17.

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.**

Serge Nicolas and Serge Douglas don't say anything more as they leave. The recruits protest, but the guns trained at us by the humanoids immediately makes them keep shut. I say nothing, eyes still trained on the Sergeants moving figure as I think about how we've been fooled by NASA into believing we are on a mission to save earth from an impending doom…unknown to us that we will be traded to save earth. I don't know how to feel about that. Honestly, I'm not even angry. Just scared.

“Ophelia, what are we to do now?” Amanda's says. I don't even know when she got to my side.

I say nothing in response. Eyes still trained on the Sergeants, and just as they're about to enter into the rocket there's a loud siren coming off from them, followed by a change in colour in their suits and then a bang followed by slabs of meats being scattered everywhere.

Everyone gasps at the sight. The two Sergeants were detonated, killed, by their suits.

“What the hell just happened? Who killed them?” Someone asks.

“I noticed a red flash beeping off their suits, but I thought it was only meant to be like that since it differs from ours,” Another person says.

“It could have been a bomb,” someone responds.

“Could have been the U.S government, we all know how they are about secrecy. Serves them right,” someone snickers.

“Not like we're in a better position ourselves,” I reply as I moved towards the humanoids that has formed a circle around us recruits.

I take my gaze through the gap between the humanoids to see Xyriel who's standing next to his brother who has a smirk on his face as he stares at the slabs of meat.

“Xyriel,” I call to him, my voice trembling as I try to understand the nightmare unfolding around us. Why were we traded? What do they plan to do with us?

He walks toward me, his gaze steady, like none of this is surprising. “You look stressed, Ophelia,” he says once he reaches me. His voice is calm. Too calm. The humanoids leaves a path for me to step out and I can hear the recruits saying something about how I should tell the ‘Aliens’ to let them return back to earth.

I glance at the recruits, their eyes desperate, pleading with me to fix this, to make it right. “What the hell is happening?” I snap, feeling my fear morph into anger.

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Xyriel replies, as though this whole situation is perfectly normal.

I take a deep breath, trying to stay calm. “Why were we traded? What are your people going to do with us?”

His answer is so simple, so casual, “Experiment.”

My blood runs cold. “Experiment? You mean we’re going to be your test subjects?”

Xyriel tilts his head, almost confused by my reaction. “No. Not like that. We'll share you all with our council members. My elder brother, Xykel, has been... curious about sex—”

“Wait, what?” I interrupt, horrified. My mind spins, trying to grasp the absurdity of what he just said. “Sex?”

He nods, like it's the most normal thing in the world. “Yes. Sex. It's a foreign language in Planet Xyriel, but it's a pretty common thing on Earth. My brother has been curious, that's all, so he decided to request for humans from earth in exchange for it to be evaded from degradation caused by our centroid relocation.”

That doesn't make sense. Sex should be common knowledge, regardless of planets or if you're aliens. But then, I remember that Xyriel doesn't even know the meaning of what kissing is and then it all clicks. Maybe there aren't women on the planet, but if so, how have they manage to stay existing?

“Do you have any more questions, Ophelia?” Xyriel asks.

“Are there women on this planet?”

“No, but we have humanoids programmed as females, does that count?”

I'm left speechless by his response. No women on planet Xyriel?! “Then how are children made?”

“I'll explain everything to you later. For now, we need to leave here and return back to Tukik city.”

I watch Xyriel leave to join his brother and in no time mine and all the recruits are ridden of their gears by the humanoids.

We’re herded onto the spacecraft like cattle, the humanoids ensuring none of us strays away from the group. There’s a heaviness in the air, a mix of confusion, fear, and anger swirling among the recruits. The bodies of the Sergeants, or what’s left of them, are still fresh in my mind. I can’t help but wonder if we’ll meet a similar fate.

Amanda stays close to me, her hands trembling slightly as she whispers, “Ophelia, I am scared. What do you think would happen to us?”

I want to tell her everything will be fine, that we’ll figure out a way to survive on here, but I can’t. Not when I don’t even know the first thing about this planet. So instead, I squeeze her hand in reassurance, even if it feels empty.

“Welcome to Tukik City,” Xykel says, his voice devoid of emotion as he stands next to the four other aliens. Xyriel is resting against the wall of the spacecraft, staring into absolute nothingness. “This will be your new home, for however long you survive.”

“Survive?” someone behind me mutters nervously.

Xykel, steps forward, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “Some of you will adapt. Others... won’t. We've been curious about sex and reproduction, so everyone of you here would serve as our experiments on the topic.”

The recruits exchange panicked looks. I can feel Amanda’s grip on my arm tightening. “They can’t just use us like this,” she whispers, her voice shaky. “We’re people, not toys.”

I glance at Xyriel, who seems to be completely lost in another planet.

“Why sex?” someone ask.

Xykel grins as he begins to explain. “We’ve studied Earth’s population for some time. Your species relies heavily on sexual reproduction, but for us, it’s different. We don’t have a need for it. However, we’re always curious about what we don’t know. And you—you’ll be part of that exploration.”

The way he says it makes my skin crawl. I don’t know what’s worse—the cold detachment of the other aliens around or the sinister enjoyment Xykel gets from our discomfort or even the unbothered look on Xyriel.

“We’re not going to be your experiments,” I snap, stepping forward, anger bubbling inside me. “You can’t just—”

Xykel interrupts with a low chuckle. “You don’t have much choice, human.”

Before I can say anything more, Xyriel steps between us, his expression unreadable. “Please, brother. You promised she won't be involved since she's a friend. She's mine.”