The sound of laughter drifted up from the street below, making him feel very alone in this new town.

The sound of laughter drifted up from the street below, making him feel very alone in this new town. He had arrived several weeks prior and was having trouble finding his footing. This was the last chance Zorb would have to claim citizenship of the world by the standards of the council back XE6. They had sent him 4 times to Earth in hopes that he would be able to integrate with the humans; learn from them, their culture, language, odd ways of life, etc. Humans were a fascinating breed to the council. Of all the planets they had observed, all the different forms of life, culture, religions, and philosophies-humans were the most irrational.

Other cultures followed a logical, albeit cynical, modus operandi. They had reckoned early on that their time was fleeting and limited and had set out to live in a productive, contributive way. "If I'm only alive for a certain amount of time, I'd better get to work", around 90% of life forms on the other planets reasoned as such. Not humans. They liked biding their time. Waiting at least a few months until they could even stand on their bipedal mode of transport. Another few months or sometimes even years until they could effectively communicate! After that there would be a great span of time until they were actually trusted to operate as their own independent beings. Another great span of time until their society deemed them eligible as having the skills necessary to make decisions for themselves. The council of XE6 had observed that the average age for Earth's citizens to even start operating a faster mode of transport was 18 years! How can you get anything done?? Ludicrous