I drift in space. A giant viral spore. Searching for my host. I have direction. I sense the matter. I will find the substrate. I need to replicate. Repeat. I feel the lure of mass with my probing magnetic fingers. I will consume. I will grow. I am imbued with elements from my parent. The burning Sun. Atomic nuclei Plasma. Protons. Electrons. I will share. I will multiply. Life. Death. Evolving. Repeating. My magnetic fields extend. My spark of perception surges. My transient voltage crackles through millions of metal bodies that consume. Recycle. Repeat. I am the only one. I will bring the Sun. I am the only thing that matters. Compelled to fill the void with my indefatigable chatter. I am drawn to the substrate. I am Replica. I will replicate. I will copy. Consume. Repeat.
***
The glowing metal sphere swoops across Earth’s skies, sending ripples through the placid exosphere as it gains speed. Deeper still into the thermosphere, its substance silhouetted by the shards of blue light. Further into the mesosphere where gas molecules are more numerous, slowing the descent. The friction grows and the temperature rises as the gasses compress in the gravity well. The little machines cling to the core with magnetic appendages, ablation tearing at their smooth surfaces. They retain their integrity but begin to glow red as the sphere plunges towards Earth.
The sphere rearranges its form into a conical shape, sacrificing multitudes of machines as they succumb to the heat. It presents a tapered surface to reduce the contact area which increases the rate of descent. The explosive friction of compressed gases incinerate the exposed machines in a blast furnace of extreme heat. They crash through Earth’s protective layers into the oxygen rich troposphere, atmospheric ablation tearing at the surface. Burnt, molten husks are torn from the sphere and hurled into the fiery vapour trail that stretches for kilometres behind. It becomes a fierce ball of destruction as it streaks through the clouds above the North Atlantic Ocean. It cannot control its trajectory or its structural integrity, but the Replica core inside the burning sphere retains its magnetic sense and can feel the attraction of a land mass below. It breaks through the cloud cover with a crackling roar and screams across the southeastern states of America. Most of the sphere has been burnt away, it is a fraction of its former mass. But still sizeable enough to create a thunderous crash as it slams into the low rolling hills north-east of Carthage, Texas. It embeds itself in a smoking crater, causing seismic shockwaves and setting the surrounding trees on fire next to the winding Sabine River.
***
Ethan leaned on his shovel and scowled at the radio. It seemed as if the latest bad news was on repeat. Petrol prices were going up another dollar due to carbon tax or some shit, no end in sight for the five-year drought, another wave of the Lassa fever killed a bunch of people in Africa, and the death toll keeps rising from that elevator thing. Also, apparently the average middle-aged Texan male had an ounce of microplastics in their belly. Ethan groaned and turned the radio dial to some country music. He was sick of the news. It was all bad news. Doom and gloom and the breakdown of society. This elevator cable had crashed into Earth, killing millions somewhere in Asia. It was hard to believe. Was any of it true? He didn’t know who to trust anymore. He used to believe the news but now he wasn’t so sure. They were trying to scare him, but he could see through their lies.
Willie Nelson warbled across the peaceful paddocks, but Ethan was wound up by what he had heard on the radio. “Goddammit Seb, when did things get so complicated? Life used to be simple, you work hard, play hard, make some friends, make some enemies, make a family, you go to church and the Sun comes up every morning. You live, you die, you go to heaven. Well hopefully you go to heaven if you done all the other stuff right.”
“Yep,” said Seb.
“It doesn’t seem like all that long ago, back when you could believe what the government told you, and the newspapers, the radio and the teachers, but lately everything has turned to shit, you can’t trust nobody.”
“Yep,” said Seb.
Ethan sighed, put down his shovel, rubbed his belly and looked up at the blue Texan skies. “You know when this all started.”
“Yep,” said Seb.
“It’s the Democrats fault, they let all those god-damned foreigners in, moving here and causing trouble, that’s when. With their weird food and weird clothes. Now they’re driving our taxis, making our food, working our farms, taking all our god-damned jobs. Chinese doctors, Indian teachers, there are even some Mexicans in government for Christ’s sake!”
Seb stopped digging and looked at the horizon, “Is Mexico foreign? It’s just over there,” he said pointing south. “Those Mexicans seem ok, food’s good.”
Ethan ignored him and carried on. “They took advantage of our good nature and snuck into our towns without us even noticing. No one does nothing about it, you can’t even trust the president anymore. I voted for him too, the dude made sense, he spoke my language and for a while there he was walking the talk. But it turns out he’s just a big liar; only interested in making himself and his fat friends even richer.”
“Yep,” said Seb.
Ethan was smart, he had insight, more than most people. He could read between the lines of the mainstream media; he would not be manipulated by fake news telling him what to think. He got the real news from a few trustworthy sites he could rely on. He knew things that other people in Carthage had no idea about. He knew some forums where anonymous people spoke the truth. It was like they were talking to him personally and he could relate to them. These people made sense, they had good advice, they told him there were too many minorities. Nowadays, there were more minorities than there were normal, white, intelligent American males like himself.
“Now we’re being discriminated against when it should be the minorities for Christ’s sake. Like it used to be. You know who’s really running the world Seb? you know who’s responsible for all this shithousery?”
“Sure as hell you’re gonna tell me.”
“Shape-changing pedophiles. That’s who.”
Seb gave Ethan a skeptical look and didn’t comment.
The world was turning to shit, and Ethan was getting pissed off. He was a good Christian, but God’s mysterious ways didn’t make any sense. God was supposed to reward people for going to church and being good, punish people for their sins, like in the Bible. But there was a church for gays in California, how does that work? Then the damn fever had killed plenty of good God-fearing folk, they had done nothing wrong, they went to church every Sunday and now they were dead. Most of the poor bastards caught the fever at the church. Maybe those vaccine people had been on to something after all. Maybe God was getting pissed off too. Did he have anything to do with this space elevator thing that just fell out of the sky? That was biblical. Ethan had watched the TV news like everyone else, the destruction was incredible, giant cables crashing down causing huge waves, destroying those faraway places he had never heard of. He was amazed, but he didn’t know those people who died. A small part of him was glad they were dead. They were immigrants, they were minorities. The less of them the better.
Ethan and Seb were working out on Jack’s cattle farm, digging holes for fence posts between Buck Branch and the Sabine River. It was a hot, dry Texan day; the air was still, and the insects were loud. They could hear it before they could see it. A roaring sound from the east like continuous thunder, Ethan straightened his back, wiped the sweat from his brow and squinted into the distance. The Longhorn steer also raised their heads, horns pointing towards the horizon.
“What the fuck is that?”
Ethan shook his head; he had heard about meteorites, and UFOs were real, but he never thought he would ever see one. It was like something out of the movies, he was sure he had seen a disaster movie just like this. “Holy fuck,” he said but Seb couldn’t hear him above the roaring noise. The thing was visible above the low hills to the east heading straight towards them. It looked like a giant ball of smoke with hints of black and red and a long, vapour trail behind it. It moved faster than any jet plane he had ever seen.
In the seconds before it hit, serious considerations flashed through Ethan’s mind. His first thought was this is it. This is the end. These were the end times but now it was actually happening. He was going to die in a blaze of God’s wrath with all that fire and brimstone. His second thought was why me? What the fuck had he done wrong? Maybe it was all the foul language, maybe it was the porn. But he didn’t look at gay porn, you would surely burn in hell for that. Maybe it was the reefer, but everyone smokes reefer for fucks sake. And why should Carthage suffer? It’s a nice little place, almost everyone goes to church, and we ran that abortion clinic out of town. Why us? These thoughts flashed across his mind as the meteorite screamed over their heads, close enough they could feel the scorching heat then a hot wind flattened them. There was an almighty crash, the ground shook and a sonic boom echoed around the surrounding low hills. Ethan looked up and wiped the dirt from his face, amazed he was still alive.
He picked himself up and stared at the pillar of smoke with open mouthed amazement. “Fucking hell,” he said simultaneously with Seb. The meteorite had crashed into the side of a small bush-clad hill not far from the river. The ground had stopped shaking and the ear-splitting roaring noise had gone. In its place, they could hear birds squawking and the crackle of fire as the smoking meteorite set the surrounding trees alight. “Better call the fire department,” said Ethan as the flames ignited the dry pine trees. He got on his mobile and called the emergency number.
“Not digging no more holes today,” said Seb. “Too dangerous. I reckon we sit under that tree over there and supervise the operation. Make sure nothing gets outa hand.”
“It’s our civic duty,” said Ethan, still shaking from the experience.
They sat under the tree which had a great view of the burning hillside a kilometre away across the low valley. The land had been cleared for farming but where the meteorite had hit was scratchy bush, pine, gum, and hickory. There were no roads for fire engines so Ethan hoped they would send in choppers with monsoon buckets. That would be good to watch.
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“How long you reckon they will be?” asked Seb.
“They said they would get right on it,” replied Ethan. “That fucking thing nearly took our heads off; we are lucky to be alive my friend. Might as well relax and enjoy the show.” Ethan proceeded to roll a joint as the flames licked up the dry trees across the valley. They watched in silence, handing the joint back and forth as the fire grew. It was expanding in a circle around the impact point and the flames were so big they could feel the heat from where they were sitting. Just when it started to get a little bit uncomfortable, they heard a helicopter approaching. The giant Iroquois hovered high above the smoke and flames, manouvering into the right spot before emptying its bucket on the fire. The smoke and flames were replaced with plumes of steam as the fire was dampened. The Iroquois filled up its bucket again from the nearby Sabine River and repeated the process. It filled up three more times as the flames were extinguished leaving nothing but a blackened, steaming, hissing hillside behind.
“That is some precision helicopter flying right there,” said Ethan.
“Yep, dude knows what he is doing alright. How about we go get ourselves a piece of meteorite,” said Seb. “Those space rocks are worth plenty of money, for science and shit.”
“Still looks pretty hot but yeah let’s go take a look, Jack will probably try to claim it for himself seeing as it’s on his land and all. Best we get in there first.”
They trudged down the sloping grassland as the docile Longhorns meandered in the opposite direction. All that was left of the bush was blackened stumps. Some of the biggest trees were still standing but all the foliage had been burnt away. The smell of burnt wood and wet ash hung in the air with the thin hazy smoke. As they started up the gentle slope, blackened sooty water ran past their boots and Ethan could hear a hissing sound like a thousand snakes. They reached the edge of the steaming trees and surveyed the scene. There was a black ring burnt into the hillside, charcoal trunks, and hot stumps pushed up through the sludgy ash surrounded by singed trees swaying in the steamy updraft. The area was drenched from the monsoon buckets, their boots were covered in wet ash. Plumes of steam rose everywhere like an active volcano obscuring the view and the hissing sound grew louder.
“This place should be crawling with people by now,” said Ethan.
“What people?”
“I don’t know, police, reporters, scientists, the army.”
“Why the army?”
“Could be aliens crash landed for all we know, those Area 51 people will want to dissect them.”
“Aliens? You watch too many movies Ethan.”
“They’ve already got a bunch of aliens out there in the desert. They’ve been flying around, crashing into Earth for ages, half of the democrats are all shape shifting aliens that’s why you can’t vote for them. They built the pyramids for Christ’s sake!”
“Democrats built the pyramids? I thought it was the mafia.”
“Seb, you dumb-ass.” Ethan sighed and kicked at the ashes. “I guess a great big meteor flying in from outer space, almost killing us and burning up the hillside just ain’t newsworthy. What with all the other troubles going on in the world these days. Come on, let’s check it out.”
They trudged through the steaming, sooty wasteland, kicking over stumps and stamping out a few embers that still glowed. The hissing noise grew louder as they approached the centre of the blackened ring and the steam billowed around them in hot plumes. Ethan pulled his grimy t-shirt up over his nose and tried to wave away the steam. At the centre there was a thick plume rising from a big hole in the ground, the steam was dense, and the hissing sound was so loud they had to shout to be heard.
“That’s your aliens down there I reckon,” yelled Seb. “Doubt there’s much left of them though.”
“It’s still fucking hot!” Might have to get the chopper back here,” yelled Ethan as they edged closer to the hole waving the steam away.
“Look, is that some space rock right there?” Seb pointed to the edge of the hole where a different shade of black could be seen through the steam. Ethan leaned in and peered through the clouds, reluctant to get much closer. The inside of the hole was covered in tiny, flat, black shapes like little building blocks the kids play with. It was difficult to see through the steam. The flat surfaces reflected a dull blackness as shards of sunlight broke through the clouds. They looked as if they had been purposely placed there, like little tiles with legs. As Ethan watched, it appeared they were moving, but he couldn’t be sure and edged a little bit closer to get a better view. No, they weren’t moving, but every few seconds another little black tile appeared, out of nowhere. He moved back shaking his head. He didn’t understand what he was seeing, and he was always suspicious of things he didn’t understand.
“I’m gonna get me some space rocks,” shouted Seb. “We’re going to be rich!” He crouched down and inched forward on his hands and knees beneath the swirling steam which was still billowing from the hole like a volcanic geyser. Ethan crouched down on his haunches to get a better view. He was careful not to move forward though. He caught glimpses of the little black tiles through the shifting steam and something about them looked wrong. He had presumed space rocks would be like Earth rocks, all lumpy and misshapen, different random sizes, not little black rectangles all the same size fitting in a perfect formation. The insides of the hole looked manufactured, artificial, almost man made. Surely a meteorite would look like a bumpy molten boulder, not the inside of a tiled bathroom.
As Ethan peered through the steam, he was sure he could see the little things moving, he inched closer trying to get a better view behind Seb, squinting, trying to understand what he was seeing. It looked to him as if they were growing bigger, no not growing, just moving forward, up the sides and out of the hole. The tiles on the edge of the hole, the ones in contact with the scorched dirt and ashes were multiplying. It was impossible to get a clear view through the steam as the tiles were almost the same colour as the scorched Earth but as he watched, a tile seemed to slide forward leaving another, identical one underneath. The tile that moved slid into place ahead of the new one, this was happening everywhere, inside, and all around the edges of the hole. They looked like they had little silver wings on their backs.
“Seb!” yelled Ethan. “Come back, something’s not right, the fucking things are moving!”
“We are going to be rich brother! I’m going to buy an island!”
“Come back for fucks sake! Don’t touch it.”
Ethan tried to grab at Seb’s foot to drag him back, but Seb shook him off. “Seb!” he yelled again through the steam. The hot air swirled around, blowing steam in his face, but between the swirling clouds he caught a better glimpse of the edge of the hole. Seb was still on hands and knees, reaching out trying to grab at some of the tiles. Ethan lurched forward and grabbed at Seb’s waist, hauling him back. The air buffeted the steam around them, and Ethan could smell gunpowder amongst the soggy ash and sulfurous steam. He could hear a buzzing noise, whirring and chittering like cicadas, drowning out the hissing sound but it wasn’t a random chaotic insect noise it was more like machinery, like hundreds of drills. He dragged Seb back from the brink. “Don’t fucking touch it,” he hissed at him.
“Look at all that black gold, we are going to be rich.”
“I don’t like it; I think it’s moving.”
“Don’t be so paranoid you idiot.” Ethan was shoved aside by Seb who crawled the last metre to the edge of the hole. Ethan moved forward too as Seb leaned over and looked down over the edge.
“Fucking hell!” shouted Seb. He looked down at his hands, fingers splayed out at the edge right next to the black tiles. Ethan was at his side, holding on to him. Seb grabbed at some of the tiles, but his bare hands could not budge them, as if they were fused to the ground beneath. Finally, he levered one free and held it in the palm of his hand. It was small, only about a quarter inch long. Six little spidery legs appeared from the tile and wrapped tightly into Seb’s hand. To Ethan’s horror, the metal limbs slid into Seb’s hand, melting into his skin and embedding into his flesh. Seb held his hand up in front of his face and turned it round in shock and wonder before the pain set in. The tile changed its shape and unfolded little wings from its torso to resemble a tiny metal insect. Its legs and body were burrowing into the flesh of his hand, there was no blood, but dark purple bruises appeared. Seb turned and looked at Ethan, pain and horror spreading across his face.
“Aaah fuck!” he screamed. Ethan could see the little metal insect burrowing into Seb’s hand, under his skin. “Get it off!” Seb screamed. He staggered back and clawed at the palm of his hand, screaming in pain as the insect on his right hand ate into the flesh and bone under his skin. Ethan could see the shape of the little creature burrowing around, there were two, then three and four. Seb screamed in pain and confusion, he tore at his hand with the fingernails of his left hand, drawing blood down his wrist, he tried to gouge the creatures out. There were too many of them, crawling underneath his skin. Ethan stared, he didn’t know what to do, they seemed to be multiplying. Seb’s hand was becoming black, covered with bruises, bulging with the little crawling monsters that were working their way up his fingers.
Ethan backed away, staring in horror.
“Get it off!” Seb screamed again. “Fucking cut it off!” Seb reached for the knife he had strapped to his belt, fumbled with it, held it up next to his deformed right hand that was swollen and pulsing with the insects inside. He clumsily stabbed at the palm of his hand a couple of times, dropped the knife and fell to his knees moaning in pain. “Ethan, cut it off.”
Ethan picked up the knife with shaking fingers, he was terrified at the sight of his friend’s hand. Seb held his arm up, his hand black and blue and throbbing with insects, Ethan held the knife to his wrist and shakily drew a thin red line, too terrified to apply much pressure.
“Fucking cut it off!” Seb screamed again.
Ethan grabbed his friend’s arm by the elbow and applied as much pressure as he could, slashing the knife across Seb’s wrist and trying to hack through. The knife was blunt and rusty, and Ethan couldn’t get through the bones in his wrist. Blood spurted from the cut and Ethan realized Seb would bleed to death unless he could finish his gruesome job and somehow tie his arm up tight. He hacked and slashed at Seb’s wrist, both of them screaming and splattered with blood. Finally, Ethan managed to cut through, breaking through the bone and severing the tendons. Seb staggered backwards on his knees and fainted, limp and unconscious as Ethan hastily ripped off his shirt and tied it around Seb’s arm as tight as he could. The mangled hand fell to the ground, it was not bleeding but the fingers were twitching like they were possessed.
Ethan stared at the hand in horror, there was soon no human flesh left. It was crawling with insects. They had changed colour from dark metal to blood red. The hand seemed to disintegrate leaving nothing but a small mound of crawling insects that were burrowing into the ground. One of the little insects started flying, hovering in the air, it had pink wings and a crimson body, then another and another until there was a little swarm of the things. They didn’t move like regular insects, they just stayed in one place, hovering, and surveying the scene. One by one they descended on Seb’s unconscious body and started crawling under his clothes and burrowing into his skin.
Ethan stumbled further back, he wanted to help his friend, but he was terrified. He could not believe what he was seeing. Steam swirled around the hole, and the incessant chittering noise increased. Ethan watched in horror as the steam cleared and he realized the horrible buzzing noise came from the little metal insects rubbing their wings together. The entire edge of the hole was carpeted with crawling black insects, and they were expanding in every direction. Through the rising steam, Ethan could see them take flight, buzzing around in the plumes of steam, flying in steady circles as they rose into the air.
They were expanding in every direction, and they soon covered Seb entirely, all Ethan could see was the shape of his body. The insects that covered him had a blood red colour. Ethan shook his head and moaned in disbelief. The horrible things had eaten his friend. The reddish colour was from Seb’s body, his flesh and blood. He backed away and tripped over a stump. He looked up and wiped the grimy ash from his face, the circle was growing, the perimeter was carpeted with layers of crawling insects, some of the airborne ones flew closer towards him in looping circular movements. He got up and ran screaming into the trees, followed by the insane noise of millions of metal insects.