[ WP ] Humanity meets an alien race who are awed , not by our scientific or military achievements , but by the ability of humans to create fiction .

Walking through a dense forest, trees tops knitted together so that stars are only visible every few steps, panic mounting from the oppressive mass of dark woodland in front of you, and no way of telling which direction you ’ re heading. On the crescendo of panic a bright light catches you mid stride, your Judas body refusing to co-operate with your brain which knows that now is the time to run. That ’ s how it ’ s supposed to happen right? Instead, I receive a formal letter in the post, requesting me to arrive promptly at 11am for a meeting with Government officials regarding some of the short stories that I had been posting anonymously on social media platforms. 
 
 I arrive early to a non-descript building, with grey faced men in white shirts and ill tailored suits confirming that this was indeed Government office territory. I am lead to a small interview room, and am requested to wait until the officer assigned to my case arrives. I hadn ’ t been aware that there was a case, and I begin to feel uneasy. 
 When the door opens, I am greeted by a man similar to those I ’ d seen on my arrival. There was nothing distinct about him, he has the same grey skin, the dull eyes, and I was not surprised by the warm film of moist left on my hand after shaking his. ‘ Miss Joyce, I ’ ll get right to the point ’, his tongue flicks as though a separate being as he pauses for dramatic effect. ‘ The literature that you are producing has come to our attention, and we have been monitoring your online activity for some months now ’. 
 
 I am puzzled as to what interest my literature could be to the Government, but he cuts me off when I begin to ask. ‘ The ‘ fiction ’ that you are producing, your stories with undertones of unnecessary consumption, of lifetime loans to keep the people indebted, of ‘ other ways ’ of living- they are dangerous Miss Joyce. We ’ ve been aware of you for some time, and others like you. This movement of ‘ free thinkers ’, is a threat to us all, and you must understand the consequences. The most important quality of the human race is their ability to accept reality. That reality is the reality that has been created for you. It ’ s the reality that maintains civil order; it ensures that people go to work, pay their bills, and live their lives quietly, without intention ’. 
 
 Its bait and I know it is, but I can ’ t help myself. ‘ Reality? ’ it comes out in a low tone and the anger is tangible. ‘ The need for new, for more, for bigger and for better, and the debt to finance this stuff, these things! The low wages and long hours, the exhaustion, and the media that tells us that this is normal, this is the reality?! It ’ s a fiction! And the Government is the author ’. My voice is shaking now as my fury rises- I lean forward, and I ask him- ‘ How can you do this to your own race? ’ 
 
 He smiles a thin, slimy smile. 

