He had been the boy’s mother so long, he had forgotten what it was like to be himself. Nevertheless, it was time the boy knew the truth.

“Nathan, there’s something you must know.” Nathan, now sixteen, sat down to listen to his mother. “Nathan, do you remember when your family helped colonize Proxima 4? You were six at the time.”

Nathan nodded.

“Well, I have good news, and bad news. When your mother was gathering mineral samples, she encountered the dominant intelligent species on that planet, and there was a terrible accident.”

“But… you’re my mother.” Nathan was understandably confused.

“No, tragically, your mother is dead. I’ve been assigned the task of assuming your mother’s form to spare you the grief of her loss and, I fear, to assuage our guilt over her demise.” He assumed his natural, alien state before Nathan’s eyes.

Nathan was on the verge of tears. “You said you had good news?”

“Please understand, when we encountered your mother, we had no idea she was a member of an intelligent species. Had we known, things would have gone much differently.”

“So what’s the good news?”

“She tasted like chicken.”