I walked through the crowded hall, trying to find the exit to this place. My head was pumping, and I wanted to get some air. It was like the world was sitting on my chest and I couldn’t breathe. I had never felt anger like that in my life, or at least, since the time I had woken up.

That funny looking human with the red hair intimidated me in any possible way. Our whole mission was a failure, and everything seemed to take the wrong turn today, especially when it came down to me. But this Sean human was the drop that spilled the cup. I wanted to hit his face too bad and erase that slight smirk off his face.

I pushed my way through the many humans of the hall until I finally found the door leading to a place full with elevators. This building hovered in mid-air, so the entrance was only possible by using elevators that flew the people to the building. That was what Eladia said before.

Eladia. Even her name makes the fire inside me burn brightly. I don’t want to see her, or that man from before.

Suddenly, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. “Stop! For God’s sake, please stop running.”

Eladia panted in that small, curvy body. Her hair, always caught up, swung a couple times after she stopped. Her hands were sweaty and shaking a bit, but even though she must have been running to catch me, her skin still had that refreshing sense when touching me.

“Why? Aren’t we leaving this Institute? Or would you like to spend some more time with that man? Either way, it’s fine with me.”

She looked at me with those funny eyes, the ones that say she had no idea what I was talking about. At that time, I realized I didn’t know what I was talking about either. Her face, her dark brown eyes, everything on her, ticked me off the wrong way. And yet, I couldn’t picture her kissing that human, or falling into bed with him.

“Listen, I’m sorry if it was something I said or something I did. But, you had been way too upset since we left Professor Virgil’s office. Could you at least slow down and let me make you an offer?”

She was breathing normally now, but still, Eladia used her hand to support her weight on me. Not that it mattered or anything, but she was usually way too proud to even admit she needed help. But, she was right. That crazy Professor was my last hope, and she treated me like a specimen of some sort.

“Okay. Speak. What do you have in your mind?”

“Well, we’re at humanity’s biggest city, the world capital of Yaerus. What would you say if I took you out for a dinner?”

When I heard the word dinner, my stomach growled in response. “I think you got your answer.”

She laughed at me but not in an intimidating way. Her laugh was contagious, and I felt my lips stretching upwards, but I used my whole strength to stop. My people might have been in danger, I might have kids searching for me somewhere, or grand-kids, or their kids to protect. I couldn’t spend my precious time entertaining my desires.

Still, I was hungry, tired, and I wanted to see how the humans had managed to stay alive for so many years and what tricks had they come up with to become so successful. Those little animals were always so resourceful back in my time that I couldn’t even imagine the things they must have invented.

And before I knew it, we rode into one of those elevators back to the ground. The small room was choking with people heading the same way as we did. Eladia was standing next to me. She was close enough to touch my naked arms. I felt her cold skin matching my warmness. It was a pleasant feeling, one that I could get used to easily.

Soon, when we managed to get off that elevator, Eladia and I got on a small vehicle that she called a taxi. This taxi traveled on the road and then in the air, whatever needed to get to its destination as fast as possible. Once again, I was glued to the window, trying to sip in every possible detail.

My heart pumped hard inside my chest. All these people, the big buildings, the funny smells that must have been some kind of greasy food, everything in this city had character, driving me close to a memory from my own city. But as quickly this feeling came, the same way it left. It was as if I had stretched my arm, I could touch it, only that now it was gone.

I turned to watch Eladia. She seemed happy for some reason, relieved. She stared at everything with a knowing glance. She must have passed from here countless times in the past. Still, this city was beautiful in its own way, the only way a city could be.

When we finally arrived, I saw a big, flashing sign reading ‘Phosphorus’ above a small door. It wasn’t that small, but for me, it kinda looked small. I saw Eladia give something to the man that drove us here, and he left as quickly as he arrived.

“What did you give him?” I asked.

“Excuse me?”

She looked confused.

“You gave something to him. What was it?”

And again, she seemed like she couldn’t understand what I was saying. I was at my limit to storm off again, but I realized that I had done the same thing quite some times in the past.

“What is it with you humans and questions? For a species that makes so many of them all the time, you don’t seem to understand what I’m saying to you. You were talking to the driver, and before he left, you gave him something. What was it?”

She finally caught up with me. She reached inside her pocket and took out a small, plastic card.

“Humans use money for everything. It’s like a reward for a job well done, or something to measure the price of a thing. I’ve used this card many times in front of you on other planets, only now you’ve noticed it?”

And then, like a raging river coming out of my mouth, I started laughing. It’s a strong laugh, a laugh that must have been imprisoned inside me for quite some time now.

“You humans are so crazy. I really don’t know how you managed to survive with all those funny ideas you got.”

Eladia seemed amused and irritated at the same time. She smiled at me and pulled me under the ‘Phosphorus’ sign.

No matter how hard I try, humans were more interesting than I first thought.