My Human

Chapter 38 The Pretender

Trish was smirking at me.

"What?" I asked.

She grinned even larger now. "Nothing it's just you were such a scared little ancient one when we found you and now you are such a bad bitch and I love it."

"Really?" Teo asked. "I thought bad bitches don't like other ones infringing on their territory."

Trish looked at him with the fury of a thousand suns as she grabbed his ear and twisted it slightly.

"First of all, I KNOW you didn't just call me a bitch.  Second of all, it is not about territory it is about strong bonds of friendship and lifting each other up!" She growled releasing him as he scooted to the other end of the bench while rubbing his ear.

"Geez, okay, noted," he whimpered.

"Seriously Teo, read a women's empowerment article sometime. Educate yourself," she insisted much more calmly before drawing her attention back to me. "Really though, you've come a long way. I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks," I laughed softly, feeling my rage subside.  "But don't get too proud yet, I barely have any control and there's no promising I still won't implode."

Teo grinned. "You won't! That's why we are here to keep you grounded."

I smiled as the intercom in the ship crackled briefly. "We are landing on Tor 17 now,"
Ryuna announced.

I felt my heart race, but this time not in anger, but in anxiety. It felt like I was about to walk into the lion's den and I was completely ill-equipped. One wrong move and that was it, my cover blown and the Torian government would be the foe to contend with. It was imperative that I made no mistakes.

We peered out the window and the lights from the city seemed brighter than the burning red sun in the sky above them. Skyscrapers pierced the hazy pink clouds as they floated on platforms in the air. Crystal tubes interwove between these sky streets, filled with beings zooming through them at the speed of light.

On the ground were hover pods, stopping and going with beings filtering in and out like an express station. They shot forward with immense speed, separating into different routes through the city and stopping to let more beings come and go.

My eyes were wide, taking it all in. Earth was advanced, but nothing like this. Driverless cars had only just become predominant.  Perhaps we were just a bit more uncomfortable with the idea of taking human beings out of a position of control in automation.

It was a controversial issue: where did we draw the line? Perhaps outside of Earth's atmosphere, this debate never took place. Perhaps the bounds of science held no restraint or the moral objections that we faced. Was this the result? Had we been too cautious? Or maybe the Galactic Elders hadn't been cautious enough.

The ship pulled into a floating parking lot but even though I heard the engine stop we were still hovering.

"Gravity parking," Trish informed seeing the confusion on my face. "Why take up land when you can manipulate gravity and park in the sky?"

I nodded. That was a concept I could get on board with.

Trish grabbed a pair of blue strapped heels with heels as pointy as the tip of a diamond.

My jaw dropped. She wanted me to wear those? They looked like a torture device for my feet.

"No," I said bluntly.

She sighed and held up a trendy pair of wedge boots with silver trim and laces. "It was worth a try," she lamented. "Poot excuse of a Torian," she chuckled.