Illian engaged her ship's cloak and entered the Terran atmosphere. She had been to the little mudball a handful of times before. She comes to pick up physical items that agents on the planet prepare for her in advance over a matter of months. This package has been waiting for the last eight. The agents here have been reporting advanced technology being distributed throughout the planet over the last year.

As she descended toward the surface she checked her environmental readings for the local area. The oxygen level was up, the carbon dioxide was dramatically down. She punched in the commands to check the satellites set up throughout this world. The readings came back with astounding changes. The ozone was repairing itself over Australia, the acidity of their oceans was being rebalanced, there were fewer landcraft, and across the globe there was new growth in forests and jungles.

She descended her craft in Gollarin’s backyard. The small ship touched down on the grass and slowly shut down each of the unnecessary systems.

“712, maintain an active sweep of the area and download all statistical data from the satellites within the network. I want to know what is going on here that is bringing stability to this planet,” She said as she walked out the descending platform from the rear of the ship.

“Confirmed. Downloading records now. I will keep you posted,” the AI replied.

As Illian left her ship she grabbed a few small packages from storage, the environmental suit hands were uncomfortable on her tall frame the air on this planet is far too dry for her amphibious skin and too cold. Small gifts from “friends and family” for Gollarin and his mate Fy’thrill.

Crossing the yard she could see Gollarin part the curtains to see what was going on in the yard. The sounds his pets are making have obviously alerted him. She smiled in a friendly manner and lifted the packages with a shrug, there was always a little theater when dealing with clone agents. They have no real family back home, of course. Agent clones are grown and then like the cowbirds of this planet, Ghuu-Lmat removes the child through other agents, and the clone replaces it. The man closed the curtain and a second later the door opened. He gave a weak smile and walked out to greet her, his pets rushing into the yard gibbering off a series of vocal shouts as well and whimpering as they ran.

“Greetings commander Illian, was your trip uneventful?” Gollarin asked, reaching for the packages.

Illian tried not to react to the animals dancing before her and bounce-touching her with their clawed feet. Her uniform was getting dirty. The animals were small enough not to be much of a threat, but they were big enough to be annoying.

As they entered the domicile, Illian blocked the creatures from coming in. “Please. I am not prepared for them to beg and rub against me this trip. We have work to take care of.” she politely suggested to Gollarin, though she knew he understood it as a command. Illian had to duck to get into the door and turn a little to the side to get into the tiny domicile.

Gollarin kept the animals outside as instructed. He felt his blood grow cold slightly, Illian was rarely this formal. She knew there was something drastically different on Sol-3. Gollarin has no idea what has spurred this change, but it has greatly altered the plans that Ghuu-Lmat set into motion.

Gollarin sighed heavily. “I am sorry Illian,” He began. “I am not sure what the factors are in the current shift of Sol-3. I have been trying to find out for the last five months. It seemed to have been triggered by the blackout of the western coast of this nation. The president of this nation says that the nation of Mexico has released a new weapon that has disabled the power grid of states on the west coast. After that there was a fast track to war with the neighboring nation. I really am not sure how that chaos has turned…” He was cut off by the woman raising a hand to silence him.

“Gollarin. Stop your squeamish groveling. I am not going to take you to a square and lash you. Tell me what you have noticed that has been out of the normal here on Sol-3.” She said walking to the man’s plush chair in the sitting room and taking a seat, the furniture had been built to support her, as part of the regulations set by Ghuu-Lmat. The furniture of the humans was always so decadent and plush, but a bit small to her liking. She was roughly a head taller than the natives of this planet and her suit nearly doubles her weight, though the suit makes it feel like nothing to her. Had it not been for her suit people likely wouldn’t respond too dramatically if she took to the streets.

Gollarin and his mate are a bit shorter than her, essentially the size of tall humans, it was a requirement if they were to be on the planet, they needed to blend in as much as possible after all, more corporate caution.

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“My apologies Commander.” Gollarin replied sheepishly.

“Now, from the top. What has been going on here?” She commanded.

Gollarin started with the attack details he knew. His details were vague as he is in Oklahoma and wasn’t affected by the events. “The worst that had happened here was a massive disruption of our broadband service. The weeks that followed were more or less just the same insane rhetoric the United States seems to always be stoking. Attack their enemies and fear those who are different. Instead of sending their people overseas to kill brown people, they simply sent their troops south and began murdering there.” He told her.

“Savages.” Illian stated.

“Indeed. My mate and I have been laying low outside of work and the occasional jaunt out to shop. The tension out there is high, this is not made any better by the declaration of the Mexican flu that their troops contracted and brought back to their countrymen.” He continued.

“I see. Have you a sample of this illness?” She asked.

“We have not yet acquired a sample, no Commander. We are unsure if the virus can infect us as well, yet,” He replied.

Illian let out an exasperated sigh, and tapped her wrist communicator. “712 come in,”

“Here commander,” the AI replied. “My analysis is not yet complete I have...:”

“I need a full sweep of oxygen samples and see if you can find a sample of the virus currently rampant on Sol-3. Engage cloak and return to high orbit of the planet and send out a beacon warning off all other ships until we know what is going on here,” She ordered, cutting off 712.

“Very well commander,” the AI replied.

The two clone agents heard the ship lift off and fade away as it climbed back into the sky.

“Alright Gollarin,” She began, “where is the room I shall be staying in?”

The man managed a weak smile and began walking her through the house to the spare room the couple rarely used.

Illian tapped her coms badge and waited for the reply.

“Commander the beacons have been set and the analysis of the oxygen sample has begun. Would you like me to remain in orbit?” 712 replied.

“High orbit, yes. Put yourself among the native debris field and maintain an hourly report with the command ship. Ping me once the analysis is complete. While there, scan all frequencies for another to explain the attack on the US, who is taking credit, what was the cause, what weapon was used.” She commanded and turned off the com. She didn’t need a reply.

The agent clones were in the next room whispering to one another.

“Is she really going to be staying here?”

“How long can it really be? An analysis of a virus must be child’s play to The Consortium, if the company is still invested, then this should be the catalyst for a first contact,” Gollarin said to his wife.

“What happens to us when the first contact is made?” Fy’thrill asked.

“We get to go home. We leave for home,” He replied, starting to get excited about the unexpected visit.

“Do you think they would let us stay?” Fy’thrill continued, seeming worried about something.

“Stay? You don’t want to go home?” Gollarin asked, unpacking the boxes from back home. He gentilly rocked the items before looking over the labels on each gift. “Your sister sent us something big this time,”

“Oh yeah? I asked her for a few jars of jam from back home. She may have sent a case. She knows how much you like it,”

Illian listened from the bedroom once the voice went to normal volume, she wasn’t straining to hear whispers.

She laughed silently to herself listening to the clones.

There isn’t a family back home. They are grown. These packages are props for the lie and no more. True, some of the propmasters used to get attached to their agents and started to break when the lies got to them. She can see that from observing the creatures at a greater length, that they are much like pets if you get used to them. That is why AI programs started being used decades ago. It was easier for a program to detach from the clones that it is for the propmasters.

When the first contact is made, that will be the government of the Consortium. That's the government that keeps the law throughout the systems they rule. The company of Ghuu-Lmat can’t have their clone agents discovered. The fines would be astronomical.

No.

It’s better not to get too attached to the creatures.

“Oh! Look at this picture of my dad and my brother’s kids. They are climbing all over him,” Fy’thrill laughed.

“Do you think if we are to stay, we should go by our real names or keep using the Terran names?” Gollarin asked. “I don’t think I want to continue going by Michael Gingersnatch,”

“Do you not like the name Michael?” Fy’thrill asked, confused.