My Human

Chapter 6

I began to tremble as the panic inside me rose again. What could I even do? Where could I even go?

"I should have just stayed there," I breathed.

Xan looked on helplessly, unsure of what to say to me. Even he didn't know what to do with me.

"I'll take care of you," he said finally and I looked at him surprised.

He didn't have to take this on. I didn't have to be his problem.

"Why?" I asked quietly.

"I saw the terror on your face when I found you," he said looking down at the ground. "I don't very much want to see you in that state again."

I blinked a few times, surprised by this expression of feelings in him. Up until this point, he was rather logical and unfeeling. It was hard to decipher why he would even help me but this confession made him seem...human.

Unsure of how to respond, I simply nodded.

"I just need to find a way to get you to be...less conspicuous."

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "Conspicuous?" I exclaimed. "I don't look that different than you!"

He gave a small grin and arched his head. "Your oxygen dependency does give you away a little bit."

"Oh," I muttered, feeling the mask on my face. Xan didn't need one of those to breathe. That was pretty obvious.

"How come you don't need oxygen?" I asked, feeling a little embarrassed by my need for this contraption just to breathe.

Xan started punching in coordinates on the map. "Because my cells don't have mitochondria, but rather hydrogenosomes. I don't need oxygen to survive, just like most organisms you will find throughout the galaxies.

I felt my cheeks burn in shame. "Great, I missed out on important development evolutions," I whimpered. "I'm gonna die."

Xan shook his head. "Don't be dramatic," he ordered as the ship's engine began to roar. "I'm taking you to G5P1, or Varox as its inhabitants call it. It's an oxygen-rich atmosphere, much like G7P3."

"Earth," I corrected. "Just call it Earth... out of respect."

Xan nodded in agreement. "Then, its atmosphere is similar to Earth. It will be easier for you to blend in if you can at least breathe. Those eyes though..."

My brow furrowed. I looked at my ID badge. My eyes were a very striking shade of blue, like looking at the ocean. But that didn't seem abnormal to me.

"What's wrong with my eyes?" I asked offended.

"They're ancient eyes," he said and I felt the stab to my ego. Was there nothing good about me at this point? What a cruel galactic system.

"No one has eyes like that anymore," he continued. "Most organisms have silver eyes that tend to change based on inner circuitry.

"You mean how yours went black when you got upset?" I asked knowingly.

"What?" he exclaimed, almost flustered. "I wasn't upset."

"Oh yeah," I cooed amused. "Then why were they black?" I couldn't even hide the grin on my face.

He glared at me, a hint of green in his silver eyes. "You didn't see them right," he assured. "Anyway, the point is if they aren't silver, they tend to be gold or copper colored. Blue is not a very common trait."

"Right," I sighed.

"I will figure out a way to hide them," he said and I just grumbled, annoyed that I had to change myself.

"What do you mean 'inner circuitry'?" I asked.

His face crinkled a little as if searching for the words to explain it.

"My body consists of a stronger electrical system than yours. Which gives me the ability to manipulate electrical waves. However, there are different types of electrical pulses, depending on the state the body is in."

I narrowed my eyes as I thought about it. That must have been how he was able to control my emotional state. But from his description, it meant he could control anything emitting an electrical pulse. So that extended past living organisms. He could probably control aspects of the space ship with a touch of his hand if he wanted.

"Is everyone like that?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It's more of a Torian trait. You look most like a Torian. We are a race closely descended from the Mother Race. The people of Varox, called Roxans, they look a little different. It's a planet lush with green plants that thrive in the oxygen-rich environment. The people have sage-green tinted skin from this environment and while my people have superior electrical manipulation, they are more in tune with nature. They can sense auras and manipulate weather patterns. They have gold colored eyes generally."

My head was spinning. There was so much strange information flooding my brain and it was all so overwhelming. How was I going to fit in?

Xan stood up and started searching through the boxes outside the control room. He pulled out all sorts of strange contraptions and tossed them on the floor behind him, searching vigorously and mumbling to himself.

He finally stepped back, looking at a small little black disk with two buds in his palm. "I hope it still works," he muttered walking over to me. I watched as he tapped the device and it popped up with a holographic screen just like his watch. I watched as he tapped on one symbol and it turned into tiny blue lights that absorbed into the bud. The buds flashed blue for a moment before returning to black. He tapped it once more and then hit another symbol, this one created green lights that absorbed into the buds and turned they turned green for a moment as well.

He held it out to me now. "Place this inside your ear," he urged.

I took the disk and looked at it uneasily for a moment. I crinkled my nose in nervousness while I glanced at him. He nodded, pressing me once more to follow his instructions.

I did as he commanded and placed the buds in my ears. I squealed in fright as I felt them move and soften to conform better in my ear.

With a blue glimmer, Xan gently grabbed my arm. "It's alright," he cooed. "It's normal."

I took a deep breath and nodded.

Xan drew his finger up to his temple and it glowed with a gentle golden light, just like when he had uploaded my language into his memories.

"Can you understand me?" he asked.

I nodded and he breathed with relief. "Good."

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked.

"I'm not speaking your language anymore. Those buds allow you to understand Torian and Roxan now. As the sound waves pass through, they translate to English so you are able to understand what you hear." I smiled at hearing that. "You can't speak either though," he said quickly dashing my excitement. "That will take other technology."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "So much work to fit in with you galactic beings."

He chuckled. "Trust me, it's more work trying to make you seem half normal."

I shot him a glare just as the ship began to slow down. We both walked up to the window and saw a lush green planet floating before us, with a giant red sun roaring behind it.

My jaw dropped and Xan turned to me with a grin.

"Welcome to Varox"