“E-Earthy?” Bradley repeated weakly.

“Yes,” The giant woman replied. He couldn't see the smile but it was very audible. “It's just a cute little name I came up with. You're all just little Earthies!”

“Not a very sciencey name for a researcher...”

“That's very true,” Arell admitted. “But what else could I do? A very bizarre truth rest before us, Bradley. Despite the obvious difference of height and sex, our anatomies are nearly identical, externally and internally. Our biological systems; digestive, cardiovascular, respiratory, et cetera...all of them share the same structure and function in almost precisely the same way. The discrepancies are minor and arise from the size difference. I, logically, couldn't call you a human or homo sapiens unless I was prepared to claim those titles for myself as well!”

Bradley said nothing, only stared with wide eyes. His head was beginning to pound. A stubborn part of him still held onto the idea of this being a dream, refusing to accept this insanity as reality. It was beginning to feel more like a bad drug trip than a dream.

“I could have gone with 'Earthlings',” The woman from the stars mused aloud. “A lot of your science fiction tends to have other worldly entities refer to humanity in that manner. But it seemed...not just cliché, but too cold. So I though of 'Earthy', instead. I realize it might sound silly, but I've grown attached to it all the same.”

“Call me whatever you want,” Bradley said in a low voice, holding his head in his hands. The pain was growing and he desperately wanted it to cease. “Just let me go. I just want to go home, please. I want to go home and work on forgetting...whatever this is.”

“You speak as if I'm holding you prisoner.”

Bradley didn't respond.

“You asked what I wanted from you,” Arell continued. “What I want is simply your humble opinion as a sort of emissary of Earth.”

“My...opinion?”

“That's right.”

“On what?”

“As I've said, and as you yourself are aware,” Arell said. “Earth faces many challenges and I fear her children are woefully unprepared at best, unwilling at worst, to shoulder the responsibility of overcoming these obstacles. I have observed you Earthies for a long time. I know your history very well, perhaps better than you yourselves. Many mistakes you have not learned from and you are thus, as your saying goes, condemned to repeat them in a viscous, generational cycle.” She leaned forward. “I wish to help you break this cycle.”

“How long have you been watching us?” Bradley asked. The pain throbbed and throbbed and he waited for it to be over.

“I witnessed Julius Caesar cross the Rubicon.”

A new, sharp pain stabbed Bradley's brain. “Bullshit!” He cried instinctively. “You'd...you'd be over a thousand years old!”

“We Avakonians are very old,” Arell said, nodding. “At least by your standards. Needless to say, our perception of time isn't quite as...short sighted as yours.”

“But...but if you've been watching us for THAT long, then why wait for me? What kept you from fucking beaming Caesar himself up here and asking HIS opinion?”

“Oh this isn't the first time I've thought of doing this, believe me. But, you musn't forget that I'm primarily a researcher. I don't meddle in the affairs of another planet unless I absolutely have to. But yours is a...special case.”

“Because...?”

“Because we're the same race,” She answered. “This is empirically demonstrated all the way down to our DNA. This connection is too precise to be a mere coincidence. The parameters of my role as a researcher dictate that I be merely a silent observer. But, as we're essentially kin, my heart says that I have to step in and help you in your time of need. This has been my struggle for many centuries and I have resisted temptation. But it has been hard, and it has grown more difficult. When I watched the Germans round up their Jewish populations, I...I couldn't...and then your discovery of the atomic bomb...” Her eyes began to tear up. She paused for a moment and made a visibly conscious effort to bring her emotions under control. “That was the hardest time for me. I began to think that by doing nothing I was allowing suffering to happen. How much of it was my fault by me choosing to not act? But, of course, I could not just swoop in and take control of all governments and implement my own rule like some petty despot. If I was to help Earth, I would like for it to because her children chose to accept my assistance.”

“...and you're asking ME this question...?”

“In a sense...yes.”

“In a sense?”

“Well...” Arell's face drew away as she leaned back in her chair, an uncomfortable expression dawning. “If you and your fellow Earthies were to refuse that would put me in a very...awkward position. If you had a loved one who suffered from a crippling addiction that was destroying them, could you just walk away if they refused your help? Let them continue down that path until they met a bitter end; a long and drawn out suicide? Or would you insist yourself upon them? Your intentions may be pure, but...well, Earthies have another wise saying about good intentions.”

“I still don't understand why you're asking ME this...” Bradley said, rubbing both eyes. “You have billions of 'Earthies' to choose from. You could have brought all the leaders of the world onto your ship. But...you pick me?”

“In a way, I didn't pick you,” Arell replied. “It was by sheer happenstance that I happened to discover you and hear your musings about the state of not only your own life but that of the planet and 'mankind' itself. I saw someone defeated, at the end of their rope, distraught. My heart went out to you. And when you threw yourself into that pond, I acted out of impulse. I brought you onto the ship. It was not a logical decision. But as you laid there unconscious in my hands, I realized that this may be the opportunity I was looking for. If I could bring light and hope into the life of one who was willing to throw himself into the dark void, then perhaps there was a chance I could do the same for the rest of the planet. Call it fate, luck, or whatever you wish. But that is why I am asking you, Bradley Peterson of Earth.”

“But I'm just one guy!” Bradley protested. His head continued to throb as his mind frantically attempted to process this. It's all a dream, the stubborn voice insisted, none of this is real. You were boozed out of your mind and now this is what your soaked brain is coming up with. Just wait, that voice said, it will end soon enough. “You want ME to decide the fate of humanity?”

“To an extent. Even if Earthies decide they don't want my help, I am still bound by my own morality to help them. Should it come to that, I would value a voice other than my own. Despite our biological bond, Earth is not my home but yours. Your voice would be a reminder of that, an anchor. You have bonds to the planet that I, even as a long observer, do not.”

“And if I say 'no'? Are you going to 'insist yourself' on me as well?”

“You're not a prisoner, Bradley.”

“Sure feels like I'm a prisoner...”

“I have only explained my desire to help you and your fellow Earthies. Before you make your decision, you might want to hear about all that I have to offer.”

“Let me guess...world peace?”

“A good guess, but we can aim for the stars later,” Arell snapped her fingers and a holographic interface, something Bradley had only seen in movies, appeared before her and she began typing inputs. “Let's aim for something smaller for now, like that headache you're clearly suffering from.”

A loud whirring noise (or at least it was loud for tiny Bradley) sounded from within the massive desk or whatever his “cage” sat upon. A slot opened and from it a cylindrical piece of tech appeared. Arell tapped her interface again and the top of the cylinder opened and a small, white spherical machine, with a big glowing digital eye, flew out of it. The machine hovered for a moment as Arell continued to work before it finally turned towards him. A brilliant flash of light. A sudden loud popping noise. And the machine had appeared inside the cage, floating above him, staring with its glowing eye.

“Jesus fuck!” Bradley cried, stumbling back. His heart began to race. His head felt like it was going to explode from the stress. “Get that thing away!”

“Calm down, Bradley,” Arell spoke calmly. “It's not going to hurt you. Quite the opposite, actually.”

The orb's eye emitted a long, cone shaped beam that scanned up Bradley. It started from his feet and slowly worked its way up. When it reached his forehead, a loud beeping sounded and its beam turned red. Then, it began to whir. Bradley immediately wanted to run but before he could even get himself into gear he felt something happening. There was no pain, but something WAS happening. He could feel it. Like his brain was being massaged (or perhaps carefully reassembled). And within seconds, the throbbing pain melted away. The orb's beam turned green and it beeped twice. Then, it reoriented itself and scanned with a yellow beam. When it was done, it harshly beeped again, and inched closer to Bradley before making a soft hiss like sound. A smell suddenly touched his nose. It was nothing like he'd ever experienced before; completely foreign and yet very soft and pleasant. He inhaled it slowly and deeply like a smoker taking a cigarette break during a very stressful day. It was soothing, hypnotic.

“Feel better?” Arell asked.

“Yes,” He answered simply and honestly.

“Good. What you're smelling is the scent of a Callovern, a beautiful flower native to Avakon, my home planet. It's a rare flora that is renowned for its extraordinarily sweet smelling and soothing pheromones.”

“It's...definitely soothing,” Bradley replied serenely.

“Yes it is. Avakonian scientists believe it evolved that trait to entice pollinators to create nests near it, as it originated in frigid biomes where insects would go inactive during long cold seasons. I have a pot of Calloverns beside my bed. They're wonderful sleep aids.”

“So why did that ball thing spray pheromones at me? What even IS that thing?”

“Essentially because its vitals scan detected all the tell tale signs of elevated stress.” Arell explained. “As for what it is, it's a P.A.R.O.”

“A what?”

“It's an acronym. You wouldn't understand the words as they're Avakonian, but, to put it simply, its a series of robots designed to make medical diagnoses and provide treatment. Little P.A.R.Os, like the one before you, were designed for species of your size but can also be useful for Avakonians if very precise treatment is needed so that the bot can go inside their bodies. It can do so much more than soothe nerves and treat stress headaches. It can mend bones and soft tissue damage, eradicate infections, remove invasive parasites, and, before you ask, yes...it can even cure cancer.”

A part of Bradley wanted to protest, to doubt that a strange floating ball thing could do so much, not matter how high tech it looked and what fancy lights came out of it. But having experienced its “touch” he could do nothing but stare at it.

“And that's only a fraction of what I can offer Earthies,” Arell went on. She leaned forward, bringing her otherworldly and breathtaking eyes down to him. Bradley could hear the eagerness in her voice. “The Avakonians have technology that is lightyears ahead of what Earthies have now. And I can share it all with you and your planet! Agricultural advancements, clean and efficient renewable energy sources, space travel...even overpopulation can be solved!”

“...how?” Bradley asked breathlessly. The P.A.R.O beeped again and the sweet pheromones of the Callo-flower thing filled his nose. A new wave of serene calm washed over him.

“Well,” Arell began to explain. “I can offer space on my ship in the short term. Such a move might be necessary to ensure that Earth can be healed of its pollution thoroughly. But, more importantly and in the long term, I could begin the process of terraformation of other planets, notably Mars and Venus.”

“You're telling me you, a single Ava-whatever...”

“Avakonian.”

“Yeah...Avakonian...a single one of you can terraform two planets?”

“I can.” Arell replied without hesitation. “Admittedly, I am not as efficient at it as others from my planet. We have scientists dedicated to the craft and have perfected it. It'd take decades for me to do it alone. But I can start the process and they can finish. With the proper teams it would only take a couple of Earth years.”

“You want to bring more of you here!?”

“I do,” Arell said. She drew her face away and Bradley saw a look of awkward look on her face. “I...I'm breaking protocols by doing this. I am not authorized to interact with planets unless it is a dire emergency that threatens the entire species. However, you and your fellow Earthies are a very unique situation. You're a confounding problem. I don't know how but it is very clear to me that you are, somehow, a biological cousin of the Avakonians if you'll pardon the expression.”

“You're afraid of what they'll do if they find out you're 'breaking protocol'?”

“No. I'm sure they'll understand. And they'll want to help, especially when they've seen my observations of Earth, which I'll be obligated to give to them. They'll come in droves without hesitation.”

“Oh god...!” Bradley breathed. The P.A.R.O beeped.

“And THAT is my fear,” Arell said. “They will have the best intentions, but having so many of them arrive all at once and without any warning...I cannot see the Earthies interpreting that as anything other than an invasion, a take over. They'll fight back.”

“They would?” Peterson asked. “Why? One of the things you're offering is a cure for cancer! I know people who'd probably KILL for that.”

“You're right,” “Arell nodded. “But, and I don't say this to sound judgmental or condescending, but many of your fellow Earthies contest the efficacy of vaccinations and believe your planet to be flat. Superstitions and other irrationality abound. Just my presence alone would shake the core beliefs of almost all major religious doctrines on Earth. I'm sure I don't need to explain to you how some of your fellow Earthies simply refuse to be swayed from their cherished beliefs, even when it would benefit them.”

“You're...you're not wrong,” Bradley admitted, unable to resist feeling a little ashamed for some reason.

“It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Earthies still have much to learn, and when you are faced with such insurmountable ignorance superstitions are inevitable. Many natives of other planets are the same way. Even the Avakonians clutched religious texts to our bosoms back in our early days long, LONG ago.”

“How long ago was 'long ago'?”

Arell waved a hand. “We can talk about my planet some other time. Right now, we need to focus on yours. I want the Avakonians to come here but not until Earthies are ready for them. I want to try a more gentle approach. I want to share my offerings with them little by little; give the Earthies time to take it in. Some will be suspicious, I'm sure. But I believe that, slowly over a year, they will realize that I am here to help not harm, and they'll cast their suspicions aside. And then, I will call the Avakonians here, and Earth's golden age will begin proper!”

Again, she brought her eyes down. They literally seemed to sparkle with excitement; the white speckles in her brilliant blue irises seemed to twinkle like stars.

“So...what do you think, little Earthy?” She asked softly.

Bradley gaped at her. The P.A.R.O beeped again.

“I think I'm gonna overdose on pheromones...” He said weakly.

“You won't. The Callovern's pheromones are completely safe.” He saw the smile through her eyes. “You only need to worry about the little P.A.R.O running out.”

He didn't respond. In spite of the pheromones, the weight of the situation weighed heavily on Bradley Peterson's chest. He really didn't know what to think. The only thing that he really knew was he was becoming more and more sure of was that he was not the person who should be here.

“Bradley...”

He looked up at her eyes.

“You told me a moment ago that nothing you say matters,” She said “Maybe that was true on Earth. There you were but one voice in a sea of billions. You believed your life was a waste, inconsequential. But now you're here. With me. And I believe I can change your planet in ways never thought possible. I know I can. There's no other voice here besides yours.”

She leaned closer, her sparkling eyes twinkled brighter.

“And I promise, from the bottom of my heart to listen.”

Bradley Peterson of Earth stared at her for a few minutes before dropping his eyes.

Arell of Avakon watched him.

An hour passed on Earth before his voice finally, and timidly, spoke. And when it did, she listened carefully.