“Well since it has been nearly a month since you have all joined, we wish to officially allow all of you the option of becoming full members.”

It was a talk that all of us had experienced before in some way or another, even John. The explanation that apparently there is sentient alien life in the universe. And that it had, at least recently, visited Earth in the form of strange capsules. The usual questions and faces of disbelief filled the small shaded gazebo. The same answers and the skeptical stares until we brought out Tony and showed them a few tricks. Many of them decided to stay, of the nearly dozen people that stayed the month, only two people left. Stating that we were faking it all and they wouldn’t be tricked, while the other wasn’t looking for the possible danger that being part of our group entailed.

Granted a few of the people that I didn’t think were going to stay actually did. An old married couple that had been staying here, mostly because they had gotten lonely with few kids nowhere near them. The other being the crazy woman who believed we were cyborgs or some such thing. I thought she was going to leave to tell everyone about the actual real life aliens.

So with the same questions answered, and the same need for people to think it over. Still we got 8 people who wanted to join immediately, and possibly a ninth as one of the people in the environmental group had a sick sibling that Myc could most likely cure.

“I cannot wait. I mean seriously who would have thought that alien civilization was not only proven, but that it had also visited Earth.”

“Well, we can discuss it after you are all bonded. Everyone please raise your hand.”

Again the same process of letting Myc infect the new recruits, with the same pleasing message and shocked faces. We let all the new members grow more used to their bond and ask Myc any additional questions they had. Looking at their faces revealed that most of them were excited about the possibility Myc presented, except one.

The youngest of the new recruits Veronica, she looked like she was barely eighteen. She was skinny when she got here and seemed to barely gain any weight. Her dark hair and pale skin made her stand out amongst the crowd, her face looked conflicted knowing that others could be in her head. Although her want to bond meant that she was looking for help, as I looked through her memories I realized why she was so conflicted about her choice. Her eyes stared into mine as she realized what I was doing and bolted for the door.

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“It is okay, I will handle it.” The others had seen enough to know what was going on, although the new recruits were oblivious to the pain one of them was going through.

“I’m sorry, I knew I shouldn’t have joined but, I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It is alright, this place is one of love and acceptance.” We sat on the shore of the little lake, watching the small ripples from the few fish that populated the body of water. I tried to comfort her, but I had not dealt with anything like her case.

“He won’t find you here, and if he does we will not let him take you.”

“He always finds me, I mean the guy has been an asshole my whole life. But after mom died, it has just gotten worse. I just didn’t want to be alone anymore.” Small tears dripped from her eyes, as she spoke. Years of abuse and neglect were as physically scarring as they were emotionally. Parents were supposed to protect their children, it was an evolutionary imperative to protect your young until they were grown. It seemed that humans only ever broke evolutionary trends to hurt others and almost never to help them.

“You will never be alone again. I am not a mother, not yet anyways.” I grabbed Veronica’s hand and placed it on my belly, it had only been two months so I still wasn’t getting a baby bump. But still through the connection you could feel the warmth and comfortable rest of the baby, slowly growing, its thoughts sporadic and incomplete.

Her tears stopped as we just sat there, letting the bond wash over both of us. This baby would be the start of something new, and it would grow into a community of love and acceptance. Veronica was now a part of that, a member of an ever growing collective that would one day spread throughout the world.

“Thank you.” She sniffed a few times to clear her throat, before laying her head on my shoulder. We sat and watched the lake as the sun set, John had joined us at some point and joined us in our spot.

All of her traumas would never truly go away, the doubts and mistrust that she would feel would most likely haunt her for a long time. But being here was the best thing for her, away from her abusive father, away from the humans that blamed her for his actions, the humans that refused to help one of their own. Sometimes I questioned how far from the humans we had come, the thought of being anything like them left a bad taste in my mouth.

But I wouldn’t let the bad thoughts ruin this moment, with me, John, and two children to keep us company. It seemed like the simple future was far closer than any of us thought it would be. A time of peace and tranquility with those that wished for the same thing, only it seemed that any time we had a moment of peace, others came to bring us back to the harshness of the human world.