Legally Human
Friendship & Circuitry
Humans are very confusing. Especially teenagers. They all want to be unique, but they hate being different. They love being right, but they look down on people who know all the answers. And the best advice they have for how to navigate high school is to “be yourself,” but none of them seem to have any idea of what that means.
Noelle 0-3409-16 isn’t the only maton trying to learn how to be a human, but she is the only one with a chance of gaining legal human status. The subject of a university research program, Noelle is the first maton to be created as a baby and raised among human children, growing and learning the way humans do.
Her human peers aren’t always nice to her, and the program requirements can be overwhelming, but Noelle serves as a beacon of hope for millions of mata. Her completion of the program could change the world for all of them.
Honestly, though, she’d give it all up in a nanosecond for a chance at having even one real friend.
Fake Flowers & Secrets
Human teenagers can be very confusing. They go to parties they don’t want to be at and do things they don’t enjoy to impress people they don’t like. They make up complicated rules about dating and friendship and then get upset with anyone who can’t keep up with them. And the people who say they “hate drama” are the ones who cause the most of it.
​
Between navigating the dramas of human high school, trying to change the world for mata, and going to prom in less than a month, Noelle already has a lot on her mind. The one constant she has always been able to count on is Dr. Carter, her advisor and mentor since she was made.
​
Recently, though, he’s been acting strange, keeping secrets. She doesn’t want to believe he might be betraying her, but when her prom date turns out to be a member of a secret Matanic organization, with a file on Dr. Carter’s past, Noelle has a hard time turning a blind eye to the truth right in front of her. Still, there has to be a better explanation. Because everything seems to suggest that the betrayal isn’t recent—he’s been working behind her back her entire life.
And if Noelle can’t count on Dr. Carter, she can’t count on anyone.
Love & Loose Wires
Humans are very weird. They all want to fit in and be accepted despite their differences, but their best way of doing that is to keep different people from fitting in by not accepting them. No one seems to know what decides who fits in and who doesn't, or how different is too different. And the rules change every year—sometimes more.
​
With junior prom coming up, Noelle 0-3409-16 has a lot of human rules to be keeping up with. Annie's endless circles of "friends" are bad enough to try to impress, but the eyes of the world are on her, counting on her to prove mata can fit in with humans.
​
If that weren't complicated enough, her research critics at the university are second guessing everything she's been working on for her entire life. They're coming in with new ideas about how she should be doing things, claiming her life's work is pointless if she can't adapt to the times.
​
At least she doesn't have any romantic programming. If she did, she'd have to worry about these weird feelings she gets every time Jakob is around.
First Dates & Firewalls
Humans can be very frustrating. They hate being in stressful situations, but keep putting each other in them. They're afraid of what they don't understand, but then they avoid it so they never understand it. And they'd rather make fun of people for not knowing about something than explain about it.
​
Noelle 0-3409-16 can't keep hiding under the pretense of having no romantic programming. She knows exactly how she feels about Jakob. Trouble is, she's pretty sure he hates her. She can't blame him. Noelle took some advice from her new research advisors, filming a video that humiliated Annie and drove a wedge between Noelle and her friends.
Then the video gets released—and it's successful. Wildly successful. For the first time in years, Noelle has a real shot at changing the world for mata.
​
Making friends has always been a part of succeeding in her world-changing research. She's never had to choose.