From my spot on the walkway between two buildings, I have been staring outside for at least half an hour. It feels like hours have passed, but according to that wall clock over there, it's still only 11 am. No matter how many times I try to stay positive, depressing thoughts still manage to pop up out of nowhere.

  I'm feeling lonely, but also afraid that something might happen to me soon. I'm all alone, an alien on my own pnet. Maybe it's my own fault, because I should have avoided the crashzone, just like the dy on the phone told me to. The proverb 'curiosity killed the cat,' seems to apply to my situation pretty well, so I only have myself to bme, I guess.

  My depressing thoughts are suddenly interrupted by a female sounding voice to my right."Greetings, Kaya, daughter of Funami."

  When I look to my right and upwards, I see another of those boring drones."Oh...sorry, I hadn't noticed you. Am I in your way, drone?"

  "No, little miss, you are not blocking my way. Your quarters are now avaible to you. May I show you the way?"

  Huh? 'Little miss'? Where did that come from?"Wow....you sound much more polite than Anisa's drones."

  "Thank you."

  It probably has no idea what I'm talking about, but it's still polite."Em....okay. Sure, please help me find my quarters. Can you please push this wheelchair for me?"

  "Of course...please keep your appendages inside to avoid any damage."

  Yup...definitely a drone."So they sent you to help me find my quarters?"

  "Yes, that information is accurate. But I am also to assist you until you or your counselor wish to send me away, young one. According to the logs, she should arrive within 3 days."

  "Ah...a woman after all. Do you know her name?"

  "Sva, daughter of Skuru." The drone replied while carefully pushing me forward.

  "Sva, huh? Okay, I'll remember that. What's her job exactly?"

  "Her record shows 'First Counselor to the Lantosian delegation on Earth'."

  "Sounds impressive, but what exactly does that mean?"

  "That information is not avaible."

  Of course, it's a drone, so I gave up on smalltalk and waited until we arrived at my new quarters.

  The door slides open and behind it I see a rather huge living room. A family of four can comfortably live here, no doubt about it. I guess they were right about this being some sort of compensation for me.

  The drone pushes my chair further inside and thankfully gives me some time to look around.

  The room is definitely designed with aliens in mind. While I recognize the usual human furniture like tables and chairs, there's also plenty of stuff I have never seen before. The equipment over there might simply be a radio or something completely different.

  The pce is basically a single room with doors leading to a shower area. Ah! And I just spotted another hole in the wall!Colored curtains are hanging from the ceiling like hammocks, just like in that room I woke up in. Those things seem perfect for gathering dust bunnies....brr...or attract spiders.....and not easy to clean either. A rather odd looking gray gssy shiny sculpture, art or a religious icon perhaps, is pced near the entrance. Yeah, that's probably going to 'disappear' pretty soon.

  "This pce is freakin' huge! Imagine cleaning the pce!"

  "Cleaning is one of my duties, so there's lots of room for you to py."

  Seriously, py? "Eh....yeah. So........what's your name?"

  "My designation is Domestic Drone F-1-8-2."

  "Yeah....that's not gonna work. How about I call you Betty instead?"

  "Alias added."

  I take a deep breath...and slowly let it out. It's just a drone....be calm. It can't help being like that.

  Seriously, the only thing that comes to mind right now is how to quickly get rid of this Betty drone. So far my experiences with drones haven't been all that great."So...Betty? I don't know much about the Lantosian way of life. Could you tell me how this pce works? Where do I sleep? Where can I take a shower?"

  "Betty is assigned to you to keep you safe and care for you. I am your personal drone until that privilege is revoked. Betty is programmed to instruct young ones how to care for themselves. I will bathe you before bedtime."

  "Eheheh..." I'm subconsciously scratching my head out of nervousness, but the scratching actually feels great. And that probably also expins why dogs like to be scratched in the same way. Whatever...focus! This Betty drone sounds more like a nanny drone to me.

  "Um........Betty? How old do you think that I am?" Let's see just how smart these things are.

  "Scanning. According to your ID, you are less than one month old. A newborn requires special attention."

  "Oh god...no way. Betty, I'm 21 years old! Don't you think it's strange for a newborn to have a conversation on this level of complexity?"

  "Scanning....analyzing the situation." I heard several beeps and cracking sounds....like her gears were literally churning audibly. "Assumption verified. Interfacing with medical bay....searching....confirmed. Your age is 0 years, corroborated by the fact that you are unable to walk. Fear not, little one, I will care for you."

  "Crap, I really need to ditch this one a.s.a.p."

  "That nguage does not suit you, little one. Where did you learn it?"

  Am I imagining things, or does her nguage suddenly sound more....real? Less robotic? Maybe some special software activated just now?

  "Nothing, Betty. Just ignore it. Can you please show me how the shower works?"

  "A shower is a human device. Lantosian bathing uses a hypersonic system, designed to clean your body without inflicting damage to your body. Unlike the human device, it does not require drying your hair afterwards."

  "Pretty interesting way to expin this to a kid."

  "Yes, little Kaya is such a sweet girl."

  Yikes, I'm really starting to hate this thing, but at least she hasn't rubbed my cheeks...yet.

  She continued, "do you want to py with me?"

  "Uh....I think you wouldn't want that, so no, thanks. Please show me these quarters. Expin what each device is, how to operate it and how I can use the shower thing myself."

  "I'm sorry, little one. Bathing is too dangerous for you right now. Betty will assist you."

  I facepalmed and shook my head. Sheesh, I can't even run away if I want to!

  After discussing things for a few more minutes, she gave in and expined how to operate things. As already expected, some things were voice operated, while others required a touch.

  There's a ptop-like thing in there, air conditioning, a transparent sliding door to the roof garden and other less interesting things like the lighting.

  She then expined the basics of personal hygiene for my new body, but unfortunately she expined it as if I were a real kid.

  "Ahhh!!" I shouted because she unexpectedly put her hands under my legs and pulled me out of my wheelchair, startling me in the process.

  "You have expressed the desire for bathing multiple times. Proceeding with bathing now."

  "Em...thank you, Betty, you are the best."

  She gave me a fake, programmed smile, and appeared to be appreciating the reply.

  The shower was pretty interesting, and quite rexing as well. It didn't involve any painful sounds or moving parts at all. The difficult part was letting a drone remove my clothes and then seeing them being recycled. When I cried out of fear of having nothing left to wear, she misunderstood and comforted me.

  The next culture shock came when we talked about changing clothes. You see, they don't buy clothes or wash them. No no no....they use a contraption in the walk-in closet and it changes your outfit to whatever you want, simply by using clothes-producing nanites. Simple for them, yes, but difficult for me to accept.

  Betty helped me stand up, after which underwear and a simir uniform appeared in minutes out of nowhere....thanks to those nanites. Thankfully diapers aren't a thing around here, or I might have inflicted some serious damage to her. It's like she realized that I needed help, but also that I wasn't a real infant.

  A very strange situation, but what else is new? These people are a truly technologically advanced species, and as long as I'm one of them, I'll need to use those gadgets. Learning about these things should help me integrate better around here, until I can find a way out of this mess.

  "Are you comfortable, little one?"

  "Um, sure, Betty, thanks. I feel much better now." The 'shower' felt amazing and really helped me rex.

  "It's time for you to recharge in your den, Kaya."

  Recharge? Ah...gotcha. "Eh....did you say...a den? Lantosians sleep in a den? Seriously? Where is it?" I look around once more but can't find anything remotely resembling a den.

  "It is right there, little one." She pointed at the hole in the wall.

  Ohh...so that's a den? Well, if you use your imagination, I guess it really could be described as a den.

  The den these aliens apparently sleep in, is hidden behind a narrow hole in a wall panel that can slide open. Unlike the basic room I first woke up in, this particur wall is modeled to resemble a cave entrance and even some fake pnts and moss are pced near it. Well, to each their own I always say. Now that I think about it....those decorations weren't even there when I first scanned the room!

  According to Betty, this is how most of their...our...people choose to sleep. It apparently reminds them of their humble origins and the den's yout is supposed to be healthy for one's back as well. Yeah...still not convinced about sleeping like a fox in a den. Hell, even my ears resemble those of a fox.

  While I'm being carried in her arms, the front part of the wall opens up like a huge drawer. The inside reveals an abundance of pillows and other grassy materials, but I'm quite sure that it isn't real grass. Probably.

  She gently puts me in a circur area where many pillows around it form the safest pce for any kid. Except...I'm not a kid.

  "Betty? I'm not sleepy."

  "Scanning.......Kaya is very sleepy. Your Akinol levels are above 70%. Be a good girl and please try to sleep. Do you want me to cuddle you?"

  WHAAAAA? No bloody way!"Em...no thank you, I'm fine."

  "Understood. Sleep well, Kaya. Betty will stay here and keep you safe. Ending maintenance mode of your den."

  The whole contraption moves back into the wall, meaning that I'm basically supposed to sleep inside the wall. Only the hole in the middle shows some light.

  "Betty?"

  "Yes, I am here. Do you need help?"

  "Um...no..yes? It's too light to sleep."

  "Understood....modifying windows...done."

  It suddenly became pitchbck. "Betty? It's too dark now."

  "Shhh...go to sleep, young one. I will wake you before dinner."

  "But I haven't even had lunch yet!"

  "Understood. When you wake up, you will have lunch. Do you want me to bring it here?"

  "No, I want to go to the dining area." And in the meanwhile get rid of you.

  "Of course, little one. I'm sure there will be other kids for you to py with."

  Sheesh....I swear....I'm going to lose that drone somewhere today. Maybe Anisa can repurpose her? Hehehehe.....just the thought of that makes me grin.

  After staying inside for a few minutes, I suddenly feel sleepy. How can a drone know that I was sleepy before I felt it myself? Betty must have used some kind of stealth medical scanning technology.

  Trying to curl up when your legs don't work is quite difficult. I had to pull them towards me so I could find a nice sleeping position. Finally....I finally feel safe and rexed. The den is a surprisingly nice and warm pce, exceptionally quiet too. The only sound I can hear is the artificially created sound of the wind in the background. With just a little bit of imagination I can pretend to be sleeping in a real den in the forest. I wonder why humans don't do that?

  [ bye bye Betty ]

  When I wake up, I feel well rested. Somehow I actually managed to fall asleep, even though I spent the night in the medical bay.

  I hear someone speaking nearby, and that must have caused me to wake up. But when I open my still heavy eyelids, I see that I'm not anywhere near my "den" anymore. For some unfathomable reason I just woke up in the medical bay.

  "Ahh....finally awake?" Nalea said with a motherly smile. She then helps me sit up straight, by supporting my back for a moment.

  "Yes...but why am I here?" I look around and definitely am in the medical bay.

  "Don't worry, you are safe." It's Ben's voice, coming from behind me.

  He's here too?"Oh...hi, Ben. Nice to see you again. What happened?" I still feel somewhat groggy.

  "In short, two people intruded into your room while you were sleeping. They managed to disable your drone and then sedated you, using some form of gas."

  "And I gave you something to counteract that. The gas wasn't harmful in any way." Nalea said, hoping to reassure me.

  "No......no way." I shivered...attacked in my own room, and so soon. Gone are my feelings of being safe. "Why didn't anyone notice that?" Tears are again falling from my eyes. Nelea hugs me, and it helps me to calm down.

  Ben walks closer to me, since Nalea was in his line of sight."We did notice, Kaya. We had already anticipated that this might happen, just not so soon. A security detail was standing by in the room next door. The two intruders were arrested after which we brought you here for a check up. Before all of this happened, you slept for a few hours, according to your drone's logs. Unfortunately it was damaged beyond repair while trying to protect you."

  "Awww.....poor Betty." Why do I feel sorry for Betty now? I guess she really wanted to help me, right? "So...did they do anything to harm me?"

  "No, you never left your room, until we brought you here, so nothing happened to you, except for being sedated. Nobody is going to take you away. I hope that you now realize just how serious we are about protecting you."

  "Yes...thank you, Ben."

  "It's okay, Kaya. We promised to keep you safe, and will continue to watch over you. Anyway, how about a te lunch? Or early dinner?"

  Wow, switching subjects already?"Yeah, I welcome the company but I'm also very hungry. But...Ben? Will they keep doing this? You know...trying to abduct me?"

  "We're working on it, that's all I can say about it."

  Okay...definitely the end of that conversation."Oh...okay then. Ah, that reminds me. That drone told me that I was 0 years old. Can you please correct that, Nalea?"

  "Zero? Ahhh...of course! I never entered your age into our records. Let me....there...it's done already. 18 years old."

  "18? I'm 21, Nalea."

  "No, you are not anymore. Your new body has matured to resemble 18 years of age."

  "Oh....okay...fine." At some point you simply don't care anymore.

  Ben joined me for an early dinner, but didn't eat anything himself. He was a great listener and it felt good to discuss recent events with him. He even congratuted me on making friends with Anisa.

  Right before he left me, he said that I would be able to call my parents as soon as my safety could be guaranteed. But most importantly, he respected my decision to not repce Betty.

  I have spent about an hour alone in my quarters, thinking about what happened. I'm simply sitting here on the floor, next to the closed garden door, while using my arms to pull my seemingly lifeless legs towards me.

  The room is quiet without anyone to talk to. The room next door, where Ben's security detail is standing by, is surprisingly quiet as well. For a while I doubted whether I should join them, just for a chat, but decided against it.

  A few scratches on the floor are all the evidence that remains of Betty, like echoes from the past. The annoying robot who tried to save me is no more.

  I feel lonely...depressed....unable to go home and afraid that someone might want to abduct me again. This feeling of loneliness isn't about to change anytime soon. This room feels like a prison cell to me, with no chances of escaping. This is just day 1 in this room...with many, many more to follow.

  I stare into the evening sky and see dark gray clouds releasing rain over the city. The perfect weather to match my mood. The sun has already set, and it's going to be a long and lonesome evening. I'm not in the mood to watch TV and silently cried for a while. There's nobody here to console me, so at some point the crying simply ended.

  How am I even going to expin my new life to my parents? I mean, if they will even let me see them again.

  A "beep beep" sound coming from near the entrance pulls my thoughts back to reality. I'm happy to hear that the human designers of this pce chose a non intrusive way to sound the doorbell.

  A delivery drone brought me one of those watches and of course...it was auto-fitting, so it fit comfortably in no time.

  Unlike Frilia's pink watch, this one is white and she probably picked the color to match my hair.

  I used the remainder of the day to familiarize myself with the watch and my quarters, while finding some comfort in the outside view.

  Around 8 pm I took a breather outside in my concrete garden which was completely devoid of pntlife. Thankfully the pce is wheelchair friendly, but it was still pretty cold. The skyscrapers all around me gave me that creepy feeling of being watched from one of those many rooms, but there is nothing I can do about that. Ben's people have protected me before, and will continue doing so.

  When it started to rain again, I decided to keep the garden door open a bit for some fresh air. And despite everything that had happened...I very quickly fell asleep in my den...while thinking about how to decorate my pce and get some pnts into my garden.