Riku Alcastar sat at his desk, quietly thinking to himself. His room lay in complete silence, a mental graveyard.

Which unfamiliar faces today would most likely want him dead? Of course, everyone wanted him dead one way or another. It was almost a fact by now. At the age of twelve, a whole world of homicide, fratricide, amicicide, filicide and some other obscure disasters awaited him in the teenage years to come.

Every day, people died. Every day, people would kill themselves for fear of dying at the wrong hands. Riku pondered this now. Would suicide be a better choice?

"Riku! Time for dinner!" a voice called.

"I'm not hungry!" Riku shouted. Starvation would only occur after not eating for seven consecutive days. Three if no water could be partaken. Death's threat on that avenue wasn't too urgent.

"What to do..." Riku muttered to himself after a few minutes of silence. He slid open his desk drawer idly, pulling out a notebook, a pencil, and a silver mechanical device. "I guess patrolling the perimeter would decrease the number of potential threats."

A minute later, the boy stood outside the house, sketching the surrounding trees and bushes with an expert eye. He finished with a flourish of his hand, and labled the top of the notebook: Day 405, No Change.

Riku tossed the half-camera he had modified into a taser up, catching it by the handle as it came down.

"Overprepared, as always," Riku muttered to himself. He glanced down the street where he lived, noting the soft rumbling of cars that passed by. Then the rumbling grew louder.

The boy immediately whipped his head around, looking left and right. Then he spun around, checking the vicinity of his house. Nothing abnormal.

Yet, the rumbling sound grew louder still. Riku shot a glance up. Then he immediately backed away as an object smashed into the ground where he had been standing.

"The hell...?" Riku muttered to himself, pressing his sleeve against his nose to avoid inhaling the dust clouds scattering from the impact. He ran over to the edge of a grove of trees, picked up a fallen branch, and ran back to the impact site.

"Let's see..." Riku ran over his mental checklist as he waded into the smoke. "In case of meteor impact... check for burning first, alert fire station if previous condition is met. If not, acquire sample of the meteor without physical contact... maybe I should've brought a jar?"

The boy walked cautiously toward the dust and smoke, poking the ground with his stick as he went. He paused briefly to jot down a line in his notebook and kept going. As he arrived, the boy poked the ground where the smoke trailed up from with his stick. Then he frowned.

"It's... soft material?" Riku muttered. He bent down, waving the smoke away.

The fallen form looked somewhat like the body of a girl. She had greenish-blue hair that extended to her shoulders, and had a half-ripped black uniform-looking set of clothes on. Riku's frown deepened, and he poked the strange girl with his stick.

"Hmm... a skydiver?" Riku asked himself. "No... no one in their right mind would jump out of a plane over a city, much less without a parachute. An emergency flight evacuation? No, then I would've seen the plane overhead. Hmm... an alien maybe?"

Riku slowly touched over the girl with his stick, careful to keep his modified taser in his other hand. Finally, he cast his stick aside, and wrote a little in his notebook.

"Should've brought gloves," Riku said to himself. He hit himself in the forehead. "I have to prepare better next time."

The boy glanced back down at the unconscious green-haired girl lying in a small crater in the middle of the street. He debated with himself for a moment on whether or not touching the girl with his bare hands would be a good idea. Maybe he should just call the police first?

"Well... then there'd be guns in the equation and the probability of me getting killed becomes much higher," Riku thought aloud. "Although if this girl is really an alien, and she has a differently structured body than humans, then I would risk infecting myself... or maybe she'd get infected by touching a human."

Finally, the boy sighed. "Ugh, whatever."

Riku knelt down by the girl, and placed his hand gingerly on her chest. He felt for a few seconds and nodded. "Okay, heartbeat is still there. Means she's alive at least."

The boy pressed his hands over her neck, and leaned in closer. "She doesn't seem to have any troubles breathing either. If she was an alien, then Earth's atmosphere could be poisonous. Well, then maybe she's really a human after all."

Riku lifted the girl's arm experimentally. "I wonder if it'll wake her up if I hit her with the taser... Well, then again, I might need the charge to deal with other potential threats."

Suddenly, a glowing white object dropped from the girl's hand. Riku instantly scooped his hand under the object, and held it up to his eyes. It looked like a large white bead, but it was glowing so fiercely that it could have been a miniature sun. Riku gave the object a suspicious look, and shoved it into his pocket. Then he turned back to the girl.

"A human couldn't have taken a fall like that and still be alive," Riku said to himself slowly. He clapped his hands together. "Which means that this has to be an alien."

Suddenly, a low rumbling noise sounded. Riku did his perimeter sweep again, and found a car rounding the corner of his street. Then he sighed.

"It's the neighbor again," Riku said to himself. He ran his hand through his silky black hair. "Annoying."

"Hey, you!" the car honked, the window of the driver's seat rolling down.

A pudgy, half-bald man wearing a white sleeveless shirt looked out. "Kid!"

"We've been neighbors for four years, but you still don't remember my name," Riku muttered.

"Hey, kid! What's going on here?!" the man said, stepping out from the car. He looked down suspiciously, flinching when he saw the girl.

"Whoa!" the man exclaimed. Then he narrowed his eyes at Riku. "You know, kid, sexual assault is a crime."


Riku sighed. "Take your own advice, old man."

"What was that?!" the man said, storming up to the boy. "Are you talking back to me, boy?! Let me make this clear to you. I could pound you into the ground right now and nobody, not even your parents, would give a d***."

"Yes, and unlike you, I do my research," Riku said, right before touching the head of his taser to the man's stomach. The man flinched, spasmed, and collapsed.

"God this idiot is annoying," Riku said, kicking the man in the thigh. He seemed to be unconscious. That was good; a twenty-watt power increase had done the trick. Riku looked back to the girl, still lying unconscious.

"Well, if I leave her here, someone else is going to find her," Riku said to himself. He sighed. "I guess I'll keep her with me until she wakes up."

The boy lifted the girl up, hugging her across the front. Suddenly his face turned hot, and he stumbled forward slightly. Then he scowled, shaking his head clear.

"Stupid male hormones," Riku muttered to himself, half-carrying, half-dragging the girl towards his house.
***

The girl woke up with a start. She glanced around frantically, like a child lost in an amusement park.

"Finally, you're up," Riku said, writing a few final words in his notebook. He flipped the page over, twirling his pencil in his hand. "Alright, let's start now."

"Adele noro I|Asa," the girl said, looking around the room with wide eyes.

Riku blinked once. Then he sighed. "I figured as much. Aliens knowing how to speak English would've been way too convenient."

"Adele... H|Doro I|Cere," the girl said, looking up at Riku.

"Hmm..." Riku scribbled down the approximate sounds of the girl's speech in his notebook. "So, something like... adeal noro ieasha... right?"

The girl gave Riku a strange look. She tilted her head. "Adele R|Isi fii I|Asa."

"Oh... yes, that must've sounded strange to you," Riku said, writing away. He looked up. "Just to confirm, you don't know any English, yes?"

The girl just looked at him like he was an octupus. Then she narrowed her eyes. "R|Isi vii Corikil... sabamasarara!"

"Okay, okay, don't get angry," Riku said, raising his hands. He sketched a quick picture on his notebook as the girl patted over her tattered clothes.

"M|Vii... H|Doro!" the girl cried, searching desperately through her clothing.

"Oh, you mean this," Riku said, pulling the glowing bead out of his pocket. The girl's eyes immediately lit up on the bead and she lunged at it. Riku lifted it out of her grasp. "I'm giving it to you, sheesh."

He tossed the bead to the floor and the girl pounced on it like a starved leopard at a scrap of meat. She closed her hands around the bead and pressed it against her chest.

"It's safe... thank goodness," the girl said.

Riku blinked. "You... you spoke English just now."

"Hey, you can speak Vandallian!" the girl exclaimed.

"No... I'm talking in English," Riku said slowly. He pointed his pencil at the girl's chest. "That bead that you have... what does it do?"

The girl looked down at her hands, then up at the boy. She turned away slightly, cheeks flushing. "I'm not telling you! You might be one of them!"

"Obviously I'm not one of them otherwise I would have killed you while you were unconscious and stolen the object for myself," Riku said, trying to keep his voice level. "Honestly, if you're going to accuse me of something, at least get my intentions right."

"Wait..." the girl said. "Who are you? And where am I?"

"Good, now we can get to the real issue here," Riku said, pulling up his notebook again. "If I answer your questions, you will answer my questions. Deal?"

"Okay, deal."

"I'll let you go first."

"Okay... once again, where am I and who are you?"

"Let's see... you're on a planet called Earth, in a country called the United States of America. My name is Riku Alcastar. I'm a human, and what most other humans would consider a child, or a developing organism. I'm twelve years old, which is about eight thousand planetary rotations here. Anything else?"

"I'm on... another planet?" the girl blinked twice. "This is... strange."

"Do you have any more questions or should I start now?"

"Um... do you know if the Corikil are here?"

"The Corikil?"

"Yes. They are big, black creatures with red eyes and wings," the girl shuddered slightly.

"I don't think so," Riku said. "I mean, the largest winged creatures we have on this planet are birds."

"Birds?" the girl repeated.

"They look something like this," Riku said, quickly sketching a bird on his notebook. He showed the picture to the girl, who shook her head.

"That's not a Corikil," the girl breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad."

"Any more questions?"

"No. You may ask your questions now."

"Good," Riku said. "Firstly, what is your name and race?"

"My name is C|Era," the girl said. "My race is Vandallian. I am also in a develping stage. My yanava is seven imiris... eee, I'm not sure how many planetary rotations that is."

"I'm just going to call you Sierra," Riku said. "It's an actual human name here, and the pronuncation is close enough."

"Okay. Is there anything else?"

"Oh, I'm not even close to being finished," Riku said, twirling his pencil. "How did you get here, on this planet?"

"I'm... not sure about that myself. I think another Vandallian sent me here."

"Why?"

"Well, I was running from a group of Corikils, and we met each other by accident."

"Why were you running away?"

"The object you just saw... if the Corikil take it, there will be no telling what will happen to the world."

Riku scribbled some notes down. "We'll come back to the object later. What do you... Vandallians use for nourishment? Oh, and is there a particular kind of air you need to breathe?"

"Uh... we eat food, I guess?" Sierra said uncertainly. "I'm not sure what you mean by breathe... Vandallians might inhale certain gaseous chemicals when they are injured to repair their bodies, but it doesn't happen very often."

"Ah," Riku said. Well, at least that explained why the girl could fall from such a ridiculous height without so much as a scratch on her. The boy ran his pencil down the notebook.

"Are there any more of you coming?" Riku asked.

"You mean Vandallians? I'm not even sure the others know your planet exists," Sierra said.

"Hmm... what about these Corikils you keep talking about?"

"They... I don't know if they can find me here, but they'll still come to take the object back."

Riku thought for a moment. Certainly hiding a girl with him would be difficult, and probably result in unnecessary consumption of resources, but it worried him that there was a threat he wasn't aware of, whether it was the Corikils the girl had been running away from, or the mysterious Vandallian who somehow managed to bring the girl to Earth.

The boy quickly weighed the opportunity costs and net benefits in his head.

"Do you have any other questions?" Sierra asked.

"Yes, do you have sufficient food, shelter, and clothing to survive on this planet?" Riku said.

Sierra blinked twice. "I... I hadn't thought about that. I was just relieved I had escaped the Corikil."

"Well, I could provide you with everything necessary myself," Riku said slowly.

Sierra's eyes lit up. "Would you? That would be great!"

"However, I have some conditions," Riku said. "Firstly, don't kill, harm, or threaten me in any way, shape, form, or idea. If you do so, I will knock you unconscious for a solid twelve hours."

The girl flinched. "Is twelve hours a long time?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

"Secondly, you can't reveal yourself to any of the other humans here unless I specifically say that you can. Don't tell them anything that you've just told me or otherwise."

"I think that's a given."

"And lastly," Riku held out his hand. "Give me the object."

Sierra blinked. Then she clutched her chest, puffing out her cheeks. "No. I have to keep it."

"It doesn't matter as long as the Corikil don't get it, right?"

"That's... but if you're holding the object, we won't be able to understand each other."

"Hmm... alright, let's test it," Riku said, and promptly snatched the glowing white bead from Sierra.

"Hey, give that back!" Sierra cried.

"I can still understand you," Riku said.

The girl blinked twice, eyes widening. "But... why?"

"I'll have to conduct some research on that," Riku said, scribbing in his notebook. He turned his gaze downward. "You should also probably get some new clothing."

Sierra looked down at herself, and quickly turned away, blushing fiercely. "Did you...?"

"I didn't see."

"Liar."

"Believe what you want."

"You're the worst."

"No comment."

"... hey, Riku?"

"What now?"

"I'm hungry."

"So, let me get this straight," the dark figure said. "You failed to kill the girl while she was fleeing, pursued her while you could have simply destroyed everything in a five hundred mile radius, politely asked her for the object back, while, keep in mind that somehow she isn't dead yet, a rift walker of all beings teleports her to a distant planet?"

"Err... well, when you put it like that, my lord..." the demon shuffled uneasily.

The dark figure sighed. He raised a hand, and a pillar of dark energy blasted down on the demon, instantly turning it to ash. The other demons all backed away slightly.

The figure rose. He narrowed his eyes at the demons surrounding him. "Would anyone else like to give me an excuse?"

"It was the rift walker's fault, my lord!" one of the demons shouted. The demon exploded a second later.

The figure lowered his hand. "That question was rhetorical."

"My lord, I believe we have still have some information of value," another demon spoke up.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"The coordinates of the planet the rift walker sent the girl to... it seems they matched with Earth's alignment."

The figure paused for a moment. Then he frowned. "Earth, hmm...? The angels will be difficult to handle..."

The figure raised a hand, a vortex of darkness materializing above him. A single demon descended, its body morphing between equally hideous forms until it shifted into a middle-aged human. The demon glanced up with his glowing red eyes.

"You called, sir?" the demon asked, bowing his head.

"Abyssal Demon Eligos of the Dark," the figure said. He pointed off to the side, and a rift opened. "Retrieve the æther shard for me. However, make sure the angels aren't aware of your presence. I still have to prepare a few things before we go to war with the Light."

"As you wish, Emissary of the Dark."
***

"Let's see," Riku said. "So, you dislike sample one, but samples two, three, and four are fine?"

"Yeah," Sierra said. She pointed down at one of the samples. "By the way, what are these things?"

While Riku had gone to find something suitable to eat, Sierra had taken her pick of clothing from his closet. She wore a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and black socks, and, exempting the green hair, she would have looked perfectly human now.

Riku returned a few minutes later, carrying several boxes of foods. He laid them out on napkins, and presented each to Sierra, making careful note of her reactions in his notebook.

"Those are pieces of candy," Riku said. Sierra seemed to enjoy almost any edible substance that had a strong taste. She hadn't discriminated at all between blueberries, beef jerky, and candy, but she had barely eaten any of the bread given to her.

"It tastes really good," Sierra said, grabbing another piece from the sample. "Not just good, like the others, but really good."

"Can I ask why you dislike the first sample?" Riku asked.

Sierra made a face. "It tastes bland, like the rations we have on Vandallia. Everything else tastes great!"

"I see," Riku said. He grabbed a lemon from his fruit cart. "How about this?"

Sierra took the lemon, and took a bite, skin and all. She chewed a little and swallowed. "This is good! Where do you get these things?"

"A lemon tastes good?" Riku said, jotting down a quick note. "Isn't the flavor too strong?"

Sierra shook her head, taking another bite of the lemon in one hand, and the candy in the other. "No, it's great! The candy has this nice and consistent taste, while this yellow thing has this amazing, explosive taste!"

"Most humans would disagree with you on that one," Riku said. Well, at least the Vandallian wasn't a picky eater. Now if he could get an accurate measurement on how many calories she would need every day, he could calculate how much money he would have to budget for her living expenses. "So, Sierra, do you mind answering a few more questions?"

"Sure, go ahead," Sierra said, licking the lemon juice from her fingers.

"How much do you estimate you eat every day?" Riku began.

"Hmm... well, the I|Fana usually give us five rations every day," Sierra said.

"And how much would a ration be?" Riku asked.

Sierra picked up a piece of bread from the first sample, and tore it in half. "About this much."

"Then, in terms of nutritional value, how much is a ration?"

The girl balled up the half-slice of bread and put it into her mouth. She grimaced as she chewed. Then she swallowed, paused for a second, and picked up the other half. "About this much."

"You only eat about two servings of bread a day?" Riku said skeptically.

"Well, we eat the rations in the morning, then we do military exercises and have classes for the rest of the day," Sierra said. "We usually get hungry in the evening, but the I|Fani are really strict with food."

"Hmm... that's a little harsh," Riku muttered to himself, scribbling in his notebook. "Then, next question. Does your race excrete any waste material at all?"

"We've learned about it in class," Sierra said slowly. "I think they mentioned it, like, once before, but apparently it doesn't happen unless we eat a lot of food."

"I see," Riku said. The lack of waste product would account for how little the Vandallians ate every day, although there would probably be some other side-effects. Stunted growth maybe?

"Any more questions?" Sierra asked.

Riku shook his head. He paused. "That gesture means 'no', by the way."

"So, is there a gesture that means 'yes' too?" Sierra asked.

Riku nodded. He paused again. "That gesture meant 'yes'."

The girl nodded. She giggled. "You move your head to say 'yes' and 'no'? That's kind of funny."

"Then what does your race do?"

"We use hand signals," Sierra said. She held up a hand with two fingers pointing up, a finger pointing out, and one folded across her hand. "Like this. It means 'I agree'."

"Interesting," Riku said, quickly sketching the sign in his notebook.

"Riku, lights out in ten minutes!" a voice called from downstairs.

"I got it, mom!" Riku called back. He sighed. Sierra gave him a curious look.

"What did that voice say?" Sierra asked.

"You didn't understand it?" Riku said. Sierra shook her head. She giggled again.

So... they could only understand each other then. Did it have something to do with the white bead the girl had been carrying around? Maybe it was a contact-triggered principle; if a person touched the bead, they would be able to understand anyone else who touched it too. Riku twirled his pencil absentmindedly. He would have to do some more thorough tests later.

"But for now, I'll have to sleep," Riku said. "Don't want mom coming up here to find a weird girl in my room."

"Umm... we're sleeping already?" Sierra asked.

"Yes," Riku said. "Is there a problem?"

"No, but I'm not tired yet."

"Well, if my mom finds out that I'm not asleep by nine, then she'll come up here to see what's going on, and we don't want that, otherwise you'll be discovered."

"Aww, but I wanted to eat some more," Sierra whined.

"You can eat more in the morning," Riku said. He lifted the covers of his bed, and gestured for the girl to come.

"We're sleeping together?" Sierra said slowly.

"It's easier to hide you if you're under the blankets," Riku explained. "And if my mom comes to check on me in the middle of the night, she won't find a weird alien girl sitting in my bedroom."

"But... males and females generally don't sleep together, right?" Sierra said. "Or is that not a custom for your race?"

"Didn't I just explain the circumstances to you?" Riku said exasperatedly. "Your other option is to spend the night standing inside the closet."

The boy gestured to his closet, a pitifully small space packed with shelves of dark-colored clothing. Sierra hesitated for a second. A tinge of blue crept into her face.

"You won't... do anything to me while I'm sleeping, right?" Sierra said nervously.

Riku just stared blankly at the girl. "You know, most male humans at my age are still getting over the fact that girls don't have an infectious disease embedded in their skin."

"Okay, fine," the girl said. She made a spinning gesture. "Turn around."

Riku turned to face the door. Some shuffling noises came from behind him.

"Okay, I'm good," Sierra said. Riku glanced back. The girl had fit herself snugly into the blanket, her back turned to him.

"I'll be going to sleep then," Riku said, flicking off the light switch. "Good night."

The next morning, Riku awoke silently, slipped out of bed, and immediately dressed. He grabbed a notebook from his desk and wrote an entry detailing the events of the previous day. Then he recorded the time and date, and went to the bathroom to brush up.

As the boy returned, Sierra had woken, standing in the middle of the room. She looked at him expectantly.

"What?" Riku said.

"I'm hungry," Sierra said.

"There's plenty of fruit left over," Riku said, pointing at the box of fruit he had carried up last night.

"Yeah, but which one should I eat?"

"How should I know?"

"You're no fun..."

Riku just shook his head. He walked over to his closet, pulling out his backpack.

Going to school was such a pain. He had to pack so many things due to all of the worst-case scenarios that could occur.

A cell phone was necessary of course. In case of dire emergency, the police would be useful, even if they brought guns with them. Fires could be solved easily with a call to the fire department, and reaching other students had its benefits.

A notebook and pencil were also a given. Riku always carried them around, whether to jot down any contingency plans his thoughts would create, or to record any potential threats and their locations for the next day.

After those items, a flashlight, spare batteries, money, a swiss army knife, and the makeshift taser he had constructed almost always came with him.

This much preparation would account for scenarios of escalating danger up to an armed shooting. Although calling the police would be the better option, Riku was relatively confident that he could take out a single armed assailant. The boy tossed his taser up in the air, and let it fall into his backpack. Then he slung the bag over his shoulder and stepped towards the door.

"Hey, Riku, where are you going?" Sierra asked.

"To school," Riku replied. "It's where the government gives you information in exchange for their attempts to brainwash you."

"Oh, it's just like religion then!" Sierra said.

"No, religion is where you're given false information in exchange for their attempts to brainwash you," Riku explained. "The government actually gives you correct information... well, most of the time."

"So... then it's like the I|Fani's instructive classes?" Sierra said.

"Something like that," Riku said.

"Then what should I do?" Sierra asked.

"Nothing," Riku said. "Stay in my room and don't make too much noise. We don't want anyone knowing you're here."

"But... that sounds really boring," Sierra said.

"Well, if you can sneak outside and come back without anyone spotting you, then go ahead," Riku said. "Just remember that the priority is to avoid notice."

"Ah... fine," Sierra grumbled.

"I'll be back when the smaller segment is at three, and the longer segment is at six," Riku said, pointing at the wall clock. Then he set off.

School passed by just like any other day. Classes were slow and people were suspicious. Nobody tried to kill him most of the time, which was always appreciated, but the thought of leaving Sierra at home still agitated him.

Riku sighed. He was sitting in math class, as the teacher stood at the front of the room, explaining a problem to the more intellectually challenged students. The others sat at tables of four, either working diligently, or randomly socializing. Riku had a table by himself, partly because he was considered a problem child by most teachers and they didn't want him having a negative influence on the other students, and partly because very few other students could put up with him. Instantly distrusting everyone you come into contact with could have that effect on people.

The boy yawned, twirling his pencil in his hand. Having to take into account the alien girl created such a wide variety of worst-case scenarios that it made it difficult to think. Should he have given her up after all?

"Hey, Riku."

Then again, if he had given her up, eventually she would fall to the police, and during the physical examination it would have undoubtedly been noticed that she wasn't human. The government would have to step in, and possibly conduct a full sweep of the area where she had been found.

"Riku, I'm talking to you."

With the FBI and multiple private research organizations flooding the scene, the number of threat sources would skyrocket. Not to mention the hazards that researching the girl and her race could produce. Maybe a new kind of biological weapon?

"Riku!"

Or maybe they would broadcast the discovery to the entire world, and the Corikil the girl was talking about would swarm the planet, causing the extinction of life as-

"Riku!" a hand suddenly slapped him across the cheek.

Riku shifted his eyes towards the assailant, a short, blond girl with an expression of shock on her face.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" the girl said. "Are you all right?"

Riku pointed at his temple. "If you're going to try to kill me, aim here and hit harder, preferably with a weapon or a kick. Slapping someone is just going to get them annoyed."

"Umm... thanks?" the girl said. "Oh yeah, could you help me with this problem?"

"Use the law of sine to solve for X-sub-theta, then just plug in the numbers," Riku said dismissively. Where was he? Right, the Corikil. Judging by the way the girl spoke of them, they were probably an alien race of some kind with a level of strength greater than the Vandallians. And judging by the estimated comparative strength between a Vandallian and a human, Earth wouldn't stand a chance-

"No, that was for the last problem," the girl interrupted. "This one's the one where you use the quadratic formula. I'm not stupid, you know."

Riku sighed, and looked up at the girl. She looked about his age, but was probably a little older. She had short blond hair and bright blue eyes, like half of the typical caucasian females would. Riku knew her, of course. He knew everyone in all of his classes, and had detailed profiles on them stored in one of his notebooks.

The girl's name was Lasi. Significant details about her were that she was ranked third in the class, just after him and some guy named Tommy. She had won a national poetry-based writing competition back in fourth grade, and if popularity had a measureable scale, she would probably be in the top five of the school. However, her psychological mindset was inherently naive, and her overall life experience was limited.

"You're smart enough to figure this out on your own, Lasi," Riku said, turning back down to his notebook.

"Oh come on, what's the harm in checking our work together?" Lasi smiled.

"A lot of things," Riku said, shuddering slightly as he reflected on all of the worst-case scenarios.

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with it," Lasi said, plopping down in the seat right next to his.

Riku looked at the girl's face - bitten to death - shifting his eyes down to the pencil she was holding - stabbed to death - over to her hands - beaten to death - and her fingers - scratched to death - while she shifted her feet - crushed to death - and glanced over at him.

The boy stood up and sat down in the next seat over, trying to resist the urge to whip out his taser and knock everyone in the room unconscious.

"Uh... is there something wrong?" Lasi asked, putting on a worried expression. "You don't look too good."

"I'm fine," Riku said, taking a deep breath. Keeping his paranoia at a manageable level took a decent amount of effort, and having other people in the mix only escalated matters. "But if you could please not get too close, I'd appreciate it."

"Enough to help me on this problem?" Lasi asked, taking the seat across from him.

"The answer is X minus four times X plus seven," Riku said, keeping his eyes glued firmly downward. "You already know how to use the quadratic formula."

"Come on, Riku. Open up a little," Lasi said, flashing another smile.

"Lasi!" another voice called.

Riku glanced up as another student entered the vicinity.

The student's name was Alex. He had tannish colored skin, dark hair, and dark brown eyes. He was part Latino, a fourth on his mother's side, and suffered occasionally from racial insults. His academic record was overall above average, but his relatively short temper made him seem much less competent than he actually was.

"Lasi," the boy said as he approached the desk. He made a disgusted face. "Why are you hanging out with him?"

"Oh, hi Alex!" Lasi waved lightly. "I'm just asking Riku for some help."

"What? Why?" Alex said. "You're already super smart. You don't need any help from him."

"Thanks, but Riku promised that we would check our work together," Lasi said.

"She's lying," Riku said, turning down to his notebook.

"Hey, don't badmouth Lasi!" Alex said, taking a step forward. He gritted his teeth. "You're lucky she's even talking to you!"

"I don't feel very lucky," Riku muttered to himself. About a hundred different images popped into his head. Most involved Alex, him, and a lot of blood, possibly with Lasi observing, or participating. The boy shuddered involuntarily. Alex's eyes narrowed.

"Hey! I saw that!" Alex said, pointing a finger. "You're totally thinking badly of Lasi right now, aren't you?!"

Riku sighed. "If all of you could please leave me alone, I'd feel a lot more comfortable."

"Oh yeah?" Alex said, squeezing into the seat right next to Riku. "Feeling comfortable now?"

Riku's hand instantly shot down to his backpack, and sprang back up, fingers wrapped around a knife, pointing the blade at Alex's throat. The boy flinched, falling backwards in surprise.

"Go. Away," Riku said, dropping the knife back into his bag. Alex scurried back, shooting one last look at Riku before dashing in the direction of his desk. Riku twirled his pencil and returned to his notebook.

"Uh, Riku, knives aren't allowed in school," Lasi said uncertainly, with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Smoking and alcohol consumption aren't allowed either, but people do it anyway," Riku said. He shifted his eyes up, carefully looking over the girl's face. "You're also probably thinking right now 'it's okay that Riku has a knife because he's a good person and won't do anything to hurt anyone else'. I'm just going to tell you now; that naive thought process is going to get you killed one day."

The boy looked back down, making some adjustments to his notes. Lasi just sat silently for a few seconds. Then she quickly gathered her belongings and scampered away. Riku let out a breath of relief. Finally, all potential threats in the vicinity were gone. He could ease his mental pressure a little now.

Suddenly, a vibration shook his pocket. Riku reached in, and brought out his phone.

In addition to all of the functions normal phones and smartphones had, Riku had added a program that would scan eight different news channels, and alert him whenever a report was being made in the area where he lived. He tapped his phone's screen, and the report popped up. After silently scanning the report, the boy dropped his phone back in place and stood up.

"Sierra," Riku said, clenching his fists. "What the hell did you just do?"

The journey back was short, considering how many threats Riku encountered. First, getting past the teachers, who wouldn't let him leave without a proper excuse; fortunately, a feigned illness had done the trick, otherwise things could've gotten messy. Next, resisting the urge to knock the random strangers sitting next to him on the bus unconscious. Then, avoiding his neighbor talking to some policemen on his way home. And finally, entering the house without being noticed by an passerbys. All done within the span of thirty minutes.

Riku glanced at his phone again, tightening his grip. He headed up the stairs to his room and opened the door.

"Oh, you're back already?" Sierra was sitting in the back, poking at one of the many fruits with mild interest.

"Sierra, did you go outside?" Riku asked.

"No, you told me not to, remember?" Sierra said with a confused look.

"Then what's this about?" Riku said, showing her his phone.

Sierra just stared blankly. She pointed at the screen. "Is this your race's written language? I can't read it at all."

Riku sighed. "Look at it, at least."

"What do you..." Sierra started. Then, as she looked back at the screen, her eyes widened. "Wait... why am I...?"

"That's what I want to know," Riku said, pulling his phone back. He glanced out the window, eyes narrowing at the police cars pulling up in front of his house.

"This picture... it's my identification portrait in C-sector," Sierra said slowly. "How could someone on a different planet get ahold of it?"

"Sierra," Riku said, eyes fixed on the figures emerging from the white vehicles moving into the driveway. "I need you to hide."

"What? Why?"

"There's trouble coming," Riku said simply. He looked back to the girl. "I'll try to stall, but there's no guarentee they won't search the house. You need to get out of here without anyone finding out. Think you can manage?"

"But... where should I go?"

"Somewhere they won't find you."

Then, without waiting for a reply, the boy dashed out of his room and down the stairs. The men in black uniforms had just reached the door as Riku made it down to the first floor. But, before they had the chance to announce their presence with a knock or by ringing the doorbell, the boy swung the door open.

He recognized the uniform as one worn by the local police force. That was bad. They would be carrying tasers, possibly even nightsticks or handguns. They would also be trained in hand-to-hand combat, and while Riku still had the element of surprise working in his favor, he was definitely outmatched in this situation.

Not to mention the possibility of other members of his family finding out that he was skipping school, adding social complications onto the already-overwhelming number of potential threats. Well, it wasn't like there was a safer option.

"What are you doing here?" Riku said, eyeing the men with suspicion.

The men flinched, taken aback, but quickly regained their composure.

"We're police officers," the man standing in front said, doing his best to fake a smile. He gestured to himself, then to the man in the back. "I'm John, and this is Matt. What's your name?"

Riku narrowed his eyes. "Let me see some identification."

A flash of annoyance crossed the officer's eyes, but he reached into his pocket and brought out a card regardless. Riku skimmed over the contents and nodded.

"I'm Riku Alcastar," the boy said. "State your business here."

The officers exchanged glances, then the one in the back brought out a rolled-up sheet of paper. The one in the front took it and unrolled it for Riku to see. A portrait of Sierra, almost identical to the one he had found online, was painted on the page.

"We're looking for this girl," the officer in front said. He attempted to put on a sympathetic face. "Her parents are very worried about her."

Which was a complete lie. Unless the police could've gotten information from another planet, or Sierra was lying about her identity, then it wasn't possible. And seeing that Sierra had survived a fall with enough force to make a dent in the pavement, it was almost certain that the police were the ones lying.

Riku gave the two a skeptical glance. "Can I have the names of the parents?"

The officers hesitated, only for a split second, but Riku could see the irritance growing on their faces. Then they turned back to their strained, happy expressions.

"Sorry, but that's confidential information, kid," the officer in front said. "Confidential means-"

"I know what confidential means," Riku cut in. "Look, I'll be straight with you. Under the fourth amendment of the United States, searches cannot be conducted without a search warrent explicitly stating what you are looking for and where you are searching. So unless you've got an official search warrant, you can't legally enter this house."

The officers looked on blankly for a second. Then they turned their backs to him and began whispering.

"Are you certain this one is not a rift walker?" one officer hissed. "His confidence in this situation is remarkable."

"Could be... although he doesn't seem to be particularly proficient in energy detection, otherwise he would've sensed us coming," the other breathed back.

"What should we do then?"

"Let us consult with lord Eligos first."

As Riku processed the information, he frowned, his brow furrowing. There were many statements being made out-of-context, but the gist of the meaning was clear. The two officers were suspecting him of being something he wasn't due to his unusual reaction towards them. A "rift walker"... another alien race, perhaps?

Well, that meant the police officers clearly weren't human either. No normal officer would take backtalk from a child, no matter how intelligent it sounded. Their knowledge of legal procedure was also lacking, and their expressions were obviously faked. Maybe these were the Corikil Sierra had mentioned? If that was the case... he was in a heck of a lot of danger right now.

As the officers' mumblings grew softer, Riku watched on, trying to keep his paranoia steady. Images flashed into his mind, enormous claws bursting out from the officers' backs, crushing him to death; snakes twisting from the officers' limbs, biting him to death; lasers flying from the officers-

"Enough!" Riku nearly screamed. The officers froze. Riku pointed out the door. "Get the heck out, or else."

The officers backed away slightly, confusion clearly written over their faces. Then suddenly, another voice rang out.

"You!" the neighbor appeared from the driveway, pointing an accusing finger in Riku's direction. He looked between the startled officers and the boy, anger blooming over his face. "Officers, he's the one I told you about! Arrest him!"

"Oh," the officers immediately regained their composure. "You mean he's the one who knocked you unconscious?"

"D*** right he is!" the man bellowed. "Sentence him to prison! Lock him up for twenty, no, forty years! That should teach him!"

"Shut up, old man," Riku snapped. Otherwise you're going to get yourself killed and me dragged along with you.

"I see," the officer in front said. "Yes, it's our job to discipline children who commit crimes and resist searches, isn't it?"

"Oh, he's resisting a search now too?" the man said. "Then lock him up for sixty years! Or even a life sentence! Yeah, a life sentence!"

Riku gritted his teeth. This man was being a nuisance. Maybe he should just cut his losses now and make a run for it? But then again, these were probably the Corikil Sierra had been talking about. There was no telling what kinds of abilities they had. If only the neighbor hadn't come. He had been at a verbal advantage, and if he had pressed further, chances were that he could've avoided the false police officers altogether. Now things were looking dire. He needed a way to reset the situation...

"Hey, what's with all the noise down there!" a shout came from the house.

Riku glanced back, catching glimpse of his older sister, Phoebe, walking over. She had long, black hair flowing down to her shoulders, and a white blouse with light blue jeans, accompanied by a perpetually annoyed expression.

Well... better than nothing.

"Riku?" Phoebe said, putting on a confused expression. "Aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Paranoia attack," Riku replied. "Couldn't stay there."

Riku stood completely still as his sister's smack tore at his cheek.

"What the **** do you think you're doing, skipping school?!" Phoebe shouted at him. "You're a retar*** piece of ****ing ****, you son of a *****! You need to get a ****ing education to do jack **** in this world, you know that?!"

"Yes," Riku said. Thank you so much for screaming a billion cuss words in my face.

"Then ****ing show some initiative!" Phoebe said, kicking him in the ribs. Riku doubled over, but his expression didn't change.

"I'm sorry, Sis," Riku mumbled.

"You should be, you ****ing ret***," Phoebe scoffed. She turned to the police officers next. "Sorry you had to see that. My brother can be an idiot sometimes. Did you officers need anything?"

The officers looked slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered. The officer in front held up the poster again. "We're looking for this girl, and we would like to search your house for her. If you're looking for a warrant..."

"No, that's fine," Phoebe said, gesturing into the house. "Search all you like."

"Thank you for your cooperation," the officers said, and entered the house without another word.

Riku sent a silent prayer that Sierra had found a good place to hide. Well, at the very least he had avoided a near-fatal situation himself, thanks to his sister no less.

"Come on Riku," Phoebe said, grabbing his arm. "Since you're not going to school, I'll just have to teach you myself."

Everything you "teach" me is completely irrelevant to anything, Riku thought, but he stumbled along regardless. A few minutes later, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the officers pinning down Sierra in the backyard. Then they promptly sprouted wings and flew away.

Curious as to what C|Era/Sierra is saying at any given point? Here's a small guide to the Vandallian language for you. Note that this guide will expand as I write more and more of the book.



The Vandallian Language:

Adele - a question statement, usually stated at the beginning of a phrase to signal an indication of the question's nature.

Noro - indication of location, i.e. This place...

I|Asa - I/me, or I am.

H|Doro - a modification of location, i.e. ...is here...

I|Cere - a modification of speech, i.e. ...is saying...

Ricere - indication of speech, what is being said.

R|Isi - You/your, or you are.

Fii - to speak

Vii - to be/exist as

Corikil - something that incites fear, a demon essentially.

Sabamasa(rararara...) - an expression of anger or frustration, typically used at the ends of statements to make a point. Adding more ra's to the end gives the word more emphasis.

Yanava - indication of time, i.e. A person's age.

Imiri - a time measurement equal to a 2 Vandallian years.

I|Fana - a superior who is also an instructor.

Anrana - a superior, usually a military official.