The N'lors have always tried to find new specimens for their collections . Families competed against each other to see which clan possessed the most rare of all. And the family who won had the right to rule the Planet for the year.
The G'lars family had lost the competition for 10 generation, encountering ridicule and shame, but Ag'lars, son of Tg'lars, had decided that that was the year everything was going to change. That was why he had invented the Machine, a portal able to take whoever entered it in another dimension and in another time.
Ag'lars watched the Galaxies shine on the screen, uncertain to where to go.
A name caught his attention: Milky Way. The name sparked curiosity in his chest. That was going to be his choice. He touched the Galaxy name and a string of letters started to roll on the screen, as the Machine decide where its passage was going to open.
The first letter to stop was E. then A, and following R,T,H.
"Earth" said the N'lors, rolling that word on his tong, tasting it, "I wonder what specimen I will bring back..."
Alice couldn't sleep. She tossed the covers on one side of her bed, getting up and walking over to the fridge. 2020 was supposed to be her year. She had just moved out of her parents' home a month before, into the city, and was about to get a job when the pandemic started. Of course the whole town was put on lockdown, and most companies had stopped hiring. Hers, of course, was one of them.
She drank some sparkling water, still thirsty because of the pizza she ordered that night, absentmindedly watching outside through the bars of the only window she had, beside the small one in the bathroom. Even though it was one room apartment, with kitchen, bedroom and living room all in the same cramped space, she loved it. And the thought of having to leave it in 5 days gave her a stomach ache. Without a job she couldn't afford it. She had to move back with her parents.
"26 and still not knowing were you're going... nice job" she mumbled to herself.
Closing the fridge door she noticed a bright light in the room, and it took her a few seconds to realize it wasn't coming from outside, but from inside. She turned around just in time to see a green blinding light take the form of a big rectangle, and from the middle a form appeared. What it looked like a man stood in front of it. But it wasn't a man. Alice had never seen a man with eyes as red as a traffic light.
"Ah... this will be worth the first prize!" he said, softly, reaching for her with a deformed hand.
Alice didn't scream. she didn't have the time, the moment he touched her, all went dark.