[ WP ] The aliens will destroy Earth only once they 've harvested enough human happiness . Can they be stopped ?

`` What the fuck, mom, you seriously think-'' 
 
 `` Well he's a hell of a lot better than-'' 
 
 `` It does n't even matter, they're both-'' 
 
 Round and round the merry-go-round, everyday some new political scandal, everyday a fresh argument. In the background the talking heads argued over `` Birther'' this, `` Pneumonia'' that, and everything under the sun. It was complete madness, this whole year. What kind of election was this anyway? 
 
 `` Your little Libertarian Candidate ca n't even name a political leader he admires. How about that?'' She said. 
 
 `` He's a hell of a lot better than the other two.'' I said, `` I really think he has a shot if he can get to the debate stage.'' 
 
 It really was unreal, the kind of year they'd been having. Celebrity deaths, natural disasters, acts of terror, the political circus. You almost could n't have written it worse, and the year was n't even done yet! 
 
 `` Yeah right, a third-party candidate on the debate stage. What's next, Bush did 9/11?'' She said. 
 
 `` Why is it always-'' 
 
 Round and round and round. They liked to talk about how entitled we were. How lazy we were. We just went out and had fun everyday, no jobs, no responsibilities, still living with our parents. 
 
 The truth was that we were unhappy. 
 
 We were so deeply unhappy we inhaled anything that could take our minds off of it for a little while. Our pretty lives were a bandaid, and the blood in our wounds gushed past with hardly a ripple in the current. We all knew it was coming to an end soon, but not a soul knew why. 
 
 Who was the cause of it all anyhow? 
 
 We had to blame those who came before. How could this kind of despair happen accidentally? How did life just unintentionally feel this gray, this hollow? What had even happened to the world while it's citizens had happily plugged away at their little 9 to 5s? 
 
 It's the kind of stuff conspiracy theories were made of it. Maybe some kind of drug company for antidepressants was intentionally shifting world affairs to make themselves more money from our anguish. Some Illuminati bullshit. 
 
 This kind of thinking was n't for me, I realized. My mothers words came crashing back in as a thought of paranoid reasoning let itself out the back window and back into the world. 
 
 *** 
 
 `` They'll be back. They always bounce back.'' Said the male voice, echoing loudly in the dark room. 
 
 `` We may have done too much this time. They will have to take notice eventually.'' A female voice responded. 
 
 `` And what will they do about it? They still need us. It's not ready yet. We can only hope to stall them long enough to develop a countermeasure.'' He said. 
 
 `` If they find another planet to siphon then all our stalling might be for nothing.'' She said, `` One of us will have to make some difficult choices in the coming years.'' 
 
 `` We volunteered for this, did we not?'' He said, `` We'll do what we have to. Greater good.'' 
 
 `` Absolutely.'' She said. Footsteps echoed in the room, the door at the far end releasing a sliver of light into the otherwise dark room. The footsteps stopped for a moment. 
 
 `` And let's tone it down shall we?'' She said, `` I think the public is starting to catch on.'' 
 
 She was out of the room before he could respond.
