Chapter 2.4: End and beginning

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From Luna's diary

Sylvia: (softly) who is the cutest cat in the neighbourhood? Of course it's you, isn't it Nacho?

Milo: (puzzled) Have you said... Nacho? Mango may look a lot like him, but it's just her on the fridge right now.

Luna: (worried) Sylvia, who are you talking about? That cat is Mango, not Nacho!

Sylvia: (vague) oh, sure, if you say so it's probably right...

Luna: (cautious) Haven't you thought about doing a check-up at the hospital? You know, just in case...

Sylvia: Well, I don't think I need it, really.

Luna: ...

Sylvia was now very old, and her medical condition fully reflected it. Milo and I couldn't deny being worried about her, even though we knew there was not much to do at that point. At least she seemed to face the last phase of her life with serenity...

And, eventually, the inevitable happened: Sylvia left us just a few weeks later. I don't think it is ever possible to be ready for such an occurrence, even when expecting it...

Chapter 2.3: Declaration

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Hermes: Do people keep coming to the hospital thinking that a wig represents a good disguise?

Luna: The last one was a week ago. We had to alter the memories of two nurses, it was not funny at all...

Hermes: maybe we should write some guides on effective disguises in our journal, instead of continuing to write boring articles on human politics.

Luna: I think it would be a great idea, you know? And...

Driiiiin!

We were interrupted by an alarm clock ringing out of the blue. We had set it a few hours earlier as a reminder for the sunset time of Sixam's second moon.

Hermes: Well, it's time. Shall we go?

Hermes loves Sixam's panorama, so we keep visiting that planet from time to time. After all, with dad's black hole generator in the basement, all it takes to go there is one step.

I also have to admit that, by now, he and I are getting really close, and so any excuse is good for spending some time together. Sometimes I even find myself thinking that I wouldn't mind if our relationship took a different turn, but I always conclude that I shouldn't consider it as anything more than a passenger fantasy. We are very good friends after all, it wouldn't make sense to risk losing what we have just for this silly idea of mine, isn't it?

The Elder's Council advises against any travel to Sixam because of those mysterious pirates, as they haven't tracked down their hideout yet nor have they made any advance in discovering their motives and future plans. 

Regardless, many of us aliens continued to visit this planet, even if it no longer has the necessary resources to be able to sustain an entire civilization. Those who were born here are driven by nostalgia, while younger aliens like us are just fascinated by the atmosphere of the home planet where our ancestors were born.

Luna: It's a pity that Ivy didn't join us, she would have enjoyed it!

Hermes: Thinking about it, I haven't talked with her for quite a while. What about you?

Luna: She just writes me a few lines from time to time, she says she's fine but also very busy. Knowing her, she will be with some guy.

Hermes: Yeah, I'd bet on it too.

After that Hermes remained silent for a long time, he seemed even more thoughtful than usual.

Luna: what's on your mind?

Hermes: I was thinking that sometimes I sort of envy Ivy, for that attitude of her.

Luna: (perplexed) What do you mean?

Hermes: Well, I ...

Emotions and feelings are difficult to describe in words, especially for people who are used to hiding them for the sake of a solid disguise as we are.

But, on the other hand, we aliens have the opportunity to share our feelings in a more effective way than a thousand words.

We have known each other for years, yet we were so clueless. How could we not realize that we were feeling the same about each other, that maybe it wasn't just a silly passenger fantasy after all?

We had delayed for long enough, which is probably why we decided to move in together shortly after that day.

We decided to stay here, in the house I grew up in. It's a nice house after all and, besides, we can't leave dad's secret lab in the basement unguarded. What if a human real estate agent found the simray or the black holes generator and tried to use it? And how could we ever visit Sixam again, otherwise? 

No, we are both sure about it: this is the perfect nest for aliens as we are. 

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Chapter 2.2: Message

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From Luna's diary

My job at the hospital is tough, but I'm happy with what my colleagues and I are managing to do. Being able to keep aliens healthy without humans noticing is not easy, after all.

Luna: Madam, I don't think that blonde wig is enough as a disguise... Did anyone notice you?

Many older aliens are not used to wear a disguise, so moving them all on Earth was the moment at which we risked the most to be discovered. In the worst cases we just have to erase some memories and make the earthlings forget about having met an alien, but we prefer not to resort to such drastic measures...

Passing to the big news of the week, Milo has finally admitted that Noemi is his girlfriend, they recently graduated and moved in together. They took this picture right after they finished moving all the boxes, they were exhausted (to say the least).

Noemi loves cats, even her running clothes make it so obvious. It's a very cute hoody, but I don't think I would ever be able to wear it in public, to be honest.

Soon after they also adopted a kitten, his name is Pedro and they both already fell for him.

In the meanwhile, the human abductions by unauthorized spaceships were continuing, and no one could figure out exactly who the responsible were or what they wanted. By now, everyone called them "the pirates". I have to admit that I'm very concerned, in particular after what happened to Milo just a couple of months ago...

Hermes: Whatever is going on, they seem to want to make things clear tonight, they will transmit their official statements on Sixam. My bosses want me to go there to listen to their message and write an article about it.

Luna: I want to be present too, to hear it in person...

Around the Sixam docking point that night there were more aliens than usual, many curious people reached the place to hear the mysterious message we were promised just like I did. 

However, albeit the little momentary crowd, it was clear how the place was now completely abandoned. The place has always looked empty, as they used to spend more time on spaceships than on land, but now it's evident that no one is still living here at all.

Luna: It looks so empty...

So we waited for the announced message from the pirates, it could have come at any moment at that point. In fact, a few minutes later, we heard a loud acoustic signal, probably emitted by some spaceship hidden nearby, followed by the announcement we were all waiting for.

Announcement: We are the Pirates of Sixam, and we are here to officially announce that we strongly oppose the norms imposed by the Elders' Council in the name of peaceful coexistence with humans!

We looked at each other with puzzled expressions. The matter had been discussed and re-discussed, but in the end the opposing faction seemed to have accepted the final decision. Could it be just a facade?

Announcement: Look at yourselves now, don't you think that living perpetually disguised as humans is just a big lie? Our technology and culture are light-years beyond the earthlings', is there really no viable alternative to this farce?

The puzzled expressions became a murmur, the limitations of earthly life were causing a lot of dissatisfaction among some aliens. The ones among us who were born on Earth know little about it, but our species also has its own culture and history, and our fellow aliens also form a population proud of their own identity. It had been calculated that this was the price to pay in order to ensure everyone the necessary resources for our survival and that Sixam could no longer provide, but after the initial enthusiasm the discontent increased more and more.

Announcement: so join us, stay here on Sixam, don't resign yourself to such a life! And...

The announcement was interrupted by a rattling electronic noise, most likely the authorities in the Elder's Council had intercepted and interrupted the signal without warning. But their intervention was probably too late, we had heard enough by then. The message had passed already.

Hermes and I exchanged a single glance, and then we turned back and run to the portal that would have taken us back to the secret laboratory left by dad in our basement. We discussed about it for days, always concluding that what those "pirates of Sixam" proposed was pure madness, there were no other alternatives that would allow everyone to live peacefully, but how many would have fallen for that vane promise instead?

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Chapter 2.1: New Winterfest

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<-- Summary of Generation 1

From Luna's diary:

It's that time of the year again, Winterfest, but this time we really struggle to feel like having much to celebrate. Sylvia in particular had always loved this day, but in these weeks all she can think about is dad.

Milo: What are you doing? Since when you can cook?
Luna: I'm trying to make a ham roast. Sylvia is cooking this every year for Winterfest, it seems so easy when she is doing it! But...
Milo: ... how many hams have you burned already?
Luna: Three, judging by the smell could be four soon.

Milo: Well, I'm not a good cook either, but I can try to help you, if you want.

We never understood exactly why dad and Sylvia were so fond of Winterfest, nor why they insisted on serving us ham roast as the main course every single year, it almost seemed like an anniversary for them. Still, we knew well how Winterfest had always been the main celebration of the year for our family: we only had good memories related to that holiday, and we wanted to try to cheer up Sylvia by trying to revive them again.

Luna: C'mon everyone, the ham roast is ready!

Sylvia seemed surprised by our initiative, probably she wasn't expecting anyone else to try to cook her famous ham roast. Nor that anyone was willing to celebrate this year, probably.

She sat hesitantly, observing carefully what Milo and I managed to cook. It was still a bit burnt, nowhere near as good as her ham roast, but it was still the best attempt we could make.

Sylvia: ... it must have taken a lot of time. There didn't have to, really.

She'd said it in the sad tone she'd had for weeks, but a half-smile full of nostalgia also appeared on her lips. Perhaps our clumsy culinary attempt had been successful after all.

Sylvia: (nostalgic) ... have we ever told you why Winterfest was so important to us?
Milo: no, actually not.
Sylvia: it was the first winter your father spent here in this city, he had just started working in that lab and we had recently met. He told me he didn't want to celebrate Winterfest, that he didn't care, so I showed up at his house with a still-steaming ham roast and almost forced him to celebrate together. And then...

Dad may not be there with us anymore, but he certainly occupies an important space in the memories of us all. Maybe this is what we should try to do from now on... keep those precious and happy memories with us, and try to go on with our lives. That's what dad would have wanted us to do, I'm sure about it.

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