14

'What's with all the foreign magazines?' said Airi, as she sat at the dining table and saw her mother place a whole bundle of them in the centre.

'They're from a friend; she thought they would make good souvenirs from her recent trip...' sighed her mother from behind a small newspaper.

Airi lifted a colourful magazine up and flipped through its pages as she sipped some juice.

'This one looks like some sort of tabloid,' said her mother, throwing her paper down with disdain. 'I can't believe these things actually get published!'

Airi reached for the discarded newspaper out of amused curiosity.

'The Star Report,' she read aloud. 'Headline: Sinister Alien Conspiracy Uncovered... is this for real?!' she said, putting it down with a laugh.

'I can't believe they have the nerve to publish this ridiculous stuff when there's so much real news out there!' exclaimed her mother, and for once, Airi agreed wholeheartedly with her.

'This will be a lot of fun at school, I'm taking it with me,' she giggled, folding the paper.

'Be my guest. But please be careful someone doesn't actually start thinking it's real!' said her mother. 'Aren't you getting late, by the way? Again?'

'Oh, yes, I didn't realise! Well, bye then!' said Airi, scrambling out of her chair and running out.

'Bye! Don't forget to— oh, she's gone already... that careless girl...'

During the lunch break, Airi showed the beginning of the scandalous report to one of her friends, and they both had a good laugh over it.

'Wait, Airi,' said her friend, 'Let's call the others and we'll all hear the whole thing and laugh together over it! It's such delightful nonsense!'

'Okay!' giggled Airi, and before long, everyone was gathered in their usual picnic setting, lunches in hand, ready to have a good time.

'So, here goes,' said Airi, and she began to read aloud. 'Sinister Alien Conspiracy Uncovered. A shocking discovery was recently made by a brave member of our team who happened to overhear a conversation between two high-ranking military officers, one of whom was a general with close ties to the country's top secret agency.

The topic under discussion was neither an attack on an enemy country nor a new weapon; it was not even an attempt to, for once, use the power of the forces to actually eliminate the evil powers that imbalance the world. Indeed, it was something entirely new and unthinkable; so much so that the general himself seemed to be in great agitation before finally accepting the information presented to him by his colleagues: aliens.

Yes, aliens!! Not only has a new planet with intelligent aliens residing on it been discovered, but as history repeats itself, the military already has evil plans to invade it for its own sinister purposes. The plan is supposed to be top secret, and the agencies involved have no plans as of now to disclose this information to the public, for fear that their own malignant intentions be discovered and thwarted.

That is not all! The aliens in question are apparently no less than their human counterparts; the military FEARS their possible attack on Planet Earth in the near future; and have been forced to resign to the possibility that they may in fact be SUPERIOR to humans and defeat us miserably!

A lot will be happening in the next two to four weeks, and we must all be aware as a literate and competent population. Be prepared and keep reading exclusive reports you see no where else on — The Star Report.'

The students burst into laughter along with Airi.

'Wow, it seems like the writer really did believe all that!' said one of them. 'It's so sincerely written!'

'If she writes a sci-fi novel, I'll be the first to buy it!' declared another.

'This was more entertaining than the boring drama I saw on TV last night!'

'Guess we'd all better be prepared for an alien war then!' said someone else, and they all roared with laughter again.

'Gosh, they'll write anything to make people read them,' said Airi, shaking her head as she put the paper down and grinned.

No one noticed the slinking shadow behind one of the trees, who had heard everything, until he stepped forward. Everyone stopped laughing because he looked so serious.

'What's wrong, Kenji?' said Airi, rather alarmed at his expression.

'Maybe an alien abducted him!' said someone, and they all laughed.

'What's so funny about all this?' said Kenji, who looked so much in earnest that Airi did not laugh.

His classfellows looked at him with confused faces.

'I said, what is so funny about this? About aliens? About war?'

'Oh, come on, don't be weird about this too, man,' said one of the boys. 'Anything which starts with aliens is bound to be laughed at! Everyone knows there's no such thing!'

'Why not?' said Kenji. 'Do you really think that only humans can exist in this universe and no one else?'

Everyone fell in thoughtful silence.

'How are you going to have a fair fight with any extraterrestrial life if you are too busy in childish laughter and joking rather than facing the reality and strengthening your mutual unity and combat?' continued Kenji hotly.

'Calm down, Kenji,' said Airi anxiously. 'I assure you, if all this were really true, it would be in some main newspaper, not a tabloid like this!'

'What's a tabloid?' said Kenji frustratedly.

'He's nuts,' muttered someone, and they shook their heads.

'I bet some alien kidnapped his mother and he's gone funny since then,' said someone else, and they all laughed.

'Oh, shut up, everyone!' said Airi, annoyed.

'Beware, Airi, before you become as crazy as he is!' said Rei with a cruel smirk.

'He's not crazy! He's just... different, okay?!' said Airi. 'Come on, Kenji, let's go somewhere else!'

Kenji looked at her sideways as she walked next to him before they chose to sit in the shade of a huge, flowery hedge.

'I didn't mean to cause a disruption like that,' he said with a sigh. 'I'm sorry, Airi.'

'No, it's fine!' said Airi. 'I think you're right. I mean, who knows what life is out there, right? One feels so small when one thinks of the universe...'

'Yes,' agreed Kenji thoughtfully.

'But, Kenji?'

'Yeah?'

'You did overreact a bit... You really mustn't take everything so seriously all the time...'

'I suppose you're right...'

They ate together in silence.

'So, what is a tabloid?' asked Kenji again.

'Oh, a newspaper that actually has mostly fake news,' said Airi.

'That kind of defeats the point...'

Airi laughed. 'Yeah, it's more sensational and entertaining, that's why people read them.'

'But news is a serious matter! It can change lives!' exclaimed Kenji.

'Yeah, well... some people seem to have forgotten that... everything is sensationalism nowadays,' sighed Airi.

'This needs to be changed. It is not right!'

Airi smiled. 'I think you have a good heart. I know you'll do something good one day, bring about some change.'

Kenji thought of his mission and wondered for the first time if it counted as good or not.

'Do you think it's okay to do a little bad to achieve a lot of good?' he asked.

'No,' said Airi. 'Evil begets evil. Good begets good. Plain and simple.'

'Hmmm,' said Kenji, getting up. 'Well, I'm going back home, then.'

'Where do you live, by the way?' asked Airi.

'Oh... somewhere,' said Kenji nervously, walking away almost immediately before she could ask anything else.

Instead of going home, he went to visit Shen-ja.

'Back so soon, Xiennan? Is something the matter?' he asked.

'Have you read The Star Report?' said Kenji, handing his companion the copy he had secretly picked up earlier when no one was looking.

'No, why should I?' said Shen-ja, looking at the headline before his eyes widened. 'These humans are more clever than we thought...'

'Yes, they are. You must beware of this General,' said Kenji.

'He seems dangerous — him and his entire team. By the way, do you know, I have been recruited today as an officer as we planned,' said Shen-ja. 'Using the Force, of course, to navigate the tricky points,' he added.

'Oh, congratulations.'

'No, I need to get close to this general before I can be remotely pleased with my work,' said Shen-ja, shaking his head worriedly.

'Well, tsush liex,' said Kenji. 'And now I must return before I have to resort to using umbrellas again!'

Shen-ja smiled, wider than Kenji had ever seen him smile before; it made him look better somehow.

'Is this what a joke is?' he said, still smiling.

'Finally, you got it!' exclaimed Kenji with a grin.

'I guess they're not that bad after all...'