[ WP ] Aliens have come to earth with the intent to conquer it , but when they arrive , they realize that , due to random chance or otherwise , they are biologically indistinguishable from humans .

Rossian stared at the clock, it was glowing. It had been glowing all night. It had been another sleepless night and he liked to look at his glow in the dark clock, liked to hear the ticking noise it made, barely audible during the day, but now it seemed to come to life. It was like it was trying to tell him something, but what it was he could not understand. Occasionally he glanced outside the window on the wall beside his bed, like he was expecting something to happen and worried that he might miss it. It was a starlit and moonless night, not a cloud in the sky and a gentle summer breeze hung in the air. It had only been a week, but already he missed home. 
 
 They had discovered life on other planets before, seen some strange and disturbing things, but nothing could have prepared them for this news. In Galaxy-9025a, on Planet-1023 their scouts had reported that they had found life, and not just any life form. The dominant species on this planet were biologically indistinguishable from them. This discovery had caused a lot of buzz, and after debating and pondering over the matter for quite a lengthy period of time, the Council had decided that if they were just as powerful and intelligent as them, they were a potential threat and needed to be eliminated. There was some members in the Council who had questioned whether elimination was really necessary, but all agreed that first they needed to find out as much about these ‘ creatures ’ as they could. 
 
 “ Remember the first thing you need to buy is a clock. We have come to the conclusion that these creatures, humans they call themselves, are obsessed with time. Your task is to blend in and find as much as you can about them. Though the task may look easy, given the circumstances, I assure you it is not. To blend in, you must always appear to be busy, always appear to be in a rush to get somewhere. Also under no circumstance should you appear content and happy, you should always worry about something or the other, we suggest something like the future, it seems to be quite a popular topic among them, and most importantly you must pretend to believe that your life has a meaning. ” This was too much even for Rossian and at this point he had protested that surely an entire society can not be under such a ludicrous delusion? Without looking up from his notes, the commanding officer had continued, ” We have been observing them for quite some time, and this is what we think. ” With a puzzled and slightly amused look on his face he continued “ Another peculiar thing that you should know is that these humans never ever give up hope. ” He paused a while letting his words sink in. ” However bad the situation may be, for want of a better word however ‘ hopeless ’ the situation may be, they always have hope. ” Some of the officers burst out laughing, Rossian himself had to bite his lips hard to suppress a smile. Unperturbed, the commanding officer continued, “ This is the part that puzzles us the most. Either they are incredibly stupid and delusional or they know some secret that we do not. This also you must find out. ” 
 
 The mission had proved harder than he had thought, the commanding officer had been right. So far he had made no progress, except for buying the clock. That part had been easy. It felt weird to look at someone, who seems to belong to the same species as you did, but to have no clue what was going on in their mind, if they even had one. Sometimes he got the feeling that even these humans did not understand each other, and as for what motivated them to live he had no clue. This hope thing was freaking the hell out of him. He had read in newspapers about the wars that were waging on in some parts of this world, and the conditions and the hardships of the people living there. In some poor countries, people were born on the streets and died on the streets, never having enough to eat, never having enough clothes and no shelter to protect them from the cold, heat or rain. What the hell did they live for, he wondered and shuddered at even the thought of such an existence. Then there was this thing called love that he kept hearing about. It was the most irrational thing he had ever heard in his entire life. 
 He wondered if he was the right person for this job and for a moment considered the possibility of going back empty handed, with more questions than answers. But he was Rossian, and if there was one thing that could be said of him it was that he never gave up, not unless he was satisfied that the situation was hopeless. He just would have to try harder. But he was exhausted now, and badly needed to get some sleep. He closed his eyes in yet another attempt to fall asleep.
