Child

Aliens

You wear your Rabbit mask almost all the time now. It covers your baldness which you like because you're often cold, but also because you've always felt insecure about it ever since you went to school in the city. 

You practise your powers every day. Trying to see things in far away places instead of just around corners. And you try to lift things other than paper. Your friends are outlaws - and so are you at this point - but you love them and you want to protect them. You have the ability to help your friends, so why wouldn't you? 

Your Mama's telegram is still in your pocket. You read it to yourself to give you strength. Maybe one day, you can send a big enough signal out that she'll find you. Even if you're too old to need a Mama, at least she won't have to worry about you anymore. You'll be able to show her what you've done; make her proud.

Orso pulls out a newspaper. "Did you know the new Space Force General used to be Chief of Police really close to us? She might have busted us before. Now she's busting aliens."

"What are you talking about?" Idowu laughs. Orso shows everyone the news paper. It's the Chief of Police from when Ramona rescued you. You remember her clear as day.

"Oh, yeah. I heard about the alien invasion." Billie pipes up. "I hope we don't all get drafted into the space war."

"I hope there isn't a space war." Nirmal states. "I hope we can all be peaceful."

"Why?" Idowu asks.

"Well of course we should wish for peace, Idowu. What are you talking about?"

Nirmal nods. "I just want our future to be one of utopian science fiction rather than dystopian." he tells them, "it only makes sense to be allied with stronger technological forces than to be fighting against them." it takes off his gas mask. "If we all fight, we'll all experience great loss and it will bring our society back in time instead of forward."

"Nerd!" Orso barks.

"Nirmal has a point." Billie says. "But we may not have a choice. The aliens haven't come with peaceful intentions. They were the ones who attacked us first."

"Do you think that's true?" Nirmal asks. Everyone's quiet. 

Newspapers are covered in theories about aliens and the upcoming planetary war. Some people claim the aliens have abducted them, but they've all been disproven pretty quickly. 

Billie wants to join the Space Force, but she can't because she isn't legally a person here. Orso also wants to be in the space force, but not as much as Billie. Nirmal is proud to not be involved, although he really wishes it could do something to protect the alien.

Nirmal has always liked weird and ugly things that nobody else likes. Like spiders, worm and slugs. It even cares for a mosquito as it sucks blood out of his arm.

"You know that's just going to use your blood to reproduce and make more mosquitos, right?" Billie tells it.

"I know." Nirmal says. "But aren't we all just like mosquitos?"

"No. What?"

"Nirmal is not Normal." Idowu jeers, cheerfully.

Nirmal isn't normal, but nobody is normal and Nirmal owns it. If only he were a little bit more confident in itself.