A few days later, I was called to attend therapy. We already expected that because the evening interviews hadn’t continued after that one night. Tryox walked with me to the correct building and promised to wait in front of it. “We wouldn’t want you to get lost and poisoned again,” he said playfully. I rolled my eyes which made him laugh, “I’m a bad influence on you, zota.” That was another habit he had taken up in the days before: calling me “zota”. I had no idea what it meant and I didn’t dare to ask.

The waiting room was empty except for one person that I had met when we first talked about the issues on this planet. She seemed to remember that I wasn’t the type to start a conversation, so she took the initiative, “We found out more about the problems here, none of them is here by their free will.”

“I know,” I replied quietly. I wanted to say more, I just couldn’t.

“Tsaja seems to get worse every day. She expected to meet her brother here but he seems to have disappeared.” I blinked a few times as if to get the shyness out of my mind by clearing my vision. I knew that I had heard that name before. Now all I had to do was get the words out of my mouth. For Tryox.

“Is his name Tryox?” I asked, barely above a whisper. She nodded, looking at me curiously. The fact that we were alone made this a lot easier. “I got paired with Tryox, he thinks his sister, Tsaja, died decades ago.” We stared at each other for a moment, not really believing what was happening. They had family members who were still alive.

“She’s barely an adult, she must have been caught soon after her brother.” Again, silence. I couldn’t really form any sentences in my head, resulting in me staying silent. “They deserve to live together in freedom for however many years they have left.” I nodded. Age and time became a bit of a weird concept now that I didn’t even officially know how old I was. Tryox could have been around my age when he got sent to unconsciousness but it never really mattered. We’d all die at some point.

“I’ve got a plan,” I mumbled suddenly. I took a deep breath and then all the words just came out like a waterfall. Tsaja’s partner was clever enough to not interrupt me. In the end, she nodded and I got called into the therapy room.

For the first time, I emphasised my shyness. The therapy robot had to believe that it was better for me to live alone and that I was ready to be independent. They also had to understand that Tryox didn’t do anything wrong. It was much easier than expected. They trusted me and the panicked reaction I showed when they offered to give me a new partner was the perfect ending. I was told that I had to “endure” a few more days so the officials could prepare everything and sign the papers. Then I was allowed to leave.

***

I tried my best to hide the truth from Tryox. We continued our routine but I took my time enjoying those peaceful moments. Cooking together, watching TV, reading, sitting in the park and just enjoying the suns - this was a life worth living, not because of the activities but because of the person I had by my side.

“You’re staring, zota,” Tryox said with a smirk.

“You’re green,” I replied, smiling. The suns were slowly turning his skin green again which alerted me of his hunger.

I wanted to stand up and find fruits in the park for him but he caught my wrist and pulled me back to lie next to him, “Stay, the suns will do their job.” I nodded, getting lost in his red eyes. When I noticed his thumb stroking over my wrist softly, I blushed. He might not have meant anything by that gesture but it made me feel the butterflies in my stomach that had grown over the past few days. We had so much in common but were also so different in some aspects. He was the confident one while I often hid behind him when other people were around. Only once had he asked why I did that but my eyes must have given him all the answers he needed. He never complained about my behaviour and was happy to do the talking when we were in public. When I was alone with him, I felt as if my shyness was washed away. And I trusted him.

Maybe that was why I still wanted to let him leave even though it hurt to think about it. He deserved to be happy with his sister in his world. He deserved to eat his favourite food again, watch his favourite shows and read the books that were written by people from his community. I didn’t want to stand in the way of all that.

***

Just as I was told, two officials appeared at our door in the evening a few days later. This time, I headed to the door instead of hiding somewhere which confused Tryox greatly. He still let me open the door but stood a few steps behind me to jump in if I needed him to. The gesture made me smile before I faced the officials. One of them was still green while the other one was purple.

“We were informed of your situation. If you still think you are ready, we just need your signature here,” one of them said while the other one handed me some kind of certificate - Tryox’s ticket to freedom. I nodded and signed quickly. Then I stepped out of the way so they could see Tryox. He looked confused and gave me an unsure smile. “Tryox, you’re officially off-duty. You’re allowed to leave this town, a new house has been prepared for you and your family member.”

He stared at me, shock and happiness mixing in his red eyes. The next second, he gave the officials a questioning look. Before he could say anything, someone ran through the door and jumped at him. He looked down at the dark blue girl before wrapping her into a tight hug, “Tsaja?” She nodded into his shirt and started sobbing. It was a heartwarming scene but I couldn’t enjoy his happiness as much as I wished to. I knew he’d leave now. “Thank you.”