The Reign of The Estron #Wattys2015

cHaPtEr 3: The Human Planet

The news of our landing has everyone on the ship excited. Human forms jitter in their seats. 129-3927 and I both look out the thick glass window into the blue sky of Earth.

"What are those big white puffs?" 129-3927 asks me.

"They're called clouds," 657-0034 answers her question, "They're simply condensed water vapor that floats in the atmosphere."

"Why don't they fall?" 129-3927 asks, intrigued.

"They do fall, in the form of precipitation. Whenever a cloud becomes too heavy, some of the water will fall to Earth's surface. It's part of a process known as the Water Cycle."

"Oh okay," she says, staring out at the clouds.

"If you two have anymore questions, just ask. I'll be walking around."

"Okay thank you," 129-3927 and I both say at the same time.

The further we descend the more clouds there are. Sometimes we even fly through the large white puffs.

The speakers in the aluminum ship crackle, "We are now entering the troposphere of Earth's atmosphere. We will be on the ground shortly."

The ship continues to descend. Then it jerks to a stop.

"Okay everyone now is your time to shine. We are asking that you exit the ship in normal Estron fashion."

Fueled by nerves, we all quickly unbuckle our seatbelts and stand. A few of the Estrons still don't have the whole LEG concept under control and the stumble and fall back into their seats.

We all fall into our trademark single file line and walk slowly out of the ship. For people who are so excited you'd think that they'd move a little faster. I don't know why these Estrons are so excited to meet you humans. Anyway, as soon as I step off the ship it's like I've stepped into another world. Well, actually I have but I don't mean it like that. Sure Earth is beautiful with its green vegetation and clear blue skies with the clouds floating in the background. But I'm focused on the chaos that's right in front of my EYES. The Estrons have completely abandoned all of out policies. Someone grabs the back of my shirt. I turn to see that it's 129-3927.

"Go, get out of this mess," the urgency in her voice makes my FEET move quickly. We race through the crowd. Everyone knows what happens whenever an Estron goes against the policy.

"HEY!" 657-0034 shouts. His voice is filled with rage. The crowd of excited Estrons stops dead in their tracks.

"All of you, except you two," he says pointing to 129-3927 and me, "stand in line."

All of the Estrons stand in a line, quivering with fear. 657-0034 goes to the back of the ship. He opens the storage compartment and pulls out an aluminum briefcase. Inside there is a gun with the same blue ring that is around the resting station. He pulls the gun out its velvet bed and moves on to the first Estron. He points, aims and fires. A blue electric light emits from the muzzle. It reaches the Estron and it is immediately ejected from its human form. The now gray skinned Estron lies on the green ground, surrounding by a force field of electricity. The cameras on the Estron glaze over, but he is not dead. He is in a coma-like state. In these sates we do dream, like you humans. These dreams are filled with nightmares that are fear-specific. You might not even know what you'll see, the specialized electricity targets the deepest fears in your mind.

657-0034 does the same thing for all of the other Estrons who decided to break the policy. By the time he is finished, only 129-3927, two other Estrons, and I stand.

"They will only be like that for two days," 657-0034 says to us, wiping off his FOREHEAD. "Since most of out test group is being punished we need to get you four deployed right away." The breeze runs through his HAIR and the tall green plants sway in the background. "You have previously been assigned with a partner. It will help us keep track out you all better. I'm glad to see that each of you have found your partner and that you haven't decided to break the policy."

I look at 129-3927 and she returns my glance. Her gray eyes look happy.

"In order to study all aspects of human life we have stationed you all in different cities across Earth. These humans aren't all the same. They have different ways of living, different values, different ways of life. Your job is to live among the humans in their habitats. You will report your activity and any findings you have at the end of the day. We will have random videoconferences, so make sure you're accessible. One missed call and you end up like them," he points to the Estrons surrounded by the blue force fields. "You will only call one another by the names given to you on the facts sheet."

"What was your name," I whisper to 129-3927.

"Natalie, and you?"

"Caleb."

"You two, 129-3927 and 137-8223, what are we talking about," 657-0034 says looking at us expectantly.

"We were only familiarizing ourselves," Natalie says. "We want to make a difference, so we thought it would be best if we at least told each other out human names."

"Ah, I see. Good work 129-3927," he says. He looks back to everyone in the four-person group. "I have your assigned locations, Caleb and Natalie, you two are in New York, New York, United States. Sam and Melissa, you two are in a Pennsylvania city known as Philadelphia. I would like the four of you to keep in touch. I know now who can be trusted and who cannot." 657-0034 shakes his head at the Estrons lying paralyzed on the ground. "Thank you once again, I have files with everything you need. Follow me."

657-0034 starts to walk back to the storage compartment and opens the door on the aluminum hinges. He grabs a bin containing files inside strange envelopes.

"These envelopes are from Earth. They help minimize any suspicion of us being different," 657-0034 says after seeing the look of confusion in my eyes. I guess since we're trying to minimize suspicion, I should stop referring to the human anatomy chart whenever I want to think about a body part.

657-0034 hands me one of the large yellow-orange envelopes. He looks at Natalie and I.

"Good luck you two, remember what's going on back home."

Right, internal core, that's the whole reason we're here right?

"One more thing, wear the bands inside the envelope. They are communication devices that will lead you two where you need to go. They also collect data and give us your location. In the event of a kidnapping or if you get lost we can use it to track you and relocate you if necessary."

657-0034 reaches out and places his, what is it called, thumb? Anyway he places it on Natalie's forehead and then mine. It's an old tradition in the Estron world. It stands for bravery and honor. It's used to express pride or extreme thanks.

Natalie and I walk over to the large, green plant. I watch as 657-0034 talks to Sam and Melissa and he gives them a similar envelope and the same honorary gesture. Then he walks back into the ship, sucks in all of the hibernating Estrons and their human forms. The ship disappears into the background.

Sam and Melissa look at us from across the field and wave, practicing the new human gestures taught to us at the seminar. Natalie and I wave back then focus on the envelope. Inside are two of the bands and we immediately put them on our wrists. There is also a key made out of a strange gold colored metal and two packets of identification cards. We look inside and see that the packets contain a United States passport, a New York driver's license, a birth certificate, and a social security card. How many forms of identification do you humans need?

"Is your band pulsing?" Natalie asks the question as she stares down at her wrist.

I look down at the vein-covered wrist and see that the previously black band is now pulsing red. A message scrolls across the display. It reads, "NAVIGATE TO AIRPORT, FLIGHT LEAVES IN FOUR HOURS."

I know what's going to happen next. I grab Natalie's hand and the white flash consumes us. Whenever the light dies, we are nowhere in sight.