The sunrise found Conflagra sulking by the beach, gazing wistfully at the enormous structure that had descended from the sky several days ago, and now sat such a distance out in the water. When strange beings had emerged from the craft, Conflagra had made emself as dark as ey could be, and watched as they descended below the surface to meet with the Swimming Ones. Many of the swimmers followed these beings back to their craft, and Conflagra had watched it return to the sky before coming back down. 

A few of the strange beings had not gone down to the deep, but had come to Conflagra’s island. Ey hoped that the strange beings would take em, too- there was little food left here, and ey wanted to see what was in the sky. When the strange beings had come close to Conflagra’s cave, ey had made emself big and bright to greet them, but then they ran away. Now surely they would leave, and Conflagra would be alone to starve.

{Excuse me?}

Conflagra turned. There was one of the strange beings, encased in a shell of shiny rock. Ey illuminated with delight before remembering the other day’s reaction and shrinking emself down.

{It’s okay,} said the strange being. Conflagra had no idea what the sounds meant, but the gestures and colors seemed friendly enough. Ey rolled eir heartcoal closer to the stranger.

The stranger crouched down and examined Conflagra’s base. {Oh, I see- that rock down there is... looks like a mineral formed of a mixture of silicates and partially burned organic matter... that must work like your core? And so the fire is your body... oh this is hecking neato! Hang on one sec.} The stranger fiddled with a square on its front, and an image appeared on the clear part of its shell, in which Conflagra saw another strange being. {Hiya Teach, how’s class going?}

{Well enough, sprout,} came a different voice. This new sound put Conflagra in mind of the crackling of eir leftovers as the last flames burnt themselves out; presumably this other stranger was old.  {We’re just wrapping up a reading of furool poetry. Say hi to Anther, kiddos.}

A short babble of smaller voices followed. Conflagra wasn’t sure how many, probably three or four.

{Hi everyone,} replied the first stranger happily. {I’ve got something cool for you to see.} The stranger, who Conflagra now understood must be named Anther, oriented themselves to point the square more directly at Conflagra. Uncertain what was expected of eir, Conflagra shrunk eirself down and changed to a friendlier shade of yellow. The smaller voices made more sounds, with emotions that Conflagra hoped were not exclusively fear.

{Interesting,} said the second stranger; ‘Teach,’ Conflagra presumed. {What can you tell us about them}

{Well, they’re pyromorphic, and seem sapient enough to recognize that I’m not gonna attack them. Looks like the brain is a mineral cluster of silicon and other materials- I’m guessing the fire itself acts like the electrical impulses in a circuit board, but rather than mechanically refined it’s just kept in a liquid state by the heat. They’re also ambulatory, probably able to shift the shape of their core to move around.}

{Next you’ll be telling me that objects around them act as though they have mass.}

{Well they do!} laughed Conflagra.

{What about behavior?}

{Like I said, seems friendly enough, I’m gonna try and work out how to communicate with it.}

{Careful now, your mothers still haven’t forgiven me for what happened to your last bloom.}

{I told them that was on me, I didn’t check the acidity of the saliva. But yeah, I’ll be safe.} Anther focused on Conflagra again. Ey noticed the clustered material near its top, like the head of a swimming one. But where those had black bulges to look at things, this stranger had strange colorful shapes that fascinated Conflagra.

In the bulky shell, Anther took two steps to one side, and stopped. Conflagra rolled eir heartcoal in parallel, and resumed watching. When Anther raised one limb to the side, Conflagra tried to orient eir flame to follow a breeze in the same direction.

{Okay, they’re mimicking my actions.}

{Promising! Anything else?}

{Well, when the others encountered them yesterday, they said this one made itself huge and threatening, but it seems smaller now. What do you think?}

{Good question. Class, any ideas why that could be?}

There were more noises. Conflagra heard sounds like {ambush predator tactic} and {mating display}, but none of it mattered- so long as ey didn’t make this stranger run back to their craft, there was still a chance that Conflagra could come with them to the sky. Cautiously, ey took another half-roll towards Anther, and then rolled a little further back to show submission.

{Hang on,} said Anther to the other voices. {Did you see that?}

{I’m old, not blind,} snapped Teach. {What’s your best guess?}

{At the risk of projecting, I think this little one wants to be friends.}

{With benefits?} called out one of the smaller voices.

Teach’s voice replied {Didot, if you keep this up I’m taking away a gold star.}

{Sorry, Teacher.}

{That’s a thing to figure out later,} said Anther. {First I'm gonna try something.} Conflagra watched as the stranger lay flat on the ground, curling themselves up. Confused, ey stared at this expression of fear which was not noticeable in the noises being made.

{Hmm. So far, no response when I try to imitate their behavior. Do you think I just need to wait and let it warm up to me- no pun intended?}

{Might work, might not. Do any other options present themselves?}

{Thinking.} The stranger and Conflagra stared at each other, small and quiet.

The waves lapped against the beach.

Anther spoke again. {When a normal fire has plenty of fuel, it grows big and bright. You think that could be, like, their way of saying “I’m happy?”}

{Or it could mean “stay away from my food.” Keeping still seems like the safe option. You decide what you do, sprout.}

{Well now I gotta try it.} Anther stood back up. Conflagra changed to a more intrigued orange color, wondering what would happen next. 

The stranger’s shell expanded greatly, and dots of all colors lit up across its form. Conflagra flared up with joy, yellows and reds and blues swirling throughout eir flame. Anther understood!

{Hey Teach, I think they like me!}

{Nice work. Okay class, while Anther is playing Prometheus, let’s see if we can design a way that an active fire could safely walk around on a ship. Alternatively, find an existing schematic on the outernet and write me a five-thousand-word essay on the designer's thought process and how you'd improve on the result.}