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Futuristic Starfall

As Mal used the removing of nails to distract herself from the conversation, she hummed. "I'm sure there are some cultures on Earth similar to that," she said. Mal had never paid much attention to cultural studies but she didn't doubt the possibility. "I mean, some cultures here have a thing called arranged marriage," she explained, planting a foot on the wall to help tug out a stubborn nail. Mal stumbled backwards when it came loose, clanking to the ground. "Each culture that partakes in that kind of thing has their own reasons for it, though. It's not a norm here in America." She muttered a quiet "Thankfully" before tugging out another nail.

After removing all four and the rotted plank, placing them in a pile, Mal looked over her shoulder at Fym with a raised eyebrow. Looked down at the pile of nails. Chewed on her lip. "No, you're right," she admitted. "There are certain things in each culture, mine included, that prompt people to act... contradictory." She set on another plank, looping the hammer under the head of the nail. "Humans are complicated at best."

Pulling the first nail out, Mal waved Fym over and split the matryoshka hammer into two tools. A large hammer, which Mal handed to the alien, and a medium one that she kept for herself. "Do this," she demonstrated the removing of a nail, "to all of the planks that have mold or rot." Mal then pointed to the thick green mold covering the plank she was working on, then showed how on the sides a dark rot had begun eating away the rectangular shape into a more hourglass figure. "See?"
 

Fym nodded as she watched Mallory remove the nail from the rotting piece of wood, raising what could best described as an eyebrow when being handed the primitive tool.
"Organic material seems like such a poor alternative to artificial materials or metal." The alien mused as she picked up a plank from the treehouse floor, balancing it between her bizarrely long fingers as alien fingertips brushed over the mold.

"This was not built to last, was it?" Fym asked as she started removing the nails from the rotting wood, wondering if every terrestrial building was made from dead plants or if they did use more resilient materials.
An awkward silence started setting over the two as minutes went by preparing the treehouse and making it actually inhabitable.

Slowly glaring over to Mallory, Fym wondered why the terrestrial did not ask her about why she had come to earth anyways, instead having been caught up in rather personal questions about her home and her species' way of life. Yet not a single word of what she was actually seeking on the much smaller planet, it being rather obvious that she hadn't traveled so far through the cold cosmos just to visit an alien civilization with childish glee.

Extracting yet another metal nail and tossing it over to the rest, Fym let go of something only vaguely resembling a sigh, rubbing her temples as the alien broke the silence between them.
"Why do you help me?" the extra terrestrial asked, her translucent eyelids brushing over opal-shaped eyes as she nudged a bit closer to Mallory.
"My kind does not consider this a welcoming solar system. The last time we...Nevermind."

Pausing for a moment, Fym's secondary set of respiratory organs helped her inhale deeply as she tilted her elongated skull towards Mallory.
"Thank you. I was not prepared for first contact to be a non-threatening experience."



 
Mal breathed an airy laugh at the comment, pulling out one of the nails. "No, tree houses like this are typically not meant to last longer than childhood." And then she set to work again, amidst the growing awkward silence. Minutes ticked by and the two accumulated a decent pile of rusted nails and rotted boards. Mal picked up the nails before shoving the planks through a gap in the wall, watching them crash down onto the crispy fall leaves mounding by the intact swing set. The boards were gross and she'd rather not carry them down if she had to, but there were still plenty to detach still.

Standing, Mal brushed her palms against her sweatpants to soothe the red grip marks. Then, set at it again working beside Fym. It was chilly outside, the wind picking up and finding its way through the missing plank gaps of the walls, but Mal had still worked up a mild sweat. She paused, though, to contemplate her answer.

"It's the right thing to do," she said finally, "at least, in my mind." Plucked another nail from the wall; only, just the head snapped off, leaving the metal body sticking out from the wood. She frowned at it. "Humans don't appreciate things they can't understand," Mal explained. Reached out to try and grip the metal with her fingers and tug, though it didn't budge. "And it's not actually like they can't understand something. They just won't. Don't want to." Tried, this time, to grip it with the soft fabric of her pajama shirt in between. The motion exposed her lower abdomen to the cool air but, with enough grit and elbow grease, Mal managed to loosen the nail enough to pull it out without rubbing her fingers raw. "Finally!"

Mal looked to Fym with a triumphant smile, dropping the headless nail into the pile. Her smile softened, then, when Fym thanked her. "No problem. I'm glad it was me who found you, not some of the jackasses that live around here," she said. "So... your kind has been here before, then? I was going to ask more but-... well, I don't know. I didn't want to pry. Tried to keep to the basics, I guess."
 

The sight of Mallory explaining humanity's irrational fear of the unknown to her while trying to remove the rusted piece of metal from the moldy plank brought something resembling a smile to Fym's lips as the extra terrestrial listened to the young human.
"That's what I have been warned off before being sent out...I am glad my pod did not crash land somewhere more densely populated. I was not in full control of my capsule since despite your planet's small size its gravitational pull is exceptionally strong." Fym remarked, watching Mallory toss out the plank as it soon was reunited with its kin at the roots of the tree....

The fact that they were sitting on a tree, inside a house made of said plant's dead relatives was somewhat macabre and made Fym let go of a whistle-like click as she rested her hands on her muscular thighs.

"Yes...We have been here before." Fym finally spoke after a long pause, her voice unusually somber despite her pronunciation of human speech still being somewhat uncanny, produced by alien vocal cords that had never had the extensive learning process of acquiring human language.

"It is why I have returned to this planet. Because of something that had happened about sixty terrestrial solar circles ago. It was first contact, and we did not hear back from our kin. The journey across galaxies itself took several solar cycles and I do not know if they are still present on this planet." Fym explained, her fingers coming to meet each other at their tips as her purple gaze seemed to stare holes into the floor.

Slowly raising her head, Fym's eyes met Mallory's own.
"I have been tasked to retrieve them, if your kind did not end their lives before I even arrived." The alien's lips twitching as they revealed her ivory fangs, her canines unusually straight and pencil-like, ending in sharp, pointed edges.
Realizing that the gesture might have made Mallory' uncomfortable, Fym raised her hand to her lips, fingertips brushing against softer flesh....
"Excuse me... Know we do not wish your kind any harm. You have not begun to travel the stars yet and your planet does not offer us a lot of value that we'd seek to invade it. War is not the way of my people...Or at least it has not been for the past generation." The extra terrestrial added, gazing out of the window as her purple tubes bulged at her exhaling deeply, her eyes watching the vast terrestrial horizon.

"I fear for them, it is not something I should, for it will inevitably compromise my ability to operate." Sounding like some robot going on about the shackles of its programming, there was something in Fym's glare that betrayed her insecurity about her current situation.

Crash landed on a bizarre alien planet, filled with hostile individuals that would not hesitate to experiment on her, or worse. Not knowing if her kin still lived and where they were, the only stability she had in this moment being this little terrestrial lifeform she had formed a neural bond with.
Turning to face Mallory, Fym slowly lowered her head, closing those translucent eyelids of hers.
"I am sorry, you could not know you would be dragged into this, I will not take advantage of your hospitality. The time will come when I know where my search will lead me and by then I shall be on my way." Fym spoke slowly, the gem-like ornament on her forehead glowing a faint purple shine...



 
After tossing the plank Mal stood to assess the rest of the damage. One, two, three more planks - all floorboards - needed replacing. Not too bad, considering the treehouse had been neglected for a good decade now. She looked at Fym, more questions forming (“How big is your planet? What is it like?”), but opted to hold on to those for another day. Preferably when they weren’t so pressed for time; after checking her cellphone, Mal confirmed they only had a few hours before her parents’ estimated return time.

Pulling the next plank from the floor was ridiculously easy; with all the rot, it practically peeled itself, crumbling into smaller pieces in Mal's hands. She grimaced, wishing she'd thrown on some rubber gloves instead of her mother's fancy gardening ones. Brushed her palms together to rid the debris before looking over at Fym with wide eyes. The alien had been quiet for some time - Mal hadn't expected her to say anything more, based on the long pause in conversation. Hearing the beginnings of a story Mal didn't predict a happy ending for, she removed her gloves and set the hammer down. Made her way back over to Fym, lips tugging downwards. She sat in front of her, legs crossed, and listened.

Mal did not like what she heard. Mal also expected the story to unfold that way. It was the most overused trope in modern sci-fi movies that sympathized with extra terrestrials. Alien comes to Earth, alien gets abducted by planet government officials, and so on. It totally sucked, in the saddest of ways. Unable to help it - not that she would have otherwise, though, for the situation was dire - Mal's heart ached for Fym and the missing extra terrestrial.

When Fym raised her head and met Mal's eyes, starry purple met sky blue of daylight. The two resembled night and day, opposite in so many ways, yet still Mal felt a connection. Neural, emotional - whatever it was, Mal didn't really care. It took great effort not to take Fym's hand into her own, away from her bizarre ivory teeth, and give them a reassuring squeeze. Though, Mal knew she could offer no reassurance; the chance that Fym's kin had been safe all those 'solar cycles' was slim to none. Humans were horrible enough to one another; Mal doubted even Hollywood could capture the true atrocity of what the mysterious Area 51 would inflict on an actual alien.

Though Fym's reluctance to fear for her kin troubled Mal, she felt glad the alien cared in general. Made her less like a robot, despite her manner of speaking, and more living. She would say human but, like her brother, she'd never cared much for her own species. Humans could be kind but, more often than not, they were unnecessarily cruel.

"I don't know how much help I can be," she started, "but if you find you need something, I'll be here." Mal smiled then. "And, for the record, I think it's good that you care about their wellbeing. It makes you a better soldier, or whatever you are, than one who doesn't feel at all."

Several Hours Later: Midnight​

Mal rolled over in bed, the covers pulled up over her head. The screen of her cellphone illuminated a world of colored fabric beneath her blankets, even on the lowest brightness setting. Another week of early mornings and tired evenings awaited her, yet still Mal could not sleep. Instead, she repeated a checklist in the quiet of her room, triple checking to make sure she'd gotten Fym everything she needed before leaving for the night.

After repairing the treehouse, Mal had taken out several guest pillows from the closet in their spare bedroom along with a good three to four blankets, electric included. She'd grabbed some extra batteries, tucked safely in a plastic container, for said electric heated blanket. Brought out an armful of purified water bottles, chilled from the fridge, as well as an assortment of food that Mom hopefully wouldn't notice had dwindled in quantity: three cans of beans (with can-opener), some hotdogs Mal boiled up ahead of time, a plastic container of macaroni and cheese complete with plastic spork, and an assortment of different types of snack foods all bundled up in an old picnic basket. Gave Fym an emergency flashlight as well as Josh's old walkie-talkie Mal spent a good hour earlier in the day Googling to fix.

"All good," she murmured. Turned the display off, shrouding the room in darkness, and finally went to sleep.
 
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After their little heartfelt exchange Fym did not seem as somber as before she had shared what troubled her with Mallory, the silence that lay over them as they started fixing up the treehouse not being an unpleasant one. Not one of awkward, somewhat dreary melancholy, but one of understanding. Something Fym did not expect when she had crash landed on the foreign planet and and had given Mallory probably the biggest scare in her life as her jet-black form had emerged from a bizarre glowing egg deep inside a cold, nightly forest.

Their little project soon began taking shape as more of the moldy material was cast out into the the autumn air and the treehouse started to look much more inhabitable, something akin to happiness starting to make itself known in Fym's insectoid thorax, an emotion she had not felt ever since she had been tasked to travel to a planet that separated her from her people with an entire galaxy.

The terrestrial hours soon turned darker as the dim star that served as this system's sun soon started to disappear behind the horizon, coloring the sky in rich shades of orange and red, mirroring the many tree's colorful foliage.
Mallory had instructed her to stay inside the Treehouse, making Fym peek out of the window as she heard voices, managing to catch a fleeting glance of what looked like her human friend, but bigger. Deducing that the humans were the earthling's family.
Unlike the terrestrials, Fym herself had never known her biological parents, children of her kind being conditioned to do their intended task from an early age, not leaving them with time to make...friends.

The food Mallory had provided her with was strange, yet oddly satisfying to the extra terrestrial whose diet had consisted of nutrient pills throughout her journey through space.
The hotdogs having the familiar taste of meat, yet lacked any of the consistency Fym remembered, no muscle tissue or fat that made up most creature's bodies.

Being left to her own devices, Fym let her thoughts wander as the sky soon turned a deep blue, reminding her of her human friend's eyes as night soon started to envelop the planet.
Making herself comfortable in the nest-like construct made of pillows and sheets, Fym let go of a sigh, her purple tubes widening to allow cool air to flood her lungs as she closed her eyes.
The translucent membrane turning a milky white as it hid the purple orbs underneath....

Yet as she closed her physical eyes, her mental one widened, the alien's mind searching in the vast dreamscape that enveloped her in darkness.
Floating in pitch black, weightless and alone, Fym's eyes rolled around behind closed eyelids as she tried navigating through the mental landscape.

Feeling the familiar presence of Mallory not far from her, Fym keeping herself from reaching out and invade the young human's mind she focused, sending out a mental call that echoed through her dreamscape...
And allowed her to make out another just like hers, albeit much weaker...A cry for help.

Seeking to make contact with the strange signal, Fym sent out a mental hand to reach out at the mental presence.
And made her jolt up from her "sleep" with widened eyes and intensely glowing purple gem as she breathed heavily.
What she had seen would cause her one of many restless nights...


The A51-C headquarters was in complete disarray as scientists and other officials sped through the labyrinth-like corridors of the government facility, hectic chatter and the rustling sound of documents being passed around making the secret lab sound more like a kindergarten than just that: A facility specializing in matters of extra-terrestrial origin.

"What is this commotion all about?" Mrs. Connors asked as she came barging through the wide doorway leading to the communication's lab. A dozen scientists staring at flickering screens as the majority of them looked like they didn't sleep for at least 48 hours, shirts a crumpled mess and dark circles under their eyes.

"It's the subject. It..it's communicating." One of the agents mumbled, documenting some of the strange code their apparatuses picked up.
"I see that, Hopkins, do we have a point of origin or actual info on the contents of the message?" The head of the A51-C asked, gnawing on her bottom lip as her steel gray eyes stared at the machinery operating the countless satellites the facility had at its disposal.
"Yes and no. We might be able to narrow it down to a 30 mile radius but it'll take some time. We do not know if contact had been made and what the other party tried to accomplish, but Subject 01's neural stimuli were mostly those of distress."

Letting go of an annoyed grunt, Mrs Connors brushed a strand of graying black hair out of her face.
"Fix that. Increase 01's tranquilizers and try finding that signal." The head of the A51-C ordered as her eyes rested on the erratic jagged frequency of unknown origin.
"This time we should be better prepared."


The next morning Fym awoke more exhausted than when she had actually tried sleeping, the planet's shorter day and night cycle requiring some getting used to as the milky white of her eyelids cleared up as she blinked.
Her purple eyes wandering around the treehouse as the faint shine of the morning sun reached through the window, raising her hands to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

Last night's occurrences still weighing heavily on her but at least she knew they were alive...And by some extent knew how to proceed.
It would take time.
Time she did not have judging by the intensity of the mental scream that had shaken her to the bone, every fiber of her being feeling bizarrely alien, as if it had been possessed by a different entity.

All she remembered from the incident were flickering images and...emotions, a blurry mess of memories that needed to be pieced back together if she wanted to trace its origin back to her kin.
And yet she wished never having to think about those screaming snippets of information again, the overpowering torrent of emotions linked to them not something she'd willingly subject herself to.
But she had too, and slowly rising from her makeshift nest of pillows and sheets, Fym slowly shuffled towards the window, her triple-jointed legs wobbling as they tried remembering how to walk.
Gazing out of the window, Fym wondered where her terrestrial ally was, knowing that she would need her help if she were to trace back the emergency signal to its place of origin.

Today would be a long day...


 
Monday, Fall Season​
The following Monday morning went as usual: A tired Mallory Douglas dragged herself out of bed at the crack of dawn to prepare for swim practice. Made sure her backpack had all of her academic supplies and her swim bag held her more personal necessities. Nearly forgot to pack herself a dry change of clothes - that would have been unfortunate - in her sleepy haze. Brushed her hair into a small nub, took care of her teeth, and threw on her gym clothes over her schools' swimsuit. With a piece of toast dangling from her teeth, Mal set her car into gear and pulled out of the driveway. Made it halfway to school before realizing:

Shit! Fym!

But she didn't have time to return home and check up on Fym. If she did, she'd definitely be late and would have to do land exercises as punishment. Mal shuddered - she hated push ups. She arrived on time and did her assigned laps for the next two hours, though her mind wasn't in it. Showered away the chlorine and but not the worry. She couldn't help but think of Fym and if she'd been okay during the night. Did I leave her enough food and water? Did she have enough blankets? Is she okay?

The rest of the school day went as usual: A fatigued Mallory Douglas dragged herself to each class, trying hard to pay attention but not really giving a care. Only, instead of doodle stick figures in her notebook, she attempted to draw something with meaning. A tall, triple-jointed figure with long fingers and a slender build. Rows of bizarre teeth and a neck lined with tubes. A gem at the center of its forehead, small leaden lines indicating its glow. Mal leaned back in her seat after shading the drawing. Frowned. As hard as she'd tried to draw Fym, her work looked distorted and ugly. If only she had Josh's skill, maybe she'd have done it justice.

Josh... Mal tapped the eraser of her pencil against her chin, long since zoned out of the history lecture she was supposed to be paying attention to. Should I tell him? He'd be really cool about it, but... It wasn't really Mal's secret to share. She trusted her brother one-hundred percent, but what would Fym think if she were to reveal her existence to someone Fym did not know? The alien had already expressed a (totally reasonable) wary predisposition of humans. Plus, just because Mal trusted her brother didn't mean Fym would. Mal knew Fym for a solid day and a half; she'd think the alien naive if Fym were to trust her right off the bat, no questions. Mal groaned and ran her fingers through her bobbed hair.

"Do we have a problem, Mallory?"

Mal's head shot up to look at the teacher - alongside the rest of her staring classmates. Offered him a sheepish grin. "No, uh. Sorry. Headache... my bad."

"It's alright. Just try to pay attention."

"Yes sir."

Monday after school did not go as usual: An exhausted Mallory Douglas drove home but did not drag herself upstairs, back under her covers. Instead, she grabbed some leftovers from yesterday's dinner and left home immediately - around five in the afternoon. Walked up to the tree house and spotted the curtains pulled back, exposing the tree house innards through the large glass window. I'll have to remind her to keep it closed - Dog Man still walks his dog around here. Made her way up the stairs and into the tree house with a twist and a click of the new doorknob.

"Hey, Fym," she held out a tub of lasagna and two forks, the container big enough for them to share. "Sorry I didn't come by this morning - was running late for swim practice. Brought my mom's lasagna to make up for it. Hungry?"
 

Fym had spent most of the day evaluating possible ways to proceed on her quest, her thoughts still haunted by the horrifying experience of connecting with a tortured and wrecked mind trying to reach out in a call for help. But it was all she needed to know, that they were still alive, somewhere on a foreign planet only about a third as big as her homeworld.

She had safely stored away her spaceship deep inside the forest and the only tools she had brought with her was the jet black spacesuit with the metallic panel on her thorax.
It having been the prime object of her interest throughout the terrestrial day's early hours as Fym had used the panel to try deciphering the signal that had invaded her mind the night before, having left a cracked code that must have been coordinates, or something that might lead her to her kin.

Fym did not even realize that it had been getting late, as suddenly Mallory came barging into the treehouse with the extra terrestrial sitting on the floor, long fingers tinkering with the transmitter of her chest-piece.
The console emitted the same strange glow that the young human was subjected to when she had found Fym's escape pod as the eerie hum of holograms filled the treehouse.

Noticing Mallory entering, Fym's long fingers fidgeted with the jet black chest piece, putting it back in place as it melded back into her black spacesuit, her purple eyes blinking at Mal with a curious look.
Inhaling deeply at the strange scent of some form of human food, Fym tilted her head to the side, her eyes wandering from Mal to the Lasagna and back.

"Lasa..gna?" Fym asked, raising what could best described as an eyebrow as her hands met her strong thighs, raising her tall frame from the ground as she took a few steps towards Mallory, looming over her as her lips shifted into a bizarre smile-like gesture.
"As a matter of fact I do feel hunger, though I do suppose you earthlings indulge in eating for more than just sustenance." Fym added, her eyes wandering over to the strange arrangement of different ingredients that made the alien wonder why humans chose to do such a thing and not just consume them separately.

Not wanting to bother Mallory with the occurrences of last night, fym decided to not mention her reaching out on a neural level, knowing that it'll lead to questions she did not have the answers for.


 
Mal noted the purple glow of the console first when she walked in. Made a mental note to, by the end of the night, ask about it and the gem on Fym's forehead. She'd drawn the gem several times while at school yet still did not know what it was, only that it had probably been an important component to their 'mind melding' yesterday. Not knowing what else to call it, Mal had dubbed the event as such. It sounded silly to her, like something out of one of Josh's many comic books, but it fit well enough. They had, technically, shared their minds with one another. Still weird, definitely, but also... kind of nice, in a way. Maybe if humans could do something like that so naturally, they'd have a better chance at understanding one another.

She craned her neck back to look up at Fym, something that within even just two days Mal had grown accustomed to. Dropped her backpack on the floor and nudged it to the side. Closed the door behind her with her foot. "Yep, lasagna," she said, offering Fym a fork. Raised a brow, but then laughed some at Fym's observation. "Yeah, humans like food. A lot. We eat all the time - some more than others - even if we're not hungry." Racked her brain for the reason why, then hummed, remembering. "Might be because of how kids are raised, but when humans eat tasty food, a chemical called dopamine releases in our brains and makes us happy. Other things do it, too, but food is a big one."

Popping off the lid, Mal nodded towards the small Dora the Explorer kiddie table in the corner, green paint rusted but not crumbling. The chairs were too small for them to use, not to mention broken, so Mal had thrown them out the other day while cleaning up. Set the food down, along with some napkins she'd stuffed into her swim team hoodie pocket earlier. "Were you okay last night? I meant to check on you this morning but, well, yeah..."
 

Fym's eyes seemed to widen as the extra-terrestrial took in the new information, her brow furrowing into a confused expression.
"That is strange. So your kind does not simply eat to sustain themselves, or just consume the required amount to guarantee bodily functions and the continued survival of the organism. Interesting, so to what exactly is this dopamine released, is it taste?" Fym asked as she slowly sat down next to the much too small table, resting her tall frame against one of the least moldy walls as she watched Mallory take a seat as well and hand her a fork, eyeing the weird metallic object as the human asked her about last night.

Knowing that keeping things from Mallory would not be advised if she wanted to get all the help she would need, Fym still decided against sharing all the information, an oh so human way of thinking.
"I did find a lead that might take me to my kin, it is a signal that I have yet to fully decipher but apart from that there was nothing out of the ordinary, if I'd be able to classify anything of this as ordinary..." The alien spoke before biting her lower lip with those Ivory teeth of hers as she realized she had just used a certain speech act known as sarcasm, without even consciously having wanted to do so.

Her eyes wandering over to Mallory, Fym lowered her shoulders, the tense muscles of her thin body relaxing as her long fingers ran along the curve of her neck, brushing against her respiratory organ.
"I will be able to find them, it is a matter of time and the right equipment." The extra terrestrial continued as her finger pushed against the jet black metal panel on her chest, opening up under her touch as the alien device started to glow a faint purple, a round, pulsating hologram appearing on the display as the jagged frequency of the signal zapped past.

"You do utilize Satellite communication on this planet, do you?" Fym asked, her purple glare never leaving Mallory.
"If so may I be ab..." Just for the alien creature's body to protest, the dark pit on her abdomen stirring and letting go of a gurgling growl that made a faint purple blush appear on Fym's ashen gray face.
"E..Excuse me." The alien mumbled, lowering her gaze as her long fingers brushed over her unusually thin tummy.


 
After sitting on the floor by the table Mal paused, eyeing their dinner setup. Realized she'd forgotten the paper plates. Crap, she thought, and I barely made it home before Mom did. If I go back now, she'll wonder what I'm up to. I should make a check-list from now on... She reached out hesitantly with her fork to take a sizable chunk of warm lasagna, offering Fym a sheepish smile and a quiet "Forgot the plates, heh..." before taking a bite. She hoped Fym picked up on how to eat the lasagna, and also hoped that she'd never heard of plates before or their significance when eating a meal. Less embarrassing that way.

As Fym asked her next question, Mal chewed, thoughtful. Tried to think back on her tenth grade science class where the subject had first been introduced. Swallowing, she began to explain: "It could be the taste or the act of chewing, or both. Depends on the person and how addicted they are to eating. Say, myself: my favorite food is beans and rice - I'll show you those another day - and when I eat them, it makes me happy because they taste good. But, if I keep eating for emotional pleasure, I'll get addicted to the release of dopamine in my brain and associate feeling good with the act of eating itself." Mal then wiped her mouth with one of the napkins. "Humans can become addicted to any feel-good activity that releases dopamine in the brain, though, not just eating."

We are a species that craves happiness even at the cost of our own well-being. Josh would call that irony, I think.

"Ah, anyway, yeah... humans are weird." Mal took another bite of the lasagna. Listened to what Fym had to say about last night. She quirked a brow, noticing the sarcasm. Anyone with a brother as eccentric as the Joshua Douglas knew what sarcasm was. Mal grinned into the bite, though stayed quiet; Fym looked a little perturbed by the slip in speech. Still, Fym bore good news! Mal smiled, swallowing her second bite. Opened her mouth to speak, but paused when Fym opened the panel on her suit's chest. Mal stared at the glow, reminded that she had more questions to ask.

Those can wait. This is more important.

The growling of Fym's stomach startled Mal. Wide eyes devolved into a soft smile and she pushed the lasagna container closer to Fym. "We do have satellite communication, yeah," she said. Set her fork on one of her napkins and leaned back, palms outstretched and arms locked behind her. "I'm not really that good with tech-stuff but I'll try to help in any way I can. Just lemme know what you need and I'll figure it out."
 

Listening to Mallory explain how humans seemed to pursue activities that brought them enjoyment, Fym let go of a pensive click, raising a claw-like finger to her chin as she wondered how such a society could even function. With humans seemingly being slaves to their own bodies' chemistry them being invaluable cogs in a bigger machine that was civilization seemed bizarre and almost unthinkable. How would and individual strive to pursue what's best for its species rather than just mold its life to accommodate to provide them with feelings of joy and happiness.

And yet for some reason, Fym wanted to experience what humans did on a daily basis, one small taste of the strange terrestrial's life could not hurt and would be a valuable experience to allow her to understand the species unable of spacefaring and still caught up in petty wars with each other.

Eyeing Mallory as she ate some of the lasagna, Fym turned her attention to the human dish, raising the pronged instrument before slicing off some of it.
Scooping it up, Fym examined the strange terrestrial food as her jaws unhinged, putting the bite-sized piece into her mouth.

The taste odd and unlike anything she had ever tasted. The ingredients working together to achieve a sensation of her tastebuds she hadn't deemed possible.
Her purple eyes widening as she slowly began to chew, feeling the purple muscle of her tongue accustomed to sterile sustenance tingle at the unknown sensation the strange food made her experience.

In a mix of shock and awe, Fym's gaze darted over to Mallory as she swallowed, the tubes on her neck parting to allow a small bulge to travel down into her thorax.
Just for her to exhale deeply, her purple tongue licking over her thin ashen-gray lips.

What other secrets this terrestrial world would hold, Fym knew she would never have time to experience it all as she savored the lingering taste on her tongue, fingers coming to brush over her lips as she realized how awkward it must have been for Mallory to watch her.
Awkwardness...

An emotion she did not know, and neither did anyone of her kind, and yet she felt a strange warmth come to her cheeks, signaling an obvious emotional reaction.
Nodding swiftly as Mallory did promise to help her.

"I do not require any extensive knowledge. All I need is a map or database of this planet and some form of beacon capable of sending a signal across large distances. Is there such a thing in the general vicinity?" Fym asked, her eyes trailing off to the lasagna before returning to meet Mallory's own.


 
With a soft hum, Mal pondered Fym's list of items. A map would be easy enough to acquire - could pull one up online, really - but sending a signal... Hollywood told her to suggest a radio tower, but Mal glanced down curiously at her own cellphone. Sure, it costed an expensive internation plan to do so, but if she wanted she could call any number across the globe and reach the recipient. While she wasn't sure if using her cellphone would actually work or not, she could at least run it by Fym before spending the gas to drive out to the nearest radio tower.

Movement in her peripheral - before Mal knew it she'd looked to the ceiling, deep in thought - caught her eye and she turned her eyes to Fym. Watched her take a bite of the lasagna and nearly snorted at the reaction; she looked so surprised! Assuming Fym would react like that every time, Mal found herself eager to teach her more about humans and her world. What could she show her next? Sports, music, videogames? The last one made Mal grin wryly; she'd never been much into games. While she typically stuck to life simulators and whatnot, Josh had expressed pride in her skills at first person shooters. Maybe Fym would find them fun. Mal just had to show her.

But that would come later, because they were talking business now.

"If your kin is in the country, we might be able to use my cellphone," she said, pushing the android device across the table. "If they're not, we're going to have to hunt down a radio tower. Tomorrow I can get you a map of the world." If she couldn't find a three-dimensional globe, she'd make one with printed paper and a beach ball or something. "As for the database... maybe the internet would work?" Mal leaned backwards to grab the strap of her backpack, still sitting, before hauling it into her lap and straightening up. Rummaged inside before pulling out her laptop case. Exposed the metal device inside and set it up on the table so both of them could see the screen. Turned on the display, then pulled up the internet. "If you can figure out how to hack into the more classified databases - FBI, CIA, government kinda stuff - you can do anything with the internet."
 

The extra-terrestrial's eyes fell upon the various electronic devices Mallory presented to her, with the smaller device reminding her of the panel that served as her pod's and suit's main user interface, allowing her to access all the different functions that would prove invaluable to her quest.
And yet, looking at the terrestrial tech, Fym felt like a small child marveling at cavemen tools, the obvious plastic and metal devices seemingly running on electricity instead of bio-energy like her kind's own technology did.

Utilizing organic creature's body heat and electric signature to power the alien tech, Fym's species didn't let anything about themselves go to waste, from simple things like bio-electricity to not allowing her kind to waste any thought on individual expression. An extremely efficient hive-like machine...Cold, lifeless and without any more advancement as there was no need for it. Her species' survival was assured, there was no need for luxury and her kind simply existed like this for almost three hundred millennia, the only reason she was even on this planet, learning new things she could not even dream about, if she had even been allowed to dream, was to stop the potential threat to her kind.

Realizing she had been spacing out, the extra-terrestrial shook her head, her fingertips brushing over the gem-like structure on her head, glowing a faint purple ever since it had formed a mental bridge between two creatures that despite their different appearances and heritage were able to bond over something as simple as a good-hearted notion.

Her purple eyes shifted, coming to rest on Mallory, as a faint smile appeared on Fym's ashen gray face, shifting her rear on the ground to nudge closer and inspect the devices closer, her translucent membrane applying humidity to her opal-like eyes as she watched the 2d screen of Mallory's laptop.
"Analog technology, interesting." Fym mused with a curious click of her muscly purple tongue.

"What is the Internet?" The alien finally asked, having nudged closer to Mallory as she loomed over her, leaning over the small human's shoulder to stare at the computer screen.
"Oh, and I think that small device might not be able to send a signal very far, I might have use for it though. I do need to....translate...the signal into a terrestrial one and then back into its original form." fym talked to herself, gnawing her bottom lip like she had seen Mallory do so often herself as her long finger pushed against the Laptop's screen.

"Huh...Does not register touch...maybe my biology is incompatible with terrestrial technology." A somewhat disappointed click leaving Fym's throat, the alien rested her pointy chin on Mallory's blonde head...
Only for her to quickly shift her position, mumbling some excuses as she noticed she had been invading Mallory's comfort zone.



 
Noticing the purple gem again, Mal had to bite down a curious inquiry. Now was not the time to ask questions; they, specifically Mallory herself, needed to focus. Needed to find a way to contact the other alien, wherever they might be. So, instead of continue openly staring like some tourist, Mal turned her eyes towards the laptop screen. "The internet is-," Mal paused mid-explanation, feeling Fym looming over her from behind. The gesture was innocent enough, Mal certain Fym only did so out of curiosity as to what was on the screen, but the close-proximity felt overwhelming. She'd just have to ignore it, though. Bringing it up might make things awkward, which she definitely did not want. So, clearing her throat, Mal continued: "The internet is kind of a... hub of information that people can access across the planet. Granted, they need something that can connect to the internet itself, like a smartphone or a laptop, as well as the connection itself. Helps people communicate long distances and learn information they normally wouldn't have access to with a library."

As if to show her, Mal pointed to the little Google Chrome icon at the bottom of the task bar. "This leads to the internet. Go on, click it." Only, when Fym clicked the icon nothing happened. Mal frowned some, wondering-... Oh, maybe our temperature differences? I think I read somewhere that some touch screens use body heat as a way of coordinating the cursor. Mal couldn't think of anything that might bring up Fym's body temperature aside from a fever, which didn't seem like the best idea. Yeah, keep your extra-terrestrial guest constantly ill so they can use a touch screen.Totally reasonable. Clicking it for her instead, a webpage consumed the screen in white, followed by the loading of news articles and an empty search bar.

"No biggie. We can get you a mouse-," Mal's words cut off abruptly, there, with a quiet hitch of breath. A light weight had settled on the top of her head, the feel of cool skin seeping through to her scalp. Fym moved away just as quickly as it took for Mal's face to erupt in scarlet. Not daring to make eye contact, Mal forced a shrug and pointed to the screen. "This- Ah, yeah, this is the internet. Um... you can type in stuff here," she said, pointing to the search bar. "Right here. Yep."

I sound like a dumbass.

Can I just stop?

I shouldn't be freaking out over every little thing.

There are cultural differences at play here.

Calm down, dammit.

Calm.

Down.
 

Shifting her tall frame, Fym created distance between the two of them, a faint purple color adoring her ashen gray cheeks as the alien's opal-like eyes came to rest on Mallory, blinking at her with what could best be described as an awkward curiosity.
Mallory's response to the extra-terrestrial invading not only her planet but also her personal space was bizarre to Fym, being used to her race's customs where individuality did not matter and everyone was painfully obvious about their intentions.

Yet this terrestrial race of soft-skinned beings was far from being direct with their emotions and chemical processes that governed their feelings.
And it was rubbing off on Fym, who, glaring at the red colour of Mallory's cheeks, soon found her purple glare to wander upwards to blink at her in curiosity.
Her finger extending and poking her fleshy cheek.

"What is the purpose of this change in color?" Fym asked with a click leaving her throat, only for her fingers to brush against her own face, feeling the warmth of the skin underneath her eyes.
"And why am I imitating it?" The extra terrestrial added in bewilderment before shaking her head, glancing over to the electronic device and the search engine.

Silent for a few moments, Fym adjusted her tall frame, crossing her legs as she nudged closer to the laptop, extending her fingers over the keyboard.
"Interesting, a button for almost every terrestrial sign..." The alien mused before slowly scouting for those five fateful letters.

A

L

I

E

N


ALIEN

The first search result opening up the wikipedia article of the movie of the same name.
Fym's eyes widening as her eyes read through the description and scrolled past, taking in some of the information of the film before turning towards Mallory with an even paler visage.
"I thought your kind did not travel space, nor had first contact with different species already. But apparently you did find some parasitic creature that uses living hosts to hatch its larvae, we lack databases on such beings..." Fym whispered, her purple tubes bulging as she took in a deep breath, looking up more facts on aliens the fabled INTERNET would provide her with.

Putting on the search for pictures and skimming through the vast gallery of extra terrestrial life, Fym would once again turn to Mallory, her hands coming to rest on the earthling's shoulders.
"This is so fascinating, your kind seems to have met so many different species all across the galaxy, most of them being unknown to my kind, I must know more!...Also, what is the Area 51 that so many of these databases speak of?" The alien continued, her lips moving at a breakneck speed as the gem on her forehead glowed even more intensely.



 
Clearing her throat, Mallory resumed perusing the internet. A few keystrokes in and she'd pulled up a website called YouTube; another set, plus the addition of a tab, and she'd called up something she mumbled as "This is my email, a means of communication"; and, finally, a third tab later she'd drawn up another search bar labeled Google. "This is the best search engine," she explained. "I can never get it to default on my computer, though... ah, but, um, yeah. You can look up stuff here. Yields the best results."

When Fym didn't respond Mallory spared her a glance. She appreciated the distance put between them - Mallory had never been very good in social situations to begin with, let alone those of close proximity - but feared she may have offended Fym somehow. Cultural differences, she reminded herself. Perhaps Fym's species were more open than humans were. She'd probably fit along well in Europe, a continent that, according to her cultural studies teachers, did not conform to the same ideals of personal space that the United States of America did. Mallory didn't know, though - she'd never visited nor did she plan to. Talking to strangers stressed her out enough; Mallory couldn't imagine speaking with strangers of a completely different language.

Though, isn't that what she'd done with Fym? An entirely different species, too - not even human. They'd cheated a little - or, at least, gotten ahead of the game by mind-melding or whatever the hell they'd done. It hadn't occurred to Mallory until now that perhaps the mind-melding meant something significant in Fym's world, to her people. Was it something done casually, amongst strangers, for a better comprehension of one another? Or was it something more suited for close friends and partners? Mallory figured she should ask at some point, though didn't know how to, exactly. If only she'd acquired the suave confidence of her brother, then maybe, just maybe, she'd be better at this. Wouldn't be going tomato-red every time Fym invaded her personal space, like a blushing schoolgirl.

A finger came out of nowhere and poked her in the cheek, startling her. Mallory's eyes blew wide and she blinked at Fym. Despite her mind's protest, she flushed an even darker shade of red upon Fym's inquiry. "Um... it's kind of, erm..." Mallory brought a hand up, fingers cold from the chill in the air, to cup her own neck. The wave of heat rolling off her skin mingled with the frost of her fingertips, helping to warm her but also steady her nerves. "It's called a blush," she said. "It's a... what do you call it... Erm, here."

Avoiding eye contact, Mallory typed in the definition of blush into Google and tapped enter. Clicked a weblink and brought up an online dictionary. "Here," she said. Cleared her throat and began to read: "Blushing is the reddening of a person's face due to psychological reasons. It is normally involuntary and triggered by emotional stress, such as that associated with embarrassment, anger, or... romantic stimulation." Instead of stop there, Mallory continued reading - albeit it at a much quicker pace than before, nearly stumbling over her words to end the definition on a less embarrassing note. "Severe blushing is common in people who suffer social anxiety in which the person experiences extreme and persistent anxiety in social and performance situations."

Inhaled a deep breath, because she'd read it all in one go, and glanced at Fym. "Humans are... sensitive creatures, I guess," she explained. Chewed on her bottom lip. Then, suddenly, quirked a brow and met Fym's eyes with her own. "Wait, you've never blushed before?"

If only I had that luxury, Mallory thought.

She couldn't dwell much longer on that, though, for within the span of the next few moments Fym had taken it upon herself to type in 'alien' into the search bar. Already knowing what would pop up, Mallory opened her mouth in protest - but she was too late. Articles, pictures, and video clips regarding the movie popped up and Fym was reeling with the information. The extra-terrestrial seemed so excited, Mallory hated breaking the news to her: that it was all fiction, purely made up to satiate human curiosity where NASA's technological advances could not.

"It's ah... Those are... Hm. Those aren't, exactly, real..." Mallory said. She paused, then. "At least, not the alien parts. Area 51 is real - my friend's dad went there, like, twenty years ago or something - but the aliens are made up. You know... for fun?" She picked at her nail, then, nerves bubbling in her chest. Would Fym think humans weird for fictionalizing extra-terrestrials? Weirder than she probably already did? "Area 51 is, like, a conspiracy theorists dream. A remote air base in the middle of nowhere outside Las Vegas - the desert - that the government won't talk about. People speculate that they have aliens there, hidden away, but there hasn't been any proof."

Something struck her, then: an idea. Mallory's brows lifted, eyes brightening. "Do you think your kin might be at Area 51?" She asked, not really expecting Fym to have a definitive answer; Fym hardly knew anything about Earth as it was, much less its customs and locations. "I mean, it'd be my best guess. Would be kind of hard to keep an alien anywhere else and keep it hush-hush."
 

Despite her eyes flicking over countless images of creatures akin to herself, Fym's could not help herself but find herself dwell on the realization that the time she spent with the terrestrial was slowly rubbing off on her. It had started when their minds had become one, exchanging not only their dearest memories rooted deep within their being, but also having assimilated them to become their own. It had been an exchange of not only knowledge, but something far more...intimate. And it made Fym question if she could ever return home and live among her people when her mind was so obviously being changed with every passing moment she shared with Mallory.

Her mission was one of rescue and returning home safely, yet it seemed in attempting to save her kin stranded on this blue planet circling a dim star, she was putting her own integrity in danger.
Something far from calculated, machine-like thought became second nature to her and Fym found herself growing closer to a creature so different to her own self...and yet not alien to her, not anymore.

And she would give into yet another human emotion that served no true purpose other than to indulge in playful thought when she allowed herself to scroll through countless images of other extra terrestrials.
Curiosity. Something her kind did no longer possess, knowing how the galaxies drew its endless circles around the universe, they knew of the spheres that supported life, and those who did not. Of dying planets and the stars that would implode only to give way to new life, and yet she found herself caught in an endless spiral of letting her purple gaze take in images of beings that did not exist.

Shaking her elongated head softly, Fym inhaled deeply, the purple tubes that lined her neck bulging as they transported terrestrial air into her primary set of alien lungs before exhuming it through the orifices lining her chest.
Her warm "breath" sending misty haze into the cool autumn air as the Alien would focus her attention on what Mallory was saying, her "brow" raised as the terrestrial girl explained her kind's apparent amazement over creating things that did not exist.

"Why do you humans take so much joy in such things? In false creatures and events that sometimes even scare your own kin? Why would a species think about an alien race that reproduces by using human bodies as a nesting ground? it seems bizarre to me that you humans seem to enjoy such imagined things." Fym mused, poising a thin finger on her lips as she would think about how oddly fascinating the human's way of utilizing their mental capacity for creativity was, when Mallory asked her about the possibility of her captured kin being held in Area 51.

"It might just be a coincidence but last night when I reached out to feel out their presence I managed to place their geographical position somewhere in the heart of this continent. Something that resembles my home, albeit only in topography." Fym would speak, as she'd turn to face Mallory, the extra terrestrial's starry eyes meeting the girl's own as her lips formed a tin line.

"I do not know how to separate the information I found into facts and extravagant imaginations of your kind, but if at least some of it is true then I...we...need to find them. When I found them, my mental presence seemed to cause them both relief and distress in equal amounts...I..." The extra terrestrial continued as she rose to her full height, her elongated head colliding with the low roof as she'd flinch, her visage contorting as a simple "Ow..." left her lips...

Her eyes widening as she realized the little human gesture she had instinctively produced, the purple orbs shifting in their sockets as they'd find the terrestrial's face again.
"Have you experienced any changes to your being, Mallory?" Fym would speak slowly, something lingering in her voice, concern maybe?

"Any physical or psychological ills that occurred after our minds had become one?"
For Fym had changed herself, and she did not know if it was for the better. The future that seemed like a linear path for her a mere two earthly rotations back now split into numerous smaller ones, each leading her to a different fate. No longer was her mission, the return to her homeworld and her service to her people the only thing her mind would dwell on. And it was a thought that left an aching sensation in her bizarrely formed chest, even though there was no physical cause for it....



 
Now, that was a question Mallory herself would like to know. She'd never been a fan of horror films - that was more Josh's area of expertise - and found herself with a lack of desire to get unabashedly terrified in the late hours of night. Though, she did enjoy the rush of adrenaline lacrosse offered; that spike of feeling surging through her chest whenever the ball was tossed towards her, or the opponents pulled ahead on the scoreboard.

"I think humans scare themselves with horror and the unknown because..." we want to feel something? To voice it aloud sounded so morbid, pessimistic, yet she could not think of another way to phrase it. "Humans are bored," she explained slowly, trying to make Fym understand without painting humans in too bad a light. "It's the same thing, day in and day out, yet we don't handle routine very well. We're... eccentric creatures. Then again, we don't really handle change the best, either." She looked to Fym for the last part, knowing fully well from too many Hollywood movies and her own planet's constant in-fighting that humans had trouble accepting things they did not understand.

Humans may be growing more numb with each generation, but they still weren't ready for a new development like Fym. It worried Mal about what might have happened to the missing alien they were looking for. Even though neither it nor Fym were technically her responsibility, she wanted to help. The only problem? She had no idea how to.

"Can you tell me what your home looks like? Erm..." Mal looked back to the computer screen and pulled up a map, searching out geographical locations within a decent radius of it's center. There were several, for her search calculated a rather large diameter, and she hadn't a clue which one resembled Fym's planet. Truth be told, she didn't know much about her planet at all aside from a few bits of cultural information. "Here," she said, glancing at Fym and catching sight of her tense expression. It made her want to help even more. Imagine how scared she must be, Mal thought. If I was stranded on an alien planet that glamorized kidnapping and experimenting on extra-terrestrials I'd be terrified. "There are several tabs pulled up with images that might help us narrow down the search."

But Fym had already begun standing and bumped her head into the ceiling. Mal found herself at a cross between fretting over Fym's well-being - What if her head is fragile, like our bellies? Our necks? What if-... - and laughing, because Fym's reaction was so muted compared to the thunk that the human girl couldn't help but find it humorous. In mere seconds, however, Fym met her eyes appearing quite alarmed.

Changes? Mallory hadn't noticed any changes, and she certainly hadn't fallen ill - unless turning her childhood tree house into an alien vacation home counted as such, which she didn't think so. Then again, had the Mallory of two days ago so much as considered that statement, she would have dropped into the seat of her campus counselor and asked for an evaluation.

"I don't think so... am I supposed to?" A thought occurred and, curiously, leaned back to have a full view of the alien standing beside her. "Are you?"
 

The extra terrestrial's purple eyes blinked at Mallory, confused about humans' apparent desire to distract themselves from their lives' monotony by indulging in matters of of fiction and inpropability.
"I see, so your kind enjoys the sense of danger of such activities without the actual harm that might come to them if they were faced with such things." And for the first time since the alien had been introduced to human concepts, her lips shifted into what seemed to be an expression of amusement.
"That is quite bizarre indeed, but somewhat ingenious in that regard. You stimulate your senses, earning the intended response but not putting yourself at risk. That concept does make sense, yes." Fym would continue, nodding...

Nodding, a gesture she had not yet applied to conversation. Unlike on her home world where conversation was brief, only including things relevant to either party, and devoid of any emotion, humans did have a system of gestures that accompanied their social contact.

But as she stood up, bumping her head on the tree house's ceiling, a bolt of pain surged through her head, causing the purple crystal on her forehead glow a brightly for a moment, the light outlining the variety of veins running along her elongated visage.
Her hand would come to rub her head, feeling the lingering pain slowly dissipate as her purple eyes would find Mallory's own, an amused shine lingering in her gaze that soon faded as Fym would ask about any changes she might have experienced after the melding of their minds.

"I do not know if you should. The exchange usually just transpires between two members of the same species. It is a simple exchange of neurological information on a bio-molecular level...So it does not cause any changes for my kind...But I do feel different." Fym would mumble, averting her purple gaze as that translucent membrane akin to eyelids would come to cover her eyes for a brief moment.

Something resembling a sigh would leave her parted lips as her eyes would come to examine her long, slender fingers, returning to meet Mallory's blue orbs.
"I have come into concepts foreign to me, alien to my race, I have learnt to accept them and...practice them." The alien would continue, indicating at her having mimicked social cues like blushing and other reactions.
"I do not know if you will have been influenced by my part of the exchange as well, but I...I have changed." Fym would remark as her eyes would suddenly widen, her body nudging a few inches away from Mallory as she'd defensively raise her bizzarrely elongated hands.

"Do not mistake this as an accusation, I do not regret sharing one mind with you, if only for a moment. I am grateful that I have found someone like you to help me." Fym explained as her lidless eyes would roll around in alien eyesockets, finding Mallory's PC and the many pictures of terrestrial landscapes.

Her starry orbs wandered over the images as a pensive look would adorn her pale visage, the gem of her forehead humming as it emitted a faint glow.
One picture did catch her interest and her long finger would point at an image depicting a desert landscape.

Albeit one of warmer hues, unlike the gray stone planes ravaged by great solar storms, the image she was presented with depicted an environment that did make the alien feel something..
A longing? Something that made her think fondly of home, a sensation she had never felt before.
"This. I saw it when I reached out to my missing kin, the surface structure is similar to our home. The outer layer of my planet is hostile, uninhabitable for a lot of flora and fauna, there are save havens underneath, thermal spots rich in the things necessary for survival. My kin once lived on the surface, wandering from one Oasis to the other in seasonal cycles...But we have evolved to simply build our own sanctums where we cultivate the things needed for our society to function. There are great spheres and towers reaching into the skies, harvesting solar energies and the warmth of our planet's core to sustain our continued survival. In the colder days further away from our sun, where our three moons reflect its light, the surface is covered in crystallized water, and in the warmer ones the stone is rendered too hot to tread on." Fym seemed happy to tell Mallory of her home, what would have been a short exchange of topographic information like a conversation between two members of her own race, had instead been the alien sharing another part of herself with the human girl.

"I do believe my kind is being kept underground, somewhere in that kind of desert environment that I have seen in my mind." The extra terrestrial once again affirmed, gazing down at Mallory.
"We need to look for them there. Maybe if I reach out again I might find out more...But whoever holds them captive might trace back my signal, and that would put you in harms way. I cannot possibly be responsible for that. I would need something to distract them, a place rich with signals that might confuse them, blur out our tracks. But first I need to find a way to strengthen my transmission." Fym would babble on at breakneck speed, her alien lips shifting into all manners of expressions as she talked human words that were nothing like the clicks that made up her species' speech.

"Excuse me, I must have gotten ahead of myself, Mal. I am sorry to burden you with such things but your help is invaluable to me."

 
At first Mallory thought it would be perceived as stupid, how humans trick themselves into feeling something, but, much to her delight, Fym actually seemed to smile. She didn't think she'd seen the extra terrestrial make such an expression since landing on Earth and, while Mal wasn't entirely sure it was a smile, per say, Fym definitely looked amused. It made her feel less self-conscious of her own species, especially when Fym complimented the practice.

Of all people in the world, Mallory never expected to be one who'd come in contact with aliens. She worried enough daily about what other humans would think of her; to add in someone who gave the word "foreigner" a new definition would be expected to be nerve wrecking, yet, if anything, Mal felt a small sense of confidence swirl in her chest. A rare feeling she usually only experienced when she was returned a stellar test grade or did exceptional during her swim team matches. This time, however, she chalked it up to the praise. As far as Mal knew, she hadn't changed drastically enough to attribute it to the mind melding.

Yet, truth be told, she didn't know what to expect from that.

"Maybe-... Maybe you're feeling different because it was with a human?" It was the only thing Mal could think of. "I-I mean, well, we're different. Erm, different DNA and everything. That probably counts for something. And if not, then it might be because we're spending time together?"

Spending time together. Spending time together with an alien. It was a bizarre thought, the latter, but despite that Mal found herself more open with Fym - though that wasn't much, considering her social awkwardness and tendency to be shy - than any of her school friends. Perhaps it had to do with their differences; Fym would not judge her through the eyes of a human, because she wasn't human, and Mal had never really gotten along with her own species too well.

She wondered if she would change, as Fym claimed she herself had - though Mal did not notice the differences, likely due to having met Fym so recently. What would the change be like? Would she like it? Hate it? So many nights over the last few years Mal had stayed up, staring at the ceiling, yearning to be someone else. Anyone else. She doubted if, given the opportunity, she'd ever want to be the person she was today.

Quiet. Timid. Unassuming with too many secrets, too many flaws, and not enough confidence to embrace them.

Scared.

But then she began to wonder: Did Fym appreciate her own developments, or did she regret sharing minds with Mallory? Consider her a bad influence? What if Fym had liked who she was before, unlike Mal herself, and yearned for what had been replaced? The spark of confidence in her chest began to dwindle, yet she tried hard not to show it. Almost as if on cue, Fym raised her hands and stepped back. Put Mallory's mind at ease, somewhat, by admitting she felt no regret. That she was grateful to have found Mallory and been able to enlist her aid.

She relaxed. Let out a silent breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Okay." I'm glad.

Upon Fym pointing out a stock photo online, the image a depiction of the desert, Mal's hope at finding the missing alien plummeted. Area 51. It had to be, based on what Hollywood had told her. How would they get in? How would they get out, if they managed to break through security to begin with? It wasn't like they could so easily disguise themselves as employees and slip in; that wasn't how the real world worked and Mal was pretty sure that tactic's success rate was only passable in movies.

Yet, the way Fym talked about her home made Mal want to try.

"Um, well..." she chewed at her lip, contemplative. "Okay, so... I'll try talking to my friend - the one whose dad visited Area 51 once - and you do what your can with sending signals."

This is going to be a lot of work. Maybe Josh-... No, Mallory thought, I can't get him involved. What if something goes wrong? As a horrible liar as she was, not to mention accident prone, things were bound to go south eventually. She'd rather keep her brother a safe distance from this mess.

At least, for as long as she could.

"Huh?" Snapped from her thoughts, Mal looked up at Fym. "Oh, ah, no worries... this stuff is important, so... I mean... if I were in your shoes, I'd-... erm..." She cleared her throat and offered an awkward, but no less genuine, smile in the alien's direction. "I'm glad to help."

And she was. Despite the risk and the work and the potential consequences, she was getting to help someone - and not just anyone, but an alien. Who else could say that?

"I'm going to need some time to figure out something, though, so... maybe we should call it a night?" Mal felt bad cutting things short, yet with things pointing towards Fym's kin being held in America's most top secret base, they couldn't afford to waste time.
 

Mallory's warm smile made Fym blink at her slowly, the translucent membrane brushing over the starry purple of her eyes as the alien couldn't help but feel her dark blood rush to the softer flesh of her face. The pulse of heat coloring Fym's gray cheeks a faint pink as her lips shifted into a genuine smile of her own, revealing the rows of bizarre ivory teeth that filled her mouth to the brim with glimmering white.
"Thank you, Mallory of Earth, I am truly grateful for having met you." Fym remarked as she nodded with her elongated head, the arching construct bobbing softly as the purple glow of her gem grew a bit more intense.

"I do believe it'd be best to get some rest, I am not aware of the exact details of earthly solar cycles but they are shorter than those of my home world, it will require some changing in my own behaviours but I'm sure I'll adapt to this new shorter, and more intense, sleep and action rhythm." The extra terrestrial would babble for a moment before softly shaking her head, something resembling an awkward smile coming to accent her bizarre alien features as her elongated fingers would come scratch along her secondary set of airways that lined her neck.

"I will make the necessary preparations but I think I have everything I need here, thanks to you." Fym would conclude, her long fingers drumming against the metallic construct on her thorax, the jet black unit humming softly, almost if anticipating what was yet to come.
"I will find out more, and all thanks to you, Mal." The extra terrestrial finally remarked as she'd rest her elongated fingers on the earthlings' shoulder, a gesture she had once again done on instinct, a hundred new thoughts surging through her inhumanly large neural system as she realized just how much must have rubbed off on her after having joined their minds together.

Shaking her head softly, she'd rise to her full height, resting her hands on the insect-like waist of hers, drumming against the hardened shell of her abdomen.
"I'll manage this on my own, no worries!"


What had looked like a buzzing hive of ants the night before, had grown quieter, almost like a crypt. The many halls of the underground government complex deserted as the only thing one might hear was the soft humming of machinery and the hushed whispers of the few scientists still present in the facility.

Mrs. Connors had been adamant about increasing security and putting every available unit on the areas deeper in the desert's cool earth, watching over their little "guests" they had been hosting for over sixty years.
Which left the platinum blonde with the graying hairline sitting alone in her office, chewing on a burnt out cigarette stub as her eyes would wander over the copious amounts of data and security footage from the night before.

"Come on Graybrain, we know someone paid you a visit yesterday, it's rude to not tell your hosts who it was." Mrs. Connors mumbled, her brow furrowing into an annoyed grimace as her eyes would intently glare at the reflected image of a disgustingly enlarged head, hardened gray skin and that gem-like neurological structure that adorned the monster's forehead. Her scientists still unable to truly make out its purpose in the alien's biology and frankly, she did care little for their science projects.

What mattered was that there might be more of them, large and alien, more advanced than humanity ever was, and armed with what could change the balance of power of earth in favor of whoever figured their tech out first.

Steel gray eyes widened as a thin smile caused dimples to adorn Mrs. Connor's cheeks.
"Bingo."

Her finger found a button next to her computer as she'd contact her lackeys in the nether regions of the facility.
"Boys, fire up your equipment, it's time we'd reenact Watergate." Connors remarked with a now cheek-wide grin.
"We got you now."


As Mallory left Fym would seat herself among the many blankets and pillows the human girl had brought her to create what resembled some sort of nest, chewing on the insides of her cheek as her fingers would open the console on her chest.

Peeling off her thorax like a second skin, the purple holo display would flash before her eyes as the extra terrestrial would zoom in on the topographical map of earth, trying to pin point the exact source of the signal she had intercepted last night.
Purple eyes flicked over the display, scanning for the approximate location as Fym compared it with the data found on Mallory's "Laptop".

Soon enough a smile would come to be laid over alien features illuminated by a purple glow as Fym found the exact coordinates, a place that looked nothing like a prison on the surface....
But after utilizing her chest piece to tap into one of the many primitive satellites that provided human technology with information, spanning all across the planet's small globe, thermal scans and other signatures revealed the complex layer of what lay beneath the desert...

A hive-like structure of chambers and tunnels that looked like they'd be deep enough to mask any sort of activity to humankind. But to Fym it was just like her kin had taught her when she had left her home to embark on this mission.
They had warned her of human's primitive, but potent technology and their cunning, but what she had experienced so far was nothing but kindness.
Kindness that had made the Extra terrestrial drop her usual callousness and almost robot-like manner of operating as she'd unconsciously walk right into the trap they had set for her.

Closing her eyes, Fym would reach out with her mind, forming a coherent string of emotions and messages as the display on her chest hummed more intently, changing the signature into one a human device could transmit...

The translucent membrane over her eyes would grow murkier as it became a milky white, instead opening her "third" eye as the gem on her forehead pulsated with a strange purple glow, calling out to whoever might be able to receive this message.

"I am here..."

"I am here..."

"I have come to help..."

"I am..."

"Fymncrea, come to help, come to safe, come to bring you home..."

Her bizarre lips stirred, mouthing human and alien words as her tongue caused strange clicks to echo through the treehouse.
Then she heard it, someone reached out, brief but oh so intense.

"Fast. They know. Safe yourself first. They will come. We will survive. Humans fear. Help us....Who is Mal?..."
But as Fym would try reaching out to answer to this neurological signal she had woven with the help of what Mallory had showed her the voices grew more intense.

"Stop! Grow strong! They KNOW!"

And suddenly silence.

What had been almost like a conversation face to face, having felt the intense presence of one of her own, suddenly became numbing darkness as Fym was left alone with her thoughts...
And the dawning realization that whoever held her kin captive might have been listening to their conversation as well...
Planning their next move...

She shook her head, as her tall, slender form crunched up, burying her face in her palms.
"I am sorry..."
"So sorry..." Fym whispered as she felt the humidity of her eyeballs grow rapidly as the liquid used to keep her purple orbs shifting inside alien eye sockets would escape her translucent membrane...
Drop after drop of the strange fluid ran down her cheeks as her breath grew more labored, her secondary set of purple airways bulging heavily as they transported large amounts of terrestrial air into extraterrestrial lungs.

But slowly exhaustion over such a feat would come to grip Fym tightly, coaxing her body into succumbing to the crushing sensation as she'd slowly sink into the sheets, her eyelids growing heavy as they'd come to obscure her watery, purple gaze.
"Mal..." And as sleep soon clutched her tightly Fym would find herself drifting off, a million thoughts ravaging her dreamless trance as the alien's brain would try forming a coherent thought...Something she had been capable of so easily before melding her mind with that of Mallory...
"Mal..."

 
Face flushing at the praise, Mal found she couldn't keep up eye contact much longer. It was... embarrassing? Yes, she felt embarrassed, standing there with Fym, but it wasn't that soul-wrenching anxiety filled kind of embarrassment that came from saying or doing something wrong. It was the kind of embarrassment that made her smile. I'm not sure embarrassed is the right word, but we'll go with that for now, she thought, not exactly how to pinpoint what she was feeling. Regardless of what it was, it made her heart race.

Even more so when Fym rested a hand on Mal's shoulder. She sucked in a breath and looked up at her, eyes wide. But the moment lasted briefly, for Fym then rose to her full height and exuded confident that, quite frankly, was infectious. Mal felt her smile widen; Fym reminded her of Josh's anime protagonists, right then. Confident, optimistic, and hard working.

"Yeah," she said eventually, "you've got this, Fym."

***

Mal woke the next morning with so much energy that she beat her alarm clock's timer. Looking down at the typically offending device a good thirty minutes before it was set to ring, she pulled a face. "Wha...?" Not only that, but she didn't feel the need to curl back up in her sheets and slam snooze an extra five times. If anything, Mal was hyped for swim team practice - something that, as of late, had become a hit or miss in setting her in a good mood.

What time did I go to bed last night? She started collecting her swim gear and prepping for the long day ahead of her. It couldn't have been before midnight, yet... Her eyes fell on the clock, which read in bright red numbers 4:30AM. But Mal felt fine. She wasn't groggy at all. Maybe I read the clock wrong last night...? I mean, I've done it before and the homework was pretty brutal.

It felt strange being awake so early. She didn't have to rush and, instead, could enjoy her time eating breakfast - something she often skipped because she was always late. When her mother trod downstairs around 5:30, ready to drive her, she nearly dropped her empty mug of bedside tea. "M-Mallory, what-"

"Morning, Mom," she smiled sheepishly. Pushed a plate of toast and eggs in her direction. "Surprise...?"

Mallory's mother stared. Then, after a moment, let out a quiet laugh. "Wow, yes, this is definitely a surprise. Why are you up so early? Are you okay?" With a bite of toast in her mouth, Mallory nodded.

She felt wonderful.

***

Swim team went by as usual - except for the fact Mallory was actually on time and didn't have to swim extra laps or get yelled at by their coach. Everyone seemed as surprised as her mother when she rolled in two minutes early sporting enough gumption to keep up with their star swimmer's enthusiasm. To be fair, though, nobody had seen Mal so on-the-ball since before Freshman year's ending Swim Team Spaghetti Dinner. Most of the new swimmers had never seen her so capable. She took their praise and encouragement and, in the case of a few teammates, back-handed compliments with stride.

And when classes rolled around, she jotted down notes and was actually able to pay attention.

A pencil nudged her in the back. "Psst, Mal!" She glanced over her shoulder at the guy behind her. Derek Oelbaum, simultaneous class clown and nosy-body. "Can I see your notes? You're on fire today.

Yes. Yes she was.

***

Mallory came home and collapsed on her bed with a wide smile. Something had clicked today and, with it, her productivity skyrocketed. Not only had she impressed her coach and classmates, but she'd gotten all of her homework done during study hall. Had studying always been so easy? Mal didn't know if her professors had somehow managed to teach things in a comprehensible way today or if it was a lack of motivation that'd gotten in her way all these years.

Regardless, she had the rest of the day to do with as she pleased. Grabbing her laptop and phone, Mallory headed downstairs and out into the back woods, excited to see Fym after such an incredible day. "Fym!" She called, taking the steps two at a time. "Hey, Fym!"

Little did she know the day was about to take a horrible, horrible turn.
 

What had been a very empowering day for Mallory had been one of extreme stress for the extra terrestrial she had been hiding in her old tree house. Having reached out to once again contact her kin, kept in a secret underground hive-lair of Sector C, had provided Fym with important insight into the situation the aliens kept in that facility were in.
When her mind had melded with her elder's her thoughts had been swarmed with snippets of memories, of the circumstances they had been in ever since first contact had been made.
And it left Fym horrified of the capacity for violence humans seemed to have.

Her kin had been stranded on this primitive blue planet for just about sixty solar cycles, and yet the humans had applied the same kind of treatment to them from the very first day they had been hidden away in the bowels of the research facility.
Daily treatment of sedatives to leave them unable to fight back as the humans seemed to still being unsure what to do with their "guests", interrogations and probing seemed to be daily routine and whenever Fym would close her translucent eyelids she'd be able to feel the sting of syringes in the back of her head.

It had filled her with anger first.
Anger. An emotion regarded as too primitive to be of any use to her kin, having been lost in the many centuries since they had formed their monolithic cities reaching into the violent solar storms and deep into the planet's core.
And yet she had found herself faced with notions her kin had strategically weeded out before taking to the stars.

But like all emotions even anger subsided, replaced by an array of different sensations that made up a nigh limitless amount of combinations that formed a human's mental state.
And now kept the oh so complex system of neural connections and highly evolved brain enthralled.

What replaced anger was fear.
But not fear for her own life, no, it was fear for Mallory's safety.
Her kin had seen into her mind and whoever had been eavesdropping to their neural communication would have definitely noticed that a certain terrestrial girl had been very prominently featured in Fym's thoughts.
She feared that whoever now knew of her existence would not hesitate to look for her in order to find the alien she was hiding in plain sight.

It certainly complicated things.
And by complicating it meant that her previous plan of figuring out an effective mean of transport to get to the facility and devising a scheme to infiltrate that research base would certainly have to be altered in more than one way.

She had spent most of the day trying to come up with a replacement, with something resembling an alternative...
And she had found one of a thousand alternatives that might prove to be successful.

Soon the gentle blue of the sky would turn a darker shade as the sun would try kissing the horizon, once again signaling the end of a terrestrial day, a mere third of the time it took for her planet to turn around its axis.
Mallory's arrival was met by the sight of Fym's tall form resting in one of the many corners of the tree house, triple-jointed legs pulled all the way up to her thorax as her heavy breathing sent a misty haze pouring out of the membrane lining her chest, expelling the oxygen rich earthly air.
She looked up, purple eyes blinking lazily as they'd swiftly found Mallory's own, causing the extra terrestrial to jump up and lunge towards the blonde girl.

What might have looked like one's worst nightmare; witnessing the towering gray form with its bony appendages rapidly zero in on an unsuspecting human, lidless eyes wide and purple organs bulging into bizarre shapes; soon turned out to be far less dangerous as Fym's arms would come to wrap around Mallory's smaller form, the Alien's elongated head looming over her neck as she expelled another breath of humid air through her thorax.

"Mallory, I...I'm so sorry. I...You...No, We are in danger." Fym finally spoke, rising to her full height as her long fingers grasped the human girl's shoulders firmly, starry purple orbs gazing down at her.
"They know. I, we, need to move. They know the approximate coordinates of our location and they might be out looking for me already. I need more time to prepare, to really figure out a way to free my kin, but I cannot do so when I also have to be constantly on the run from them. I need to evacuate, soon!" Her lips shifted at breakneck speed, spanning over the set of bizarrely formed ivory teeth as Fym tried to explain the current predicament they were in now to Mallory.
"I'm sorry."

 
"Wha-" Mal's words cut short as Fym's fingers grasped at her shoulders. Danger? We are in danger? How? What had- "What, um... Okay, it's okay." Mal brushed her off, if only to give herself room to think. Fym needed to run, but where could she go? Where could Mal take her in the middle of a school week? She cupped her mouth and nose with both hands, breathing slowly, fingers tapping against each other. The only place she could think of would be Josh's apartment an hour away, but Mallory couldn't stay there - she had school! Mom would kill them both if she skipped. And it wasn't like she could play sick; her mother would insist she stay home.

Letting out a long, drawn out groan, Mallory dragged her hands down her face. They didn't have time for her to come up with some elaborate, foolproof plan that would help her handle both her mother and school. At her brother's insistence, Mal had watched far too many sci-fi movies to know how this would end up if she hesitated. "Okay," she said finally, declaration accompanied by a deep breath. "I'm going to call my brother. He's going to come and pick us up and take us back to his apartment. From there... we'll figure something out."

More like she'd have Josh, the closest thing to a human adult, figure it out.

"It'll take him at least an hour to get here," she said, "so just-... just hold on." Stepping towards the door, laptop and phone still in tow, Mal began mentally categorizing what she'd need to pack for a long trip. "I'll be back in a little bit." Offering Fym a weak smile barely concealing her concerns, she headed back out into the afternoon light.

***

She'd made it to her room as calmly as she could, but the second the door clicked shut, she lunged for her closet and started ripping clothes from the hangar. Meanwhile, she dialed Josh and placed it on speaker, if only to hear when he picked up. "What else... socks!" Grabbing an armful of socks and mismatched undergarments, Mal tossed them on her bed. Grabbed several pairs of jeans. By time Josh failed to pick up a third time, her closet and dresser drawers were nearly bare.

Calling again, Mal kept close ear on the dial sound as she shoved everything into her suitcase. What didn't fit got shoved under her bed sheets like a sleeping person. She'd only ever seen such a thing work in movies, but if it helped earn them even a few more hours of Mom and Dad leaving them alone, she'd take it. Finally, he picked up.

"Mal," his voice was quiet, strained, and she nearly tripped over her own feet on the way to snatch the phone. "I'm in class-"

Taking it off speaker phone, Mallory cut him off. "Josh, please, I'm in trouble. I need your help." There was silence for a few heartbeats, and then the sound of shuffling. She vaguely registered the sound of a door shutting. Then, her brother's voice came over the phone, louder than before but still somewhat hushed.

"What's going on?"

She almost told him everything - almost - but then remembered a fancy thing called phone tapping. The words died on her throat. What could she say to get Josh in town as soon as possible? To make him skip class? There was only one thing she could think of and it tightened her grip on the phone, knuckles whitening. She hated lying to him. "I told them. M-Mom and Dad." Her heart hammered in her chest as though what she was saying were true. "It didn't go well."

A quiet curse from the other line, "Mal, I really can't right-"

"Please, Josh!" Her voice cracked.

"Okay! But maybe if I talk to them-"

"No." Then she'd really be screwed, because she hadn't exactly told her parents anything. "I don't want anymore drama. I just-... just-... meet me at our spot."

"Alright."

The phone clicked and she brought the rim of the plastic device to her lips. Tapped nervously before closing her eyes. Then, after a moment, she ran to the bathroom to finish packing her things.

***

Running through the woods was harder with a clunky suitcase in tow. How she'd managed to get that past her parents, Mal would never know. She almost contemplated throwing it out of her window to avoid Mom, only to remember at the last second Dad was mowing the lawn. She'd had to time it just right: Sneak down the hall, hide the suitcase when Mom came by, then lift it down the stairs to eliminate the tell-tale thumping of it falling down each step. Stash the suitcase yet again until Dad finished the backyard, then sprint like Hell was on her heels until she cleared the treeline.

Lugging the suitcase up the steps, Mal knocked on the door and stepped inside a few moments later. With heavy breaths, she plopped her luggage on the ground and topped it with her backpack. "Josh is on his way," she stood straight and brushed the hairs out of her eyes, strands gone frizzy, "he should be here in thirty minutes or something. Uh..." Mal looked around the room, eyes searching. "Do you need to pack anything or...? Oh, wait, here."

Unzipping her backpack, Mal handed Fym a Slim Jim beef jerky stick. It wasn't the healthiest snack, but would hopefully help ease whatever hunger Fym may have accumulated over the day.
 
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