Off in one corner of the earthling park, a small group of blorxlings were protesting. They were animal rights activists, wearing tie-dyed tee shirts and headbands with flowers in their hair. They waved cardboard signs like “Earthlings Have Rights Too,” and they chanted in rhythm:
Zira and Riffa did not seem to notice—there were always protesters there for one cause or another. And they never mattered to Rolo before, but this time they caught his attention because they were actually protesting about earthlings. He listened closer.
Until this moment, he had never really wondered why he was a pet. All his life, he had been a pet. And all the other earthlings too. And all the generations before them, and before them. But was it always that way? Why did no one ever talk about that? Was it a secret? The more he thought, the more unanswered questions sparked in his mind.
“Hey Zira? Where do earthlings come from?”
“Oh. Uhhhh.” She hesitated. “Well, when a mommy earthling and a daddy earthling love each other very much—”
“No, no-no-no! I mean where were all earthlings from originally? Like what continent, Blorfrica? Blurope? Blasia?”
“Oh. I dunno. Lemme see.”
Zira concentrated and her brain-chip started flashing. All blorxlings have a cybernetic chip on their foreheads under their skin, which they use to look up information, do calculations, and store their old memories. Lights blinked in a diamond pattern on her forehead as she searched for the answer. She cocked her antennae curiously and tapped her brain-chip. “Hmm. That’s weird.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, I’m searching online all over the nebula, but I can’t find any information.”
“Huh. Is your chip broken?”
“No, I can find any other topic. I just can’t find anything about where earthlings are from. Riffa, do you know?”
“Know what?” she said flatly without looking.
“Where earthlings come from?”
“Why would I know that?”
“Can you check, please?”
Riffa sighed, barely looking up from her phone. Her chip flashed for a few seconds. “Nope, nothing there.” She looked back down at her phone.
“That’s really strange,” said Zira. Then she shrugged it off like it was no big deal.
But it was a big deal, and Rolo couldn’t stop thinking about it. Where did earthlings come from? And how did they live before they were pets?