A figure appeared in front of the nearly destroyed White House. He is wearing a black suit, wearing a golden watch, and carrying a briefcase in his left hand. His right hand pressed against his ear, his lips moving soundlessly in conversation.
However, there is something weird about this man. His body shimmers but there are no sources of light in his body. His hair is unbelievably dark like it was dyed in Vantablack, the blackest paint in the whole history of mankind as of now.
An injured man, hiding in his shelter beneath the rubble not far away from the White House saw the figure in a black suit. What he saw was so astonishingly beautiful that he almost couldn't believe his eyes.
The figure that almost looks like a man has a tail, not just one but many distinct tails, moving quite mesmerizing and smoothly like a monotonous robot moving in constant motion.
"Woah..." His voice trembled as his eyes were drawn to the figure's tail as if his eyes were hypnotized by a swaying coin.
Back and forth, the tail moved and multiplied every time he blinked. His face flushed red, his jaw dropped uncontrollably, and his eyes were bloodshot.
He couldn't tear his gaze away from that man. The pain in his injuries faded as he continued to gaze at the figure's tail.
He tried to stay awake, but his vision blurred, and then his mind was calm as a lake in a peaceful forest.
His eyes darkened. He woke up in the middle of the lake. His body levitated approaching the skies above.
His breathing stopped, and his heartbeat diminished in seconds and stopped.
He's dead.
The figure dropped his right hand.
The man in the suit lowered his hand and sighed. "Rest now," he murmured, his voice soft as the wind carrying the ashes of the world. "May your next life find you in peace."
As he tipped his head, a black fedora appeared, materializing out of nothing.
"Well then." He fixed his fedora hat and spoke as if nothing had happened.
With a graceful step, he ascended the cracked stairs of the White House and phased through below similar to a sinking boat in an ocean, leaving behind only the echo of his whispered farewell.
----------------------------------------
"The dim bunker hummed with the faint sound of fluorescent lights. Inside, the air was heavy, not with noise, but with the silence of uncertainty. Phones were lifeless, screens blank, and the only operational systems were the old analog devices untouched by the digital age.
There is a meeting room inside the bunker. The door is closed to not let any information in this discussion be disclosed.
President Jonathan Baird sat at the head of the table, his fingers lightly drumming against the wood as he surveyed the room. His advisors exchanged nervous glances, but none dared to speak first.
"Thirty-five minutes," Baird finally said, his voice calm, breaking the uneasy quiet. "That's how long it's been since everything went dark." He leaned back, his expression thoughtful but composed. "We don't know what's happening up there, but panicking won't help anyone down here."
The Secretary of Defense, Leon Armstrong, cleared his throat. "Mr. President, without communications, we're flying blind. We've got reports-visual only-of... transformations. Objects and people show unnatural behavior. Sir, the science team is struggling to make sense of it."
Baird nodded slowly. "Transformations?"
"Yes, sir," Armstrong continued. "Soldiers on the surface have seen pens slithering like snakes. Humans... changing into creatures we can't even begin to describe. It's like something is rewriting the rules of reality."
"And what's being done to ensure safety?" Baird asked, his voice steady but firm.
"Ground teams are forming safe zones wherever possible," Armstrong replied. "But without communication, coordination is near impossible. We're relying on messengers and physical runners to relay orders. It's like we've gone back to the 19th century."
Baird tapped his fingers against the table again, his mind visibly working through the chaos. "Alright. Leon prioritizes protecting those safe zones. Use visual signals, flags, whatever it takes. If we can't communicate electronically, we adapt."
"Yes, sir."
"Dr. Caldwell," Biden turned to his Chief Science Advisor, seated a few chairs down. "We're dealing with... changes. Physical changes. I want you to focus on understanding what's happening to people, objects-anything. Keep it simple; I don't need theories. I need patterns and practical solutions. Can you do that?"
Dr. Caldwell nodded, though her hands trembled slightly as she gripped a notebook. "We'll do our best, Mr. President."
"Good," Baird said. His calm tone didn't waver, though his gaze carried the weight of uncertainty. "We don't have all the answers, but we're not helpless. This isn't the first crisis we've faced. And like before, we'll get through this by working together."
The room fell quiet again, but this time, the silence carried a faint undercurrent of purpose.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Just as Baird was about to rise from his chair, a strange noise broke the stillness-a soft, rhythmic hum. Everyone turned toward the room's only doorway, their eyes widening as a figure shimmered into view.
The man was dressed sharply in a black suit, a golden watch glinting faintly on his wrist. A briefcase hung at his side. His face was expressionless, yet there was an undeniable aura of authority surrounding him.
"Can't believe the door is open." His face smiled as he nonchalantly said with his aloof empty eyes. His tail gradually disappeared as he walked inside the meeting room.
"Who are you!" Leon grabbed his firearm in his vest and stood up.
"Mr. President, we need to talk." The man ignored Leon's threat and spoke with a calm voice.
"Are you ignoring me?!" Leon switched off the safety of his firearm, indicating that this was his final warning to the man.
The man looked at him. His iris and pupil of his eyes are unbelievably dark. It feels empty as if you were stuck in an endless void when you stared at his eyes.
"Leon, drop the gun," Baird ordered Leon to put down his gun.
Leon pressed the trigger instinctively, doing the opposite of what the President said. The firing bolt of the gun was released. The people in the room gasped, a collective intake of breath before a stunned silence fell.
*click*
Leon was confused; he checked the mag in his gun and found it empty.
He released the empty mag, grabbed a new one, and inserted it into his gun. He pulled back the gun muzzle with his non-firing hand and pressed the trigger again.
*click*
"No matter how hard you try, there will be no bullets flying towards me."
The man's composed demeanor when a gun is pointed at him tenses everyone in the room.
"Sit down Leon," Baird commanded Leon to sit down in his chair.
Leon closed his eyes, placed his gun on the table, and sat down while maintaining his composure.
After Leon sat down. Baird sat down as well.
"What are we going to talk about." Both of Baird's arms rest upon the table. His back straightened up as his hoarse voice from his old age asked the mysterious man in front of him.
"It seems like we are now comfortable to begin our conversation." The man smiled, but there was no such relief or anything remotely similar to an expression on his face.
Comfortable my ass!
Most of the people in the room thought the same thing.
"Do you mind if I use the laptop here on the table?" The man extended his arms indicating that he meant no harm while asking for permission.
"You may use it," Baird said nonchalantly while his body composed itself, adapting to the current situation.
"Thank you very much." The man bowed slightly as he began to walk towards the laptop. He opened the briefcase that he brought on this occasion as his face frowned.
Inside the briefcase is a small USB stick and that's it. He picked up the USB stick and inserted it into the laptop.
The officers in the room were confused as to why there is only a USB stick in a big briefcase that you could almost fit four laptops.
Then, a holographic keyboard appeared in his hands, and he was controlling the laptop with ease.
This shocked everyone as they did not see such high-end technology that is almost impossible to recreate in our current era.
The cyan light in grid-like form from 35 minutes ago appeared in the room.
"What are you doing!?" Baird exclaimed in shock with his face filled with the despair as he stood up for protest.
"I am only controlling this room's electronics and this action cannot manipulate the shape or form of objects even you. " The man responds as he types on his holographic keyboard.
"How can we trust you?" Baird sat as he asked this important question so far.
"Depends on you all if all of you trust me or not. But I prefer that you trust me so that no conflict will arise while I try and configure this space."
He turned on the projection at the back of the room.
The projection showed not on the screen in front but on the table where the government officials were sitting.
The entire room went silent but their silence was deafening as they saw this high technology that only exists in science fiction.
The officials, especially the scientists were awestruck, their understanding of physics and common sense shattered by the materializing holographic keyboard and projection on the table.
They did not see any gadget that can possibly materialize the holographic keyboard. The keyboard just materializes out of nothing and that surpassed their understanding of the laws of physics.
A light shining brightly in a dimmed room. Impossible, even if you tried transforming the atoms in the air to produce some kind of chemical energy that can produce light energy. If you could get it that bright, we would've been poisoned by carbon monoxide.
The holographic light didn't glimmer on that man's fingers nevermind his face or our bodies. As if the light exists in another plane of reality layered in our own.
The man pressed his right ear in his right hand as if he was making a phone call. His mouth moves but no sounds are coming out of it.
There shouldn't be a signal connection everywhere in the world. How can they communicate? Dr. Caldwell thought to herself that question while the man was speaking soundlessly.
A screen appeared on the projector screen and showed one big screen in the middle and 156 mini screens on the side of the big screen.
The people in the room gasped for air as they witnessed this magic happen in front of their very own eyes.
"Is the translation mode activated, Pois?"
The man asked on the screen.
"Yes sir, the translation is working flawlessly even though the System hasn't been fully integrated," Pois replied on the other side of the screen.
Baird realized that this man's eyes felt like this represents his true emotions. I felt that his eyes were full of grief and sadness all throughout our meeting as if he cried inside his heart.
"Then let's get this international meeting started then."
The man clapped his hands, returning me back to reality, as the globe of the planet 'Earth' appeared on the table in the 156 screens as well as the meeting room and his full body was on the big screen while a globe at his side slowly spinning at his chest height.
"Forgive me for not giving my name earlier. My name is Uolos, the Supervisor of this Solar System. " He introduced himself with a simpered smile with a disinterested-like gaze in his desolate eyes.
<( ̄︶ ̄)>
The novel updates are going to be much slower from today onwards.