Alien [Louis]

05 | M e a s u r e

LOUDRIX LOOKED AS IF I'D slapped him across the face. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I wanted to because he was just so annoying, but I couldn't bring myself to do such a thing to a guest - extra-terrestrial or not. His eyes widened to twice their size and his mouth fell open as if he were momentarily speechless.

"You wish for me to present you as my proof?" he asked.

I nodded. "For multiple reasons," I started. "One; you need help and I'm one of the only people you can trust right now. If you go looking to officials for help, you'll be locked away forever. Two; I'm smart, so I'm probably your best bet when it comes to finding your ship and also keeping you out of the public eye. Three; I've never had the chance to explore anywhere in the world and that's why I'm kind of fascinated by you and where you're from - I'd love to learn more, to be honest. And four; if you can take a human willingly to your people, it will show the Junites that some of us are most willing to unite."

A silence. He seemed to contemplate the offer for several seconds, his eyes darting to my face and then to our surroundings as if he were trying to make up his mind. Finally he said, "You want me to take you with me?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"To Junito?"

"Yep."

"Just like that?"

"Yep."

"Then you are insane, Earthling."

My mouth fell agape, not quite sure how to reply. Hadn't he been unbelievably determined to show his people evidence of human life? How could he find something better than a living, breathing, willing specimen which was myself to go forth and prove that we were willing to make contact? The answer being that he couldn't.

"Insane? What do you mean?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Insane meaning you're in a state of mind that makes it rather difficult for you-"

"I know what it means!" I snapped. I took a deep breath and calmly asked, "What I meant to say was: how was my suggestion insane?"

"Oh," Lourdix muttered. "Well, for starters, you are still very much a stranger to me. I do not know and I cannot foresee your intentions - what if you are an undercover scientist who wishes to experiment on my people? I cannot take such chances."

"But I'm not," I told him.

"And that's what an undercover person would say," he informed me.

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes in determination. I had to be part of this. I wanted to be and I'd do whatever I could to make sure that I was involved. I narrowed my eyes ever so slightly at him and waited for him to change his mind. However, as he remained silent and returned my glare, I released a deep sigh and told him, "Fúck you."