Chapter 20- The Choice
"So, what happened?" Maria asked when Trent was out of earshot.
"I'm not sure," Max said. "How about you guys?" he asked Isabel and Michael. They both shook their head no.
"How about you, Tess? Do you know what happened?" Maria turned to her right.
Tess dumbly shook her head yes.
"You knew what had happened, and you didn't tell us?" Max demanded.
"No, I just figured it out."
"Tess, what happened?" Liz asked gently.
"You all went through what Nasedo called 'The Choice'"
"'The Choice'? What the hell is that?"
"Michael." Maria put a hand on his arm, and he calmed down.
"'The Choice' is what happens when an alien falls for a human-"
"What do you mean 'falls'?" Isabel asked.
"I mean falls in love with, or falls into what could very likely become love. When an alien does this, and it happens very rarely, which is why I didn't know it had happened until just now, when it happens, the human goes through 'The Choice'-"
"Yeah, I understand that, but what does it mean?"
"It means, Max, that once the human develops it's first power-"
"The power to hear thoughts." Alex pointed out.
Tess nodded, "Once this power is developed, the human must go through 'The Choice'. 'The Choice' is what separates the alien from the human, unless the love is true and pure, and the alien can think clearly."
"So, you're saying that if the love isn't true and pure, and something goes wrong that-" Kyle stopped.
"Yes. The human dies."
"So, since Maria, Alex, Kyle, and Liz didn't die, then we're free to love them?" Max asked.
"Yes."
"Good," Max said, "'cause I'm not giving her up for anything." He smiled at Liz.
"Now that everything's good...can we eat?"
"Kyle!" Tess put her face in her hands, beyond mortified.