"CP 1765, November 25. 123 days have passed since landing. Local time: AD 2016, December 18."

  "When a species splits into hundreds of nations and development becomes fragmented, the outcome of the prisoner's dilemma is self-evident. Even without wars or conflicts, nations may sacrifice the future welfare of their entire species to bolster their own strength. Take environmental protection: giraffes are now endangered due to habitat encroachment. These creatures were once common across their continent, but now they are on the brink of extinction... (A photo of a giraffe)... That neck is truly long..."

  "Beyond environmental protection, there are refugees, ideological clashes, and more. Even physicists deem the current environment here unsafe. It's hard to fathom how many conflicts erupted on this planet since nuclear weapons emerged. Ye Min said 2016 was just an outlier — let's hope so. If this kind of situation was the norm, I would say that the prospect of developing faster-than-light engines within the next 40 years would be highly unlikely. Everyone would just pursue other ventures."

  "Nuclear deterrence breaks the prisoner's dilemma in warfare. Yet the whole premise rests on no technology emerging that could break nuclear deterrence, even the illusion of such technology exist can be disastrous..."

  "Setting aside Earth's distant, uncertain future, if we focus just on our immediate surroundings, things are actually quite good right now. Through recent intermittent research, I believe I've identified the substance in the meat that causes its peculiar sour-bitter taste. Detailed records are in my lab notebook. The question now is: how to eliminate it? I can't exactly douse the food with highly toxic organic solvents... If I can achieve something in this area, I believe it will have great significance for the future..."

  "As for the weather, nothing particularly noteworthy — just a standard overcast day..."

  ***

  Seconds after finishing today's entry, Xi P hears Min's voice drifting from outside the door: "Xi P, are you busy right now?"

  "No longer."

  Min's voice pauses briefly before continuing: "They've organised another science discussion meeting. Would you like to attend?"

  Xi P almost thinks he misheard. Before he can ask for clarification, Min adds: "This one's being held very close to our place. You can bring your cloak and a stool, and come with me. While I'm inside chatting and laughing, you can peek in through the window if you want..."

  The word "our" is used by Min, and this momentarily touched him. It takes him a few more seconds to process the latter part before he asks, somewhat puzzled: "Why the stool?"

  "Because the windows are quite high. A stool will make it easier." Min continues, "If you don't mind, you can wear the suit and walk right in to observe. I'll explain it to them."

  The second sentence seems to carry a hint of sarcasm, though Xi P can't quite pinpoint what it's aimed at.

  "Forget it. When do we go?"

  "It starts at 8 PM tonight. No rush, lets use Google Maps to find a suitable window for peeping first."

  Min seems unusually excited, perhaps because the previous PSDM had left him with a good impression. And the thought of eavesdropping on a seminar that he shouldn't be attending — this "misdeed" he'd never had the chance to commit back at Lierus — also fills Xi P with an indescribable thrill.

  In other words, isn't this kind of infiltrating an alien secret gathering?!

  ***

  7:45 PM, under the cover of darkness, the two slip out of their homes and head towards the meeting location. As this is a suburban border area, the roads naturally lack streetlights, but this does not hinder their progress — the pavement is in excellent condition, making falls virtually impossible. For Xi P, the current light levels are only slightly dim.

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  As per the plan, once Min makes out the building, he goes straight towards it. After double-checking his disguise, Xi P circles around to the rear of the house.

  The rain is falling lightly as Min weaves briskly through the cars parked along the roadside, glancing up at the eaves — they look large enough for Xi P to stay dry under them. Judging by the surrounding vehicles, he is probably the last to arrive. Quite a few people have come this time, and every available parking spot is filled.

  He knocks on the door. Soon, footsteps echo from inside. The door opens. Min pauses in surprise at the face behind it. It's Clyde, the team leader.

  Clyde, however, shows little surprise. He extends his right hand toward Min and says: "Glad to see you again, Min."

  Quickly offering his own right hand to shake, Min smiles naturally and replies: "Good to see you again too, Clyde. How many people are here now?"

  "I'd say about forty-five. You can ask the mathematicians inside." Clyde finishes with a few hearty laughs, as if amused by his own joke, "Hey, I saw your new blog account. Quite well written, nice job."

  "Oh, it's nothing. All thanks to my friends' help."

  He follows Clyde into the main hall, it's slightly crowded, though the atmosphere remains pleasant. There aren't any small cliques forming — perhaps the space is too cramped for that. No sooner have they entered than several people who seem quite familiar with Clyde greet them. After briefly introducing Min, Clyde dashes towards the exit, saying he needs to use the restroom.

  After a brief exchange, one of them remarks: "I just heard a great joke about science fiction. Want to hear it?"

  Min nods, and the man begins: "Ever notice how in those 18th-century sci-fi stories, whenever authors couldn't explain something, they'd just default to steam power? That's partly how steampunk came about. By the 19th century, the buzzword shifted to electromagnetism, spawning solarpunk. Then came the 20th century, where nuclear energy took centre stage, giving birth to atompunk. Now we're in the 21st century — guess what the current buzzword is? You got it: quantum. Wonder how many more centuries we'll have to wait before we see quantum-punk."

  He finishes the joke barely suppressing a laugh, and it takes Min a few seconds to catch on before he smiles knowingly too. Though he's not sure if solarpunk actually means that... Maybe he can pass the joke on Xi P later — he does wonder if the aliens have followed a similar path.

  Finally catching his breath, Min says: "Let me tell one too. There are two statistical approaches to putting an elephant in a refrigerator. The smart person takes the elephant's tail as a sample. The fool keeps trying to shove the elephant into the refrigerator."

  Smiles spread across their faces, though they don't laugh out loud. A nearby statistician shoots them a wicked glance, but Min doesn't notice.

  "Ha ha, the classic elephant-in-the-fridge joke..."

  Still, this isn't a place for jokes. The crowd quickly shifts to more appropriate topics, chatting and laughing in the main hall. As Clyde hinted earlier, not everyone here actually works in research and development. But that doesn't dampen Min's spirits. In fact, he relishes the chance to share some scientific knowledge, finding it thoroughly enjoyable.

  Having just concluded a conversation, Min plonks himself down on a window seat. He exhales slowly — this relaxed banter in such an atmosphere feels genuinely pleasant and far more interesting than he had imagined. The trip is well worth it. Sad he can't linger for too long; work awaits tomorrow...

  Suddenly, he hears a sharp tap on the glass behind him. It is unusually loud due to the distance. Startled, Min shudders and slowly turns to look behind him.

  Had he not heard the sound and turned to look, he would never have noticed the man standing behind the glass. 'Man' isn't quite accurate, though — neither the black cloak that left only a snowman-like silhouette nor what lay beneath it suggested humanity.

  Needless to say, at a time like this, the only one who would be wearing such clothing and peering through the window is Xi P. Seeing Min turn, Xi P slides a hand out from beneath the cloak. The sheer danger of expose almost makes Min jump. Xi P points to the right.

  Min swallows nervously, then glances slowly in that direction, but sees nothing noteworthy. As he turns back, a faint voice whispers from outside the window: "You're blocking my view."

  ***

  Once the seminar has finished, the crowd streams out the front door and departs by car. Min circles around to the back of the building. Along the way, low-hanging branches slap his face repeatedly, and he nearly stumbles. Only then does he finally spot Xi P, who has removed his hood and is sitting on the stool enjoying the cool breeze. That spot certainly seems sheltered from the rain.

  On the way home, Min naturally recounts some of the good jokes he heard to Xi P. Though has to spent half the journey explaining the meaning of certain words in them. It's worth it in the end though, as once Xi P finally understood, he burst into laughter too.

  But there's something wrong about this laugh — it's too normal. It's not his usual quick, soundless, mouth-opening-and-closing kind of laugh, but more like a human's, with his mouth wide open and making sounds: "ha, ha, ha."

  Seeing Min staring at him like some alien, Xi P pauses: "Am I not laughing correctly?”

  "…Honestly, I'm more used to your old way of laughing."