At the end of the 21st century the planet Earth was rendered almost inhabitable by the Milky Way Galactic Council. It was voted to touch down upon Earth as its dominant species began to colonize other planets in its solar system. Perhaps the exposure of alien life to civilian inhabitants would convince their governments to reach beyond the stars to help their plant. Their assistance was overall rejected by the human race, but Earth was officially recognized as a new player on a galactic scale.

Earth, 3038

The vast desert of Western North America was left only riddled with slums and criminals. Some inhabitants were people like Deyzi. Coming from a poor family millenium ago, Deyzi is one of the abandoned. The abandoned are the creatures left to rot away on the planet, the ones who aren't wanted for crimes by a foreign government. Simply the civilians of a vast wasteland. Deyzi did not consider herself ‘abandoned’, this was simply the game she had been dealt.

Deyzi starts her day on her Hover Rover 2 ™. Manufactured maybe over 200 years ago for the lesser population and farmers. Luckily it was meant to be sustainable. With some old recycled wheel attachments she could still get around when the Hover Rover decided not to, well, hover. Today was one of those days. The ride was a little rough across sandy and rocky terrain. The wind was blowing with a vengeance today, not great for market day. 

This didn't bother Deyzi much, she had faith the vendors could hold down the fort. Through her visor she saw she was approaching The nutrient supply, as well as a figure leaned up against it. She parked her rover behind the rusted metal building to shelter from the wind. She dismounted and took off her visor, mask, and head scarf exposing her shorn dark hair, tan skin, and crinkles around her eyes and mouth. She turned to greet her scaly friend.

Squam was an alien rejected from the military that was discarded to Earth, he considered himself abandoned. He was taller than Deyzi was, and by human characteristics would be considered reptilian or lizard-like. His once green scales had turned brown and tan to fit into his arid habitat. His eyes were shiny and black, and his mouth was wide. His body looked as though someone tried to contort a lizard into a human shape. His language was made up of various gurgles and speaks,so he donned a collar with a rusted voice box.

“You look ridiculous!” his little box told Deyzi. The voice sounded like some kind of male greeter, upbeat and welcoming. But coming from the box the voice sounded a little… tinny. Neither of which matched his choice of words or attitude.

“Hey now! Don’t scrap what works Squam! The old girl just don’t feel like flying today!” she responded. She walked up to the small scanner pad on the side of the building and exposed her wrist to it, where her identity chip was located. A robotic voice spoke:

Deyzi Chisholm, Age Earth 46, human, single party.

A door swung open to reveal a chamber, barely big enough for a single person. Inside was a gas mask with interchangeable sizes. Deyzi chose one meant for human adults and scanned her chip once again. She then inhaled a variety of different gasses and nutrients, including oxygen and hydrogen, to make up for the extreme lack thereof from living in such an environment.This was provided by the council so that they could say they were assisting such pitiful creatures, and they were. To the bare minimum.

“I always thought that process was quite excessive, especially considering you are closely approaching the end of your life!” Squam interjected upon Deyzi’s return. Squam’s race came from a planet with an already thin atmosphere, Earth’s environment was not much different from his home planet. So he didn’t need the nutrient chamber, but he still had an identity chip in the ‘palm’ of his hand where he lacked his thick scales.

“End of my life? I’m not even halfway through my life cycle Squam! I’ve got more life left in me than you could ever want, I assure you that,” she told him. He laughed, opening his mouth a croaking noise. He then returned to his moody stature.

“Humans live short lives, they do not complete their life cycle! Your evolution has been unimaginably slow! You are all so weak!” he retorted. “Your face has become disfigured from your incessant positivity!” It was Deyzi’s turn to laugh.

“Squam, you don't understand,” her voice became muffled as she reapplied her gear, “just how funny you are.” Deyzi told him. She re mounted on the rover and made off toward the market. Squam followed close behind, being well equipped to travel in the desert just as he was. As they rode towards the settlement clouds blew in, hard to notice with the constant blowing of sand. But then, thunder. 

“Come on Squam! We’ve gotta help hold down the settlement!” Deyzi yelled, muffled by her mask and the wind. They reached the hub as soon as the rain started to come down. It was salty and mostly acidic, causing blemishes to the skin and structural damage. And always with the rain, came the lightning.