"God damn it, boy! Were you dropped on your head as a child or what!?" Mr. Grimshaw screamed into my face. His liver-spotted nose was only millimeters from my own. I could see right into his poo-colored bloodshot eyes. Probably from having to sleep on the couch again due to coming home drunk, which by gauging from the horrid smell coming from his denture filled mouth, he still was. I wonder what's made him start drinking so heavily? He never used to drink. "Are you even listening to me Grubbs!?" Mr. Grimshaw's screaming voice took on a whole new octave, which brought my drifting mind back to his balding head and flying spittle.
With a start, I realized I had actually zoned out again. "I'm sorry, Mr. Grimshaw. I didn't mean it. I just... just have a lot on my mind at the moment and I was distracted." I apologized and hung my head. Even to my own ears, the apology was weak. Turning my head to the side, I looked over at the very reason I was currently being scolded. Before me were several large pallet racks filled with stock, all tipped over onto their sides. Boxes, previously in the racks, of expensive electronics were spilled out all over the floor. All manner of gadgets from the new Enviro watches to holo-screens were lying about with all kinds of damage. My coworkers were already currently going through the area, helping salvage what was undamaged and put the racking back on its feet.
Meeting a couple of my co-worker's eyes, I saw nothing but scorn and derision. Only a couple looked at me with something other than annoyance, and what I saw in their eyes hurt more than the others. They looked at me with nothing but pity. Clenching my hands into fists, I swallowed the sick feeling that had welled up within and looked away. A large sigh came out of Mr. Grimshaw, bringing my gaze back up and into the balding man's eyes. His once angry and irate visage had now also morphed into something closer to pity, mixed with a hint of sympathy. The look he was currently giving made me feel as I was a head on the chopping block, just waiting for the axe to come down.
Mr. Grimshaw placed his hand on my shoulder and made my slowly blurring eyes look up at him. "I'm sorry Grubbs. I understand where you're coming from, and I know how hard it's been for you recently at home, but this is not your first mistake in the last month. It's not even your fifth. The others, like your regular tardiness, I waved away but this." He pointed at the absolute destruction I had managed to cause in the warehouse, even though I had only just clocked in fifteen minutes ago and then he continued with another tired sigh, "This, is too much. I have bosses too and I can't wave this away. Just going by my eye, this is already thousands worth in damage, I'm sorry Grubbs..."
The rest of Mr. Grimshaw's words turned fuzzy, as if it was coming from further and further away. I felt as if I was in a daze, as the all too familiar words came out of the middle-aged man's mouth. Hearing the gentle but firm voice finally stop and the man's hand leave my shoulder. The world that had blurred around me came back into sharp focus, as I felt a violent feeling of vertigo take over my body. Mr. Grimshaw had walked off towards where the pallet was being put back up and began to talk to the other staff members. Paying me no further mind. And at that moment, I was glad no one was paying attention to me, as a wetness began to run down my cheeks. Turning around quickly and heading to the staff room. The next thirty minutes were a blur, and I didn't even realize when or how I had walked out of the warehouse and back towards my house.
The whole time, my mind was filled with a sorrow that gripped my heart. As the pressing feeling of losing a job I desperately needed weighed heavily on me. To make matters worse, I had already lost my second job this week. The other was only a part-time one, though. I did it in the afternoons, and it was only because they couldn't afford so many staff, and I was the newest, that I was let go. The job I just lost in the warehouse, however, was my main source of income; in matter of fact, it was now the main source of income for my entire family. I was lucky enough to get it after just finishing high school a few months ago, with just an average, in basically everything. That's much how my life had played out up until half a year ago, on average. Walking along the busy streets, I hid my face in my hood and, with shoulder slumped, I trudged along almost aimlessly.
I couldn't go home. I didn't want my family to know I had lost my job. My mother had enough to worry about already and the pained face she had tried to hide last time when I told her about losing my afternoon job felt like being stabbed in the heart. The sound of a rising storm thundered overhead, making me lift my head to look at the overcast sky. "Shit, just my luck." I mumbled. Stopping on the street, I looked around and was surprised to find that I had actually left the inner city and was now approaching the suburbs. With a surprised expression on my face, I took stock of my surroundings and tried to figure out exactly where my feet had taken me as I walked in my depressed fugue state.
A bus flying past on the street next to me caught my attention, its grav tracks making a loud whoosh noise, as it hovered over the ground, the force of the grav pushing dust and small rubbish up onto the sidewalk. The front sign of the bus read Burwood. "How the hell did I end up in uppity Burwood?" Now understanding where I was, I also noticed the completely different look and dress of the pedestrians around me. Every man, in fancy suits or designer clothes, while the women were dolled up to the heavens. In the midst of summer in Australia, baring a lot of skin made sense, even with a storm on the horizon. On that matter, the current secondhand hoodie I was wearing also made me a little too warm in this heat, but I wasn't wearing it for warmth or style. I was only wearing it because it was several times over my size and appeared baggy on me, covering my rising round stomach. Something that was also new for me.
Over the last few months, I've done nothing but try my level best to work three different jobs. Finding time for a workout was a pipe dream, let alone get enough time to have a proper meal. I've subsided on nothing but cheap microwavable and fast-food meals, along with copious amounts of coffee and my newest hobby. Smoking. Grabbing a half-crumpled packet of cigarettes, which I didn't even notice I had been clenching, out of my pocket, I pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. Letting it work its magic and take just the sliver of my stress and depressed cake of a mood off. Blowing smoke haphazardly through the air, several well-dressed people looked at me with a mixture of disgust and scorn that I had just ignored.
I just stood there for several minutes, watching the fancy cars enter and exit the far nicer part of the city. The houses that lined the street were not many, each one being like mini manor's onto themselves. Majority of them being walled, only allowed the roofs to be visible from my place on the sidewalk. I could even see that a few of them even had guards in front of the gates. A set of guards that were directly across from where I was currently standing were staring right at me, with a focus and heated gaze. At first, I wasn't sure they were looking at me, but after looking behind myself and seeing nothing, I came to the conclusion that I must look far out of place right now. Along with my drifting gaze and hood obscured face, I must look like a someone possibly sizing up the houses.
The thought of my rolly polly self-trying to get over anyone of the ten feet high walls made me laugh to myself. I would be one of the worst thieves in the world. Just ask Mr. Grimshaw. Clutz is almost my middle name. The smoke was almost to the butt, and after the several minutes of the quiet contemplation, my frayed nerves and the sickening feeling in my gut had settled down a lot. Putting the butt out with my foot, I place my hands back in my pockets and started to walk back towards the inner city. I thought, that considering I still didn't have the face to tell my family about losing my job at the warehouse and didn't really have the motivation to look for another job today, I would just head to my last of the three jobs I still had. My father's old army buddy secured me a night shift security job. It was honestly my favorite one out of the three. Even though there was basically nothing to do the whole time, it did usually allow me to catch up on some sleep and get some much-needed time alone.
After over an hour of walking, and almost soaking my hoody through with sweat, I arrived at the old industrial complex of Bayswater. All around the area was run down factories, chop shops and what I could only guess were more nefarious looking warehouses that were guarded by what could only be street thugs. Being a common sight to the area, I nodded to several of the menacing figures as I walked by them, who, although appearing rough, nodded with half smiles and grunts. A couple of the more chatty ones even yelled out a "Hey or sup?" That I replicated. After crossing several chop shops and one scrapyard that took up a whole block, I arrived at a large multi floored building that was close to ten floors tall and looked as if it was made out of one soiled piece of rock. The sign hanging above the main entrance read Apollo Labs.
Apollo Labs looked more like an office building than a factory and also seemed oddly out of place in the rundown industrial complex. Because besides its roughly simple appearance, it looked to be the only building in the entire area that looked as good as new. A reason that also confused me. Just like many of the other buildings around the area, it was empty of life. As far as my father's friend was aware, the place was built by some groundbreaking genius scientist almost twenty years ago, but one day last year, he had mysteriously vanished. Even though he had gone, someone, at least in his name, had hired a security firm to hire guards to watch the place day and night. It all sounded very secretive and mysterious to me when I first heard about it. I even spent many a night scouring the many labs, workshops and offices inside, but besides several odd powerless machines and furniture, the place had nothing else of real value. It was a mystery why anyone would pay for twenty-four-hour personal protection of the place. Especially considering all the different types of automated security gear one could buy for half the price of two people's salary.
Still, I didn't want to rock the boat and look a gift horse in the mouth and even though it only paid ten credits an hour, in my current bleak world, the office building in front of me looked like a beacon of light. Another crack of thunder rang out above me, breaking me from my musings as I looked up into the now much darker clouds above. "Looks like it's ramping up to be one hell of a summer storm. I hope mum remembers to pick up Josie from school after she leaves the hospital." A soft pitter patter sounded out on the ground around me, while a furious gust of wind blew through the quiet streets, throwing the hood back from my head and tussling my messy blonde locks. The rain started light but got heavier within seconds, as thunder and rain cracked out so loud it hurt my eardrums.
Raising the hood above my head again, I scurried to the front door and pulled out a set of keys from my pocket. I quickly inserted the right key and after unlocking the door and, with a little effort working against the heavy wind, I pulled the door open and scurried inside; the door slamming closed behind me. Letting out a breath, I shook myself like a wet dog, sending water all over the entrance before a gruff but friendly voice made me pause, "What are you doing here Grubbs!? You look like a drowned rat. Everything okay?" Looking up, I saw the voice's owner. Nathan Drundell. A man in his late forties, with a salt and pepper crew cut and beard, stood up from behind a crescent-shaped desk facing the main entrance. His piercing blue eyes looked especially bright in the dimly lit building alongside his ebony-colored skin. He stood well over six feet tall and held himself, with a straight back posture of won from a military background.
I walked over with a sheepish smile, an excuse I had made up on the way over here rose to my tongue, but looking into those searching electric eyes, I found myself faltering as I thought. They're just like dad's. I could never lie to him either. A sour feeling rose up unbidden at that moment, as an image of a large bear of a man, with a short beard and wide grin smiling at me across a dinner table came to mind but I quickly squashed it down and instead approached the stone-faced man standing behind the desk. I tried to match the man's stare, but embarrassment and shame came thick and fast, and I couldn't help but look at my shoes. "None of that, lad. Whether you're telling someone good news or bad, face them and the world head on. Raise your head Grubbs." Nathan's commanding voice rang in my ears louder than thunder as the very familiar words almost caused the dam I had built up to break. Taking a deep breath, I raised my head and look into the man's blue eyes.
Doing my best to square my shoulders, I said, "I was fired." The simple words felt as if they drained me of all my energy and the man across from also showed a somewhat tired look after hearing them too. With a sigh, he didn't ask any questions and just said, "Not good. Well, come here lad, have a seat and take a breather." Nodding slightly at the words and inwardly feeling relieved I didn't have to go into any detail, I made my way around the desk, that used to be the reception desk but was now used as a sort of security booth. A small metal bar set on the desk projected a television screen above it, with a small fridge tucked underneath, filled with some essentials, like coffee and snacks. Taking one of the roller chairs behind the desk, Nathan and I both sat down and looked at the floating screen where the news was currently playing. Letting my own problems and worries fade away, I focused on the screen and nothing else.
The reporter was an attractive young woman, wearing a standard business suit and dress, but over the top she had a Kevlar vest with the word press on the front. She was currently standing on what looked like the top of a skyscraper but was actually a flat tower top connected to a truly behemoth sized steel wall. Due to the TV being muted, I couldn't make out what the woman was talking about, but just going off the expression on her face, I could see a mix of excitement and fear. Surrounding the woman were soldiers all kitted out in full suits of reinforced magnetic armour, going off the slight silver glow coming off them, which was the signature of the futuristic-looking armour, it also made all the soldier's wearing them look slightly larger than they truly were, especially when standing near the petite reporter.
As we both took seats in front of the floating screen and lapsed in a comfortable silence, besides the soft taps of the rain heard outside, Nathan then tapped a button on a large watch on his wrist which unmuted the screen.
"That's right John. This will be the second incursion wave this month in Sector 7. Although the incursion rate in the last few months has increased in multiple areas, the government has already issued a notice letting all citizens know that they are working tirelessly on closing the breaches and believe they will have their first success in a little over a month. The Federation has already helped all civilians, living near the areas that are showing signs of increased incursions to relocate to safer areas." The female reporter commented. A voice of man then came over, replying to the reporter. "That's fantastic news to hear, and I'm sure all our viewers watching at home are happy to hear about the remarkably quick action taken by our government for the people. Now, I understand that in only a few hours your current location while be facing an incursion, so you don't have much more time. But could you please explain to our viewers what our heroic men and women of the Federation Defense Force have in place to quell this incursion?"
"For Heaven's sake, they're laying it on thick." Nathan muttered with a scoff. I silently agreed in my head, but I had my full focus on the current screen to discuss further. I was also very eager to see what a Sector Defence would look like. There were sometimes small videos of the aftermath of an incursion online. I managed to catch a couple of them, but the majority get removed by the government watch dogs only moments after they're uploaded. From what I have seen, though, only one word could come to mind to describe the aftermath of an incursion, devastation.
The screen went back to the female reporter, who took a couple of seconds to reply before she agreed with everything the man had said and then with a classic professional smile, she swept her hand to the area behind her and said, "Absolutely. Our current position is atop what the FDF calls a Hex tower." The reported pointed behind her but still atop the flat tower. The camera panned to where she pointed, profiling a set of three large artillery cannons set in a line, with their barrels pointing towards the sky. Several men in magnetic armour stood around each cannon, with one man standing to the right of a cannon looking through a set of binoculars.
"Ah, whistling willies. Haven't seen them in a while," Nathan muttered. Hearing the odd name, I turned my roller chair slightly and asked, "Aren't they called Hex cannons?" Nathan turned to me and showed a small smirk. An obvious, 'classic ignorant civvy' look that stirred a memory in my mind, I quickly snuffed as my heart ached. Luckily, Nathan began to talk before I could lose focus. "They are one and the same. The front liners and Genies called them whistling willies due to the piercing whistling noise the shells make when they were travelling through the air. I hear the noise was deliberately made, as a type of psychologically attack. I will admit, when in an entrenched position and then hearing a long persistent whistle out of nowhere does make one's butt tighten. Ha!" Nathan let out a short, rough bark of a laugh at the end, which also made me chuckle slightly. Just the image of the imposing Nathan cowering in a ditch because someone accidentally started whistling made me laugh more.
I turned back to the screen after that, where the female reporter had just finished explaining about what several of the soldier's jobs were. She then walked towards the edge of the platform that had a small safety rail between it and what looked like a thousand-foot drop. The camera followed and then after being indicated by the reporter; it pointed towards the right side of the tower about a hundred feet down, where a wall filled with soldiers ran in a straight line. The wall that was close to two hundred feet wide ran for about a half a kilometer before stopping at where another tower similar to the one where they were currently standing on started.
The wall was covered in soldiers in armours running around and setting up various weapons majority of which looked like large machine guns the size of a man. The wall was wide enough that a spot in the middle was left open for jeeps and small trucks to drive up and down. Carrying supplies or men. "As you can see, below are the brave men and women of the FDF. They bravely put their lives on the line, so us civvies can safely support them in the back. Each one of them is a father, mother, son, daughter, all trained in the famous elite Moxi Academy..." Just as the reporter had started to go into the oh so common half assed attempt at selling the joining the FDF, the whole tower and surrounding area shown on the screen began to shake violently for several seconds.
Once over, with what appeared to be only a few people having lost their footing, the reporter had a puzzled expression on her face as she looked around. Before she could talk or ask a question to one of the soldiers around her, the loud sound of multiple sirens blasted out. Followed swiftly by the commanding shouts of people in authority giving orders and the soldiers running around in a fluster. I shared a confused look with Nathan, but instead of receiving the same confused expression; the man held a serious frown and was staring at the screen without blinking. Focusing my attention back on the screen, I saw that the reporter had just begun to shakingly return to the clearly rewritten promotional script but was once again cut off by a noise that was loud enough it even drowned out the whirling sirens. To me it sounded close to the roar of some large beast mixed with a tearing noise you would hear when ripping apart velcro.
All the moving soldiers paused in whatever task they were doing and, as if frozen in time, all stared in one direction without further movement. The camera also moved to directly behind the female reporter and where the HEX cannons were pointing. Past the wall was nothing but a barren grassy land that was dotted with small hills and what looked to be the remnants of a block of buildings that had been reduced to rubble and dust. The source of the ripping beastly noise was a couple of kilometers away from the wall. A purple shimmering line hung in space, looking beyond odd. It moved and vibrated as if alive, and after a short few seconds and an even larger ripping sound, the line that was several meters long opened. It was as if some beast's large maw opened, revealing nothing but bleak darkness that was soon filled with silhouettes of different sized humanoids pushing against the black as if it was some thin piece of skin holding them back.
The darkness bulged and moved in several places, and the camera began to shake, making the scene slightly blurry, which was obviously due to the cameraman's rising nerves. I was just watching the scene from the safety of a completely different city, and I could feel the hairs on my neck rise at the sight, let alone some poor working stiff. Eventually, one of the bulges of darkness that was slightly larger than the others appeared to have reached some limit and tore under the pressure, tearing the sheet of darkness in two. Revealing what could only be called a human crossed with a cockroach shaped figure, that besides having normal five fingered hands also had a pair of scythe arms. Before I could get a better look at the number one enemy of all humans, the screen went black, the feed obviously being cut. It then switched to a professional looking middle-aged man with a shocked face sitting behind a broadcast table. With a full body shake as if waking from a frozen state, the anchorman coughed into his hand and said, "I have just been informed that the Incursion has started and although the Federation Defense Forces were aware and well prepared our reporter on the scene had accidentally got the times wrong. I am being told that the incursion is being swiftly dealt with and, as of now, there has not been a single casualty. Now, I'd like to go over to Roger in the weather."
Nathan loudly let out a scoff and, with what I could only call a finger punch, by how aggressive it was, turned the screen off with his watch. "Well prepared my ass." Nathan then turned to me and with a serious frown said, "Be glad you didn't pass the genetic screening Grubbs. The shit's only getting worse and half the twats in charge spend more energy covering shit up than actually addressing the problem." I stood up with a stretch and with a self-mocking smile replied, "I wouldn't say I didn't pass exactly. My genes were just classed as dormant. My body didn't reject the injections like most people; they just didn't activate. It's not uncommon, I've heard. Still, the pay offered for a genetically awakened soldier is something I can't find anywhere else. Not including the medical benefits..."
"Bah! What's good a high-paying job if you don't live long enough to enjoy any of it!?" Nathan with another heavy scoff waved his hand in a shooing motion and the continued, "Your more valuable to your family being there in person to support them, then off in some distant city fighting against the scourge filled bugs and sending money back. Your family has already sacrificed enough blood for this damn world; it doesn't need or deserve anymore of the Reinbach's family blood." I nodded at Nathan in understanding. Even though I knew it would almost kill my family with worry if I joined up, especially as a non-awakened grunt but the benefits and pay were so high, it made it hard not to think about it as a viable option especially in my current state. Before I could think more on the subject enough for it to take root, the sound of Nathan's watch ringing caught my attention. Nathan pressed the side of his watch, removing a wireless ear bud from its slot and putting it in his ear.
I stepped away a few paces to give the man some privacy to make his call and took off my damp hoodie. Against one of the walls was a set of lockers, one with Nathan's written on it and the other red Grubbitish Reinbach, which was obviously mine. I scoffed at my full name with what had to be the millionth time in my life, even though I asked the company to put my name down as Grubbs they still full named me. Which always annoyed me. Opening the locker, I retrieved a windbreaker similar to the one Nathan was already wearing and put it on, placing my hoodie on the rack in its place. Before I could close my locker, the sound of Nathan's quick steady steps approaching me made me turn around. Nathan, with a clearly annoyed look on his face, said while opening his locker next to me, "Sorry Grubbs. I've just had a call from Marcia. Because of this blasted storm, the stupid Neighbour's tree has fallen and smashed a hole in the roof. I don't get it sorted now; my bedroom will be a swimming pool." Nathan took off his jacket and removed his utility belt, that consisted of a simple retractable baton, flashlight and keys.
Putting a casual jacket on and grabbing his car keys, Nathan turned to me and said, "It turns out that you coming early had actually helped me out. Can you do me this favor and cover my shift today? I know you are also on for the night shift too, but I should be finished by then and I'll take over for you then." I waved Nathan off with a smile, as even though I felt bad for the man that his house was damaged, I was happy that I could receive an extra shift, considering I had lost my one for today. "Don't worry about it, mate. And you don't have to take over for me tonight. Honestly, it's like you're doing me the favor. I could really use the extra hours. So go home and don't worry about things here. I got it all covered." I said, as I reopened my locker and retrieved my own utility belt. "Alright, if you're sure. Just give me a call though if you run into any trouble or need to leave." Nathan hesitated for only a moment but in the end agreed to let me take both shifts and with a clear rush in his steps, he ran out the front doors.
When Nathan opened the doors, I caught a glimpse of the outside and noticed that besides the heavy rain; the winds looked to have also increased, going by the amount of foliage littering and flying along the streets. It also looked quite dark outside. Even though it was mid-day it gave the appearance it was close to nighttime. Nathan closed the front doors with a loud thud, and I followed behind to lock them after fastening on the utility belt. Now what to do? I wondered. At that moment my stomach grumbled and listening to the clear sign from God, I made my way over to the fridge under the desk and grabbed three fast bars. They were similar to protein bars but made with cheaper materials and honestly to my tastebuds, tasted better too. Still filled with a little restless energy, I decided to make a round of the building while munching on the bar. I retrieved my water bottle from the fridge and put it in my jacket pocket. Grabbing my retractable baton from my belt, I began to head to the old Research and Development department, munching on a bar and twirling my baton.
After passing through a hallway and using my keys to unlock several thick iron doors, I entered the R&D department. The offices and labs were pretty much empty besides some furniture and simple lab gear, like beakers and such. Not really bothering too much, I went past the area, while casually looking into the rooms on either side of the hall before coming to a large set of slick steel metal doors that had a sign above that read Restricted Access. I opened the heavy-looking doors with a special key from my belt that looked similar to a square block with etchings in it and made my way into the new area.
The steel doors behind me closed with a heavy sound clunk and some automatic lights lit up the darkness covered room I had just entered. After all the lights had turned on, I found myself inside a massive open room that held no other entrances or exits besides the one I just went through. The room was dominated by only one object. A massive steel box, stretching from wall to wall, occupied the left-hand side of the room; it must have been at least fifty feet wide. It was the weirdest thing in the whole building and one that I to this day still have no clue what it truly was. I had many a time scoured through the building looking for any papers that might explain the mysterious contraption but to no avail. As far as I could deduce, this whole building besides the R&D area were just simple offices, with only the room I was currently in and block off odd metal in front of me being the only things that didn't match.
I didn't bother walking further into the room and just swept my eyes lazily over the area, seeing nothing out of place, which was the norm. I turned around and began to open the large doors. Just when I reached out to place my key in the slot, the largest crack of thunder ran out above my head that it felt as if the whole building shake and made me pause for a moment and subconsciously look towards the roof. The thunder seemed to continue for an exaggerated amount of time before finally petering out. For some reason, the thunder sent my heart a flutter, as if some primordial creature above had just awoken and was roaring its grievance at the ground below. With a shudder, I muttered, "I really hope Mum remembered to bring in the washing. In this storm, the clothes won't just get wet but disappear entirely." Reaching out with the key for the second time, I paused once again. This time it was not due to sudden thunder.
A genderless mechanical voice behind me suddenly spoke out loud, "Sufficient Energy Reached. Starting Protocol Rise Up. Accessing Connecting Towers. Calculating time." My whole body broke out in goosebumps at the sound of the voice and odd words it had spoken. Turning around slowly, I felt sweat began to gather on my forehead, as my heart started to race. Now facing the only thing that had a chance to suddenly speak, which was the giant block of sleek mirror metal, I saw something that made my mouth open wide enough to shove an egg into. The once featureless metal had suddenly transformed without me even hearing a thing. The front was now filled with a large screen that appeared to be streaming some complicated series of ones and zeros at an insane speed, while several massive pipes had been revealed running into the concrete floor below.
"What the actual hell is going on?" I muttered, staring at the suddenly activated machine. Then after a loud beep noise, the numbers stopped running across the screen and text appeared that match the following spoken robotic words, "Time until all towers are connected to the core is seventy-two hours Earth X time and twelve hours Earth 1 time. Scanning for possible participants in the local area." After the voice had spoken, a bright transparent light exploded from the machine in a ring and spread outwards in a flash, passing over me and past the surrounding walls. The sight of the odd light caused me to grip my baton so tight my knuckles went white and my mind to explode in fear. My flight or fight instinct kicked in and I bravely choose flight! "Screw this shit!" I screamed and faced the doors again, fumbling for my keys.
Whether due to nerves or sweaty fingers, I kept slipping and fumbling with the key ring. Just like the many horror movie characters I mocked for always taking forever with keys when trying to escape a killer, I was doing the same. Finally, gripping the odd shaped rectangle key firmly, I rammed it into the lock and, with an almost violent twist, turned the lock, but much to my escalating horror, nothing happened. I tried several more times, my adrenaline flaring and heart pumping, but the doors still didn't open. I abandoned the keys and tried to jam the thin end of my baton between the doors and wrench them open. After several unsuccessful attempts, I gave up on trying to physically open the doors and began to try to use the key again. "Scan Completed." The horror robot voice rang out in the empty echoing room, bringing me up short for a moment before its next sentence sent me kicking and smacking the door with my baton in hopeless abandon. "Thirty-four possible participants detected, beginning transfer to Earth X for tutorial. Linking Earth X System to participants Neuro pathways. Changing genetic properties during transition is recommended... Approved, under protocol Rise Up. Beginning transition."
After the voice ended, another flash of light radiated out of the steel block, this one far stronger than the previous. So strong, in fact, I actually felt it brush against my skin, and it sent my vision completely white. With my baton still raised to strike at the door, I felt my body literally lock in place, without the ability to move a muscle. For several seconds, I felt nothing and saw nothing but white. The only reason I knew I hadn't died by some weird death ray coming from the steel block was the fact that I could still feel my throbbing heart, that felt as if it was going to burst out through my chest. I also had bile rising up my throat, but was stuck due to my muscles being in a state close to petrification.
After what must have been a few moments but felt like an eternity, my vision of white cleared, and my surroundings were revealed again, but I still couldn't move my body. My new surroundings made my already trotting heart begin a full gallop. As I was no longer inside the large room with the steel block, but what looked like a rundown apartment of some kind. Just using what I could currently see without the ability to move my eyes; I could see that current building decor and appliances matched what I had seen of houses over a hundred years back. With paper news littering the floor, an old-fashioned physical television screen, cracked and almost broken in half against one wall, and what looked like a telephone attached to a wall.
Besides the odd surroundings I found myself in, and the fact I was somehow teleported there, even though I knew the current technology couldn't perform instantaneous teleportation of living subjects, what truly sent my nerves spiking was the fact that there appeared to be a human body lying down right in front of me. And going off the serious decay and missing arm, the body was in fact a corpse. 'What the hell is going on! Mummy!!' I screamed internally. Just then ,the same emotionless mechanical voice echoed inside my head.
[Welcome Earthling Grubbitish Reinbach to the world of Earth X. Congratulations on being one of the twenty-two out of thirty-four participants to survive the transition!]
'Survive!? What the hell do you mean survive!?' I growled towards the voice in my head and to my surprise, the voice actually replied.
[Correct. You survived the transition. Due to being subjected to Federation Sanctioned Genetic modifiers, your body suffered no none perils when transitioning to Earth X. This data had been recorded and will be a great help in increasing the safety of participants in the future. Thank you for your help in this matter.]
'Like I had a choice, you son of a dog! Now, seeing that I've helped you, take me back right now!' I roared back.
[I'm sorry Grubbitish Reinbach that's not possible at this time. To truly integrate into Earth X for future transitions, you must complete the tutorial or survive for three days Earth X time. All will be revealed in time. Unfortunately, our time is limited, and the Earth X's System will commence integration in ten seconds. Thank you once again for participating, and from everyone at Apollo Labs we would like to thank you for attempting to carry the torch for our own world.]
'Wait! Don't go. What do you mean by integrating? What's the system? Don't go!' My already fried nerves became like a crispy chicken after hearing the confusing but worrying robot's words. For several agonizing seconds there was nothing but silence until my frozen body felt as if it was suddenly thrown onto a fire, or as if some horrible god with a magnify glass was pointing the Sun's beams onto my ant like existence. From the top of my skin and all the way into my bones, an agonizing heat travelled. It was as if my very soul was being sunburned. If I could move my mouth, I would have been screaming my lungs out, but without the ability, I just had to silently endure the scorching torture while I cried internally and railed against my unfortunate existence. Until finally, as if it was never there, the feeling was gone, and a new emotionless voice spoke into my head. How did I know it was a new one and not the one from before because this one was clearly the voice of a woman? But it still carried the clinical tone like the last.
[Unrecognized System-less Entity Found. Scanning for harmful potential to the System. Harmful potential not found. Integrating into System... Integration successful. Age verified as past safe tutorial age. Initiating a new System Tutorial. Tutorial mission will be issued within one hour. Body in locked stasis. Stasis removing in 5...4...3...2...1]
After the voice finished, I felt my frozen body become loose again, and as if still trapped in my previous motion and my body was following old orders from my brain it continued the hard downward swing off the baton I was making to the steel doors. However, at that moment there was no door, instead when my baton was swing down through and just past my chest height a low growl came from the once unmoving corpse below me. Following some inborn instinct, the now animated corpse leapt up from its prone position and towards my crotch, making me cry out in fear, "Not my balls!" However, the zombie didn't get my balls but was instead met with a mouthful of steel baton that slammed into its half-rotted scalp that hit it with enough force to crack the skull like a watermelon and become imbedded into it. The zombie's inertia followed through, though, even though I had bashed in its skull, sending it back into undeath, the zombie still managed to slam into my waist. With my awkward posture and still half dazed mind, I lost my balance immediately and slammed into the hardwood floor behind me, knocking my half-dazed head into complete blackness.
And that was how my first day on Earth X started and honestly, it was not the weirdest one.