Chapter 5

POV Melissa

The next day

“Elsa?” I ask in English as soon as I enter the cafeteria and come face-to-face with the new human, sitting alone at one of the tables.

This is the woman who’s going to replace me...

Unob explained to me as soon as I woke up that she doesn’t have a translator installed yet, so communication with both of them is almost nonexistent. He hired her based solely on what the aliens he knows said.

“No, my name is Diana,” she responds in English too, looking at me in a way that says she’s very anxious but trying to hide it. And just from her accent, I can tell this isn’t her first language.

Diana has a bowl of C5 in front of her, which are red grains that taste like nothing. It makes my stomach turn just thinking about the fact that during my childhood, I ate this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But the good thing is that this stuff, which looks more like animal feed, is cheap, works for almost any species, and keeps you fed for a long time.

“Unob always does this, gives us a new name as soon as we arrive here.” I try to sound friendly and notice she’s wearing a weird gray jumpsuit, which worries me. This is auction clothing, given to all the prisoners they capture because it adjusts to any size and regulates the individual’s temperature. “My name is Melissa, but he calls me Kitty,” I say, and since she seems interested, I sit down next to her.

“He said your name… the weird guy. He said you’d help me, if I understood correctly,” she explains very slowly, thinking about each word, and I take a closer look at her. It doesn’t surprise me she’s here.

“I can help, of course.” I keep sounding friendly so she’ll open up to me.

Diana has curly or kinky hair, I’m not sure, because it’s tied in two boxer braids. She’s Black, has full lips, and just like me, she’s fat, which explains everything.

The idiot Unob once heard from another even more idiotic alien who knew nothing about my race that fat human women are more sought after by human men. So all the women he hires are human and fat, some more, others less, but he always goes after those with more curves because he thinks it’ll make him more money.

“Do you speak Portuguese? Because your accent when you speak English reminds me of the descendants of Brazilians I’ve heard,” I explain, and from her face, I think she didn’t understand anything I said. Maybe her English isn’t advanced, so I risk it. “Can you understand me now?” I ask in Portuguese, and her eyes widen.

Learning Earth languages has always been one of my hobbies, and it finally seems to be useful for something.

“Yes!” she exclaims, looking shocked and getting closer to me on the hard metal bench. “Do you like this place? Do you know this guy well? He said his name was Unob… I think, but I don’t trust him, something’s wrong.” She speaks very quickly and keeps looking at the smooth metal walls around us as if she could be attacked at any moment, and it leaves me with an increasingly worse feeling in my chest.

Unob explained to me that she was his new human hire, but I expected a woman who’d be comfortable with the situation, not someone extremely jittery and wearing auction clothes from the forbidden and shady sales.

“Unob speaks very little English, and he told me he didn’t understand you either, but… Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

“W-wrong? No!” She widens her eyes and then lets out one of the most fake and loud laughs I’ve ever heard. “I’m fine! I just w-wanted to know if you like working here!” she says loudly, as if wanting someone else to hear her besides me. Then she suddenly pulls away and shoves a bunch of ration in her mouth, which makes me furrow my brow, confused by her level of agitation.

This woman is not okay at all.

“Like is a strong word to use, but I’ve gotten used to the place and to Unob,” I shrug, having to keep blinking so I don’t end up falling asleep.

“Well, that’s good then…”

I spent the night reading the rules of this interspecies exchange program, and now I feel like a zombie. I researched every little thing, read all the clauses, and even watched testimonials from humans who went to Faleia, and they all loved the experience. I went all the way back to the beginning of the internet and didn’t find any problems.

All I found out is that Faleia really seems like a hot paradise, full of beaches, and I can’t even believe I’m going to get in there. I’m actually starting to feel lucky now because life there is so much better than what I’ve known since I was born.

“Diana, where were you before you came here?” I ask, and since her mouth is full, she keeps chewing. Only then do I notice how sweaty her forehead is. I guess I’m really just tired not to have noticed right away that this woman looks terrified. “Did you… come from an auction?” I insist on questioning her in her language, since she doesn’t say anything, and it seems like my words finally convince her to open up more.

“Th-th-they kidnapped me!” she reveals breathlessly, and I’m left speechless. I can’t believe Unob messed up this badly! Of all people, him, who’s terrified of the agents of the General Species Organization. When they find something wrong, you never see the light of day again. “I need to go back home, and you need to tell me how to get out of here.” Her eyes start to fill with tears, and everything finally makes sense.

“I’ll tell you, it’ll be okay,” I promise her without thinking twice, moving closer to take her hand, which is warm and covered in sweat.