The humid cubicle was lit by a kaleidoscope of colors from various glowing gems inlaid in a beautifully crafted table. A quiet trilling noise emanated from one of the gemstones. Oskrith stretched her chitinous forelimbs as the noise awoke her from her brief slumber. Her mandibles made a soft clicking noise as her long pedipalps rubbed her sleep laden compound eyes. She had only nodded off for a short time and her personal embarrassment caused her maxillary palp to darken to a dull green color as she looked around the room at the other System Observers. They were all engrossed in their own jobs and none of them seemed to have noticed her lapse. Hastily she began pressing gemstones and, as the alarm went quiet, a holographic scene of space illuminated the top of the workstation. This cannot be correct. Can it? She wondered.
Part of the table retracted, and several knobs and levers appeared. She began to use the control interface with a long-practiced skill. The image hovering before her shifted and rotated and finally zoomed in on a singular planet. As the image of the planet slowly rotated before her in a wireframe type of view, a bright red dot appeared. Her mandibles clicked in agitation as she magnified the image. Yes. There was no mistaking it. Oh, this is not good. She scrambled out of her chair and in her haste, knocked her mug of steaming gurkack all over the floor. The wriggling larvae in the slimy concoction began trying to escape in all directions. Oskrith ignored the mess and the now glowering looks of her office mates and skittered on her hind limbs out the door and down a long stone hallway.
Bypassing several steel-banded wooden doors, she came to a set of double doors and burst in. “Sir!” She shouted far too loudly. She was instantly aware of her lack of decorum and stopped in her tracks to compose herself, her maxillary palp had darkened to an even deeper green in her excitement and embarrassment.
A large beetle-like being sat at a massive U-shaped desk covered in the gemstones and knobs that Oskrith’s own desk had, but in a much larger array of colors and shapes. His long antenna twitched in annoyance as Oskrith caught her breath and marveled for the millionth time at how handsome the System Overwatch Commander was. His compound eyes sparkled in the glow of the control stones and his carapace was waxed to a reflective sheen. He even had gold inlay etched into his thick body covering. He was simply gorgeous.
System Overwatch Commander Ssarnit waited impatiently for the Junior System Observer to say something. Finally, he clicked his mandibles in an exasperated warning which caused Oskrith to snap out of her daydream of hatching a brood of Ssarnit’s eggs. His beautifully sibilant voice asked, “What is it Oskrith? I am in the midst of writing my quarterly report.”
Oskrith lowered her body to the floor and splayed her hind legs in a show of supplication and contrition. “My apologies Sir, but I have interesting… No…. disturbing news.”
When she did not elaborate, Ssarnit waved a thick, chitin covered forelimb, “And?” His mandibles clicked again in irritation, “What is the actual news?”
“Sorry. Um, yes Sir, well… as you know the Great System has found two other Realms to assimilate in my watch sector, and… well, one of them has shown a possible Emergence.”
At this the System Overwatch Commander rose in his chair and his pedipalps quivered in shock. “What!? Are you sure? Which Realm?” His forelimbs began moving and twisting knobs and tapping gemstones to bring up Oskrith’s view screen.
“Sector Zed-9. The third planet from the star.” Oskrith watched as the holographic display showed the planetary body she had just seen at her own station. And, just as she had seen before, the bright red dot appeared.
Ssarnit waved his pedipalps and clicked his mandibles in shock. After staring at the display in silence for a few minutes, he turned his attention to Oskrith. “Tell no one.” His tone was serious, and his maxillary palp turned a near purple color to show just how serious he was. “This will start a war if this gets out to the Shattered Realms. An Emergence after all this time…” He became lost in thought and his pedipalps drooped in worry. “Scrub your station of the data. I will take this to the Overwatch Council. And if this gets out, I will hold you personally responsible and your Brood Name will be scrubbed from existence!” His focus turned back to his display. When Oskrith did not move, he added, “Dismissed!”
Oskrith, startled by the threat and his angry tone of voice, jumped up and skittered out of the office as fast as her hind legs could carry her. As she caught her breath in the hallway, she had the thought that something truly bad was going to come of this discovery.
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“Oh my God! You are so cute!!” Brynn Debray was in her happy place. She held her new prize in her hands and stared in utter happiness at the face peering, unblinking back at her. The face was a familiar figure in the Debray home and the fifteen-year-old was beyond delighted at her find. Harvey the Wonder Bear was the latest Japanese animated character to take the Americas by storm. It seemed every year there was a new import from the land of the rising sun and this year it was the bear’s turn. The anime called “That Time I became a Teddy Bear”, was the favorite of teenage girls everywhere and Brynn’s new Harvey backpack was now her pride and joy. The seller, behind the counter, had just finished taking a picture of Brynn, who was wearing a costume, cosplaying as Harvey’s main female companion from the show. The beautiful blonde teenager had been inundated by photo requests as soon as she had stepped foot into the convention. In fact, even before so. Outside, much to the consternation of her big brother Brom, many people had stopped them as they walked to the front of the convention center, asking for a photo or two. Several men claiming to be professional photographers also approached but with a glare from the six-foot four-inch football player, they all quickly departed.
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All of their friends knew that Brom was protective of his little sister, more so after their parents had died and Brom petitioned to be Brynn’s legal guardian. He was twenty at the time and she was thirteen. It took almost six months of red tape and official shenanigans to make it happen. That was two years past and Brom took his role as big brother and provider very seriously.
He outwardly scowled when at conventions and cosplay gatherings, mostly because of the attention his sister brought. He understood that she was exceptionally pretty, he was her brother, but he was also not blind. He was overprotective, for as much as he loved his sister and knew she was a good kid, he also knew her well enough to know that she was naïve and far too trusting. She also had zero clue as to how pretty she was. So, he came to these events as her chaperone. But he secretly enjoyed the conventions as well. As a jock and athlete, he was expected by his peers to behave a certain way and shun certain, nerdy hobbies. Fortunately, Brom did not care what others thought of him and he thoroughly enjoyed the nerdier things. He played fantasy role-playing games with his friends and watched anime with his sister, and although her infatuation with the bear made him cringe just a little, he was happy to see the joy on her face when he bought her the little plush backpack.
Speaking of his friends, the people most important to him were at the booth next to where he stood waiting for Brynn to be free of the current round of photo seekers. Brom’s best friend Shane Cooper was looking at gaming dice with his girlfriend, Kenzie Reed. Shane was Brom’s oldest and best friend. They had met when they were in grade school and had quickly become like brothers. Brom’s own family life had been rough. He and Brynn had been brought by their parents from Russia just after Brynn had been born. Brom had trouble making friends and learning the language and his parents struggled to make ends meet so they both worked multiple jobs and were hardly around. And when they were, they doted on the baby and Brom was left to his own devices.
Shane’s family life was not much better. His parents were alcoholics and mostly hands off which caused Shane to mature quickly so he could look after himself. When he and Brom met, their mutual home lives gave them a reason to bond. After a few years, Kenzie came into the picture and their duo became a trio. However, Kenzie’s addition was far more impactful. Her home life was the exact opposite. Her parents were well off and loving. They also had a television and space for the kids to play. Over time this allowed them to begin their foray into fantasy gaming and escape into the fantastical worlds of sci-fi and adventure. Eventually, Shane and Kenzie realized they were in love and happily, it did not change the group dynamic. When Brynn and, Kenzie’s younger brother Malcolm, were old enough, they too were wrapped in the warm embrace of the Reed household and treated like family.
Now, Brom, Shane and Kenzie were in their early twenties and Brynn and Malcom in their middle teens. This gave the group a chance to go to conventions and gatherings without needing the Reed parents to chauffeur them. And they took full advantage of their freedom.
Malcom came running up in a huff, his dark skin had a slight sheen of perspiration. He had been on the other end of the convention center standing in a long line to get a selfie taken with a minor celebrity from some obscure science fiction show he liked. He adjusted the plastic bag he held in his hand as he proudly held up his cell phone and showed the picture to his sister and friends. “Oh, and…” He said with excitement, “Check it out!” He pulled a box from his bag and held it for scrutiny. “This guy had the new twelve-inch Mego Batman action figure for sale for only twenty bucks!”
The others did the appropriate oohing and awing over the figure even though of them all, only Malcolm collected action figures. Kenzie knew that it made her little brother happy, so she would make sure he felt supported in his hobby, even though she thought it was a waste of money.
Shane, however, was genuinely excited about the purchase and stood a while asking questions and admiring the figure. He and Malcolm also spoke about Shane’s new dice set. The scene made Kenzie smile and Shane caught her looking and smiled, he unconsciously ran his hand through his short, dark hair and his blue eyes sparkled with humor as he winked at her.
Brynn finally caught up to the group, “Oh, Mal, your doll is cute.”
Malcolm’s head snapped up as he glared at the blonde teen, “Dude! He’s an action figure! Not a doll!”
Brynn patted his shoulder, “Whatever you say Mal.” And gave him a quick smile. She then turned to Brom, “I’m hungry, can we go find some lunch?”
The rest of the day went by in a blur for the group. After lunch, they roamed the crowded convention floor a bit more. Kenzie bought an art print from an artist she followed on social media, and Brynn posed for what seemed a thousand more photos. Eventually, they made their way back to the parking lot and all slumped gratefully into the welcoming seats of Shane’s SUV. Talk amongst the group was abundant at first as they traversed the freeways on their way home, but eventually, the exhaustion of the day slowed them down.
Soon after leaving the convention center, the rain started in earnest. It had hinted earlier with some light sprinkles, but it soon became a mild torrent. Normally the trip home took roughly three and a half hours, but the rain put a significant dent in that timing, and it was when they had been in the car for three hours with an hour left, that reality shifted.
Shane was cruising at a steady fifty miles an hour in a sixty-five zone because of the wind and rain. The roadway was worse in the high hills next to the reservoir, as the wind wanted to push the car sideways. Malcolm and Brynn were in a heated debate about the lyrics to a song, both typing furiously on their phones to be the first to look up the correct lyrics, when a blue rectangle of light appeared in Shane’s vision. For a moment, he saw glowing white letters appear as if on a computer monitor, but the sudden appearance had startled him so thoroughly that his hands twitched on the steering wheel just enough to cause the car to slide on the wet roadway.
Then, everything went black.