Becks couldn’t tell what annoyed her more: being the human who finally made first contact with a race of superior aliens or having to work despite this.

She could remember her abduction, a combination of a spaceship that underwhelmingly looked like a cyan FIAT 126 crossing her path and a violent impact. As she lay on the road that would lead her to the corner shop, her mind had time to register the embarrassment of being splayed on the tarmac in a hoodie, tracksuit pants and flip-flops. Then the cyan 126 hovered above her and – under its chassis – a passage shaped like a doorframe opened, a rectangle of blinding white light breaking up the dark colouring of the car’s underbelly. And when – stereotypically – she was tractor-beamed across its threshold, she found herself standing upright in a very posh office, way bigger than logic would expect from the interior of such a small vehicle. Mahogany wooden floor, walls and a desk of the same material. The only accent of colour, strongly contrasting the room, came from two bright yellow upholstered wingback chairs.

The room was very well lit, despite a lack of windows, by a series of chandelier-shaped lamps hanging on the walls.

She took a step forward and twisted her ankle, “Fuck…” she muttered, as she looked down: she was now wearing a pastel pink power suit and black heeled shoes.

She couldn’t walk on heels and she hated it.

“Ms. Rebecca Stafford?” A voice that sounded like five different children with a Scandinavian accent talking in chorus made her jump out of her skin.

She looked towards the voice.

On one of the chairs – empty just a moment ago – sat the most singular being Becks had ever seen. Clad in a blue suit with pineapple prints all over and a yellow shirt, there was a scrawny… man? His face looked gray / greenish and gills were intermittently opening behind his ears. On his face there was a pair of those joke glasses, the one with a fake nose, eyebrows, and ‘stache incorporated, and the lenses were covered by some cardbox with very badly drawn eyes upon it. The top of the head was covered by a bald cap.

The hands were hidden by blue latex gloves, of which several fingers were obviously empty. Around the midriff of the suit, something kept flopping under the clothes.

Becks stared at the figure with ping pong ball-shaped eyes and a slackened jaw until he repeated: “Rebecca Stafford?”

“Y…Yeah…”

“Rebecca! I am Bobby! I just want to say congratulations! You’ve been selected for a very exciting business opportunity!”

“Okay, sorry… No offence but…”

As she stammered some excuse to turn down whatever scam this creature was trying to pull on her, Becks slowly moved toward the door of white light she came from, keeping her eyes on a sprig of hair of the fake eyebrows that was stuck to the slimy skin just under the bald cap, but – as she turned to leave – she was confronted by the black mahogany wall.The door was gone, and they were boxed into the room.

“Hey… where is the, uhm…?”

“Rebecca.”

“Hm?”

“Why don’t you come here?”

Becks approached very slowly, both out of fear and because of her shoes.

“Here,” the four or five different voices of the creature named Bobby said, kindly, as one of the mostly empty gloves pushed a tall glass of water towards her.

Rebecca looked suspicious. As if in answer to that, the strange man said “I mean… why would I spike your drink? I’ve already abducted you.”

Becks shrugged at this and accepted the glass. “Thanks?” she said, confused, but kindly.

“Rebecca, you’ve been selected to represent your species in what is probably the biggest court case in your history. I think. Well, either way, it’ll look good on your CV.”

“My species?”

“Gonna explain something to you real quick. Rebecca, do you know what sea-monkeys are?”

Becks was blank for a few second. From when the weird flying 126 had hit her to now had only passed, what? A couple of minutes? And in that short period of time, the amount of absurd stuff she had to process was so enormous, that – after a few beats – her brain just decided not to process it. To stage a strike. So, she suddenly calmed down and decided against logic that what was definitely a non-human in a bad disguise asking her about sea-monkeys, of all things, was just another Thursday.

“Yeah, those weird prawns that come to life when you add water to them, aren’t they?”

Bobby was delighted, “Excellent!” he clapped his mostly-empty gloves, then pushed the joke-glasses up to his face.

“Well, brine shrimps, to be pedantic,” he carried on. “But still. See, you’re my client’s sea-monkeys,” he blurted out, letting a nervous laugh ending the sentence.

Becks looked at Bobby.

Bobby looked at Becks.

Bobby coughed to break the silence. It didn’t work.

“May I call you Becca?” He tried.

“No, I prefer Becks.”

“I see. Well, Becks, would you like to take a seat and a sip of that water?”

Becks nodded, plopped on the yellow armchair and took a gulp from the glass without moving her eyes from the indefinite spot she was staring at without blinking.

“Is there anything you’d like to say about what I just told you, Becks?”

“Well…”

“Yeeees?”

“When you say you, do you mean I am your client’s sea monkey, or all of humanity?”

“All of humanity. I did say Sea monkeys, plural.”

“That’s true, sorry.”

“Not a problem.”

“Ok, soooo… all of humanity is one individual’s pet?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Right.”

“I’m glad you took it so well,” Bobby beamed, ignoring the fact that Becks’ eyes had never moved from the spot on the wall they were staring at nor blinked.

“BLOODY WHAAAAATT??” Becks snarled, suddenly.

“Well, I thought you guys would have understood, by now, that you haven’t originated on planet Earth?”

“What the bloody hell are you talking about? Planet Earth has the perfect conditions for our species!”

“Does it?”

“Duh!”

“Well, think about it: the planet has temperatures that range between minus eighty something and plus fifty something degrees Celsius, and you guys are only happy between seventeen and twenty-five-ish. Not to mention that seventy percent of the planet surface is covered in water that you cannot inhabit nor drink.”

“Yes, b- but…”

“BUT!” Bobby interrupted Becks’ stammer, “it’s good that you think that Earth is a suitable habitat for your species.” He concluded with a smile that threatened to dislodge the fake nose, which was promptly pushed back on the fish-like face.

“Snack?” one glove pushed a bowl of fish flake food towards Becks. When she shook her head, Bobby shrugged, scooped some of the food and fed it to the inside of his shirt collar. His midriff flopped squishably.

“Are you a bunch of fish in a suit?”

“A school of fish.”

Becks raised a warning eyebrow, so Bobby answered the question with a sigh: “We find that species are more comfortable dealing with representatives that look like them.”

Becks looked at the pulsating gills on Bobby’s neck. “I see,” she said.

“Hang on,” she carried on, her eyes narrowing with suspicion, “why is it good that I think Earth to be a suitable habitat for us? What is this biggest court case of our history you mentioned?”

“Oh well, it’s just that the UG has sued my client for animal cruelty…” Bobby trailed off.

“The UG?”

“The United Galaxies.”

“Right. And we are the animal who’s been mistreated.”

“Yes, we mean no offence by that.”

“None taken. So…?”

“So, my client has sent me here because we’d like you to officially agree that humanity has been taken care of in the best way possible and that my client doesn’t need to make any further arrangements moving forward.”

“Well… Society is a bit fucked up at the minute, and the planet is dying… so.”

“I’m confident we can get to an agreement.”

“And why is that?”

“Well, I do hate this part,” Bobby said, grabbing a heavy tome from next to his upholstered chair and dropping it open on the relevant section, on the sleek wood of the desk, “but as per interstellar law, we’re bound to conduct a good faith negotiation with a qualified member of the species…”

“I… I am the qualified…? And… and this is the good faith…?”

“Exactly! But you see, during the negotiation, the parties have no duty of care towards each other, and my client, unfortunately, does own the oxygen present in your atmosphere…” the fishes making up Bobby’s body made a sound like they were sucking air through their teeth, as if they were sorry to say that.

“Your client owns the oxygen? And… what? They’re just gonna take it?”

“Between you and I, you’re much better off just making a deal with my client.”

“But… how is this a negotiation? We’re going to die! Our planet is frying, our resources are running out! The ones in power aren’t giving us healthcare but are building space hotels…”

“Yeah, but that’s symptomatic of your society…”

“Society must be changed, then!”

“Also, we have to do this within today.”

“WHAT??”

“If an agreement isn’t achieved by end of business hours today, the case is dismissed.”

“Listen, I can’t do this… I do traffic tickets, why pick me?”

“We’d love a signed agreement immediately.”

“Oh God… You didn’t pick me because I am a good lawyer. I bet that you could pick anybody, as long as they’re technically qualified…”

“There were a lot of moving parts that our team had to consider…”

“You’re taking advantage of a loophole!” Becks stood up in the excitement, a finger pointing at Bobby.

“And it’s only good business to do so.”

An awkward silence suddenly exploded inside the room. Becks let herself fall back into the chair. She kicked the heeled shoes off her feet.

“You know…sometimes… You feel like you’re rubbish at your job. But – you know – then you tell yourself: oh no, you’re just depressed, there has to be someone worse out there. I also have PMT today, this is really not the right time for me to realise this.”

“May I offer you a chocolate hash brownie? Is it too early for your species to do drugs?”

Becks looked at the clock above Bobby’s head. It said 9.29 am.

“It’s late enough,” she muttered. Bobby brought her a hash brownie.

As she chewed, Bobby tried to console her: “Oh come on, I’m sure it is just a coincidence you’ve been chosen. Maybe this is not your field, but I’m sure you’re good in what you do.”

Becks smiled a sad smile: “Well… I win sometimes…”

“You see?”

“Mainly when the cop doesn’t bother to show up… gotta love a no show!”

“See? Celebrate your victories!” Bobby cheered, pawing another fistful of fish food down his collar, as Becks finished her hash brownie.

For the next forty minutes or so, Bobby compiled the agreement that was to be signed by Becks, involving her in the process, though she only contributed to the conversation with groans.

Suddenly, her pupils grew very large, like a cat’s when focusing on a prey.

“Let me see that,” she said, grabbing the book Bobby had dropped on the desk.

“Hey, just a minute…” Bobby tried to protest.

Becks ignored him, instead making noises with her mouth as she hovered her finger above the page looking for something, until: “Here it is!! When disputing the suitability of a habitat, the defending party – that’s your client, he has been sued by the UG – will have the right to a hearing in the jurisdiction of said habitat. That’s Earth. You’re the representative, but your client has to actually be here to get a deal signed.”

“Well, I represent them…” Bobby said, but the squishy noise grew louder from inside his suit.

“And we must come to an agreement before the end of business today, you said. Earlier, you also said that you were sent here by your client. I take it they’re not local?”

“Well, they’re not in the galaxy, at the minute… some important business had to be taken care of…”

“And how long would it take them to come here to sign the agreement?”

“In Earth’s days?”

“In Earth’s days?”

“Please.”

A massive sigh escaped Bobby’s gills and after a long pause, his voices croacked: “About six thousands years.”

“A no show!!!” Becks jumped from the chair, both fists held up high in celebration.

Bobby shouted his frustration at losing the case, tentacles erupting from his collar, sleeves and from under his jacket.

Becks recoiled in horror.

Then he recomposed himself, “Sorry, that was very unprofessional of me. Congratulations on a successful negotiation. You’ll have to email the UG with the changes that you’d like for my client to apply to your planet. I’ll give you their email address.”

*

A few months later, Becks received the following email from the UG:

“Dear Rebecca Stafford,

We’ve reviewed the changes you’ve requested to your own natural habitat.

They were the following:

1) TV programs are not to invite as guests populist politicians. Alternatively, do not invite populist politicians equipped with mouths.

2) Both religious and secular authorities can wear funny costumes only during Carnival or on Halloween, exactly like everybody else.

3) All racists must become the ethnicity they hate. For white people hating black people, this will not extend to their penises.

4) Any person believing in a deep state can use the term “they” to indicate the hypothetical, evil, secret masters who control everything only the same amount of times they use the same term to refer to a non-binary person. If they run out of uses for the term “they,” the believers in the deep state will have to refer to the evil masterminds as “magic meanies.”

5) Whoever kneels to accept a knighthood from a royal figure anywhere in the world, won’t be allowed to stand up again.

6) Every singer, poet, and writer will be allowed to use the word “love” up to ninety-nine times. At the 100th use of the word, they’ll be punished by execution.

7) All of those who will try to convert other people to any religion using the phrase “It’s impossible that the perfect beauty of the universe was just random and not the creation of a divine mind” will be instantly infested with the taenia solium, colloquially known as the pork tapeworm, so that they can observe the perfect beauty created by the divine mind of their god from up close.

8) Every time a person will try to convince a person who isn’t their partner and didn’t ask for advice to have children, a kid from foster care will be immediately dispatched to their living room for them to parent for life. This will be repeated for every unsolicited sentence such as “Who will look after you when you’re old?” or “You will love kids when you’ll have yours.”

9) Every person who listens to music or watches videos loudly in public will get a pair of headphones welded to their ears.

10) For intellectual honesty, every video or program about UFO, ghosts, or miraculous apparitions, will have to feature a laughter track.

11) Every worker working for a business that they don’t own and votes right wing must have their wishes immediately granted: halved salary, sixty weekly hours, unpaid overtime, and two white hot pins in their nipples.

12) Deflect the orbit of the asteroid Apophis on Prince Andrew.

13) Every cliché, spoken or written, will cost £13 per letter.

14) All national anthems must be played with the anus.

15) Every man who puts his hands on a colleague, even “as a joke,” and even on “innocent” places such as arms, back, shoulders, or hips, will become fluorescent yellow for a week.

16) When someone is delivering a homily, a lecture, or any moral-ish sermon, a number of how many times they’ve masturbated in their life will flash above their heads. This is to maintain the right perspective.

These possible changes are pending reviews and the process will take between six and nine Earth’s decades.

You will be notified with the outcome as soon as one is reached.

Best regards,

Gino Xìrìvìllìllì,

United Galaxies P.R. manager.”