The Outsider

The Truth

A few minutes into the drive I said, "The real reason why I never told you anything is because I was scared you would hate me, but I guess I have nothing to lose now."

"Yeah."

"Promise me you won't tell anyone, though. If someone, especially Joe, finds out that you know, we are going to be in serious trouble. And I do mean serious."

"Is this one of your tricks?"

"I can't be honest with you unless you trust me."

"Yeah, cuz I can do that, right?"

"I will tell you everything and then you decide if you want to believe me or not."

"Sure."

We got to my place and I immediately led her to my lab.

"What the hell is this room?" she asked as soon she set foot in it.

"I work here."

"On what?"

"Sit down."

"I'm good."

"Alright."

"Go on."

"Remember when I told you that I was raised by my parents' work partner?"

"Let's say I do."

"Well, he isn't from here."

"And?"

"Umm, he is from another planet."

"Right."

"I'm serious, Lisa. Him and my parents were working on a huge project to create portals to quickly and safely travel from one planet to another. And when my parents died, he took me there and raised me so I could help him finish the project."

"Aha. What's next? Fairy godmother turned your parents' killer into a pumpkin and you two carved him for halloween?"

"Grob secretly reported him to the authorities and he killed himself instead of serving time in prison."

"Who the hell is Grob?"

"Oh, the partner. The guy who raised me."

"And you two lived happily ever after?"

I turned on some switches and one of my smaller portals opened up. I went into the blue light and appeared in my living room. When I walked back into the lab, Lisa was sitting on the couch, mouth wide open.

"What the fuck?" she said.

"I'm telling you the truth, Lisa."

"How is this possible?"

"Well, my parents spent their entire lives working on this technology and Grob helped them with providing the necessary products."

"So you really grew up on a different planet?"

"Yes."

"Well, that explains a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

Lisa started walking around the room, looking at everything.

She stopped for a second and asked, "What's the name of the planet?"

"Greepold."

"Is Joe from there too?"

"No, he is fully human. He works for Grob, though. Well, he has no other choice. Grob needed someone to take care of me here, so he chose Joe."

"Why did you come here?"