"Is this related to you not wanting your bonus to go to an Earth-based account despite providing financial details as stated in the introduction packet?" she asked. She flicked her fingers on the table in front of her and tilted her head as if she was reading something. “Or the fact that the previous financial transfer information is listed as going to Harrison Armand?”
My heart sank. I had already guessed, but there was a big difference in guessing and knowing for certain. I’d signed up for the mate matching service, but he had intercepted my packet, agreed to whatever this special program was, and signed himself to receive the money.
"My dad," I said. “He must have signed me up for this to collect the money.”
The Chyrrith shifted one of her hands to the side of the table and began tapping on it. "Upon signing the contract, if you decide to sign it, we will have the contents of your domicile, along with your domesticated animal, delivered to your mate's ship. The Earth governance force is now alerted to your father's crime, and he will be taken in for questioning and sentencing. If he sent us his own bank account details, he will likely be found guilty of attempted trafficking."
“Attempted trafficking?” I gasped.
“Even if our program is run with a rigorous focus on protecting consent, the types of mates we match are considered by Earth history to be… as you humans would put it… red flag material,” the Chyrrith said. “The introduction packet is an essential part of ensuring you don’t agree to sign the contract because of the implication of being in space.”
The last part she said sounded like she was reciting from memory.
“What do you mean implication?” I asked.
“The comparison I’ve been instructed to provide is that there is a predatory strategy of human males to attempt to coerce females into mating by getting them on a boat and taking them away from land, implying that if they don’t agree the males will kill them and dump their bodies in the ocean,” the Chyrrith said. “The introduction packet was an essential step to avoid even the slightest hint of that implication.”
“I’m not feeling coerced at all,” I said. I felt like I needed to reassure her. “I understand that I can go back to Earth at any time. That being said, does my father really need to go to jail for this? He was just trying to steal from me again.”
He was a jerk, that was for sure, but that didn't mean I wanted him to rot away. The thought of him sitting in some gray cell made my stomach twist. I knew it wasn't fair of me to feel that way. Locking him up would keep him from hurting anyone else, from taking what wasn't his, but fairness and kindness didn't always overlap. I'd made peace with that. I wasn't the kind of person who could turn off my softness just because it was better for people I didn't know.
I’d let him crash on my couch, eat my food, leave his dishes stacked and souring in the sink, because some stubborn part of me still believed generosity could spark change. Maybe, if I kept being kind, he’d find a reason to be better. Maybe he’d love meenough to try. I knew what he’d done was awful, but that quiet, hopeful piece of me never stopped wanting proof that he wasn’t beyond saving.
People said kindness like mine was weakness. I stopped believing that a long time ago. It took strength to keep giving when you’d already been stripped bare. Maybe that made me foolish. Maybe naive. But I could live with that. All I wanted was to give him one last chance, even if he never earned it.
A new floating screen appeared in front of me, showing what looked like a rather nice, spacious, hotel room.
"If he is sentenced, your father will be sent to a community service center where he will work for the public good for the duration of his stay. Attempted trafficking is a serious crime. This is the standard for accommodations there, which I am to understand is better than Earth's previous incarceration standards. He will be added to the banned list for recreational substance intake, and after release, he will be barred from holding jobs that are susceptible to abuse of power," she said. "That is, unless you wish to retract your statement about what happened?"
Basically, she was saying that if I stuck to my story and went through with this all, my dad would be better off than before. I could keep my kindness and serve justice at the same time.
My relief was palpable, like a weight of obligation had been lifted off my chest.
"No, I will stand by my statement," I said. "What I said was absolutely true. He should definitely be investigated for this crime."
Then I realized something. My dad had signed the non-disclosure agreement, not me. If I wanted to, I could go back to Earth, spill all the beans, and rake in the dough on exclusive interviews. There was still a significant anti-alien faction on the planet; even if they couldn't be openly violent anymore, theycould still express their views freely, as long as they weren't aggressively hateful. Our alien overlords supported free speech, up to a certain point. They didn't tolerate intolerance.
But that didn't sit right with me either.
I wanted to be here.
I already knew I was going ahead with this. I’d decided when they said I could bring my cat. If I could still access Earth's internet, I could message my friends back and forth. I didn't have family other than my dad that I would miss, and judging by the contract, my new mate would be pretty focused on my needs after he took care of his more... intense... one. I wanted to agree to this before I lost my nerve and didn't want to go through a whole process of whatever would be required by the lack of a non-disclosure agreement.
"I'm ready to sign, except for one thing," I said. "I want to see a picture of my mate."
The image of the hotel room vanished, replaced by another.
"This is his smaller form," the Chyrrith said. "But as you know from the contract, he will be unable to maintain it for the initial meeting."
An image of a humanoid male appeared in front of me. Two eyes, a nose, a mouth, pointy ears - all the standard things I'd seen on the bipedal humanoids that had come to Earth. He was handsome, in an unearthly manner, with skin a copper hue. His eyes were a brilliant yellow, like a sun swirling with fire, and in the picture, he was dressed in a gorgeous white outfit that was cut to his body with a vest and trousers, displaying his arms and the strong form of his body. The outfit had red accents around the edges, but I didn't take in most of the details as I was focused on his chiseled jawline and powerful gaze. His hair was spikey and strange, shades of green and turquoise.
A shiver ran through me.
He was so hot.
My mind caught up with what the Chyrrith had said, that he wouldn't be in this form when we met. He would be in his larger form, the one which was the reason for all the preparation I would have to go through before meeting him.
"What is his other form?" I asked.
