Would you believe me if I told you I'm from another planet?

I doubt it. Not many humans believe such a thing to be possible. Those that do are laughed at and mocked.

My name is not David, although that is the name I was assigned here on Earth. My real name is Americk, and I've been here for 8 years - I've been sentenced to Life Alteration. This sentence is a rare one. It banishes you to Earth, to live out your days without contact to the rest of the galaxy. I don't know why they didn't kill me, but I know why I wasn't put in a normal prison - If I told the guards what I saw, my story could continue to spread. The Administration does not want that. Here on Earth, my word can't leave this planet.

The Milky Way Galaxy has 6 regions. I come from Centrane, about 25,000 lightyears away. Earth resides in Old Dathlow, a region forbidden of any transport unless explicitly permitted by the Dathlow Administration. It's the newest of the 6, although still very old. Dathlow used to be one of the 5 regions, but about 4400 years ago, Dathlow split into 2. Much of it became New Dathlow, with a 10-lightyear radius around Earth's Sun becoming Old Dathlow - The latter, which we are in, is the only region without an Administration, and instead, decisions here are voted on by all Administrations. The split is also when the transport restriction took effect. You see, it's no coincidence that Earth gets few visitors from beyond the stars.

Earth was chosen to be a no-contact planet. All that time ago, space travel was a luxury, only for the rich or members of the Administrations. But once it became more mainstream, new restrictions and guidelines had to be thought out and enforced harder. One of those new restrictions was to choose a planet which is full of life, and then prevent anyone from ever travelling there, in case the need for a contact-free planet ever came to be. Earth had only recently been added to the Life-Bearing Planet Registry at the time, which is partially why it had the largest known population with 0 registered space transport vehicles. With that, Earth was chosen.

This planet missed out on the massive boom in space travel and contact. Going from one side of the galaxy to the other would take years, and even a message would take a week. I'm of course translating to Earth time. Shortly after travel became useable for everyone, research skyrocketed, as did the economy. The Big Travel Push is something everyone learns about growing up, and it sounds fascinating. Getting from one side of the galaxy to the other became something you could do in a few days, and messages were practically instant. To this day, those speeds haven't improved much - it really did hit a peak.

Before my life as David, I worked for Portsco - the official cargo & delivery partner for New Dathlow. My final delivery was a solo one, though not something in my regular routine. I had to take a shipment from the Dathlow Administration HQ, to a research facility on a planet in Vaslia (another of the 6 regions). I was supposed to travel through Centrane, as it's the fastest route. But I didn't do this. I went around, to visit a friend who lives in another region. Her name is Jesanie. I don't see her often, and whilst it went against code, I decided there was no harm in a small detour for a quick visit. As it turns out, this small detour saved my life.

Upon arriving at my friend's home, I went to the back of the ship to check on the cargo. What I found instead was a device, about half the size of me. I stepped closer, noticing a second, smaller device, attached to the larger one. I was beyond confused, and almost forgot where I was, as my friend seemingly appeared behind me.

"Averick? Hey! I thought it must be you!"

Hearing Jesanie's voice grounded me. I told her the situation and asked her what she thought was going on - She has always been good with technology. I didn't expect it to be a big deal, I even thought that maybe the devices themselves was the cargo. She immediately identified both devices, telling me that the larger of the two was an explosive, and the smaller was a tracking device. It's apparently a common setup to have an explosion happen when the device reaches a specific location.

She tinkered around with the tracking device a little and discovered that it was tracking my position relative to Centrane. If I had completed the route as intended I would have died. I stood there, letting this sink in, as she played around with the device more. I wasn't sure what she was doing; I didn't care. All I could think about was how narrowly I avoided death, and why the Administration would even want me dead in the first place. Her voice sliced through the silence and took me out of my trance.

"It's not sending a message anywhere. It's storing your position entirely locally... They don't know you're here. Please, stay the night."

Sleep was not on our minds that night. We stayed up discussing why something like this could have happened. We spoke about the recent political tension between Centrane and New Dathlow. Jesanie theorised that they could be using this explosion to stage an attack, being able to pin it on Centrane. They could have also gotten Vaslia on their side, as they'd be furious that their package never arrived. Vaslia would have no idea who really caused the explosion. Strangely, this brought me slight relief - They didn't want to specifically kill me, I was just the unlucky sacrifice.

Of course, many questions were still unanswered. What package was so important that it would cause the Vaslia Administration to be furious? Better yet, where was the package now? Could New Dathlow still have it? Stealing a package from an ally, whilst pinning the blame on an enemy. Only losing a single delivery guy in the process certainly wouldn't be a big deal for them.

I ended up staying much longer than intended, afraid to return home. I was there for 3 nights before news broke of an important delivery going missing in Centrane. I guess without the explosion being noticed they had to wait a few days to announce it. Then, they showed a picture of me, saying I was presumed dead; A casualty of the events. I officially could not show my face in public again. My friend was getting messages from family members asking if she was okay, knowing that I was her friend. She lied by omission, not telling anybody I was with her. We knew what could happen if New Dathlow found out I was alive.

Weeks went by. I did not leave her house, and she only left for work and other necessities. I hated every second of it - I wanted to go out; I wanted to talk to other people; I wanted to find out what had happened. I couldn't sit there any longer without doing something. Every day I saw more about the tensions rising, and more lies being told by the Dathlow Administration. I'll be honest, I knew what I could do was minimal. In a galaxy with life in the trillions, my voice being heard was unlikely. But I had to do something. Jesanie felt the same way.

We devised a plan. We knew we would get caught, but we thought we could at least go out doing something good. I was to stay at her house, contacting everyone I knew. Telling them I was alive. Telling them that it was all a hoax, and that an explosive was supposed to kill me. Meanwhile, Jesanie would use my ID card to get into the Dathlow Administration HQ, hoping that they hadn't taken my ID off their systems yet. She would find her way into the logs and figure out where the cargo was swapped for the explosive. Then she would find it and...do something. We weren't sure what yet - We didn't even know what the cargo was.

We said our goodbyes and wished each other good luck. It wasn't a bullet-proof plan, but it was something. I wish every day that I knew I would never see her again. I wish I had told her not to go, and done this myself. But instead, I watched as she set off in her ship, unknowing that she would not return.

A few hours later and I'd still heard nothing. I was getting worried. Maybe I got a little too carried away in drawing attention to the situation, but I broke the plan slightly and left her house. I had already called all my family, but it wasn't enough. I needed the public to see I was alive. So I told random people that I could find, everyone who was anybody, I told them. Some of them didn't recognise me, but most people did! It was successful enough.

I got a message from Jesanie at this point. She had sent me multiple video files, which looked to be taken directly off of the Dathlow Administration's servers. Somehow, she had done it. She had found what this package was. Part of me wishes I never knew. I have seen far more things than anyone on this planet, yet this is something I cannot get out of my head.

The first video was eerie enough in itself. 2 prisoners, locked in a room. They had a bed each, and a shared toilet. They also had a selection of food on a shelf, and a television. They were not living happily, but they were alive.

The second video showed a strange mist filling the room. You could hear both of them screaming. A scream of agony and pain from one, and screams of horror and sadness from the other. One of them was being killed, and the other was watching it unfold. The two screams turned into one, as the mist cleared the room, leaving only one person left. What happens next is something I can hardly comprehend. Their tears stopped as they got up and began to look confused. They grabbed some food, and started to watch television.

The third video showed guards entering the cell, and the prisoner asking "Why are there two beds? Who else are you going to bring in here?"

The prisoner had no memory of their friend ever existing. The mist had not only killed them, but killed any thought of them, too. It seems that physical evidence of their existence is left unaffected, but memories are erased.

It was at this point that I noticed the communication network was comprised of 3 people. I thought it was just me and Jesanie, but before the video files being sent, there was a message from someone called Kendally. The message sent a chill down my spine.

"I think they're about to find me. Averick, you've been a good friend, and it's been nice spending time with you recently. Jesanie, you will always be the love of my life - Please get out of here. Don't let both of us die. I love you both. I hope we did good."

There had been a third person this entire time. Jesanie had a partner. I had no memory of them. Not even the slightest. I don't know what happened to Jesanie after that, but I know the mist did not consume her as it did Kendally, because I remember her vividly. I was arrested shortly after and brought down to Earth without any of my possessions. I can only assume that Jesanie landed the same fate as me, and I have spent the past 8 years trying to track her down.

New Dathlow has a weapon. They can take out powerful leaders and nobody would know, as nobody would remember. At least, as long as they remember to destroy all physical evidence manually. As far as I'm concerned, they have what is possibly the most powerful weapon in the galaxy.

I'm making this post today for a reason. 2 reasons, actually.

The first is that I've noticed a lot more UFO sightings in recent months. I've even had some first-hand encounters with seeing something flying through the sky. I know that these are not general citizens as I know the rules of Old Dathlow. This can only be official members of the Administration, and their reasons for visiting Earth so frequently cannot be good. My first thought is that they want to test their mist in a larger population, erasing random people from this planet. They won't kill large amounts, as they want to keep Earth alive as a testing ground. But if there's one place they'll test this, it'd be here.

This leads me to my second reason. Yesterday, I walked into my bedroom and saw a framed photo on the wall. It had me and a woman I'd never seen before. We had 2 children.

I think I had a wife and kids.

I think the mist took them from me.

Keep an eye out for anyone you don't recognise in your photos. It's important to stay vigilant and aware. This planet is nothing but a prison and a testing ground to them, so they won't hesitate with who they erase - It could be anybody.

Jesanie, if you read this, please contact me.

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