The Interesting Guoker People

While sitting on the virtual couch at Norton's place, I started feeling hungry. "Hey, I'm getting a bit hungry. What do you all usually eat?" I asked.

Norton replied, "We forgot about that; your Earthling way of eating is different from ours."

"And how do you usually eat?"

"Our bodies also need energy from food's chemical energy. We have GMW that can teleport food directly into our bodies when we need it, usually in liquid form, which our bodies can almost fully utilize," Norton answered.

"The liquid comes in bottles, right? Do you also teleport the bottles into your stomachs? How do you digest the bottles?" I asked.

 Suldair said, "We don't need bottles for teleportation. We don't have stomachs, nor intestines, livers, kidneys, or bladders. Our bodies, from the mouth down, are just a simple cavity. Our food is highly processed and can be directly utilized by our bodies.

Many of our bodily functions, like breathing, digestion, and excretion, are outsourced to external systems. This makes our body structure simple, more efficient, and less prone to illness.

It's only the primitive and backward bodies of Earthlings that have stomachs, intestines, livers, kidneys, bladders—it's all so complicated and troublesome. In fact, when our body energy is low, the GMW teleports food energy directly into our bodies, all under computer control, without any hassle on our part."

"Now, I'll request the global transportation network to send food for you," Norton said, and with a sharp swipe near his ear, a sophisticated bottle and a metallic scissor appeared on the table in Norton's home. The bottle, shaped somewhat like a penguin and silver in color, seemed to be made of metal, with a protrusion like a penguin's beak.

Norton used a curved scissor to snip off the elongated part of the bottle and handed it to me. I took a drink from the bottle, enjoying the floral scent and a mild sweet taste that was very pleasant. I finished it in one go, put the bottle back on the table, and immediately felt not hungry anymore.

With another gesture near his ear, the bottle, the piece cut from it, and the scissors vanished. I guessed they were teleported back by the GMW.

"Why can you request the GMW to teleport things with a wave of your hand near your ear? Is there a switch there?" I asked.

"Norton explained, "The brains of our people are linked to the GIW through an artificial field scan. The idea to request assistance from the GMW originates in the mind; the hand gesture near the ear is just for confirmation. We could set other actions for confirmation, like nodding, clenching a fist, stamping a foot... People usually choose a gesture that's unlikely to be misunderstood, though some stick to their own style, even if it often leads to mistakes, unwilling to change."

"You call it eating; we refer to it as replenishing our bodies with chemical energy, usually through a set computer program." Whenever our bodies run low on energy, they automatically send a signal to the GIW. Then, through the GIW, our body's hunger signal is sent to the GMW. After confirming our identities, it teleports liquid chemical energy directly into our bodies. It can also remove some of the waste products from our bodies. Everything is controlled by an automated program, so it doesn't require any effort from us. Essentially, it outsources our bodies' functions of ingestion, digestion, and excretion."

"Hoho, so without the GMW, you couldn't survive," I teased them, imitating Suldair's tone. "So, you can't eat on the Zone Map 300 spaceship?"

"The Zone Map 300 spaceship also has its own web and can perform teleportation just as easily to replenish our energy, though it's invisible to you," Suldair explained. "Without the GMW, we can still drink liquid food with our mouths and chew with our teeth. It's just that we aren't used to it anymore. Our bodies are just simple cavities without the complex digestive organs you Earthlings have, as our digestive function has degenerated. We could probably manage to eat, but not as effectively as you Earthlings."

"I'm a bit confused. If your brains can connect to the GMW, acting like a biological computer, why do I often see you operating those virtual screen computers? Can't you just use your brains directly?" I asked Norton, referencing his actions on the Zone Map 300 spaceship.

"The biological computer capabilities of our bodies are not as powerful as external computers. Many functions on the Zone Map 300 spaceship are not allowed to be directly controlled by our brains. There are restrictions on our planet against such actions. People on our planet can directly request the GMW through their brains, virtually going anywhere on Gok at will. However, interstellar spaceships can travel beyond Guoker planet and carry certain risks. Not everyone is allowed to pilot a spaceship, and even those who are permitted must receive authorization," Norton explained seriously. "You must understand, the built-in biological computer in our bodies has a lot of flexibility, but for tasks like piloting the Zone Map 300 spaceship, seriousness and caution are required. Therefore, external computers are safer and more suitable than internal biological computers."

"Oh, I get it now. Your Guoker planet is also orderly and acts rationally, not allowing reckless behavior," I suddenly remembered to ask, "Oh, Norton, what about your family?"

"What family?" Norton seemed surprised.

"Just you at home? What about your parents, your wife, do you have any children?"

"Oh, it's just me," Norton answered.

Ah! I can't expect that Norton, a biological scientist from Guoker planet, would be all alone. "What about your family, Suldair? How many people do you have in your household?"

"Just me."

"And you?" I turned to Willie, "How many people are in your family? What about your parents, do you have any siblings?" Seeing Willie reminded me of a kindergartener on Earth, I hesitated to ask if she had any children.

"What are you talking about? It's just me," Willie seemed puzzled.

"Ah! All three of you are in such a situation, all orphans with no one else in your families. How pathetic!"

They can live forever, I thought to myself. Given the advanced technology I've seen on Guoker planet, achieving immortality seemed plausible. How did they achieve humanity's greatest dream of living forever?

"Really? You can live forever?" I asked Suldair, somewhat skeptical, then turned to Norton for confirmation.

"Yes, we can live forever. Many years ago, our planet achieved this technology," Norton confirmed Suldair's statement. "We don't give birth, and we don't die. So, there are no old people, no children, and no parents, offspring, or siblings. Each of us is a family on our own."

"Having a family of just one person must be lonely," I commented.

"We have pets at home. I have many pets, and we can talk to our pets and other animals," Willie said. "I also have two robots that take care of me."

"Do you have animals like cats and dogs on your planet? How do you communicate with animals?" I inquired.

"Yes, we have many animals, and some breeds of our cats and dogs are similar to those on Earth. It's possible that these breeds were introduced from Earth," Norton answered. "We can translate our language into one that animals like cats and dogs can understand, then use an artificial field scan to send the information directly to their brains. The artificial field scan can also translate the animals' language into something we can understand. This way, we can communicate back and forth with animals like cats and dogs through the artificial field scan.

However, being an Earthling, you can't yet understand what it's like to communicate with animals like cats and dogs. We might not have the program for you to experience it. You could think of it as talking to a person with intellectual disabilities. But, this doesn't hinder our ability to continue interacting with animals."

"It also doesn't prevent us from engaging in sexual activities with animals, which is quite common on Guoker planet. However, in the eyes of Earthlings, this would be seen as a terrible thing," Suldair's statement shocked me, prompting me to change the subject.

"Do you have spouses or opposite-gender friends?"

"Yes, we do, but generally, we don't live together. The relationship lasts for a while, not permanently, and there's no legal registration like on Earth," Suldair answered.

"You are fascinating. I'd love to go out and walk among your people, and see what your daily life is like. Then I could go back to Earth and boast to everyone, share what it's like here."

"Norton said, "We'll definitely take you out later. You just arrived today and might be tired. Rest here for now."

"Alright, sounds good!"

"We'll take our leave now. See you here tomorrow." As the customer service of the GIW translated Suldair and Willie's words for me, I noticed they vanished from Norton's home instantly. No need to guess; they must have used the global public transportation network to teleport back to their own homes.

The GMW on the planet can make people and objects suddenly appear or disappear in a place, even in sealed rooms.

"I'd like to take a shower. Do you have anything for that? Do you shower?" I asked Norton.

"Yes, let me take you there."

Following Norton, I entered a small room. He pressed a switch, and suddenly a milky-white bathtub appeared, floating in mid-air. Its pure white color was too pristine and it was swirling about - obviously, a virtual bathtub, a product of an artificial field.

I stepped in, noticing the water was real, flowing from one end of the tub to the other in a continuous stream. I wondered how the bathtub kept producing water without end and where it stored all the water it absorbed. Such a phenomenon would be inconceivable on Earth.

Just as I was about to ask Norton how the bathtub worked, I remembered their GMW. Using the web to teleport water into one end of the tub and then away from the other end seemed like the obvious solution.

I jumped into the bathtub and immediately felt the water was real, though the bathtub was virtual—my judgment was spot-on. The water was slightly warmer than my body temperature, making lying in it quite comfortable. I felt the urge to urinate. Earlier, with the girl Wei Li present, I was too embarrassed to ask Norton where I could relieve myself. Now, in the bathtub, I just went ahead and did it. Would Norton find out? Would he blame me? I thought, who cares?

After urinating, I took a refreshing shower. Just as I stepped out of the virtual bathtub, in the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace, seemingly spirited away by the miraculous GMW.

Norton's virtual bed was so comfortable that I had a wonderful sleep. When I woke up, I saw Suldair, Willie, and Norton already chatting on the virtual sofa. I wanted to join their conversation but suddenly felt the urgent need to defecate. Too embarrassed to ask and unable to hold it back, I blurted out, "Where's your toilet?"

"We don't have toilets. We don't need to defecate or urinate," Suldair said, "Our excretions are even less than your earwax."

"There should still be a place for our guest to relieve himself," Norton said.

It was quite embarrassing to have a girl guide me to relieve myself, but given the urgency, I had no choice but to follow Willie.

We reached a spot among some plants where I squatted down. Seeing Willie nearby made me feel somewhat uncomfortable. She was dressed strikingly today, in a shiny, metallic-looking, tight tank top that accentuated her not-so-large but prominently long and rounded breasts. Her short, shiny purple skirt looked normal from the front and back, but not from the side. The side was bare, possibly because the skirt was transparent on the sides, but this transparency was of such a high quality that it seemed as if there was nothing there at all, suggesting transparency rather than absence.

Later, I learned that their clothing was often not real but virtual, created by the GMW and the GIW. It wasn't actual fabric at all. If you touched them, you would be touching bare skin unless they requested a protective force field from the GMW, which would make it feel different.

Willie's delicate, fair skin exposed on the side of her lower body was startling and provocative.

I glanced once and felt too embarrassed to look again. I thought to myself, even when our Earth women reveal skin, they cover the essentials. These people, on the other hand, seemed to prefer exposing those parts. I internally criticized them for their shamelessness, suddenly remembering Kevin's description of their planet as one of debauchery.

I consider myself quite conservative. I once was digging for eels when a woman from the city asked me to help her and her young daughter cross a ditch. They were afraid of leeches and bugs in the water. After carrying her daughter across, the woman hinted she wanted me to carry her too. Seeing her in a very short skirt, revealing her tender thighs, I didn't have the courage to carry her.

She then suggested I carry her on my back, but seeing her prominent breasts, I lost my courage again. The woman, misunderstanding my hesitation as unwillingness, angrily called me a bad person for a long while. She eventually took off her shoes, gritted her teeth, and waded through the water herself, leaving me feeling guilty for a long time.

Upon arriving at Norton's place, I suggested we go out for a walk to get a feel for the daily life of the Guoker people.

Norton said, "Let's do that next time. Today, we're expecting many important guests. You'll get to see a variety of Guoker people right here."

Soon, quite a few people arrived at Norton's home, and the living room started to feel cramped. With a wave of his hand, Norton made a virtual wall disappear, instantly expanding the living room several times over. It seemed that virtual housing was quite convenient.

Suldair, Willie, and I were sitting on a virtual sofa, with me in the middle. Willie was dressed too provocatively for the day, and I felt an invisible pressure sitting naked between them, so I kept some distance from her.

I also noticed an interesting phenomenon: some people appeared suddenly on the virtual sofa at Norton's, while others materialized slowly from a cloud of smoke into a person. I asked Suldair what this was all about.

"Those who appear suddenly are real people coming through the GMW. The ones transforming from smoke are light virtual people; their real bodies aren't here, but they can converse with us from afar through the GIW. The ones slowly transforming from smoke are not real people; they're virtual, created by three-dimensional imaging technology by the GIW and the GMW. However, these virtual people can directly interact with us," Suldair explained.

Looking closely, these virtual people seemed indistinguishable from real ones. Was Suldair pulling my leg? Without further ado, I stood up, walked over to a person who had materialized from smoke, and reached out to touch them. As expected, my hand moved through the air, touching nothing.

Despite being prepared, I was still shocked and couldn't help but marvel at the Guoker people's advanced technology, which had taken virtual tech to the pinnacle of perfection.

The visitors at Norton's home varied in appearance but were all the same height, indistinguishable to my eyes. They seemed to be holding a symposium, with Norton moving among the crowd like a moderator.

With many people around, the GIW's customer service, Kevin, mainly translated for Norton, Suldair, and Willie. If I paid attention to a stranger, I would receive translations of their speech; otherwise, the customer service generally wouldn't translate.

I figured the Public Information Network must be highly intelligent and possibly tracking my location at all times.

Norton went on and on about the physical structure of us Earthlings, occasionally introducing me to the body structure and physiological characteristics of the Guoker people.

I wasn't really paying attention because many women from their planet had arrived, or perhaps they should be called girls, as they all appeared extremely young and beautiful, much like the little girls in our elementary schools or kindergartens on Earth.

These beautiful, sexy girls sat next to me, dressed in revealing clothes similar to Willie's outfit today—a tight tank top with a short skirt, often exposing their delicate, fair skin from the side, which made me itch with curiosity.

Norton and Willie seemed oblivious to my thoughts, only Suldair appeared to understand.

He asked, "Your Earth women vary in appearance, some beautiful, some not. So do you find all our Guoker women beautiful?

"Your standard of beauty seems to be based solely on a sexy figure and exquisite bodies. I admit your skin is smooth and the color pure, and your body structures are flawless. On Earth, beauty also encompasses a person's inner qualities, their thoughts and personality, their temperament—something you may not understand," I replied with a bit of deliberate profundity.

"If someone's body was covered in spots and had many small bumps, would you still find them beautiful?" Norton asked.

"Covered in spots and bumps, like a toad? That kind of person would be considered beautiful? Really?" I laughed.

"Alright!" Norton seemed energized, "I'll invite such a beauty right now, to overturn your concept of beauty."

Norton touched his ear and paced back and forth. Suddenly, a beautiful woman appeared before us, making my heart race. She was scantily clad, her skin a fair white with a hint of pink. True to his word, she was covered in pink spots, about the size of a match head, evenly distributed. On closer inspection, the spots or bumps were crystal clear, somewhat resembling pomegranate seeds.

This person looked incredibly beautiful and sexy at a glance. "How about it? What do you think of this person?" Norton asked me.

"Um, this person is indeed very beautiful, I admit very sexy," I conceded that her beauty and sexiness were still due to exquisiteness, just in another form. But at that moment, I didn't want to argue with Norton and the others anymore.