The nearest registration site was in Albany.
His grandfather agreed to drive him – along with Tobe and Kim, who had managed to get the day off school somehow – to the building. The only reason his grandmother wasn’t with him is because he promised he wouldn’t register yet, and would only do so with everyone present. They didn’t know how soon after he would be brought to Babylon, or how soon they would be able to visit.
His grandfather said he had some errands to run in the city, so he dropped the three of them off at the registration center and gave them a time for pickup.
The building was similar to the rest of Albany; brutalist and depressing. It was if bureaucracy was a city, and it reflected in the architecture. A squat concrete building, it sat like a brick, flanked on all sides by ordinary, more cheerily decorated businesses. It had nothing of the sort. There were dark windows that didn’t let you see inside, and smooth grey concrete. It looked like something out of a dystopia.
“Look at how cool this building is!” Kim exclaimed, looking up at it with a wide smile. Tobe and Otto shared a look.
“Cool?” Otto asked. “It’s depressing as shit, Kim. How do you like this stuff?”
Kim sniffed and looked down his nose, walking forward without them. “You two don’t understand the simplistic beauty of brutalist architecture. The shapes, you uncultured ingrates, it’s all about the shapes.”
“God you’re annoying.” Tobe said with disgust. "And sad. Otto's acting like he's walking to his death and somehow you're the bummer."
Otto rolled his eyes while they passed under the open gate, entering through the heavy wooden doors. At least that part wasn’t concrete.
Inside was much warmer; dark wood floors were illuminated by a chandelier emitting soft light overhead, and lamps scattered through the room. It looked like a hotel lobby, or a high-end ski lodge. There were comfortable couches and seats, a fireplace, and tables. Opposite the door they entered was an elevator, and to the side a curved desk against the wall. They looked around and found themselves to be the only people present.
“Hello!” A voice called out. Otto turned and saw a woman waving at them from the desk.
She looked young, older than them but only in her early twenties. She had pale skin and brown hair in a bun with strands coming down to frame her face. Her eyes were dark green, and she wore a professional white blouse with a necklace tucked underneath.
“If you’re here to try eating some of the plants upstairs, please leave. I don’t want to kick anyone else out.” Her face twisted in annoyance at the thought.
They all paused. Tobe was the first to speak.
“What?” he asked. “Why would we do that?”
The woman looked relieved. “Oh, thank the Eclipse. I thought you were from those groups online.”
This time Otto spoke up. “What groups?”
The woman scowled in a way that was very difficult to take seriously and blew her hair out of her face.
“Some idiots heard that consuming stuff from the Jarran home planets increases the odds of getting chosen by the Donor for a contract. It doesn’t, by the way.” She said.
“There are Jarran plants upstairs?” he asked with some surprise.
She shrugged. “Some. Most aren’t even Jarran but almost nobody on Earth are likely to know the difference. To them, anything not native to your home planet must be Jarran since they’re the only “aliens” you’ve ever interacted with.” She said with a slight eye roll and air quotes when she said ‘alien’ before blushing and ducking her head.
“No offense intended, by the way.”
“Uh.” Otto said. “None taken.” He squinted, trying to make out any odd characteristics. He found none. “Are you not from Earth?”
She looked surprised and winced. “Oh, shoot! I knew I was forgetting something.” She said. “I’m supposed to disclose that when someone new walks in.” She stood up from behind the desk, but she didn’t move from it. She bent slightly at the waist and straightened.
“Your vocal cords are pretty bad so my real name is unpronounceable, but you can call me Angel.” She said, looking up at them. “I’m from a Jarran feeder planet, just like you guys. Mine was conquered around twenty-two thousand Earth years ago, but I wasn’t around back then.” She explained.
All of them blinked.
“Feeder planet-“
“Angel-“
“Conquered-“
They stumbled over each other, their words coming out in a jumble. She held up her hands and laughed.
“One at a time, guys!” Otto stared at her and was shocked that she wasn’t from Earth. She seemed so…normal.
“Feeder planet?” Kim asked. She looked at him and furrowed her brow.
“Uh, yeah? You guys get stuff from your version of the Donor, the Jarrans summon you guys, and you-“ She cut off, suddenly scowling. She reached a hand to her back and struggled to rub it, wincing all the while.
“Ugh, can’t say that. Your guys’ Cardinal contract sucks. Did you even negotiate at all?” She looked at them expectantly.
“Um, we weren’t around for that.” Kim eventually stammered. He seemed the most nervous of them all.
Angel grumbled. “Whatever. Anyway, yeah. Feeder planet. That’s what you are. Next question.”
Tobe’s hand shot in the air. “What did you mean by ‘conquered’ exactly? We weren’t conquered, we made an agreement. A contract. Like you said.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot they changed how they did things.” She said thoughtfully. She shrugged. “Well, disregard that part. If you guys got conquered, you’d probably know it.”
Otto raised his hand last. She looked amused and nodded to him.
“Why ‘Angel’?” he asked. Of all the names to pick, that one seemed odd. It was too unique to be chosen randomly, but nothing about her screamed ‘angel’ to him.
In response, Angel took a deep breath and started…pushing. The face she made was not unlike someone deeply constipated trying to ‘clear out the pipes.’ It was, in fact, identical. She groaned from the stress of it, until with a light ‘pop’ sound, a pair of wings sprouted from her back.
They were magnificent. White feathered and long, she probably had a wingspan of nine feet or more. Each feather had a slight colored tint on the end, giving it a glittering rainbow effect. It was mesmerizing, and all three of them couldn’t stop staring.
“Pretty, huh?” She said, obviously preening under their attention. “That’s why I picked Angel. When I saw all that mythology you guys had made, I just knew that was the name for me.”
Kim stepped forward and extended a hand. “I’m Kim.” He said. Otto and Tobe stared at his back.
Angel looked up, a little surprised. “Oh! I never learned your names!” She shook Kim’s hand hurriedly and turned to the rest of them.
“Otto.” He said, shaking her hand, and Tobe followed. Kim stood awkwardly close to the desk. Angel didn’t seem to notice or care.
“So, what are you guys here for if not to eat the plants?”
Tobe’s mouth fell open. “How many people were eating the plants?”
Otto stepped forward. “I got picked by the contract. I’m here to learn more about it, if I can.”
Angel’s eyes snapped to Otto. She looked him up and down. Her wings retracted, getting sucked back into her body. Somehow.
“Oh. You did. I can’t believe I didn’t notice sooner.” She leaned forward, propping her head on her hands quirked to the side.
“What do you want to know?”
Otto, Kim, and Tobe started asking just about every question they could think of. It was mostly Otto and Tobe, since Kim was being quiet and weird for some reason, but the other two were rapid-fire, and Angel never seemed to get annoyed or tired.
“How do I register?” Otto asked.
Angel raised her eyebrows. “Are you registering right now?”
“No.”
“Well, you will come here, tell me you’re registering, and then I’ll fill out some paperwork. Or, you can call and I’ll do that ahead of time. After that, your existence will be listed on the Donor’s database, and your government will be notified. Soon after, the Donor will teleport you to Babylon. There’s some ceremony involved in all that, but we’ll get through that pretty quick. After that, I don’t know. It’s in someone else’s hands.”
Angel was leaning back in her chair, legs propped up on the desk while she tossed a ball up and down in one hand. Otto, Tobe, and Kim had dragged over chairs from the rest of the room at her suggestion.
“My class is called Leviathan. What does it do?”
“No idea. That one’s new to me, and even if it wasn’t, I’m not allowed to tell you. That’s for you to find out.”
Otto frowned. “Why are you here? Why not a Jarran, or a human? An Agreed?”
Angel caught the ball again. “Because my people have been a feeder planet for much longer than yours. I’ve lived with it my whole life, and I understand the Donor and the Jarrans better than you ever will. If you’re wondering why me specifically, well, I signed up for it.” She grinned, pointing at a window.
“Seeing new planets sounded like a dream come true, and it is! I mean, look at all that. Your cities are so colorful!”
All three looked at the dismal, grey dystopia outside and shuddered.
“What’s getting summoned like?”
Angel glanced at Tobe and Kim before she spoke.
“It’s different every time. You’ll find out, eventually. Generally, you’re informed by the Donor that you will be teleported in some amount of time, arrive, are told what to do…and do it.”
She shifted uneasily after, her smile more fragile than it was before. Otto didn’t know if it was because she didn’t like being summoned or something else, but either way he wasn’t about to press.
Otto wracked his brain for more questions, but he couldn’t come up with anything. Then, he had an idea.
“Is there anything you think I should be asking that I’m not?”
Angel blinked at him and took her legs off the desk. She rolled forward in her chair and smiled wide. “Now, that is a good question.”
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* * *
An hour later, Otto’s head was spinning with information.
Angel took “things I should be asking” to mean anything and everything she thought was important to know, from information he considered relevant, to things much less so. For example, he got a brief, scatter-brained crash course in Jarran pleasantries. Apparently, if a Jarran offered a slice of thin meat, you weren’t supposed to eat it. Not right away, anyway; it was a parting gift, something to eat once you were out of each other’s company. You also weren’t supposed to give anything back for it, that was rude. Apparently.
“Ok, so, they really like rugs. It’s a cultural thing, I don’t really get it either, but they love rugs. If you enter a Jarran building – a household especially – you’re supposed to take your shoes and socks off. No matter how sweaty or dirty your feet. It’s a point of pride to have nice rugs that you can walk on barefoot. Be careful though, because nice doesn’t mean comfortable.”
Otto blinked. Tobe and Kim had gone upstairs after getting bored by the alien etiquette lesson to look at the plants. Well, Tobe had gotten bored and dragged Kim with him who had been obviously reluctant to leave.
“What does it mean?”
Angel grimaced. “Soft only goes so far. At the higher levels of Jarran society, they start getting into…weirder feelings. Rugs with long soft enchanted hairs that make it feel like you’re wading through a flowing stream, rugs that are sticky and difficult to walk through, rugs that…hurt… stuff like that. Not the most enjoyable to sink your feet into, but novel sensory experiences like that are loved by Jarrans.”
“How often will I see these rugs?” Otto asked wearily. It didn’t sound very enjoyable at all.
“Every time you go into a Jarran’s home their house will be covered in them. Don’t worry, most rugs are normal. Even in rich people’s houses, the ‘special’ rugs are reserved for specific spots and are used as conversation starters, like your society uses paintings or bathrooms.”
“We don’t use bathrooms as conversation starters.” Otto pointed out.
Angel quirked her head. “People start conversations by asking for the bathroom all the time. It’s half the reason they come in here.” She insisted. Otto didn’t know what to say. Thankfully, Kim and Tobe came out of the elevator at that moment, the latter waving his phone in the air. It was beeping, their alarm for when his grandfather would pick them up.
He turned back to her and smiled. “Thanks for all your help, Angel. I’ll be back soon for my registration.”
She grinned back at him. “No problem, it’s what I’m here for.” She looked past him to Tobe and Kim who were walking towards the door. Tobe had a hand on Kim’s back and was escorting him forward, for some reason.
Angel ducked her head and leaned in, keeping her voice low.
“Hey. Stay for a sec. I’m not supposed to say this in front of non-Agreed, so don’t tell your friends, okay?”
Otto paused. He turned to the two of them waiting at the door for him and waved them on.
“Go ahead guys, I just had another quick question.”
Tobe shrugged and pulled Kim through the doors. He turned back to Angel.
“Okay. Listen. You’re planning on registering – that’s great. It’s what you’re supposed to do…according to your planet’s government.”
“I know.” He said. “What’s your point?”
“It’s an Earth thing. Not a Jarran thing.” She said. Her tone had none of the playfulness it had earlier, and her eyes were stone serious. “They don’t care if you get registered or not. As far as they’re concerned, you’re barely a citizen of Earth at this point. From their perspective, the moment you select yes or no on the contract, you’re more Jarran than human.”
Otto felt a chill go down his spine. “What are you talking about?”
Angel looked at him and opened her mouth, then scowled and slapped at her back. She struggled with the words for a bit.
“Stupid asshole…whatever. Sorry, not you. Look, you’ll be the same biologically. You will still be a human boy, hormones still wreaking havoc in your body, the whole thing. But politically, you will be – basically are now - Jarran. With all the honors, benefits, and responsibilities included. Registration or not.” She said, quoting the Donor. She emphasized the second word. Otto didn’t know why.
She leaned back and smiled at him, clasping her hands on the desk. She spoke again, back to her normal tone.
“Anyway, just keep that in mind. I’ll see you soon. Good luck! Congrats! Or my condolences!”
“Uh. Thanks.”
Otto had been having trouble digesting everything before, but now, he was truly lost. His mind spun with questions of what any of that possibly meant, while also thinking about rugs in way too much detail. Come to think of it, there was a nice looking one by the fireplace. He hoped it didn’t feel like burning nails or something.
He exited the building to find Kim and Tobe waiting for him. His grandfather hadn’t arrived yet, but he’d be there soon.
Kim had his arms crossed and was looking upset with Tobe, who looked very amused.
“What’s going on?” Otto asked.
“Kim has a crush.” Tobe said with a smirk. Kim reddened, but didn’t deny it.
He raised an eyebrow. “On who?” He could think of a few people from school Kim had mentioned before, but none of them were really crushes. Idle attraction, sure, but nothing more than that. He never really talked about his romantic interests.
Tobe smiled even more. “Angel.”
Otto thought back to how weird Kim was acting and started laughing.
“What? She’s an alien. She has wings!” Otto said. “Nothing wrong with that but…really? I thought that would be off-putting, at least initially.”
He had thought she was kind of cute, but she was also older than him and working. Trying to flirt with her would be weird and certainly unsuccessful, plus, Otto had other things on his mind that took precedence. When he saw her wings, he was impressed, but also…not disturbed, but his attraction had faded. The knowledge that she was from another planet was a little much for him.
“Actually, that’s his favorite part.” Tobe said. Kim looked like he was about to say something, but he was cut off. “He wasn’t even interested in her until he saw the wings.”
Otto laughed harder while Kim started angrily grabbing at Tobe, who fended him off while he laughed.
“Dude, seriously?” Otto asked. He paused in his assault of Tobe to look at him.
“What? There’s nothing wrong with it!” Kim said, his face reddening.
“Yeah, but, was it the wings, or because she’s an alien?”
Kim reddened, and Otto shook his head.
“That’s nasty, man. Not physically, morally. What, you like her because she’s exotic? Look in the damn mirror for once.” He turned to Tobe.
“Tobe, the moment I can bring someone off-planet, I’m choosing you. Or anyone but Kim.”
The boy’s mouth open. “What? Why?” he exclaimed.
“Dude. If I bring you, you’re gonna turn into an alien sex tourist or something. Tobe has manners.”
His grandfather’s car pulled up, and the three of them got inside. Otto got front seat privileges while the other two had to squeeze in the back with some bags of mulch.
Neither spoke much. Both were kind of afraid of his grandfather, although Otto didn’t really know why. Every time they visited his house, his grandfather always cooked them food to the point that they asked to hang out at Otto’s place more often and they were still intimidated.
“Go well?” His grandfather asked.
Otto nodded. “Pretty well. You?”
He nodded. “Got some mulch for the front. You know your grandmother has been bugging me about it.”
Otto shook his head. “I had no idea she was doing that.”
They fell into silence, the only sounds Kim and Tobe snickering about stuff on their phone and the oldies channel his grandfather put on. He tapped his finger on the steering wheel while he listened, and Otto fell into thought staring out at the trees passing by.
What did Angel mean? Did she not want him to register? Why would she say she’d see him soon, then?
He had too many questions. He had gone to the registration site for the specific purpose of learning more, and while he had, he left with more questions than he had when he started, by far. He didn’t understand the contract, the Donor, Babylon, and the Jarrans nearly as much as he thought he did.
It didn’t help that underneath everything, Otto felt an undercurrent of dread. He didn’t want this. The only reason he hadn’t curled up in a ball in bed and wasted the days away until the last possible moment was because he had been there before when his parents died, and it didn’t help. It only made things worse; the only way he knew to cope was to keep it pushing. Keep moving, occupy yourself, do something – anything to keep your mind off it, and try digesting in small chunks. Pick away at it long enough, and eventually, you might just be functional.
A month wasn’t enough time to do that, and it made him even more nervous. He hadn’t come to terms with it. He wasn’t sure he could, not in time. He would be pulled from his home, away from everything he’d ever known.
He definitely wasn’t unique in anxiety surrounding that, but he didn’t want to be an Agreed at all. That, from his own experience, was rare. Babylon might be ready for nervous Agreed, but ones who didn’t want to be there at all? How would they deal with him?
Should he even register at all?
The trees blurred past, and rain started to fall from the sky. His grandfather flipped the windshield wipers on. Otto realized that he was tired. His head rested against the window, and lulled by the sounds of the wiper’s metronome movements, he fell asleep.
* * *
Back at the registration site, Angel spun around in her chair and glared.
“Hey. Asshole. They’re gone now, you can come out.”
A hairless humanoid with smooth skin appeared behind her. He – she could never tell with his species, but he had thankfully confirmed his gender for her – had grey skin tinted blue, a wide nose, and three eyes. Two were in normal places for a human, while the third wasn’t visible; probably closed on the back of his head, at the moment. He shouldn’t be spotted, but if he somehow was, he preferred to not startle the locals as much as he could.
He was a Wursa, pronounced like ‘vursa’ for some reason she didn’t know.
His impeccable navy blue suit was matched by a long black metal pole he was leaning on. She eyed it with annoyance.
“You talk too much.” He said, adjusting his tie while looking in the reflection of the turned off monitor on her desk.
“Yeah, well, you zap too much. Asshole.” She said, glowering at the metal pole in his hand.
He raised a bare eyebrow and shrugged. “You strayed too close to forbidden information. I don’t know why; you’re usually pretty good about it.” He frowned. “Also, stop calling me asshole.”
Angel grumbled and put her feet back up on the desk, crossing her arms. She looked at the lobby for a few moments before turning back to him.
“He doesn’t want to be an Agreed.” She said. “I don’t know why, but he doesn’t. You could see it, couldn’t you?” She asked.
He nodded. She knew he would have; he was far more perceptive than her, and it was partially his job to pay attention to the future Agreed who came through. When he wasn’t zapping Angel, that was.
“I could tell.” He said. “What about it?”
Angel shrugged. “I don’t know. Every Agreed who comes in are so…excited.” She said. Her face screwed at the end of the statement. “It’s kind of gross. They barely understand what they’re getting in to, but they charge towards it with so much eagerness. Like children.”
The man pulled up a chair and sat in it, leaning the black metal rod against the side of the desk. He stretched his legs. “They’re individually weak, of course they’re eager for it. I’m in awe that they accept their lack of control so easily. Everything in their life is dictated by someone else. They must purchase their food, buy a place to live, trade their lives away for slips of dry and colored woodpulp just so they can wake up the next day and do it again. And the locals say this is the freest nation of them all.” He shook his head, a scowl of distaste plain on his face. “Disturbing. I can only imagine what dystopias like ‘France’ and ‘Madrid’ look like.”
Angel’s mouth opened, but he continued on.
“It’s no wonder that when given an opportunity to break free, they accept it with open arms, no matter the terms.”
“Most civilizations do all the things you listed, Puj.” She said with a roll of her eyes. “Just because your people are a utopia doesn’t mean everyone else is.”
Puj shook his head. “We are not a utopia. If we were, we would have had no need for the Donor and the Jarran’s contract. We are the bare minimum. On Wur, nobody starves. Everyone has a place to live. We are free to pursue our interests; some seek the simplicity of work in the field. Others become artists. Everyone finds their niche, and we are better for it.”
Angel sighed. “Yeah. Not a utopia at all. Whatever.” She said. Puj was smart, but he refused to believe that his planet was better than the norm.
“My point is – he didn’t seem interested in becoming an Agreed. His friends seemed far more excited about it. Every question he asked he reacted like he was plucking feathers.”
“So…?”
Angel let her head hit the back of her chair and closed her eyes.
“So I wanted to help. If you want to sign the contract, fine. You can run headfirst into the consequences, and the odds are you won’t even care or notice. But if you don’t want it? At all?” She shook her head. “That’s where I think they should be told. Maybe they’ll still make the same decisions as everyone else, but at least it will be informed.”
Puj pondered her words for a few moments and nodded.
“I agree.” He said.
She opened one eye and looked at him. “Really?”
He gave her an affronted look. “Yes. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“You never agree with me.”
“You usually aren’t right.”
Angel pouted which got a small smile out of the Wursa. She looked at him suspiciously.
“So, what do you want to do about it?”
He raised his eyebrows and looked at her. “What do you mean?”
She gestured towards the door where the boy just left. “What do you want to do? Should we tell him?”
Puj tsked. “This is where we stop agreeing. Why should we do something?”
“Because we can help!” She said. “How can you recognize there’s a problem, have the tools to assist, and then refuse?”
“Remember, I am bound by the same rules you are.. I enforce them over you, but only because the Jarrans trust me more. As they should.” He shook his head sadly. “It is unfortunate, but I will not risk myself to help one human boy. He will be fine. Maybe he will grow to love the life of an Agreed.”
Angel looked at him. Puj shifted nervously.
“You don’t believe that.” She said. He sighed.
“No, I don’t.” he scratched his bald head. “The Jarrans aren’t cruel. Maybe they won’t even summon him.”
Angel quirked an eyebrow. “With a class name like ‘Leviathan?’ She asked. “Someone had a specific job in mind for him, and Leviathan doesn’t sound…well, it doesn’t sound nonviolent.”
“What do you suggest we do about it, then?” Puj asked. “The Donor chose him. There is nothing we can do to change that. Their contract is abysmal, we have no loopholes to work with.”
Angel shook her head. “You’re right. We’re powerless on the Jarran side of things.” She said, sliding her legs off the desk. She spun in her chair to face him.
“You’ve been to Babylon, haven’t you?” She said.
His face twisted. “Unfortunately. It’s impressive in some ways, but in others…” he made a noise of disgust. “They were on the right track and they just had to take a hard turn towards autocratic control.”
Angel nodded in shared distaste. “I know. That’s why I was thinking if we can’t help him out there, she said, pointing a finger towards the ceiling, “Maybe we could help him out here. On Earth.” The finger reversed downwards.
Puj froze as the idea came over him. He mouth opened into a rare smile.
“Ah.” He said, giving a nod of respect. “Now that is a good idea.”
Angel beamed. “Thanks. I thought so too.” The smile slipped from her face and she propped her head up with her hands on the desk. She rhythmically rapped her fingers against it while she thought. Puj shared the pensive expression, idly twisting and examining the black metal rod out of habit.
“Now, we just need to find a way to communicate it to him without getting zapped.” She glared at nothing. “The spot between my wings still stings, you know. You don’t have to zap there every time. It’s the worst place to do it.”
Angel didn’t turn, but she could hear the smile in his voice.
“I know. Why else would I do it?”