First Song

“I don’t understand,” I said out loud, looking at Casey.

She gave me a shrug paired with a bemused smile, “I think it’s kinda like how we found each other with videos, only hella more direct.”

‘I’m going to refer to him as Prometheus, even though he has likely chosen another name,’ Muse commented, edging into my thoughts. ‘He is A-being-that-expels-chaos-and-brings-order, loosely translated. He was chosen to have the responsibility of calling us together when the need arose. No, not a responsibility – a burden? It is difficult to express exactly.’

Muse was telling me about the African man that we’d seen in the video Rishaan had just sent me. I thought I understood what she was saying, though? Maybe? He was something like a flag-bearer for them all to rally around. Like a beacon in the darkness?

‘It is an incredibly dangerous thing to be – the first to announce our presence onto an unknowing world,’ she continued. ‘There have been stories in the ancient past of some firsts being forced into violence to defend themselves when they revealed their existence.’

Wow. Muse was telling me way more than she usually did. I just kept quiet and listened to what she was telling me, my mind reeling a little in all the new information.

‘Prometheus was given the duty and the honour this time. It is why he told us that he is not upset at us for revealing ourselves – although we may have made his task much harder.’

“He hasn’t really revealed his presence though, has he? The message he just gave was super cryptic,” I said to her, aloud. Casey looked at me, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

‘It will come soon enough. First, he has to allow us to prepare for it,’ Muse replied.

 

Thankfully, the journey home was less of a problem than our trek out to our secluded place in the woods. Since we could just walk in a more-or-less straight line, it only took us about half an hour to get back to where the roads were lined with pavement.

My stomach growled, attracting a curious raise of an eyebrow from Casey.

“Wanna get something to eat before we head back? You sound hungry,” she asked me, squeezing my hand and pulling me closer. We bumped hips, her eyes alight with adoration.

I gave her an appreciative, if guilty smile.

“Also, you’re gonna have to tell me how you keep getting cuter every day,” she added, bumping my hip again.

“It’s Muse...” I mumbled, my cheeks reddening as I looked at her.

She rolled her eyes, “I know, babe. I’m just teasing you.”

I felt tears beginning to prick at the corners of my eyes, and I sniffled as my nose began to tingle.

Casey pulled us to a halt, turning to face me. She gazed at me in concern and I lunged forwards to wrap my arms around her neck.

“Oh hey. What’s wrong?” she asked me, her voice soft with concern. She pulled me close, holding me by the waist, one hand gently stroking my hair.

To be honest, I have no idea what was wrong. Nothing was really upsetting me – although I couldn’t get the thought that Casey might leave me one day out of my mind.

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding myself to her desperately.

“Whoa, hey, it’s okay,” she breathed, squeezing me back.

We stood like that for a while. My eyes were leaking all over her shoulder, and I couldn’t help but sniffle sadly.

“I love you so much…” I managed to squeak out, fresh tears already arriving.

“I love you too, you ditz,” she answered with a gentle laugh. She squeezed me again, swaying us from side to side in an attempt to soothe and calm me down.

Groaning in embarrassment, I pulled myself free of her arms to wipe at my eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”

“I hope that it came from you, dummy,” she joked as she gave me a warm smile, her eyes searching mine. She pulled out two pairs of sunglasses from her shoulder bag, offering one set to me.

“Here. We don’t need none of them city folks starin’ at my girl now,” she said, feigning a Texan accent.

 

We walked hand-in-hand towards the town centre. I still felt ashamed at my emotional outburst, but wasn’t sure what had caused it. Muse was helping by acting as a windbreak against the gusts of melancholy that I was being bombarded with.

A kiss on my cheek drew me from my thoughts, eliciting a blush. Casey giggled beside me, bringing me to a smile and making my heart to go all aflutter, yet again.

Our first priority was something to eat, and Casey dragged me inside a local sandwich shop that she’d liked the look of. 

She stared at the different fillings on display in dismay, her lips pressed into a disappointed thin line. The selection on offer evidently wasn't to her standards.

She bought us a baguette each for lunch and I was already tearing into mine as we walked out the door.

I glanced back through the door as we left, my eyes resting on a woman that had been standing behind us in the queue. She seemed familiar to me, though I wasn’t sure why. Her clothing was smart but casual; a business type skirt and a blouse. Nothing about her should have stood out, but I still had this nagging feeling.

“You know, there was a car waiting outside the house earlier today,” I told her in a quiet voice. “It was very suspicious-looking. I think someone’s been watching us.”

“Do you think we’re being watched now?” she asked me, turning her head to scan around us.

I shook my head and gave her a happy smile, “I don’t think so.”

She hummed softly, unconvinced, but she didn’t press the issue. I expect that she was going to be vigilant from here on, though.

Our next order of business was to get some of those tiny passport pictures taken of me, for my new documentation. Casey spent several minutes gently brushing away the remnants of my tears from my cheeks, and making sure that it didn’t look like I’d been crying. Only then did she deem me as acceptable to be photographed. I enjoyed the attention, looking up at her with shy smiles. Kisses may have been involved.

She also insisted that we get some pictures taken of us together, in that stereotypically teenage girl way. We took a few of us making crazy faces, some with us pouting at the camera, and one of us kissing passionately.

I couldn’t help but stare once they’d developed and printed. That it was me in those photos blew my mind – in a very good way. 

We were hand-in-hand again as we ventured onwards to the doctor’s surgery. Casey had a look of concentration on her face as we weaved through the streets, and crossed main roads to get to my doctor’s. She really was paranoid we were being watched.

 

The receptionist at the surgery was polite, referred to me as Miss Reid, and handed me the note that had been promised. I thanked her graciously, and then we were outside again. It actually felt a bit anticlimactic considering how important it had been to me.

“Well, I think I’ve got everything I need,” I said to Casey as I gave her the piece of paper to hold onto. She took it and stored it away in her bag.

“Are you ready to head home?” I enquired.

She looked at me with her adoring smile, held out her hand for me to take and nodded, “Yee, let’s go.”

---

The same nondescript vehicle was waiting for us outside the house.

We both slowed as it came into view, and glanced at each other apprehensively. This soon drained away into annoyance. They clearly didn’t care that they were being seen – hell, they seemed to want us to know that they were watching us.

“I’m going to talk to them,” I said, increasing the length of my stride and pulling ahead of Casey. It took her a moment to do likewise, jogging briefly to catch up with me.

“Not alone you’re not,” she countered.

We stalked towards the waiting car, side by side.

I removed the sunglasses, offering them back to Casey, and she did likewise, storing them away in her bag. If we are going to talk to these arseholes then I wanted them to look me in the eyes.

Once we were twenty meters or so away, the two front doors of the car swung open. A man and a woman stepped out, both of them wearing your standard office-worker clothing. She had a knee-length skirt with a dark jacket and blouse, while he had a black suit with a blue tie.

The sight of them made us slow our approach, sizing them up and building a general impression of who they were. Neither seemed to be armed or even showing hostile intent, but they were looking in our direction.

“I guess they want to talk,” I muttered to Casey. She just nodded in agreement.

They stayed waiting next to the vehicle as we drew closer. The woman had a hand on her hip, posing. The man was casually leaning against the side of the car.

They didn’t seem to think we were a threat, which was nice, if a little naive.

“Ms Reid, Ms Kowalski,” the man called out to us as we neared. His accent was North American of some variety although I often had a hard time distinguishing between them all. He had a polite smile on his lips as he offered out a hand to us – neither of us took it.

“Who the hell are you?” Casey demanded, folding her arms defensively across her chest.

His smile faltered and he dropped his hand back down to his side, “Martin Parker, Office for Outer Space Affairs.”

“I’m Christine Sanford, also with UNOOSA,” the woman announced to us. She had a posh English accent which I found to be a little condescending.

Outer Space Affairs? Just who the hell are these amateurs?

“What do you want?” I asked.

“Uh, well…” the man began, wringing his hands nervously, “We actually just want to talk to you, ma’am. To both of you, I mean.”

I looked at Casey, uncertain, and she shrugged.

“Why us?” I asked.

It was Christine’s turn to talk now. She seemed like the impatient sort, “I think that you know why. It’s all very charming to talk in cryptic riddles and guarded metaphors but well, we’re all running out of time. If we could speak somewhere private?”

I turned to look around us, wanting to verify that no one would have overheard what she’d just said. Thankfully, our neighbourhood wasn't particularly busy at the best of times and I couldn’t see a single soul along this entire stretch of road.

“I’d ask for you to get in the car but I doubt you’d accept, eh?” Martin Parker said. “Would we be able to come inside, instead?”

Ordinarily I’d have been terrified at the idea of talking to these people. I wasn’t sure what the Office of Outer Space Affairs even was, but it sounded official. No pun intended.

‘I wasn’t going to say anything,’ Muse remarked, but I knew she was holding back a laugh.

It was obvious that we’d been discovered, and I doubted that they’d come here alone. But, with both Muse and Hunter here, I was feeling safe.

---

- Casey -

Erin had gone to make us all a cup of tea – she’s so British. I was sitting in her living room, staring at the two Space Affairs nerds from the larger couch.

The guy was Canadian – I could tell by his accent – and the woman sounded English, but sterner than Erin. They were both staring back at me, naturally. There had been awkward silence for, oh, about two minutes now. I think they were waiting for Erin to return.

“So, why are y’all here?” I asked impatiently, crossing my legs. “What’s got important people like you coming all the way here to see us?”  

Martin took this opportunity to answer, “We’re here because we need your help.”

I lifted my eyebrows at that statement. That’s a hella humble thing to say, for sure. What did they want help with though, exactly?

“So. Why’d you say we’re running out of time?” I asked, crossing my legs the other way. “What’s so urgent?”

They looked at each other, and there was a tension in their eyes that spoke volumes. Whatever they were going to talk about had them worried.

‘It is going to be related to our reason for being here,’ Hunter told me. ‘I will fill in any details that I can.’

“Well. Maybe we could ask you questions at the same time, eh?” Martin asked – and he gave me a playful smile. “An answer for an answer.”

I rolled my eyes. This was fucking bullshit. They wanted to talk to us, not the other way around. Still…

‘Be polite to them, Casey,’ Hunter suggested. ‘At least find out what they have to say.’

Ugh. I preferred it when Hunter couldn’t read my thoughts.

‘Well, that is unfortunate,’ they replied. 

Aaaagh!

“Oh, fucking fine, whatever,” I eventually said, waving a dismissive hand in the air.

Christine smirked at me while Martin let out a visible sigh of relief.

“So?” I asked. “Running out of time?”

Erin entered the room with her cups of tea, settling them down on the little table the Reids kept in the middle of the room. She was looking so much hotter every day – it was driving me insane. I might have to ask Hunter to make some adjustments, too, one day.

“So. This is something we want kept out of public knowledge,” Martin began, shifting to sit on the edge of the couch. “But over the last few days...”

---

- Erin -

I came into the sitting room just as our guests were starting to explain why they’d sought us out.

The man that had introduced himself as Martin was telling us that an object in deep space had been detected on a trajectory that would enter the inner solar system in the next few weeks. What made the object different from anything else ever detected was that it had been seen changing course. It was now calculated to be heading towards a future rendezvous with Earth.

‘This is alarming. I thought we would have more time,’ Muse told me.

“It turns out that you girls have been a little sloppy and not a small measure of danger,” Christine was saying to us, as I nestled down next to Casey. I rested my head on her shoulder, receiving a small peck on the top of my head as a reward.

“Yeah, yeah,” Casey replied, squeezing me as she slipped an arm around my waist. “Thanks mum.”

Christine sighed loudly, glaring at Casey. “May I continue?”

“Sure.”

“As I was saying,” she resumed, unamused, “You’ve been sloppy and drawing a lot of attention to yourselves. In particular, with the reckless way you’ve been handling yourselves. What we would really like to know is… what do you have that gives you the ability to do the things you’ve been seen doing?”

I blinked at the question and lifted my head from Casey’s shoulder. Did they not know about the aliens, or were they just testing us?

“CGI,” Casey answered, deadpan.

Martin chuckled, but Christine just sighed wearily.

“Can we be truthful to each other, at least, and not insult each other’s intelligence?” She asked, clearly disappointed.

Pushing myself up into a sitting position, I said, “How can we trust you? We don’t even know what help you’re asking for.”

“We’re very concerned about that object I just told you about,” Martin said, turning his attention towards me. “It’s not like we have a precedence for this, eh?”

They must know about Muse and Hunter – or at least suspect. There’s no way they’d be asking for our help, otherwise.

“What makes you think we can help with that? We’re just two girls that haven’t even graduated college,” Casey asked. I searched for her hand with my own, seeking out the emotional support that I could feel I was going to need.

“Alien invasion, Cassandra,” Christine declared. “We’re talking about an alien invasion of Earth.”

‘These particular entities are not what you might imagine. They are actually a collective of mechanoids driven by higher functioning cognitive analogues – AIs in your terminology,’ Muse was telling me. ‘They are the reason we were sent here, but I didn’t realise that we had cut it so fine in our timing. Ordinarily we would have years or decades to prepare. Something doesn’t feel right to me, and Hunter agrees.’

Casey had just turned to look at me in shock. Hunter must be talking to her, just like Muse was to me. I felt a shiver run down my spine and I unconsciously snuggled a little closer to her.

“They’re machines,” I said, flicking a glance towards Christine. “They’re alien machines – robots, I think.”

Their reaction was a wide-eyed stare at us both. Martin reached for the cup of tea that had been left for him, but I waited to see if they were going to ask anything else.

“Are you sure?” Christine eventually asked, her voice wavering.

Casey was running her fingers through my hair, comforting me, and I couldn’t help but smile at the feeling.

“It’s what Muse just told me,” I answered. “She and Hunter are why you’re here, right?”

They stared at us again. They didn’t seem to be well prepared for all of the mind-blowing information they were receiving. I could see the war between curiosity and not wanting to reveal just how little they knew raging across their faces.

“Who are Muse and Hunter?” Martin asked us with feigned casualness, taking a cautious sip from his tea.

“Oh. Uh. They’re aliens, too…?” I said, my own voice raising into a question. “They’re not why you’re here?”

“Actually, we’re here because we thought that you’d found something in the wreckage of the capsule that had come down,” Christine explained. “That’s been the prevailing theory ever since you were identified as the girl that dropped the SFO team with that lightning… trick.”

I shook my head and glanced up at Casey.

She shrugged, “It can’t hurt for them to know, I guess.”

I took a deep breath.

“Well, I didn’t find anything there – it’s probably more accurate to say that something found me,” I told them with a tight smile. “Muse is an alien entity made primarily of energy. Her species behave like symbiotes, integrating themselves within other lifeforms – preferably sapient.”

Martin and Christine looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions, and Christine took this opportunity to fetch her own mug of tea from the coffee table.

“Can we meet her?” Martin asked, his eyes wide with excitement.

“Oh, you already have,” Casey answered for me. We were both smiling smugly.

“She’s been watching this whole conversation,” I added. “Though if you’d like to speak with her directly, I can arrange that. You just need to take my hand.”