Page 1 of Kailirex (Brides of the Mylos #6)

CHAPTER 1

KAILIREX

I looked down at the viewing projections. The numbers looked promising. Children in the consumer test group loved the theme song and adored the short acts we’d already filmed so we could share them with the focus groups. I smiled as the lobby cameras captured one of the children skipping and singing the words to the theme song as his mother led him out.

“The stars are shining

The ships are flying

Let’s come and play

The Mylos way

See our feet

Standing tall on deck at the Playtime Fleet!”

I slid my finger along the display, wishing to see how the tie-in products were looking. To raise the level of consciousness about our culture and message of friendship to a sustainable saturation level, we needed children to think about us not just when the show was airing but while they played with their friends. Friends they could introduce their toys to, and hopefully gain a new viewer.

“What’s this?” I asked, pointing at a rainbow colored flying saucer.

“That’s one of the Playtime Shuttles which, in the opening animated sequence, will take children from Earth to the Playtime Fleet,” Ritl replied. “Under it is a playset designed to look like living quarters facing a play park. They can open and close the doors and place the figures on the swings and pose them with the pretend barbecue grill, picnic table, and so on. We took inspiration from previous successful toy lines that were popular with human preschool children in the past.”

“And this one?”

“It’s the playschool, sir,” Tithys replied. “It opens up and if the screen is activated, it will play animated clips of common items and a voiceover will say it in their local language and ours, alternating with one involving numbers.”

I nodded in approval. This was to be an educational program, after all, with goals to improve early literacy and numeracy skills as well as promote friendship and understanding between our people.

“Get some prototypes made and let’s see how the children within the Fleet like them. If they’re a hit, we can make more, and test them with focus groups down on Earth.”

“Yes, sir. The animation sequence for the numbers hasn't yet been designed. I’ll get them to make that a priority.” Tithys hurried out to go do so.

“It’s coming along nicely, isn’t it, sir?” Ritl asked.

“Hmm? Yes, but this is just concept stuff. We still need to get a cast and hire skilled puppeteers. No CGI, I want children to be able to meet their favorite puppets and have them be exactly as they see them on TV. The Starshine Friends are bound to capture more of the children’s affection than our live actors.”

He licked his lips. “I’ll put out an ad. For the puppeteers, I mean. We're casting everyone else from amongst the Fleet, aren’t we?”

“If we can find the right people, yes. If not, we’ll need to do a casting call.”

I also needed to hire a production team who were experienced working with puppets. This was nothing like I’d ever worked on before, but I was on the right track. I could feel it in my bones. I thought back to what I’d learned about the productions of the human programs we’d taken inspiration from.

“Don’t limit the potential applicants to those with extensive experience,” I said. “Take on intern level staff and all experience levels. We can train them.”

Ritl nodded approvingly. “Excellent idea. That way, they won’t come with habits we have to train out of them as well as find fresh talent.”

“Precisely. And in the meantime, I believe we have enough puppeteers within the Fleet to audition our actors?”

“We do. We have three under the expanded parameters you just gave. One did a puppet show at her public library once a month, acting out fairy tales for story hour. The other two make puppets and put them on as shows for friends and family and have since they were young.”

“Call them in and let’s get them to work out a skit. It doesn’t have to be a production worthy one, as long as it's good enough to gauge how naturally everyone interacts with the puppets we have so far…”

“So Sparkles the Star Kitten and Gorfo the Gork.”

Gorfo was an alien from the imaginary planet Gork who came to the Fleet to run a store that sold snacks and toys. The toys would be from Earth and other places within the known galaxy and be used to introduce segments involving them in various ways. From how they were made, to holidays involving them, there were a multitude of opportunities. The same thing could be said about the snacks, as they involved not just foods bought from chillers and shelves, but a small counter with stools where Gorfo and a human friend would prepare fresh treats. This provided a true wealth of scenarios involving etiquette, healthy habits, simple things to make at home, and learning about holidays: human, Mylos, and other.

“Yes. Let’s see if we can cast Gorfo’s store assistant and the human and Playtime Fleet resident children first. And extend the contract for the children and adults we hired to act in the screening clips. Give them permanent roles.”

“On it. I’ll get that set up right away.”

He hurried off, no doubt to contact the identified puppeteers and the children’s storybook writer who’d agreed to help craft our scripts. I turned, looking down at the pretty blue, brown, green, and white planet below us. This time tomorrow, we could be scheduling hopeful applicants for the production side of things and starting auditions to finish fleshing out the cast. I smiled. Things were starting to really come together. No doubt after today’s Friendship Day events, children would be clamoring for the chance to come visit the real Fleet and get to be in the new series. All participating venues would be showing the consumer testing clips on big screens, adding to the hype and excitement that would get the hopefuls eager to join the Playtime Fleet team as well as add to their future viewership numbers.

I turned, deciding now would be a good time to take my lunch break. I began to hum the theme song as I walked down the corridor to the elevator, a bounce in my step.