2

Broadcasting Tower on Planet X, 2025-03-16, 0600 hours

'Nhang! Ja pog lah na...' muttered the alien scientist as he tinkered with some machinery. Suddenly, he stopped short and his longish ears waved slightly as he nervously looked up and exclaimed, 'Helmani! Helmani!' Commander!

'Xvie, lao ja nhan mo?' said the commander, walking towards him. What's the matter, Xvie?

Xvie wrung his hands as he replied anxiously, the pleasant singsong nature of his native language somewhat marred by the franticness in his voice. 'Commander, it looks like the enemy has found out what we've been doing!'

The commander chuckled before looking at the scientist sternly, his gold pupils shining brighter than ever. 'Calm down,' he said. 'And don't panic needlessly! Remember, the moons raise the tide, not the ocean! Now, tell me the whole thing in detail.'

A greenish tinge came in the scientist's face as he hung his head before assuming a more neutral expression. 'Apologies, Commander. The signals we've been sending to the agent you dispatched earlier, they seem to have been intercepted. I'm afraid he may be in danger even before he reaches Earth!'

'I see,' said the commander, with a look of disconcern on his face. 'That's nothing to worry about; the signals may have been intercepted, but not decoded; if the enemy cannot understand them, the messages they found are of no use to them. The agent will reach on time and infiltrate their military unit as planned. Continue as usual.'

'Y-yes, Commander! Actually—'

'Show me the imagery from the telescope,' he ordered sharply.

'Yes, about that, Commander...' said the scientist nervously.

'What?'

'Well, enemy agents seem to have come quite close to our planet yesterday, and they lingered a little too long near this base; one of them seemed to have some sort of primitive camera, and of all things, he took a picture of the telescope we use to watch them on Earth. Could it be that they—'

Again, the commander chuckled and shook his head. 'You are young yet, Xvie, and have much to learn. The humans are of no threat to us, no matter what they do. Do you know why? Show me the imagery from the telescope— that's right. What do you see here?'

'A girl, Commander; what is that liquid on her face?'

'They're called tears; they appear on humans' faces when they're sad. This girl seems to have been abandoned by her own family.'

'What?!' said the scientist in shock.

'Now show me that image, here: a man hitting his wife, none of us would ever do that; now pull up that one — that's a lot of dead people! — the humans are quite fond of killing one another for sport; I believe they call it war.'

'Shocking! Why would they do that?'

'Greed. Desire. Hate. Selfishness. And that's exactly what I was coming to,' said the commander. 'Humans are of no threat to us because they are dominated by such useless and base emotions that make them weak, pathetic, predictable; their intentions, their every possible move, is as clear as day. These agents you talk of were most definitely motivated by greed and desire to rule over our planet as soon as they discovered it; they probably believe, like all humans do, that they alone were  born as heirs to the universe. What they don't know, of course, is that we are in fact superior to them; our technology, and even our people are far more sophisticated than they can ever be. And since we are superior, it logically makes more sense for us to govern them, even if it takes a little forceful convincing at first.'

'I dislike humans more than ever now,' said the scientist, shaking his head. 'So much senseless cruelty and evil!'

'That's just how they are,' said the commander, shaking his head just as the door opened and a boy stepped in. 'Ah, finally! There you are, Xiennan!'

'You called me, Father?' said Xiennan, a neutral expression on his face.

He looked about seventeen to eighteen years of age. Like most aliens, his hair was a brilliant shade of green, and his ears were long and pointed, rather like an elf's. His eyes, unlike his father's, were brown with a tinge of red.

'Yes, my son. I believe you are finally old enough to begin serious work and to be able to serve the state,' said the commander. 'Are you ready for your first mission?'

'Y-yes, Father.'

'I want you to work as a secret agent and go to Earth.'

Xiennan's neutral expression changed to one of surprise for a moment, before it slipped back to its previous state.

'Yes, Father.'

'What you have to do is gather intel on the ways of ordinary humans by interacting personally with them, which will be closer than any of us have ever come to them. Then, I want you to report back to me after a month and summarise your findings. This is so that we can be fully prepared before we invade their planet, and don't have to deal with any unpleasant surprises when that time comes.'

'I understand. I will do my best and succeed, Father.'

'I hope so! Now, you will be sent there via a lightening pod. After one month, I will send another one to bring you back at the same place you will land.'

'Okay!'

'Drink a drop of this medicine every morning so that your ears and eyes can look more human-like; but remember, by the night, you will revert to your natural state, so be very careful.'

'Got it!'

'Where I'm sending you, Kenji seems to be a common name, so that is what you shall introduce yourself as. You will attend a high school daily and that is where you will observe and study the ways of humans. Oh — and these are a few gold coins which should help you out in case you need money at any point; no need to use it every time, though — just use the Force. Are you ready for all this?'

Xiennan paused. 'Yes, Father. I'm ready.'

'Good! Let's not waste a minute more then; the pod is ready; drink this now so that you look like a human by the time you arrive on Earth.'

The commander gave his son a vial of purple liquid, then led him out of the building and towards a strange object which seemed to have no opening until he pressed a button and it snapped open.

Xiennan took a drop of the medicine and immediately winced.

'Unpleasant, I'm sure, but necessary,' said the commander as he watched his son painfully swallow the liquid.

The effects of the medicine began to show almost immediately. Xiennan's ears began to retract and shrink; his eyes glowed more than ever before dulling down; after about five minutes, the transformation was complete.

'Now you look the part,' nodded the commander in approval. 'Enter the pod, my son, and I will close it.'

'How long do I have to stay in there?' said Xiennan, looking doubtfully at the small vehicle in which he would, no doubt, feel cramped and trapped in for an indefinite period of time.

'You and your stupid fears!' snapped the commander in exasperation. 'A few hours at least. Now get in!'

Xiennan sighed. 'Yes, Father.'

'Goodbye. And don't mess this up, do you understand?'

'Yes.'

'Good!' said the commander, and he shut the pod and pushed a lever.

The pod immediately shot up in the air and then whizzed downwards like lightening towards the distant Earth. The commander smiled and went back to the tower.

'Commander?' said Xvie the scientist. 'Are you sure you're okay with sending your own son on such a dangerous mission? What if—what if they do something to him?'

'Oh, he'll be fine,' said the commander airily.

They sat in silence for a minute, before he spoke again. 'To tell you the truth, Xvie, that boy has disappointed me all my life; he lacks the finesse, the neutrality that a leader like me has to have at all times. He may act calm and obedient for a while, but if left to his own devices, he has a strange raw energy and passion that makes him almost foreign to me. While studying humans, it suddenly struck me how much my own son resembles them in spirit; and that explains why I have always disliked him somewhat — but also why he may be the perfect fit for the job I'm sending him on. Maybe for once in his life, he'll be in the right place doing the right thing. And if he doesn't make it, then...' the commander paused before shrugging his shoulders. 'Too bad.'