The video showed a man and a woman in a secret room. They looked over a projection screen with a radar blinking and beeping. They sat on their chairs with coffee in hand when they inspected the radar before their eyes.

“We got a detection from afar.” One of them reported. “It’s heading closer to the stratosphere.”

“It appears to be getting closer.” The other one added. “But where could it be heading to?”

“I don’t know, but it looks like the radar is going off the charts!”

“Hold up, I recognize the signal!” A voice exclaimed from behind them.

The two turned to see a figure had their eyes censored and a distorted voice. The ground shook as the group heard a loud crash.

“We need to investigate pronto!” The censored figure continued.

They, along with some researchers and investigators, stumbled across a crater in the middle of the digging site. Deep in the center lied two giant stationary pods. Nobody knew how or why they ended up here, not even what they were.

Steam came out of the pods, as shadowy figures crawled out from behind them. When the humans got a closer look, blue blobs stood up and looked around the area.

The unknown person slid down from the ground to approach them, despite the higher-ups’ warnings. The blobs glanced at the figure and tilted their heads in confusion.

“Hello, could you tell us where we are?” The female blob questioned.

“Planet Earth.” The figure replied. “What brings you here? Not to invade, I hope.”

“Oh no, we’re here to look for resources for our civilization.”

“Unbelievable. And what are you supposed to be?”

“The full name is complicated, but in short, you can call us Usukui Puru.”

“Ok, why don’t you come inside? It’s not safe for you out here.

Everyone went inside the facilitator rooms as the scientists examined the two blobs in the lab. In the meantime, they asked questions on what they do back on their planet, how their economics work, etc. Although secretive about that information, they still answered other questions. The Usukui Puru wanted to learn about the new world in return; the groups exchanged knowledge back and forth.

“Hey, how about a compromise?” The male blob suggested. “We can trade you items that could be beneficial for your planet. In return, you can do the same for us.”

“That’s a great idea. What do you have in mind? Oh, by the way, my name is—”

.-.-.-.

The video cut off before it could finish as static played over it.

“No! What happened?” Richard exclaimed. “It was getting good!”

He went over and shook the computer screen, desperate to get the rest of the video to play.

Mindy sighed, staying calm. “I know what you’re thinking, but that wasn’t me, and you weren’t there either.”

Richard stopped shaking and turned to her. “But do you have any idea what that means?”

“Carlos, why...?” She turned away and murmured.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, it’s nothing. And you couldn’t find as many answers as I thought. So, I’m sorry for bringing your hopes up, only to let them down.”

“Wow, that’s a first coming from you, no offense.”

“Hmm, I think we might find more answers.” Mindy said. “But we’ll need to collect more of those capsules to continue this story.”

“But, where can we find more of these?” Richard questioned, placing his hands on his hips.

“Good news though, I calculated where the next one is.”

“That’s great! Where do we go?”

“Here’s the bad news, however, it’s inside the B.E.E.S.” Mindy pointed out in a stern tone.

“Oh no.” Richard covered the sides of his head. “Are we seriously going back there?”

“Afraid so. But don’t worry, I have a plan.”

“That’s exactly what I’m worried about!” Richard raised his arms in exasperation. “Remember the last time you planned to sneak in—”

“You promised not to bring that up again!” Mindy interrupted.

“Hello there!” Charlie’s voice interrupted, startling the two. “How are you guys doing?”

Mindy and Richard exchanged glances before turning back to their boss.

“H—How long have you been there for?” Richard asked through his teeth while forcing a smile.

“Just got here, is something wrong? What are you two up to?” Charlie inquired.

“Nope, nothing’s wrong.” Mindy denied, also forcing a smile on her face. “Nothing better. We were just wrapping up work.”

Charlie squinted his eyes for a moment before smiling again. “Ok, I’ll see you later then.” He waved and walked out of work.