We're Not from Here

After almost a year on Mars following Earth’s destruction, Lan’s friend Naya shares a rumor with Lan and their friend Jens about an inhabitable planet called Choom, a place populated by aliens that resemble giant mosquitos. Lan, Naya, and Jens have varying of levels of discomfort regarding settling on a new planet amongst these creatures. Jens wants to go back to Earth, even though Naya and Lan have repeatedly told him it’s uninhabitable. Before the friends begin fighting, a man walks by and asks if the kids are going to make more videos. Lan, Naya, and Jens are famous for making humorous movies about life on Mars, and the man is glad to hear they’ve got another in the works because “[they] need all the joy [they] can get around here” (4).

The man asks Lan about Ila (Lan’s sister), who was famous back on Earth for making it to the final round of a popular singing show. Two days before the finals, rising radiation levels forced people to evacuate the planet, and Ila has been depressed for the last year. Lan always tells people that Ila will sing again and that she just needs some time, though Lan privately wonders if that’s true.