[37] aliens are real.

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Beltan News: In the Ziggy colony; billionaire, philanthropist, and playboy Ziggy Diggy Liggy The Twentieth is planning on marrying his tenth wife this week. It will be a small celebration—closed to the outside world—and only the Ziggy colonists are invited. But, he sends out a message to all his friends, lovers, ex-lovers, admirers, and enemies, saying, "Please-a, don't-a forget-a to-a donate-a to-a my-a wedding-a."

Wolf had changed into a pink T-shirt with a panda on it and black shorts

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Wolf had changed into a pink T-shirt with a panda on it and black shorts. Though it wasn't his style when he was around people, it offered him comfort a suit couldn't. Standing in the elevator, he had one hand in his pocket while the other drummed on his thigh, enjoying the monotone elevator music.

Getting out of the elevator, the number of people in the hallway hadn't decreased since he arrived hours ago.

Ruby stared at him from the counter while a customer searched through their purse in front of her. Wolf nodded at her, and she returned the gesture before he proceeded to the conference hall. Pushing the door open, the coldness from the air conditioner prickled his skin, and the mixture of perfumes struck his nose, making him cough.

The room was sizable. It looked like it went half-half with the reception hall. Merchants sat behind long tables by the walls, selling alien merch and costumes. They tried selling Wolf a "one of a kind item" at a "discounted price".

Nothing tickled his fancy, not even the "rare collectibles" from "beloved hentai". Whatever a hentai was.

"Why do they love them so much?" Wolf asked rhetorically. Growing up outside the planets, he never understood the planetarians' obsession with aliens.

"They love aliens because they think they're not real—most of them, at least. If they knew what we know, they would lose their minds," Wednesday said.

"They didn't build the system to accept aliens. It's fine if they're on the screen. We will love them, cry for them, and even worship them. But once we learn they're real, then everything we've ever thought they're capable of becomes true. And that scares the living shit out of humans."

"Why do you think so?"

"Humans project their fears onto others, no matter the species. So if aliens are real, then we fear they would treat us how we've treated each other since... forever. We know how we treat each other is immoral, but we don't want to change. There's comfort in ignorance that most won't admit to. Why spend your energy in learning to become a better person when you can be your shitty self?"

"I was reading a dissertation by Dominique Harper; a student at the University of KEA. She researched the rise of aliens in entertainment media and why humans worshipped them. She placed the sole blame on Memory Labs and even went further to blame the labs for the rise of pure-bloods."

"Rainbow once told me about the Race Wars that happened on Earth forever ago—before humans thought of exploring the system and terraforming it."

"I read about it too. It's the one about Royce Davidstone, right?"

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