Page 17 of Malliko
I was running in a park while mentally linking up to the Connector to access the database of the Federation.
There were enormous amounts of data on humans and lengthy reports on most things that I looked up.
I noticed how people stared at me when I came running and as I overtook a very fit-looking athlete it hit me that maybe I needed to slow down a little. I didn’t want to raise suspicion by flashing my superiority to humans.
Tania found me studying at my apartment that afternoon. She opened the connecting door between our apartments and asked, “Hey, alien, are you hungry?”
Looking up, I detected no hostility on her face and asked, “Why did you call me alien? Why not Malliko or Eidron?”
“Because I wanted to see your reaction. I had a Tuncallon staying here six months ago, and he had a nasty temperament. I wanted to see if calling you an alien would piss you off.”
Placing my hands behind my head, I yawned and stretched a little. “It will take more than an insult to piss me off. An obstinate recruit could get me angry when I was responsible for their safety, but otherwise I’m pretty mellow.”
Tania came in and left the door to her apartment open. Walking over, she sat on the armrest of the reading chair and asked, “How was your first day at Go2Match?”
“It was fine. They were welcoming and I believe I kept my cover nicely. I learned about human fetishes and kinks and you know what?”
“What?”
I smiled. “At first, when I was given the assignment to study human dating habits, I was pretty disappointed, but now I’m starting to think it could be fun. Humans are far more interesting than I gave them credit for. The variety of their sexual habits astonishes me.”
Tania slid down to sit on the regular seat of the chair. “Oh, yeah? What variety is that?”
“Did you know that there are people who enjoy dressing as babies while having sex?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, but you can’t judge all humans based on a few weirdos.”
“You think they’re weird?”
She chuckled. “What… you don’t?”
I thought about it. “It seems advanced to me that someone would stretch their minds to include such extremes. However, I can see the purpose of it if someone needs nurturing. Maybe it’s just because everything here on Earth is weird to me that sexual fetishes and kinks doesn’t stand out as much as they do to you.”
“What else is weird to you?” she asked.
I looked out the window. “The transportation system and that everybody stares at me, but no one approaches me to greet me.”
Tania made one of her weird nasal sounds. “That’s because they find you intimidating. Humans put everything into boxes. You’re tall, handsome, fit and athletic and so a lot of people will admire you from a distance but not have the courage to approach you. They simply think you’re out of their league.”
Tapping my jawline, I considered her words. “Who decides what league a person is in and at what age is it decided? Is there a ritual when you enter adulthood? How can you tell what league a person is in and how many leagues are there?”
Waving her hand, Tania stopped me. “No, no, you don’t understand. It’s not a real value system like the Caldonians have or you see on other planets. There are a few countries where they have a class system but what I’m talking about isn’t anything measurable.”
“Oh.” I wrinkled my eyebrows. “Then how does it work?”
“It’s hard to explain. It’s sort of like based on self-evaluation and some people are way off. They will approach people out of their league; and then others don’t understand how hot they themselves really are. It’s not just based on looks though. Socio-economic standing matters as well as charm and charisma.”
“Sounds confusing.”
“It can be,” Tania admitted. “But it’s an important part to understand if you want to study dating habits because those things matter to single people.”
“Are you single?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, so tell me about your preferences.”
She sighed and looked at the ceiling. “Honesty would be nice for a start.”
