Professor Garmire rode in a military helicopter over to the naval ship USS Harding. The public was in an uproar when the leaks told of the government’s prior knowledge about these new marine animals. They were titanic relatives of sea urchins, which the public had come to call ‘roller demons’; a misnomer based on the times when the creatures accidentally rolled over their victims. An individual was captured and studied by science teams on Aspido, two weeks before the tragic incident at C&H Life Stadium, when one of the creatures tried eating the personnel. It was decided by the higher-ups to keep this under wraps in the meantime to learn more about them, figuring roller demons only stayed on or near the island. This was proven to be wrong, not just from that day in Fairview, but when the cause behind people and pets going missing was revealed.
Though there were roller demons that walked across the ocean floor from the isle to the mainland, many were washed onto the coast during the tsunami in eggs made of aspidate; green organic gemstone-like material produced by the creatures. They hatched in the devastation where there was little to no human presence due to the locales’ seclusion or hazardous surroundings. The few recorded incidents of people possibly stumbling upon these eggs were only pieced together by forensics, after bits of clothing and bone were discovered among the aspidate shards. At the time, the scenes left more questions than answers for investigating authorities, but by the time the reason behind these disappearances was found, the news broke about the government’s prior knowledge about this previously unknown species. As a result, Aspido’s research division became the sacrificial lamb and got shut down in favor of brute retaliation against the isle.
For a time, the science community was baffled by the earthquakes and the appearance of Aspido off the coast. For one, there were no warning signs for the initial quake, nor the smaller, sporadic, and more localized aftershocks since. All these instances were highly unpredictable. Then there’s that each occurrence didn’t originate from any known fault line. In fact, the island Aspido itself seemed to be the epicenter somehow. While the quakes were a mystery, Aspido was its own enigma entirely. Now, Professor Garmire had a theory; an alarming epiphany that bedeviled her during a discussion with her science colleagues.
At that moment of her revelation, there was little time to spare. Garmire collected what data she could to backup her claims and rushed out the door, imploring her partners in science to contact the military to abort the operation forthwith. Luckily, one of the helicopters just arrived to pack up some of the laboratory equipment for storage. After quickly explaining the urgency of the matter to the pilot and crew, she was granted permission to board the craft, flying her way to the USS Harding. The operation had to be stopped before it was too late. The threat needed to be eliminated, but not like this.
Eventually, Professor Garmire saw on her approach, the Harding and four other naval vessels. Upon touching down on the flagship’s landing pad, a naval officer and a couple sailors hurried over to greet her. Before the officer could ask about her sudden arrival, the professor inquired loudly to be audible over the whirling blades of the chopper, “Is the rear admiral on the command bridge?”
“Yes professor, he’s currently-” the officer began to state when suddenly cut off.
“I need to speak with him about a subject of vital importance, pronto!”
“He is currently observing the operation’s progress at hand!”
“This is related to the operation! He needs to listen to what I have to say!”
The naval officer radioed to the bridge about her surprise visit and escorted her after gaining permission. The bridge was choked with the sounds of working crew, radio chatter, and reviews over plans. Rear Admiral Rumwell viewed Aspido at a distance with his binoculars, as the naval officer and professor approached. Standing at attention, the officer announced to him, “Sir, Rear Admiral Rumwell, sir! Professor Garmire is here, sir!”
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“Rear Admiral,” Garmire jumped straight into it with an urgent tone, “you must abort this operation.”
“I’m only here for visual on-site observation, and to lead the cleanup if any stragglers try leaving Aspido.” said the admiral. “The National Guard was able to clear out C&H, but this might prove a little trickier.”
“But you are the closest direct line to whoever’s commanding this operation. We are making a huge mistake.”
Rumwell lowered his binoculars and turned to look at Garmire. “Nothing was done about these monsters before many people died, and now you want us to continue doing nothing?” the admiral asked rhetorically and coolly.
“That’s not what I’m saying. We have to go about this in a different way. Here.” the professor said as she splayed her data out onto a navigational chart table, upsetting Rumwell enough to move from where he stood.
“What are you doing? Get that clutter off the table!” he demanded.
“I’m sorry, but please look at what I have and listen! The whole isle is made up of reef rock, bleached corals, and limestone, almost all of which are not native to this region; let alone a single location, depth, or even well-known species.
Fifteen shipwrecks catalogued on the island. Less than half were identified as casualties during the disaster’s accompanying storm, but the rest were very old. Some were too old to properly identify, but the others we have: The Amelia was last reported to be in the Pacific, before its disappearance sometime in January 1816. The Neustria, last reported in the Atlantic before disappearing on October 27, 1908. The Lola, last reported in the Atlantic before disappearing on June 4, 2020. How did ships from different times and different voyages end up on the same island?
Finally, there’s the so-called roller demons. Through research, it was revealed that urban light pollution attracted their curiosity in search for food. Plus, they hatched from eggs only safe to witness within environments of immense pressure.
The aspidate, demon roller physiology, shipwrecks, and composition of the island all points to the fact that Aspido originated from far deep below the ocean.”
“So, the island is from the deep! What’s your point? Get on with it!”
“How did so many things from different time periods and multiple locations from around the world’s oceans all end up on the same place? How did that place come to one day surface off a coast with no fault line?”
The information seemed to start clicking with the rear admiral, until one of his subordinate officers called out, “Rear admiral! Three missiles closing in hot on target!”
In an imperative response, Rear Admiral Rumwell announced, “General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations!” causing the pipe to be blown, the word to be passed, and the general alarm to sound. “Well, it’s too late to do anything now professor.” he said returning to his original spot. “Whatever the problem is, isn’t going to be in existence to matter soon.”
The whole bridge quieted down. The counter tracked the missiles as they closed their distance to impact. When the rear admiral lifted the binoculars to his eyes, the sound of cruise missiles passing high overhead could be heard before they were seen whizzing towards Aspido. The countdown reached zero. Large, fragmented sections of the isle were thrown into the air and obliterated in the ensuing explosions. The waters roiled and the seafloor rumbled, tossing about everything and everyone on the naval vessels. The ocean ahead rose, rapidly drawing the water from underneath the ships, causing them to almost slide forwards. The water continued to rise into the sky, and it kept going until the surface exploded like an erupting volcano, sending crushing amounts of water into the air, which crashed down onto the ships below.
Standing in place of the water’s absence, just under half of a mile high, a massive, oblong, lumpy shape covered in many large, pointed nubs, reared towards the sky. The end of the thing bloomed open into a bouquet of tentacle-like feelers. Not far, the waters billowed and parted for the other end of the gargantuan body to emerge. The hole gaped and a williwaw boomed out, filling the air with a noise crossed between an engine whistle and a low foghorn.
The coast was now in grave jeopardy.