Apocalypse Parenting

A few minutes ago, Meghan Moretti's biggest concern was getting the kids' athletic clothes washed in time for practice this evening. Now, it seems that Earth has been forced into participating in some high-stakes intergalactic reality television. All electrical wiring has been slagged, and most combustibles neutralized. Some kind of evil space rodents are appearing on the front lawn, too.

She's gotten food and shelter for her family. Her oldest is turning into a wizard, her middle boy is some kind of self-healing monkey, and her youngest is accumulating a small army of pets. That's a bit much to roll with, but when monsters are appearing on the lawn, it's probably for the best. What worries her is the mysterious—and dangerous—"challenge" she knows is fast approaching, and she's got to get her kids and community ready to face it. Some neighbors are ready and willing to pitch in, but others? They might end up being a bigger problem than the alien monsters.

Events have shown Meghan that protecting her kids also means making sure they're ready to stand on their own when needed. Meghan needs to figure out a way, however, and the aliens won't let her sit down and figure it out. While wrestling these personal dilemmas, she also needs to keep stabilizing her area, find a way to deal with these mysterious new Titans, and deal with some other nasty twists humanity's alien tormentors have in store.

Meghan, Pointy, and the kids have conquered Challenges, gathered allies, and bought themselves a little breathing room. Pointy thinks she has a way to contact the artificial intelligence controlling the contest. She wants to convince it to give her information. Maybe she can get it to tweak the rules! If she can, it could be critical to humanity's survival. …But how will the aliens running the contest react?

Vince and his co-workers were waiting to catch a plane back from their business trip when aliens turned Earth into the setting for a deadly reality show.