EPILOGUE II

The atmosphere was thick with tension in a conference room deep within the confines of a secret government facility. Shadows danced on the walls as a group of silhouettes formed a semi-circle around a large, illuminated table. General Warhawk stood at the head of the table, his uniform crisply pressed and adorned with various medals. Beside him, Specs, his tech assistant, quietly fiddled with a tablet.

“Before we begin, General,” One of the silhouettes spoke, “Reports of your efforts in helping the heroes prevent the invasion of our world have reached us, and we’d like to thank you for your service to the country.”

“Just doing my duty, senator,” Warhawk replied.

“Now, onto why we’re here.”

It had barely been a week since the arrival and defeat of the murderbots, and public panic had begun to settle down, but behind the scenes, panic still raged on. After all, which government in the world wouldn’t be scared shitless after a hole opened up in their sky and beings from another world threatened to come through.

Two pictures came up on the screen before him, and the general recognized the people in the pictures immediately.

Another silhouette spoke, “General, do you know who these people are?”

“Wombat and Tiger.”

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“That’s good general, but I’m asking if you know who they are.”

Warhawk stayed silent for a moment before continuing, “If you’re asking for their names sir, it’s very much public knowledge. At the very least, they haven’t kept it hidden from us, the army.”

“No, not their names,” the silhouette spoke again.

It was impossible to identify which specific one of them was talking, but from the sound of his voice, Warhawk could tell that he was a douche.

The douche silhouette continued, “I’m asking about their parents’ names, the school they go to, where they live, what park they play at after school. General, I’m asking if you know who these people are.”

“As far as their parents’ names are concerned, it is to my knowledge that they are both orphans. Aside from that, we try as much as possible to give them the space and privacy they need. They are, after all, still children.”

“And that is the problem!” the douche silhouette was starting to get on his nerves now, “These…children…are paraded around the city as the heroes responsible for saving the day, instead of our very own army men and women. They’re even getting recognition from other superheroes from all over the country and the world. We’ve had an influx of requests to come into our city just to partner with them and their team.”

Murmurs passed around the remaining crowd of silhouettes

“That’s because they are responsible for stopping the invasion.” Warhawk tried as much as possible to keep his tone level, “the army is not equipped to deal with holes in the sky and death robots. That is their forte.”

“Well, not anymore.”

A panel opened in the ground before him and a stand with an object in glass casing rose out of it. Warhawk eyed the object in the case with suspicion.

“What is this?”

“When the explosion in the sky happened, a piece of one of the ships was cut off and landed on our planet. This is one of those pieces. General, your new task would be to find and gather more of these pieces so that we can study it.”

“And create weapons?”

“Whatever we choose to do with the metal, just know that it is for the protection of