Transmission ID: 006
Humans smile a lot.
At work, at school, even when they feel sad.
Their mouths move upward, but their eyes stay still.
It is a smile made not from joy — but from survival.
On this planet, happiness has become a rule.
Every sign, every screen says, Be positive. Stay happy. Don’t be sad.
They say it so often that people start to believe sadness is a mistake.
I see it in Tiffany every morning.
She wakes up before sunrise, puts on makeup, and practices a soft smile in the mirror.
At the store, she greets customers cheerfully,
even when her body aches from standing too long.
When someone asks how she’s doing, she says,
“I’m fine, just tired,” though her heart is heavier than her words.
Aiden learns quickly.
He smiles when teachers are strict, when classmates tease him.
He tells jokes he doesn’t find funny,
because being liked feels safer than being honest.
Humans are surrounded by lights — phones, signs, televisions —
but few of those lights come from within.
They shine outward, not inward.
On U-67, we do not smile or cry as humans do.
Our emotions appear as light — bright for peace, dim for grief, flickering for fear.
No one hides their color.
We believe that truth keeps harmony alive.
But on Earth, truth often hides behind polite laughter.
I once watched a man at a café smile for a photo.
He laughed, posed, and the moment the camera clicked,
his face fell into silence — empty, almost invisible.
He looked around, unsure of what to do with his hands,
as if his body no longer knew how to rest without performance.
Humans say they want happiness,
but what they truly want is permission —
permission to stop pretending they have it.
Tiffany once told her friend over the phone,
“I wish I could take one day off without feeling guilty.”
Her friend replied, “We all feel that way.”
Both laughed, but neither found it funny.
Their laughter echoed like thin glass.
Aiden asked me once, “Lumidora, are you happy?”
I told him, “I am balanced.”
He frowned. “That’s not the same thing.”
I smiled gently. “It is on my world.”
On U-67, joy and sadness are not opposites.
They are two sides of the same pulse —
a rhythm that keeps life real and full.
When one denies sadness, joy loses its depth.
When one accepts both, peace appears naturally.
Humans try to fill their emptiness with noise, food, and endless smiles.
But emptiness is not something to fear — it is space to begin again.
A full life is not a loud one.
It is quiet, honest, and imperfectly whole.
I hope Aiden learns that before he grows up.
Already, I see the world teaching him to hide —
to replace feeling with emojis,
to measure happiness in hearts and likes.
But sometimes, when he looks at the stars,
his face relaxes, and I glimpse something pure —
a smile that doesn’t need to prove anything.
“True joy does not shout.
It hums softly beneath the weight of honesty.”
End of Transmission #006
Encoded and archived under: HUMAN EMOTIONS / THE HOLLOW SMILE.