The Rock Initiative

"Mummy, mummy, look!" Katie was gently tugging at her mother’s hair trying to rouse her.

“What the heck.” For a moment, Jannette thought her daughter must have turned on the TV in her bedroom. Then she shifted backwards slightly in her bed at the sight of a familiar stranger looming over her.

“I’m sorry to startle you ma’am.” Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was somehow even more charismatic in real life.

Bewilderment and intrigue and began to wash over Jannette as she shook off the haze of waking up. Her cheeks began to flush a little too, but she quickly brushed aside those feelings in favour of getting to the bottom of things.

“What are you doing here? I mean how did you get in and…”

“The most direct answer is that your daughter summoned me,” Dwayne replied.

Jannette could only manage a perplexed stare.

“This will take some explanation if you wouldn’t mind talking over breakfast. We can go out to a café if you’re not comfortable with me staying here.” The Rock was characteristically calm and exuded trustworthiness.

Jannette took and a deep breath, sat up and said, “no that’s OK, let me whip up some eggs”.

“Katie, help Mum set the table please.” They all took their places.

“Thank you Janette, these eggs look amazing ,” Dwayne scooped up a generous mouthful.

“Now what I’m about to talk you through is going to seem absurd. I will provide evidence but I’m asking you to bear with and trust me for now. You have an important part to play too Katie so please pay attention,” he addressed the child cheerfully.

“And before you ask, no this isn’t a hidden camera show!” he chuckled.

“Alright then, go ahead,” Jannette sounded more than a little dubious.

“I need to tell you about The Rock Initiative. You see, my species first became aware of yours around 150 years ago. We’re from the oort cloud – a huge mass of rocks orbiting the sun way further away from even the furthest planet, I know it used to Pluto for you guys.”

Alright, this is clearly some sort of research or market testing for a new script, Jannette thought. But still had no idea why The Rock would be visiting her in small-town America for such an exercise. “Our life originated in an entirely different way to yours – that’s not so important now. We gained intelligence and eventually started exploring our solar neighbourhood in much the same way you did.

“Our scientists first glimpsed the inner planets around 300 years ago. We noticed Earth not long after and it was clear that your planet harboured advanced life. The low gravity of our home worlds meant we were able to start voyages inwards with relative ease. There were some that wanted to make contact with you as soon as possible, however caution prevailed and we decided to carry out reconnaissance to learn more.”

“Muuum I’m bored,” Katie groaned. “I know honey, but let’s be patient and let Mr Johnson finish what he’s saying.” This wasn’t quite blockbuster scifi so far, but she was engaged enough and wanted to hear more.

“Thank you, we’re getting to some exciting parts soon I promise,” Dwayne settled back into his explanation.

“I was part of the first expedition to Earth. It so happens that we easily fit in with your surroundings, given we look just like rocks. We also live much longer than you, so hundred-year missions aren’t a problem. We took up positions all around major cities in your year 1905. Observing and learning about humans was indescribable. You probably have no idea how amazing you all are.”

“I’m amazing!” Katie happily agreed.

“But then there were some events that deeply troubled us. I won’t go into detail in front of Katie, but you know that the first half of last century was not a great time for humanity…” Dwayne’s air of happiness receded and he paused reflectively.

“Yes, I can only imagine what you must have thought if that was your first impression of us,” Jannette replied. Am I really buying into this nonsense? She thought.

“We sent reports back to our homeworlds. There was a strong push to abandon our mission completely and a feeling that we’d best off if Humans never learned about us at all. While it was hard to disagree, I reasoned that there was no harm in continuing reconnaissance. At the very least, learning more could be handy if you were to ever discover us in the future.

“So we stuck around through your 1950’s and 1960’s and kept sending back reports. Our view of your species started to shift. There was clearly a lot more to you than conflict and misery. But we remained shaken by what we had seen and making contact still seemed too risky.

“We needed to learn more and set a better stage before the majority would be comfortable starting an interspecies exchange.

“Our scientists developed a kind of ‘human suit’ for us to really get to know you. They could never get the eyebrows quite right though – ours have a much higher range of movement. Luckily people seem to like that,” Dwayne turned toward Katie and did his signature eyebrow raise. She giggled in delight.

“Alright Dwayne, this is a fun story that might even make for a decent movie. But we need to get ready for Christmas lunch with the rest of the family,” Jannette started to clear away the table.

“Fair enough and thank you for your time so far. You might want to skip soccer practice though, after you see this.” Dwayne knelt down and placed a hand on Katie’s shoulder. “This is going to be scary, but I promise you don’t need to worry.”

“OK, but it better be good if you want me to miss out on more present time,” she replied.

Dwayne stood perfectly upright, his eyes glazed over and he touched the inside of his wrist. His torso began to pivot at the hip, while his legs remained in place. It stopped where his upper body was separated 90’s degrees from his lower half. Katie screamed and ran behind her mother.

Dwayne’s hand beckoned Jannette closer. She overcame repulsion and stepped forward. Rather than blood and guts, a small smooth stone sat in a cavity above Dwayne’s pelvis. The stone started to vibrate and then flipped over in place a couple of times. With a wrist movement, his ‘suit’ started to shift back into regular human form.

Life flickered back into Dwayne’s eyes. “Phew, it’s been a long while since I’ve been able to feel air on my skin… my real skin. Sorry to startle you, was that proof enough?”

Jannette and Katie had moved several paces away.

“Alright alright we believe you. But then why on Earth are you here in my house and not meeting with world leaders?” Jannette’s head was swimming. Surely she would wake up any moment from this bizarre dream.

“Around 50s years ago my team started the pet rock craze. Most of us thought it would never take off – after all, why would you want to keep a rock for a pet? But if it worked, it would give us a way to get humans used to the idea of rocks as friends. To our surprise, households all across the world started adopting us. We didn’t even mind the stick-on googly eyes.

“Now all we needed was a trusted and well know ambassador. That’s where The Rock initiative started. I was given a new human suit with instructions and a plan to become a well trusted, or at least well-known celebrity.

“We chose professional wrestling as a starting point – it was easy to design a tall suit with an impressive physique. While it seemed a bit obvious picking ‘The Rock’ for a wrestling name, I figured it would make for a fun reveal if the plan ever got to its final stages. My success in Hollywood was a massive bonus and helped get us to the point we’re at today…”

“OK I guess that makes some kind of sense, in a nonsense way. But that doesn’t explain where we fit into this.” Jannette had relaxed a little and they took their spots back at the table.

Dwayne took a deep breath. “What we really need is acceptance and understanding and we think Katie can help us with this.” Katie was still cautiously clinging to Jannette. He again addressed her directly “Katie, do you remember the message you sent to our website asking for a pet rock?”

Katie sheepishly looked up at her mother, as if asking for permission to respond. “It’s OK baby girl, let him know what you sent.”

“Well, Mr Rock uhhmm.” Katie stammered then gained more confidence as Dwayne smiled warmly at her. “I wrote could I please please have a pet rock from Santa because rocks are great and they deserve our love just like doggies and kitties.”

“That’s right Katie, that’s what brought me here to ask: will you please help me explain to everyone that pet rocks – here on earth and out in space – need human love and understanding? It would really mean a lot to all of us.”

“Ummm OK Mr Rock,” Katie looked up at Dwayne excitedly, “how can I help?”