What are they eating?

The cleanup efforts on Arka III became an impossible task. The fungus that suddenly appeared on the planet had spread so much that its spores were flooding the atmosphere. This parasitic fungus infected any type of crop and was so poisonous that there was no other option but to incinerate the entire harvest before the spores infected other crops.

The Arkankanos, who were already suffering from the effects of the famine caused by the fungus’s expansion, requested help from the Galactic Council, and soon the planet had millions of alien soldiers helping to detect and destroy any fungus outbreak. However, although the situation was under control, the scientists warned that with so many spores in the air, it would take centuries before the fungus could be eradicated, and that any unattended outbreak could cause a new crisis in just a few days.

Over time, the Galactic Council began withdrawing its support because it needed to attend to other priorities. The Arkankanos, with their economy in shambles, could not offer high salaries to the exterminators, so they started accepting refugees and immigrants without conditions, hoping these would accept the mushroom exterminator positions for extremely low wages.

Under these conditions, the LATAM, a rather peculiar human faction, arrived on Arka III and were immediately recruited as mushroom exterminators. But within a few months, we noticed that the cost of their upkeep decreased and they became increasingly reluctant to talk about their food and constantly rejected the rations distributed to the exterminators with a simple “thank you, but I already ate.”

But what really triggered the alarms was discovering that there was a trafficking network that violated biosecurity protocols to transport large quantities of this terrible fungus to human worlds!

¿¡What are they eating!?

It is said that was the president of Arka III’s exclamation when he was informed that the LATAM had discovered that the fungus was edible for humans if it was cut into pieces, combined with epazote (poisonous), potatoes (toxic), and onion (very poisonous) on a hot metal plate, placed on a flat and flexible corn flatbread they call “tortilla,” and covered with spoiled milk and a toxic (and illegal) secret mixture of the LATAM called “molcajete sauce.”

We have to acknowledge that the Arkankanos’ solution to their agricultural and economic problem was very ingenious. It seems this fungus, which humans have named “Arkatoche,” is considered a delicacy, so they stopped exterminating it and instead now cultivate it as the planet’s main crop. As of today, Arka III is a prosperous world whose economy is based on exporting Arkatoche to human worlds, a product whose value increases as its consumption spreads through human civilization.

As for the LATAM who made the discovery, they continue working on the planet, now as farmers, satisfied by being able to eat as much Arkatoche as they want.

#LATAM #scifi #tale #cuento