The Elves

The Zeta Reticulans were the ancestors of the humans today of which are dominant life forms on many other planets across the universe. Meaning, there are many other worlds ruled by human civilisations albeit they have different cultures, language and they all have slightly different physiology.

Some have two hearts, some have a third eye, some are twice as strong as the humans on Earth, some are half as strong, some were hobbits and some are giants etc. However, the ancient Zeta Reticulans who have had a head start on intelligence was the most technologically advanced civilisation.

They were also the only ones that deviated far from the human bloodline. They too had looked identical to the humans of today in the past. With a few minor differences like the length of their ears were those of the elves. They were the "elves".

After the Zeta Reticulans have seeded Earth with their offspring including many other planets, the "humans" have split off from the elves as a subspecies and that spelt their doom. Rather than coexisting, the round-eared humans vigorously killed off their ancestors when war broke out between the two.

The elves were too kind and peaceful that they didn't see it coming. The humans wanted power to overthrow elves' governance.

They were hunted and burnt. Half-elves, quarter elves, one-eighth elves and lesser blooded ones would be hunted if their ears were obvious or deformed.

Back then, the nobles would capture the elves as slaves which were shown off as trophies. As they were very beautiful, they also often bedded with. Even the males that had long hair. They had a feminine kind of beauty to them that it would be worth it.

Of course, with the royal decree, they would be killed after some time. Not even a fossil remained to this day.

There was no retribution or happy endings for the elf race like in fairy tales. The only proof of their existence that was left behind were the legends and bedtime stories. Except, there wasn't a curse, but there was something close to it that was left behind.

The r*pe produced offspring that also had elf ears but as it got more diluted, some skipped a generation or several generations. It became a dice game. Eventually, they would just be deformed ears. Then finally the genes rarely conflicted with each other, but when they did, they caused other deformities and genetic illnesses elsewhere on the body.

These include:

Klinefelter syndrome - affecting males, tiny penis and small testicles, less hair on body and face, breasts that are a little wider than expected

Marfan syndrome - People with Marfan syndrome are often slender and tall, with limbs, fingers and toes longer than usual. Sometimes they have a thin, long face (the beauty of the elves).

Apert syndrome - A distinctive spiky head and a wide, high forehead. With wide-set and bulging eyes, a sunken face. Fingers and toes fused (or webbed), often with a single wide nail. Repeated glue ear causes hearing problems. Sleep apnea and difficulty breathing

Albinism- A group of genetic conditions in which affected persons lack melanin pigment in their skin, hair and eyes. Pinkish-white skin and white hair are born to some children with albinism. Their eyes, though they may look pink in the sun, are usually light brown, blue or hazel. The elves had blonde hair and blue or grey eyes.

Strangely, there were many parallels between the Zeta Reticulans and their human descendants. The humans advanced technologically similarly to their ancestors as if they were their clones. This is most easily described by the term convergent evolution.

Convergent evolution in evolutionary biology is the mechanism by which species that are not closely related (not monophyletic) acquire similar traits independently as a result of having to adapt to similar environments or ecological niches.

It is the opposite of divergent evolution, where different traits occur in similar organisms.

For example, the tiny Madagascar Mantella frogs and the tropical central and South American poison dart frog have independently developed bright colours and a biochemical ability to make near-identical poisons from their insect diets.

Humans and squids share similar eye structures, that are considered to be critical for eye development due to the convergent evolution of a gene called Pax-6. The same types of splicing patterns of this gene, despite millions of years of evolutionary distance, have been observed in vertebrates and cephalopods.

Therefore, throughout the history of mankind, they had gone through similar experiences, political, cultural and technological transitions and periods as the Reticulans did. When the Grays observed the actions and lives of humans, it was similar to theirs from long ago.

***

A huge spaceship floated above Ratuka, the homeworld of the Reticulans.

Many other personal spaceships of individuals and groups boarded in the main hangar. Incoming ships were lined up before the hangar while scans and verifications were being done outside the large spaceship.

Inspections were also done inside the hangar before the people were granted entry.

Many people walked into the "Noble" Prize hall in Venetian-style ball gowns and tuxedos and took their chairs.

There were step platforms where the chairs circled the centre stage with half of the chairs on the ground level.

The audience wore masks while the orchestra and the noble prize winners didn't. The laureates were the stars of the show and so showed their faces. Also, it was for the media. They were waiting in a room for the award ceremony to start.

The Noble Prize award first started in the Reticulan version of the medieval ages and was given to a scientist called Nobe Alfred. He was an assistant of a noble who originally took credit for his scientific discoveries.

It was until later that the Royal Society of Burghedin noticed something was amiss.

The noble was useless and even though he was found out to be a fraud, they couldn't just accept Nobe Alfred into their ranks because he was of the lower class yet they couldn't ignore him either.