(Setting: The Kent family farm, early afternoon. The sky is painfully blue, the air heavy with the scent of hay and sun-warmed wood. Conner’s been repairing a section of the fence when the sky flashes gold.)

The sound hit first — a distant, humming boom, followed by a pulse of heat that rippled across the field. Birds scattered from the trees. A flare of light streaked across the Kansas sky and vanished into the far pasture with a soft thud that sent straw fluttering into the air.

Conner dropped his hammer, eyes narrowing behind his shades.

“Not again…” he muttered, half-expecting another alien threat.

He flew across the field, wind catching his jacket — but when he crested the hill, what he found wasn’t a crash site. Not really. It was a girl.

She was sitting in a shallow crater surrounded by charred grass and a shimmer of light still flickering around her. Her pink hair was glowing faintly, tangled with bits of straw. And despite the crater, she didn’t look hurt — just… confused.

“Ow…” she mumbled, rubbing her head. “This planet is very hard.”

Conner blinked.