Running Away

The Tlic are a heartless race of monsters and a scourge upon all known forms of life. Although my mother, brother and sisters grew to trust the Tlic, I experienced a particularly traumatic event when I was young that solidified my hatred for them. Ever since then, I have consumed T’Gatoi’s eggs for no reason other than that their intoxicating taste is the only way to escape from this living dystopia. Which is why the arrival of the unfortunate Bram Lomas served as yet another reminder of how evil these creatures could be. When T’Gatoi ordered me to run to the call box, I followed without hesitation. Ordinarily, I would never take orders from a Tlic; however, I needed an excuse to get as far as possible from this sad scene.

As I ran to the call box, seeing countless Tlic gave me a sudden moment of clarity. Am I afraid of them? Fear would be completely natural in this situation; my entire purpose in this life is to either give up my life to create a new generation of aliens, or create a new generation of Terrans that will then be used to create more aliens. Seeing Bram Lomas, a man near my own age, served as a cold reminder of how powerless I was. There was no point in disobeying T’Gatoi’s orders, so when I arrived at the call box, I immediately asked for T’Khotgif Teh, attempting to sound as urgent as possible even though I knew there was no hope for Lomas. Something I noticed when I told T’Khotgif what was happening was that she seemed to have no concern whatsoever about Lomas’s condition. I found this odd and completely natural at the same time; odd because feeling compassion for others is normal behavior for Terrans, natural because the Tlic, on the other hand, have made it abundantly clear that they have no sympathy for our kind.

This thought stayed in my head until we arrived at my family’s house, and was reflected even further when I saw who had come out to greet us. Judging by the smell of vomit coming from his direction, my brother, Gan, had witnessed a N’Tlic give birth for the first time. Has he not realized that this will be his fate as well? Suddenly, I realized that this might be my only chance to convince my brother to choose a different path.

“Finally found out more than you wanted to know, eh?” I asked him. He retaliated with a look that I knew all too well - it was as if I was staring at T’Gatoi instead of Gan. “Don’t give me one of her looks,” I said, which caused him to become startled. Had he finally figured it out? Still, he remained silent.

“So now you know what you’re in for.” I said as he began to walk away. As he prepared to go inside, I realized that changing Gan’s perspective was a lost cause, and my thoughts changed to curiosity about the ordeal. “How was it, really?” I demanded.

He described everything to me. He killed an achti for the young to eat; T’Gatoi cut Lomas open; Lomas called for T’Khotgif, which surprised me, as she would be the last thing I would call for. I decided that now would be the appropriate time to open up to Gan about the reason I despise the Tlic so fervently. Although he didn’t believe at first that they would commit such a horrific act, his expression quickly turned from disbelief to dread, and then to realization.

“She won’t take you, Qui. You don’t have to worry,” he said.

“She would…if anything happened to you.” As I said this, I realized how sickeningly true it was. All this time, I was just trying to protect my brother - I had never considered the possibility that I could be the one. If trying to change his mind was a lost cause, at the very least, I could ensure my own safety. “Look, it probably won’t be that bad with you. T’Gatoi likes you. She’ll be careful.” He began to run. “Has she done it to you yet? I mean, you’re about the right age for implantation. Has she -”

Suddenly, he turned and hit me. I never would have expected that from him - it wasn’t in his nature to start a fight. Realizing he was serious, I quickly knocked him out with a few hits. As I looked at him on the ground, I decided that no matter what, I was not safe from such a fate. All I could do was run, so that was exactly what I did. Just like when I used to, I didn’t have a destination - my only goal was to survive.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten that there was no point in trying to run away from fate.