Earth-People 101

Day 1

Transmission 01 - Zakria

Hi, Zek! You should see this on your screen watch when you land on Earth. If you're reading this right now, best of luck to you! Mzr. Aczod specifically instructed me not to guide or help you through words or voice (for what reason, I don't know), but I can still give you things you need. Just give me a transmission telling me to get you something, and I'll send it down without a word. - Zizz Oku

Transmission 02 - Earth

Good news, Zizz. I've landed without any problems. Bad news: There are so many buildings here that I don't know which one to start with. I'm going to just pick the first one I see and tell you what I find-- if I actually find anything. There's a red-and-black sign on one of the buildings that reads 'Rock 'n Runway.' I have absolutely no idea what that's supposed to mean, or if the place is even safe, but I'm gonna go inside. Wish me luck!

Mind Log 01

I walk into 'Rock 'n Runway' and am immediately taken by confusion. A weird recording of screaming and some sort of grating instrument is playing, and all of the oddly dressed Earth-people are bobbing their heads to it as if they actually liked it. Of course, I know they're only pretending to, since the sound is terrible. Overwhelming. I wish I could get away from it, but I have to search for now.

The clothes in the building are . . . extremely different from the clothes Zizz gave me. Is it some sort of new style? I didn't see it in any of the magazines back on Zakria. There's red and black and metal chains and some kind of netting everywhere, and it exposes a lot of skin, specifically on the legs and stomach. Weird, since it's hot outside, for Earth anyway. Don't they need heat protection? How do they keep from getting burned?

The same odd clothes are hanging on racks and walls all over the building, and there are pictures of them on signs and posters as well. Was this some kind of store? A store where you can buy these weird clothes? I'll have to tell Zizz later. Maybe I should send this mind log to him, since he seems to be pretty interested in Earth and Earth-people.

With a start, I realize that everyone in the building is female. I probably shouldn't be in here. I'm a guy, plus I'm wearing clothes that totally don't match the clothes in this store.

I turn to leave when I hear a voice that sends chills down my spine. Not an Earth-person interaction! Not already! I don't want to.

"Heyyy!"

I turn and say in my best Earth accent, "Hey."

"What are you doing here?" It's an Earth-person with weird shiny silver dots on her nose and ears. "It's not a prep store!" She giggles.

Am I supposed to know what 'prep' means?

"Yes. I know. Ahahaha," I fake-laugh. "Yes. I was actually just leaving. At this second."

She looks at me strangely. "Okay then, Prep Boy."

Prep?! What was that word?

"Thank," I say, waving my hand in an Earth-like way.

"Thank? What's up with you, Prep?" She looks at me even more strangely.

I freeze. Did I say something wrong? What had Zizz taught me as the word for alkozzi in English? Thank . . . thanks? Thank I? Thank you! "I said . . . thank you. You must've heard me wrong."

She laughs. "You're funny, Prep Boy. I'm Mikayla, terrible to meetcha." She grins wickedly and holds out a hand.

I gulp. What do I do with the hand? And . . . wasn't she supposed to say nice to meet you? That's what Zizz told me.

"Afraid of germs? Typical of a prep nerd." She snorts with laughter. "Anyways! What's your name?"

My name? I freak out. My mind races. Zizz didn't mention this. My Zakri name would clearly be suspicious, but . . . "Zek," I blurt on accident.

"Zak?" Mikayla says. "Nice name."

I breathe a sigh of relief. Phew. Zak must be a human name. "Yes. I am Zak. Nice to-- I mean to say, terrible to meet you."

Mikayla grins wide. "You're super quirky. I really like you, ya know."

I smile weakly. "Yes. You too. I will be leaving now, I will see you sometime maybe?"

"I'd like that! Catch ya later."

I burst out of the store in a complete panic. That was terrible. Awful. Everything went wrong.

But wait a second, did it? I mean, she does like me now.

She was just . . . uhhh . . . weird.

I can't wait to send this to Zizz, though.

"Alright," I murmur in Zakrian. "I still have half a day to kill. Where should I go?"

I scan all of the buildings around me, trying to find one that doesn't look weird like Rock 'n Runway. The names from left to right on one side of the street are : Art Locker, FitFitFit, PlanetItalian, and THELOOP.

Wow. Those are officially the strangest names I have ever heard.

And also very suspicious.

Art Locker? Like, lock up someone? It could easily be where the Zakrian had been stored away. Or PlanetItalian, since planet? Duh, they were being too obvious.

. . . Or maybe they weren't, since I just finished checking all of them and there were no Zakrians in sight.

But wait! There could easily still be Zakrians inside, just very very very very well hidden!

Ugh, I don't know. I'm tired and I want to go to sleep somewhere. It appears to be getting late on Earth-- the sky is getting dark in an odd manner. It's kinda freaky. I wish it would turn light purple like the sky does in Zakria when it's nighttime.

Panic prickles up my spine.Wait. This is going to be just how I imagined. I'm going to have to sleep outside!
I open my item-carrying orb. Zizz gave me a 'backpack' so I don't look suspicious to other Earth-people with my orb, but I still keep my most important things in it, like my projection mirroring device, which is why I'm opening the orb.

I pull out the device and press the button on it, immediately feeling a tingle all over me as the projection is reset. I look at my reflection in the shiny metal-- I now have light blond hair, pale skin, green eyes, and light 'freckles,' as Zizz told me the strange dots were called. I sort of like them though, since they remind me of the hand-and-arm dots of a Zakrian.

I place the device back into the item orb and squeeze it in my hands to hide it. Then I grab a 'sleeping bag' out of my backpack, which Zizz gave me in case I need to sleep outside.

Obviously that's the case tonight.

I find a nice place in between two buildings that looks very private and lay down the sleeping bag, then nestle myself inside. It's cold outside, and it reminds me of home, always cold.

At least there's that.

I can't sleep. It's hard to, on a strange planet. I conjure my item-carrying orb and pull out my favorite book, Nightjaw. It's about a mythical creature who roams the earth at night, scaring everyone, when all it wants is to find someone to take care of it, because it's hurt. It sounds cheesy, and it is cheesy, but I loved it when I was young, so it brings comfort to me all the time.

I open the book with the cracked binding and yellow pages. Nobody on Zakria uses real books anymore, always holograms or electronic books, and I'm one of the only ones who actually likes real ones. Zizz also mentioned it will be helpful for living on Earth, since they don't carry around holograms.

I read the book for a good thirty minutes, my eyes skimming the words since I know them by heart, and then I finally fall asleep.