our old bodies.”
“I need to… I…have to think.. Think over….” said Smith, shuddering. “Can we end the interview here?”
The first ball came forward. “Very well. Your guide will open an exit for you. Thank you for coming.”
Smith blinked, his thoughts coming back into focus with standard responses. “Thank you for the opportunity.”
Cooing sounds accompanied him as he followed the guide ball back to the vent. Several balls had made an airlock-like section for him and parted as he approached, then closed around him. The vent opened and Smith was pulled out into space. He turned and saw, to his horror, the balls quickly fill the hole and turn black.
Old balls had sacrificed themselves to not only help him leave, but probably to help him enter too.
He could not work there. His ‘disabilities’ would prevent him from being included in everything. He was trapped being a human, and trying to be anything more than that would just be constantly degrading.
He now felt what disabled people must feel. It was, ironically, dehumanising. He hailed an uber shuttle and headed back to Earth.
Reflective Analysis
With a lot written on how disabled people can’t be accommodated in the standard ‘normal functioning’ influenced society, I thought how would an able-bodied human, albeit with ADHD, deal with aliens who had ableistic thinking? “Any account that builds in normativity–that defines disability as a kind of negative or bad state–thus risks the consequences that many paradigm cases of disability are in fact not disabilities after all.” Barnes, (2018). This theory represents the extreme case in my story where being human is the negative state. Space scientists have acknowledged how disabled we are in space, so it encouraged me to write a space fiction story where a human can’t do the job purely because he is human. I liked the irony of the idea.
Interviews are anxiety creating situations and they’re worse for people with adult ADHD+High anxiety, like myself. I want readers to understand what some neurodivergent people might feel in the situation. Certainly, after experiencing this kind of rejection from the aliens, Smith has no intention of trying again. Semeci et al, (2018), says those with ADHD have trouble with interviews due to form filling and expectations that go beyond what the interviewee is capable of, and that they’re less likely to try again once rejected. In this story Smith expected his intelligence would get him the job and was overwhelmed when he found out that this wasn’t the case, as it seemed that specific social and physical abilities were what was really required.
Some disabled people have difficulty with loud noises (on the autism spectrum), or distinguishing sounds (auditory processing disorder) which may discourage them from attending a social night with workmates, for example. Smith cannot see infrared or ultraviolet so is unable to tell when the balls are laughing. He wouldn’t be able to follow a conversation and would be excluded, a situation which would be detrimental to his future. Carroll et al, (2017), states that some disabilities “limit opportunities to participate in society on an equal level with others (e.g. ordering a cappuccino in a coffee shop.)” The Friday night drinks that occur at the end of a working week in many office jobs in Australia is a good example of this.
The balls can only see a person that clings to the membrane, which is what children do, so they treat Smith like a child. Nario-Redmond et al, (2019), says that infantilization was reported by their disabled subjects as having been commonly experienced 30% of the time. This statistic was the incentive for the balls ‘cooing’ infantilizing Smith due to his disability.
The article by Murphy, (2018), on our restrictive immigration laws was the catalyst for Smith not being eligible for immigration. Murphy pointed out that any kind of disability is likely to cause an immigration application to be rejected in Australia. Being human would cause any human to be rejected by the gas ball aliens.
The story also includes references to staring (Jackson, 2014), invalidation (Mladenov, 2015), and capitalism, productivity, and ideology, (Oliver, 1990).
In summary, this story emphasizes the theory that some disabilities are not disabilities at all but are constructs imposed by society, culture or environment, and those with a dis-ability would be productive members of society if we just stop finding ways to prevent them from being so.
Bibliography
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