I've never been inclined to delve into conspiracy theories or entertain fantastical notions, not out of disinterest, but rather a preference for clarity and truth.

However, standing before this being with eyes as dark as the void, I find myself reevaluating. Suddenly, the possibility of hidden truths and enigmatic mysteries feels more tangible than ever before. It's a curious sensation, one that both intrigues and unsettles me in equal measure.

"Help me." He said yet again. This time the tone was blank.

I hesitated, my gaze drifting to the side as I grappled with his request. Alien or not, I still was not familiar with him, and the stakes seemed impossibly high. "I don't understand how I'm supposed to help..." I trailed off, the words dissolving into the growing unease between us.

"I need to get back home." He sighed. "And there is not enough time. They are going to take my spaceship and without it I cannot get home."

"Wh- didn't you mean to come here?" I asked confused. He didn't appear lost or unintended in his arrival.

"What, no." He quickly said. "I... I got here by accident. It was actually my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"I stole it." He looked to the side, almost embarrassed.

"You stole... from who?"

He sighed once more and put on his serious face yet again. "I admit, I took it from my birth-givers because it looked intriguing, and I simply wanted to explore its interior, as I was not permitted to do so." He kicked at a small stone on the ground, sending it skittering across the dirt path.

"Go on." I said, knowing very well there's more to this story.

"It was not only me though, my brother friend helped me."

"So, is he your brother or your friend?" I asked just to make sure I'm following everything.

"Friend, who is like a brother to me." He clarified, a slight smile touching his lips at the mention.

"Okay, go on sorry."

"Anyways, my birth-givers only had that spaceship for a week as part of their work or something, they did not tell me the full story as usual. And I thought it was my only chance to explore it in the meantime while the opportunity presented itself."

I nodded to show that I was still listening.

"So, I  called my best friend to come help me open it because it opens with the help of another." He continued. "You see, it needs two people to activate it using two buttons from each side of the main and only door. I could do it myself,  but those two buttons are very far apart and hidden in plain sight on each side."

"Oh." I said as I was processing all that he had said so far. "Wait, so where's your best friend?"

"He is back home. As soon as he helped me activate it, his birthgiver suddenly called him and he had to go early." He chucked a bit. "I guess that is where it all started."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, now I could explore by myself. Something about being alone while doing something you are not supposed to - that feels much safer."

"What?" I asked, quite confused because that statement didn't make sense to me.

He shook his head dismissively. "The crux of the matter is, as I was exploring its interior, I inadvertently activated the hyper-loop function while marveling at its ceiling. It happened in the blink of an eye - suddenly, I found myself hurtling through space, destined for your dimension."

"Wow."

"I could not steer it." He said while in deep thought and furrowed his brows. "It was like it was auto-piloted to come here. When I arrived at your atmosphere I panicked. And pressed every button I could."

The adrenaline coursed through me as I listened intently to his tale. I couldn't help but imagine myself in his shoes, grappling with a similar scenario. Perhaps not involving a spaceship, but maybe something more relatable—like finding myself accidentally airborne in a plane and desperately seeking a way to safely navigate back to solid ground.

The thought alone sent shivers down my spine, yet I couldn't deny the thrill of such a harrowing adventure.

My heart quickened at the mere thought, prompting a sigh of relief as I reassured myself that such a situation was nearly impossible to find oneself in. Yet, as I glanced at Xynar, the gravity of his predicament weighed heavily on me.

Unlike my hypothetical scenario, his reality was far from impossible—it was happening right before my eyes.

"So, as I was pushing every button, I must have deactivated the autopilot." He continued again. "Let us just say, that did not go so well. I crashed the spaceship, and it somehow still managed to open the door for me. I thought perhaps it wanted me to see something, but I am also guessing it automatically opens the door after landing. The second I stepped out, it closed shut, and of course, I could not open it again without the help of another."

Absorbing his story, it only just hit me now that he might've been the cause of the crash last night. An audible gasp escaped my lips as the realization washed over me, the weight of his words sinking in deeply.

"You caused the mysterious crashing sound?" I asked, my voice filled with disbelief.

"What?"

"You cut off the network connection, that was you? Oh my goodness." My mind raced as I paced back and forth, trying to piece together the implications. "So, you're the alien. Your spaceship is still out there and—" I stopped mid-sentence, gasping yet again as another thought struck me. "This means that the government is also looking for you."

"What?"

I put my hands over my face as I came to realize the gravity of what I was getting involved in. "I'll get in trouble if I help you, Xynar. The biggest trouble anyone could ever get into." I murmured, my voice muffled behind my hands.

"I just need your help opening it, Amanda. That is all. I am begging you." His voice held a note of desperation making the decision before me even more daunting.

I glanced at him as he attempted to wear his most pleading expression, but the darkness of his eyes only served to unsettle me further. What the heck? I averted my gaze from him.

"Your eyes scare me. Maybe for now just shapeshift into someone else so that it won't cause any suspicion from anyone in the meantime. And put me a bit at ease." I spoke.

He furrowed his eyebrows slightly and cast his gaze downward, a fleeting expression of disappointment crossing his face. However, it swiftly dissipated as he began to speak once more. "I can only shapeshift into your form or that of the previous human I encountered. Otherwise, I require some form of reference."

"What? You mean someone else saw you?" I shrieked. "Why didn't you ask them to help you?"

"Because she screamed loudly and in an annoying manner." He blankly said.

"Xynar..." I made sure to ask very carefully. "How did you appear to her and where is she."

"I shapeshifted into her, just as I did with you. However, her screaming would have attracted too much attention."

"Where is she?" I repeated with a stern tone. The implications of multiple people knowing about him weighed heavily on me, each potential link in the chain posing a risk to my own safety.

"I sent her off." He said, unbothered.

"Off where?" I started to panic.

"Relax. She is still here on Earth, but I'm not sure of her whereabouts. It is quite unstable, as I constructed it myself." He said while taking out a piece of glowing cylindric object. It had spheric closed ends, almost like a short wide pencil with eraser tips on both sides. Its white glow was very mesmerising.

"How could you have made this?" I asked with genuine interest. "It looks... like no one can make this. At all. It looks like you just pick it up from a... from a mythical cave or something."

He chuckled. "No, I made it. The glow is simply paint from my planet, quite common actually. But the point is, I believed it would transport me anywhere I desired in Ruiyn. However, when I tested it on an object to teleport it to another room, it vanished completely. I did manage to retrieve it, though."

I shrieked even louder, my voice tinged with panic and desperation. "Then bring back the girl you teleported!"

"Right now?" He seemed almost amused by the urgency in my voice, his tone markedly casual.

"Yes!" The word burst from me, sharp and insistent. Then, a sudden thought struck me, cutting through my frantic state. "Wait, shapeshift into her first, I want to see if I know her or not."

He shrugged nonchalantly and with a blink of an eye, he transformed into someone else entirely.

My heart paced as I gazed at the figure before me.

He shapeshifted into Ria.