The Mouthless

They came from a far away planet. Resources their were far more scarce than ours here on earth. The only animal life that was able to thrive and evolve was that which developed tight symbiotic relationships with plant life. They had transparent skin and no mouth. Inside their bodies they hosted something similar to algae. It provided food for them and they provided minerals and light for it. They absorb water through their skin and because of this take long baths regularly. Bath houses permeate their culture. They use a series of bioluminescent pockets of micro-organisms in their fingertips and foreheads to communicate. It took some time, but translating devices have been manufactured for each of our species. While it has taken us a long time to become comfortable with the idea that our bodies are communities of different organisms that we have become partnered with over evolutionary time, they were always well aware of the ways in which they were connected to other creatures. All of our major religions have already adopted much of the alien philosophy. Of course initially, some of us were less than accommodating. By and large that irrational xenophobia that burned passionately in so many parts of the world has been almost entirely extinguished.