Space Cadet [poly BL]

STARDATE 0001

Every night, Noah sneaks into SpaceLink Academy with the help of every guard there. They leave their security card in a fancy tech lockbox for him. Once he enters, they go through the books and Noah new Biotech inventions together.

Every night, Noah gets closer to his ticket away from Earth and into the stars.

"You give that machine of yours to Putzel and you'll have an acceptance letter on the spot, son," Noah's favourite security guard cheers, "your brain has so many ideas that he'll have you on a med-bed dissecting it."

Noah shakes his head, casting the old man a soft smile, "he'll wonder how I got all this technology, half of it is a little on the... well... dodgy side." All of it was on the dodgy side.

The security guard took a sip from his coffee, always oddly calm for a man who was supposed to be on high alert every night. "It doesn't matter what it's from, or how you got it, the world is revolutionizing and we have to keep humanity moving with it."

He was right. After two man-made viruses took half of the population and a third alien imposed pandemic that swept the rug from underneath all the third world countries, humans had turned their backs on intergalactic relations.

People turned to God to protect them from the 'wrinkly, forehead freaks'; but Noah knew neither God nor wrinkly, forehead freaks were reliable beliefs.

"Do you think people will ever be okay with aliens?" Noah knew the answer to his question is like a double-edged sword, almost like the whole 'Will my mum vibe with me kicking back with the anal astronauts' time of the 21st century.

"Alien is a very crude word. When you think about the word alien you picture bug-eyed, grey and pruney midgets, they're purported beings," The old man shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he pictures the weird creatures in his head, "you've seen the pictures, son. They look like us... but not exactly, their communication, culture, organs, still, they are just. Like. Us.

"And humanity can't handle that, how the person sitting next to them could be an alien. Humanity can't deal with the concept of being prey after being predators for so long. That's why we lied for so long."

Noah didn't question the man's crypticness, instead, he tucked it into the back of mind for another day. A day when he could get his answers from something other than books and security guards.

Maybe, he was too alien for this Earth. One day the Terrans would accept people like him with open arms. Like a lover to a gentle soulmate, he would take Earth's hand and guide them to a world they never knew of.

"My parents pray a lot," Noah pressed his back to the cold ground, looking up at the star painted ceiling with longing, "I'm convinced they feel like prey, so all they do is pray. I can't blame them-"

"-Join the space program."

"No, nope, never. I'm content with saying my ideas are wrong to make it fulfil all of my mothers' prayers at night."