Thud! Something fell. I blinked. Actually, this was the first time I heard something. Apparently, I could blink as well. I turned around. Wait, had my head always been this long and pointy? I reached out my hand and stretched my legs. Since when did I have bright blue limbs? My back felt as if a skyscraper had fallen on me — hang on, a gigantic square board was indeed on top of me. I crawled out of the object that had entrapped me for who-knows-how-long. I felt like I just woke up from half a century’s worth of slumber.

What on earth was going on? All I could see was rubble, bricks, and dust. The ceiling was gone, the walls were halfway destroyed, and the building frames were exposed.

“Helloooooo,” I shouted. “Anybody hereeee?”

No answer. I walked out of the miserable ruins to what seemed to be an open park. Two creatures — that I was pretty sure were humans — were sitting on a bench. One seemed to be a boy, and the other a girl. Holy Iron, at least some recognizable things are still around.

“Good day, human!” I waved my hand. “Could you tell me what’s going on? Was there a missile strike while I was asleep?”

The boy turned to me and said “I think I’m going to fail CS101.”

“What?” I screeched. “Has passing CS101 become a necessary condition for survival?!”

“I know, right,” replied the girl. “I might drop the class soon. Anyways, let’s just go to the cafeteria and eat. I’m starving.”

“Hey! Hey! Answer me first!” I tugged at the girl’s skirt and slapped the boy’s leg to get his attention. They were too tall. Suddenly the girl blushed and giggled, “Stop it! Don’t do that in public!”

“What the heck?” The boy frowned. “You’re the one who should stop slapping my leg!”

And so they kept walking, presumably to the cafeteria. I sat down defeated on the bench they had just left. An orange cat was walking by. It looked just like the cats I knew about: so fluffy, cute, and —

“Stop looking at me.”

“Wait… What?”

“I told you to stop staring at me, you weird blue alien,” the cat grumbled.

“You can… talk?” I pinched my arm, but the ginger furball was still there. “And you can see me?”

“Of course. What are you? I’ve never seen you before.” It cast me a very sour look.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out myself.” I sighed. “What happened while I was away?”

“Nothing. As far as I know, at least.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing happened. It’s been boring here, as always.”

As if on cue, a loud honking emanated from a distance.

To be continued next time in The KAIST Herald...