Well, here's my attempt at sci fi. I sent it to Ziggy C. I hope you enjoy it!



“They arrived in the year 2222. We were not expecting them. We had arrogantly assumed that we were the only planet capable of producing life, and if there were other planets like ours, we were at least the only intelligent life forms. How wrong we were. Their technology far exceeding ours, they had sent a mechanical probe a number of years ago to gather data on us. At first we did not know what it was, and one woman, afraid, broke its lens with a knife. We hoped that would be the end of it.

“But no. They came. They came and we were not prepared.

“They came in peace, or so they said at first. They wished to open trade and to help our economy. They wanted to blend cultures. They could learn from us and we could learn from them, and we could form better societies as a whole due to that learning. But they soon decided that we were the ones who needed to be educated. The censorship began harmlessly enough, in entertainment media. Then they seized control of the news, and worst of all our schools. No more did we learn of the great works of art, philosophy, history, religion, or science of our own planet. We only learned of their accomplishments, though some of them were surprisingly similar. We were forced to learn their languages and to forget our own. Their culture became ours. We lost identity. They had even developed software to purge the internet of undesirable material. No one could speak the truth.

“They needed to send some representatives from their planet to help us here, some political types, government people. Then they began arguing that our government was inferior. We begged to differ, saying democracy was the best method we had found, and that they should take a look at some of the other nations of our world, the communist ones in particular. We regretted this later, for they sent more representatives to take control of those economically weaker countries, and once they had those footholds they took the entire planet. Our countries had become mere colonies.

“More of their kind were arriving, because they had overpopulated their planet. The autocracies favored them, and we became second-class citizens in our own nations. The schools that had once brainwashed our children were now closed to us, and we were told to educate our own children. By now, a generation had passed, and many of the memories had died. No child of ours was permitted a university education; most did not go beyond grade school. We were poor and our children had to work. Many menial jobs had become obsolete due to their technology. Unemployment reigned, and the citizens of what were once the wealthiest nations began starving to death.

“We had hoped that these aliens could at least solve some of the problems we had, but it seemed their technology had not solved much. Different nations on their planet had divided up the land of our planet, and their people were no more peaceful than ours. Tensions were escalating between these feuding nations, because a few generations later they still needed more living room. They did not want to simply annihilate ‘the natives’ (how fortunate for us), but the nations on their planet wanted more territory on ours.

“In the wars, our people became the soldiers, so that their precious procreating bodies might be spared. They thought, “Why not? They’re only savages.” If we were savages, it was because they made us that way. We as a planet were a mere two centuries behind them when it came to space travel, and so we were viewed as inferior. Expendable. We also lacked some of their horrible weapons; though we once had the atomic bomb, we eventually got rid of the technology because it was both a pollutant to our planet and a torturous death to our peoples. They had advanced beyond such crude weapons and now had cleaner, more effective, environmentally-friendly weapons, like one that could vaporize a human body in a single shot; another that simply turned off his brain was considered more humane, though no one could live to tell how it felt.

“Humane; that is one of their words that we adopted, for we did not know the concept of savage before they came. Drop the ‘e’ and you have their race: human, which they obviously deem to be the highest race in the universe. I sincerely hope that one day, they find out they are wrong through the only means they understand: some other intelligent, militant alien race will come to dominate them like they have done us. Do not think we did not have the concept of revenge before they came. Ours in far from a perfect race. But at least we can acknowledge that.” Lylla finished writing her statement, and handed it to her friend.

He read through it quickly, then said, “Are you sure you want this to go on record?”

“Everyone is afraid of them, Joh. But I am not anymore.”

“They will lock you up for this. They will drug you. They can make sure you never speak another word again. I would hate to see that happen to such a creative, precocious artist like you.”

“So the homo sapiens like my songs. So what? I guess I’m one of the lucky ones who can scrape together a living. My songs don’t say anything important or meaningful. I know I would just get censored if I tried. This inequality and silence needs to stop.”

“I know you have all these beliefs, Lila, but sometimes you have to just go with the flow.”

Lylla threw her hands up in the air. “I was wrong about you, Joh. You’re never going to help me. You are a slave to the homo sapien bastards. And my name is pronounced ‘Lee-jyah.’ Don’t go humanizing it on me. You’ve known me two years; you’d think you would remember it by now.”

Joe sighed. “Lila, you’re human too. Stop playing these games.”

“What are you talking about?” Lylla yelled. “I will never be one of them! They can take away our culture, but not our identity, not if we remember the past!”

“I am human too. You and I have always been human.”

“You have to be a descendant of the planet Earth to be human,” she replied.

“We are on Earth.” Joe shook his head. “You think we’re on Homena again, don’t you?”

“Don’t call yourself human. You will never be human, and they will never accept you as such. We are not inferior. Homenans are not inferior.”

“There’s no such thing as homenans, Lila!”

There was quiet. Lylla said through tears, “Joh, how can you say something like that?”

“Listen to me. Lila, you’re—you’re really sick. Homena does not exist; it’s one of your delusions. I know it’s hard, because it’s become your identity, but you have to believe me: it’s not true.” He gestured to the empty room. “Do you even realize where we are right now?”

“We’re… we’re in a prison on the planet Homena,” she replied slowly. “They found out I was going to talk.”

“We’re on Earth, Lila. Doesn’t this look a lot like a mental hospital room on Earth?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been there.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange how homenans and humans look so much alike? Identical, even?”

Lylla looked him in the eye. “I do not question the purposes of God.”

“Your test is coming up, Lila. I’m hoping that you will give the proper responses and then keep quiet about all this… Homena stuff.”

“If you really loved me, you would not ask me to do that.”

Joe put his head in his hands. “Well, I guess that’s why we broke up, wasn’t it?”

Lylla stared at the wall. “I will give the truth. That’s all I can do.”

Joe got up to leave. “I will miss you, Lila.”

She caught his hand. “Lylla. Lee-jyah.”

He smiled softly. “I’ll request that you be able to keep composing in here.” Then he exited the room.

There was an official waiting outside. “Well?”

“I think I’ve confused her,” Joe said. “However, I don’t think she can accept a human identity. She has too much pride in her homena blood.”

“It’s a shame,” said the official. “You know we cannot release her believing what she believes. She could cause an uprising of the homenans that could be difficult to quell. Thanks for helping us nip this in the bud.”

Joe closed his eyes. “If only I could have convinced her. We could have shipped her to Earth where she could at least have lived out her life. With me.”

“Well, that’s how the cookie crumbles,” the official quoted. “It’s your choice; you paid the money. Will it be death or lifelong imprisonment for her?”

“The latter,” Joe said, looking at the door. “And make sure she gets a piano, would you? I would hate to see her talent completely go to waste.”

***
“Through treatment I have come to realize that there is no planet Homena, nor any such creatures as the homenans. I own the human race as my own, and I only wish to return to a normal life.” Ten years later, she handed this statement to Joe.

“They finally found a treatment that worked!” Joe said.

“The statement is not quite as eloquent as the one ten years ago, but at least I know it’s the truth.” She smiled. “They said I passed my sanity test this time. Once you turn this in, I should be free. You have no idea how sick I’ve gotten of these four walls!”

“You wrote some of your best stuff while you were in here, though.”

“Yeah, well, when there’s nothing else to do, why not? I’m so grateful to you for that, Joe. It kept me sane… or I guess helped me regain my sanity.”

“It was nothing, just a piano and some paper…”

“Not even that. Your visits. You continued to visit me all these years. You gave me hope that I could recover. You believed in me.”

Joe took her hand. “Now that this is behind us, I was hoping I could take you out sometime.”

She smiled. “Joe, I never stopped loving you.”

There was a moment between them, and then Joe resumed a business tone. “Do you know how this is going to work?”

“Yes. They’re going to put me to sleep, and when I wake up I will be safe in my new home on Earth.”

“Right!” Then Joe stopped. “Why do you say ‘on Earth’?”

She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Because we’re still on Homena. But I understand now. I have to play ball with the humans. I can’t do anything in here anyway. Why waste my life when I can be happy on Earth with you?”

“Lila…”

“I accept it. I have come to terms with it. But I do not believe their lies. I don’t blame you for telling me the lies; you were just protecting yourself. That piano, and your visits… they really did keep me sane. You helped me as much as you could. And every time I see you, you remind me of their hypocrisy and the fact that people can get away with being what they are not.”

“But Lila--”

“You are a half-blood, and by their law you should technically be killed, Joh. Or Joe. But your father’s identity was hidden because your mother was well-born. You trusted me back then to tell me this, so I trust you now to tell you that I still know who I am.”

He was silent.

“I know they can’t hear us in here. They wouldn’t want anyone to accidentally hear the ravings of a lunatic, because they know the words are true. But Joe, I don’t care anymore. I don’t care who you are, and I don’t care who I am. I just want to get the hell out of here and start my life with you.”

Joe smiled. “Okay. We’ll begin living the lie tomorrow.” He exited with her statement.

Alone, Lylla began singing to herself: “So I’ll bide my time/ And write my rhyme/ When the world is ready to hear/ And not controlled by fear/ I will sing…”