Your various alien crewmates were so excited to tell you that another human has been found; you aren’t the last of your kind, after all. Plus, the other human is coming to meet you immediately. The first thing you think when you see them is "that thing isn't quite human."
I thought for a moment about all the old Earth folklore of things that looked human but not quite. I'd read them all. Humans left records behind. Tens of thousands of years of records. We achieved galactic flight and promptly started recording everything we could get our hands on.
The galaxy called us "the librarians" once upon a time. Now we were mostly a legend. But still there were records. All that was left. Besides me. Until now.
This person was in all likelihood a hybrid human or an evolutionary diversion. Folklore was folklore. Reality was reality.
We sat there staring at each other for a moment. They didn't blink.
A thousand emotions flooded me as I realized I wasn't the last librarian after all. This person was a distant cousin but a cousin nonetheless.
"Hello, cousin," was all I could think to say. It had been a way to welcome other humans into your life, once upon a time.
They blinked. "Hello, cousin."
Then they smiled.
Librarians were known as a former predator species. But this cousin's smile was all hunter. The hair on the back of my neck and on my arms rose.
They're just a little different, I reminded myself. Don't let that pesky "uncanny valley" instinct get you. They're just a little different from me.
"We'll let you two get acquainted then! I'm sure you have a lot to talk about," the captain said kindly.
The crewmates looked on with excitement, and I couldn't tell them I was afraid of this so called human. That would be incredibly rude. You don't go around the galaxy accusing every being who sets off your "danger" instincts of being dangerous.
Life was too varied in form and function across the galaxy for that. A perfectly safe being from another world may look like a dangerous creature from your ancestors past. This lead to many misunderstandings and unnecessary wars across time. So instincts only go so far nowdays.
"What exactly are you?" I asked as soon as the others left. "You're not fully human, right?"
"No," they smiled again, sending a shiver down my spine.
That's strange. Most galactic species have lost the instinct that makes hybrid cousins frightening. Was it because I was the last human?
"Cousin," I began.
"Not a cousin," it said, putting up one finger and waving it at me. "I'm from Earth. But I am not one of the librarians."
"Then... What are you?"
A slow smile crept across its face. Somehow the shadows in the oxygen dependent quarters seemed to lengthen and move.
"I am the Other." It said, waving its hand with a flourish. "I am the last of my kind. As you are the last of yours."
"The Other?"
It clicked its tongue at me disapprovingly.
"Surely the last librarian knows," it said. "Those things that lived... Just on the other side of humanity. The tricksters. The ones who make deals. The ones that look human, but not quite right."
It gave another unsettling smile, though this one seemed a bit sad.
"Is that why I'm afraid of you?"
"Fear when your own shadow speaks back to you is normal, no?"
I thought for a moment.
"Did you seek me out on purpose?"
"Oh, the last human is sharp. I like that. Yes, it took me some time since you left the library behind but I finally found you."
"And what are you going to do with me?"
It grinned.
"I want to make a deal."
