The language

"Good morning Dad!" When Ellie woke up from the sofa, she saw Owen was preparing them breakfast. She lifted the thick blanket covered on her by Owen after she was asleep, got up, smiled, and kissed him on his cheek as he handed her a plate with eggs and toast on it.

"Thank you so much," said Ellie.

He laughed at this response to such an obvious compliment but continued cooking their food without saying anything else for several minutes. He seemed preoccupied and didn't even look at Ellie when they sat down together to eat. As soon as she had finished eating, she went upstairs to the bathroom and closed herself inside.

Ellie took off all her clothes, including her underwear which left her completely naked. Her skin felt smooth like silk under the warm water flowing out of the showerhead above her head. It was just how she liked it: hot enough to feel good, but not scalding. After washing herself thoroughly, she turned off the tap and stepped onto the bathmat, rubbing herself dry with one hand and using the other to pull open the door leading into the bedroom. There were no curtains covering the window facing the street, but there wasn't anyone outside anyway. Ellie put on a pair of cotton panties and then walked over to the closet where she picked up some jeans and T-shirts to wear for today. The bed sheets smelled fresh and clean, thanks to Alima who cleaned everything every day.

Ellie came down from upstairs, rubbing her wet hair with a dry cotton towel. She found Owen sitting at the kitchen table drinking black coffee while reading the newspaper. He looked up when she entered the room. His eyes were tired-looking and he wore the same expression that she'd seen many times before since being in this house.

"What's the time of your flight, again?" Owen lifted his head when he heard Ellie come in.

"Right, about that. I'm thinking of canceling my ticket, and I want to stay here for another few days. Is that ok, dad?"

Owen stared at her with a little surprise and then slowly nodded. "Of course. Why not? This is your home too. You can stay as long as you want. "

Ellie could see how gratified he must have been to hear those words coming out of her mouth. She knew what it meant to him, having his daughter stay at home instead of going back to the mess of divorce all by herself. This house was supposed to be a safe place and the only thing she needed now was family around her. Then, he seemed to think of something and said, "But, what about your work then?"

"Oh, you mean my studio. That's not a problem. Mina can handle it, and she did that a couple of times before, nice and neat."

Owen nodded in agreement. "I see..." He hesitated to ask another question, fearing affecting his daughter's mood. But worry won the battle, and he asked, "How are things between you two right now, really?"

The way Owen said 'between you two' made it sound like he already knew more than he should. And Ellie wanted to keep it that way because she didn't know how to answer that. So, she lied.

"We're fine, don't worry. Me, Peter, and Luke, we are going to handle it peacefully." Ellie seemed pretty calm like she was distracted by something, even Owen brought up the topic of her divorce with Peter. "And if it doesn't go well, then I'll get myself a lawyer and take care of the business," she added casually.

Owen stood up and gave her shoulder an awkward pat. "Well, whatever happens, please do let me know. I will help however possible."

"I had a long dream last night, about the Cube, CIA, fossil, and all those. I can't help thinking about it, because I'm so obsessed with your 'story', dad." Ellie changed their talking to another topic.

"Me too, darling. I've been obsessed for decades."

"Coffe?" Owen lifted the coffee pot a little to her after he poured one cup for himself.

"White and sweet, please." Ellie smiled. "I really have to find out more about that Cube, it's killing me."

Owen walked to his daughter, bring the coffee to her, and sat at the dining table. Trying to organize the contents in his head, his eyes wandered around the room, looking through the windows, then stopped at his wife's portrait hanging on the wall opposite the kitchen. The painting showed Ellie standing next to her mother who was holding a baby. Their faces were both smiling, although their expressions weren't very similar; yet they were alike in many ways, especially in terms of their facial features and body structure.

The 'Cube" ended up a storage device like a CD yet in a very different way, built with very unique material, not unbreakable though, but survived anyway against the odds. This discovery was shocking, unprecedented, and marvelous—so much that scientists started calling it a miracle —but it also created a lot of confusion about the information it held. Some people thought the data contained within its walls could change the world forever. Others believed it would destroy humanity. Still, others feared it might cause catastrophic events or wars if released. In order to avoid any potential risks, the CIA decided to keep the existence of the Cube secret. They sent agents to retrieve it while keeping the project classified.

"That's when they found me and wanted me to join their team recruited by the CIA, and why I ended up in that room of the CIA's building." Owen took a sip of his coffee. "They told me they needed someone to analyze the cube, decode its contents, and translate them into English. Of course, I agreed immediately."

"It sounds incredible," said Ellie.

"They told me the whole thing and showed me pictures, pieces of text with strange characters which I never saw before." Owen looked away for a second. His eyes moved to the window facing the street again, staring at the blue sky visible between two tall buildings afar. He shook his head slightly as if trying to remember something important, but nothing happened.

"Dad, are you okay?" Ellie came to his side and grab his hand gently.

"Yes, sorry. I think It's time for my pills." He stood up slowly and began walking towards the living room.

Ellie followed him holding his arm until he reached the sofa. He sat down heavily, grabbed his pill bottle from the pocket of his pants, opened it, and swallowed three tablets without drinking any water.

"Let me get you some water."

"No, I'm fine."

After taking the medication, he leaned back against the cushions, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. He remained still for a moment, breathing quietly. Then he suddenly started talking, almost as if he'd forgotten she was listening. "That moment is one of the most important pieces in my life."

Ellie stroked her father's back gently. She could feel her dad was agitated in his heart, his body even a little shaking. All these years he kept the story of what happened locked inside him. Now, it finally escaped, and he couldn't hold it anymore. What Owen shared was heavy, but it was also fascinating, exciting, and mysterious. A part of Ellie wanted desperately to learn more.

"I realized immediately that the Cube must be made of something special, and it was indeed. What shocked me though wasn't only the technology behind the object, but rather those words it holds."

Owen paused for a minute, thinking hard. Finally, he spoke again. "Those words were unlike anything we have ever seen before. They looked ancient and new at the same time. It appeared as if they were coming from everywhere. From Earth itself, from outer space, from the future, the past, and the universe beyond our comprehension. To say it simply, they were coming from nowhere."

Ellie was fascinated by the story.

"To begin with, it was written in a language we hadn't learned yet. We tried to decipher the alphabet and the first few letters of each word, but none of us understood it. At least, not completely. It had taken us decades, and we didn't know how far we would go with it, so hopelessly. What a time of torturing my brain!" Owen sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. His words reminded Ellie of the scene in a movie: a man sitting alone in a dark room, wearing a white lab coat, speaking directly to the camera with an old-fashioned microphone.

"Since then, I, one member of the big team, have worked on these characters for decades, trying to decipher them, days after days, years after years. No one knew that I was busy with a secret project, of course, sometimes under the help of the CIA."

That's why Owen was always busy, too busy to spend time with his family, his wife, and his daughters. All he cared about during all those years was working on decoding the mysterious language. He couldn't tell anyone about his work, not even Ellie.

Not knowing what to do, she kept quiet and listened carefully as her dad continued telling the story.

"Finally, after years of struggling to analyze those writings, we succeeded. Or so I thought. Because once we decoded those strange symbols, I discovered that I had no idea what they actually mean. It's not the grammar or rules of their language, but the nouns and names that suffocate us." Owen stopped and looked at Ellie. She could sense his frustration.

"I don't quite understand," Ellie looked at her father.

"We can only conjecture the meaning of words indicating something within the scope of human knowledge, which means we understand the majority of the language. But there are certain words that are impossible to explain, such as the name of some kind of power they had in their time, or even some strange animals. Those words make no sense to us." Owen shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "So, we have no choice but to leave them unanswered. Even worse, the meaning of some words changes according to context, so it's difficult to figure out what they truly mean."

Ellie was stunned by the revelation. She felt a sudden chill run through her spine. "Wow, I wish I could see those symbols!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Owen laughed softly. "Fortunately, you cannot. Believe me."

He went silent again for a few seconds. When he finally resumed talking, his voice sounded heavy, but also hopeful. "There are some interesting facts about those symbols, though. For instance, one of them looks like a spiral galaxy, maybe a nebula, but it has a very unusual shape. There are several other shapes like this. One symbol resembles a molecule, and another is like a crystal. Also, the number of symbols varies from one place to another, just as the languages and cultures vary. Although, there seems to be a connection between all of them."

Owen's story was captivating, and Ellie wanted to hear more. "What else?" she asked eagerly.

"Well, we can infer that the Cube contains contents regarding vanished civilizations existing hundreds of millions of years ago on earth based on all the information it can show us. Human beings are not the only advanced intelligent organisms on earth that ever exist. And, as far as I know, we haven't discovered any evidence supporting aliens visiting our world before humans arrived here."

"You're kidding! Hundreds of millions of years ago!" she blurted out. Ellie was surprised by that statement.

"No, I am not."

She was speechless.

"The CIA started the project secretly of translating them into modern language, so they might use the technology recorded in the Cube today." Owen smiled sadly. "Unfortunately, they failed miserably."

"Why?"

"It's all about their literature, history, politics, culture, and so on, instead of physics, chemistry, technology, weaponry." Owen chuckled ironically.

Ellie stared at her father, unable to speak.

"But not me, I was more excited than ever, organizing the documents, researching their history, learning everything I could about them. So much to discover. But unfortunately, I couldn't share it with anyone, because the project was classified top secret."

Ellie could feel her father's happiness right now; she nodded silently, understanding perfectly. Her dad had devoted his entire life to unraveling the mystery hidden within the Cube, and now he finally got his chance to talk about it with someone outside his workplace.