The mathematicians

In Short

This narrative presents a fable-like history of an alien occupation of Earth by beings from Sirius, known as the "An-vils." These invaders, vastly superior in mathematical intelligence and possessing wings and purple tails, swiftly conquer humanity. The story follows the efforts of a human resistance leader, a psychiatrist named Knowall, who attempts to sabotage the invaders not through physical warfare, but by manipulating their minds. It is a quirky, allegorical exploration of the power of ideas, legacy, and the unexpected ways that humanity survives against impossible, technologically advanced odds.

The Story

The story unfolds as a domestic bedtime tale, narrated by Drake Hawkins to his daughter, Zoe. Drake recounts a historical epoch, set in 1985, when the An-vils arrived from Sirius. These beings—possessing green-feathered wings and long purple tails—proved invincible to all human military efforts, including nuclear weapons and biological warfare. They quickly subjugated the human race, using humans as laborers or food. Because the An-vils were master mathematicians and vastly more intelligent than humans, they easily maintained control, despite the humans' inability to master the simple alien language.

In the face of this absolute dominion, a renowned psychiatrist named Knowall flees to Greenland to organize a resistance. Realizing that the invaders cannot be defeated by force, he develops the "Knowall-Hughes, Ilinski technique" to infect the aliens with human emotions. By imbuing the An-vils with volatile feelings such as jealousy, ambition, and malice, Knowall successfully triggers a devastating civil war among the invaders, reducing their population by two-thirds. However, this success is short-lived. A charismatic alien leader named Zalibar emerges, preaching unity and brotherhood, which stabilizes the alien society and further tightens the chains of human enslavement.

Undeterred, Knowall executes his final plan. He infects the remaining An-vils with nostalgia—an overwhelming, debilitating homesickness for Sirius. The invaders, now unable to focus on their rule of Earth, gather in the Black Hills of North America. With a collective movement of their great green wings, the entire army abandons the planet, flying back into the stratosphere.

The story concludes with a final, chilling revelation. While the adult invaders successfully depart, two alien children born on Earth—Zizzo and Zizza—choose to return to the surface rather than follow their kin. Because these beings are, at their core, master mathematicians, the story ends on the unsettling note that they begin to "multiply," implying that the alien presence on Earth has not truly ended, but has merely entered a new, domestic phase. The revelation is punctuated by the daughter, Zoe, who reacts to the story by flapping her own wings, suggesting that the human family itself may be more connected to the invaders than the history implies.

How It Unfolds

The invasion begins The story opens in a peaceful garden where a father recounts the sudden 1985 arrival of the winged An-vils. These mathematically gifted invaders quickly master Earth’s languages and subjugate the human population with ruthless efficiency.

The resistance forms A psychiatrist named Knowall escapes to Greenland to contemplate a solution to the occupation. Recognizing the failure of physical weaponry, he pivots to psychological warfare to undermine the aliens' clinical, logical nature.

The emotional contagion Knowall successfully infects the invaders with complex human emotions, sparking infighting and instability. Although this temporarily weakens them, the aliens find unity under a new leader, rendering the resistance’s initial efforts insufficient.

The final exodus Knowall implements his final technique, which forces the invaders to experience debilitating nostalgia for their home star. The entire adult population of invaders departs, leaving the humans to celebrate their deliverance.

The ironic conclusion Two young aliens refuse to leave and remain on Earth to multiply. The story closes with the daughter revealing her own wings, cementing the shift from an invasion story to one about the integration of alien bloodlines.

The People

Drake Hawkins serves as the primary storyteller, framing the narrative for his daughter. He acts as the historian of a world fundamentally altered by alien presence. Zoe, his nine-year-old daughter, is an inquisitive and seemingly innocent listener. However, her character undergoes a startling transformation at the end, revealing her to be more than just a child of Earth. Knowall is the architect of the human resistance. As the world’s foremost psychiatrist, he views the conflict as a problem of psychology rather than physics. He is driven by the desire to reclaim human autonomy, though his methods—infecting an entire race with the burden of human emotion—are as manipulative as the occupation he fights. Zalibar represents the stability of the alien regime. He acts as the foil to Knowall, using persuasion and the promise of brotherhood to mitigate the chaos Knowall sows. Zizzo and Zizza are the final remnants of the occupation. By choosing to stay, they represent the permanent, lingering impact of the alien presence on the future of the human race.

In Its Own Voice

Drake explains the futility of traditional military force against the invaders:

"The humans warred against the invaders, using bullets, ordinary bombs, super-atom bombs and gases."

The narrator describes the specific, potent weapon used to drive the aliens away:

"Knowall imbued the An-vils with nostalgia."

The story closes on an unsettling note regarding the future of the species on Earth:

"Well, like all the An-vils, they were great mathematicians. So, they multiplied."

What It's Really About

At its core, the story explores the tension between intellect and emotion. The An-vils represent pure, clinical logic, while humanity is defined by the messy, volatile spectrum of feelings—from malice to nostalgia. Knowall’s victory is paradoxical; he saves humanity by burdening the invaders with the very human frailties that make life difficult. The story argues that ideas and psychological states are more powerful tools of conquest than any physical weapon. Furthermore, it touches upon the cyclic nature of history, suggesting that even when one believes they have achieved total "deliverance," the past has a way of staying behind to multiply, ensuring that the influence of the invader is never truly erased.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy mid-century science fiction tropes—specifically the "invasion from the stars" subgenre—will find this a concise, imaginative curiosity. It reads like an urban legend or a cautionary folklore tale, prioritizing its strange, surreal imagery over hard scientific realism. The prose is clean and direct, moving with a rhythm suited to its frame story of a father telling a bedtime tale.

However, modern readers should be prepared for the mid-century tone and the brevity of the narrative, which moves through decades of history in a matter of pages. It does not dwell on the technical aspects of its "math-based" aliens; rather, it uses their intelligence as a shorthand for their otherness. The ending, which reframes the entire context of the storyteller and his daughter, provides a haunting, lingering punchline that stays with the reader long after the final page. It is a brief, thought-provoking piece that serves as an excellent example of how speculative fiction from the 1950s often used the alien encounter as a mirror for human societal anxieties. The lack of sentimentality in the face of total species domination makes it an intriguing, albeit slight, piece of genre history.