Chapter 2.10: The arrival of Mr S.

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From Luna's diary

TV: The protest in Sim City has been going on for days. The citizens, led by Mr S., are clamouring for the introduction of greater controls over the alien activity in the country. Above all, they are asking for the prohibition of any telepathic activity and the use of disguises, deemed not to be compliant with the public security regulation of...

It has been years since we came out as aliens, but the more time passes the more this kind of TV news becomes frequent. Up to now Hermes and I haven't paid much attention to it, we were too busy taking care of the kids, but the protests are becoming so loud to make it hard to continue ignoring them.

Most earthlings continue to look at us with suspicion, they don't trust us at all. Our kids are affected too, many of their schoolmates are openly avoiding them. Consequently, they seem to be spending most of their time with other little aliens like them.

The situation must be even more difficult for the hybrid children, who really have nothing different from any other human apart from their skin colour. Yet, they are looked upon with as much suspicion as full aliens like us.

Also the situation at the hospital is becoming tenser and tenser, at this point I'm almost only asked to take care of other aliens. For example...

Announcement: Dr Miller is required immediately to the ER!

The announcement had distracted me from my thoughts and, worried, I ran to the entrance to find myself in front of this scene:

He was an alien still wearing the spacesuit we use on Sixam. Why was he dressed like that, and what happened to him?

I had so many questions, but as long as he was unconscious I had to focus on healing him.

Under the spacesuit, he was covered by deep burns all over the left side of the body, we had to perform a quite complex surgery on him to try to save him. Still, with a part of my brain, I couldn't stop reasoning about who he could be. That was clearly a plasma burn, typical of a malfunctioning engine of the old spaceships of the Sixam fleets, how could he get injured like that? Was he one of those aliens who still piloted those spaceships to scare the earthlings?

My questions remained unanswered because, as soon as he woke up from the anaesthesia, that alien got up and left, refusing to answer any questions.

Luna: Hey, are you one of those guys who still abduct humans?

Unkown alien: ...

Luna: Can you at least explain to me how did you get that plasma burn? Do you at least know how to repair those spaceships?

He still refused to answer, giving me a threatening look over his shoulder. As if I could be scared by it, I've seen much worse already. At most, it made me realize that that group of aliens, someone calls them "the rebels", are not very proficient in what they are doing.

I would not even be mad at people like him, if they weren't ruining the reputation of us all...

TV: A new case of theft by disguised aliens has occurred in the eastern suburbs of Sim City. Furthermore, the count of abductions by unidentified spaceships in the last three days went up to five in our county alone, with a clear increase compared to previous months. Let's hear the intervention on this matter by the historic promoter of protests for the safety of humans, Mr S...

Luna: You shouldn't listen to that stupid TV, it would ruin the cake taste.

Hermes: ...

Luna: What's going on?

Hermes: At the newspaper's office we had a preview of the news. And that's not good ones.

Mr S.: (on TV) Aliens are a clear threat to the public safety of all of us citizens! They are able to change their appearance at any time and erase our memory, how can we trust them?

Audience: (cheers)

Mr S.: The current government is unable to propose any solution, they have had years to do it and the situation is only getting worse and worse! This is why I decided to run for the next elections, with the specific intention of putting an end to this unfortunate situation!

Audience: (cheers louder)

Mr S.: Let's send them back to their planet!

At that point, we just turned off the TV, it was difficult even to hear such statements. Hermes was right, that was bad news. What would have happened if such a person had really been elected?

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Hermes and I waited to talk about the worsening of the situation with the children. Winterfest was just a few days away, we didn't want to spoil their favourite holiday of the year.

The boys and I decorated the tree, while Hermes made an attempt with a fancy dinner. Both he and I should really take cooking lessons, we are objectively very bad at it.

Hermes: Lunch is ready, c'mon!

Orion: Mum, dad, but what do all those things that man always says on TV mean?

Hermes and I exchanged worried glances for a few moments. What could we answer him?

Leo: Yes, why does he say we should go to our planet?

Aster: What planet, then?

Hermes: ... it's a long story, I think it's better to explain it to you another time. Why don't we go open the presents instead?

"Send us back to our planet"... As if most of us weren't born here on Earth, just like them! They also keep calling us "aliens", as if we were something foreign, but what really makes us that different from them?

Just look at us today: Winterfest is an important tradition also for us all, and today we are just exchanging presents like any other family. Then why do they seem to want to blame us all, indiscriminately, for all the problems in society?

In the following days we reasoned a lot, I think that the children are not wrong when they ask to know more. Hermes and I have discussed it a lot, and there is only one way to make sure that they really understand who our ancestors were, where they came from and why they left.

Hermes: Ehi guys, aren't you curious to see what's in the basement?

Seeing to the top-secret basement they had never been allowed to enter? The boys' eyes lit up, and they run downstairs so quickly that their toys had barely touched the ground when they entered the mysterious room.

At that point, their attention was immediately drawn to the black hole generator in the centre of the room. Curious, they began to walk around it, impatient to know more. 

Luna: That is a black hole generator, in practice it's like a portal that leads directly to Sixam. Your grandpa Stuart built it. It's also top-secret, so you don't have to tell anyone we have one, okay?

The boys just nodded, they were too excited to say much.

Hermes: Then, would you like to see what Sixam is like?

A moment later we all stepped through the black hole generator, and finally also Leo, Orion and Aster saw our home planet. After the initial bewilderment, they immediately started running everywhere to explore that place.

The first trip to Sixam always leaves everyone astonished by the scenery, but it never takes long before perceiving the desolation of that dying planet. After the initial amazement, I'm sure they will understand it too and, at that point, we could finally tell them our story, why we live on Earth, and everything.

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