A stifled sneeze rang throughout the room, drawing eyes away from the dusty LED monitor that lit up the room with dull colors and sending a new wave of dust through the air. The three figures in the room glared at the source of the interruption to their discussion, the offending intern shrinking back into the corner of the room as to not cause any more unwanted distractions. The eyes returned their gaze to the screen, the brief annoyance forgotten.
“And this is the best recording we have? You’re certain of this?” A man of particularly large stature resumed the dialogue.
The second man sighed, idly fingering his clipboard as he shook his head, “We’ve gone over all known sources and exhausted any leads on new ones. Our |Investigator| tells us any searching beyond this would be a waste of time.”
The third figure in the room, a tall woman, ran a hand through her tangled hair as she gave the brawny man an annoyed glance. “You’re being too hopeful.” Removing her glasses, she began tiredly massaging the bridge of her nose, clear indents pressing into her skin. “It was too early in the morning for any substantial amount of people to have witnessed it. I’d wager most eyewitnesses are gone at this point; it’s miraculous enough that we even know of this event at all, much less have preserved video of it.”
The second man nodded vigorously. “I agree. Out of all the video our |Investigator| retrieved from New York City, only twelve cameras in Times Square managed to catch this. Out of those, eight of them provided a bad angle or subpar quality, and the other three were in too close of proximity and were knocked out following the Integration.”
The tall man gazed at the screen, deep in thought as the video started a new loop. He’d never been a big fan of the term ‘Integration’. Integrations were typically supposed to be smooth, and meant to cause as little conflict with the two merging entities as possible. This had been more like a crash. His eyes hardened as he gazed at the being in the video.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
No, perhaps a better word would be an Apocalypse.
-
New York City, Times Square
April 28th, 2022, 08:00
The robed woman stepped through the hole in space-time as naturally as one might walk through a door. As her full body entered the square, the gate behind her collapsed in on itself without a sound.
She slowly turned in a full circle as she observed the foreign world around her; taking in the flashing lights, the hurried pedestrians, and the roaring vehicles as most of the world ignored her presence. A young man that couldn’t be older than twenty rushed by her, sparing her a curious glance as he passed the woman by, running out of the range of the camera. The woman tilted her head as she watched him go, her expression implying she had just witnessed something incredibly fascinating.
The woman turned her gaze upwards, and the security camera caught the first hint of the foreign being’s features. She had bronze skin with brown hair and shining green eyes, which flashed in the light as she observed the towering skyscrapers far above her. A faint smile appeared on her face as the clouds opened up and revealed the first hint of rain, a far cry from the clear sunny skies the weatherman had forecasted just hours ago.
As she raised her arms to greet the falling rain the sleeves of her robe slid back, revealing toned, yet lean muscle that rested just beneath her seemingly thin exterior. She stood in this position for the next few moments before her hands came together above her head and tore the world apart.
An explosion of light and sound burst out from her hands, akin to a thunderclap that was heard throughout the world. A rainbow of colors swirled out from a vortex in her hands, flying out of range of the camera and snaking their way throughout the skies as they crossed the oceans and mountains in an instant.
On video, most of the cars and pedestrians went flying as a wave of force accompanied the fireworks display, with many unlucky people killed on impact with buildings and other loose-flying debris. Screams rang out across the concrete clearing as the woman lowered her hands and once again looked around at her surroundings.
The catastrophe took only thirty seconds from start to finish, and yet the world would be forever changed by those few precious moments.
As the recording reached its last few moments, the woman’s face slowly turned towards the camera, the smile still plain for all to see. She opened her mouth and spoke three words. Three words that would take [Translators] fifty years to decipher.
“O’fraun, hikdoat g’nrye.”
Good luck, children.