The Ambassadors

To Elysium

Everyone belongs somewhere, right? Not me.

I don't belong to any people or place. I can't even call myself a hybrid. I'm an amalgamation of all the Ten Races.

My name is Kell. My real name is Subject 25C. I was created in a lab, out of the combined DNA of multiple people. Each one a different species.

Nobody wanted to claim me as a part of their society, so when the colony on Elysium was founded, I was the first one they decided to send.

There were twenty ambassadors aboard the ship. A boy and a girl from each race.

And then there was me.

Kell.

The Freak.

I sat in my place aboard the ship. There were five rows of seats, with an aisle in the middle. Everyone was sitting next to the member of their own race.

I sat alone, on the maintenance bench behind them.

I had never world-jumped before, spending my entire life in the lab on Cerebos, which was pretty much just a space rock with a few facilities here and there. The air wasn't breathable, so I had only ever lived in a small domed outpost, unable to see stars through the smog and smudged glass above me.

Would Elysium be breathable?

I sighed. Even if the air was safe, there were still so many factors to take into consideration; gravity, toxicity, flora and fauna, weather, bacteria, geography, radiation, and so many other things.

Thankfully, the ship would protect us from outside conditions until we synthesize the gear to build proper shelters. However, I still harbored the slightly selfish hope that I would see stars and feel fresh air.

I released a breath and imagined what Elysium could realistically be like. It probably would be difficult to live in, but not barren and openly hostile. I smiled at the fought of a non-barren world just as the ship let out a powerful rumble.

"What was that?" A girl with cat ears yelped, "Is the ship breaking?"

A ghost girl gave a small laugh, "No, we're fine. Chill. It's just the ship entering Elysium. We should land soon."

Almost immedietly, exited chatter filled the cabin. Everyone was just as excited and nervous as I was. I could hear them voicing their own hopes for Elysium. No photography had been made of the world, no records of what it looked like or even if it was habitable. It would be a complete surprise. Either for better or worse.

The ship gradually stopped rocking and the passengers fell silent. We were here.

"Wooh! We're here!"

The ship erupted into applause. A kemonomimi boy jumped out of his seat and rushed toward the main hatch, "Let's go see!"

Before he could reach it, a dragon stepped out of his seat and put his arm out, closelining the catboy, "Hold it. Not yet."

His voice was soft, but it had an air of authority to it that demanded respect. The female dragon stood up and crossed her arms, looking like his bodyguard. Not that he needed it. His rippling muscles and sharp teeth prooved that he was not to be messed with,

"I know we want to see what Elysium is like, but before we go out we need to turn on our gear and survey our surroundings. We also need to establish order. It's our job to create a society, so we need to lay down some groundwork. Laws and rules can wait for a bit, but we need to pick a temporary leader."

The werewolves were nodding, "That's right," the male said, "A strong hierarchy provides a steady basis for society. We need to know who to listen to."