Cowritten by PuniPuni
Story is also published on AO3.
In the glass dome with stars above, the little plant fluttered in the air toward the center, reaching her dominant vine outwards and held her letter of acceptance. She was going to be apart of the mission.
"Numbuh Vine, I am sending you to Earth. Your passion for the planet has proved your worth of such duties for a galactic expedition. You ensure you can bring us back information about the habitat you are exploring?"
The small plant held the letter close to her body and almost squealed. "Yes yes yes yes yes!" She lifted herself up, spinning around in the air. "Oh thank you thank you thank you! Numbuh Flower, it's such an honor."
"Don't mention it. Your mission begins whenever you're ready."
Packing her things up, the plant girl screamed in joy. When she finished, she saluted the soopreme leader, took a bow, and floated as fast as she could to the ship.
"Good luck with the mission!" Flower called back.
The big plant watched the rocket ship take off, waving to little Vine as she finally flew off, reaching for the stars.
Flower sighed a deep sigh of relief. "She's gone," he beamed. "Finally."
Becoming a Galactic operative was not an easy process to get permission to be on. It required an intense training program; it was about learning the culture and habits of Earth. Not many wanted to go to Earth to leave the comfort of their own planet for a new, strange, uncomfortable environment. After all, it was very adult-ridden.
Vine did not have that mindset. She was obsessed with Earth before her leaves sprouted. That beautiful small blue and green sphere that she could only watch from a screen was her passion. Weirdly obsessed with the aesthetic of the planet, it was certain she would do what it took to get qualified for "Galactic study. Planet: Earth." And frankly, her burning passion pushed through the crowd of hesitancy, so it was easy to get her into that training course.
The course would be described as an intense study of Earth culture and norms. It was not as difficult as she thought because that world was only run by one type of species. It seemed simple enough, but learning the particular popular language was a struggle. Though, her young mind learned quickly. Vine was very resourceful. Then there were the interaction sets. Vine received things that came from Earth. She freaked out holding Earth stuff. She kept a spoon in her wallroom and slept with one of her vines curled around it. Lastly, and best of all: the planet had growing, littler versions of her and her fellow operatives' species. They could not walk nor talk nor look nor speak, so they reminded her of babies. They were oh so cute.
Another redeeming factor to get her to go to Earth was that she was not liked by many. Those below her in ranking would not say anything, but those above would not be afraid to. She had a short temper, which meant she was prone to yelling when things did not go her way. That factor made her an operative in the first place, easily intimidating enemies. Though, the end result was her lashing out at anyone, no matter who they were. Her aggressive attitude was quickly hated. Though, she did not care that much, as she was proud of her temper for allowing her to be strong in the first place. All of these factors led Numbuh Flower to gladly promote Vine to galactic operative.
Vine knew it would take three days to reach the planet. That is when an operative named Numbuh 74.239 would greet her and tell her the details of the study.
Vine watched Saturn become smaller and smaller through the ship, and same with the moons. Titan, Enceladus, Iapetus… all one-hundred and forty-six of them. She would wave goodbye to her home planet feeling some bittersweetness. The realization she was leaving for a long, long time would finally hit her. She reached her vine arm to press against the glass of the ship, feeling the cold window pane against her tendril. She peered up to see the glowing blue lights in the rocket hit her white eyes, then gazed at the glowing of the city from her home planet she was sent from disappearing. She released a deep sigh.
Shaking off the feeling, she opened the envelope as soon as she could. Her excitement overrode her homesickness. Inside the envelope was a well written letter, followed by a shiny silver device that could fit in the grasp of her leaf.
"Congratulations, Numbuh C55H72O5N4Mg. You are now an official operative of the Galactic Kids Next Door. Before you reach Earth as your galactic destination, you will need to stop by the Kids Next Door Dark-Side-Of-The-Moonbase to use your disguise. Inside is a C.H.I.P. This device allows you to activate your human disguise. You will tape this device to your body, preferably on the leaf of your non-dominant vine, and activate the command for the human disguise to be activated. Activate your C.H.I.P. when you are sure you have landed in the galactic operative's headquarters. Your soopreme leader, when receiving the activation, will then turn your disguise on as well as lock it. This means you cannot activate the C.H.I.P. when you are a human. This is to prevent any glitches or malfunctions within the device that could turn you back to your plant self. However, in the case in which you need to be turned back, you will be safe. The planet's surface is not covered in any harmful chemicals to your species.
We wish you a safe journey and to bring us success.
-Galactic Kids Next Door"
Vine held the sheet up to the window, the sun shining through the paper. She saw an image on the back and flipped it around.
"We have designed your human disguise to fit comfortably to fit the mass and structure of your body. Your human name will be Elizabeth DeVine. This surname will assure that the other galactic operatives on the planet recognize your number as one of them."
Vine's eyes widened. "She's beautiful…" she said to herself, looking at the image. She continued reading.
"Your disguise turns you human down to the bone. You will be able to feel, see, hear, smell, and taste just like a human child. Your clothes, hair, and glasses come with the disguise. You are free to change these."
Vine felt herself wanting to cry of joy. It was like a dream come true. She would get fingers, legs, flesh, hair… she was going to become one of them.
Her moment of glee paused so she could read the very last lines.
"Remember that this information is never to be shared with non-Galactic Kids Next Door members. Dispose of all evidence upon arriving and never reveal information to these Earthlings. If betrayed, dire consequences may follow."
Vine rolled her eyes. This was going to be easy, she would never reveal secrets, she thought to herself.
Lastly, there was a section colored in so bold and brightly that she would not skip it.
"THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT RULES AS HUMAN ARE AS FOLLOWS:
1. Breathe through your nose
2. Adapt quickly
3. No one is suspicious of you"
Vine was genuinely surprised by these three rules. She was expecting harsher, stricter instructions about keeping secrets, but these rules seemed to apply on how to act human. She was especially confused about the last rule. She had learned many different factors of human culture and habits of their curiosity, was reminded by her mentors to never break character as a human, and was given a strict verbal list of consequences that would hurt her and her position as an operative. The third rule seemed very counter-productive.
She shook her head at the thought. She was determined to remember all of what was on the letter to be prepared for Earth. She looked back at the chip she had on her leaf, remembering what the letter addressed. She peeled the tape on the back off and placed it under one of her upper leaves on her non-dominant vine. It was cold. It appeared to be a silver sticker with a ring below it, the smooth surface in the middle open to be pressed when ready. She was so excited that she felt her tendrils fluttering around. But no, she had to be patient.
Vine would look out the window at the stars that shone onto her green body. She felt her dream coming true, this experience of euphoria. It was magnificent.
Vine saw the Earth's moon. Vine's white eyes grew big and wide observing the soft orange glow of the moonbase. How beautiful it was, shining with its own plants and architecture used by Earthling kids for generations. Though the ship she was on flew passed that, so she could only get a fleeting glance. It confused her.
The dark side of the moon held a small base filled with red, scraggly plants. They seemed like the dried up versions of the one the sun shone down on. Grayish metal walls covered the center with occasional thin skyscraper like poles, jutting out of the ground at slanted angles. As she came closer, white pillars facing the ship would open to take in the rocket, engulfing Vine in a dark room that left the blue lights of her ship shining dimly, barely giving her a peek at what was outside her window.
The speaker in the ship control buzzed.
"Operative Number please."
Vine flicked her tendril at the olive-shaped speaker in front of her.
"Numbuh C55H72O5N4Mg, sir."
"Please press the C.H.I.P."
Vine felt chills. She pressed the button. Nothing happened.
Suddenly, the top of the ship opened. The smoke from the oxygen came flaring inside as the top revealed a human boy with orange hair, blue eyes, and freckles.
Vine gasped.
"Welcome Numbuh Vine! Do not be alarmed. I am Numbuh 74.239. Welcome to the Kids Next Door Galactic Moonbase!" the nerd boy welcomed in perfect English. He reached out his hand to grab for her vine. She felt herself pause in awe, seeing a human boy.
"Hello? Numbuh Vine? …Don't be alarmed, I am a galactic operative wearing a human disguise. I am just—"
Vine reached up to wrap her vines around the boy like an octopus, launching him with herself out of the ship and onto the solid metal floor.
"GAAAAAH! You're a human! No not really, you're a disguise, but still! Eeeeee!"
Vine wrapped herself around the boy's hands and fingers, feeling and peering at his nails.
"These are so real! The letter said they'd be but— there is no way I'm seeing this for real right now! Down to the littlest details!"
Vine was petting the boy's hair and opening his eyelids. She even opened his mouth to see the braces he was wearing on his teeth.
"Whoa! Chill out!"
A voice from behind Vine startled her. Someone grabbed one of her tendrils. She turned around to see a boy with black hair and glasses.
"GAAAH! This one is so cute too!"
Vine hugged the human boy like a squid, finally letting go of the ginger kid for him stead.
"Ah, geez! Didn't anyone ever teach you about personal space?!" he argued.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" she yelled back. She turned around like nothing happened, still wrapped around the shorter boy while taking off his glasses and looking through them, curious.
"This isn't a huggy-happy-mushy-gushy fest you know!" the boy reiterated. "Let go of me!"
The ginger pulled on one of her vines. "Let go of 71.562! He's one of us too!"
74.239 successfully pulled Vine away from 71.562.
"Fine!" she hissed.
"As we were saying…" 74.239 scoffed, helping his friend up as he dusted himself off. "You are at the Galactic Kids Next Door Moonbase!"
"What? But I thought on the…"
"Yes, what you saw in the sunlight was the Moonbase, but only for human operatives. Little do they know we have our Galactic base on the dark side of the moon. It said so in your letter."
"…I don't get to meet the human operatives?" she asked sadly.
"Not like that you're not. See, the human operatives shall not need to know about our whereabouts."
"But why?"
"Isn't it obvious?" 71.562 bickered. "Do you not remember the human courses?!"
"But I thought this was about regular humans!"
"No," 74.239 shook his head. "This goes for every single human not affiliated with the Galactic Kids Next Door."
Vine hesitated. "Then who here is a real human of the Galactic Kids Next Door?" she questioned in a raspy, irritated tone.
Looking around, the alien saw the crowd of human appearing kids, some working with the ship she had just arrived on. They shook their heads.
"Nobody?!"
74.239 and 71.562 glanced at each other, their body language suggesting she was correct.
"Then what's the point?!" she yelled.
"Calm down!" 74.239 hissed. "Geez, OK, look…" he pinched the top of his nose. "I know it may be strange that we don't have any current human galactic operatives present on this moonbase, but you're here for a reason! We need you to observe Earth along with some of the rest of us."
"Yeah!" 71.562 chimed in. "You've activated your C.H.I.P., right? We can lead you down the hall here and we can get started."
That information changed Vine's mood from pissed to excited.
"Oooh~! Yes, yes!" She floated upwards and twirled in the air.
As the two scientists lead the gleeful alien down the hallway to a computer lab, 71.562 whispered to 74.239.
"Geez, Numbuh Flower was right."
"Tell me about it."
Numbuh 74.239 came to a large keyboard with various alien inscriptions on them. He started typing and turned the hologram screen on.
"Numbuh 71.562?" he called out as he was typing.
"Yes sir?"
"Get the mattress."
"Mattress…?" Vine whispered to herself, watching 71.562 sprint away.
"Come in, Numbuh Flower?" the ginger called.
The screen buzzed. It then showed the soopreme leader of Saturn.
"Ah! Numbuh Vine. I've seen you've made it!"
Vine saluted to her leader.
"Well then. I've received the request to activate your C.H.I.P.. Are you ready to turn on your disguise?"
Vine's eyes shone brightly. "I am so ready!"
"Great!" Numbuh Flower exclaimed. The two boys next to Vine started to back away slowly from the floating plant.
"Please brace yourself, Numbuh Vine. Don't tense up."
Vine closed her eyes.
In a mere second, the plant alien turned into fuzzy static, which then switched into her human form.
"AAHG—!" Vine gasped as she fell onto the mattress. So that is what that was for.
The two boys immediately rushed forward to check in on her.
"Numbuh Vine! Are you OK?"
"Can you hear us? Can you see us? Is there anything wrong?"
Vine was not prepared to have a body. She was taking in deep breaths from her mouth, flailing her limbs all around from the shock. She was wearing clothes. She had fingers. She had feet. She had hair tied up in braids. She was shaking, the intensity of a sudden change felt like a fight or flight response— and she was not sure which one it was.
"Numbuh Vine! Try and communicate with us!" Numbuh Flower commanded from the screen.
"SHUT UP!" Vine screamed, terrified.
"OK, this isn't good. Get the doctors, now!" the red-head shouted, pointing out of the room. The other boy left immediately.
The freckled boy was left with Vine, trying to stop her limbs from moving.
"Hey! Relax. You're going to be OK! My first time wasn't easy either. Just relax your body, pretend you don't need to float."
Vine dropped her limbs as the boy held her left hand. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind and her breathing was sporadic. She could feel a real human heart in her chest making a thumping noise.
"Try and grab your other hand with mine."
Vine reached up her right hand. She felt it become wobbly as her fingers grabbed randomly in the air like a claw machine. She reached for then squeezed the boy's hand.
"Good! Good. You're doing great."
The sound of squeaky wheels from behind the newly human-formed girl came closer. 74.239 and the two human disguised doctors came to help lift her on the rolling bed.
"Don't worry Numbuh Flower, we can take it from here!" 71.562 sputtered to the computer.
As the rolling bed was being rushed away, she saw 71.562 remain in the computer room with Flower while 74.239 was following up next to her.
"Breathe slowly! It's going to get your heart rate down. You want you to relax as much as you can."
Vine remembered what the letter mentioned about breathing. She tried covering her mouth with her tendrils. Wait, no. She did not have those anymore. She still felt them.
"Where's my…? It's still there. Why do I feel my vines?!"
"It's called phantom limb. You're going to experience that for a bit, it'll take some time to adjust."
"WHY DOES IT HURT?!"
"Vine, we beg of you, take it easy!"
"Vine, relax!"
The doctors and 74.239 eventually stopped rolling the bed. Vine's hand was grabbed. She felt something cold attach to her wrist, and then something cold on her finger. The beeping of the monitor next to her followed.
"Breathe through your nose. Relax your body. Take the time to feel where things are, OK?"
Finally, Vine listened to what they had to say. She closed her eyes and her mouth. She took a deep breath through her nose. She also remembered what the second important rule was: Adapt quickly. She realized late in this process the panicking was too much, and she had to try and at least listen, despite being so scared.
"Her heart rate is decreasing!"
"Good! Get the rainbow monkey!"
Vine felt her hands lying on her sides. She fiddled with her fingers. She tried tapping them each individually, getting a sense of what her hand will feel like. She told herself she had to adapt quickly.
"I found fingers the easiest to start controlling."
Vine opened her eyes.
The red headed boy was sitting on a stool beside Vine. She assumed he left with the footsteps of the others.
"What species are you, 74.239?"
"Kerrcus."
Vine smiled.
"Not far off from uvinea like you. We're both plant based, so, I just assumed it would be easier to help you if you needed anything."
The doctors came back with an emergency comfort rainbow monkey. She was given it in one of her hands as she swiftly wobbled her elbow to bend the grasp of it toward her chest.
"I can take it from here, guys," the kid on the stool affirmed.
The two saluted him, then left.
"…What's your human name?" Vine asked awkwardly.
"Dave Oak," he barely whispered.
Vine felt herself chuckle.
"Hey! I didn't pick it!"
"Human names are simple and cute. Mine is Elizabeth DeVine."
"Well, yes… I was given your name by Numbuh Flower."
"Isn't it a pretty name?"
"Well, names are just sounds, Vine. No need to ogle over the differences Earth has compared to us."
71.562 slowly marched into the room with a paper in both his hands. He handed it to 74.239, who started reading it carefully. His eyebrows raised.
"What is it?" Vine asked with excitement, squishing the rainbow monkey with both her hands.
71.562 glanced at Vine with a worried expression, then left the room.
"Numbuh Vine, I have your mission duties on here."
"Oooh!" Vine tried lifting her upper spine. She was shaky, but she successfully lifted herself up. "What missions do I get to go on? Who will I be fighting adult tyranny with?!"
74.239 gritted his teeth, squinting at her then at the paper.
"…You won't be a human disguised operative."
The light in Vine's eyes faded. "What?"
"Vine, you won't be disguised as a human Kids Next Door operative. You will be disguised as a human kid. That's it."
Vine bit her tongue in anger. She leaned forward. "That's a mistake! It has to be!"
"I'm sorry, Vine."
"GIVE ME THAT!" she yelled. She swiped her arm to grab the paper the boy was holding.
"Numbuh C55H72O5N4Mg's duties are as follows: In the recent event of too many human disguises as Kids Next Door operatives, we are splitting the operatives into the latter and normal disguised humans. Vine will follow her duties as a human child observing the operatives from outside their duties.
Observed Sector: V
Mission: Test loyalty of operatives/observe operative's responses to missions compared to their regular lives
Goals: Leave operative or operatives completely loyal to the Kids Next Door"
There was more left on the page, as Vine continued to read and stare at the paper with disdain.
"Heh… say! You're getting used to your spine quite quickly! How do you feel? Less pain?"
Vine pouted and handed the paper back to her fellow operative. She seemed to be holding the paper just fine without letting it go.
74.239 hesitantly took it back. He watched as she leaned back on her bed, tossing the rainbow monkey aside and off the bed.
"I don't make the rules, but you must follow through with this mission. You should be glad it's less work. In the meantime," 74.239 stood up from the stool. He walked around the bed to reach for the rainbow monkey, putting it next to Vine. He dusted himself off then folded the paper, placing it in his lab coat pocket. "you should get some sleep. It's going to help your body adjust faster. Then we can teach you how to walk."
As 74.239 walked away from Vine's sight, she lifted her hand in the air to see it. She wiggled her fingers, turning her hand around to look at her nails. There was a hang nail on her pinky, a dent in her index finger, a small white spot on the nail of her ring finger…
Vine felt her eyes become a little wet. The lights above her started to smear, meaning her vision was blurred. She blinked fast. She caught herself breathing through her mouth again. She closed her mouth, feeling her lips dry up. She wanted water, but it was not something she felt like asking for. She tried wiping her eyes, but forgot she was wearing glasses. When she took them off, she saw the world in a similar way she did when she had her uvinea body. She put the glasses back on.
It took a long time for the antsy and painful feeling in Vine's skin to wear away. That was when she finally fell asleep.
The morning followed with the galactic operatives ready to train Vine to walk. She was awoken with a tired and grumpy attitude.
"SHUT UP!" She screamed at to the two boys from yesterday. They were holding her arms, trying to get her to step on the floor. "I know what I'm doing!"
"You clearly don't! When's the last time you walked with bones?!" 74.239 hissed back.
"Well, Dave, I'll have you know I've practiced walking on two vines before I came here!"
"That clearly isn't enough! The structure of vines are obviously built different than human legs."
"Oh, please!" Vine scoffed while wobbling. She learned that she was wrong quickly when 74.239 loosened his grip. He snickered to himself.
"Don't do that!" she snapped.
71.562 spoke up. "Let's just get this over with. Feel your weight on your leg and shift it as you bring it over. You go in a dip, like—"
"I know I know!" Vine assured. She still continued to wobble as she tried placing her foot in front of the other, the two boys still holding on. She was focused on looking down.
Vine heard the footsteps of two other human disguised operatives arrive. She was too focused to look back up.
"Numbuh Infinity! Sir!" boomed the two boys.
"I see Numbuh Vine has arrived. Tell me, how are you adjusting to your human body?"
Vine looked up to see a boy dressed completely in black formal attire. Next to him was a girl with black stripes on her left arm in more casual attire.
"I did not have fun! It was painful and scary! Nobody told me that!"
"I'm sorry Numbuh Vine. The process is not pleasant at first for all galactic operatives. You seem to be adapting quickly. Close your mouth," he replied calmly.
Vine, not noticing her breathing before, closed her mouth.
"Numbuh 9L here and I will guide you to Earth to get started once you fully adapt to your body. Don't worry about your 2x4 technology you have brought, you won't be needing it on Earth. We are bringing you all the equipment you'll need on Earth," Infinity explained.
"What?!" Vine shouted. "I can't bring my 2x4 technology to Earth?!"
"It's alien. Plus, your assigned mission as a regular human girl does not require such technology and weapons."
Vine released her arms from the boys. She wobbled marching up to Infinity, pointing a finger at him.
"I learn all about Earth and make my way through all the courses on human habits, culture, and language, then not get told about the painful transformation process, then I'm told I can't even become a disguise operative, just a regular girl?! And now you're taking all my technology away?!"
Infinity stared at her with his deadpan, calm expression. His arms were folded behind his back. "You found yourself walking on your own through a motive. That's fantastic. You'll still need some time before going to Earth." Infinity then cupped his hands together. "Numbuh 74.239 and Numbuh 71.562, come with me. Numbuh 9L, stay with Numbuh Vine. We have some business to attend to on the human's moonbase."
The boys gladly followed Infinity as he stepped with grace away from Vine. The human disguised girl was left with 9L. She awkwardly waved at Vine.
Vine and 9L were chatting endlessly in the observatory room. The glass dome showed Earth right in front of it, leaving blue and green light shining on the two girls.
"What are those stripes on your arm?"
"They're tattoos. Well, not really. They're apart of my disguise."
"Tattoos?" Vine was holding 9L's arm while staring at it. "What?"
"It's ink that goes in the skin. Some humans have them but not all of them."
"Whoa! I didn't know that."
"Yeah! And they can be all sorts of things. Like, any drawing."
"Whoa!" Vine gushed with more amazement. "So, why stripes? Is it human symbolism?"
9L chuckled. "No, not really. It's because I'm a nekomata."
Vine gasped with interest, letting go of her arm. "What?! How did they fit your matter into your disguise?! Aren't nekomata like, eleventy-billion times bigger than people?!"
"Well, I don't know really. The process was really painful. And they didn't tell me that. I was paralyzed for two days, but I know bigger operatives."
"Two days…" Vine replied. "They didn't tell you either?!"
9L rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, the Galactic Kids Next Door kind of… wants to draw away any factor that makes the Earth related missions seem unappealing. It's stupid."
Vine looked around from left to right, then behind her. "9L, is there anything else they won't tell me?"
9L let a bead of sweat drop down her forehead. "Well, not off of the top of my head. They're going to guide you through Earth as best as they can. And they'll tell you about the mean adults and weird laws."
Vine tilted her head upon seeing how nervous 9L looked. Vine grew suspicious.
"Are you sure you're not hiding anything from me?"
9L leaned closer to Vine. "Come here," she whispered as softly as she could.
Vine squinted in hesitation.
"…You can finally eat chocolate ice cream without getting sick."
"What?" Vine asked, but when she replied with a confused expression, 9L smiled and laughed.
"Haha! It's incredible. It tastes just as good as they say it does!"
Vine squinted, unsure of what just happened. She gazed at Earth from the observatory, then back at 9L.
Vine changed the subject. "Did you see the mission I got?! What the heck does 'testing loyalty' mean anyway?! I mean, it just said I was supposed to leave them completely loyal to the Kids Next Door, and no elaboration! Like, what does that mean?!"
"Well, you're lucky you got a mission on Earth. I'm just here to make sure everyone is all right. You have a really important mission, Vine! You need to observe the loyalty of special operatives that could be our actual Earth representative."
Vine hesitated, narrowing her eyes at 9L. "What do you mean 'actual'? 74.239 told me that there weren't any human operatives."
"Well, he was sort of right. You see, the soopreme leader of the Earth's Kids Next Door, Numbuh 274, is aware about our organization. It technically makes him a galactic operative, but most of his job is getting rid of our tracks from the other kids. Infinity was considering making him the Earth representative, but he needs to pass some tests first."
Vine turned away from the girl. She turned her attention to the floor instead of out into stars. She kicked her legs.
"You're saying that my mission is directly responsible for choosing the next Earth representative of the Galactic Kids Next Door?"
9L gazed up at the stars surrounding Earth. "I guess…" 9L faltered, finally understanding the weight of Vine's mission. But when she looked into her eyes, 9L understood that Vine did not catch on to how important this was.
Hours had passed adjusting Vine to moving with her human body. She was given a visual study with her glasses on, hand-eye coordination testing, practice running, jumping, skipping, and more. She was determined to adapt quickly.
Vine had felt herself happy and comfortable in her human disguise form, running in a few circles with her arms out while giggling.
"Don't do that for too long!" 74.239 shouted to her from a few meters away. "You'll get dizzy! The human body is not adapted to spinning in long periods of time!"
Vine did not care to listen to 74.239 when he shouted across the room to her. Though, she did get dizzy, which lead her to feel herself trying to regain balance. Vine giggled while sitting down on the floor, letting herself rest.
"Human bodies are fragile! Numbuh Vine… be careful," 74.239 demanded as he pinched his nose. Vine continued to giggle, not listening.
"Elizabeth."
Vine heard her human name, turning to see a very stern and disappointed 74.239. She smiled awkwardly at him.
"Your human body is fragile. We are not responsible for your injuries while on Earth."
"Yeah yeah…" Vine rolled her eyes while smirking.
"Anyway, we should get you to the ship. Numbuh Infinity is almost prepared to take you to Earth."
As Vine and 74.239 marched to the rocket ship, Infinity loaded a human suitcase into a compartment.
"Numbuh Infinity, what's the status?"
"We're ready to bring Numbuh Vine to Earth. I would suggest you accompanying her."
74.239 waved his hands in front of his face frantically, suggesting to Infinity that he desperately did not want to go.
"Numbuh 74.239, you will bring Numbuh Vine to Earth. She needs someone within the Earth's side of the Kids Next Door to help her settle in her planet's decoy home and family."
"All right, fine," 74.239 sighed. "I did help build the robots anyway."
"Robots? That sounds fun!" Vine beamed.
"Yes, Vine, we have made your decoy family out of responsive Really Really Realistic Cyborg-Robots. I can tell you how they work and how they'll take care of you— and how you take care of them. All right, shall we leave now, Numbuh Infinity?"
"I trust you in the hands of guiding Numbuh Vine through the way of the humans. You may depart now."
As Infinity and 74.239 continued to talk, Vine went to see her reflection in the silver metal casing of the ship. She saw her face and gazed almost longingly at it, touching her cheek. In the middle of her yellow shirt was a blue dot, upon closer inspection was a picture of Earth itself.
"Come on, Vine, are you coming?"
"Yeah," she said without urgency. She stepped closer to her reflection for a moment before leaving.
She saw herself as beautiful.