“It makes me nervous to fall for someone the same as my best friend. You're like my brother. I could share anything with you, but a woman...” Charles trailed off.
“I mean, if it makes you uncomfortable, we can stop,” Gabe said.
“No, it's not that. I just worry about how this is going to work,” Charles said.
“It could be fun,” Gabe said.
“It has been,” Charles said.
“Then, what's wrong with wading out deeper into the waters?” Gabe asked. “You've been in the deepest parts of the ocean without any fear. What's so different?”
Charles sighed as his jaw tensed, staring intently at the ceiling. He offered a shrug as a response and then rolled over to face his best friend.
“Promise me this won't come between us,” Charles said.
“I mean, she already has,” Gabe joked.
With a silent chuckle, Charles shut his eyes and hugged his pillow.
“I'm serious, Gabe,” he said.
“Alright, I promise,” Gabe said. “Now, I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat.”
“I'd feel bad eating her food,” Charles commented.
“We can always treat her to dinner later. She seems like the type to go dutch,” Gabe said.
“She's quite a woman, honestly. I've been overwhelmed by her,” Charles added. “Beautiful, intelligent, sweet, and talented in many ways.”
“Indeed. And it's not as awkward as I thought it would be. You seemed to be enjoying yourself last night,” Gabe said.
“I have to admit it was an exhilarating evening,” Charles said.
“See? It's not a big deal,” Gabe said.
Charles shrugged with a grin while pulling his briefs up. He waited for Gabe to get dressed and then walked out to the kitchen. As he rummaged through the fridge, another beep came from the bedroom. They exchanged glances.
“I'll get it,” Gabe said quickly.
He jogged to the room and grabbed his phone from the pocket of his pants, pressing the green button for the call. A digital voice responded.
“Emergency code 546. Affected areas: Green District; Blue District; Yellow District. Acquire Pocket Oxygen from distributing drones. Retreat into basement bunkers and remain alert.”
Frozen in shock, Gabe covered his mouth and slowly stood from the ground. His eyes were hooked on the phone. Nothing else came from the phone except the same message repeatedly, an alarm blaring in the background.
“Gabe? What's going on?” Charles called from the kitchen.
“We're under attack,” Gabe whispered through his fingers.
“What?” Charles asked, walking into the bedroom.
“I said, we're under attack,” Gabe said. “We need to go right now.”
***
A wailing alarm echoed between the buildings as Charles led the way towards the main engineering building on the military base. Drones filled the air, most of them passing over and heading north towards the general population. As he sprinted, his phone continued to buzz in his pocket. His fingers covered it, but didn't retrieve it from its place lest he accidentally drop it on the sidewalk.
Inside the main engineering building, military personnel ran from office to office, shouting incoherently over the alarms blaring. Charles ran up the stairs to the office where their boss, Steve, was sitting in a chair while staring at the window. The images appearing across the window were horrifying, leaving Charles standing stunned in the entrance of the office.
Drones were being shot out of the sky. A large ship had penetrated the atmosphere, beams shooting down into random pockets of the city. The footage switched to street views where people were falling over on the sidewalk in fits while holding their throats. They were suffocating.
“It's the Dytrusk,” their boss said sullenly. “Someone sent an attack on their government and they think it's us, so they're doing this.”
Charles shuddered as he took a deep breath, fingers reaching up to cover his mouth.
“What can we do, Steve?” Gabe asked.
“We have been deploying drones to pass out Pocket Oxygen, but the Dytrusk keep shooting them out of the sky,” Steve replied. “We have to open Project X and release the technology you developed.”
“You mean the one that made me lose my hand?” Gabe asked, raising up his cybernetic fingers and wiggling them.
“Yes, Gabe. That technology. We have to use it,” Steve replied.
“But that virus is unstable. We wouldn't be able to control its direction. It would go out of control and cost hundreds of lives—even more than that,” Gabe explained.
“It's what we must do,” Steve said glumly. “We must save the rest of our city.”
Shaking his head, Gabe left the office. Charles stood in the corner of the room as the screen continued to change, showing people all over the city collapsing. It was horrifying to watch. His eyes darted away, but quickly returned as he could not contain his curiosity and shock.
“What are they doing?” Charles asked.
“They're targeting heavily populated areas and surrounding them with pockets empty of oxygen,” Steve replied. “It's terrible.”
“It is,” Charles uttered.
The computer on the desk crackled with life, a voice coming over the speakers that hurriedly asked for help.
“Sir, we need to deliver another few boxes to the hospital. We can't reach the people inside with the drones and they can't come outside,” the voice said.
Steve turned around and pressed a key on his computer.
“We'll send our best that way,” he replied.
After releasing the key, he looked up at Charles.
“We need you and Gabe to rush oxygen over to the hospital,” he said. “You're the only two who can make it through.”
“But sir, you have military personnel at your command,” Charles argued.
“Don't question my command. Those personnel are doing their best with the people out there. We need you to get to the people inside the hospital,” Steve said.
“I'll do my best, sir,” Charles replied.
“Find Gabe, tell him to activate Project X, and then get to that hospital,” Steve instructed. “You're our last hope here. We can't do this without you.”
Charles nodded and then turned to exit the office, making a left to head down towards the end of the hall where the elevators were located. He held his hand to the security screen on the wall and it flashed red twice before turning green. The metal doors slid open and revealed an empty elevator that he boarded. From next to the screen, a digital voiced spoke.
“Clearance verification,” it said.
“Level 12. Engineer operative number 003,” Charles replied.
“Cleared,” said the screen.
“Take me to B7,” he said.
The elevator hummed as it descended, moving rapidly down through the layers of the earth to the lowest point of the building. As the doors opened, Charles found Gabe sitting over a set of computers, pulling up three-dimensional outlines of the city. He tapped the screen, manipulated the picture, and flipped it around. After a few more turns, he rested his head in his hands and released an exasperated sigh.
“I can't do this,” he said.
“Yes, you can,” Charles responded.
“It's too dangerous. This could seriously kill a lot of people while trying to shut down the Dytrusk technology,” Gabe explained.
“How high is the risk?” Charles asked while approaching.
“It's in the red at the moment. Thousands could perish due to this being launched. It will cause power outages all over the city. The hospitals would get shut down. Even the Pocket Oxygen would be affected,” Gabe replied.
“That's not good,” Charles said.
“We have to find a better route,” Gabe said. “We need to get on board the Dytrusk the ship. If we could inject the virus straight into their system, it would attack it instantly and relieve the people caught in those pockets.”
“But
how would we get on the ship?” Charles asked.
“I don't know,” Gabe said. “I simply don't know.”
With a grim expression, Charles stood behind his best friend and studied the plans of Project X. The project itself was genius, having been created to shut down all manner of technology in a predetermined radius. However, the creation of the technology had been traumatizing for Gabe. The poor man had lost his hand while messing with alien mechanics because he hadn't fully understood its capabilities. As a result of the small explosion, it had created the virus, but it had been dangerous to keep on hand due to its potential hazard to the people of Earth.
“We could hop a drone and get up into the ship,” Charles suggested.
“The drones don't fly that high in the atmosphere. We wouldn't be able to make it,” Gabe replied.
“Well, we have to do it somehow,” Charles said. “Keep that on hold and help me transport some things to the hospital. Steve says they need more oxygen.”
“I can't even move,” Gabe groaned.
Charles shook his friend hard.
“You have to move, Gabe. We have to get to the hospital. Think about the people there right now. Think about Robyn,” he said sternly.
“I hope she's okay,” Gabe whimpered.
“She's fine. She's a doctor. She's helping everyone stay safe,” Charles said. “Now we need to do the same. Let's go.”
Gabe stood from his chair and tapped a few keys, turning the screens off. He took a small flash drive from the computer and set it inside a tiny compartment of his cybernetic hand.
“We need to change,” he said. “Get the spare clothes from the lockers.”
Charles went to the lockers located across the room and dug through some spare clothes, tossing them over to Gabe. They changed quickly before heading back to the elevator and taking it up to the main floor.
The main lobby was still in utter chaos with men sprinting between rooms while tapping glass computers. It droned on as Charles and Gabe went to the metal doors guarding the warehouse, entering their clearance codes before walking in to gather the Pocket Oxygen boxes they would need.
After the metal boxes were loaded on two trolleys, they each rolled them out to the front. A small portion of the alien ship was visible in the sky. They both exchanged glances and then nodded. Charles bent down to press a button on his cybernetic leg, effectively cloaking him and the cart from being seen. It was the only way they would make it across the chaotic yard, and they had to hurry. By the minute, the ship sunk further over their city, looming like a black cloud that covered the sun.
Within moments, the entire city was plunged into darkness.
***
Despite the chaos inside the main engineering building, the entire courtyard was eerily quiet. Charles and Gabe left the raucous behind and quickly darted across the yard with the carts. The wheels squeaked as they moved. They kept their heads low while keeping their eyes on the sky. A round metal orb appeared and hummed as it hovered close by.
“Turn off your body heat,” Charles hissed.
“I'm trying,” Gabe said.
“Try harder. It's getting closer,” Charles whispered.
The orb rotated and a great digital eye came into view, the pupil darting around the courtyard that was predominantly empty. This area hadn't been affected. The orb was likely scouting more places to target.
Charles darted underneath it with ease, his body heat having been turned down to a numbing cold that nearly stopped him from being able to move. It was tasking pushing through the icy feeling that overwhelmed his limbs, making it difficult to keep control of the cart. The great eye was looking down at them. He could see it wavering over where they were moving, almost following them instinctively.
A warble came from the orb. Within seconds, it dove down towards them and Charles increased his speed to make it to the hospital. The cart teetered on two wheels. With great effort, he took the handles hard and maneuvered the cart back on track. After regaining control, he turned to see Gabe being shot by the orb.
“No!” Charles cried.
The figure of his best friend dissolved instantly and the orb took off into the air, likely heading back to the ship.
“Where are you taking him, you bastards?!” he cried.
The cry was futile. It didn't stop the orb where it flew, becoming a speck in the sky that quickly faded into the rest of the darkness. Silence resumed in the courtyard, the warbling sound of the orb long since gone. Charles turned around and squinted to find the hospital doors. They had been reinforced with metal. A digital voice came over the speaker outside and he felt around to find the screen.
“This is Engineer Operative 003 with Pocket Oxygen for delivery,” he said into the speaker.
His voice had cracked. Somewhere between losing control of the cart and losing Gabe, his voice had gone with it. The doors quickly opened and flooded him with light as he hauled the load inside, parking it next to the doors.
“Where's Dr. Atkinson?” he asked the guard standing in the lobby.
“She's on the tenth floor,” replied the guard.
“Thank you,” Charles said as he ran for the elevators.
Heart racing, he boarded the elevator and instructed the screen to take him to the tenth floor. It zoomed up, but it didn't seem fast enough, his hand gripping the rail as it escalated. As soon as the doors were open, he darted from the elevator and ran to the main desk.
“Dr. Atkinson, please,” he said hurriedly.
“She's busy with a patient. You'll have to wait,” replied the attendant.
“This can't wait. You need to call her right now!” Charles shouted.
“Sir, I'm going to call security if you don't calm down,” she said.
“You think we should be calm at a time like this? You must be ridiculous,” Charles spat.
“Fine. Have it your way,” she said firmly.
As she pressed her finger to her ear, a hand came from across the desk and pushed it down.
“Thank you, Gloria. I'll take it from here,” Robyn said.
“Robyn!” Charles cried while taking her in his arms. “I was so worried. I need your help.”
“With what?” Robyn asked. “And where's Gabe?”
“Gabe was taken. An orb came down from the ship and took him. I think they're going to do something horrible,” Charles replied.
“What?” she blurted.
Her eyes instantly welled with tears, disregarding the touch pad that fell from her fingers.
“We have to figure out a way up to the ship. We need to get back to the engineering building,” he said.
“I can't leave...you don't understand,” she said. “They need me here.”
“We need you more. There are people dying everywhere and we need to plant the virus in the ship and rescue Gabe,” he explained.
“What virus?” she asked.
“Gabe developed this technology by accident. It effectively shuts down any operating system within a certain radius, but it hasn't been properly tested. We were instructed to detonate it here on Earth in order to prevent the Dytrusk from attacking further, but it would have also shut down the hospital,” Charles explained. “And every functioning Pocket Oxygen in the vicinity.”
“I don't understand,” Robyn said.
“You don't have to. Gabe has the virus with him, but he's going to need help uploading it to the ship. I have no idea what those Dytrusks are going to do to him,” he said.
Robyn looked over at Gloria who wore a horrified expression, her hand still hanging between the desk and her ear.
“Alright,” Robyn said. “What do we do first?”
“We need to get up to the ship,” Charles replied.
“How?” she asked.
Charles thought about it for a moment. “With a military pod. They have cloaking devices on them that can sneak us up on the mother ship. After we board, we'll have to find where they're keeping Gabe,” he replied.
“The military
won't let us just board their ship,” she said.
“No, not with my clearance,” he said. “But I know how we can sneak by.”
“This sounds incredibly complicated and illegal,” she said.
“It's not complicated, but it might be illegal,” he said with a sly grin. “Just trust me on this, okay?”
Robyn huffed and crossed her arms, squinting at Charles.
“I don't know, Charles. This worries me. Boarding a completely foreign ship and engaging with aliens who are trying to kill us right now... It sounds bad,” she said.
“It will only get worse if we don't do anything,” he said. “Please, Robyn. We must do this together.”
He took her hand gently and held it to his face, pleading with his eyes.
“Alright,” she agreed. “Let me grab a few things before we go.”
“That's fine. Meet me back here in fifteen,” he said.
“Promise me something,” she said before walking away.
“What's that?” he asked.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her cheek to his, radiating warmth and the scent of roses.
“Promise you won't let us die,” she whispered.
“I promise,” he said. “I promise with every fiber of my being.”
***
Gabe struggled to open his eyes. A flash of light crossed his vision, causing him to wince. The garbled sound of a foreign language came in waves as a stinging pain hit the base of his skull. He could hear the faint sound of drilling. As he finally gained control of his vision, he saw a metal ceiling with a dozen lights scattered across it. A greenish brown limb came into view and set something on his head.
“Good evening,” said a digital voice.
Gabe looked up to find a gnarly creature holding a digital device to its throat with several wide eyes gazing down at him and blinking simultaneously.
“Welcome to our ship. I hope you have found our accommodations to your liking,” said the Dytrusk.
Gabe croaked. He had the words sitting in his throat, but he was unable to speak. Even his limbs didn't respond to the signals from his brain. He could feel the pulses desperately trying to get him to move, but they were frozen.
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