All of that happened around a year ago. Since then, I helped many other humans to send their partners to their new lives by teaching them everything Tryox had taught me about this world. We came up with various excuses why they didn’t need help anymore and many natives left the town. However, some of them also stayed or even came back from the outside world, deciding that this had become their new home.

I started a small restaurant with Tsaja’s partner, Claire. She was a fantastic waitress and really good at keeping conversations going with the customers while I made the food. We called the restaurant “Alien” just for fun. Our bestsellers are pancakes with various jams made of local fruits. Claire never asks why I insist on keeping the burgers on the front page of our menu - I guess she has her own assumptions. It was always great seeing the natives come in completely green and then turn back to their usual colour while eating.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I got better as well. It was Claire who dragged me out of my house and to the therapist every week. It got easier - especially when the robots were replaced by actual people - to talk about what had happened on Earth. Slowly but surely, many of us realised that a new beginning was what we needed, a world without that many crises that we hadn’t started. It was time for us to let go of the past. We weren’t the ones who started wars and destroyed other communities. We were the ones who had to live with the system the generations before us had created despite hoping to make a change. We were never ready for that amount of responsibility. Maybe that was why we all ended up in a program that had the smallest chance of giving us a new start - we wanted to live but not there, not then, not with that system.

More and more natives visit our town to see what culture we have to offer. It’s their only way to get in touch with “the creatures from Earth” because we aren’t allowed outside of this town unless a native specifically invites us and it gets approved by the officials. Claire got invited by Tsaja and just came back from her holiday last week. She said it had been amazing out there but when I asked if Tryox had mentioned inviting me, she said he hadn’t talked about that - or me in general. 

In a few weeks, they’ll present a change to the law that will let us travel around the planet. Claire can’t wait to finally see more of our new home but I decided to stay here for now. I’m still hoping that Tryox will be among a group of tourists one day but it looks like he doesn’t even want anything to do with me. He’s never come back since he left with his sister.

I don’t regret my decision even though I miss him. I never talked about that in therapy but knowing he’s free now gives my life here a bit of meaning. The officials keep an eye on us for two years after our partners leave to make sure we are really independent and not a threat to their planet - one more year to go for Claire and me before Tsaja and Tryox are completely free.

***

The kitchen of our restaurant was and will always be my safe place. No customers ever came back here so I don’t have to talk to any strangers. Claire says my shyness got better but I think that’s only because I can have normal conversations with her now - no waterfalls of words or complete silence. I don’t feel as confident talking to her as I did with Tryox but it’s enough for us to lead a business together.

Right now, I’m preparing everything for the usual rush of customers at lunchtime. Claire isn’t here yet which is why I tense up immediately when I hear footsteps coming closer to the kitchen. The person’s footsteps are louder than Claire’s but stop at the entrance to my safe place. I turn around but keep my eyes down. Living here for a year has taught me that it’s easier to talk to people if you don’t look at them right away. “Good high noon,” I mumble.

There is a short period of silence before the person replies, “I don’t remember teaching you that, zota.” My eyes meet those familiar red ones that I haven’t seen in over a year. There he is, with a soft smile on his face and a bag of fruits in his hand. “Can I come in?” he asks and I just nod, still too surprised to process his presence. “I have to apologise, my sister is devouring the cake at the front and Claire couldn’t stop her.” He comes closer slowly and places the bag of fruits on the table he passes. When he stands right in front of me, I can see the worry in his eyes, “Maybe that’s not the only thing I should apologise for.”

Without really thinking about it, I wrap my arms around him. He seems shocked for a second but then pulls me into a tight hug as well. “I missed you,” I mumble into his shirt.

“They missed you too!” I hear a girl exclaim from the direction of the door. When I turn my head, a girl with a piece of chocolate cake in her hand grins at me - Tsaja. As fast as she appeared, she runs away again.

“She’s right, I missed cooking with you, watching silly TV shows with you, doing everything with you,” Tryox states. “Can I help out today as payment for the cake?” he asks with a small smirk on his face. I point at the sink to tell him to wash his hands which he immediately does.

“We’ve got an order for the cover special as soon as you’re ready!” Claire shouts from the front. The blue guy looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell him what to do. However, I just blush and look around for a copy of our menu. He finds it first and looks at the cover, at me and then back a the menu, his smirk widening.

“Let’s get started then.”