Wally woke up on his couch with a set of pixelated eyes staring back at him. “Waah!,” he leapt up and screamed as Astra straightened up, mimicking the same scream, “Waah!”

“Were you… watching me sleep?,” Wally asked as he pulled the blanket over himself.

“Yes,” her voice was honest and without embarrassment.

“Why?”

“I’ve never seen a human sleep before. I watched Kim too but she doesn’t seem to be such a light sleeper.”

“That’s kinda weird, Astra,” Kim said as she exited the bedroom, “You shouldn’t watch people sleep.”

“Oh? Sorry for watching you sleep, then.”

“Yeah, that’s… totally fine,” Wally grabbed Kim by the arm and began pushing her to the kitchen, “Kim and I will just be in the kitchen… eating breakfast the sort of way people do. No need to follow.”

Once they got into the kitchen, Kim turned to him and whispered, “I admit, that was creepy.”

“This is beyond our scope, Kim.”

“Don’t worry. We’re gonna get on a plane this afternoon and drop her off at Nantox headquarters and she’ll be taken care of. In the meantime, we’ve gotten so much data from her. I mean, she doesn’t even need to power down or anything. She absorbs ambient energy from her surroundings. She might be the key to renewable energy sources or something.”

“She is a little over 24 hours old, she understands quantum physics but doesn’t know where she’s from. Meanwhile, her biggest finding is learning that it’s not okay to watch people sleep. Nothing about this makes sense.”

“We’ll help make it make sense for her.”

“And I’d like to point out that we don’t know who’s behind her creation and they may not be happy with us… and it’s unlikely they’re human so who knows what’s going on there.”

“In a few hours, that will be someone else’s problem, if it is a problem.”

“And how do we know she’s even telling the truth? Maybe this whole ‘I don’t know anything’ act is just a way for us to lower our guards before she dissects us?”

“I hear every word but you both seem to be whispering,” Astra called out from the next room, “From what I understand of human behavior, you don’t want me to hear you.”

“Um,… we’re testing your hearing,” Wally called out, “You passed. G-good job,” he gave the thumbs-up out of the kitchen doorway.

“I won’t dissect you,” she called out happily.

“That’s great, Astra,” Wally buried his head in his hands.

Later that day, the three arrived in a small airfield with a private jet waiting. Dr. Rawlings was already there, standing next to his car. “Sawyer will be waiting for you in LA,” Rawlings told them, “She wants to meet you in a private penthouse. Food and drinks will be served and everything sounds really swank, so a word of warning: stay on your toes.”

“We’re not meeting in her office?,” Kim asked.

“Like I said, she wants to keep this quiet. I’m pretty sure she’s lawyering up to force everyone into an NDA as we speak.”

“Never a good sign,” Wally peered into the cockpit of the plane, “Speaking of which… there’s no pilot. Please don’t tell me it’s AI controlled.”

“You’re aware of self-driving cars,” Kim shrugged.

“Self-driving cars can’t plummet to the Earth due to some glitch.”

“I can fly a plane,” Astra mentioned frankly, “I just learned it from the internet.”

“That’s some good news,” Wally climbed up the ramp, “Let’s go.”

The plane began its trajectory from New York to LA. Somewhere over Pennsylvania, Astra began explaining to her companions about sexual relations. “I noticed you and Kim don’t seem to have children,” she said to Wally, “Why haven’t you made babies with each other?”

Wally spit out his glass of water, “Sorry, what?”

“Humans are like most other organism on the planet in that you need to procreate to make babies and ensure the survival of the species,” Astra continued without a hint of awkwardness, “So I wonder why you and Kim haven’t done your duty in populating the planet.”

“Okay, why are you saying this?,” Kim asked.

“It seems logical to me. You both seem to have compatible genitals, after all.”

“This one’s all yours,” Wally got up and left Kim to sit at the back of the jet.

“Wow, okay. Astra, what you need to understand is -“

At that moment, the jet shimmied, nearly throwing everyone out of their seat as the lights shut off. In the cockpit, several lights flashed before dying as the AI was overridden. Days later, Wally would admit there was a part of him that was glad to have the awkward conversation end so quickly but at the moment, he was as scared as Kim. Astra, meanwhile, simply looked up and tilted her head, “Oh, this technology is a lot more advanced than what we normally see on Earth.”. The plane lurched a bit, dipped its nose, and hung in the air.

“What is this?,” Wally asked nervously.

“I don’t know,” Astra explained in a chipper tone, “All the systems in the plane have died, though.”

“Did someone do this?,” Kim began looking out the windows.

“Probably. I can detect a lot of energy surrounding us right now.”

“What kind of energy?”

“Hm, not sure.”

“Not the answer I need right now,” Wally clung to his seat as he felt more movement.

The plane began to move backwards through the air despite the engines no longer working. It rose higher into the air as Wally and Kim franticly looked out the windows. Soon, the air became thin and they realized there was less light. “Are we leaving the atmosphere?,” Wally asked. “Not quite,” Astra explained, “I’m getting a reading from… oh, there it is.” She pointed out a window just in time for them to see a shimmering light in the sky that soon revealed an object that looked like a large, metallic shell. “There won’t be much oxygen up here,” Astra indicated the overhead compartments, “And with the systems shut off, we can’t get to the masks. Try to breath slowly.”

“Why are you so calm?,” Wally shouted, “What the hell is that? What is going on? How did I get talked into this? Wh-“. At that moment, he passed out due to a lack of oxygen. When he woke up, he was still seated next to Kim who likewise had just woken up. They looked into each others’ eyes but said nothing, then turned their gazes to the windows where they could see a metallic tunnel that resembled an airplane hangar. They couldn’t see much beyond that. “Are we back on the ground?,” Wally asked. Suddenly, Astra peaked above the seats in front of them, which startled both Wally and Kim enough for them to shout loudly.

“We’re not on the ground,” Astra explained, seemingly not realizing she startled them, “We’re in the ship. The good news is that it has an oxygen system so you’ll have an easier time of breathing.”

“The ship?,” Wally and Kim both asked in unison.

“Yes, the ship that captured us. I can detect life forms coming down from another level.”

“Oh, god,” Wally jumped from his seat and practically pressed his face against the window, “Is it another invasion?”

“No, there are only three life forms and that’s not nearly big enough for an invasion,” Astra stated plainly, “And besides, this ship looks nothing like the aliens who invaded Earth in 1981, going by the research I just did.”

“Do you… have any weapons in case we need them?,” Kim asked nervously, “I mean, if you created a body using nanotechnology, then -“

“Yes, I can program the nanobots to create weapons. Should I kill them when they get here?”

“Jesus, no!”

“Just… wait until they do something… violent,” Wally said as he frantically bounced back and forth, peering out the windows.

“Ah, so self-defense,” Astra raised a knowing finger, “If they attack, that’s when I kill them.”

“No… Well, maybe?… I mean, see if you can at least knock them out or something first?,” Kim stuttered.

“Oh, they’re here,” Astra drew their attention to a sliding door out the left side of the plane. As the door slid open, there was a light from the other side and three shadowy figures began to emerge. Once they stepped into the hangar, it was apparent they walked on four legs; they were armored figures with round bodies, coiled limbs and wide stumps for feet. Their heads were also round with yellow lenses. Wally and Kim were too stunned to speak but Astra sat patiently as the figures marched toward the side of the plane. “It’s very likely you two are the first humans to have contact with extra terrestrial life since 1981,” Astra said helpfully. Wally clenched his eyes and mustered up enough courage to be snarky, “Glad we’re making history.”

The creatures were too wide to fit through any of the hatches in the plane, which prompted Kim and Wally to wonder how they would get in. They got their answer when the lead figure stood up on its front limbs with the back limb bending backwards to act as arms. The helmet slid up its body until it came to rest at the top, resembling a bi-pedal creature. The figure’s arms split apart like a flower, revealing a cannon that lit up. A second later, twin beams of light erupted from the cannons and when they hit the plane, the entire cockpit was torn apart and the plane was shoved to the side with Wally and Kim holding on to their arm rests to keep from falling out of their seats. The cockpit and most of the front part of the plane was blasted off along with much of the wall separating it from the cabin. Wally and Kim stood to their feat with Astra standing in front of them. They could see the far side of the hanger and the three figures walked to the front of the destroyed plane, the last two figures transforming into their bi-pedal forms to match the leader.

“My friends look scared,” Astra called out to them, a slight air of annoyance in her voice, “I don’t think they liked you shooting their plane.”

The lead figure began speaking in a high-pitched voice, “We are Skaleens,” it placed a stump next to where its heart would be, “I am the chief, Mulkos. You humans have nothing to fear as we have been observing your planet for many years.”

“Why have you been observing us?,” Wally asked.

“As you know, your planet was the site of an alien invasion and since that time, your race has developed technology far more advanced than you would have if you had not come into contact with superior lifeforms. Said invasion has also introduced Neutronium to your world, an element you have used to altar your genetic structure, making you capable of powers beyond what you can be trusted with. As you are inferior lifeforms, we have decreed you unfit for such advancements, thus we have stationed ourselves here to ensure superior races do not interfere with you any further.”

“Uh,… Thank you?”

“The being you are traveling with has origins beyond this galaxy; obviously the work of superior beings.”

“Do you know who they are?,” Kim asked.

“We do not know who created this being or for what purpose but we deemed the act an interference. When we saw the signal beaming to your planet, we fired upon the lab in hopes we could stop it. Unfortunately, we were only partially successful.”

“That’s why I have incomplete data,” Astra snapped her metal fingers, “You… tried to blow me up,” her digitized face displayed anger.

“We brought the being to our ship to terminate it,” Mulkos raised a single cannon, “Advanced lifeforms must not be allowed to interfere with Earth.”

Astra turned to Kim and Wally and simply said, “Self-defense,” then turned back to Mulkos.

“Humans, please find cover,” Mulkos warned Wally and Kim, “We do not wish to take the lives of inferior beings.”

Astra clenched her fist and a slight ripple ran along the surface of her metallic skin as if the body was being split apart at the molecular level and reassembling, forming a fist several time larger than it originally was. She thrust her arm forward and her wrist elongated, stretching down the length of the plane aisle before slamming into Mulkos’ helmet, which knocked him to the end of the hangar. Her hand snapped back into place and she ran down the aisle and leapt outside just as the other two Skaleens advanced. She spread her arms out, creating large, flat shapes as she landed on both of them, toppling them over. A few yards away, Mulkos rose to his feet and Astra shifted one arm into a long metal coil and wrapped it around one of the Skallens, then hurled him into Mulkos, knocking them over once again. The third Skaleen stood up and raised a cannon, so Astra tucked her head down to avoid a blast, then turned her arms into large axe-shapes. She brought one axe up, slicing the cannon clean off, then used her second axe to rip the head off. Sparks flew into the air as the armor shut down and toppled to the metal floor. Mulkos opened fire, hitting Astra with a blast that tore off her right side, removing an arm and leg and blasting most of her torso apart. Wally and Kim gasped as Astra flew back, landing on some metal debris from the plane.

Astra calmly looked at the debris, then her damaged body; suddenly, the plane parts under her began to dissolve into a metallic liquid, much like when she first created a body. The nanobots broke down the metal parts into a mercurial state that oozed its way up her torso, repairing it. The liquid covered the damaged parts and limbs soon began to emerge as her body regenerated in seconds. “She can self-heal,” Kim said to no one in particular.

Mulkos gave an order in his own language and the second Skaleen sat back on all four limbs, its head slipping back into place before it began galloping toward her. After her body finished regenerating new limbs, she raised her new arm and formed a large saw blade that began spinning. The Skaleen tried to stop, its metal stumps sliding along the surface of the smooth floor. The saw buzzed forward, slicing the armor down the middle, its two sides flopping to the ground, sending more sparks into the air. Astra stood up, her body now fully restored as she took a quick inventory of her new arm and leg. Mulkos fired another shot but she elongated her torso, looping around the energy beam before tackling him to the ground where she shoved a two-pronged weapon into his chest piece. The pronged weapon spread out, peeling the armor open and there, she saw the true form of the Skaleens; a brown slug-like creature twitched and flopped inside the damaged armor. “This… assault… will not be tolerated,” the voice sputtered out of the helmet as its limbs began to flail uselessly. Wally and Kim climbed out of the plane and rushed to Astra as the armor lost power.

“That was kind of awesome,” Wally admitted.

“Are you okay?,” Kim asked.

“I’m fine but we need to get out of this ship,” Astra brushed past them, “Come on.”

Wally and Kim followed her and finally noticed the back of the hangar which included a circular, coiled door large enough to fit an airliner. Next to the door was a circular outlet. Astra picked up the severed stump from one of the destroyed armors and carried it with her, “Hopefully Skaleen technology is as easy to understand as Earth technology,” Astra placed the metal stump against the outlet and saw that it was a perfect fit. “We came through this hatch which they likely controlled remotely,” she began to turn the stump in her hands, “But these sort of things should have a manual control too, just in case.” Soon, a large CLANG was heard and the door began to uncoil as it opened, revealing a dark blue skyline with clouds below.

“How do we get down?,” Wally asked reluctantly.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Astra smiled.

“That’s what I’m worried about.”