In the whole wide universe, they were closest to humans, like humans were to monkeys. Except that monkeys sucked.
Human-likes were equally intelligible, emotional, and perceptive.
The difference?
They lacked pupils, so their eyes looked like a blue screen. And they had horns where a human's would have hair. No, they were not Manators, but close.
They were more populous than human beings and physically more powerful. Their average woman would be more muscular than a man who'd been hitting the gym for 10 years straight.
So why were they called human-likes?
Because of their emotional intelligence. They were equally disputing, greedy, kind, and at times, self-destructive. The only species whose suicide rate was lower than human beings.
Their relations with humans? Good. Most of the time. Their rules changed with culture and planets. And they had really rich cultural traditions.
Despite similarities, the DNA of humans and human-likes was very different. They had a different origin and evolutionary chain. Eve—a demon-looking species that looked completely different from humans and had feet like dragons—had matched their genetic makeup more than humans did. They even cross-bred.
Cross-breeding with humans never worked. Sex did.
There were countless tales of interspecies love stories. In some planets where both lived equally, dating was very common, so rules varied from planet to planet, culture to culture. There were even marriages and child adoptions. Records confirmed they lived happy lives as families.
Human-like females were more attracted to human males than vice versa. On the other hand, for one-night stands, there were literally red-light zones where human-like males served as...
...a popular destination for women on pleasure trips.
Human-likes held more seats at the IC than humans did. They were supportive of each other. Rivalries naturally arose where opportunities came and one had more chances to move forward.
This was not unknown to the IC regulating body, so they always kept them both in check.
Human-likes, like humans, were a major species across the Triangulum galaxy. As for Andromeda, the proportion was 20% humans, 30% human-likes, and 70% others.
The most notable planet was Bazinjo, where human-likes ruled with complete majority. It was the center of all their affairs and the crowning seat of their king and royal system.
Another difference here was lifespan.
100–120 years!!
So King Samalore looked fit and strong at 80. He had met Eve Andromeda on one of her intergalactic peace delegations arranged by the Intergalactic Committee.
His minister attended all meetings conducted on the neighboring peace meeting place.
However, ever since the monoliths appeared and mutants had begun pouring out of the Dark Galaxy, he wanted to strengthen ties with the human race.
Now there were more established and developed human worlds. Nonetheless, one was cherished among all humanity—Planet Saiyara.
Ever since Eve emerged on the scene, Saiyara had become the most widely known and popular human planet.
The date was set. King Samalore would meet the queen. A new era of human-likes and humans was about to dawn.
But things never go as planned.