After-Earth.

Year 17,021:

UFO hovering over a world as we knew it, two aliens land in what appears to be an unknown city. An unknown state. An unknown country. Everything that surrounds them is bronze. Dilapidation is an understatement. Earth is now history. Sand and dirt surround buildings. Grass sprouts from every cement road that neighborhood homes and cities. Suburban neighborhoods that housed the wealthy lowered into the slums that were shunned upon by the more fortunate. Not a shred of human life form left. Other life forms, classified as “Aliens”, still remain. Like humans, aliens are spread across the never-ending galaxy came from different families. The most prominent family of the galaxy are the Lli’s, who's known for completing the one task that none of the other life forms could. Destroying the earth. The remaining relatives of the well-known family, Lli-Eson and his 8-year-old son, Lli-Len, arrive in what was known as New York. A city that never slept, is now at rest. Times-Square lights are no more. Every building, abandoned. Every light, shut off. Lli-Eson opens the door on his ship with his long green tentacle, walking side by side with his child. Lli-Len has no idea where he’s at. His father has taken him to every planet there is, but not Earth.

The galaxy language of Ducloslurgen has been translated to English for readers.

“Where are we?” Lli-Len asks, trailing behind his father.

“Earth.”

Lli-Len’s face morphs from confused, to fascinated.

“The place our ancestors took over?”

“I always tell you that we did it, but I never gave you the details on how,” Lli-Eson states, placing his left tentacle over his son's shoulder. “Let’s take a walk.”

The life forms slither down the vacant streets of Times Square. Lli-Eson raises his tentacle at the cracked ball, located in the center.

“This is where the humans hosted the countdown every time a New Year came about,” Lli-Eson continues, still strolling. “Our families struck thousands of years ago, back in 2025.”

“How?”

“In their year 1925, the first human being was discovered out here. Before that, our world had never been approached or invaded. After that year, more and more humans began entering our world, which angered the entire Alien Race,” Lli-Eson mentions. “You know who the Ksi-family is, correct?”

“The first Alien family to travel to Earth.”

“Correct, son,” His father smiles. “Once the Ksi-family traveled to earth to discover, it sparked an even bigger issue for us aliens. Their sighting caused more humans to travel to our galaxy, which is why the Ksi-family has been shunned for so long. If it weren’t for them, all of the aliens would be at peace. Ever since, every alien in the galaxy spent ages trying to figure out how to end the human race for good.”

“How did our family do it?”

“Earth had a system called a U.S. Government, who would secretly use methods to keep us away from their life forms. They’d report our sightings, but were always two steps ahead and used weapons to murder every alien that was spotted. So many of our lives, from our families too, were lost trying to keep humans away,” Lli-Eson explains, still strolling through the city. “Your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-“

“Okay Dad, I think I get it!” Lli-Len laughs, waving his tentacle at his father.

“-and many greats after that, great-Grandfather, Lli-Oson, traveled to earth and was one of three aliens who traveled to Earth and made it out.”

“How?”

“Now there are many theories, but only proven one is that Lli-Oson managed to steal DNA from a dead human in a graveyard, a place where the humans placed other humans when their species would die off. One nail sprout from Lli-Son's antenna to steal blood from a decayed victim, then he stored it into his UFO processor and was able to find out how the entire human body operates an hour after processing,” Lli-Len continues, gesturing his tentacles. “Everything from the brain, down to their feet.”

“Wow!”

“But your “many greats” Grandfather realized that getting rid of one human wasn’t going to work. There were once billions located across the entire earth!” Lli-Eson continued, walking down a vacant subway. “Lli-Oson wondered, “His most famous quote was, Soon-"

“-I will remove the heart from of the earth!” Lli-Len states, finishing his fathers statement.

“You’ve been paying attention in history class. For that, I’ll let you ride the UFO home!”

“Yes!”

“Managing to slither through the cracks of the government, Lli-Oson studied every aspect of what made the world operate. After one trip, he realized one thing was keeping every human alive,” His father continued, stepping down onto the dusty and abandoned railroad tracks. “Traveling back to the galaxy, he spent his entire adult life creating a plan on how to destroy the human species. There are theories as to how he did this as well. One is that he took a piece of the earth’s crust and destroyed it in the process, another is that he used help from other aliens..”

“So how did my great-great-great-extra great Grandfather do it?”

Lli-Eson moves the Black Cape ties around his neck, unveiling a gold-Heart shaped locket with a rusty button inside. A locket he’s worn his entire life.

“Our family locket?” Lli-Len says in confusion.

“Passed on to the eldest sons of our entire family line. With this locket, Lli-Oson returned to Earth and pressed the button inside, removing oxygen from the entire planet within seconds. Every human dropped dead in the spot they stood in, hearts stopping within minutes,” Lli-Eson said, clutching the bright-Gold locket. “The bodies and animals laid, decayed, and eventually turned to dust. Earth went from bright-green and blue colors to a land of no color, just like the moon. Water dried throughout. Your extra-great Grandpop made history, and made being a Lli the ultimate honor.”

“Does the button inside work anymore?”

“No. The button has long worn down due to time,” Lli-Eson sighs, tucking the locket away. “Come on, let me show you the places humans used to eat inside of called ‘Restaurants’.”

“Why did my extra-great Grandpop make the locket in the shape of a heart?”

Lli-Eson smiles, placing his arm around his son.

“It was his symbolic expression on how the human body can’t function without it.”