Chapter 1

Arms full of books, the pink-eyed irken made her way over to a table, where she dropped them next to her laptop. Sighing, she sat down and pulled one toward her at random. In order to graduate from Higher Academy, she had to write a report on a topic of her choosing, showing her aptitude in the subject she plans on majoring in. Most of the students her age didn't have to, content to leave here with mediocre marks and become food drones or factory workers, but she had bigger plans for herself. So she was in the advanced courses.

A tall irken couldn't work short jobs, after all.

She chose to explain her understanding and theories regarding particle physics. She hoped to one day be a scientist and be able to reveal even more about the mysterious workings of the universe. Not even the irkens fully understood it.

"The interactions between matter and energy have always fascinated me," she dictated out loud as she typed her intro. "The complexity of subatomic particles-"

"Hey, Ariva, there you are," someone said behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder before returning to her work. "Can't talk, Flek."

Her classmate, a red-eyed irken about a foot shorter than her, sat down in a chair next to her and picked up one of the books. "Final report?"

"Yeah."

"You work too hard. You should come with me and Xyle, we're going out to eat to celebrate school almost being over."

Ariva sighed, flipping through a book and reading carefully before typing more. "Flek, I can't. I have to do this, it's due in two weeks."

He frowned. "Relax, you've got time. You need to get out more, have some fun."

"I can have fun when it's summer."

Giving up, Flek stood. "Okay, well… if you change your mind, we'll be at Sloove's at 1800 hours."

"Okay." With no intention of meeting them, Ariva pulled her calculator over and started inputting complex functions to check before including them in her report.

"See you later." Flek walked away.

She just nodded in response, and he was gone from her thoughts the moment he left the library.

Sometimes she did think she worked too hard, but what could she do? Society had a high expectation for irkens like her. She wasn't interested in the military, so she devoted herself to the next best thing: science. She'll do her race proud.

She frowned at the numbers on her calculator. "Well, that can't be right." Taking out a piece of paper, she proceeded to work it by hand. She couldn't afford to make a mistake. The University would surely reject her… they only accepted the best of the best.

This subject was turning out to be incredibly frustrating, and Ariva had to pause about five pages in. She looked over her work, rechecking the data charts she had included. So far, so good… but there was still so much to do. She checked the clock on the wall. 1750. She's been here a few hours now.

Stretching, she got out of the chair, pacing to put some sensation back in her numb legs. Endless numbers and formulas kept circling in her brain. She was close to something, she knew it… but what?

Her stomach suddenly gurgled, reminding her that her body existed. Sighing, she saved the files on her computer and turned it off, pushing it into her bag. Then she returned all the books except a few, which she took to the front of the library to check out. No doubt she'll be using them.

Slinging her now-heavy bag over her shoulder, she headed out to find somewhere to eat. Flek's offer came to mind, and she decided to meet up with him. They've been friends for a while now, but she always put academics before her social life. And this was the biggest project of her life.

She walked into Sloove's a few minutes past 1800, and upon seeing Flek sitting at a table with Xyle, a dark-green-eyed guy who loved to flirt with anybody and everybody, she went to join them.

"Hey, we were just about to order some drinks," Flek said, smiling at her. "Good thing we waited."

"Thanks." She picked up a menu. "I almost didn't come, but I was hungry."

"Well, get whatever you want, I'm buying," Xyle said.

"Great, thanks."

The server came over. "Can I get you some drinks?" He looked at Ariva first, since she was the tallest one there.

"I'll have a soda. Don't care what, surprise me," she replied.

"Okay…" He wrote that down. "And for you two?"

"Cola," Flek said.

"Laav juice," Xyle answered.

When the server left to get them, Flek raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Laav juice? Really?"

"Hey, it's good for you. Don't judge, man."

Ariva's antennae flicked, and she looked around, getting the feeling that she was being watched. No one seemed to be looking at her, busy eating or talking to friends and family. She looked down at her menu again, but just as she was picking out what she wanted, the feeling came again. Her head jerked up in time to see a dark-eyed irken watching her from a few tables down. He met her eyes coolly before looking down at an electronic tablet on his table, flicking through it as he took a drink.

Noticing the movement, Flek asked, "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just… I think that guy over there was staring at me," Ariva answered.

Flek looked, but didn't seem too concerned. "Why wouldn't he? You're probably the tallest person in here, don't worry about it."

"Yeah, okay." She returned her attention to her menu, putting the mystery irken out of mind.

Soon, their drinks arrived and their food orders were taken, and she forget all about it as they got into a discussion about their future plans. Xyle had a very nice job at a big company that manufactured parts for warships, and planned on getting into a management position by working full time.

Flek wanted to be an ambassador. He wanted to visit other planets and talk to aliens, and work out peace treaties with them. Though the current Tallest weren't very interested in peace. Red and Purple enjoyed forcibly conquering and slaughtering every race they came across. Many people didn't like it, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Ariva was eagerly explaining her project by the time the food arrived, much to the relief of her friends. While they supported her, they could hardly understand the physics she loved so much.

Conversation was put on hold as they ate. This place always did have good food, and it wasn't terribly expensive.

As Ariva licked sauce off her fingers, she found herself feeling strangely… normal. She was glad she decided to come here after all.