The first light of day shone upon Nisha’s tent at 7am. They both woke up at the same time.
“The days are getting shorter now. When we first got here, we would see the first light before 6:30,” Rachel said.
“Yeah, and it’s 46 degrees, or 8 Celsius. It used to be 60-65 at this time of the morning. What else is changing in the world?”
Rachel blinked into her eyepiece to check the news.
“Well, let’s see. The President is spending all her time trying to keep the economy afloat. The stock market is down 75% compared to before they came. It’s the usual chaos.”
Nisha began her morning yoga routine.
“Yeah, who would guess the biggest problem resulting from an alien invasion would be the economy? Usually, you think of destruction of the earth, or body snatching, or little green men performing strange experiments on people. I guess they did do strange experiments in a way. Okay, keep going, I’m listening.”
“The Omanji completed the second tower up on San Gabriel Peak,” Rachel said. “That’s making more news locally than the seven billion Omanji living in the colony. Why is that?”
“I think at least for a moment, it’s more real to see the towers in person than to watch video I’ve made of the colony,” Nisha said. “Those towers are looming over the entire LA area. People think they’re being watched even though thousands of spheres in orbit are doing that already. What else is happening?”
“The cult led by The Telepath has 100,000 members now,” Rachel said. “The guy is worth many hundreds of millions of dollars because people are giving up their worldly possessions to be connected to the Omanji via him.”
“Yeah, I noticed his tents on the edge of the colony when we flew in Bok’s racer,” Nisha said. “I can’t believe we humans still fall for this stuff. Remember those ads promising free energy with a mysterious magnetic device, or those old scam ads promising an easy trick to get rid of belly fat? People still think they can get something for nothing. Any other headlines?”
“The biggest news is no dramatic news is happening,” Rachel said. “No new wars have started, crime is down, and people are trying to live their normal lives. Psychologists are in high demand though and child psychologists are highly sought after. Children are having nightmares. Hmm.
“What?” Nisha said.
“A modified child’s house was set on fire during a riot in the Middle East. Let me search for more like this. The modified kids are having problems everywhere. Priya stayed at home and avoided the situation. However, many others are facing fear and violence at school and in their communities. There’s one story after another about this.”
“What should we do?” Nisha said. “Are we sending these kids home into harm’s way? We should rethink this. Only 1,000 children remain in the compound. Most of them will be leaving soon. Let me find out what Pree thinks.”
Nisha initiated a connection.
“Pree, are you there?”
“Yeah Mom, what’s up?”
“I have a quick question. Modified children all around the world are having problems exactly like you. Can you find out what’s happening? Can we do anything to help them? The violence against them is getting serious. I gotta go, but let me know later, okay?”
“I know already,” Priya said. “Some people are nice to us, but some are doing ugly things. We don’t know what to do. Sometimes the parents don’t help, or they can’t help. They’re being threatened and intimidated. There’s talk about how they wish they could move back to the compound. Can they come back?”
“Pree, I’ll investigate this. I like the idea, but most of them are under the legal age of consent in their country of origin. They’ll need to get the permission of their parents or be emancipated. In the US, underage kids can file for emancipation to be free from their parents, but it’s difficult. They need to take a high school equivalency test, show they can earn enough money to pay rent and other expenses, and prove it’s in their best interest to be on their own. Getting parental permission is best. Can you find out whether those kids can get parental permission? We’ll talk later.”
“Okay Mom.”
Sophie and Amy waited as Priya posted a general thread to the social network.
It read, “Would you like to return to the compound in the Mojave Desert to live with the rest of us? Tell us your reasons and your experiences.”
The replies scrolled down the screen.
“I would love to go back. I felt more at home around others like me. My parents are supportive, but I’m not allowed to participate in sports even though I have no physical advantages. They tell me I cheat because I can read the minds of the opponents.”
“I don’t want to go back, but I don’t think I have a choice. My classmates are afraid of me, and my parents don’t want to leave me alone at home because they work all day away from the house.
“I want to go back to the compound. My school won’t allow me to go ahead in my studies. Now I’m in class and I’m bored out of my mind. My parents think I’m making a big deal over nothing.”
“I think my parents would support me coming back if I could continue my schooling at my own pace.”
Priya said, “They’re reacting quickly. What should we do? We need to get them back over here.”
They watched as hundreds of comments came in. Half of them wanted to escape their situations immediately, while others wanted to hang on. Everyone had difficulty adjusting to life after being abducted. Some had permission to come back.
Priya activated her eyepiece.
“Mom?”
“Pree, what’s happening?”
“You need to figure out a way to get them back. Most of us are having problems like Sophie and me. It’s getting worse every day. Some are getting permission from their parents to return if they can get their education at their own pace. Can you do anything?”
“I think so. Let me find out what I can do,” Nisha said. “I’ll let you know.”
“Okay thanks, I’m going back to study now.”
They disconnected.
“What happened?” Rachel asked Nisha.
“Let me forward the comments from Priya’s network.”
Rachel browsed through the first dozen or so.
“This is bad. We need to get them back here. How do we do that? There’s no funding.”
“If we let these kids fall through the cracks, they might become dangerous. These kids are so smart they might cause severe damage if they fell in with the wrong crowd. Imagine terrorist groups with nuclear or biological weapons. The kids need funding, or they may be persuaded to join dangerous groups.”
“Yeah, they need sponsors just like what we did for Bok’s colony,” Rachel said. “We need lots of sponsors.”
Soon they contacted the CEOs of Silicon Valley companies, telling them about how valuable these kids would be for the technology industry. They were easily convinced. Funding began for a school in Silicon Valley in and around the Stanford campus in exchange for a chance to be the first group of companies to offer internships and jobs. Nisha uploaded the information to Priya’s network and invited comments.
Within minutes, Nisha got a voice connection alert from Priya. She answered.
“Mom, I’m excited. That’s a great idea. We could study at our own pace and be with each other and get exciting jobs.”
“Pree, are you saying you’d like to go there?”
Priya glanced at Sophie.
“Um, maybe,” Priya said.
“We’ll discuss this later. Right now, I need to get this school thing started before someone gets hurt out there.”
They disconnected.
“Read the comments,” Priya said. “Twenty of us already want to go to the school.”
“You know Pree, if we went to that school, we could be normal again,” Sophie said.
“You’re right.”
She glanced over at Amy who gazed at the two huge towers on San Gabriel Peak.
“What’s wrong Amy?”
“I don’t want you guys to leave.”
“Maybe you should come with us,” Priya said. “It would be exciting, like we’re in college.”
“No, I wouldn’t fit in. You guys will be working on your PhD’s in a couple of years, and I’ll be a freshman in college even at my accelerated rate of study. You’ll be with your friends who share your IQ and, life cycle, and lifespan. I’ll always be on the outside.”
“No, it won’t be like that Amy,” Priya said. “You’ll always be our friend. You’re smart and you’ll have a distinguished career. I can tell. Plus, you notice things we don’t.”
“Thanks guys,” Amy said. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
They ate dinner and studied until after 10. Sophie and Amy went home afterwards.