Kaylee Sommers was a typical kid. She laughed, played, went to school, and talked with friends.
The only child of a factory shift supervisor and secretary, she was generally doted upon by her loving parents.
She was but a toddler when the alien spaceship appeared over Earth's skies, and coasted to a halt above northern Johannesburg.
Unaware of the greater significance of the event, as the days afterward turnedinto weeks, then months, where nothing changed, the massive gray saucer looming above the cityline faded from wondrous awe to another common sight, like the big tree across the street, or visiting with friends and wandering the neighborhood. The only difference to her world was the wa people were a good deal more guarded around the outlanders.
As if they were afraid.
The government assured everyone over and over again that they were not a threat and that they were being closely watched.
Kristine did not fear them. Yes, they looked different, talked and thought differently, and their language sounded very guttural, like burps with consonants scattered throughout. In her mind, she would treat them no differently than anyone else she saw, unless they gave her reason to think otherwise.
Time went by, and she went about her days as usual, finishing school and applying at several prestigious universities. The situation in the aliens' encampment quickly became permanent, and violence & tensions rose quickly. She would sit with her parents after work and school and watch the news as the media told them of events set in motion by the aliens, now more often than not referred to as "prawns".
She google-searched prawns - a relative of the shrimp.
Like most humans, she thought it fit, She even thought it a bit amusing. And like the rest of the world, she grew to hate and fear them.
One day while out with her boyfriend and some of their pals, they came across a lone injured prawn. The boys surrounded the creature and began to taunt it, screaming insults and throwing stones. She stayed off to the side with her best friend Jennifer, watching the exhausted-looking creature as it tried to fend off their blows. One of the boys jumped into it, knocking it to the ground, and the others quickly moved in and began to agressively beat it.
"Guys, guys, come on," Jennifer cried. "That's a bit overboard, don't you think?!"
"It's an animal," one of them tossed over his shoulder, as if that justified their actions.
Kaylee felt a cold sensation grip her. "Guys, that's enough," she said.
Heedless of her growing alarm, the boys continued to kick and prod the prawn.
"Get the animal!" they chanted. "Get it! Get it good!"
She walked over to her boyfriend and laid a hand on his arm. "That's enough," she repeated, more forcefully.
He shrugged off her arm, laughing, kicking sand into its face.
In that instant, the prawn roared angrily. Its leg shot out and knocked one of the boys flying through the air, landing twenty feet away.
The others, startled, began to back away.
Not fast enough.
The prawn leaped up, like a coiled spring, and grabbed one of the other boys & shoved him to the ground. He criedout in pain.
Its eyes locked with Kaylee's, and she saw the rage that had broken free.
Jennifer screamed, and they all bolted.
From that day forward, they avoided them as much as possible.
Her mother lost her job, but quickly obtained a new one with Multi-National United, the year before she left for university, from their neighbor, a couple of newlyweds.
The van der Merwes.
At the time, they were just another couple, with whom they socialized occasionally. She had no idea they would become the spotlight on the international stage.
When the hubbub surrounding the spaceship's departure had died down, and the whistle-blower's trial seemed to dominate the news, she began to research the aliens.
It turned out there was a lot more on the aliens than she thought possible: news feeds, documentaries, advocates for non0human rights... she read and absorbed them all, but admittedly taking it with a grain of salt.
One night, her parents got into an argument over the prawns and their actions, as to whether or not they were justified.
"They're animals!" her dad exclaimed.
"They've been repressed and victimized by humans for far too long," hermother countered. "Trust me, I see it ever day at work. The nature of the calls and emails that come in. The types of memos being sent out. I'm surprised they were able to keep as calm as they did for as long as they did. I feared it would turn into open revolt, with the military moving in and slaughtering them all."
"So much the better," her dad shot back.
Her mother shook her head. "Nobody deserves to live in the conditions that permeate District Nine. Nobody. And if we tried to get them to help us, instead of beating it out of them, maybe they'd be a lot more willing to cooperate."
"They tried that years ago, when they first arrived," her father almost yelled. "It didn't work then, and it won't work now."
"You're so certain of that, aren't you?" Kaylee interrupted.
Her parents both looked at her, as if surprised to see her standing there.
"Seriously," she continued. "Suppose that, yes, the prawns are just vicious bugs with no real intellect and no real sense of morals. Does that make what goes on in their camp any better?"
"What do you know of the prawns?" her dad growled.
"A lot more than you, apparently," Kaylee said. "I've actually done some reading on them. The satellite imagery over District 9 is as bad as the worst slums you'll find anywhere."
"They are the ones who made it that way," her dad spat.
"Only because as a result of their actions we started holding out on them," her mother interjected. "And what does any caged animal do when threatened?"
He simply waved her points away as if they were so much bad odor.
From that day onwards, things were different for her. Her parents treated her more like an adult, asking for her thoughts and input on important decisions.
Eventually, the time came for their annual vacation trip to Hawaii; due to her preparing for school and her work, Kaylee decided not to go along.
With the house to herself for a week strait, she threw a party. Friends from all over came and they danced and danced for hours. When everyone had left, she fell asleep on the couch, only to be startled awake later by a crash outside.
Stumbling wearily to the door, she stepped outside only to lock gazes with a prawn on the van der Merwes' doorstep.
"Hey, you!" she shouted. "Get out of here! I'm calling the cops!"
The prawn looked at her and gestured for her to keep quiet, a human gesture. It was clothed in a dark-colored collared shirt, with one sleeve all ripped. Something in its eyes – even in the dead of night – seemed familiar. It began walking towards her, and under the glow of the street lamp she recognized its eyes.
"Oh my God," she breathed, backing slowly towards her house. The prawn stopped, and pulled out something from a rudimentary belt it wore. It laid it on her front lawn before taking off at a run no human could hope to match.
When it was out of sight, she went over and picked up the shiny object it had left behind, seeing a rudimentary flower made out of scrap metal. She went over to the neighbors' front door and found another one on the front step.
In that one instant, her entire worldview shifted. Understanding dawned. And a bolt of recognition struck her like lightning.
"…Wikus?"