Through Metallic Eyes (Chapter One)

"Do not worry, Commander, she'll do fine on her own," A thin, blue skinned alien assured, almost in a bored tone. He rubbed his arms right after, looking away from the higher authority.

"Then why are you looking away from me, Magnus?" the Commander replied, his voice brisk and to the point. He, on the other hand, was standing perfectly still and staring down at the other, shorter individual.

Ah yes, the girl could remember quite clearly that the scientist's name was Magnus, and that the Commander's name was Churney. It had been programmed into her memory when she was first created. It had only been a few hours since then. She briefly opened up the window to see all her vitals, and they were all clear.

Movement out of the corner of her eye made her blink, closing the window. It was just Magnus, running a nervous hand through his tousled white hair. He cleared his throat and stared at the floor. "It is disrespectful to look authorities in the eye, sir."

"Look me in the eye."

"Commander..."

"Magnus."

Magnus sighed, but eventually craned his neck to look up at Commander Churney. The dark blue spots on his skin shifted uneasily as he met his superior's gaze.

"Tell me why you look so uncomfortable. And don't look away," Commander Churney narrowed his eyes. Magnus chewed his lip for a moment, his gaze wavering. There was a long pause, Magnus looking like he was mentally preparing himself.

"I assure you, Commander, that the reason I am tense is not because of the android's condition. She is ready for the drop."

Commander Churney thought for a moment, then nodded, looking away from Magnus and towards the windshield of the space craft. Two pilots were currently manning the ship, ignoring their conversation. Magnus dropped his gaze and fiddled with his hands. The machine noted all of his quirks.

"We're about there. We should get her to the floating chamber," Churney said, looking over at Magnus again.

"Sir, in order for her to blend in, she needs to have a name."

"I thought you said she was ready to go," Commander Churney's voice turned slightly icy. The android watched his muscles ripple underneath his black skin. Magnus glanced at the machine, and she stared back at him with a blank stare. She cataloged in her memory that they both had bright yellow eyes.

"Besides the name, she is," replied Magnus.

"Pilot Revenne," Churney addressed the pink skinned pilot sitting in the left chair at the dashboard. She quickly turned the chair around to address him. "I need you to pick a name for the android."

"Itha," she said after a moment's hesitation. Commander Churney and Magnus nodded their heads, and the newly named android finally filled the blank space where her name was supposed to be in her data.

"We'll proceed without a moment's hesitation," Churney said, walking out of the room. Magnus followed him, and Itha went with. Commander Churney's long legs made him a fast pacer, and Magnus was panting by the time they got to the floating chamber. There was a glass wall that separated them and the chamber, and a large window on the far side of it that showed the planet she was to be studying.

"Call us at least once an Earth day to record your findings," Magnus ordered while Commander Churney punched in the numbers on the pad to unlock the glass wall. It slid effortlessly.

Itha stepped inside, and the glass moved back into place. She glanced at them one more time before turning to look at the large window. The space was quite roomy, considering there was nothing in it.

A few seconds later, the chamber disconnected from the main ship, and it headed towards Earth.

 

It was now snack time for the kids at Sunshine Daycare. Each day had a different snack to choose from. Today was Tuesday, so it was either graham crackers or peach yogurt.

It was practically a war zone in the daycare room after snack time was announced. The adults had laid down the food on the table and went to go talk with each other at one side of the room, while the kids tried their hardest to get the graham crackers before anyone else could. One girl had made it to the table late, so all that was left were yogurts. She took one and had a bite, a chunk of peach on the spoon.

Gagging, she quickly spit the yogurt into the trash, throwing the cup of yogurt away as well. She turned around, her eyes hunting for a weak kid with a few graham crackers she could swipe.

Her face lit up when she saw the new kid nibbling on a cracker on top of the slide, distracted by two other kids arguing over who gets the stuffed giraffe first. A smile came to her face and she made her way over to him.

Climbing the rungs that led to the top of the slide, the girl reached the top, moving a curl of brown hair away from her face. She was right behind the boy now.

Acting fast, the girl grabbed the graham crackers away from the boy and pushed him down the slide. He cried out as he hit the carpet, and the girl took off running, giggling with her stolen goods.

She climbed on top of the snack table and crawled over to the window that faced the building's parking lot. She sat with her legs crossed and stared out there, biting into a cracker.

Something shiny caught her eye, and she looked up at the sky. There was a shooting star in broad daylight. She stared at it in awe, and quickly made a wish.

The star got bigger and bigger. The girl tilted her head. No, it wasn't getting bigger. It was getting closer. The girl's eyes widened and she froze, her hand halfway up to her mouth with another cracker.

Crash!

Everyone was scattered on the floor, dazed and unable to get up. The room was spinning in the girl's vision. There was a strange scent in the air, and she couldn't tell exactly what it was, she just knew that it was bad. An image of her skinned knee after she fell from her bike came to her mind.

Finally, the room stilled, and she slowly sat up, rubbing her head. Looking over, she saw that something big had crashed into the daycare. The adults were nowhere to be seen. Where they had been was now replaced by the fallen object, a pool of red leaking from under it.

She heard the other kids groan and whine as they sat up and stared at the ship. Suddenly, a door flew off its hinges on the ship, hitting the wall. One of the children began to cry.

A figure stepped out of the alien ship, silhouetted from the bright light coming from within the craft. It gracefully jumped onto the floor of the daycare, and it was no longer shadowed. A girl stood there, surveying the scene. All the children stared at her.

"I am Itha. State your identification," Itha said, her voice sounding foreign, soft even. The girl who had stolen the graham crackers walked up to her.

"What does identication mean?" she asked.

"Identification," Itha corrected, "means your name."

"My name's Aria!" the girl said, smiling up at Itha. Itha tilted her head, observing Aria's actions. She then paid attention to the rest of the children. She saw that all of them had similar heights, yet they were so short.

"Are humans this vertically impaired?" Itha asked. Aria made a puzzled face.

Itha tried a different approach. "I'm here to study the Earth and the individuals that live on it. Are any of you able to define the society and foreign objects that surround us?" Itha asked. The children looked even more confused. Maybe they couldn't understand complex language just yet. She was puzzled that the sensors had shown that they were an advanced society.

A scream sounded just outside the daycare. Their heads turned to see a woman staring at them from the parking lot. Itha blinked in realization.

"Ah, so you are just their young," she mumbled to herself. The woman turned and ran out of sight. Itha turned back to the children. "I assume she's calling the authorities."

The children gave her blank stares. She restated her sentence, except using more simple words so that they would understand. Aria's eyes lit up.

"Mommy told me that the police are nice! They catch bad guys that wreck things and hurt people!" Aria said, jumping up and down. Itha paused, then turned to look at the rubble behind her, along with the pool of blood.

"Then I best get going. Nothing will hinder my mission. Goodbye, dear children," Itha explained before turning and walking out of the daycare. She set off down the street, people shrieking and yelling when they noticed what happened to the daycare. Itha kept a brisk pace, although she did look around at the surrounding buildings.

There were shops that lined both sides of the street. Currently, people were either running to or away from the daycare, but Itha could see them milling about day to day if her landing hadn't been so public. A man brushed past her, and Itha stared at him running towards the daycare in a rush. His shirt was wrinkled and his hair uncombed. Itha noted his appearance in her log.

Turning, she looked in the display window and made sure she looked presentable. She smoothed down her flat, chin length hair and fixed her shirt. After another quick glance, she walked down the street.

Finally, after walking for five minutes, she got to an area of the city that didn't have panicking people. She stared at all the humans surrounding her. The noise was like a roar, loud, then a bit softer, then loud once more.

Itha passed by a store that had people lounging about it, sitting at tables and eating food. After one look at the sign above the door, she focused back on where she was heading, but then she ran into someone.

There was a cry of surprise, and then suddenly a steaming liquid spilled on Itha's shirt. Itha jumped back and glanced down at her shirt, which had a large brown stain on it. It felt uncomfortable to her, and she looked up at the woman that had bumped into her, anger in her eyes.

"Ah, crap! I am so sorry, ma'am! I wasn't looking where I was going. I got coffee all over your poor shirt! Please forgive me, lady!" the woman said, unease in her dark eyes. Itha looked her over for a moment, then met her gaze. After a few tense seconds, Itha relaxed.

"Apology accepted. It was an accident," Itha said, looking down at the woman's feet. "Now, if you will excuse m-"

The android snapped her mouth shut when the woman grabbed her wrist. Her grip was firm, but not threatening. Itha stared at her hand.

"Hey, hey, hey, ma'am! You can't just leave without me cleaning ya up!" the woman said, then shifted her grip so that they were holding hands. She began to shake Itha's hand.

"The name's Dixie! Wish we met under better terms, but ah; that's life for ya!" her words flew from her mouth. Itha cataloged her name into her system. "What's yours?"

"If you are inquiring about my identification, it is Itha. If not, you will have to specify," the android said. Dixie tilted her head.

"Why are ya talking so stiff like? You sound like a dictionary!" Dixie snorted.

"Is that a negative thing?"

"Jeez! You're still doing it! Lighten up a lil'!" Dixie tugged on her hand. Itha glanced down at her hand for a moment, switching between looking at her pale skin and Dixie's dark skin. Itha furrowed her brow.

"I am not a light source; therefore I can not 'lighten up' as you so desire. I apologize for the incon-" Dixie interrupted her again.

"Okay, are you a foreigner? Your English is really bad," Dixie said, letting go of her hand. Itha jerked, but quickly stilled.

"What do you inquire?"

"Like, are you from Germany or somethin'? Sweden? Maybe Iceland?"

"Yes."

Dixie gave Itha a weird look. She then shrugged in a dramatic way, her shoulders rolling all the way back. She gave Itha a wink. "Fine, you don't gotta tell me. Besides, I think ya need some help 'round here. I owe ya, after all."

"I do not remember you asking for a favor, Dixie."

"No, silly! I meant spilling my drink on you!" Dixie playfully punched Itha's shoulder.

"I do not see how you need to do me a favor because of that."

"Ugh, you're so uptight! Just come with me to my apartment! I'll give ya a shirt to wear until you get changed, and I can help ya with you're English! How's that?"

"It seems beneficial to my task. I accept your offer."

Dixie rolled her eyes and grabbed Itha's hand, leading her deeper into the crowd. Itha looked back, watching the crowd envelope them. It was as if they were swallowing them whole, and they would never escape...

Itha shook her head and looked forward. There was no time to waste. She was on her first mission, after all.