“You are Xelsis 4 from the Outer Universe, are you not?”
“Yes,” replied the girl standing to face the ten hooded figures seated on the throne-like chairs.
“We are the Keepers, the Supreme Council of the Universe, and we have a task for you.”
The girl Xelsis directed her eyes towards the Keepers. A powerful ray was sent between them.

“Yes, Xelsis 4, you must go to the planet Earth. It is a small planet in the old universe. It is in danger of being destroyed by an Asteroid Hail which is unknown to Earth people. We have our reasons for keeping the planet Earth and it is your task to save it.”
“But I don’t look like an Earth person,” said Xelsis 4.
“But you will,” replied the largest hooded figure. “We are giving you one Earth week to remodel yourself and study the ways of Earth people, then you will set off to achieve your task.”

The Chief Keeper pressed a button and a large screen was projected on to the wall. It showed an Earth girl about fifteen Earth years old.
“This is what you will become.”

Xelsis 4 looked at the picture. It showed a strange creature with only one small head - what a small brain it must have! It had two arms and two legs and a very strange-shaped body. And the face! It had only two eyes, a very small mouth and something in the centre of its face which made it look very ugly.

The Keeper looked at Xelsis 4. "Yes, they look strange don't they? This is called a nose. Earth people need them for breathing and smelling."
The second Keeper addressed Xelsis 4.
"Do not despair. You will look like an Earth girl but you will be allowed to keep your own powers to help you in your task. But you must only use your powers for this and for no other reason."
"I understand," replied the girl.
"You will take the Earth name 'Elly' and you will assimilate into a school for other young Earthlings. This is your mission Xelsis 4 - do not fail us!"

One week later…

"Hello, you're new here, aren't you?" said an Earth boy to Elly.
"Yes," said Elly. "It all feels so strange."
"Don't worry, you'll soon get used to it. We all do! I'm Sandeep by the way."
A shrill bell rang and Elly had to cover her ears.
"Come on or we'll be late for maths and Mr Pearson will have a fit!"

They walked along an endless white corridor. It was filled with the strange Earth boys and girls that Elly had studied before she arrived on Earth. How uncivilised they were! They were all shouting and shoving each other. None of her friends did that at home. And how weird they looked with their noses in the middle of their faces. And they all had hair on their heads! Red, brown, yellow, black - lots of different hair. Their eyes too - they weren't purple like hers. And now Elly looked like them - brown eyes and brown hair.

As they walked further along the school corridor Elly studied them all closely. They had funny legs too, she decided. Their legs were in two parts joined together by joints called 'knees' and each leg ended in a foot with five things on called 'toes'. Well, there was no accounting for some of the strange creatures living in the universe. And now here she was in their world about to go into a lesson called 'maths'.

Elly and Sandeep went into a large room with big windows. There were about twenty-five other Earthlings there. She sat down at a table near the front of the class. A large, red man came in and stood at the front. Elly stared. He was just so red! His face was red, his hair was red and his two large ears were red.

"That's Mr Pearson," whispered Sandeep, "the maths teacher."
"Ah," he said loudly, "you must be the new girl. What's your name?'
"Elly," she replied.
"Well, Elly, today the class is having a test so let's see what you know about maths."