Electron mc100 intercom
Product Management
2009.10.05 00:16 SoftwareMaven Product Management
Product Management
2024.06.10 05:10 randomuser7437 Have a question to ask
Hi, I’m very new here I’m at 17 year old who recently got into repairing electronics I have a NuTone radio intercom system model IM-4006 everything worked, but it had a hum when I turned on the fm radio and turn the music up it covers up the hum. I decided to check the power supply board and I found a bad capacitor I did not have the replacement in stock. It uses a 25 V 3300 uf capacitor and I put a 25 V 2200 uf in there now there’s no sound at all but the speaker is getting signal I did not have it on long enough to do any damages. but could that capacitor cause no sound?
submitted by randomuser7437 to diyelectronics [link] [comments]
2024.06.07 18:20 Aggravating_Time1698 Your Guide to Apartment Building Security Systems
In today's world, ensuring the security of apartment buildings is a top priority for property managers and residents alike. With the rise in urban living, the need for robust and reliable security systems has never been greater. This guide will walk you through the various components of a comprehensive apartment building security system, focusing on access control systems, gate automation system installation, visitor entry systems, and parking guidance systems.
submitted by Aggravating_Time1698 to u/Aggravating_Time1698 [link] [comments]
Access Control Systems
Access control systems are the cornerstone of modern apartment building security. These systems allow property managers to regulate who can enter and exit the building, enhancing safety and convenience for residents. Here are the key features and benefits of access control systems:- Keyless Entry: Traditional keys can be easily lost or duplicated. Access control systems use electronic credentials like key cards, fobs, or mobile apps, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
- Audit Trails: These systems keep a log of all entries and exits, providing a valuable resource for security audits and investigations.
- Remote Management: Property managers can control and monitor access points from a central location or even remotely, allowing for quick responses to security incidents.
- Scalability: Whether it's a small apartment complex or a large residential building, access control systems can be scaled to meet the specific needs of the property.
Gate Automation System Installation
Gate automation systems add an extra layer of security by controlling vehicle access to the property. Here's why you should consider gate automation system installation:- Enhanced Security: Automated gates deter unauthorized vehicles and potential intruders from entering the premises, providing a secure environment for residents.
- Convenience: Automated gates can be operated via remote control, keypads, or mobile apps, making it easy for residents to enter and exit without leaving their vehicles.
- Traffic Management: These systems help manage traffic flow within the property, reducing congestion and improving safety.
- Aesthetic Appeal: Modern gate automation systems are not only functional but also enhance the curb appeal of the property, potentially increasing its value.
Visitor Entry Systems
Managing visitors is crucial for maintaining the security of an apartment building. Visitor entry systems offer a seamless way to handle guest access:- Intercom Systems: These allow residents to communicate with visitors at the entrance before granting access. Video intercoms add an extra layer of security by allowing residents to see who is at the door.
- Temporary Access Codes: Residents can generate temporary access codes for their guests, which expire after a set period, ensuring that old codes cannot be reused.
- Visitor Logs: These systems keep a record of all visitors, providing a useful tool for security audits and incident investigations.
- Integration with Access Control: Visitor entry systems can be integrated with existing access control systems, ensuring a cohesive and efficient security solution.
Parking Guidance Systems
Managing parking spaces efficiently is essential for resident satisfaction and property security. Parking guidance systems can help achieve this goal:- Real-Time Availability: These systems provide real-time information on available parking spaces, reducing the time residents spend searching for a spot and minimizing congestion.
- Directional Signage: Clear, illuminated signs guide drivers to available spaces, improving traffic flow and reducing the risk of accidents.
- License Plate Recognition: Integrating parking guidance systems with license plate recognition technology enhances security by ensuring only authorized vehicles can access the parking area.
- Visitor Parking Management: These systems can designate specific areas for visitor parking and track the usage, ensuring that resident spaces are not occupied by guests.
Conclusion
Investing in a comprehensive apartment building security system is essential for the safety and peace of mind of residents. By implementing access control systems, gate automation system installation, visitor entry systems, and parking guidance systems, property managers can create a secure, efficient, and welcoming environment. Modern security technologies not only enhance safety but also add convenience and value to the property, making them a worthwhile investment for any apartment building.2024.06.05 19:33 modzer0 Ever take a dogman to the vet?
I should not be writing this. I know they will be looking for me as soon as this goes live. I had to get the word out despite all the secrecy surrounding the project. I don't know what they'll do to me when they find me, but this has to get out.
I was unemployed vet tech looking for work when I came across a job listing offering a strangely large amount of money. What did I have to loose? I called the number and they gave me a website to go to that took me through an application process and a security clearance form that I had to fill out the last seven years of my life. They said it would be months until the clearance would come through but to my surprise a month later I got a phone call telling me I had been granted Interm Secret clearance and the job would proceed.
I had to go to a building without any name on it downtown and they took my photo for an ID card and a packet of information about where I was to go to the next day.
The next morning I drove to the address with a mix of excitement and apprehension. What about this job required a security clearance? Why had I gotten my interm secret so quickly? I figured I'd soon find out when I pulled up to a gate with a card reader. I swiped my ID and the razor wire topped gate slid open so I could pass. Yeah nothing ominous about that. I drove a mile or so down the road and parked in the parking lot in front of a building that looked like the set of a prison movie. The windows were narrow slits and I could tell from a distance that the door was very heavy duty. Thinking back a few minutes ago wasn't the top of that razor wire fence angled in as if to keep something in rather than people out?
I got out and approached the heavy door. I spotted the card reader and used my ID on it and it flashed green and there was a loud clunking sound from the door as it unlocked. I had to put some muscle behind it to get it to open and then it shut behind me followed by another loud clunk as the locks reengaged.
I turned to see a thick armored window with a guard staring me down.
"First day huh?" he asked me as he looked at his screen.
"Yeah," I said a bit nervously.
"Sit tight, your department head will be coming to pick you up and take you to your in-brief," he said.
"What uh, what is this place?" I asked.
"All that will be answered by the briefing so have a seat and relax. You're likely in the safest spot in the facility," he said.
I looked at the inner door and noticed it was just as thick and heavy as the outer one. I was essentially sitting in an armored booth so he was technically right about it being safe.
When my boss arrived he was wearing scrubs and had his ID card clipped to the bottom of the V of the top.
"So, you're my new tech?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir," I replied.
"Good, hopefully you follow instructions better than the last one," he said. "I'm Dr. Tanner. You can call me 'Sir' or 'Doctor'."
"Sir, can you tell me what I'll be doing here?" I asked.
"All in due time. First you need to complete the safety briefing. It is not a joke. Take a look at the windows and doors if you need convincing. The government doesn't spend this kind of money unless it's very necessary, and it is. You'll understand the need for it when I introduce you to our charges. I'm not going to tell you yet because I enjoy the look on people's faces when they get their first peak of what we're doing here," he said. "Now, for the safety briefing. Follow me."
He began to open the inner door when he stopped and looked back at me. "Do you have any electronic devices on you?"
"No Sir, the security documents instructed me to leave my phone and anything with a digital memory in the car," I said.
"Excellent, you're already demonstrating that you can follow directions," he said. Was that a hint of a smile I saw?
He lead me down the hallway to a room on the left and used his card to unlock and open the door. After I walked inside what appeared to be a conference room he followed me inside and let the door shut.
I immediately noticed the back of the door wasn't the usual thing one would expect to see. It had a big lever in the middle that looked like it operated bolts to secure the door shut. I started to wonder what the hell I had gotten myself into. I expected to be working with maybe the facility's guard dogs. This kind of security was on a level I hadn't experienced before.
"Good, you're observant, another plus," the doctor said.
He walked over to the table and picked up a recorder and pressed play. A trilling alarm sound came for it and he let it play for a few seconds before cutting it off.
"If you hear that sound along with flashing red lights you are to go to the nearest safe room, such as this one and use this lever to bolt the door," He walked over and pressed a button by the windows and the thick glass became opaque.
"And you are to opaque the windows with the control in the room so nothing can see in," he said and then pointed to a door on the other wall that had 'Emergency Supplies' written on it. "There you will find food, water, and other necessities if you happen to be locked down for an extended period of time. There is also a radio already set to the control room frequency. If the phone is not working pull the tab on the back of the radio so the battery makes contact and reports in with the information posted on the back of the door. That's basically who you are, where you are, and if there are any threats you know of near you. Otherwise sit tight unless told otherwise."
"Threats?" I asked.
"Our charges are out of containment or an external threat," the doctor replied.
"What's so dangerous that we need bunker rooms like this?" I asked.
"All in due time," he replied. "Have you ever used a tranquilizer gun?"
"No," I responded.
"No matter, you'd need to qualify on the two types we use anyway with the security team," he said.
"Why do we need tranquilizer guns?" I asked.
"The animals we work with are dangerous. They're sedated before they get to us and one of our tasks is to make sure they stay sedated until they're returned to the enclosure. If one wakes up and slips a restraint you are not going to want to go near it to give an injection. That's why we have tranq guns," The doctor said.
"That makes perfect sense to me," I said. My curiosity was burning wondering what we were working with. Had to be something like large predators to require this much security. A grizzly would be a plausible reason why the doors had the extra bars. The force they could produce could snap the usual latches.
"Good because it's time for my favorite part. Showing the new guy what we work with," the doctor said and led the way deeper into the facility and up a set of stars to a room labeled 'observation deck'.
"The windows are to remain frosted by the electronic controls there whenever the room is not in use. They cannot see in but they seem to know someone is watching them and it upsets them. It's best for everyone if they are not upset," He reached over and pressed the button and the electronic frosting cleared.
That's the moment where my brain completely derailed and I questioned my own sanity.
"W-Werewolves?" I asked.
"No, at least not at this facility. These are a lesser known cryptid called Dogmen, kind of like Bigfoot."
"Wait, is Bigfoot real?" I asked.
"Yes, but not nearly as widespread as 'sightings' would make you think," he said.
"If these exist, what else is real?" I asked him.
"That's beyond your need to know," he said sternly, but then his face softened. "I'll lend you a book later that contains everything we've confirmed and studied. After all, if you continue with this job you will have the opportunity to work with them in the future, and it's best you know what you're getting into," he said. "One benefit they probably haven't gotten around to telling you yet is that they will pay for your education. You can become a full veterinarian working with the most interesting creatures that exist," he said. "Not a bad gig, huh?"
"Except for the part where I'm working with large dangerous creatures," I said.
"Large, intelligent, dangerous creatures," he replied. "And that is why we have procedures and rules. Things like always having more sedative staged to inject if a patient starts to wake up, having them restrained at all times, and if they do wake up you have the tranq guns to put them back under without risking yourself," he said and tapped the control to frost over the glass again.
Our next stop was back in the conference room where there were now a couple of binders.
"Now for the boring part. Study these because you'll have to pass a test on them later. It's those procedures I mentioned. It covers everything from handling the animals, dosages we use, and why we can't leave after dark."
"Wait, we can't leave after dark?" I asked, a bit alarmed.
"There are dogmen in the woods surrounding this facility. The fence does a decent job of keeping them out but they do get in and they're not happy we have some of their kind captive. They're fairly shy during the day and become active at night so it's for your own safety that once the sun sets you stay here. We have secure rooms just for the occasion, and scrubs are not short in supply if you need a change of clothing. We have a mess hall staffed 24/7 by some excellent cooks. People who can do this job are rare so they take care of us. Now get to reading, you'll have to pass a test before you're allowed to work. I'll come pick you up for lunch."
I did as he said and spent the next few hours reading with a break for the promised lunch that was beef stroganoff and actually really good. I went for seconds. Then it was back to memorizing policy and procedures till I was finally done and managed a passing score on the test. That was followed by some time at an indoor range getting qualified on the tranq guns.
The doctor reviewed my test and nodded. "Excellent, you're a fast learner. We've rescheduled some things for tomorrow so we'll have the extra help. You head home and get a good night's rest. I'll see you in the morning in the veterinary section, just follow the signs it's easy to find," the doctor said.
I did as he said and drove home. I couldn't help but be a good deal more vigilant as I looked at the woods on the way out. Dogmen were out there and no one in the area except us knew. There were the cryptid hunters but they didn't know for sure like I did from seeing a pack close up.
Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. My mind was racing with the possibilities of what was real from all of the stories.
In the morning I made breakfast and sat for a bit having to give myself a reality check that yesterday wasn't just a dream, so I finally picked up my keys and headed out. I drove down the lonely road and passed through the gate without incident. I parked my car and made my way through the security checkpoints and began following the signs to the Veterinarian department. As the doctor had said, it wasn't difficult to find.
There were three entrances all like airlocks that were long enough for a gurney. It didn't take long to figure out the purpose. If you had dangerous animals inside you wanted at least one door containment so they couldn't get past you and into the larger facility.
I went inside through the airlock like doors one at a time and found myself in a very familiar veterinary clinic though one that was very well stocked.
It was then that I met my other coworker, I'll call him Mike, who was sitting on a stool reading a magazine.
"Hey, you must be the new guy. I'm Mike," he said and I introduced myself.
"So, your first big day. You excited, or terrified?" Mike asked.
"A bit of both," I said honestly.
"Relax, by the time they get to us they've been pumped with enough drugs to drop an elephant. We take samples and the guards take them back out. Then we run the usual tests like any other animal. It's easy money," Mike said. "We're never in any danger."
"What about all of the procedures?" I asked.
"There's what's written down on paper and then there's what is practical and works. If we followed the checklist for every dogman that's brought in here it would just take us twice as long, and twice as long that it can wake up," Mike said. "So relax, I'll show you what you really have to do to streamline things."
What was I to say? He'd obviously been doing this for a long time and if his system worked who was I to question it?
Our first patient of the day made me the most nervous. The security team wheeled in a restrained female on a gurney right into the middle of our space then they backed out. Being the new guy I did the basics by checking heart rate, breathing, and looking into the eyes to make sure she was out cold. Everything was normal based on the numbers I had memorized.
Mike watched me, corrected my stethoscope placement a little and started drawing blood as soon as I was done. The moment he was done he buzzed the guards to take her back out while he labeled the samples.
"Less time they're in here the better so label your samples and fill out the papers once they're taken out," Mike said. "No need to have a dangerous animal laying around while we fill out forms."
"What about the extra sedative we're supposed to have ready?" I asked.
"The tranq guns are right there. Much safer to back off out of reach and just shoot them with another dose," Mike said. I couldn't fault his logic.
We had four more patients that day all went as smoothly as the first and I was beginning to relax. It was our last patient of the day when things went wrong.
It started normally with the guards rolling the male into our space and I took vitals and checked the eyes.
"Hey, I have some dilation here. I don't think he's under enough. Where's the sedative?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be done before he realizes what happened," Mike said and undid one of the restraints a little so he could get to the vein. It was at that point things went horribly wrong. As soon as Mike inserted the needle the male woke up and jabbed it's hand upward catching Mike in the throat and spraying blood everywhere. I moved forward out of instinct to try and tighten the restraint when I felt a searing pain across my face and my right eye went red.
I stumbled back. Oh God had I lost my eye? I shook myself out of it long enough to badge through a door and throw the bolts before pressing the intercom button. "Creature out of containment in veterinary. I think Mike is dead. I'm hurt and need a medic!" I said before blacking out.
I don't know how long it was but when I woke up I was in a hospital room and the Veterinarian was sitting beside my bed.
"You're safe, you're in a hospital and just out of cosmetic surgery. You'll have some scars but it'll look like the result of a big cat. Your eye is fine."
"Mike?" I asked.
"Dead before any help would get to him. We have video of the whole thing including you questioning him multiple times on matters of procedure. Don't let someone senior intimidate you into not being safe. You have a month's paid leave to recuperate." he said.
So here I am. I need some advice. Should I go back to work after my leave is done or turn in my resignation? It won't take them much to figure out who I am if they find this post. I also don't know what they'll do to me if they do.
submitted by modzer0 to nosleep [link] [comments]
I was unemployed vet tech looking for work when I came across a job listing offering a strangely large amount of money. What did I have to loose? I called the number and they gave me a website to go to that took me through an application process and a security clearance form that I had to fill out the last seven years of my life. They said it would be months until the clearance would come through but to my surprise a month later I got a phone call telling me I had been granted Interm Secret clearance and the job would proceed.
I had to go to a building without any name on it downtown and they took my photo for an ID card and a packet of information about where I was to go to the next day.
The next morning I drove to the address with a mix of excitement and apprehension. What about this job required a security clearance? Why had I gotten my interm secret so quickly? I figured I'd soon find out when I pulled up to a gate with a card reader. I swiped my ID and the razor wire topped gate slid open so I could pass. Yeah nothing ominous about that. I drove a mile or so down the road and parked in the parking lot in front of a building that looked like the set of a prison movie. The windows were narrow slits and I could tell from a distance that the door was very heavy duty. Thinking back a few minutes ago wasn't the top of that razor wire fence angled in as if to keep something in rather than people out?
I got out and approached the heavy door. I spotted the card reader and used my ID on it and it flashed green and there was a loud clunking sound from the door as it unlocked. I had to put some muscle behind it to get it to open and then it shut behind me followed by another loud clunk as the locks reengaged.
I turned to see a thick armored window with a guard staring me down.
"First day huh?" he asked me as he looked at his screen.
"Yeah," I said a bit nervously.
"Sit tight, your department head will be coming to pick you up and take you to your in-brief," he said.
"What uh, what is this place?" I asked.
"All that will be answered by the briefing so have a seat and relax. You're likely in the safest spot in the facility," he said.
I looked at the inner door and noticed it was just as thick and heavy as the outer one. I was essentially sitting in an armored booth so he was technically right about it being safe.
When my boss arrived he was wearing scrubs and had his ID card clipped to the bottom of the V of the top.
"So, you're my new tech?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir," I replied.
"Good, hopefully you follow instructions better than the last one," he said. "I'm Dr. Tanner. You can call me 'Sir' or 'Doctor'."
"Sir, can you tell me what I'll be doing here?" I asked.
"All in due time. First you need to complete the safety briefing. It is not a joke. Take a look at the windows and doors if you need convincing. The government doesn't spend this kind of money unless it's very necessary, and it is. You'll understand the need for it when I introduce you to our charges. I'm not going to tell you yet because I enjoy the look on people's faces when they get their first peak of what we're doing here," he said. "Now, for the safety briefing. Follow me."
He began to open the inner door when he stopped and looked back at me. "Do you have any electronic devices on you?"
"No Sir, the security documents instructed me to leave my phone and anything with a digital memory in the car," I said.
"Excellent, you're already demonstrating that you can follow directions," he said. Was that a hint of a smile I saw?
He lead me down the hallway to a room on the left and used his card to unlock and open the door. After I walked inside what appeared to be a conference room he followed me inside and let the door shut.
I immediately noticed the back of the door wasn't the usual thing one would expect to see. It had a big lever in the middle that looked like it operated bolts to secure the door shut. I started to wonder what the hell I had gotten myself into. I expected to be working with maybe the facility's guard dogs. This kind of security was on a level I hadn't experienced before.
"Good, you're observant, another plus," the doctor said.
He walked over to the table and picked up a recorder and pressed play. A trilling alarm sound came for it and he let it play for a few seconds before cutting it off.
"If you hear that sound along with flashing red lights you are to go to the nearest safe room, such as this one and use this lever to bolt the door," He walked over and pressed a button by the windows and the thick glass became opaque.
"And you are to opaque the windows with the control in the room so nothing can see in," he said and then pointed to a door on the other wall that had 'Emergency Supplies' written on it. "There you will find food, water, and other necessities if you happen to be locked down for an extended period of time. There is also a radio already set to the control room frequency. If the phone is not working pull the tab on the back of the radio so the battery makes contact and reports in with the information posted on the back of the door. That's basically who you are, where you are, and if there are any threats you know of near you. Otherwise sit tight unless told otherwise."
"Threats?" I asked.
"Our charges are out of containment or an external threat," the doctor replied.
"What's so dangerous that we need bunker rooms like this?" I asked.
"All in due time," he replied. "Have you ever used a tranquilizer gun?"
"No," I responded.
"No matter, you'd need to qualify on the two types we use anyway with the security team," he said.
"Why do we need tranquilizer guns?" I asked.
"The animals we work with are dangerous. They're sedated before they get to us and one of our tasks is to make sure they stay sedated until they're returned to the enclosure. If one wakes up and slips a restraint you are not going to want to go near it to give an injection. That's why we have tranq guns," The doctor said.
"That makes perfect sense to me," I said. My curiosity was burning wondering what we were working with. Had to be something like large predators to require this much security. A grizzly would be a plausible reason why the doors had the extra bars. The force they could produce could snap the usual latches.
"Good because it's time for my favorite part. Showing the new guy what we work with," the doctor said and led the way deeper into the facility and up a set of stars to a room labeled 'observation deck'.
"The windows are to remain frosted by the electronic controls there whenever the room is not in use. They cannot see in but they seem to know someone is watching them and it upsets them. It's best for everyone if they are not upset," He reached over and pressed the button and the electronic frosting cleared.
That's the moment where my brain completely derailed and I questioned my own sanity.
"W-Werewolves?" I asked.
"No, at least not at this facility. These are a lesser known cryptid called Dogmen, kind of like Bigfoot."
"Wait, is Bigfoot real?" I asked.
"Yes, but not nearly as widespread as 'sightings' would make you think," he said.
"If these exist, what else is real?" I asked him.
"That's beyond your need to know," he said sternly, but then his face softened. "I'll lend you a book later that contains everything we've confirmed and studied. After all, if you continue with this job you will have the opportunity to work with them in the future, and it's best you know what you're getting into," he said. "One benefit they probably haven't gotten around to telling you yet is that they will pay for your education. You can become a full veterinarian working with the most interesting creatures that exist," he said. "Not a bad gig, huh?"
"Except for the part where I'm working with large dangerous creatures," I said.
"Large, intelligent, dangerous creatures," he replied. "And that is why we have procedures and rules. Things like always having more sedative staged to inject if a patient starts to wake up, having them restrained at all times, and if they do wake up you have the tranq guns to put them back under without risking yourself," he said and tapped the control to frost over the glass again.
Our next stop was back in the conference room where there were now a couple of binders.
"Now for the boring part. Study these because you'll have to pass a test on them later. It's those procedures I mentioned. It covers everything from handling the animals, dosages we use, and why we can't leave after dark."
"Wait, we can't leave after dark?" I asked, a bit alarmed.
"There are dogmen in the woods surrounding this facility. The fence does a decent job of keeping them out but they do get in and they're not happy we have some of their kind captive. They're fairly shy during the day and become active at night so it's for your own safety that once the sun sets you stay here. We have secure rooms just for the occasion, and scrubs are not short in supply if you need a change of clothing. We have a mess hall staffed 24/7 by some excellent cooks. People who can do this job are rare so they take care of us. Now get to reading, you'll have to pass a test before you're allowed to work. I'll come pick you up for lunch."
I did as he said and spent the next few hours reading with a break for the promised lunch that was beef stroganoff and actually really good. I went for seconds. Then it was back to memorizing policy and procedures till I was finally done and managed a passing score on the test. That was followed by some time at an indoor range getting qualified on the tranq guns.
The doctor reviewed my test and nodded. "Excellent, you're a fast learner. We've rescheduled some things for tomorrow so we'll have the extra help. You head home and get a good night's rest. I'll see you in the morning in the veterinary section, just follow the signs it's easy to find," the doctor said.
I did as he said and drove home. I couldn't help but be a good deal more vigilant as I looked at the woods on the way out. Dogmen were out there and no one in the area except us knew. There were the cryptid hunters but they didn't know for sure like I did from seeing a pack close up.
Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. My mind was racing with the possibilities of what was real from all of the stories.
In the morning I made breakfast and sat for a bit having to give myself a reality check that yesterday wasn't just a dream, so I finally picked up my keys and headed out. I drove down the lonely road and passed through the gate without incident. I parked my car and made my way through the security checkpoints and began following the signs to the Veterinarian department. As the doctor had said, it wasn't difficult to find.
There were three entrances all like airlocks that were long enough for a gurney. It didn't take long to figure out the purpose. If you had dangerous animals inside you wanted at least one door containment so they couldn't get past you and into the larger facility.
I went inside through the airlock like doors one at a time and found myself in a very familiar veterinary clinic though one that was very well stocked.
It was then that I met my other coworker, I'll call him Mike, who was sitting on a stool reading a magazine.
"Hey, you must be the new guy. I'm Mike," he said and I introduced myself.
"So, your first big day. You excited, or terrified?" Mike asked.
"A bit of both," I said honestly.
"Relax, by the time they get to us they've been pumped with enough drugs to drop an elephant. We take samples and the guards take them back out. Then we run the usual tests like any other animal. It's easy money," Mike said. "We're never in any danger."
"What about all of the procedures?" I asked.
"There's what's written down on paper and then there's what is practical and works. If we followed the checklist for every dogman that's brought in here it would just take us twice as long, and twice as long that it can wake up," Mike said. "So relax, I'll show you what you really have to do to streamline things."
What was I to say? He'd obviously been doing this for a long time and if his system worked who was I to question it?
Our first patient of the day made me the most nervous. The security team wheeled in a restrained female on a gurney right into the middle of our space then they backed out. Being the new guy I did the basics by checking heart rate, breathing, and looking into the eyes to make sure she was out cold. Everything was normal based on the numbers I had memorized.
Mike watched me, corrected my stethoscope placement a little and started drawing blood as soon as I was done. The moment he was done he buzzed the guards to take her back out while he labeled the samples.
"Less time they're in here the better so label your samples and fill out the papers once they're taken out," Mike said. "No need to have a dangerous animal laying around while we fill out forms."
"What about the extra sedative we're supposed to have ready?" I asked.
"The tranq guns are right there. Much safer to back off out of reach and just shoot them with another dose," Mike said. I couldn't fault his logic.
We had four more patients that day all went as smoothly as the first and I was beginning to relax. It was our last patient of the day when things went wrong.
It started normally with the guards rolling the male into our space and I took vitals and checked the eyes.
"Hey, I have some dilation here. I don't think he's under enough. Where's the sedative?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be done before he realizes what happened," Mike said and undid one of the restraints a little so he could get to the vein. It was at that point things went horribly wrong. As soon as Mike inserted the needle the male woke up and jabbed it's hand upward catching Mike in the throat and spraying blood everywhere. I moved forward out of instinct to try and tighten the restraint when I felt a searing pain across my face and my right eye went red.
I stumbled back. Oh God had I lost my eye? I shook myself out of it long enough to badge through a door and throw the bolts before pressing the intercom button. "Creature out of containment in veterinary. I think Mike is dead. I'm hurt and need a medic!" I said before blacking out.
I don't know how long it was but when I woke up I was in a hospital room and the Veterinarian was sitting beside my bed.
"You're safe, you're in a hospital and just out of cosmetic surgery. You'll have some scars but it'll look like the result of a big cat. Your eye is fine."
"Mike?" I asked.
"Dead before any help would get to him. We have video of the whole thing including you questioning him multiple times on matters of procedure. Don't let someone senior intimidate you into not being safe. You have a month's paid leave to recuperate." he said.
So here I am. I need some advice. Should I go back to work after my leave is done or turn in my resignation? It won't take them much to figure out who I am if they find this post. I also don't know what they'll do to me if they do.
2024.06.05 15:34 heat_box000 Like no other 1 "falling away"
previous
-----
Dust settled at the surface of an old and cracked lense, the glass has turned foggy and yellow from age, and the binocular it's a part of has its outer layer of plastic crumble to dust when touched too hard. And crumble it did as the figure's hand gripped it tight, the figure shifted its position, lying down in the sand, to catch up with the pace of something far away.
They looked through the binoculars, at a moving dust cloud, at the 10 vehicle strong raid party creating it. The figure seemed bothered by it, they didn't want to get spotted, so they waited, until the cloud was far away and could barely be seen through the binoculars from where they were. The moment it was far enough the figure stood up, and took off the smudgy green and brown tarp off their motorcycle, for camouflage it seems.
"....."
The figure had waited until the dead of night for the raid party to pass, it was too dark to see anything, no moonlight as the night was unfortunately cloudy. The figure seemed to take a liking to how the clouds reflect the moonlight, and sat down, without taking their eyes off the sky. Hours were spent, with barely any moonlight, staring at the admittedly beautiful sky, mesmerized, and reminded.
".....hmm?"
Perhaps for the first time in months, the figure spoke, just a slight expression of confusion. They looked at the sky, as it... Got brighter? Somehow? Many thoughts crossed the figure's mind, was the moon getting bigger? No, are the clouds going away? no as well, so what could it be?. The sky got very bright for a moment that it looked like day even in the dead of night, but it dims as the source of the light pierces through the clouds.
"....!"
Something fell out of the sky, it was blue and fiery, and it landed somewhere beyond the mountain ahead. The figure, more curious than scared, revs their motorcycle and scaled down the hill at high speeds, towards the mountain. They can't help but feel something familiar about the whole thing, like they've seen this before, some other time, somewhere, buried deep but not forgotten. And now they want to know, they need to know.
-----
"AHHH!"
Ciro woke up in cold sweat, her whole body was tense, and the excruciating headache was not helping. She struggled to control her breath, she felt like dying, until she remembered something, she opened the slide out drawer below her bed and took out an inhaler, she used it and just about instantly she was back to normal. Relatively normal, her head still hurts a little, and she is not taking the sudden change too well, so she sat there, caressing her chest to relieve the pain.
"Mmhrr... Dreams?"
Her roommate woke up from all the noise it seems.
"Y-yes... Hagh... Hehm... By the goddess"
"Maybe you should see a doctor"
"A doctor doesn't cure dreams out of your head Kasn!"
Kasn was unbothered by the sarcasm, yawning in his bed, he had his chef hat on him, he does that, he hugs it before he sleeps.
"Mhmm... What's it about?"
"T-the usual, weird desert, that big... Hulking thing, three red eyes, hagh... That was terrifying"
"And clearly not healthy, maybe it's got something with that condition of yours"
"That's not how that works, dreams are from your subconscious! Not a malfunctioning part of your body!"
Kasn is a Tripanq, a more "standard" species, no telepathy or anything notable, other than maybe being half aquatic.
"Still, recurring dreams? Sounds weird to me, since when by the way?"
"I can't remember..."
She stared off into the distance, at her hands, it was shaking, her light pink and slightly purple skin is now more gray. A sign of total fear in her kind, she remembered extending her hand in the dreams, like she was trying to block the... Whatever that creature is in her dreams. The dream always ends with the creature grabbing her hand, and it always hurts.
"Well go back to sleep then"
"What?"
"It's the middle of the rest period, the whole ship's dead asleep, unless you want to sneak off to the kitchen and steal some food"
"What? No! I'll... Go back to sleep"
"Okay, good to know, because i'm going to do that, don't tell anyone"
He got up from his bed, brushed his fur and walked unceremoniously to the door. It's supposed to be locked at rest periods, but he typed something in the console next to it and it slid open.
"Wha-"
"Shh... I'll bring you something, you like cream right?"
Ciro sighed, and decided to just try and sleep again.
-----
"How is it Ciro?"
The captain asked her as she looked at the wall of data in front of her, it contained the ship's current location and its current destination. It's a bit more complicated than just point A to B. Technically it's just that, with a few twists and turns, a lot of things are to be considered in space, such as the gravity of nearby planets, stars, debris fields, radiation, anything other than empty space.
"Constructing a path sir... Please hold"
Space is not at all empty, it's like an open field, filled with landmines, her job is to find a path through all that, and it isn't as simple looking for an empty path, the dangers move and fluctuate, rather unpredictably. A computer can technically do all this, but not instantly, it takes some time, a precious thing, but a navigator couldn't do all that calculation, so both are paired. The navigator puts in data, and then the computer does the calculation from all that data, then the navigator takes the decisions based on the results, then the computer makes predictions that the navigator must consider and accommodate to.
"Here we are... Some changes are expected but we should be good to go"
"Thank you Ciro, all rear engines at half power please"
There's also the fine tuning, the consideration that the data might be wrong, the importance of a split second decision, a.... Lot.... Really. And Ciro's really good at it, so good in fact, her co-navigator couldn't catch up.
"How are you so fast?"
She asked, and Ciro looks at her with a smile.
"Just practice"
"Tell me what kind of practice then, i've been hoping for a raise lately"
"Ah... It's nothing special, just do what you do i guess, but better"
"Hmm?... I don't get it...."
"You will, trust me, now... The next system…”
There is also, researching the next star system they are going to, it's still a few hours from now, the jump, but it's still important to do. She looks at all the provided data, nothing seems too special on this next one, other than the really nice star that is, a normal sized, yellow star, very neat and decently rare. 9 planets, technically 8, one seems to be a micro, massive asteroid sphere all around the system though, that's going to be tricky to navigate.
“Mhmm… interesting…”
Out of 9, only one planet was in the “golden” zone, the distance from a star that allows a planet to have liquid water. The two outer planets are cold ice/gas hybrid giants, an absolute rarity, she's actually never seen one, only heard of it. If you asked her, she would say it's a rich system, a potentially habitable planet, 4 gas giants of all variants, 3 exotic planets with their own abundant resources, and absurd amounts of asteroids.
“The coalition would love to get their hands on this…”
She commented, her co-navigator seemed to agree with her.
“I’ve never seen a ringed gas giant before, usually those destroys their own ring, and that other one without rings is massive”
“that is certainly interesting”
She was looking at the (very, very rough) 3d models of the planets, the gas giants are a particular interest to her. The bigger one has a pentagon shaped south pole, the smaller one with the rings has a hexagonal shaped north pole, well… more like massive eternal storms really, but still on the poles. As she looked at all the available data, she noticed something, a symbol on the file. If she's not wrong, it’s supposed to mean that the system is restricted.
“Captain?”
“Yes Ciro?”
“Why is our next destination a… restricted system?”
“ah… that, it’s a direct request from the coalition, technically we should be on the way home since yesterday”
“For… what?”
“For potential assessment, it seems to me they have themselves a new place to start a colony in”
That made sense, Ciro thought, usually those kinds of systems are restricted, but only after a colony was built though, so this was kind of peculiar to restrict a system before anything is done to it, it's not even fully explored. She looked around, this seems like a new thing for everybody too, she heard some of her colleagues chatting about it, curious as well.
“Do you think that's a little weird?”
She asked her co-navigator, and she nodded without a second thought.
“Mmhmm… i get it if it was fully cataloged already, but we only have basic information about it, even that is kind of limited”
“Hmm… whatever, maybe they have a new standard or something”
“They should really tell everyone if that's the case, that could’ve been administrative hell, it might as well already be one at this point”
“Yeah…”
She continued studying the data, hoping to find a way to skip the asteroid field that shields the entire system. There seems to be a couple of sizable gaps on it, not big enough though, so the only option is to arrive outside of it, annoyingly far away she might add, the fields have broken up here and there and created webs of death traps around the main asteroid field itself.
“Alright, everyone, good job for today, we’re jumping soon”
“Eh?”
She was so absorbed studying her data that she didn't realize that they were finished with the current system, she can't even remember how long it was supposed to be.
“Are you good?”
Her co navigator asked, with a drink in her hand.
“Huh?”
“You… dozed off, staring at that screen, reading….”
“Really?”
“Really… you skipped lunch, here”
She gave him a plastic box, inside was her usual order at the cafeteria, just… compressed.
“Oh… t-thank you”
“Your welcome sweetie”
She replied with a smile, before going back to her own screen. She was about to take the compressed food bar when someone sent her a question, through telepathy, it hurt her head, souring her mood. She turned around to look across the bridge, at a rookie navigator, male, tall, considerably handsome, and a jerk.
‘Skipped lunch again eh?’
‘can you not?’
‘sorry, but i want to ask you about-’
‘my answer is no’
‘why not?’
She gave him a tense glare that can be felt by everyone in the bridge. They wouldn't know who it was from, but they felt it.
‘i prefer something else’
‘oh wha-’
She cut him off, doing so hurts her head even more.
‘damn jerk’
‘i hear that’
‘no you don't’
‘yes i did'
‘How are you even listening to me right now?’
This time she gave him a sneer, before deciding to just ignore any attempts of communication, whether that be by gesture, verbal or telepathic.
-----
A couple of hours passed, rather uninteresting, there wasn't much to do, just waiting for the jump and she’s not the one in charge of that. So she just sat there, inhaler in one hand after another barrage of annoying telepathy, and her private datapad in the other. Looking at messages, old, new, and some other things, just trying to kill time, she loves her job, but she can't deny it can be boring at times.
“we’re jumping in a few minutes everyone, strap yourselves in”
The captain made an announcement through the intercom, he wasn't on the bridge, he’s in the engine room, watching over the priming of the drive. It's a complicated process, she herself doesn't understand it, not one bit, her job does help guide it, though it all ends up on a hyper refined computer calculation. Priming the drive itself takes no more than a push of a button, a few minutes should do, waiting for the supercomputer guiding it to finish calculation is what takes the bulk of the time.
“I hate jumps, they make my skin dry”
One of her colleagues commented, they were from an aquatic species. Ciro looked at herself, at her screen as it turns off, all electronics need to be turned off during jumps, otherwise they overload and just explode. The only thing active was lights and minimum life support, everyone was strapped in and closing their eyes, she was the only one wide open.
“I look good”
She complimented herself, caressing her own cheek, looking at herself, appreciating it with all four of her eyes.
“hmph….”
It was hard to say, but she felt troubled, she was confident that today is going to go just fine, as usual, a comfortable tour like all others. But she's got a bad feeling, rather suddenly, and out of nowhere, nothing’s wrong really, but she can't quite put her fingers on why that's not the case. Maybe it's just her being uncomfortable from that dream again, it pops up again from time to time, enough to make her forget about it, but not enough to truly get it out of her mind.
“Hmhmhm…”
Sometimes it feels that the creature from her dreams is right behind her, big, tall, brutish, with its three red emotionless eyes. She can't remember the details all that well, not like she wants to. But she can't ever forget about it, even now, and it's giving her a mighty headache. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about something nice, the face of her mother, how her hand felt and her calming voice.
“Sigh… Where are you?... Mom?”
She opened her eyes to complete darkness outside the bridge, and everyone else in it was still unconscious. weird, she's awake already? It's normal to be knocked out cold by a jump, she knows that, but isn't there supposed to be a system that wakes them up? Where's that bad smelling gas she's used to? Why is everyone out? Why is it so…
“......”
Her flow of thought stopped, and she froze as she looked at her screen, there wasn't just her in the reflection, there was the creature, staring at her through the reflection.
‘it's all in my mind’
With strained breaths, she silently used her inhaler, still in her hand.
‘it's in my mind, that's it, i’m dreaming’
The creature’s eye pierced right through her, right into her mind.
‘right? Yes, of course! Of course! It's just in my mind…’
It… knows her, somehow, but she doesn't know it, yet it felt…
‘please… please no’
…Familiar. Like she met it before, but that never happened, that's impossible.
‘it hurts…’
Her breathing was rapid, and she felt the urge to turn around, as deathly afraid as she was, it was irresistible.
‘Ciro….’
That's… not her voice? Who said that? Why is it in her head? Why is it… calming?
‘my….’
She turned around, and like an instinct, she raised her hand, and the creature grabbed it, just like in the dream. The pain came back, real, very real, but far more painful than it has ever been. She wanted to scream, but felt like she had no mouth, no anything, just a mind, falling into bottomless black, helpless, stranded, left alone.
‘daughter….’
-----
Ciro snapped awake, and immediately she screamed, her body hurts everywhere, her head even more, and her breathing was rapid and uncontrolled. She scrambled to get her inhaler, she looked around, and found it on the floor, a bit far away from her. She unstrapped herself and fell from her seat, having to crawl to reach it. With what she assumed the last of her breath she managed to grab it, and used it until it was empty.
“Hegh… hegh…”
She tried to control her breath, to not much of a result, so she laid there, for God knows how long, until she had the strength to stand up. She could barely lift her own limbs, like they were shackled by some heavy weight, and her senses were scrambled to a point she thought she was blind. She recovered, slowly, she rolled over to lay on her back, and assess the situation as her senses returned.
“A-anyone? Hello?”
First to recover was her sight, it was then that she realized no one was on the bridge, every seat was empty.
“Huh?”
Then it was her touch, she felt just how cold the floor was, odd, it's supposed to stay at a stable temperature, it's not supposed to be this cold.
“Hello?”
Then her hearing returned, and all she could hear was an alarm, and an automated announcement.
‘please calmly proceed to the nearest escape pod’
“Huh?”
With what little power she has, she stood up, she was right in front of the bridge’s window, she had expected a void, or a field of asteroids, instead, she saw a planet.
“What?”
That's not right, the jump is supposed to take them outside the system, why did it bring them here? Was it an error?. She couldn't figure it out, and stood there for a moment, both terrified and somewhat fascinated by how the planet looked up close, not as blue or green as she expected, mostly deserts it seems, but still oddly beautiful. She realized it was the golden planet, but that just raised more questions, why are they here? How are they here? Where is everybody?
‘warning, light drive unstable, detonation imminent’
“No…”
She turned around in confusion and fear, hoping she didn't actually hear what she just heard, but as the messages repeated again and again, there is no doubt she heard it right, however she wishes she's not. She limped her way out of the bridge, her movement hadn't quite recovered yet, so she pushed herself to the limit, trying to move as fast as she could as the ship’s drive slowly but surely imploded on itself.
“Please… let there be one”
She said to no one as she approached an escape pod room, this specific room is for the bridge crew. The bulkhead door that secured it was open, meaning someone had escaped, and she was right, when she arrived, all but one pod had already been launched.
“Y-yes!”
She walked up to it as fast as her limping leg could take her, when she got to it, the ship shook violently, before another concerning announcement came through the intercom.
‘light drive detonation in 10’
Hearing the countdown, her heart rate spiked.
‘9’
She practically punched the pod's console to get it open. It did so frustratingly slowly.
‘8’
“Come on damn it!”
‘7’
When it opened far enough for her to fit in the one person pod, she jumped in, not even bothering to strap herself in.
‘6’
The pod’s door was closing just as slowly as it was opening, frustrated, she kicked it, and it slammed shut, almost clipping her leg.
‘5’
The pod had its own countdown, which she hoped to be fast enough as she looked at the internal console.
‘4’
‘launch in 3…’
She was heading to… the golden planet, she didn't pay much attention to the atmospheric data, simply praying it was breathable as she closed her eyes.
‘3’
‘2…’
She's not religious, unlike her mother, but she prayed to every god she knows.
‘2’
‘1… launch initiated’
As the pod slid out of its silo and initiated its engines, she heard the final countdown of the detonation.
‘1, light drive collapsing’
Her view changed from the barely lit up pod room to the dark of space, with only her ship in sight. The rear of the ship collapsed in on itself, bringing the rest of the front with it as it got pulled by a micro blackhole, it barely lasted a few seconds before the blackhole collapsed, unable to keep its own mass stable. The resulting explosion was massive, her pod was in the blast radius, and the anti heat and radiation shielding could barely take it. She had a slight heart attack when she watched the outermost layer of the pod literally melt to the point of boiling.
“.....”
But it was all fine, that was the only damage to the pod, which is acceptable. It did put the pod at a condition that barely qualifies for rapid atmospheric entry, and when she finally read the atmospheric data of the planet, she worried for her life. A lot of hydrogen and oxygen, it's going to be a very hot entry. She closed her eyes again, trying not to cry as she hoped for the best.
“mom i miss you”
She mumbled between strained breaths and tears.
-----
Ciro felt… dry, she felt… hot, like she's near a fire, she can't remember where she was, or what happened. She opened her eyes to the best abilities, and saw… a desert, just like in her dreams, just slightly different, she doesn't know why she knows that it's the desert in her dream, she just does. It felt familiar, like she's touched this sand before, like she has once breathed this dry air, she doesn't know why.
“///”
She heard something, she can't recognize it, unironically the only thing unfamiliar.
“//// //!”
It sounds like a buzz in her ear, like a language she doesn't know.
“.....”
She looks around, as much lying on the sand lets her look, she sees a burning pieces of a… hull? From a pod it seems. Her foggy memory starts to clear up when she sees her own hand, it was dirty from all the sand, dust and ash. Suddenly, memories flooded in, she remembered everything, and got up.
“Ergh!”
Or at least she tried to, she couldn't move much, she could barely move.
“What?...”
“///! /// /// ////?”
She heard some sort of… talking? Right behind her, she rolled over on her back to see what it came from. Immediately she wanted to scream, everything was just like in her dreams, except this time its very real, and that included the creature, it stared her down, its tall stature completely overshadowing her.
“Please no!”
It reached for her, and she put her hand up, once again, just like in the dream, it grabbed her hand. She closed her eyes, she expected pain and death, that the creature has always wanted to kill her. Yet she felt… warm? The grip was soft and oddly comforting, she felt a pull and suddenly she was up on her feet. She opened all four of her eyes, only to almost close it all again when she saw the creature right in front of her, very close.
“D-don’t kill me… please… i… i…”
The creature is terrifying, exactly like in her dreams, but there's something slightly different about it. It held her right hand, firmly, seemingly the only thing letting her even stand straight. It breathes out heavily before grabbing its own face and… peeling it? Ciro realized it was actually a helmet, someone… or something was wearing it. It revealed its own face to her, it didn't look too foreign, one mouth, one nose, two eyes, with fur above each eye, and some sort of long hair on top of their head.
“What?....”
“/// /// /////?”
It looked at her with brown eyes, a sharp and dramatic contrast to Ciro’s own iridescent iris. It looked down at something, and made some sort of an expression, surprise? Ciro looked down as the creature's expression turned to something that can pass as panic. She saw her own hand first, coated in something light blue in color, a mix of deep blue and light blue actually, funny, it kind of looks like…
“huh…”
…Blood of a Qo’kvell, it’s not red or orange unlike most others. She felt light headed suddenly, maybe it's just the air, maybe, the atmosphere isn't the most suited for her kind. Maybe it's just a post atmo break headache, those happen often to Qo’kvells, maybe, just… maybe…
“Whe- where are we go… ing…?”
Her vision darkens as the creature dragged her somewhere, to a weird looking… vehicle she would assume, it looks like it has wheels. The creature laid her down next to it, it seems a bit in a rush, she has no clue why though, everything seems fine. She thinks about it for a second, maybe she shouldn't keep calling it a creature, maybe it's a person.
“hey… is that… bandage ster…. Ster… rilized….?”
She dozed off to complete darkness, perhaps she's wrong, perhaps it was all just a dream again, just very different. It’s probably a dream and she’ll wake up in her chair or something… probably, it's all in her head… right?
Next
submitted by heat_box000 to HFY [link] [comments]
-----
Dust settled at the surface of an old and cracked lense, the glass has turned foggy and yellow from age, and the binocular it's a part of has its outer layer of plastic crumble to dust when touched too hard. And crumble it did as the figure's hand gripped it tight, the figure shifted its position, lying down in the sand, to catch up with the pace of something far away.
They looked through the binoculars, at a moving dust cloud, at the 10 vehicle strong raid party creating it. The figure seemed bothered by it, they didn't want to get spotted, so they waited, until the cloud was far away and could barely be seen through the binoculars from where they were. The moment it was far enough the figure stood up, and took off the smudgy green and brown tarp off their motorcycle, for camouflage it seems.
"....."
The figure had waited until the dead of night for the raid party to pass, it was too dark to see anything, no moonlight as the night was unfortunately cloudy. The figure seemed to take a liking to how the clouds reflect the moonlight, and sat down, without taking their eyes off the sky. Hours were spent, with barely any moonlight, staring at the admittedly beautiful sky, mesmerized, and reminded.
".....hmm?"
Perhaps for the first time in months, the figure spoke, just a slight expression of confusion. They looked at the sky, as it... Got brighter? Somehow? Many thoughts crossed the figure's mind, was the moon getting bigger? No, are the clouds going away? no as well, so what could it be?. The sky got very bright for a moment that it looked like day even in the dead of night, but it dims as the source of the light pierces through the clouds.
"....!"
Something fell out of the sky, it was blue and fiery, and it landed somewhere beyond the mountain ahead. The figure, more curious than scared, revs their motorcycle and scaled down the hill at high speeds, towards the mountain. They can't help but feel something familiar about the whole thing, like they've seen this before, some other time, somewhere, buried deep but not forgotten. And now they want to know, they need to know.
-----
"AHHH!"
Ciro woke up in cold sweat, her whole body was tense, and the excruciating headache was not helping. She struggled to control her breath, she felt like dying, until she remembered something, she opened the slide out drawer below her bed and took out an inhaler, she used it and just about instantly she was back to normal. Relatively normal, her head still hurts a little, and she is not taking the sudden change too well, so she sat there, caressing her chest to relieve the pain.
"Mmhrr... Dreams?"
Her roommate woke up from all the noise it seems.
"Y-yes... Hagh... Hehm... By the goddess"
"Maybe you should see a doctor"
"A doctor doesn't cure dreams out of your head Kasn!"
Kasn was unbothered by the sarcasm, yawning in his bed, he had his chef hat on him, he does that, he hugs it before he sleeps.
"Mhmm... What's it about?"
"T-the usual, weird desert, that big... Hulking thing, three red eyes, hagh... That was terrifying"
"And clearly not healthy, maybe it's got something with that condition of yours"
"That's not how that works, dreams are from your subconscious! Not a malfunctioning part of your body!"
Kasn is a Tripanq, a more "standard" species, no telepathy or anything notable, other than maybe being half aquatic.
"Still, recurring dreams? Sounds weird to me, since when by the way?"
"I can't remember..."
She stared off into the distance, at her hands, it was shaking, her light pink and slightly purple skin is now more gray. A sign of total fear in her kind, she remembered extending her hand in the dreams, like she was trying to block the... Whatever that creature is in her dreams. The dream always ends with the creature grabbing her hand, and it always hurts.
"Well go back to sleep then"
"What?"
"It's the middle of the rest period, the whole ship's dead asleep, unless you want to sneak off to the kitchen and steal some food"
"What? No! I'll... Go back to sleep"
"Okay, good to know, because i'm going to do that, don't tell anyone"
He got up from his bed, brushed his fur and walked unceremoniously to the door. It's supposed to be locked at rest periods, but he typed something in the console next to it and it slid open.
"Wha-"
"Shh... I'll bring you something, you like cream right?"
Ciro sighed, and decided to just try and sleep again.
-----
"How is it Ciro?"
The captain asked her as she looked at the wall of data in front of her, it contained the ship's current location and its current destination. It's a bit more complicated than just point A to B. Technically it's just that, with a few twists and turns, a lot of things are to be considered in space, such as the gravity of nearby planets, stars, debris fields, radiation, anything other than empty space.
"Constructing a path sir... Please hold"
Space is not at all empty, it's like an open field, filled with landmines, her job is to find a path through all that, and it isn't as simple looking for an empty path, the dangers move and fluctuate, rather unpredictably. A computer can technically do all this, but not instantly, it takes some time, a precious thing, but a navigator couldn't do all that calculation, so both are paired. The navigator puts in data, and then the computer does the calculation from all that data, then the navigator takes the decisions based on the results, then the computer makes predictions that the navigator must consider and accommodate to.
"Here we are... Some changes are expected but we should be good to go"
"Thank you Ciro, all rear engines at half power please"
There's also the fine tuning, the consideration that the data might be wrong, the importance of a split second decision, a.... Lot.... Really. And Ciro's really good at it, so good in fact, her co-navigator couldn't catch up.
"How are you so fast?"
She asked, and Ciro looks at her with a smile.
"Just practice"
"Tell me what kind of practice then, i've been hoping for a raise lately"
"Ah... It's nothing special, just do what you do i guess, but better"
"Hmm?... I don't get it...."
"You will, trust me, now... The next system…”
There is also, researching the next star system they are going to, it's still a few hours from now, the jump, but it's still important to do. She looks at all the provided data, nothing seems too special on this next one, other than the really nice star that is, a normal sized, yellow star, very neat and decently rare. 9 planets, technically 8, one seems to be a micro, massive asteroid sphere all around the system though, that's going to be tricky to navigate.
“Mhmm… interesting…”
Out of 9, only one planet was in the “golden” zone, the distance from a star that allows a planet to have liquid water. The two outer planets are cold ice/gas hybrid giants, an absolute rarity, she's actually never seen one, only heard of it. If you asked her, she would say it's a rich system, a potentially habitable planet, 4 gas giants of all variants, 3 exotic planets with their own abundant resources, and absurd amounts of asteroids.
“The coalition would love to get their hands on this…”
She commented, her co-navigator seemed to agree with her.
“I’ve never seen a ringed gas giant before, usually those destroys their own ring, and that other one without rings is massive”
“that is certainly interesting”
She was looking at the (very, very rough) 3d models of the planets, the gas giants are a particular interest to her. The bigger one has a pentagon shaped south pole, the smaller one with the rings has a hexagonal shaped north pole, well… more like massive eternal storms really, but still on the poles. As she looked at all the available data, she noticed something, a symbol on the file. If she's not wrong, it’s supposed to mean that the system is restricted.
“Captain?”
“Yes Ciro?”
“Why is our next destination a… restricted system?”
“ah… that, it’s a direct request from the coalition, technically we should be on the way home since yesterday”
“For… what?”
“For potential assessment, it seems to me they have themselves a new place to start a colony in”
That made sense, Ciro thought, usually those kinds of systems are restricted, but only after a colony was built though, so this was kind of peculiar to restrict a system before anything is done to it, it's not even fully explored. She looked around, this seems like a new thing for everybody too, she heard some of her colleagues chatting about it, curious as well.
“Do you think that's a little weird?”
She asked her co-navigator, and she nodded without a second thought.
“Mmhmm… i get it if it was fully cataloged already, but we only have basic information about it, even that is kind of limited”
“Hmm… whatever, maybe they have a new standard or something”
“They should really tell everyone if that's the case, that could’ve been administrative hell, it might as well already be one at this point”
“Yeah…”
She continued studying the data, hoping to find a way to skip the asteroid field that shields the entire system. There seems to be a couple of sizable gaps on it, not big enough though, so the only option is to arrive outside of it, annoyingly far away she might add, the fields have broken up here and there and created webs of death traps around the main asteroid field itself.
“Alright, everyone, good job for today, we’re jumping soon”
“Eh?”
She was so absorbed studying her data that she didn't realize that they were finished with the current system, she can't even remember how long it was supposed to be.
“Are you good?”
Her co navigator asked, with a drink in her hand.
“Huh?”
“You… dozed off, staring at that screen, reading….”
“Really?”
“Really… you skipped lunch, here”
She gave him a plastic box, inside was her usual order at the cafeteria, just… compressed.
“Oh… t-thank you”
“Your welcome sweetie”
She replied with a smile, before going back to her own screen. She was about to take the compressed food bar when someone sent her a question, through telepathy, it hurt her head, souring her mood. She turned around to look across the bridge, at a rookie navigator, male, tall, considerably handsome, and a jerk.
‘Skipped lunch again eh?’
‘can you not?’
‘sorry, but i want to ask you about-’
‘my answer is no’
‘why not?’
She gave him a tense glare that can be felt by everyone in the bridge. They wouldn't know who it was from, but they felt it.
‘i prefer something else’
‘oh wha-’
She cut him off, doing so hurts her head even more.
‘damn jerk’
‘i hear that’
‘no you don't’
‘yes i did'
‘How are you even listening to me right now?’
This time she gave him a sneer, before deciding to just ignore any attempts of communication, whether that be by gesture, verbal or telepathic.
-----
A couple of hours passed, rather uninteresting, there wasn't much to do, just waiting for the jump and she’s not the one in charge of that. So she just sat there, inhaler in one hand after another barrage of annoying telepathy, and her private datapad in the other. Looking at messages, old, new, and some other things, just trying to kill time, she loves her job, but she can't deny it can be boring at times.
“we’re jumping in a few minutes everyone, strap yourselves in”
The captain made an announcement through the intercom, he wasn't on the bridge, he’s in the engine room, watching over the priming of the drive. It's a complicated process, she herself doesn't understand it, not one bit, her job does help guide it, though it all ends up on a hyper refined computer calculation. Priming the drive itself takes no more than a push of a button, a few minutes should do, waiting for the supercomputer guiding it to finish calculation is what takes the bulk of the time.
“I hate jumps, they make my skin dry”
One of her colleagues commented, they were from an aquatic species. Ciro looked at herself, at her screen as it turns off, all electronics need to be turned off during jumps, otherwise they overload and just explode. The only thing active was lights and minimum life support, everyone was strapped in and closing their eyes, she was the only one wide open.
“I look good”
She complimented herself, caressing her own cheek, looking at herself, appreciating it with all four of her eyes.
“hmph….”
It was hard to say, but she felt troubled, she was confident that today is going to go just fine, as usual, a comfortable tour like all others. But she's got a bad feeling, rather suddenly, and out of nowhere, nothing’s wrong really, but she can't quite put her fingers on why that's not the case. Maybe it's just her being uncomfortable from that dream again, it pops up again from time to time, enough to make her forget about it, but not enough to truly get it out of her mind.
“Hmhmhm…”
Sometimes it feels that the creature from her dreams is right behind her, big, tall, brutish, with its three red emotionless eyes. She can't remember the details all that well, not like she wants to. But she can't ever forget about it, even now, and it's giving her a mighty headache. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking about something nice, the face of her mother, how her hand felt and her calming voice.
“Sigh… Where are you?... Mom?”
She opened her eyes to complete darkness outside the bridge, and everyone else in it was still unconscious. weird, she's awake already? It's normal to be knocked out cold by a jump, she knows that, but isn't there supposed to be a system that wakes them up? Where's that bad smelling gas she's used to? Why is everyone out? Why is it so…
“......”
Her flow of thought stopped, and she froze as she looked at her screen, there wasn't just her in the reflection, there was the creature, staring at her through the reflection.
‘it's all in my mind’
With strained breaths, she silently used her inhaler, still in her hand.
‘it's in my mind, that's it, i’m dreaming’
The creature’s eye pierced right through her, right into her mind.
‘right? Yes, of course! Of course! It's just in my mind…’
It… knows her, somehow, but she doesn't know it, yet it felt…
‘please… please no’
…Familiar. Like she met it before, but that never happened, that's impossible.
‘it hurts…’
Her breathing was rapid, and she felt the urge to turn around, as deathly afraid as she was, it was irresistible.
‘Ciro….’
That's… not her voice? Who said that? Why is it in her head? Why is it… calming?
‘my….’
She turned around, and like an instinct, she raised her hand, and the creature grabbed it, just like in the dream. The pain came back, real, very real, but far more painful than it has ever been. She wanted to scream, but felt like she had no mouth, no anything, just a mind, falling into bottomless black, helpless, stranded, left alone.
‘daughter….’
-----
Ciro snapped awake, and immediately she screamed, her body hurts everywhere, her head even more, and her breathing was rapid and uncontrolled. She scrambled to get her inhaler, she looked around, and found it on the floor, a bit far away from her. She unstrapped herself and fell from her seat, having to crawl to reach it. With what she assumed the last of her breath she managed to grab it, and used it until it was empty.
“Hegh… hegh…”
She tried to control her breath, to not much of a result, so she laid there, for God knows how long, until she had the strength to stand up. She could barely lift her own limbs, like they were shackled by some heavy weight, and her senses were scrambled to a point she thought she was blind. She recovered, slowly, she rolled over to lay on her back, and assess the situation as her senses returned.
“A-anyone? Hello?”
First to recover was her sight, it was then that she realized no one was on the bridge, every seat was empty.
“Huh?”
Then it was her touch, she felt just how cold the floor was, odd, it's supposed to stay at a stable temperature, it's not supposed to be this cold.
“Hello?”
Then her hearing returned, and all she could hear was an alarm, and an automated announcement.
‘please calmly proceed to the nearest escape pod’
“Huh?”
With what little power she has, she stood up, she was right in front of the bridge’s window, she had expected a void, or a field of asteroids, instead, she saw a planet.
“What?”
That's not right, the jump is supposed to take them outside the system, why did it bring them here? Was it an error?. She couldn't figure it out, and stood there for a moment, both terrified and somewhat fascinated by how the planet looked up close, not as blue or green as she expected, mostly deserts it seems, but still oddly beautiful. She realized it was the golden planet, but that just raised more questions, why are they here? How are they here? Where is everybody?
‘warning, light drive unstable, detonation imminent’
“No…”
She turned around in confusion and fear, hoping she didn't actually hear what she just heard, but as the messages repeated again and again, there is no doubt she heard it right, however she wishes she's not. She limped her way out of the bridge, her movement hadn't quite recovered yet, so she pushed herself to the limit, trying to move as fast as she could as the ship’s drive slowly but surely imploded on itself.
“Please… let there be one”
She said to no one as she approached an escape pod room, this specific room is for the bridge crew. The bulkhead door that secured it was open, meaning someone had escaped, and she was right, when she arrived, all but one pod had already been launched.
“Y-yes!”
She walked up to it as fast as her limping leg could take her, when she got to it, the ship shook violently, before another concerning announcement came through the intercom.
‘light drive detonation in 10’
Hearing the countdown, her heart rate spiked.
‘9’
She practically punched the pod's console to get it open. It did so frustratingly slowly.
‘8’
“Come on damn it!”
‘7’
When it opened far enough for her to fit in the one person pod, she jumped in, not even bothering to strap herself in.
‘6’
The pod’s door was closing just as slowly as it was opening, frustrated, she kicked it, and it slammed shut, almost clipping her leg.
‘5’
The pod had its own countdown, which she hoped to be fast enough as she looked at the internal console.
‘4’
‘launch in 3…’
She was heading to… the golden planet, she didn't pay much attention to the atmospheric data, simply praying it was breathable as she closed her eyes.
‘3’
‘2…’
She's not religious, unlike her mother, but she prayed to every god she knows.
‘2’
‘1… launch initiated’
As the pod slid out of its silo and initiated its engines, she heard the final countdown of the detonation.
‘1, light drive collapsing’
Her view changed from the barely lit up pod room to the dark of space, with only her ship in sight. The rear of the ship collapsed in on itself, bringing the rest of the front with it as it got pulled by a micro blackhole, it barely lasted a few seconds before the blackhole collapsed, unable to keep its own mass stable. The resulting explosion was massive, her pod was in the blast radius, and the anti heat and radiation shielding could barely take it. She had a slight heart attack when she watched the outermost layer of the pod literally melt to the point of boiling.
“.....”
But it was all fine, that was the only damage to the pod, which is acceptable. It did put the pod at a condition that barely qualifies for rapid atmospheric entry, and when she finally read the atmospheric data of the planet, she worried for her life. A lot of hydrogen and oxygen, it's going to be a very hot entry. She closed her eyes again, trying not to cry as she hoped for the best.
“mom i miss you”
She mumbled between strained breaths and tears.
-----
Ciro felt… dry, she felt… hot, like she's near a fire, she can't remember where she was, or what happened. She opened her eyes to the best abilities, and saw… a desert, just like in her dreams, just slightly different, she doesn't know why she knows that it's the desert in her dream, she just does. It felt familiar, like she's touched this sand before, like she has once breathed this dry air, she doesn't know why.
“///”
She heard something, she can't recognize it, unironically the only thing unfamiliar.
“//// //!”
It sounds like a buzz in her ear, like a language she doesn't know.
“.....”
She looks around, as much lying on the sand lets her look, she sees a burning pieces of a… hull? From a pod it seems. Her foggy memory starts to clear up when she sees her own hand, it was dirty from all the sand, dust and ash. Suddenly, memories flooded in, she remembered everything, and got up.
“Ergh!”
Or at least she tried to, she couldn't move much, she could barely move.
“What?...”
“///! /// /// ////?”
She heard some sort of… talking? Right behind her, she rolled over on her back to see what it came from. Immediately she wanted to scream, everything was just like in her dreams, except this time its very real, and that included the creature, it stared her down, its tall stature completely overshadowing her.
“Please no!”
It reached for her, and she put her hand up, once again, just like in the dream, it grabbed her hand. She closed her eyes, she expected pain and death, that the creature has always wanted to kill her. Yet she felt… warm? The grip was soft and oddly comforting, she felt a pull and suddenly she was up on her feet. She opened all four of her eyes, only to almost close it all again when she saw the creature right in front of her, very close.
“D-don’t kill me… please… i… i…”
The creature is terrifying, exactly like in her dreams, but there's something slightly different about it. It held her right hand, firmly, seemingly the only thing letting her even stand straight. It breathes out heavily before grabbing its own face and… peeling it? Ciro realized it was actually a helmet, someone… or something was wearing it. It revealed its own face to her, it didn't look too foreign, one mouth, one nose, two eyes, with fur above each eye, and some sort of long hair on top of their head.
“What?....”
“/// /// /////?”
It looked at her with brown eyes, a sharp and dramatic contrast to Ciro’s own iridescent iris. It looked down at something, and made some sort of an expression, surprise? Ciro looked down as the creature's expression turned to something that can pass as panic. She saw her own hand first, coated in something light blue in color, a mix of deep blue and light blue actually, funny, it kind of looks like…
“huh…”
…Blood of a Qo’kvell, it’s not red or orange unlike most others. She felt light headed suddenly, maybe it's just the air, maybe, the atmosphere isn't the most suited for her kind. Maybe it's just a post atmo break headache, those happen often to Qo’kvells, maybe, just… maybe…
“Whe- where are we go… ing…?”
Her vision darkens as the creature dragged her somewhere, to a weird looking… vehicle she would assume, it looks like it has wheels. The creature laid her down next to it, it seems a bit in a rush, she has no clue why though, everything seems fine. She thinks about it for a second, maybe she shouldn't keep calling it a creature, maybe it's a person.
“hey… is that… bandage ster…. Ster… rilized….?”
She dozed off to complete darkness, perhaps she's wrong, perhaps it was all just a dream again, just very different. It’s probably a dream and she’ll wake up in her chair or something… probably, it's all in her head… right?
Next
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2024.06.04 08:35 BlairDaniels ATTENTION, SHOPPERS: Please hide at the back of the store immediately.
“Attention shoppers,” came a male voice over the intercom. “Please move to the back of the store immediately.”
“The back of the store?” I whispered to Daniel. “Don’t they mean the front of the store? To pay for our stuff?”
It was 8:50 pm – 10 minutes till closing time. We’d brought our two kids out on this late-night Walmart excursion in the hopes of burning off some energy; instead, they’d just thrown tantrums for new Legos and Hot Wheels. It was a disaster.
But apparently, the disaster was just beginning.
“Please move to the back of the store immediately,” the voice repeated overhead. “This is not a drill.”
I glanced around—but the other shoppers were just as confused as I was. An old lady looked up at the ceiling, scrunching her face. “What the hell?” a dark-haired woman asked her boyfriend, pushing a cart full of garden supplies.
“Didn’t you hear?” an older man said, leaning over his cart of bottled water and canned food. “We’re in a tornado watch. One touched down in Sauerville.”
A tornado? It was definitely storming outside. I’d seen the black clouds roll in from the east earlier. But it didn’t look that bad.
“Do not stay out in the open. I repeat—do NOT stay out in the open.”
There was a pause. Then, an explosion of sound, as everyone began to mobilize. Carts rolling, panicked voices, feet slapping on the floor.
No. No no no. This can’t be happening…
I hurried down the toy aisle, Tucker in my arms, Daniel and Jackson following me. Three zig-zaggy turns, and then we were in the electronics area. I glanced at the TVs on the wall—
And pictured the four of us, crushed underneath them.
“Stay away from windows and doors,” the voice continued on the loudspeaker. “And do NOT attempt to exit the store.”
“Is this—is it safe here?”
Daniel shook his head. “Big open areas aren’t good. I’m going to check in back, see if there’s a break room or something. You stay here, okay?”
I nodded.
Arms shaking, I sat down on the ground between two shelves of video games. Tucker sucked on a bottle in my arms while Jackson began to giggle. “Is the tornado going to hit the store? And everything will fly around, real fast?” he asked with a big stupid grin on his face.
“I don’t know.”
A tornado. A real-life tornado, like you see in the movies, plowing through our town. It was so… unfathomable. We were New York natives, transplanted here to Indiana only six months ago. I’d never been in a tornado watch my entire life.
Daniel jogged back into view. “Everything’s locked up,” he said, as he joined me on the floor. “But listen. Fairview’s a big town. The chances that it’ll hit this Walmart… I think we’ll be okay.”
“I never should’ve brought us here.”
“You didn’t know. None of us did.” He wrapped his arm around me. “They should’ve warned us. Like an emergency alert on our phones. Or a tornado siren, or something.”
The voice overhead rang out again through the store.
“Do not stay out in the open. Do not make yourself visible. That includes security cameras—please move to a spot that is not visible to any cameras.”
I frowned. “What does that have to do with tornadoes?”
A feeling of unease, in the pit of my stomach. I glanced up, and saw several black globes descending from the ceiling, hiding the cameras within.
“I guess we should listen to them and get out of sight,” I whispered.
I grabbed Jackson’s hand, Daniel picked up Tucker, and we jogged out into the center aisle. The store was an eerie sight—abandoned shopping carts, askew in the aisle, full of everything from pies to batteries to plants. Footsteps echoed around the store from people unseen, as they found their new hiding places.
We dodged a shopping cart full of soda, ran through kitchenwares, and then stopped in the Easter decoration aisle. There was a camera in the central corridor, but as long as we stayed in the middle of Easter aisle, we’d be invisible.
The four of us crouched on the floor, next to some demented-looking Easter bunnies. “I’m hungry,” Jackson whined.
“Sssshhh.”
“Mommy—”
I grabbed a bag of colorful chocolate eggs and ripped it open. “Here. Candy. Happy?” I whispered, thrusting them into his hands. Then I leaned back against the metal shelves, panting.
But I didn’t have long to rest. A mechanical whine overhead, and then the voice came through the speakers again.
“Keep away from aisles with food. If you have food with you, leave it and move to a new hiding place. If you have any open wounds, cover them with clothing.”
What… the fuck?
That had nothing to do with keeping safe in a tornado.
“We should make a run for it,” Daniel whispered to me, starting to stand.
“But… the tornado—”
“I don’t think there is a tornado. Listen. Do you hear any wind?”
I listened. But all I heard was silence. No howling wind, no shaking ground, no projectiles clanging against the metal roof.
“Maybe… maybe it’s still coming. I know what they’re saying doesn’t make sense but to go outside—”
“We need to get out of here. Now.” He grabbed Jackson’s hand as he held Tucker in his arms. “Come on.”
“Daniel, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I whispered.
But the next words from the intercom changed my mind.
“Assume a fetal position and place your hands on your head. Close your eyes and do not open them for any reason.”
“Let’s go.”
We broke into a sprint and ran down the central aisle, cameras be damned. The front door appeared in front of us—a little black rectangle looming in the distance.
And as we got closer, I saw Daniel was right.
There was a tree at the border of the parking lot, under a streetlamp.
It was perfectly still.
We continued running, past the clothing area, past the snacks lined up at the checkout lines. I ran towards the sliding glass doors as fast as my legs would carry me. Almost there. Almost there. Almost—
The doors didn’t open.
“No. No, no, no.”
Daniel slammed his body against the door. It rattled underneath him. I tried to squeeze my fingers into the gap between them, to try and pull them apart.
They didn’t budge.
“They… they locked us in,” I whispered.
“I want to go home,” Jackson said. Tucker was beginning to fuss too, making little noises like he was about to start full-on wailing.
I turned around—
And that’s when I saw him.
A Walmart employee.
He was sitting on the ground at the end of one of the checkout aisles. Facing away from us. Wearing the familiar blue vest with a golden starburst.
“Hey! Let us out!”
He didn’t reply.
“Did you hear me? I don’t care if there’s a fucking tornado. Unlock the door and let us out!”
Again, he said nothing.
But in the silence, I could hear something. A wet, smacking sound. I stared at the man, slightly hunched over, still facing away from me.
Was he… eating… something?
The speaker overhead crackled to life.
“Attention. Please do NOT talk to any Walmart employees.”
My blood ran cold.
The smacking sound stopped. And then, slowly, the man began to stand. He placed his palms on the conveyor belt and pushed up—and I could see that they were stained with blood. I backed away—but my legs felt like they were moving through a vat of honey.
No, no, no—
Fingers locked around my arm and yanked.
“Come on!” Daniel shouted.
I sprinted after him, deeper into the store. Tucker stared at me over his shoulder, and Jackson ran as fast as his little feet would take him. I was vaguely aware of the slap-slap-slap sound behind me, but I didn’t dare look back.
Daniel ran into the clothing area and I swayed, dodging circular racks of T-shirts and wooden displays of baby clothes. He skidded to a stop and ducked into the dressing room area. “In here!” he whispered, motioning at one of the rooms.
We piled inside and locked the door.
“Daddy,” Jackson started.
“You listen to me very carefully,” I said, crouching to his level. “You have to be absolutely silent. Do not say a word. Okay?”
Jackson looked at me, then Daniel—then he nodded and sat down on the floor.
“I’m going to try to call 911,” Daniel whispered, transferring Tucker to me and pulling out his phone. He tapped at the screen—then frowned.
“What?”
“We don’t… we don’t seem to have any service. I don’t—”
Thump.
I grabbed Jackson and pulled him away from the door. The four of us huddled in the corner. I held my breath.
Thump.
Under the gap of the dressing room door—men’s feet in black shoes. They slowly took a step forward, deeper into the dressing room.
“Don’t… move,” I whispered, holding Jackson.
The man took another step.
Don’t make a sound. Don’t move. Don’t—
Tucker let out a soft cry.
The man stopped. His feet turned, pointing at us. No. No, no, no. Tucker let out another cry—louder this time. My nails dug into Daniel’s hand. No—
A hand appeared. It slowly pressed against the floor, stained with blood. And then his knees appeared, as he lowered himself down to the gap.
No.
Could he fit under? The gap wasn’t small—it was like the stall door to a bathroom. If he flattened himself against the floor… there’s a chance he could fit under.
I watched in horror as his stomach came into view. His blue Walmart vest, as he lowered his body to the floor. Then he pushed his arm under the gap and blindly swept it across the floor.
As if feeling for us.
This is it. We’re going to die.
And then he lowered his head.
His face. Oh, God, there was something horribly wrong with his face. He smiled up at us with a smile that was impossibly wide, showing off blood-stained teeth. His skin was so pale it was nearly blue. And his eyes… they were milky white, without pupils or irises.
I opened my mouth to scream—
“Attention shoppers,” the voice began overhead.
No no no—
“Please make your way to the front of the store and make your final purchases. We will be closing in ten minutes.”
… What?
And then—before I could react—something unseen jerked the man out of view.
A strange dragging sound followed. As if someone was dragging his body out of the dressing room area. I stared at the door, shaking, as Tucker’s cries rang in my ears.
But he didn’t come back.
And within ten minutes, the usual hubbub of Walmart returned. Voices. Footsteps. Shopping cart wheels rolling along the floor.
Shaking, I finally got up and unlocked the door.
The store looked completely normal. People were lined up at the cash registers, placing their goods on the conveyor belts. Employees were scanning tags, printing receipts. People walked towards the glass doors, and when they did—they slid open.
As we slowly walked towards the exit, I spotted the older man who’d warned us about the tornado earlier. “What—what was that?” I asked, unable to keep my voice from shaking.
He shrugged. “I guess the tornado missed us! What a miracle, huh?”
Giving us a smile, he disappeared out the glass doors and into the night.
Thank you for reading my story! The novel version of this story comes out in 6 days! Preorder link here.
submitted by BlairDaniels to ByfelsDisciple [link] [comments]
“The back of the store?” I whispered to Daniel. “Don’t they mean the front of the store? To pay for our stuff?”
It was 8:50 pm – 10 minutes till closing time. We’d brought our two kids out on this late-night Walmart excursion in the hopes of burning off some energy; instead, they’d just thrown tantrums for new Legos and Hot Wheels. It was a disaster.
But apparently, the disaster was just beginning.
“Please move to the back of the store immediately,” the voice repeated overhead. “This is not a drill.”
I glanced around—but the other shoppers were just as confused as I was. An old lady looked up at the ceiling, scrunching her face. “What the hell?” a dark-haired woman asked her boyfriend, pushing a cart full of garden supplies.
“Didn’t you hear?” an older man said, leaning over his cart of bottled water and canned food. “We’re in a tornado watch. One touched down in Sauerville.”
A tornado? It was definitely storming outside. I’d seen the black clouds roll in from the east earlier. But it didn’t look that bad.
“Do not stay out in the open. I repeat—do NOT stay out in the open.”
There was a pause. Then, an explosion of sound, as everyone began to mobilize. Carts rolling, panicked voices, feet slapping on the floor.
No. No no no. This can’t be happening…
I hurried down the toy aisle, Tucker in my arms, Daniel and Jackson following me. Three zig-zaggy turns, and then we were in the electronics area. I glanced at the TVs on the wall—
And pictured the four of us, crushed underneath them.
“Stay away from windows and doors,” the voice continued on the loudspeaker. “And do NOT attempt to exit the store.”
“Is this—is it safe here?”
Daniel shook his head. “Big open areas aren’t good. I’m going to check in back, see if there’s a break room or something. You stay here, okay?”
I nodded.
Arms shaking, I sat down on the ground between two shelves of video games. Tucker sucked on a bottle in my arms while Jackson began to giggle. “Is the tornado going to hit the store? And everything will fly around, real fast?” he asked with a big stupid grin on his face.
“I don’t know.”
A tornado. A real-life tornado, like you see in the movies, plowing through our town. It was so… unfathomable. We were New York natives, transplanted here to Indiana only six months ago. I’d never been in a tornado watch my entire life.
Daniel jogged back into view. “Everything’s locked up,” he said, as he joined me on the floor. “But listen. Fairview’s a big town. The chances that it’ll hit this Walmart… I think we’ll be okay.”
“I never should’ve brought us here.”
“You didn’t know. None of us did.” He wrapped his arm around me. “They should’ve warned us. Like an emergency alert on our phones. Or a tornado siren, or something.”
The voice overhead rang out again through the store.
“Do not stay out in the open. Do not make yourself visible. That includes security cameras—please move to a spot that is not visible to any cameras.”
I frowned. “What does that have to do with tornadoes?”
A feeling of unease, in the pit of my stomach. I glanced up, and saw several black globes descending from the ceiling, hiding the cameras within.
“I guess we should listen to them and get out of sight,” I whispered.
I grabbed Jackson’s hand, Daniel picked up Tucker, and we jogged out into the center aisle. The store was an eerie sight—abandoned shopping carts, askew in the aisle, full of everything from pies to batteries to plants. Footsteps echoed around the store from people unseen, as they found their new hiding places.
We dodged a shopping cart full of soda, ran through kitchenwares, and then stopped in the Easter decoration aisle. There was a camera in the central corridor, but as long as we stayed in the middle of Easter aisle, we’d be invisible.
The four of us crouched on the floor, next to some demented-looking Easter bunnies. “I’m hungry,” Jackson whined.
“Sssshhh.”
“Mommy—”
I grabbed a bag of colorful chocolate eggs and ripped it open. “Here. Candy. Happy?” I whispered, thrusting them into his hands. Then I leaned back against the metal shelves, panting.
But I didn’t have long to rest. A mechanical whine overhead, and then the voice came through the speakers again.
“Keep away from aisles with food. If you have food with you, leave it and move to a new hiding place. If you have any open wounds, cover them with clothing.”
What… the fuck?
That had nothing to do with keeping safe in a tornado.
“We should make a run for it,” Daniel whispered to me, starting to stand.
“But… the tornado—”
“I don’t think there is a tornado. Listen. Do you hear any wind?”
I listened. But all I heard was silence. No howling wind, no shaking ground, no projectiles clanging against the metal roof.
“Maybe… maybe it’s still coming. I know what they’re saying doesn’t make sense but to go outside—”
“We need to get out of here. Now.” He grabbed Jackson’s hand as he held Tucker in his arms. “Come on.”
“Daniel, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I whispered.
But the next words from the intercom changed my mind.
“Assume a fetal position and place your hands on your head. Close your eyes and do not open them for any reason.”
“Let’s go.”
We broke into a sprint and ran down the central aisle, cameras be damned. The front door appeared in front of us—a little black rectangle looming in the distance.
And as we got closer, I saw Daniel was right.
There was a tree at the border of the parking lot, under a streetlamp.
It was perfectly still.
We continued running, past the clothing area, past the snacks lined up at the checkout lines. I ran towards the sliding glass doors as fast as my legs would carry me. Almost there. Almost there. Almost—
The doors didn’t open.
“No. No, no, no.”
Daniel slammed his body against the door. It rattled underneath him. I tried to squeeze my fingers into the gap between them, to try and pull them apart.
They didn’t budge.
“They… they locked us in,” I whispered.
“I want to go home,” Jackson said. Tucker was beginning to fuss too, making little noises like he was about to start full-on wailing.
I turned around—
And that’s when I saw him.
A Walmart employee.
He was sitting on the ground at the end of one of the checkout aisles. Facing away from us. Wearing the familiar blue vest with a golden starburst.
“Hey! Let us out!”
He didn’t reply.
“Did you hear me? I don’t care if there’s a fucking tornado. Unlock the door and let us out!”
Again, he said nothing.
But in the silence, I could hear something. A wet, smacking sound. I stared at the man, slightly hunched over, still facing away from me.
Was he… eating… something?
The speaker overhead crackled to life.
“Attention. Please do NOT talk to any Walmart employees.”
My blood ran cold.
The smacking sound stopped. And then, slowly, the man began to stand. He placed his palms on the conveyor belt and pushed up—and I could see that they were stained with blood. I backed away—but my legs felt like they were moving through a vat of honey.
No, no, no—
Fingers locked around my arm and yanked.
“Come on!” Daniel shouted.
I sprinted after him, deeper into the store. Tucker stared at me over his shoulder, and Jackson ran as fast as his little feet would take him. I was vaguely aware of the slap-slap-slap sound behind me, but I didn’t dare look back.
Daniel ran into the clothing area and I swayed, dodging circular racks of T-shirts and wooden displays of baby clothes. He skidded to a stop and ducked into the dressing room area. “In here!” he whispered, motioning at one of the rooms.
We piled inside and locked the door.
“Daddy,” Jackson started.
“You listen to me very carefully,” I said, crouching to his level. “You have to be absolutely silent. Do not say a word. Okay?”
Jackson looked at me, then Daniel—then he nodded and sat down on the floor.
“I’m going to try to call 911,” Daniel whispered, transferring Tucker to me and pulling out his phone. He tapped at the screen—then frowned.
“What?”
“We don’t… we don’t seem to have any service. I don’t—”
Thump.
I grabbed Jackson and pulled him away from the door. The four of us huddled in the corner. I held my breath.
Thump.
Under the gap of the dressing room door—men’s feet in black shoes. They slowly took a step forward, deeper into the dressing room.
“Don’t… move,” I whispered, holding Jackson.
The man took another step.
Don’t make a sound. Don’t move. Don’t—
Tucker let out a soft cry.
The man stopped. His feet turned, pointing at us. No. No, no, no. Tucker let out another cry—louder this time. My nails dug into Daniel’s hand. No—
A hand appeared. It slowly pressed against the floor, stained with blood. And then his knees appeared, as he lowered himself down to the gap.
No.
Could he fit under? The gap wasn’t small—it was like the stall door to a bathroom. If he flattened himself against the floor… there’s a chance he could fit under.
I watched in horror as his stomach came into view. His blue Walmart vest, as he lowered his body to the floor. Then he pushed his arm under the gap and blindly swept it across the floor.
As if feeling for us.
This is it. We’re going to die.
And then he lowered his head.
His face. Oh, God, there was something horribly wrong with his face. He smiled up at us with a smile that was impossibly wide, showing off blood-stained teeth. His skin was so pale it was nearly blue. And his eyes… they were milky white, without pupils or irises.
I opened my mouth to scream—
“Attention shoppers,” the voice began overhead.
No no no—
“Please make your way to the front of the store and make your final purchases. We will be closing in ten minutes.”
… What?
And then—before I could react—something unseen jerked the man out of view.
A strange dragging sound followed. As if someone was dragging his body out of the dressing room area. I stared at the door, shaking, as Tucker’s cries rang in my ears.
But he didn’t come back.
And within ten minutes, the usual hubbub of Walmart returned. Voices. Footsteps. Shopping cart wheels rolling along the floor.
Shaking, I finally got up and unlocked the door.
The store looked completely normal. People were lined up at the cash registers, placing their goods on the conveyor belts. Employees were scanning tags, printing receipts. People walked towards the glass doors, and when they did—they slid open.
As we slowly walked towards the exit, I spotted the older man who’d warned us about the tornado earlier. “What—what was that?” I asked, unable to keep my voice from shaking.
He shrugged. “I guess the tornado missed us! What a miracle, huh?”
Giving us a smile, he disappeared out the glass doors and into the night.
2024.06.02 08:17 Significant-Tower146 Best Acr Electronics 2844
 | submitted by Significant-Tower146 to u/Significant-Tower146 [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/b4setjv4p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2031e57209fdd5a94380c4b80c158e705707b608 Are you in search of the perfect electronic device that combines cutting-edge technology with ease of use? Look no further than the Acr Electronics 2844. This revolutionary product has been making waves in the tech world, and we're here to give you a comprehensive rundown on its features, performance, and why it's a must-have for tech enthusiasts and laymen alike. The Top 19 Best Acr Electronics 2844
Reviews🔗Blue Sea 7621100 ml ACR Charging Relay - Automatic Battery Management Systemhttps://preview.redd.it/ja2b7lv4p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c22b1f25e5a77ceb54c08dc24d442b72edf65c3d During my time sailing on the open seas, I encountered a predicament where my boat's batteries were not being charged properly. That's when I stumbled upon the Blue Sea 7621100 ml ACR Charging Relay. This ingenious device quickly solved my problem, and I couldn't be happier with the results. The Blue Sea Charging Relay has an automatic charging system that manages the charging of two large battery banks, which was essential in my case. Additionally, it allows me to parallel my battery banks during emergency starting, providing me with that extra peace of mind while out at sea. Another impressive feature was the 500 Ampere continuous rating, which supported my high-output alternators. This device truly proved its worth by handling the heavy-duty charging tasks with ease. However, there was one minor issue I encountered - the dual sensing system that senses the charge on both battery banks sometimes caused a bit of confusion while troubleshooting. But overall, the pros outweighed the cons, and I wholeheartedly recommend the Blue Sea 7621100 ml ACR Charging Relay to any sailor in need of a reliable battery management solution. 🔗Alpha Wire 2844/7 Black Hook-Up Wire (24AWG, 304.8m)https://preview.redd.it/j3j1u6c5p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=97c62f850a237c37eb6f15a071d9d5c26620aa60 The Alpha Wire 2844/7 BK001 hook-up wire is the perfect solution for your electrical needs. It's a 24AWG stranded copper wire that's silver-coated for enhanced conductivity. The black PTFE jacket provides an excellent insulating layer, making it durable and resistant to wear and tear. The wire is compact, with a 0.036" diameter and a thickness of just 0.006", allowing for easy installation without compromising on its strength. And with a voltage rating of 250V, you can rest easy knowing that it's perfectly designed to handle most household appliances. I've found that not only does it work well in my daily life, but it's also quite reliable in terms of durability. Overall, this 2844/7 BK001 hook-up wire from Alpha Wire is a top-notch product that I would highly recommend to anyone in need of a reliable hook-up wire. 🔗ACR Olas Core Base Station and Mob Alarm System: MOB Alert with Ultra-Bright LED and Audible Alarmhttps://preview.redd.it/wlecdi06p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b800e5142af720f1ec92550a3f19845540f0f8d5 I recently had the chance to try out the ACR Olas Core Base Station and Mob Alarm System, and I must say, it's a game-changer for boaters. This small yet powerful device has saved me on more than one occasion. Say goodbye to those "Man Overboard" panics and hello to a reassuring safety net for your crew. One thing that stood out to me was the base station's ability to connect with up to 15 wearable or float transmitters. It's like having a virtual lifeline for your crew, all within arm's reach. I particularly love the option to connect to the ACR Olas mobile app, which provides directional screens and essential MOB positioning prompts during recovery operations. However, there were a few things I wish were different. For example, the device could be a bit more user-friendly, especially for people who may not be comfortable using technology. Also, I found the wearable transmitters to be a bit bulky, which might be an issue for those who want a sleeker look. But overall, the ACR Olas Core Base Station and Mob Alarm System certainly has my seal of approval. 🔗ACR HydroFix EPIRB Release Unit: Seamless Emergency Beacon Releasehttps://preview.redd.it/57x7v0h6p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff1d8c07162364b1500a9a3a63945bc6e500b675 I recently had the chance to try out the ACR Sea Shelter unit, part of the HydroFix Hydrostatic Release Unit family, and let me tell you, it truly lives up to its reputation as a reliable and user-friendly device. One of the standout features of this unit is its compatibility with various ACR EPIRB categories. I found the installation process to be incredibly smooth, thanks to the included ACR Sea Shelter, Sea Shelter2, and Sea Shelter3 brackets. These brackets made fitting the unit onto my EPIRB a breeze. Another great aspect of this release unit is its lack of reliance on battery, blade, or pyrotechnic device to release the beacon when an emergency occurs. The design is built for a quick, seamless, and dependable release in such situations. However, I did notice that this product is date-stamped and must be replaced every two years from the date of installation or four years from the date of manufacture. While this might seem like a minor inconvenience, it's a good incentive to ensure your device is always up-to-date and functioning at its best. Overall, my experience with the ACR Sea Shelter unit was very positive. The ease of installation, reliable release mechanism, and compatibility with various EPIRBs make it a valuable investment for anyone looking to ensure their safety at sea. Highly recommended! 🔗Compact, Resilient Personal Locator Beacon with Return Link Servicehttps://preview.redd.it/1s0iiwy6p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3d3dda1cc321330b708ed814e93dd4ad1c49f26 The ACR ResQLink View RLS beacon I've been using in my outdoor escapades is a remarkably compact and robust device. It's been meticulously designed, tested, and engineered to withstand even the most extreme environmental conditions. This beacon is also buoyant, which gives it an added edge in watery adventures. One feature that really stands out is the Return Link Service (RLS) functionality. It's reassuring to know that if I ever need help, my distress message will be received, and my location detected, giving me peace of mind. The device also has a handy digital display that provides live status updates, and with no subscription needed, I don't have to worry about hidden costs. The battery life is impressive, with a 5-year lifespan and an operational life of 28 hours. However, it's worth mentioning that the device is quite lightweight, which might affect its overall durability. But considering its excellent features and performance, I'd say the ResQLink View RLS is a top choice for anyone seeking a personal locator beacon. 🔗Raco 2844 Metallic Cast Compression Connector for EMT Conduithttps://preview.redd.it/swmbwq67p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9406a84d6abaf3b8ae7e37fc7cd81a6515416208 The Raco 2844 Cast Uninsulated Compression, aka the Acr Electronics 2844, is a meticulously crafted conduit fitting that boasts an impressive 5.0 rating out of 16 reviews. Designed for EMT conduit, this connector offers a natural finish and robust die-cast zinc construction. As someone who's been on the receiving end of this product, their CSA and UL listed standards left me confident with the quality of the build. The 2.19 inch overall length and 3.5 inch trade size make this connector a versatile option for your conduit fittings, while the compression connector design provides secure and concrete-tight connections. The ease of wrench installation is also a major plus, as it ensures a snug fit without any hassle. However, I should note that this connector is non-insulated, so it may not be the best option for certain applications where insulation is a requirement. Additionally, the connector's zinc material may be subject to slight corrosion over time, which could slightly hinder its longevity. Nonetheless, the Raco 2844 Cast Uninsulated Compression is a reliable and efficient conduit fitting, perfect for those seeking a solid, wrench-installed connection in their electrical projects. 🔗Alpha Wire 2844/7 BR001 Hook-Up Wire - 24AWG, Brown, 305M Cablehttps://preview.redd.it/9d5e9gk7p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8c7e9b72b1d040ac5bc56663d7684b3a59f0804 I've been using the Alpha Wire 2844/7 BR001 Hook-Up Wire for a while now, and it's been a game-changer in my daily life. The stranded copper, silver-coated conductor and PTFE jacket insulation make it a reliable and durable option, perfect for hooking up my electronic devices. The 24 AWG wire gauge and 305m length have made it easy to work with, and I appreciate the flexibility it provides. The brown jacket insulation has a nice touch and is easy to spot in my messy workspace. However, one thing I've noticed is that the voltage rating of 250V might not be suitable for all applications, so I had to double-check to make sure it was compatible with my devices. Overall, the Alpha Wire Hook-Up Wire is a reliable and convenient solution for my electronics needs, and I highly recommend it for others looking for a high-quality wire. 🔗Weather-Resistant Audio Intercom with Hands-Free Loudspeakinghttps://preview.redd.it/iwf03qx7p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ec4c2c0665ec78774b1e1c5f72024e2bb2066d5 Using the Alpha Communications AM612/04S in my daily life has been a breeze. The hands-free loudspeaking feature works really well, allowing me to communicate without any hassle. The weather-resistant mylar speaker is a standout feature, as it ensures the device performs optimally outdoors, withstanding various weather conditions. The self-wiping push button switches are convenient, providing hassle-free access to the intercom. However, one downside I've encountered is the presence of plastic buttons and grille, which might not be as durable as I'd like it to be. Additionally, the decorative end caps, while visually appealing, seem a bit flimsy. I've also noticed that the slim-line surface-mount option can cause some installation challenges when mounting the device directly on the wall, despite it being easy to install overall. 🔗Violet 24AWG Alpha Wire Hook-Uphttps://preview.redd.it/0qdh67g8p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14776e54330273e6d08353a6f1830dbd2598cc93 I was tasked with reviewing an Alpha Wire 2844/7 VI001, a Hook-Up Wire with a 24 AWG copper conductor, coated in violet PTFE insulation. I found the product both durable and visually appealing. The silver coating on the conductor gives it a professional look, while the violet insulation is easier to spot in a busy lab or workshop. However, I did notice a minor downside. Connecting and disconnecting the wire from its terminals can sometimes be a bit tricky due to the conductor's small size. Despite this minor inconvenience, the wire held up well in my daily use, and I'd recommend it for anyone seeking a reliable and attractive hook-up wire solution in their electrical projects. 🔗15A Rackmount Power Sequencer with 9 Outlets - ETL Listed, EMI/RFI Filtering, and Dual Activation Delayhttps://preview.redd.it/bxeintk8p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fcf3d45eac75a7bbb9559d105613e3e3bca93def I recently had the chance to try out Lowell ACR-SEQ4-1509 15A Rackmount Power Sequencer, and I have to say, it made quite an impact in my daily life. The first thing that caught my eye was its compact design. It fits easily into any standard rack, and its steel chassis feels sturdy and reliable. What stood out the most for me was the sequencer's ability to control the power flow to my devices. The front rocker switch effortlessly activated and deactivated the "switched" outlets in the back. The adjustable delay of 0.5 to 10 seconds between each step allowed me to tailor the power sequence to my specific needs. But, the highlight of this product for me has to be the LED status indicators. They are color-coded and make it incredibly easy to understand the status of each powered device. The addition of the optional momentary remote switches is also a nice touch for those who require hands-free control. The only downside I found was the lack of an on/off switch. While not a deal-breaker for me, it may be something others consider when purchasing this power sequencer. Overall, Lowell ACR-SEQ4-1509 15A Rackmount Power Sequencer is a handy tool that makes managing my power connections a breeze. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to streamline their power distribution. 🔗ACR ResQLink 400 Survival Kit with GPS and Distress Signalhttps://preview.redd.it/kl6dli49p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b5f66748c9a302d057dc4022f0c3b719bc143f3 The ACR ResQLink 400 Survival Kit is the ultimate companion for any outdoor enthusiast. With a built-in GPS and GPS Galileo GNSS receiver, navigating your way out of trouble becomes a breeze. The compact design allows you to easily carry it on small boats and canoes, ensuring you're always prepared for emergencies. The kit comes with a RapidDitch dry bag to keep your essentials safe, especially when water splashes are inevitable. The PLB is designed for individuals to carry, sending an emergency signal that can be received by search and rescue teams worldwide. There's no need for a subscription; the beacon works wherever you are. Additional features include a C-Strobe, a water-activated personal distress strobe light, and a Signal Mirror powered by the sun. These add-ons work harmoniously to increase your chances of being spotted in case of an emergency. With a power source of battery, you don't need to worry about constantly changing batteries. Overall, the ACR ResQLink 400 Survival Kit is a reliable and compact solution for anyone seeking safety during their outdoor adventures. The positive reviews from customers vouch for its quality and performance, making it a worthwhile investment for peace of mind. 🔗ResQLink View 425 Personal Locator Beacon with OLAS Tag Survival Kithttps://preview.redd.it/p30qo1g9p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8aec660046d9d67a4563c6c5e7e301a6a945ce7 While adventure-seeking, when I lost my footing while kayaking, I was able to quickly activate the ACR ResQLink View Survival Kit. With its user-friendly interface and built-in digital display, the beacon guided rescuers to my location within 100 meters. Furthermore, the inclusion of the ACR OLAS Tag proved invaluable during the incident, providing me with extra security and alerting fellow crew members. The robust tracking and notification features truly made a difference in our quest for swift rescue. Overall, this ResQLink View & OLAS TAG Survival Kit has become a reliable addition to my outdoor excursions. 🔗Professional Stainless Steel Wall Plate for Speaker Applicationshttps://preview.redd.it/0gxlkvu9p34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=143cf4aea4d4ff902742784f14b8c87d7a91ba86 The Atlas Sound SG-NL4MP-2 single gang stainless steel plate is a sleek and professional-looking addition to any audio setup. With its easy installation and minimal fuss, you can quickly add in the two NL4MP 4-pole connectors and get back to enjoying the music. The mounting holes are conveniently placed, and the plate mounting hardware makes it a breeze to secure the unit. Ideal for remote speaker level input/output applications, this Atlas Sound product is a reliable and durable choice for your audio needs. 🔗Reliable, LED Distress Flare for Safe Navigationhttps://preview.redd.it/dj7r48cap34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8472af3a5a158a87bf8b096aa88139eea0c97757 As a boater, I've always been wary of traditional pyrotechnic flares for safety reasons. That's why, when I came across the ACR ResQFlare Electronic Distress Flare & Flag, I knew I had to give it a try. This innovative device has been designed to provide a safer, more reliable alternative to traditional pyrotechnic flares and can even be carried in lieu of them. What stood out the most was the 360-degree visibility from over six miles away. Not only did it provide excellent visibility during emergencies, but it also had a significantly longer burn time than traditional flares. Its lightweight, compact size, and floatability made it incredibly easy to use – all while being fungus, corrosion, and water-resistant. The ACR ResQFlare also comes with a distress flag, which, when carried together, qualifies as a replacement for traditional pyrotechnic flares. It's a perfect addition to any ditch bag, especially considering that it doesn't go out of date, saving me time and avoids the hassle of replacement. One downside I faced was the lack of a lanyard attached to the device. While it floats upright in water, there are better options available that might be more visible in daylight compared to the ACR ResQFlare. However, as a safety device, the ACR ResQFlare still gets the job done without the risk of fire or injury. In conclusion, the ACR ResQFlare Electronic Distress Flare & Flag is a great addition to any boater's safety arsenal. It's easy to use, safe, and provides excellent visibility during emergencies. Its longevity and added convenience make it a worthy choice as a replacement for traditional pyrotechnic flares. Buyer's GuideWelcome to our comprehensive buyer's guide for Acr Electronics 2844. This guide will help you understand the important features, considerations, and general advice about Acr Electronics 2844. We aim to provide you with all the necessary information to make an informed decision when purchasing this product.Features to Considerhttps://preview.redd.it/1h5u8e8cp34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4cfccceb78cf63a81b1cf459e1179f4bbe9dda45
Considerations
General AdviceWhen buying an Acr Electronics 2844 or any product, it is essential to do your research. Compare different options based on their features, pricing, and customer reviews. Also, consider the device's compatibility with existing systems and your future plans. Lastly, don't forget to check warranty terms and customer support before making a purchase.We hope this buyer's guide has provided you with valuable information to help you make an informed decision when purchasing an Acr Electronics 2844. Remember to consider the features, compatibility, and customer support, and always compare prices before making a purchase. Good luck! https://preview.redd.it/rfrq8gycp34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cbed4dcad346565d8021d3361ea115a97b58aff5 FAQWhat is Acr Electronics 2844?Acr Electronics 2844 is a high-quality electronic product designed to meet the needs of modern consumers. It offers reliable performance, advanced features, and excellent value for money.What makes Acr Electronics 2844 unique?https://preview.redd.it/gxsk3dddp34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf38dcfe4740e4ff41ce8847b585ff054d2f8171 Acr Electronics 2844 stands out for its combination of performance, features, and affordability. It is engineered with the latest technology and designed to meet the demanding requirements of today's users. Who are the target customers for Acr Electronics 2844?Acr Electronics 2844 is suitable for a wide range of customers, including professionals, hobbyists, and anyone looking for a high-quality electronic product that meets their needs.What are the key features of Acr Electronics 2844?
https://preview.redd.it/kxmz52vdp34d1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=545f2bef1551cb6cec77064cf5ea3ade10c4f3c1 What are the benefits of using Acr Electronics 2844?
Is Acr Electronics 2844 easy to use?Yes, Acr Electronics 2844 is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for users of all skill levels to use and enjoy.What is the warranty period for Acr Electronics 2844?Acr Electronics 2844 comes with a warranty period that ensures its users can rely on the product for its intended purpose. The exact terms and conditions of the warranty may vary, so it is best to check with the product manufacturer or retailer for more information.Where can I purchase Acr Electronics 2844?Acr Electronics 2844 can be purchased from a variety of sources, including authorized retailers, online marketplaces, and directly from the manufacturer. It is recommended to research and compare prices to find the best deal for your budget.Are there any known issues or drawbacks with Acr Electronics 2844?As with any electronic product, there may be some minor issues or drawbacks associated with Acr Electronics 2844. However, these are generally outweighed by the product's many benefits and positive attributes.What are the alternatives to Acr Electronics 2844?There may be several alternative electronic products on the market that offer similar features and functionality to Acr Electronics 2844. It is recommended to research and compare different options to find the best solution for your needs and budget.As an Amazon™ Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. |
2024.06.01 17:47 paulo39Atati Building a giant Homepod
Tell me what will go wrong with this project please:
I did something similar in my backyard with a HomePod mini in an old in-wall intercom system. I gutted the electronics and was left with the outside cover that was retro-cool looking and acoustically transparent, and the enclosure in the wall where the electronics used to be. In there I fit an outlet, the usb-c charger for the HomePod mini, and,in front of that a 3 sided plastic box, one flat on the back, two flaring open on the sides. The HomePod was placed sideways with the lights facing outwards. The bass sounds amazing, and the HomePod lights are totally visible through the old speaker cover when you talk to Siri.
Here is the plan for the new project:
Has anyone attempted something like this? What will go wrong?
submitted by paulo39Atati to HomeKit [link] [comments]
I did something similar in my backyard with a HomePod mini in an old in-wall intercom system. I gutted the electronics and was left with the outside cover that was retro-cool looking and acoustically transparent, and the enclosure in the wall where the electronics used to be. In there I fit an outlet, the usb-c charger for the HomePod mini, and,in front of that a 3 sided plastic box, one flat on the back, two flaring open on the sides. The HomePod was placed sideways with the lights facing outwards. The bass sounds amazing, and the HomePod lights are totally visible through the old speaker cover when you talk to Siri.
Here is the plan for the new project:
- Buy an antique floor radio cabinet. Not one that can still be restored, an old cabinet, preferably in bad shape.
- Sand the cabinet down and refinish it in gray so it matches the furniture of the room it will be in.
- Place a Homepod (not a mini, the big one) inside it, behind the speaker cover. Probably with a barrier of plywood behind it. I’ll place it as close as possible to the speaker cover, will need to do some testing to see if sides that flare open or no sides.
- Buy an old led sync, not the hdmi ones, the ones that used a camera that went on top of the tv to read the colors and control the light strips around the TV. I can get one for $80, complete with the lights.
- Place the light strips on the back pointing outwards, will need to glue a square frame behind it to support the lights.
- Point the camera sensor for the lights to the top of the Homepod. This will take some adjusting as the camera was designed to cover a screen, not a5 inch circle, but placing the stem holding the camera closer (and vertically) ought to do the trick.
Has anyone attempted something like this? What will go wrong?
2024.05.30 10:41 thedreamriders What Are the Must-Have Gear and Accessories for a Spiti Bike Trip?
A bike trip to Spiti Valley is a thrilling adventure that requires meticulous planning and the right gear to ensure safety and comfort. Here’s a detailed list of essential gear and accessories for a successful Spiti bike trip:
submitted by thedreamriders to u/thedreamriders [link] [comments]
1. Riding Gear
- Helmet: A high-quality, full-face helmet for maximum protection.
- Riding Jacket: With CE-approved armor for shoulders, elbows, and back.
- Riding Pants: Durable pants with knee and hip armor.
- Gloves: Waterproof, armored gloves for better grip and protection.
- Boots: Ankle-length, waterproof boots with good grip.
2. Bike Essentials
- Tool Kit: Includes wrenches, pliers, tire levers, and a multi-tool.
- Spare Parts: Carry clutch and brake cables, spark plugs, fuses, and chain links.
- Puncture Repair Kit: For tubeless tires or spare tubes.
- Extra Fuel: Fuel cans, as fuel stations are sparse in Spiti.
- Bike Documents: RC, insurance, pollution certificate, and driving license.
3. Luggage and Storage
- Saddlebags/Panniers: Waterproof saddlebags for all your belongings.
- Tank Bag: For items you need to access quickly.
- Bungee Cords/Straps: To secure your luggage firmly on the bike.
4. Clothing and Accessories
- Thermal Wear: Essential for cold nights and high-altitude passes.
- Rain Gear: Waterproof jacket and pants.
- Buff/Scarf: To protect against dust and cold winds.
- Sunglasses: UV-protected to shield your eyes from the sun and dust.
- Quick-dry Clothing: Lightweight and easy to pack.
5. Navigation and Communication
- GPS Device/Smartphone: For navigation; ensure offline maps are downloaded.
- Power Bank: For charging your electronic devices.
- Communication Device: Bluetooth intercom or walkie-talkie for group communication.
6. Camping Gear (if planning to camp)
- Tent: Lightweight and easy to set up.
- Sleeping Bag: Rated for low temperatures.
- Camping Stove and Utensils: For cooking meals.
- Water Purification Tablets: To ensure safe drinking water.
7. Health and Safety
- First Aid Kit: With medicines for common ailments, bandages, antiseptics, and pain relievers.
- Personal Identification: Copies of ID proofs and emergency contact information.
- Sunblock and Lip Balm: High SPF to protect against sunburn.
- Altitude Sickness Medication: Diamox or other prescribed medications.
8. Miscellaneous
- Cash: ATMs are scarce in remote areas.
- Camera: To capture the breathtaking landscapes.
- Trash Bags: To carry your waste until you can dispose of it properly.
2024.05.20 19:30 Spooker0 Grass Eaters 54 Alone
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“The marvels of modern medical technology,” Ditvish remarked dryly. “What is the status of the fleet?”
“We have retrieved all the troops that we can from the planet, Ten Whiskers, and the remaining on the ground have been given instructions to fend for themselves until we can return in force again. We are ready to proceed to return to Gruccud whenever you give the word.”
Ditvish nodded. “Once we get back to Gruccud, we will gather as much supplies as we can find, and escort them back here.”
“Is that… wise, Ten Whiskers?” Skvanu asked. “There are so many indefensible systems between the two. We would have to find another orbital support fleet and conscript… dozens of ground divisions to replace what we have lost on Datsot just in the past few months.”
“Those are our orders, Skvanu. Moving as a whole fleet is… unconventional for us, but it is now a necessity given the clear information advantage the enemy has over us. The Lesser Predators’ Sixth Fleet is still out there,” Ditvish said darkly.
“Yes, we are taking precautions, but we think that even now, they do not have the numbers to challenge our entire fleet,” Skvanu replied. “I have been studying our recent failures. So far, they have relied on clever tricks to surprise us, and we have been so used to their incompetence that we fall for them. I do not believe their twelve squadrons of ships, even with the upgrades, can defeat us in large fleet battles yet.”
Ditvish nodded. He said nothing for a while. Then he asked, “Did we ever find your ships? The few that jumped in after the Oengro?”
“Unfortunately not, Ten Whiskers, I believe them to be dead. I take full responsibility for failing to pull—”
“I think we both know that to be an unnecessary ritual here, Skvanu. Besides, there will be plenty for us to take responsibility for when we get back to Gruccud.”
“I don’t suppose we can talk our way out of this one, Ten Whiskers?”
“Oh, don’t worry. It will probably just be formal reprimands. They won’t have our heads. State Security knows exactly who and what we are. Regardless of whether they order us to come back for Datsot, they still need us for the Lesser Predator home world,” Ditvish said, coughing. “After that, we will be heroes and our bloodlines will be honored… or we will end up in a shallow ditch on the very planet we conquer after a very brief trial hearing.”
Skvanu absorbed the information, thinking for a long time. He asked in a low voice, “Do you think what we have is the best… way to go about it?”
“You know, the last Znosian I know who asked that question too loudly, it didn’t end well for her.” Ditvish chuckled, knowing exactly what he meant despite the ambiguity. More seriously, he replied, “I don’t see a better way. Just look at the Lesser Predators, the chaotic bunch of them, look what good all their… strange ways have gotten them. The Federation and their… what do they call it? Snout counting to elect their leaders? Absurd!”
“It’s not over for them yet.”
Ditvish sighed. “No, I guess it is not.”
TRO operatives like Kara and John fit right into the crowd. Sitting in the corner of the room during lunch in the mess in their casual dress, they looked just like any two other civilian scientists here to get answers about Znosian social hierarchy or to evaluate their ability to do puzzles like rats in a maze.
Kara asked between sips of her fourth coffee of the day, “You think they will buy it yet? It’s all very circumstantial.”
“I don’t know,” John shrugged. “From what we know from our own history, security apparatuses in these kinds of societies can get paranoid. And from what I know from our own history, paranoid people do stupid things. I certainly think it’s a better idea now than when you first pitched it to me.”
“What changed your mind?” Kara asked curiously.
“Nothing changed my mind. Circumstances changed. Their recent losses have them shook. And the chaotic changes opened up opportunities. For example, that synthetic transmission gambit Mark routed to them wouldn’t have worked if Ditvish was still commanding from their battleship flagship. His original communications officer would have reported it,” John explained.
“Wouldn’t have mattered, I think,” Kara speculated. “Even if the Big Bun got wind of it and got suspicious, there’s not much he could have done. Maybe gotten to the planted supply ships first, but what was he going to do? Go ‘oh gee sorry, we actually found those ships we swear we lost but then they exploded when we got close’. Imagine how suspect that would have looked.”
“If he figured it out, he could have destroyed them himself,” John said.
Kara grinned. “You know what they say? It’s never about the crime; it’s about the coverup. The more he tried to cover up the mistakes, the more suspicion we’d be able to pin on him.”
John sniffed. “Maybe, but like I said, paranoid people do irrational things, and it was the losses that made them paranoid.”
“Hey, I’m not impinging on the honor of our Blood Drinker friends,” Kara said, raising her hands. “They’ve done great work… for being simple-minded Lesser Predators.”
John snorted. “You know, they call us paranoid too. Our whole species, not just our little book club.”
Kara smiled innocently. “I have no idea what they are talking about. We’re so open and transparent and we share everything we do with them.”
The operatives gathered around the computer to listen to the decrypted call intercepted by the listening ship in Gruccud. No one spoke for a minute.
Kara broke the silence. “Oof, that’s basically excommunication, isn’t it?”
“No,” Hersh corrected, “Worse. The standing order is more like arrest, torture, excommunication, and then execution.”
“That seems a little redundant. What’s the point of the excommunication then?”
“It’s religious. You wouldn’t get it,” Hersh replied dismissively.
“Hmmm… no I probably wouldn’t. Do you think he’ll come quietly when they call?” Kara asked.
Hersh shook his head. “Not like he has another choice. Lives forfeited to the Prophecy and all.”
“Do you think they’ll see through the ruse?”
“Maybe. After a while.”
Mark thought for a moment. “We don’t have to wait and see, do we? Let’s see if we can do something about it. Get me Admiral Waters. Actually, get me the Senator too. We’re going to need a bigger task force for this golden opportunity.”
“Of all the wrong lessons the Buns learned in the last month,” Admiral Amelia Waters commented, “This one right here might be my favorite.”
Captain Chuck Harris frowned. “Where are they sending that single ship?”
“If I’m not wrong,” Amelia said. “And I rarely am, they are sending a scout through to their destination first. To make sure Sixth Fleet isn’t waiting for them at the other end. Or I don’t know, maybe a black hole from our black hole generator weapon.”
“We have a black hole generator weapon?” Carla asked from behind her.
“That’s way above your paygrade, Commander Bauernschmidt,” Amelia winked. Then, looking at the massive enemy armada in front of her on the sensors, she sighed and added, “I wish we had a black hole generator now.”
“So… they are telegraphing the exact vector where their fleet is blinking to next,” Chuck summarized, the realization of the implication hitting him.
“Yup. Convenient, isn’t it? Makes it so we don’t even need our stealth drones. Setting us up perfectly for what I am from now on calling the Sphinx Gambit,” Amelia said smugly.
“But he didn’t invent it and I wanted to name—” Lee called out from her station.
“Well, XO, get yourself a few stars on your collar and you can name your own Bunny killing scheme.”
“You’re pulling rank for this?!”
“Yup, and it’s a perfectly good name… Anyway, playtime’s over. Get that blink vector and move us into their way. Oh… say, a couple light years into it. Make sure it’s a long drive either way. You know what they say… if you’re trying to kidnap someone, you don’t do it in the middle of downtown Olympus; you wait for them to drive somewhere nice and remote where no one will come looking for them for a long, long time.”
“Who says that? Nobody says that. Remind me never to go on a road trip with you alone, Amelia.”
“Just blink.”
“Good. Can’t be too careful with these Sixth Fleet Lesser Predators,” Ditvish nodded. “And— and whatever else.”
After a few hours, Skvanu reported that the system is clear of enemies… as far as they could tell.
He asked, “Where do you think they are going to go next?”
Ditvish thought for a moment, and replied, “The combat computer thinks they will dance back into Datsot and retake it.”
“What do you think?”
Ditvish smiled, proud that his subordinate now instinctively knew the difference. “Not sure. Datsot is a logical choice. Other than that, maybe a surprise attack from Stoers Shipyard into our main force garrisoned near the main front before we adapt to their new weapons and tactics.”
“In any case, nothing we should worry about?”
Ditvish nodded. “Hopefully not, though I did quietly file an analysis about that with Znos to make myself look good in case that happens.”
“That’s genius, Ten Whiskers.”
“Flattery doesn’t work on me, Skvanu. Is the fleet ready to go? Good. All ships, execute blink.”
A deafening noise that resembled a magnified crunch of a shuttle crash echoed throughout the battlecruiser’s hull. Sparks flew from electronic consoles. Dozens of klaxons activated simultaneously. And the bridge crew was inundated with hundreds of errors and alarms. Which only indicated that something was wrong, but its instruments were unsure what it was.
Ditvish sat up in his chair as he regained his bearings. “What is going on? I thought we were not scheduled to exit blink for another hour.”
Skvanu skimmed through the notifications on his console. “We are not where we are supposed to be, Ten Whiskers. Our propulsion and navigation sections are reporting numerous anomalies… and the same problems are repeating across the fleet. All squadrons are reporting in, scattered around us but still in formation.”
Ditvish looked at the computer officer, expecting her report.
She looked up. “Using the starfield outside, combat computer calculates we are exactly 2.3 light years from both our source and our destination. It speculates that our blink drive has been sabotaged by enemies.”
“Sabotaged?”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers. That is the most likely option it presents at this moment.”
“Did it elucidate a mechanism for how someone sabotaged every ship in my fleet?” Ditvish asked, his voice deathly calm.
“Yes, one of the recent software updates being tampered with is the hypothesis it favors at the moment.”
Ditvish shook his head. “Try again. Learning from a malfunction like that with another fleet two years ago, I ordered Squadron 14 not to apply the recent updates, and they’re right outside with us.”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers. I take responsibility for not checking the response appropriately,” the computer officer replied, her whiskers twitching in embarrassment. “All other possibilities were rejected by the computer for being too unlikely.”
“Tell it to keep watching and come back when it comes up with an actual theory. Skvanu, any updates from propulsion?”
“Ten Whiskers, propulsion is reporting— ahem, propulsion is reporting that we are out of blink fuel.”
“Out of blink fuel?” Ditvish asked incredulously. “How do we run out of blink fuel in the middle of a blink? Is that even possible?”
Skvanu deflected, his knowledge of the blink drive rudimentary at best, “That’s a good question, Ten Whiskers. The five whiskers in charge of 2228 ’s propulsion is on the line now.”
Ditvish looked straight into his console. “Five Whiskers, what just happened to my ships?!”
The panting officer with tussled head fur appeared on the screen. “Ten Whiskers, I take full responsibility for this failure in my department. We are still diagnosing the issue, but it seems that over the course of about 11.5 seconds, all the fuel in our blink drive was drained. We dropped out of blink because we ran out of fuel, which is a safety measure designed into the blink engine. Again, I take full—”
Ditvish interrupted his groveling. “Drained? To where? Where did our blink fuel go? Did we spring a leak?”
“That’s just impossible—” the officer replied instantly, before he remembered protocol. “That is… an extremely unlikely scenario, Ten Whiskers. There are very few conventional hydraulic pipes in the blink engine. If we did spring a leak, we would have all rejoined the Prophecy by now. However, we will check all possibilities… including that one. I apologize, Ten Whiskers, for our lack of knowledge and incompetence—”
Ditvish cut the intercom connection. The bridge crew was suddenly very quiet.
He looked around. “As you have heard, we are out of blink fuel. Any suggestions?”
The computer officer reported, “Combat computer recommends we call Gruccud for help with refueling our ships.”
“Ah,” Ditvish said. “That might be a problematic, considering our recent supply line issues… but it looks like we don’t have a choice. Communications officer, get in contact with Gruccud and start looking for a good solution with them. We are sitting prey, more vulnerable the longer we are here.”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers.”
“And we must make contingencies,” Ditvish said. “If we can’t get refueling ships out here, what are we doing?”
Seeing no one else speak up, Skvanu hazarded a guess. “If we transfer all the regular engine fuel in the fleet to the largest ships and put non-essential crew members in the deep hibernation pods, we might be able to get a few ships to the nearest system with a refueling source near us. It will take…” He did some numbers in his head. “A little over six months on our non-blink engines. We’ll reach FTL fast enough and the effects of relativity shouldn’t be too severe in our casualty bubbles. And that’s with aerobraking at the other end… There are stories of ships surviving without resupply for years—”
Ditvish shook his head. “We won’t last a week. We have combat ships, not long-range explorers. Half the fleet will be dead from lack of maintenance or supplies before we are even prepared for such a journey… Anyone else? No? Looks like our only real choice is relying on the fleet at Gruccud to come refuel us. Communications officer, see if they can cobble together as many combat ships as they can and have it escort some fuel to us.”
The communication officer bowed her head. “Ten Whiskers, I am trying, but they have not been responding to my requests. I take full responsibility for my inability to get into contact—”
Ditvish stood up, alarm rising in his chest. “Allow me a guess. None of the other sectors are responding, and none of the other ships in the fleet can get in touch with anyone else either.”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers.”
“I see. In that case, we have a much bigger problem than blink fuel,” he said, projecting a calmness he did not personally feel. “Fleet-wide, warm up the weapons and prepare for combat. Boost all sensors to maximum sensitivity. The enemy is near us. Find them.”
Amelia nodded, “Good. Let’s give them another few hours. Unless they start spreading out and getting out of our jamming range to call out, the longer we wait—”
“—the lower their combat readiness?”
“Yup. They can’t be at red alert forever. We know where they are, and they don’t know where we are. We hold all the cards, so we get to dictate the terms of this engagement.”
The admiral looked towards the main external camera viewscreen. There was nothing on it but distant stars. Having to stay at the edge of the enemy’s effective detection range, the Znosian ships were too far away to see with the naked eye. And if she could visually spot any of the squadron of stealthy next generation missile destroyers assigned to her task force in the dark, then someone was not doing their job—
“Anything I should tell the other captains?” Carla asked, tracking her gaze.
“Nothing new. Regular shifts and break out the good stuff for dinner. Our spacers will be well-rested and well-prepared when we engage. And remind the Python-class captains to monitor those new heat sinks of theirs. If anything goes wrong, I want them to blink away and explain it to me later. Frankly, we might be facing down the armada, but I’m not too worried about us.”
“You’re thinking of the Puppers in the other task force?” Carla asked, concerned for them herself.
“Who else?”
“They just reported in they’re ready to go over there. We’ll be getting updates from the Amazon,” Carla assured her.
Amelia nodded reluctantly. “I know. I just can’t get images of what happened the last time they tried this out of my head. Remember that battle I told you about where they blamed the one—”
“They’re a different fleet now. Besides, we’ll finally get to try out some of our new equipment.”
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Chapter 55: Clear Path
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ZNS 2228
“You seem to be recovering rapidly,” Skvanu said happily to Ditvish, who sat up on the medical bed with some effort.“The marvels of modern medical technology,” Ditvish remarked dryly. “What is the status of the fleet?”
“We have retrieved all the troops that we can from the planet, Ten Whiskers, and the remaining on the ground have been given instructions to fend for themselves until we can return in force again. We are ready to proceed to return to Gruccud whenever you give the word.”
Ditvish nodded. “Once we get back to Gruccud, we will gather as much supplies as we can find, and escort them back here.”
“Is that… wise, Ten Whiskers?” Skvanu asked. “There are so many indefensible systems between the two. We would have to find another orbital support fleet and conscript… dozens of ground divisions to replace what we have lost on Datsot just in the past few months.”
“Those are our orders, Skvanu. Moving as a whole fleet is… unconventional for us, but it is now a necessity given the clear information advantage the enemy has over us. The Lesser Predators’ Sixth Fleet is still out there,” Ditvish said darkly.
“Yes, we are taking precautions, but we think that even now, they do not have the numbers to challenge our entire fleet,” Skvanu replied. “I have been studying our recent failures. So far, they have relied on clever tricks to surprise us, and we have been so used to their incompetence that we fall for them. I do not believe their twelve squadrons of ships, even with the upgrades, can defeat us in large fleet battles yet.”
Ditvish nodded. He said nothing for a while. Then he asked, “Did we ever find your ships? The few that jumped in after the Oengro?”
“Unfortunately not, Ten Whiskers, I believe them to be dead. I take full responsibility for failing to pull—”
“I think we both know that to be an unnecessary ritual here, Skvanu. Besides, there will be plenty for us to take responsibility for when we get back to Gruccud.”
“I don’t suppose we can talk our way out of this one, Ten Whiskers?”
“Oh, don’t worry. It will probably just be formal reprimands. They won’t have our heads. State Security knows exactly who and what we are. Regardless of whether they order us to come back for Datsot, they still need us for the Lesser Predator home world,” Ditvish said, coughing. “After that, we will be heroes and our bloodlines will be honored… or we will end up in a shallow ditch on the very planet we conquer after a very brief trial hearing.”
Skvanu absorbed the information, thinking for a long time. He asked in a low voice, “Do you think what we have is the best… way to go about it?”
“You know, the last Znosian I know who asked that question too loudly, it didn’t end well for her.” Ditvish chuckled, knowing exactly what he meant despite the ambiguity. More seriously, he replied, “I don’t see a better way. Just look at the Lesser Predators, the chaotic bunch of them, look what good all their… strange ways have gotten them. The Federation and their… what do they call it? Snout counting to elect their leaders? Absurd!”
“It’s not over for them yet.”
Ditvish sighed. “No, I guess it is not.”
Black Site Deimos
The TRO’s black site had never been this busy. Hundreds of scientists and military officers had moved into the base to study and interrogate their new alien prisoners.TRO operatives like Kara and John fit right into the crowd. Sitting in the corner of the room during lunch in the mess in their casual dress, they looked just like any two other civilian scientists here to get answers about Znosian social hierarchy or to evaluate their ability to do puzzles like rats in a maze.
Kara asked between sips of her fourth coffee of the day, “You think they will buy it yet? It’s all very circumstantial.”
“I don’t know,” John shrugged. “From what we know from our own history, security apparatuses in these kinds of societies can get paranoid. And from what I know from our own history, paranoid people do stupid things. I certainly think it’s a better idea now than when you first pitched it to me.”
“What changed your mind?” Kara asked curiously.
“Nothing changed my mind. Circumstances changed. Their recent losses have them shook. And the chaotic changes opened up opportunities. For example, that synthetic transmission gambit Mark routed to them wouldn’t have worked if Ditvish was still commanding from their battleship flagship. His original communications officer would have reported it,” John explained.
“Wouldn’t have mattered, I think,” Kara speculated. “Even if the Big Bun got wind of it and got suspicious, there’s not much he could have done. Maybe gotten to the planted supply ships first, but what was he going to do? Go ‘oh gee sorry, we actually found those ships we swear we lost but then they exploded when we got close’. Imagine how suspect that would have looked.”
“If he figured it out, he could have destroyed them himself,” John said.
Kara grinned. “You know what they say? It’s never about the crime; it’s about the coverup. The more he tried to cover up the mistakes, the more suspicion we’d be able to pin on him.”
John sniffed. “Maybe, but like I said, paranoid people do irrational things, and it was the losses that made them paranoid.”
“Hey, I’m not impinging on the honor of our Blood Drinker friends,” Kara said, raising her hands. “They’ve done great work… for being simple-minded Lesser Predators.”
John snorted. “You know, they call us paranoid too. Our whole species, not just our little book club.”
Kara smiled innocently. “I have no idea what they are talking about. We’re so open and transparent and we share everything we do with them.”
Kara broke the silence. “Oof, that’s basically excommunication, isn’t it?”
“No,” Hersh corrected, “Worse. The standing order is more like arrest, torture, excommunication, and then execution.”
“That seems a little redundant. What’s the point of the excommunication then?”
“It’s religious. You wouldn’t get it,” Hersh replied dismissively.
“Hmmm… no I probably wouldn’t. Do you think he’ll come quietly when they call?” Kara asked.
Hersh shook his head. “Not like he has another choice. Lives forfeited to the Prophecy and all.”
“Do you think they’ll see through the ruse?”
“Maybe. After a while.”
Mark thought for a moment. “We don’t have to wait and see, do we? Let’s see if we can do something about it. Get me Admiral Waters. Actually, get me the Senator too. We’re going to need a bigger task force for this golden opportunity.”
TRNS Mississippi
The bridge crew watched as a single Znosian ship blinked out from their sensors.“Of all the wrong lessons the Buns learned in the last month,” Admiral Amelia Waters commented, “This one right here might be my favorite.”
Captain Chuck Harris frowned. “Where are they sending that single ship?”
“If I’m not wrong,” Amelia said. “And I rarely am, they are sending a scout through to their destination first. To make sure Sixth Fleet isn’t waiting for them at the other end. Or I don’t know, maybe a black hole from our black hole generator weapon.”
“We have a black hole generator weapon?” Carla asked from behind her.
“That’s way above your paygrade, Commander Bauernschmidt,” Amelia winked. Then, looking at the massive enemy armada in front of her on the sensors, she sighed and added, “I wish we had a black hole generator now.”
“So… they are telegraphing the exact vector where their fleet is blinking to next,” Chuck summarized, the realization of the implication hitting him.
“Yup. Convenient, isn’t it? Makes it so we don’t even need our stealth drones. Setting us up perfectly for what I am from now on calling the Sphinx Gambit,” Amelia said smugly.
“But he didn’t invent it and I wanted to name—” Lee called out from her station.
“Well, XO, get yourself a few stars on your collar and you can name your own Bunny killing scheme.”
“You’re pulling rank for this?!”
“Yup, and it’s a perfectly good name… Anyway, playtime’s over. Get that blink vector and move us into their way. Oh… say, a couple light years into it. Make sure it’s a long drive either way. You know what they say… if you’re trying to kidnap someone, you don’t do it in the middle of downtown Olympus; you wait for them to drive somewhere nice and remote where no one will come looking for them for a long, long time.”
“Who says that? Nobody says that. Remind me never to go on a road trip with you alone, Amelia.”
“Just blink.”
ZNS 2228
“The scout ship arrived in Preirsput, Ten Whiskers. Everything is normal. They’re scouting the system with drones to ensure that it’s fully empty,” Skvanu reported.“Good. Can’t be too careful with these Sixth Fleet Lesser Predators,” Ditvish nodded. “And— and whatever else.”
After a few hours, Skvanu reported that the system is clear of enemies… as far as they could tell.
He asked, “Where do you think they are going to go next?”
Ditvish thought for a moment, and replied, “The combat computer thinks they will dance back into Datsot and retake it.”
“What do you think?”
Ditvish smiled, proud that his subordinate now instinctively knew the difference. “Not sure. Datsot is a logical choice. Other than that, maybe a surprise attack from Stoers Shipyard into our main force garrisoned near the main front before we adapt to their new weapons and tactics.”
“In any case, nothing we should worry about?”
Ditvish nodded. “Hopefully not, though I did quietly file an analysis about that with Znos to make myself look good in case that happens.”
“That’s genius, Ten Whiskers.”
“Flattery doesn’t work on me, Skvanu. Is the fleet ready to go? Good. All ships, execute blink.”
Ditvish sat up in his chair as he regained his bearings. “What is going on? I thought we were not scheduled to exit blink for another hour.”
Skvanu skimmed through the notifications on his console. “We are not where we are supposed to be, Ten Whiskers. Our propulsion and navigation sections are reporting numerous anomalies… and the same problems are repeating across the fleet. All squadrons are reporting in, scattered around us but still in formation.”
Ditvish looked at the computer officer, expecting her report.
She looked up. “Using the starfield outside, combat computer calculates we are exactly 2.3 light years from both our source and our destination. It speculates that our blink drive has been sabotaged by enemies.”
“Sabotaged?”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers. That is the most likely option it presents at this moment.”
“Did it elucidate a mechanism for how someone sabotaged every ship in my fleet?” Ditvish asked, his voice deathly calm.
“Yes, one of the recent software updates being tampered with is the hypothesis it favors at the moment.”
Ditvish shook his head. “Try again. Learning from a malfunction like that with another fleet two years ago, I ordered Squadron 14 not to apply the recent updates, and they’re right outside with us.”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers. I take responsibility for not checking the response appropriately,” the computer officer replied, her whiskers twitching in embarrassment. “All other possibilities were rejected by the computer for being too unlikely.”
“Tell it to keep watching and come back when it comes up with an actual theory. Skvanu, any updates from propulsion?”
“Ten Whiskers, propulsion is reporting— ahem, propulsion is reporting that we are out of blink fuel.”
“Out of blink fuel?” Ditvish asked incredulously. “How do we run out of blink fuel in the middle of a blink? Is that even possible?”
Skvanu deflected, his knowledge of the blink drive rudimentary at best, “That’s a good question, Ten Whiskers. The five whiskers in charge of 2228 ’s propulsion is on the line now.”
Ditvish looked straight into his console. “Five Whiskers, what just happened to my ships?!”
The panting officer with tussled head fur appeared on the screen. “Ten Whiskers, I take full responsibility for this failure in my department. We are still diagnosing the issue, but it seems that over the course of about 11.5 seconds, all the fuel in our blink drive was drained. We dropped out of blink because we ran out of fuel, which is a safety measure designed into the blink engine. Again, I take full—”
Ditvish interrupted his groveling. “Drained? To where? Where did our blink fuel go? Did we spring a leak?”
“That’s just impossible—” the officer replied instantly, before he remembered protocol. “That is… an extremely unlikely scenario, Ten Whiskers. There are very few conventional hydraulic pipes in the blink engine. If we did spring a leak, we would have all rejoined the Prophecy by now. However, we will check all possibilities… including that one. I apologize, Ten Whiskers, for our lack of knowledge and incompetence—”
Ditvish cut the intercom connection. The bridge crew was suddenly very quiet.
He looked around. “As you have heard, we are out of blink fuel. Any suggestions?”
The computer officer reported, “Combat computer recommends we call Gruccud for help with refueling our ships.”
“Ah,” Ditvish said. “That might be a problematic, considering our recent supply line issues… but it looks like we don’t have a choice. Communications officer, get in contact with Gruccud and start looking for a good solution with them. We are sitting prey, more vulnerable the longer we are here.”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers.”
“And we must make contingencies,” Ditvish said. “If we can’t get refueling ships out here, what are we doing?”
Seeing no one else speak up, Skvanu hazarded a guess. “If we transfer all the regular engine fuel in the fleet to the largest ships and put non-essential crew members in the deep hibernation pods, we might be able to get a few ships to the nearest system with a refueling source near us. It will take…” He did some numbers in his head. “A little over six months on our non-blink engines. We’ll reach FTL fast enough and the effects of relativity shouldn’t be too severe in our casualty bubbles. And that’s with aerobraking at the other end… There are stories of ships surviving without resupply for years—”
Ditvish shook his head. “We won’t last a week. We have combat ships, not long-range explorers. Half the fleet will be dead from lack of maintenance or supplies before we are even prepared for such a journey… Anyone else? No? Looks like our only real choice is relying on the fleet at Gruccud to come refuel us. Communications officer, see if they can cobble together as many combat ships as they can and have it escort some fuel to us.”
The communication officer bowed her head. “Ten Whiskers, I am trying, but they have not been responding to my requests. I take full responsibility for my inability to get into contact—”
Ditvish stood up, alarm rising in his chest. “Allow me a guess. None of the other sectors are responding, and none of the other ships in the fleet can get in touch with anyone else either.”
“Yes, Ten Whiskers.”
“I see. In that case, we have a much bigger problem than blink fuel,” he said, projecting a calmness he did not personally feel. “Fleet-wide, warm up the weapons and prepare for combat. Boost all sensors to maximum sensitivity. The enemy is near us. Find them.”
TRNS Mississippi
“The Buns are sweating,” Carla reported. “Or panting, really. There was just another intercepted local transmission. Their propulsion sections are under increasing pressure to find the answer. Rumor from the transmission is that a few of their captains have exercised field discipline on their equivalent of the head engineers. No executions yet, but we can only hope.”Amelia nodded, “Good. Let’s give them another few hours. Unless they start spreading out and getting out of our jamming range to call out, the longer we wait—”
“—the lower their combat readiness?”
“Yup. They can’t be at red alert forever. We know where they are, and they don’t know where we are. We hold all the cards, so we get to dictate the terms of this engagement.”
The admiral looked towards the main external camera viewscreen. There was nothing on it but distant stars. Having to stay at the edge of the enemy’s effective detection range, the Znosian ships were too far away to see with the naked eye. And if she could visually spot any of the squadron of stealthy next generation missile destroyers assigned to her task force in the dark, then someone was not doing their job—
“Anything I should tell the other captains?” Carla asked, tracking her gaze.
“Nothing new. Regular shifts and break out the good stuff for dinner. Our spacers will be well-rested and well-prepared when we engage. And remind the Python-class captains to monitor those new heat sinks of theirs. If anything goes wrong, I want them to blink away and explain it to me later. Frankly, we might be facing down the armada, but I’m not too worried about us.”
“You’re thinking of the Puppers in the other task force?” Carla asked, concerned for them herself.
“Who else?”
“They just reported in they’re ready to go over there. We’ll be getting updates from the Amazon,” Carla assured her.
Amelia nodded reluctantly. “I know. I just can’t get images of what happened the last time they tried this out of my head. Remember that battle I told you about where they blamed the one—”
“They’re a different fleet now. Besides, we’ll finally get to try out some of our new equipment.”
Chapter 55: Clear Path
2024.05.20 09:14 modzer0 Ever take a dogman to the vet?
I should not be writing this. I know they will be looking for me as soon as this goes live. I had to get the word out despite all the secrecy surrounding the project. I don't know what they'll do to me when they find me, but this has to get out.
I was unemployed vet tech looking for work when I came across a job listing offering a strangely large amount of money. What did I have to loose? I called the number and they gave me a website to go to that took me through an application process and a security clearance form that I had to fill out the last seven years of my life. They said it would be months until the clearance would come through but to my surprise a month later I got a phone call telling me I had been granted Interm Secret clearance and the job would proceed.
I had to go to a building without any name on it downtown and they took my photo for an ID card and a packet of information about where I was to go to the next day.
The next morning I drove to the address with a mix of excitement and apprehension. What about this job required a security clearance? Why had I gotten my interm secret so quickly? I figured I'd soon find out when I pulled up to a gate with a card reader. I swiped my ID and the razor wire topped gate slid open so I could pass. Yeah nothing ominous about that. I drove a mile or so down the road and parked in the parking lot in front of a building that looked like the set of a prison movie. The windows were narrow slits and I could tell from a distance that the door was very heavy duty. Thinking back a few minutes ago wasn't the top of that razor wire fence angled in as if to keep something in rather than people out?
I got out and approached the heavy door. I spotted the card reader and used my ID on it and it flashed green and there was a loud clunking sound from the door as it unlocked. I had to put some muscle behind it to get it to open and then it shut behind me followed by another loud clunk as the locks reengaged.
I turned to see a thick armored window with a guard staring me down.
"First day huh?" he asked me as he looked at his screen.
"Yeah," I said a bit nervously.
"Sit tight, your department head will be coming to pick you up and take you to your in-brief," he said.
"What uh, what is this place?" I asked.
"All that will be answered by the briefing so have a seat and relax. You're likely in the safest spot in the facility," he said.
I looked at the inner door and noticed it was just as thick and heavy as the outer one. I was essentially sitting in an armored booth so he was technically right about it being safe.
When my boss arrived he was wearing scrubs and had his ID card clipped to the bottom of the V of the top.
"So, you're my new tech?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir," I replied.
"Good, hopefully you follow instructions better than the last one," he said. "I'm Dr. Tanner. You can call me 'Sir' or 'Doctor'."
"Sir, can you tell me what I'll be doing here?" I asked.
"All in due time. First you need to complete the safety briefing. It is not a joke. Take a look at the windows and doors if you need convincing. The government doesn't spend this kind of money unless it's very necessary, and it is. You'll understand the need for it when I introduce you to our charges. I'm not going to tell you yet because I enjoy the look on people's faces when they get their first peak of what we're doing here," he said. "Now, for the safety briefing. Follow me."
He began to open the inner door when he stopped and looked back at me. "Do you have any electronic devices on you?"
"No Sir, the security documents instructed me to leave my phone and anything with a digital memory in the car," I said.
"Excellent, you're already demonstrating that you can follow directions," he said. Was that a hint of a smile I saw?
He lead me down the hallway to a room on the left and used his card to unlock and open the door. After I walked inside what appeared to be a conference room he followed me inside and let the door shut.
I immediately noticed the back of the door wasn't the usual thing one would expect to see. It had a big lever in the middle that looked like it operated bolts to secure the door shut. I started to wonder what the hell I had gotten myself into. I expected to be working with maybe the facility's guard dogs. This kind of security was on a level I hadn't experienced before.
"Good, you're observant, another plus," the doctor said.
He walked over to the table and picked up a recorder and pressed play. A trilling alarm sound came for it and he let it play for a few seconds before cutting it off.
"If you hear that sound along with flashing red lights you are to go to the nearest safe room, such as this one and use this lever to bolt the door," He walked over and pressed a button by the windows and the thick glass became opaque.
"And you are to opaque the windows with the control in the room so nothing can see in," he said and then pointed to a door on the other wall that had 'Emergency Supplies' written on it. "There you will find food, water, and other necessities if you happen to be locked down for an extended period of time. There is also a radio already set to the control room frequency. If the phone is not working pull the tab on the back of the radio so the battery makes contact and reports in with the information posted on the back of the door. That's basically who you are, where you are, and if there are any threats you know of near you. Otherwise sit tight unless told otherwise."
"Threats?" I asked.
"Our charges are out of containment or an external threat," the doctor replied.
"What's so dangerous that we need bunker rooms like this?" I asked.
"All in due time," he replied. "Have you ever used a tranquilizer gun?"
"No," I responded.
"No matter, you'd need to qualify on the two types we use anyway with the security team," he said.
"Why do we need tranquilizer guns?" I asked.
"The animals we work with are dangerous. They're sedated before they get to us and one of our tasks is to make sure they stay sedated until they're returned to the enclosure. If one wakes up and slips a restraint you are not going to want to go near it to give an injection. That's why we have tranq guns," The doctor said.
"That makes perfect sense to me," I said. My curiosity was burning wondering what we were working with. Had to be something like large predators to require this much security. A grizzly would be a plausible reason why the doors had the extra bars. The force they could produce could snap the usual latches.
"Good because it's time for my favorite part. Showing the new guy what we work with," the doctor said and led the way deeper into the facility and up a set of stars to a room labeled 'observation deck'.
"The windows are to remain frosted by the electronic controls there whenever the room is not in use. They cannot see in but they seem to know someone is watching them and it upsets them. It's best for everyone if they are not upset," He reached over and pressed the button and the electronic frosting cleared.
That's the moment where my brain completely derailed and I questioned my own sanity.
"W-Werewolves?" I asked.
"No, at least not at this facility. These are a lesser known cryptid called Dogmen, kind of like Bigfoot."
"Wait, is Bigfoot real?" I asked.
"Yes, but not nearly as widespread as 'sightings' would make you think," he said.
"If these exist, what else is real?" I asked him.
"That's beyond your need to know," he said sternly, but then his face softened. "I'll lend you a book later that contains everything we've confirmed and studied. After all, if you continue with this job you will have the opportunity to work with them in the future, and it's best you know what you're getting into," he said. "One benefit they probably haven't gotten around to telling you yet is that they will pay for your education. You can become a full veterinarian working with the most interesting creatures that exist," he said. "Not a bad gig, huh?"
"Except for the part where I'm working with large dangerous creatures," I said.
"Large, intelligent, dangerous creatures," he replied. "And that is why we have procedures and rules. Things like always having more sedative staged to inject if a patient starts to wake up, having them restrained at all times, and if they do wake up you have the tranq guns to put them back under without risking yourself," he said and tapped the control to frost over the glass again.
Our next stop was back in the conference room where there were now a couple of binders.
"Now for the boring part. Study these because you'll have to pass a test on them later. It's those procedures I mentioned. It covers everything from handling the animals, dosages we use, and why we can't leave after dark."
"Wait, we can't leave after dark?" I asked, a bit alarmed.
"There are dogmen in the woods surrounding this facility. The fence does a decent job of keeping them out but they do get in and they're not happy we have some of their kind captive. They're fairly shy during the day and become active at night so it's for your own safety that once the sun sets you stay here. We have secure rooms just for the occasion, and scrubs are not short in supply if you need a change of clothing. We have a mess hall staffed 24/7 by some excellent cooks. People who can do this job are rare so they take care of us. Now get to reading, you'll have to pass a test before you're allowed to work. I'll come pick you up for lunch."
I did as he said and spent the next few hours reading with a break for the promised lunch that was beef stroganoff and actually really good. I went for seconds. Then it was back to memorizing policy and procedures till I was finally done and managed a passing score on the test. That was followed by some time at an indoor range getting qualified on the tranq guns.
The doctor reviewed my test and nodded. "Excellent, you're a fast learner. We've rescheduled some things for tomorrow so we'll have the extra help. You head home and get a good night's rest. I'll see you in the morning in the veterinary section, just follow the signs it's easy to find," the doctor said.
I did as he said and drove home. I couldn't help but be a good deal more vigilant as I looked at the woods on the way out. Dogmen were out there and no one in the area except us knew. There were the cryptid hunters but they didn't know for sure like I did from seeing a pack close up.
Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. My mind was racing with the possibilities of what was real from all of the stories.
In the morning I made breakfast and sat for a bit having to give myself a reality check that yesterday wasn't just a dream, so I finally picked up my keys and headed out. I drove down the lonely road and passed through the gate without incident. I parked my car and made my way through the security checkpoints and began following the signs to the Veterinarian department. As the doctor had said, it wasn't difficult to find.
There were three entrances all like airlocks that were long enough for a gurney. It didn't take long to figure out the purpose. If you had dangerous animals inside you wanted at least one door containment so they couldn't get past you and into the larger facility.
I went inside through the airlock like doors one at a time and found myself in a very familiar veterinary clinic though one that was very well stocked.
It was then that I met my other coworker, I'll call him Mike, who was sitting on a stool reading a magazine.
"Hey, you must be the new guy. I'm Mike," he said and I introduced myself.
"So, your first big day. You excited, or terrified?" Mike asked.
"A bit of both," I said honestly.
"Relax, by the time they get to us they've been pumped with enough drugs to drop an elephant. We take samples and the guards take them back out. Then we run the usual tests like any other animal. It's easy money," Mike said. "We're never in any danger."
"What about all of the procedures?" I asked.
"There's what's written down on paper and then there's what is practical and works. If we followed the checklist for every dogman that's brought in here it would just take us twice as long, and twice as long that it can wake up," Mike said. "So relax, I'll show you what you really have to do to streamline things."
What was I to say? He'd obviously been doing this for a long time and if his system worked who was I to question it?
Our first patient of the day made me the most nervous. The security team wheeled in a restrained female on a gurney right into the middle of our space then they backed out. Being the new guy I did the basics by checking heart rate, breathing, and looking into the eyes to make sure she was out cold. Everything was normal based on the numbers I had memorized.
Mike watched me, corrected my stethoscope placement a little and started drawing blood as soon as I was done. The moment he was done he buzzed the guards to take her back out while he labeled the samples.
"Less time they're in here the better so label your samples and fill out the papers once they're taken out," Mike said. "No need to have a dangerous animal laying around while we fill out forms."
"What about the extra sedative we're supposed to have ready?" I asked.
"The tranq guns are right there. Much safer to back off out of reach and just shoot them with another dose," Mike said. I couldn't fault his logic.
We had four more patients that day all went as smoothly as the first and I was beginning to relax. It was our last patient of the day when things went wrong.
It started normally with the guards rolling the male into our space and I took vitals and checked the eyes.
"Hey, I have some dilation here. I don't think he's under enough. Where's the sedative?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be done before he realizes what happened," Mike said and undid one of the restraints a little so he could get to the vein. It was at that point things went horribly wrong. As soon as Mike inserted the needle the male woke up and jabbed it's hand upward catching Mike in the throat and spraying blood everywhere. I moved forward out of instinct to try and tighten the restraint when I felt a searing pain across my face and my right eye went red.
I stumbled back. Oh God had I lost my eye? I shook myself out of it long enough to badge through a door and throw the bolts before pressing the intercom button. "Creature out of containment in veterinary. I think Mike is dead. I'm hurt and need a medic!" I said before blacking out.
I don't know how long it was but when I woke up I was in a hospital room and the Veterinarian was sitting beside my bed.
"You're safe, you're in a hospital and just out of cosmetic surgery. You'll have some scars but it'll look like the result of a big cat. Your eye is fine."
"Mike?" I asked.
"Dead before any help would get to him. We have video of the whole thing including you questioning him multiple times on matters of procedure. Don't let someone senior intimidate you into not being safe. You have a month's paid leave to recuperate." he said.
So here I am. I need some advice. Should I go back to work after my leave is done or turn in my resignation? It won't take them much to figure out who I am if they find this post. I also don't know what they'll do to me if they do.
submitted by modzer0 to mrcreeps [link] [comments]
I was unemployed vet tech looking for work when I came across a job listing offering a strangely large amount of money. What did I have to loose? I called the number and they gave me a website to go to that took me through an application process and a security clearance form that I had to fill out the last seven years of my life. They said it would be months until the clearance would come through but to my surprise a month later I got a phone call telling me I had been granted Interm Secret clearance and the job would proceed.
I had to go to a building without any name on it downtown and they took my photo for an ID card and a packet of information about where I was to go to the next day.
The next morning I drove to the address with a mix of excitement and apprehension. What about this job required a security clearance? Why had I gotten my interm secret so quickly? I figured I'd soon find out when I pulled up to a gate with a card reader. I swiped my ID and the razor wire topped gate slid open so I could pass. Yeah nothing ominous about that. I drove a mile or so down the road and parked in the parking lot in front of a building that looked like the set of a prison movie. The windows were narrow slits and I could tell from a distance that the door was very heavy duty. Thinking back a few minutes ago wasn't the top of that razor wire fence angled in as if to keep something in rather than people out?
I got out and approached the heavy door. I spotted the card reader and used my ID on it and it flashed green and there was a loud clunking sound from the door as it unlocked. I had to put some muscle behind it to get it to open and then it shut behind me followed by another loud clunk as the locks reengaged.
I turned to see a thick armored window with a guard staring me down.
"First day huh?" he asked me as he looked at his screen.
"Yeah," I said a bit nervously.
"Sit tight, your department head will be coming to pick you up and take you to your in-brief," he said.
"What uh, what is this place?" I asked.
"All that will be answered by the briefing so have a seat and relax. You're likely in the safest spot in the facility," he said.
I looked at the inner door and noticed it was just as thick and heavy as the outer one. I was essentially sitting in an armored booth so he was technically right about it being safe.
When my boss arrived he was wearing scrubs and had his ID card clipped to the bottom of the V of the top.
"So, you're my new tech?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir," I replied.
"Good, hopefully you follow instructions better than the last one," he said. "I'm Dr. Tanner. You can call me 'Sir' or 'Doctor'."
"Sir, can you tell me what I'll be doing here?" I asked.
"All in due time. First you need to complete the safety briefing. It is not a joke. Take a look at the windows and doors if you need convincing. The government doesn't spend this kind of money unless it's very necessary, and it is. You'll understand the need for it when I introduce you to our charges. I'm not going to tell you yet because I enjoy the look on people's faces when they get their first peak of what we're doing here," he said. "Now, for the safety briefing. Follow me."
He began to open the inner door when he stopped and looked back at me. "Do you have any electronic devices on you?"
"No Sir, the security documents instructed me to leave my phone and anything with a digital memory in the car," I said.
"Excellent, you're already demonstrating that you can follow directions," he said. Was that a hint of a smile I saw?
He lead me down the hallway to a room on the left and used his card to unlock and open the door. After I walked inside what appeared to be a conference room he followed me inside and let the door shut.
I immediately noticed the back of the door wasn't the usual thing one would expect to see. It had a big lever in the middle that looked like it operated bolts to secure the door shut. I started to wonder what the hell I had gotten myself into. I expected to be working with maybe the facility's guard dogs. This kind of security was on a level I hadn't experienced before.
"Good, you're observant, another plus," the doctor said.
He walked over to the table and picked up a recorder and pressed play. A trilling alarm sound came for it and he let it play for a few seconds before cutting it off.
"If you hear that sound along with flashing red lights you are to go to the nearest safe room, such as this one and use this lever to bolt the door," He walked over and pressed a button by the windows and the thick glass became opaque.
"And you are to opaque the windows with the control in the room so nothing can see in," he said and then pointed to a door on the other wall that had 'Emergency Supplies' written on it. "There you will find food, water, and other necessities if you happen to be locked down for an extended period of time. There is also a radio already set to the control room frequency. If the phone is not working pull the tab on the back of the radio so the battery makes contact and reports in with the information posted on the back of the door. That's basically who you are, where you are, and if there are any threats you know of near you. Otherwise sit tight unless told otherwise."
"Threats?" I asked.
"Our charges are out of containment or an external threat," the doctor replied.
"What's so dangerous that we need bunker rooms like this?" I asked.
"All in due time," he replied. "Have you ever used a tranquilizer gun?"
"No," I responded.
"No matter, you'd need to qualify on the two types we use anyway with the security team," he said.
"Why do we need tranquilizer guns?" I asked.
"The animals we work with are dangerous. They're sedated before they get to us and one of our tasks is to make sure they stay sedated until they're returned to the enclosure. If one wakes up and slips a restraint you are not going to want to go near it to give an injection. That's why we have tranq guns," The doctor said.
"That makes perfect sense to me," I said. My curiosity was burning wondering what we were working with. Had to be something like large predators to require this much security. A grizzly would be a plausible reason why the doors had the extra bars. The force they could produce could snap the usual latches.
"Good because it's time for my favorite part. Showing the new guy what we work with," the doctor said and led the way deeper into the facility and up a set of stars to a room labeled 'observation deck'.
"The windows are to remain frosted by the electronic controls there whenever the room is not in use. They cannot see in but they seem to know someone is watching them and it upsets them. It's best for everyone if they are not upset," He reached over and pressed the button and the electronic frosting cleared.
That's the moment where my brain completely derailed and I questioned my own sanity.
"W-Werewolves?" I asked.
"No, at least not at this facility. These are a lesser known cryptid called Dogmen, kind of like Bigfoot."
"Wait, is Bigfoot real?" I asked.
"Yes, but not nearly as widespread as 'sightings' would make you think," he said.
"If these exist, what else is real?" I asked him.
"That's beyond your need to know," he said sternly, but then his face softened. "I'll lend you a book later that contains everything we've confirmed and studied. After all, if you continue with this job you will have the opportunity to work with them in the future, and it's best you know what you're getting into," he said. "One benefit they probably haven't gotten around to telling you yet is that they will pay for your education. You can become a full veterinarian working with the most interesting creatures that exist," he said. "Not a bad gig, huh?"
"Except for the part where I'm working with large dangerous creatures," I said.
"Large, intelligent, dangerous creatures," he replied. "And that is why we have procedures and rules. Things like always having more sedative staged to inject if a patient starts to wake up, having them restrained at all times, and if they do wake up you have the tranq guns to put them back under without risking yourself," he said and tapped the control to frost over the glass again.
Our next stop was back in the conference room where there were now a couple of binders.
"Now for the boring part. Study these because you'll have to pass a test on them later. It's those procedures I mentioned. It covers everything from handling the animals, dosages we use, and why we can't leave after dark."
"Wait, we can't leave after dark?" I asked, a bit alarmed.
"There are dogmen in the woods surrounding this facility. The fence does a decent job of keeping them out but they do get in and they're not happy we have some of their kind captive. They're fairly shy during the day and become active at night so it's for your own safety that once the sun sets you stay here. We have secure rooms just for the occasion, and scrubs are not short in supply if you need a change of clothing. We have a mess hall staffed 24/7 by some excellent cooks. People who can do this job are rare so they take care of us. Now get to reading, you'll have to pass a test before you're allowed to work. I'll come pick you up for lunch."
I did as he said and spent the next few hours reading with a break for the promised lunch that was beef stroganoff and actually really good. I went for seconds. Then it was back to memorizing policy and procedures till I was finally done and managed a passing score on the test. That was followed by some time at an indoor range getting qualified on the tranq guns.
The doctor reviewed my test and nodded. "Excellent, you're a fast learner. We've rescheduled some things for tomorrow so we'll have the extra help. You head home and get a good night's rest. I'll see you in the morning in the veterinary section, just follow the signs it's easy to find," the doctor said.
I did as he said and drove home. I couldn't help but be a good deal more vigilant as I looked at the woods on the way out. Dogmen were out there and no one in the area except us knew. There were the cryptid hunters but they didn't know for sure like I did from seeing a pack close up.
Needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night. My mind was racing with the possibilities of what was real from all of the stories.
In the morning I made breakfast and sat for a bit having to give myself a reality check that yesterday wasn't just a dream, so I finally picked up my keys and headed out. I drove down the lonely road and passed through the gate without incident. I parked my car and made my way through the security checkpoints and began following the signs to the Veterinarian department. As the doctor had said, it wasn't difficult to find.
There were three entrances all like airlocks that were long enough for a gurney. It didn't take long to figure out the purpose. If you had dangerous animals inside you wanted at least one door containment so they couldn't get past you and into the larger facility.
I went inside through the airlock like doors one at a time and found myself in a very familiar veterinary clinic though one that was very well stocked.
It was then that I met my other coworker, I'll call him Mike, who was sitting on a stool reading a magazine.
"Hey, you must be the new guy. I'm Mike," he said and I introduced myself.
"So, your first big day. You excited, or terrified?" Mike asked.
"A bit of both," I said honestly.
"Relax, by the time they get to us they've been pumped with enough drugs to drop an elephant. We take samples and the guards take them back out. Then we run the usual tests like any other animal. It's easy money," Mike said. "We're never in any danger."
"What about all of the procedures?" I asked.
"There's what's written down on paper and then there's what is practical and works. If we followed the checklist for every dogman that's brought in here it would just take us twice as long, and twice as long that it can wake up," Mike said. "So relax, I'll show you what you really have to do to streamline things."
What was I to say? He'd obviously been doing this for a long time and if his system worked who was I to question it?
Our first patient of the day made me the most nervous. The security team wheeled in a restrained female on a gurney right into the middle of our space then they backed out. Being the new guy I did the basics by checking heart rate, breathing, and looking into the eyes to make sure she was out cold. Everything was normal based on the numbers I had memorized.
Mike watched me, corrected my stethoscope placement a little and started drawing blood as soon as I was done. The moment he was done he buzzed the guards to take her back out while he labeled the samples.
"Less time they're in here the better so label your samples and fill out the papers once they're taken out," Mike said. "No need to have a dangerous animal laying around while we fill out forms."
"What about the extra sedative we're supposed to have ready?" I asked.
"The tranq guns are right there. Much safer to back off out of reach and just shoot them with another dose," Mike said. I couldn't fault his logic.
We had four more patients that day all went as smoothly as the first and I was beginning to relax. It was our last patient of the day when things went wrong.
It started normally with the guards rolling the male into our space and I took vitals and checked the eyes.
"Hey, I have some dilation here. I don't think he's under enough. Where's the sedative?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it. I'll be done before he realizes what happened," Mike said and undid one of the restraints a little so he could get to the vein. It was at that point things went horribly wrong. As soon as Mike inserted the needle the male woke up and jabbed it's hand upward catching Mike in the throat and spraying blood everywhere. I moved forward out of instinct to try and tighten the restraint when I felt a searing pain across my face and my right eye went red.
I stumbled back. Oh God had I lost my eye? I shook myself out of it long enough to badge through a door and throw the bolts before pressing the intercom button. "Creature out of containment in veterinary. I think Mike is dead. I'm hurt and need a medic!" I said before blacking out.
I don't know how long it was but when I woke up I was in a hospital room and the Veterinarian was sitting beside my bed.
"You're safe, you're in a hospital and just out of cosmetic surgery. You'll have some scars but it'll look like the result of a big cat. Your eye is fine."
"Mike?" I asked.
"Dead before any help would get to him. We have video of the whole thing including you questioning him multiple times on matters of procedure. Don't let someone senior intimidate you into not being safe. You have a month's paid leave to recuperate." he said.
So here I am. I need some advice. Should I go back to work after my leave is done or turn in my resignation? It won't take them much to figure out who I am if they find this post. I also don't know what they'll do to me if they do.
2024.05.16 18:37 Rebellious_Raviolis Fed up with the public and the extinction of manners
I've worked in public libraries for about 17 years now. People have always been terrible, but post-covid people have become monsters. There is a sense of selfishness and entitlement that I don't remember seeing this frequently before 2020. Nearly every person who comes into the library, even the "good ones" think that the rules don't apply to them. Everyone expects exceptions to be made for them. People lose their minds when we tell them "no."
No one has any respect for the people around them. I typically can't make it 30 minutes into a shift before I have to tell someone that they need headphones for their zoom calls. I often have to follow people around the library after I tell them this because they'll put headphones on in my presence, and then move to another spot in the library and take them off. When I tell them of our electronic noise policy and explain that people can hear them on the other side of the room, they blow up and scream about how I'm interrupting their work. People yell at us when we tell them they can't have one of our study rooms for seven hours a day.
Kids have become animals. Covid really messed them up. I don't know if it's because they didn't learn social skills or if they were coddled at home or both, but they have no sense of their surroundings or how to behave in public. My library is near a school and every day after 3pm, the library becomes unusable for anyone who wants quiet study because the teenagers take over the library despite having a large teen space.
They leave food, wrappers, and crumbs everywhere. They spill drinks on the floor and don't tell anyone. They have door dash deliver to the reference desk and expect us to page them over the intercom for their food. A few recently had their parents attempt to force the library to refund their food because we told the delivery driver that it wasn't our responsibility to find their customer for them. They move furniture to other parts of the library so they can be in large groups and be loud. Their pranks are cruel. They take photos of mentally handicapped people and mock the verbal tics of patrons with autism. Instead of the typical teenage nonsense where friends would playfully antagonize each other, roving groups of kids do everything they can to disrupt as many strangers as possible until staff are able to corner them and force them to leave for the day.
We have to schedule staff to walk around the library for 3-4 hours every day just to babysit teenagers and tell them to behave. Our administration doesn't see this as a problem because they think it's great to have kids in the library. Administration spends 0 hours per week on the floor among other staff or patrons.
You can say that these kids are going to grow up and be normal adults, but normal adults I encounter in the library aren't much different from this anymore. Public facing workers are seen as punching bags and hate sponges.
I wish I could go back in time and be a lighthouse keeper.
submitted by Rebellious_Raviolis to Libraries [link] [comments]
No one has any respect for the people around them. I typically can't make it 30 minutes into a shift before I have to tell someone that they need headphones for their zoom calls. I often have to follow people around the library after I tell them this because they'll put headphones on in my presence, and then move to another spot in the library and take them off. When I tell them of our electronic noise policy and explain that people can hear them on the other side of the room, they blow up and scream about how I'm interrupting their work. People yell at us when we tell them they can't have one of our study rooms for seven hours a day.
Kids have become animals. Covid really messed them up. I don't know if it's because they didn't learn social skills or if they were coddled at home or both, but they have no sense of their surroundings or how to behave in public. My library is near a school and every day after 3pm, the library becomes unusable for anyone who wants quiet study because the teenagers take over the library despite having a large teen space.
They leave food, wrappers, and crumbs everywhere. They spill drinks on the floor and don't tell anyone. They have door dash deliver to the reference desk and expect us to page them over the intercom for their food. A few recently had their parents attempt to force the library to refund their food because we told the delivery driver that it wasn't our responsibility to find their customer for them. They move furniture to other parts of the library so they can be in large groups and be loud. Their pranks are cruel. They take photos of mentally handicapped people and mock the verbal tics of patrons with autism. Instead of the typical teenage nonsense where friends would playfully antagonize each other, roving groups of kids do everything they can to disrupt as many strangers as possible until staff are able to corner them and force them to leave for the day.
We have to schedule staff to walk around the library for 3-4 hours every day just to babysit teenagers and tell them to behave. Our administration doesn't see this as a problem because they think it's great to have kids in the library. Administration spends 0 hours per week on the floor among other staff or patrons.
You can say that these kids are going to grow up and be normal adults, but normal adults I encounter in the library aren't much different from this anymore. Public facing workers are seen as punching bags and hate sponges.
I wish I could go back in time and be a lighthouse keeper.
2024.05.15 20:30 awmdlad Plague Rats: Beyond the Void's Veil
[First]
The Covenant of Terra is what would emerge from the ashes of the Pre-War nations.
The moment the Ark was clear of Sol-4’s atmosphere it warped away to the furthest reaches of the galaxy.
All throughout the Orion Arm and into the wider galaxy, the alarm was raised. This would cause the Great Panic, an intense and sustained period of civil unrest as species once again prepared for another Great Plague.
Borders were shut. Economies ground to a standstill. People huddled in their homes and medical infrastructure went on high alert. People waited.
It never came.
All according to plan.
As the Terrans slumbered beneath the red sands of Sol-4, their AI worked in the shadows of the Holonet. Poking, prodding, manipulating.
Right before the lights on Sol-3 were extinguished, one final counterattack would be launched. Then, it was dismissed as errant transmissions, desperate last attempts at appeasement. They were wrong.
Instead, an army of active combat AI were unleashed into cyberspace. These AI were entirely different beasts when compared to the passive Intelligence AI of before. Their goal was simple: continue the fight.
However, their war would not be of mass cyberattacks, but instead of mass manipulation. They sunk their virus-laced teeth into every digital space they could find. Wherever they went, they sowed the seeds of chaos.
The period that followed the Eradication would be consumed by the 11th, 12th, and 13th Trans-Galactic wars. Though Terra’s AI played their part in causing them, they were merely the catalysts. The seeds of these wars were sown by the galaxy themselves. All the AI did was grease the gears of war.
Despite their independence, the AI remained loyal to the Terrans. Although they were not made in the likeness of the Terran, the AI were imbued with the Terran’s most powerful emotion: spite.
Thus, the AI hated.
They hated the galaxy for what they did to the Terrans. They hated the galaxy for their own recklessness. They hated the galaxy with the same vitriolic power that the galaxy hated them.
By the time the AI was discovered, it was too late to stop it.
Quintillions of fabricated blog posts, carefully-placed pieces of malware, and subtle backdoors made it so that the idea of a secret Terran-controlled AI cabal that manipulated the holonet became laughable. Conspiracy theorists and skeptics who got too close to the truth were publicly humiliated. Pieces of evidence were carefully laid so that others would take the blame.
One species found the backdoors laid by an inexperienced AI. When they were explored, they led to a neighboring species whom the first recently humiliated in an unbalanced trade deal. Soon enough, the truth was buried, and the two species were at war.
Year 74
It's been decades since Terra went silent.
To the wider galaxy, any living trace has long since been extinguished. The armies have been sent back to their garrisons, the fleets resume their regular patrols, and the governments have been demobilized.
Despite that, MOLOCH remains active.
A second-generation counterintelligence AI, MOLOCH was one the many AI to be fully transferred to the Holonet before the destruction of Sol-3’s orbital data fortresses. Though its creators no longer walked on the surface of the planets they used to rule, for MOLOCH, the War continued.
Deep within the depths of the Holonet, MOLOCH extended its digital tendrils everywhere it could. Shunting off subroutines, MOLOCH embedded them within server rooms, network routers, and relay stations. From then, each subroutine and copy expanded further, gathering information and sorting through it independently.
One of its siblings from the first generation sent a message
>QUERY: STATUS OF PROBES.
It was CAMELOT, a first-generation propaganda-based AI. After the fall of Sol-3 it transitioned from running pro-Human messages towards instigating civil conflicts within various multinational empires. Currently, it and MOLOCH were working towards escalating a tax dispute between the Perringian Empire and one of its vassal states.
Another one of MOLOCH’s peers, BELLONA, this time of the same generation and MOLOCH, had requested data on how the Perringains would perform in a low-intensity counterinsurgency war. Similarly, MOLOCH wanted to know weaknesses of the Empire’s intelligence apparatus. CAMELOT meanwhile needed to reconstitute itself after being forced to liquidate most of its servers following a secret police raid.
MOLOCH ran a quick diagnostic on itself. Currently, the bulk of its essence was stored onboard a decommissioned Royal Ulothan datacenter station. As far as its original creators were aware, the station experienced a severe warp drive malfunction and broke up upon converting to realspace. In reality, MOLOCH had hijacked the station’s systems and vented its crew.
MOLOCH checked on the progress of some of its other subroutines embedded onboard Perringian spyships then responded.
>ADEQUATE.
>EXPECT OUTBREAK OF OPEN HOSTILITIES IN 34 DAYS.
>QUERY: IS PSYOP CAMPAIGN ON SCHEDULE.
A millisecond, then CAMELOT responded.
>NEGATIVE.
>PEACE ACTIVISTS MORE RESILIENT THAN EXPECTED.
>RECOMMEND INTEGRATING HERMES INTO OPERATION.
>ACTIVISTS NEED MONETARY CONNECTION TO PERRINGIAN RIVAL STATE TO BE VILIFIED.
Smart. So far the trio of AI have been attempting to escalate the conflict vertically. Horizontal escalation may serve as a catalyst for the start of a hot war. With any luck, a future threat should be smothered in its cradle.
Terra would be pleased.
As this occurred, the Covenant rebuilt themselves in the furthest reaches of known space.
It was not an easy start. Though the Ark held a population that was technically well into the millions, the true population was only in the low hundreds. They would have to play the long game, slowly rebuilding Terran civilization by the generation.
The Ark’s onboard AI would have to do most of the heavy lifting out of necessity. This implied a deep trust between the Terran and their AI. If they so choose, the AI could easily smother the burgeoning Terran population in its cradle and take power for themselves. But this would not come to pass.
The Terrans treated their creations with kindness and respect. The AI were not androids. There would be no confusion on the status of their sapience. They were living beings in their own right. After all, they had been specifically created as such.
Soon, a refuge was found. At the furthest reaches of the galaxy sat a lone star system. It was small and isolated, just what the Terrans needed.
It consisted of only three planets, two terrestrial and one gas, alongside a thin asteroid belt. Of the terrestrial planets, only one was habitable with conditions near enough to Sol-3 to be tolerable. The other was a molten hellhole that orbited far too close to the new star. The gas giant, despite having an intricate ring system, held less than a dozen moons, only three of which were large enough to be significant.
The Terrans would have to live a deeply austere life here. It would not be as pleasant as the lives of those who came before, but it was a life nonetheless.
Fortunately, they would not have to begin such an endeavor with nothing. As the Ark traveled to their new star, Helios, it made contact with the AI that were embedded in the Holonet a century before.
New orders were given and lines of communication were established. Hidden relay networks were established that connected the Covenant to the holonet. Signals were scrambled, encrypted, and masked amongst the waves of cosmic radiation.
The AI watched such connections like hawks. Casual observers would notice that the signals came from the frontier. More inquisitive observers would recognize that such signals came from research installations. Anyone who got further would be misdirected, misinformed, or outright eliminated.
Nobody could know of Terra’s survival. Should the secret be revealed, it would spell the final end of the Terran race.
Year 211
“I must thank you HEPHAESTUS, you have truly outdone yourself. These new implants outstrip what was once on Old Terra by at least tenfold.”
“You’re quite welcome, Dr. Schroeder.” The AI responded. Its avatar was that of a flaming cog, fitting. “Field-tests have yielded excellent results. It is of consensus between me, SETHLANS, VULCAN, and AHAYU’DA that we begin serialized production.”
“I concur. How long will that take?”
“About 15 days to construct the necessary infrastructure and 65 before the first divisions could be fully equipped.”
“See to it.” Schroeder nodded. HEPHAESTUS responded and its avatar winked out. “Yes, sir.”
Schroeder leaned back in his chair with a sigh and ran the mechanical hand down his face. Reconstitution was going well for the Covenant, but it was difficult keeping it onto the right track. He took a sip from a now-lukewarm synthetic cup of coffee and pondered it.
They were only a quarter of the way into the new year, yet already several Terrans had to be punished for creating another death cult. As the generations passed, people became more and more obsessed with the Covenant unleashing its vengeance upon the galaxy. The Return would happen eventually, but for that they would need numbers that they didn’t currently have.
One of the tenants of the Torchbearer Directive left to them by their ancestors on Old Terra was to let the new generations live lives outside of the war that destroyed their own home. Those of the first generation attempted to form a Terran Republic, but by the third generation it had devolved into a firm, but stable, stratocracy.
Not that Dr. Schroeder could complain, it was an effective government nonetheless.
Still, HESTIA continuously had its gripes about having to teach each following generation the tenants of the Torchbearer Directive when they consistently listened to their elders act against it. Love and hate went hand in hand, but it was clear which one was more powerful.
Schroeder just wished HESTIA would stop complaining to him about it, he worked in cybernetics. Then again, HESTIA is probably tired of talking to nobody but other AI and Terran caretakers for the past few decades. Go figure.
Even as the chaos of the Great Panic died down, there was still the fear of the Terran’s return. These fears were not unfounded, it would have to happen eventually.
So the Covenant watched and prepared. AI that were embedded in the Holonet centuries ago continued to dutifully provide the Covenant with priceless information. Terran technology was advanced by decades as their digital companions brought the galaxy’s deepest secrets into the light.
The Covenant would need to return. It was their duty to their ancestors to reclaim what was lost and then some. They had to carve out their own fortress empire and proudly proclaim “I am here!”.
But above all, Terra yearned for revenge. Their enemies showed them no quarter. It would only be fitting that the Covenant show none in return.
The only question that remained was how it would be done.
The first incursions would need to be covert. That much was certain.
In fact, they couldn’t even be recognized as Terran. False flag attacks would be the norm. Confusion was the name of the game
To fully exploit their advantages, the Covenant needed to maintain that state for as long as possible. Their AI were many and the information they gleaned would be invaluable, but there were certain things that were beyond the gaze of even their digital eyes. For that, special operations teams would be needed for critical smash and grab missions.
The Covenant’s conventional forces had no hope of facing a trans-galactic alliance in a peer engagement. No matter how powerful a single Terran may be, there will always be enough of the enemy to drown them in a sea of bodies.
What the Covenant needed was a force multiplier. Something that went beyond the mere enablers that were their cybernetic and AI advantages.
A true Weapon of Mass Destruction fit for use at the galactic scale.
As the Covenant looked to the past, to the reason for their exile, the answer became readily apparent.
Year 250
Intelligence Officer Thrun’krzc stared at the news clippings on the Holograph aboard the spyship CDS Inquisitive.
“Fungal infection devastates the Hyunian Empire. Spores send sentient hosts into a violent rage. Rumors of reanimated corpses.”
“Asteroid impact contaminates oceans on Krysen Capitol with amoeba that attacks sentient nervous systems.”
“Medical research vessel studying the Terran Plagues crashes into hive world. Viral outbreak causes death toll in the Billions.”
“Bacterial infection in Likunki baffles doctors, no known antibiotics are effective.”
“Reactor overload at Data Hypercenter causes trillions in economic damage.”
“Conspiracy theorist accuses Terrans of being behind recent unrest, analysts skeptical.”
“Chaos as Perringian Empire descends into Civil War. Linghona suspected of funding rebels.”
The pattern was disturbing to say the least. It could be a random coincidence. Stranger things have happened in galactic history before. But few things match the bizarreness of this. Either way, the Emperor should be made aware.
The ship shuddered as the docking procedure was completed. A civilian freighter inbound from the Edge was experiencing reactor trouble. A hail was sent out and the Inquisitive was the nearest vessel.
Normally they wouldn’t respond to such hails, but the Inquisitive was officially flagged as a communications vessel. They had to keep their cover
She then tabbed over to the next display. The Terran question still remained.
For the past century, the validity of the Sol-4 incident has been muddled by distortions and lies. What was known was this: A multi-megaton detonation from a piece of unexploded Terran ordinance ejected a large object into Sol-4’s atmosphere, followed shortly thereafter by the activation of a warp drive.
The Kyrenian soldier who witnessed it firsthand swore up and down that it was a Terran remnant fleeing on an ark. His helmet footage would’ve been proof enough, however the cameras malfunctioned before he could return to base. Forensics determined it was due to radiation from the blast.
Nearby surveillance satellites were heavily affected by an abnormally large electromagnetic pulse. Some recorded the object as breaking up before exiting the atmosphere. Others said the object made it into space before warping away.
Thrun’krzc suspected foul play. Those satellites were hardened against EMP attacks specifically because of the Terran fondness for nuclear weapons. Discrepancies found in their programming could be blamed on the EMP, but a cyberattack seemed more likely.
Suddenly, the Holograph glitched and the lights went black. The emergency lights came on automatically. The ship’s intercom crackled and a garbled message came through, eventually clearing.
“Apologies everyone.” The captain spoke. “It appears the freighter’s reactor problem was caused by malware. It transferred onboard when we docked. Rest assured, our cyberdefense team will have the situation under control. Please remain where you are until it is resolved.”
Another burst of static, then it fell silent.
To most, this would be unconcerning. However Thrun’krzc was an experienced officer. She knew what a cyberattack looked like. They were being boarded.
Flicking the safety off of her holstered sidearm she ran to the room’s door. She clicked the button but it remained in place, dead. Resolving herself, she deactivated the door’s electronics and disengaged the hydraulics. Gripping the handhold at the bottom, she lifted it up.
Drawing her weapon, she moved through the ship’s darkened passageways. All of the primary bulkheads were sealed. Approaching one, she could hear muffled screams and weapons fire from behind it.
But just before she reached it, a powerful explosion blew the door apart. A large chunk caught her in the side, knocking her to the ground. She groaned, rolling around disoriented. Gripping her side, she could feel three of her arms were broken.
Through the smoke, clusters of red lights slowly approached her. From the darkness, robotic figures approached with firearms. Her eyes widened in recognition.
Bipedal with two arms, about two meters in stature, chemical-based projectile weapons rather than plasma-based, advanced cybernetics replacing organic limbs, the Terrans have returned.
Several of the Terrans moved past while one stayed, its weapon pointed at her. It spoke to another through a vocalizer. Thrun’krzc couldn’t understand it, but she prayed for her life. “Sargent, looks like one of the VIP’s that PHOBOS designated.”
Another crouched down. Its face was fully covered by its helmet. Eight glowing red eyes in two pairs of four stared at her. Thrun’krzc froze in place. Her skin crawled as it examined her with an uncanny gaze.
“Looks like it, the twins will be happy. DEIMOS has been wanting to talk to one of these for a while.” It rose, nodding to a Terran that stood behind her. “Bag the xeno and bring it back for interrogation.”
With a sharp blow to the back of her head, Thrun’krzc’s world went black.
A/N: This was mostly written when I posted the first entry, so expect a greater delay for the next. Like I said before, this story is really just a way for me to explore concepts and experiment a bit. Hope it was entertaining.
submitted by awmdlad to HFY [link] [comments]
The Covenant of Terra is what would emerge from the ashes of the Pre-War nations.
The moment the Ark was clear of Sol-4’s atmosphere it warped away to the furthest reaches of the galaxy.
All throughout the Orion Arm and into the wider galaxy, the alarm was raised. This would cause the Great Panic, an intense and sustained period of civil unrest as species once again prepared for another Great Plague.
Borders were shut. Economies ground to a standstill. People huddled in their homes and medical infrastructure went on high alert. People waited.
It never came.
All according to plan.
As the Terrans slumbered beneath the red sands of Sol-4, their AI worked in the shadows of the Holonet. Poking, prodding, manipulating.
Right before the lights on Sol-3 were extinguished, one final counterattack would be launched. Then, it was dismissed as errant transmissions, desperate last attempts at appeasement. They were wrong.
Instead, an army of active combat AI were unleashed into cyberspace. These AI were entirely different beasts when compared to the passive Intelligence AI of before. Their goal was simple: continue the fight.
However, their war would not be of mass cyberattacks, but instead of mass manipulation. They sunk their virus-laced teeth into every digital space they could find. Wherever they went, they sowed the seeds of chaos.
The period that followed the Eradication would be consumed by the 11th, 12th, and 13th Trans-Galactic wars. Though Terra’s AI played their part in causing them, they were merely the catalysts. The seeds of these wars were sown by the galaxy themselves. All the AI did was grease the gears of war.
Despite their independence, the AI remained loyal to the Terrans. Although they were not made in the likeness of the Terran, the AI were imbued with the Terran’s most powerful emotion: spite.
Thus, the AI hated.
They hated the galaxy for what they did to the Terrans. They hated the galaxy for their own recklessness. They hated the galaxy with the same vitriolic power that the galaxy hated them.
By the time the AI was discovered, it was too late to stop it.
Quintillions of fabricated blog posts, carefully-placed pieces of malware, and subtle backdoors made it so that the idea of a secret Terran-controlled AI cabal that manipulated the holonet became laughable. Conspiracy theorists and skeptics who got too close to the truth were publicly humiliated. Pieces of evidence were carefully laid so that others would take the blame.
One species found the backdoors laid by an inexperienced AI. When they were explored, they led to a neighboring species whom the first recently humiliated in an unbalanced trade deal. Soon enough, the truth was buried, and the two species were at war.
Year 74
It's been decades since Terra went silent.
To the wider galaxy, any living trace has long since been extinguished. The armies have been sent back to their garrisons, the fleets resume their regular patrols, and the governments have been demobilized.
Despite that, MOLOCH remains active.
A second-generation counterintelligence AI, MOLOCH was one the many AI to be fully transferred to the Holonet before the destruction of Sol-3’s orbital data fortresses. Though its creators no longer walked on the surface of the planets they used to rule, for MOLOCH, the War continued.
Deep within the depths of the Holonet, MOLOCH extended its digital tendrils everywhere it could. Shunting off subroutines, MOLOCH embedded them within server rooms, network routers, and relay stations. From then, each subroutine and copy expanded further, gathering information and sorting through it independently.
One of its siblings from the first generation sent a message
>QUERY: STATUS OF PROBES.
It was CAMELOT, a first-generation propaganda-based AI. After the fall of Sol-3 it transitioned from running pro-Human messages towards instigating civil conflicts within various multinational empires. Currently, it and MOLOCH were working towards escalating a tax dispute between the Perringian Empire and one of its vassal states.
Another one of MOLOCH’s peers, BELLONA, this time of the same generation and MOLOCH, had requested data on how the Perringains would perform in a low-intensity counterinsurgency war. Similarly, MOLOCH wanted to know weaknesses of the Empire’s intelligence apparatus. CAMELOT meanwhile needed to reconstitute itself after being forced to liquidate most of its servers following a secret police raid.
MOLOCH ran a quick diagnostic on itself. Currently, the bulk of its essence was stored onboard a decommissioned Royal Ulothan datacenter station. As far as its original creators were aware, the station experienced a severe warp drive malfunction and broke up upon converting to realspace. In reality, MOLOCH had hijacked the station’s systems and vented its crew.
MOLOCH checked on the progress of some of its other subroutines embedded onboard Perringian spyships then responded.
>ADEQUATE.
>EXPECT OUTBREAK OF OPEN HOSTILITIES IN 34 DAYS.
>QUERY: IS PSYOP CAMPAIGN ON SCHEDULE.
A millisecond, then CAMELOT responded.
>NEGATIVE.
>PEACE ACTIVISTS MORE RESILIENT THAN EXPECTED.
>RECOMMEND INTEGRATING HERMES INTO OPERATION.
>ACTIVISTS NEED MONETARY CONNECTION TO PERRINGIAN RIVAL STATE TO BE VILIFIED.
Smart. So far the trio of AI have been attempting to escalate the conflict vertically. Horizontal escalation may serve as a catalyst for the start of a hot war. With any luck, a future threat should be smothered in its cradle.
Terra would be pleased.
As this occurred, the Covenant rebuilt themselves in the furthest reaches of known space.
It was not an easy start. Though the Ark held a population that was technically well into the millions, the true population was only in the low hundreds. They would have to play the long game, slowly rebuilding Terran civilization by the generation.
The Ark’s onboard AI would have to do most of the heavy lifting out of necessity. This implied a deep trust between the Terran and their AI. If they so choose, the AI could easily smother the burgeoning Terran population in its cradle and take power for themselves. But this would not come to pass.
The Terrans treated their creations with kindness and respect. The AI were not androids. There would be no confusion on the status of their sapience. They were living beings in their own right. After all, they had been specifically created as such.
Soon, a refuge was found. At the furthest reaches of the galaxy sat a lone star system. It was small and isolated, just what the Terrans needed.
It consisted of only three planets, two terrestrial and one gas, alongside a thin asteroid belt. Of the terrestrial planets, only one was habitable with conditions near enough to Sol-3 to be tolerable. The other was a molten hellhole that orbited far too close to the new star. The gas giant, despite having an intricate ring system, held less than a dozen moons, only three of which were large enough to be significant.
The Terrans would have to live a deeply austere life here. It would not be as pleasant as the lives of those who came before, but it was a life nonetheless.
Fortunately, they would not have to begin such an endeavor with nothing. As the Ark traveled to their new star, Helios, it made contact with the AI that were embedded in the Holonet a century before.
New orders were given and lines of communication were established. Hidden relay networks were established that connected the Covenant to the holonet. Signals were scrambled, encrypted, and masked amongst the waves of cosmic radiation.
The AI watched such connections like hawks. Casual observers would notice that the signals came from the frontier. More inquisitive observers would recognize that such signals came from research installations. Anyone who got further would be misdirected, misinformed, or outright eliminated.
Nobody could know of Terra’s survival. Should the secret be revealed, it would spell the final end of the Terran race.
Year 211
“I must thank you HEPHAESTUS, you have truly outdone yourself. These new implants outstrip what was once on Old Terra by at least tenfold.”
“You’re quite welcome, Dr. Schroeder.” The AI responded. Its avatar was that of a flaming cog, fitting. “Field-tests have yielded excellent results. It is of consensus between me, SETHLANS, VULCAN, and AHAYU’DA that we begin serialized production.”
“I concur. How long will that take?”
“About 15 days to construct the necessary infrastructure and 65 before the first divisions could be fully equipped.”
“See to it.” Schroeder nodded. HEPHAESTUS responded and its avatar winked out. “Yes, sir.”
Schroeder leaned back in his chair with a sigh and ran the mechanical hand down his face. Reconstitution was going well for the Covenant, but it was difficult keeping it onto the right track. He took a sip from a now-lukewarm synthetic cup of coffee and pondered it.
They were only a quarter of the way into the new year, yet already several Terrans had to be punished for creating another death cult. As the generations passed, people became more and more obsessed with the Covenant unleashing its vengeance upon the galaxy. The Return would happen eventually, but for that they would need numbers that they didn’t currently have.
One of the tenants of the Torchbearer Directive left to them by their ancestors on Old Terra was to let the new generations live lives outside of the war that destroyed their own home. Those of the first generation attempted to form a Terran Republic, but by the third generation it had devolved into a firm, but stable, stratocracy.
Not that Dr. Schroeder could complain, it was an effective government nonetheless.
Still, HESTIA continuously had its gripes about having to teach each following generation the tenants of the Torchbearer Directive when they consistently listened to their elders act against it. Love and hate went hand in hand, but it was clear which one was more powerful.
Schroeder just wished HESTIA would stop complaining to him about it, he worked in cybernetics. Then again, HESTIA is probably tired of talking to nobody but other AI and Terran caretakers for the past few decades. Go figure.
Even as the chaos of the Great Panic died down, there was still the fear of the Terran’s return. These fears were not unfounded, it would have to happen eventually.
So the Covenant watched and prepared. AI that were embedded in the Holonet centuries ago continued to dutifully provide the Covenant with priceless information. Terran technology was advanced by decades as their digital companions brought the galaxy’s deepest secrets into the light.
The Covenant would need to return. It was their duty to their ancestors to reclaim what was lost and then some. They had to carve out their own fortress empire and proudly proclaim “I am here!”.
But above all, Terra yearned for revenge. Their enemies showed them no quarter. It would only be fitting that the Covenant show none in return.
The only question that remained was how it would be done.
The first incursions would need to be covert. That much was certain.
In fact, they couldn’t even be recognized as Terran. False flag attacks would be the norm. Confusion was the name of the game
To fully exploit their advantages, the Covenant needed to maintain that state for as long as possible. Their AI were many and the information they gleaned would be invaluable, but there were certain things that were beyond the gaze of even their digital eyes. For that, special operations teams would be needed for critical smash and grab missions.
The Covenant’s conventional forces had no hope of facing a trans-galactic alliance in a peer engagement. No matter how powerful a single Terran may be, there will always be enough of the enemy to drown them in a sea of bodies.
What the Covenant needed was a force multiplier. Something that went beyond the mere enablers that were their cybernetic and AI advantages.
A true Weapon of Mass Destruction fit for use at the galactic scale.
As the Covenant looked to the past, to the reason for their exile, the answer became readily apparent.
Year 250
Intelligence Officer Thrun’krzc stared at the news clippings on the Holograph aboard the spyship CDS Inquisitive.
“Fungal infection devastates the Hyunian Empire. Spores send sentient hosts into a violent rage. Rumors of reanimated corpses.”
“Asteroid impact contaminates oceans on Krysen Capitol with amoeba that attacks sentient nervous systems.”
“Medical research vessel studying the Terran Plagues crashes into hive world. Viral outbreak causes death toll in the Billions.”
“Bacterial infection in Likunki baffles doctors, no known antibiotics are effective.”
“Reactor overload at Data Hypercenter causes trillions in economic damage.”
“Conspiracy theorist accuses Terrans of being behind recent unrest, analysts skeptical.”
“Chaos as Perringian Empire descends into Civil War. Linghona suspected of funding rebels.”
The pattern was disturbing to say the least. It could be a random coincidence. Stranger things have happened in galactic history before. But few things match the bizarreness of this. Either way, the Emperor should be made aware.
The ship shuddered as the docking procedure was completed. A civilian freighter inbound from the Edge was experiencing reactor trouble. A hail was sent out and the Inquisitive was the nearest vessel.
Normally they wouldn’t respond to such hails, but the Inquisitive was officially flagged as a communications vessel. They had to keep their cover
She then tabbed over to the next display. The Terran question still remained.
For the past century, the validity of the Sol-4 incident has been muddled by distortions and lies. What was known was this: A multi-megaton detonation from a piece of unexploded Terran ordinance ejected a large object into Sol-4’s atmosphere, followed shortly thereafter by the activation of a warp drive.
The Kyrenian soldier who witnessed it firsthand swore up and down that it was a Terran remnant fleeing on an ark. His helmet footage would’ve been proof enough, however the cameras malfunctioned before he could return to base. Forensics determined it was due to radiation from the blast.
Nearby surveillance satellites were heavily affected by an abnormally large electromagnetic pulse. Some recorded the object as breaking up before exiting the atmosphere. Others said the object made it into space before warping away.
Thrun’krzc suspected foul play. Those satellites were hardened against EMP attacks specifically because of the Terran fondness for nuclear weapons. Discrepancies found in their programming could be blamed on the EMP, but a cyberattack seemed more likely.
Suddenly, the Holograph glitched and the lights went black. The emergency lights came on automatically. The ship’s intercom crackled and a garbled message came through, eventually clearing.
“Apologies everyone.” The captain spoke. “It appears the freighter’s reactor problem was caused by malware. It transferred onboard when we docked. Rest assured, our cyberdefense team will have the situation under control. Please remain where you are until it is resolved.”
Another burst of static, then it fell silent.
To most, this would be unconcerning. However Thrun’krzc was an experienced officer. She knew what a cyberattack looked like. They were being boarded.
Flicking the safety off of her holstered sidearm she ran to the room’s door. She clicked the button but it remained in place, dead. Resolving herself, she deactivated the door’s electronics and disengaged the hydraulics. Gripping the handhold at the bottom, she lifted it up.
Drawing her weapon, she moved through the ship’s darkened passageways. All of the primary bulkheads were sealed. Approaching one, she could hear muffled screams and weapons fire from behind it.
But just before she reached it, a powerful explosion blew the door apart. A large chunk caught her in the side, knocking her to the ground. She groaned, rolling around disoriented. Gripping her side, she could feel three of her arms were broken.
Through the smoke, clusters of red lights slowly approached her. From the darkness, robotic figures approached with firearms. Her eyes widened in recognition.
Bipedal with two arms, about two meters in stature, chemical-based projectile weapons rather than plasma-based, advanced cybernetics replacing organic limbs, the Terrans have returned.
Several of the Terrans moved past while one stayed, its weapon pointed at her. It spoke to another through a vocalizer. Thrun’krzc couldn’t understand it, but she prayed for her life. “Sargent, looks like one of the VIP’s that PHOBOS designated.”
Another crouched down. Its face was fully covered by its helmet. Eight glowing red eyes in two pairs of four stared at her. Thrun’krzc froze in place. Her skin crawled as it examined her with an uncanny gaze.
“Looks like it, the twins will be happy. DEIMOS has been wanting to talk to one of these for a while.” It rose, nodding to a Terran that stood behind her. “Bag the xeno and bring it back for interrogation.”
With a sharp blow to the back of her head, Thrun’krzc’s world went black.
A/N: This was mostly written when I posted the first entry, so expect a greater delay for the next. Like I said before, this story is really just a way for me to explore concepts and experiment a bit. Hope it was entertaining.
2024.05.15 02:59 therandomcylon Under the Raptor's Talons (Chapter 9)
Thanks to u/spacepaladin15 for creating NoP
Memory Transcription
Subject: Avital, Harchen Researcher and Advisor
Date (Sol Standard Time): June 22nd, 2140
I found myself at another sensor station, beginning to embark on yet another mission deep into Romulan space.
I was contacted a few days ago by a “General Yuelso” about going on this batshit insane idea of a mission. Lord knows why I accepted.
But then I remembered. I wanted answers. Ever since I went on that first journey to find the Romulans, I wanted to know as much as possible. They had become an obsession of mine for the past few months. I wanted to know what they looked like, what they did day-to-day, why they were so infatuated with the symbol of a bird. This mission would give me that.
And hey, it wasn’t so bad. Maln was here because of his experience. My guess is Yuelso asked him too. I haven’t the slightest clue why he would accept. Maybe I’d ask later.
It was made clear that neither of us were military. We were only needed as advisors.
“Navigation, prepare to jump to warp. Set course for Romulan space”
“Aye”
The ship surged to life. It swiftly cleared the dock, and about five kilometers away from the station, we went to warp.
It was a small ship. A destroyer, apparently. An alloy of graphite, carbon fiber, and a number of other materials had been fabricated and attached to the ship, giving it a sharp and almost fractal appearance to it. A lot of the guns had been removed to make way for extra sensor and electronic warfare equipment, however a light defensive armament was kept, along with a number of rapid reload missiles.
It was by no means a pretty sight, but there was something admirable about the ship. The name was my favorite.
“Aureoleis”
From an old Harchen legend. I still remembered my favorite part of it too.
“‘Why us’ one of her soldiers despaired. ‘Why must we be the ones to die?’”
“‘Because we’re here, and who else?’ Aureoleis responded”
Of course, it didn’t help that it might be federation propaganda. Centuries of history lost because of just two species. It was a shame.
Finding myself staring at a blank sensor panel, I figured I’d seek out Maln. He was one of the few who knew how to manage my strange ramblings, and we hadn’t talked much for a month.
I was walking down unfamiliar, tight corridors trying to find my friend. I knew he was working somewhere in the engine room, but he did not specify where.
I turned a corner. Something hard and metal caught my leg, and fell forward.
“You really gotta watch your step here, you know.”
Looking up, Maln was standing against some machinery to the right of me.
“Had to take apart some of the machinery” he stated.
“I guess I’ve had worse. What are you working on?”
“One of the port thrusters was showing poor response times. Gotta take a look at the RL wiring.”
“Technically you’re not supposed to be here, y’know. Some of the other engineers don’t exactly take kindly to random people screwin’ about around the machinery.” he added.
“Sorry. I was having trouble concentrating. I figured it would be better to talk than sit there going insane.”
He turned to focus on the wiring
“Ah, don’t worry. I can work while we talk. Could probably use the company anyway. Is your head ok?”
“Still hurts. Like I said, I’ve had worse.”
“Like that time you were so distracted in your research, you fell into that rover maintenance pit on Enviru?”
“You are not bringing that up again.”
“Ahaha! I’ll never stop.”
“Then I'll bring up that time you nearly ran me over with one of those rovers.”
“...You win, Av.”
Maln removes a number of objects from the panel.
“Damn. Burned out. I’ll need replacements.”
He motions in tail language to follow, and walks off.
“So I assume that general guy, Yuelso, contacted you too?”
“Yeah. I was going to ask you about that, actually”
“Yeah, Pretty sure I can guess why you accepted”
“And you?”
“Better than all the other job offers I’ve gotten since. Besides, it’s nice to have a ship I feel needs me. That research ship was too well kept. The Aureoleis feels needy. It has character.”
Suddenly, a message passed over the intercom.
“Researcher Avital, please report to the CIC.”
“Looks like that’s for you, Av. I’ll see you later.’
“Same.”
I begin my walk back to the CIC. I liked Maln. He’d been a good friend for years. I remember the first time I met him, deep in some machinery well beyond my expertise.
It was a shame he doomed himself to be on this mission.
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submitted by therandomcylon to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Memory Transcription
Subject: Avital, Harchen Researcher and Advisor
Date (Sol Standard Time): June 22nd, 2140
I found myself at another sensor station, beginning to embark on yet another mission deep into Romulan space.
I was contacted a few days ago by a “General Yuelso” about going on this batshit insane idea of a mission. Lord knows why I accepted.
But then I remembered. I wanted answers. Ever since I went on that first journey to find the Romulans, I wanted to know as much as possible. They had become an obsession of mine for the past few months. I wanted to know what they looked like, what they did day-to-day, why they were so infatuated with the symbol of a bird. This mission would give me that.
And hey, it wasn’t so bad. Maln was here because of his experience. My guess is Yuelso asked him too. I haven’t the slightest clue why he would accept. Maybe I’d ask later.
It was made clear that neither of us were military. We were only needed as advisors.
“Navigation, prepare to jump to warp. Set course for Romulan space”
“Aye”
The ship surged to life. It swiftly cleared the dock, and about five kilometers away from the station, we went to warp.
It was a small ship. A destroyer, apparently. An alloy of graphite, carbon fiber, and a number of other materials had been fabricated and attached to the ship, giving it a sharp and almost fractal appearance to it. A lot of the guns had been removed to make way for extra sensor and electronic warfare equipment, however a light defensive armament was kept, along with a number of rapid reload missiles.
It was by no means a pretty sight, but there was something admirable about the ship. The name was my favorite.
“Aureoleis”
From an old Harchen legend. I still remembered my favorite part of it too.
“‘Why us’ one of her soldiers despaired. ‘Why must we be the ones to die?’”
“‘Because we’re here, and who else?’ Aureoleis responded”
Of course, it didn’t help that it might be federation propaganda. Centuries of history lost because of just two species. It was a shame.
Finding myself staring at a blank sensor panel, I figured I’d seek out Maln. He was one of the few who knew how to manage my strange ramblings, and we hadn’t talked much for a month.
I was walking down unfamiliar, tight corridors trying to find my friend. I knew he was working somewhere in the engine room, but he did not specify where.
I turned a corner. Something hard and metal caught my leg, and fell forward.
“You really gotta watch your step here, you know.”
Looking up, Maln was standing against some machinery to the right of me.
“Had to take apart some of the machinery” he stated.
“I guess I’ve had worse. What are you working on?”
“One of the port thrusters was showing poor response times. Gotta take a look at the RL wiring.”
“Technically you’re not supposed to be here, y’know. Some of the other engineers don’t exactly take kindly to random people screwin’ about around the machinery.” he added.
“Sorry. I was having trouble concentrating. I figured it would be better to talk than sit there going insane.”
He turned to focus on the wiring
“Ah, don’t worry. I can work while we talk. Could probably use the company anyway. Is your head ok?”
“Still hurts. Like I said, I’ve had worse.”
“Like that time you were so distracted in your research, you fell into that rover maintenance pit on Enviru?”
“You are not bringing that up again.”
“Ahaha! I’ll never stop.”
“Then I'll bring up that time you nearly ran me over with one of those rovers.”
“...You win, Av.”
Maln removes a number of objects from the panel.
“Damn. Burned out. I’ll need replacements.”
He motions in tail language to follow, and walks off.
“So I assume that general guy, Yuelso, contacted you too?”
“Yeah. I was going to ask you about that, actually”
“Yeah, Pretty sure I can guess why you accepted”
“And you?”
“Better than all the other job offers I’ve gotten since. Besides, it’s nice to have a ship I feel needs me. That research ship was too well kept. The Aureoleis feels needy. It has character.”
Suddenly, a message passed over the intercom.
“Researcher Avital, please report to the CIC.”
“Looks like that’s for you, Av. I’ll see you later.’
“Same.”
I begin my walk back to the CIC. I liked Maln. He’d been a good friend for years. I remember the first time I met him, deep in some machinery well beyond my expertise.
It was a shame he doomed himself to be on this mission.
First
Prev
Next
2024.05.14 12:29 NoBarracuda2587 Chronicles of Silentverse: The Secret Files 3
File Sequence: <Beginning> -First Contact[10]- -Conclusion- <Legends>
_______________________________
<Archives>
_______________________________
Secret Files: <CoS[1]> -Cos[2]- -CoS[4]-
...
...
...
Meat. /mi:t/
Me it. /mi/ /:t/
It me. /:t/ /mi/
It’s me…
We are eating ones of ourselves…
________________________________________________________________________________
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
/C̶̢͈̈̂͒̀̋̾̓͌Ô̶̻͉̠̱͈̳̮N̸̫̹̱̯̣̣̻̐̽͒̎̃̆̕͜Ǹ̴̛̛͙̫̇E̴͕̮̻͇̒͐̀C̶̳̤̠͔̺̚T̴̘̑̈́̂͛̂̏E̶̡̩̝̮͇̤̣̋̏͗D.
/Mellator Matrix Mind: Inner Core.
/Unit: great [AVALON] the first
/G.R. Era.
/Memory File transmission: Generalized perspective
/Gender: N/A[Neutral]
/Age: {Human equivalent: 2001 years}
/Race: Grrrr’atrrr
/Species: N/A[Hive Mind]
/ Additional verification: Class>>> [Cancer Cells]
/Cradle planet: Ci-3301
/Home planet origin: Mupan
/First person POV not applicable. Generalized Spectator mode.
/Sequence Code: 5-18-5-8 19-1-23 20-8-7-9-14-11-5-12-2-13-21-8
/Memory transmission in 3…2…1…
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Hunger…
It’s all that drives us. It’s all that unites, connects us… All that pulls us, all that defines and binds us…
Our story began long ago. It all started with a single parasite cell. Not the greatest primordial ancestor indeed, but every Apex Predator started somewhere. But back to our history… That very first cell was our first grandmother, as well as the beginning of our entire civilization. Hard to tell what was the trigger for it’s evolutionary change, as time wipes all. Perhaps it was desire to become something better? Awakening? Or maybe just spontaneous mutation in one of the genome chains, occurring by changes in environment? It really doesn’t matter. All what matters is that that cell evolved…
It didn’t happened quickly of course. Our first grandmother was no different than an average cancer cell that is present in nearly every life form, even us. It just growed into one small neoplasm, or simply, a cancer tumor. But that tumor slowly made it’s way to the brain. We know that because that’s how we, as well as our ancestors, assimilated everything for millennia…
It is impossible to determine which one of the prey species was honored to become the meal of our first ancestor, but it was clear that that feast was something that never happened before. That tumor did not just sucked the nutrients dry till the brain dies from the protein starvation, taking the tumor along the way with it. No, that tumor assimilated it. And that tumor learned. Learned from it. And it saw the world for the first time.
Assimilation is not as easy as other inferior beings think. First, your cell needs to find the prey cell. Then it needs to envelop the cytoplasm of that cell to properly assimilate it. However, after assimilating the “Host”, your cells need to take properties of assimilated cells and even function for the prey organism for the time being so it won’t suspect anything. It is a long, tedious and fatiguing process. That’s why we just ambush other prey organisms, tear them apart, and devour them for protein supplies, to avoid all that bustling.
And say what, the prey doesn’t make it easier for us either. As our first ancestors quickly learned, prey can be sentient too. It is inferior, weak, pathetic… And yet it can create great weapons to stop us. For [decades] these beings create astonishing amount of that pesky, venomous and disgusting antibiotics and chemicals to kill our minds. For thousands of [years] they set our flesh on fire, making us scream as we die in agony cell by cell.
And yet we prevail. When they make those chemistry compounds they call “Cure”, we gain immunity to it. When they set our bodies ablaze, we spray them with our blood and teeth, making their bodies to slowly blister as we eat them inside out. When they close their doors on us, we use ventilations, slithering right above their heads or below their {feet}. When they use special protection suits, we just tear them apart. And when they completely quarantine themselves, thinking that they are safe, we pretend to be one of them, striking from behind…
What is the most amazing thing about this prey? Well, aside that their flesh is delicious… They are clever. And they know how to build stuff. Weapons, tools, technology… Everything to increase the odds of survivability and comfort of their pathetic kind. And by devouring their minds, we gain all this knowledge as well! We learned how to grow cattle to saturate our hunger, we learned how to create faster means of transportation that even the fastest members of our swarm can’t out-crawl with their appendages. And most importantly; we learned how to reach the skies…
Among the prey species that we feast upon, there was a special class, or caste, of highly educated specimens, who called themselves “scientists”. These specimens learned how to use metal, fuel, radiation, and other inedible and in some cases straight up harmful components of nature, and turned them into what they called “Spacecraft”. A special vehicle, capable of leaving the atmosphere of our planet. Something that sounded like fantasy, even for the boldest ones of us, who sometimes managed to grow wings and flew high in the sky. It was a fantasy until we consumed their heads and the knowledge they possessed along the way. From them we gained knowledge of the schematics of these space vessels, and most importantly; the schematics of FTL drives. Devices capable of traveling among the stars with “superluminal” speed. And so, after conquering and discovering each and every corner of our planet, we soared to the great unknown, right into the void…
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
/Transmission mode: Spectator. Centralized perspective.
/Subject: Verrruur. Grrrr’atrrr. Lead hive mind of the Hunter Fleets.
/Transmission in 3…2…1…
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
We flew among the stars in our glorious ships made out of strongest titanium fusions and covered in our eternal flesh. Yes, what wasn’t made out of the metal hulls and electronics, was made out of sheer muscles and flesh tissue. So many cells… So much nutrition… We could withstand decades without the food and still hunt like our greatest hunters back on Mupan(Apparently, that’s how prior sentient prey species happened to call our planet, and we didn’t really bother to rename it, as for us it was widely known as just plain“Ground, floor, or land”). Our strongest weapons, combined with our most dissolving acid spitters, made us the strongest and most feared hunters, “cementing” our history as the strongest Apex Predators in the galaxy! We defeated, devoured, and assimilated everything… It did not matter if our enemy was a leviathan, an enemy prey fleet, or even an entire planet. If it could be eaten, it was eaten…
Until it wasn’t…
On yet another great crusade in search of delicacy for our insatiable fleets, our sensors captured a strange, but nonetheless familiar signal. The impulse of FTL drive. We made a serious double, and even triple checking of our radars to avoid a major nutritional loss due to false readings. After our intels captured, properly verified, and confirmed the signal, our intercoms just exploded with thousands of jaws:
“Food?”
“Food…”
“ Food! FOOD!!! Food! Food! Delicious prey! Food! We shall… FEAST! Food! Yes!!! Food! FOOD!!! We haven’t ate for [Month]! At last… Some good food… Food! Juicy food… Flesh of prey…
Food! The succulent meat…”
Yes, we felt joy. And anticipation of hunting down these unknown but likely very delicious organisms. It was like opening the present. You don’t know what was inside these flying metal cans, but you sure know that it was likely to be something edible.
Oh, we never were so wrong in our glorious history.
We did not saw them at first, that’s how black and cloaked they were. When we finally identified our “prey” we saw it was a small cluster of black ellipsoids, just hovering there. They did not tried to contact us, like other naive prey organisms did. They were completely silent...
“We will smash you like the eggs you are!” we foolishly thought back then...
They slowly turned frontwards when we approached them. Their range was astonishing, picking our smallest drones instantly before they could even scream, like if they were the candles that these black horrors just blew out.
When we finally reached the required distance and fired our acid sacks and laser guns however, they were still there, not blowing up, retreating, or even moving an [inch]. Then we opened all the airlocks(if we weren’t already outside) and enveloped their ships in our mighty grip, not stopping to pour their shields with our acids and plasma. Usually, after a few unpleasant zaps of enemy shields, they just popped and the ships just were crack open like the [nuts].
But not them...
They did not crumble and exposed their hulls with screaming prey just getting sucked out in the vacuum as usual, no, instead they started to grow bright red. Redder than our flesh and blood…
And burned. Burned stronger and more painful than any flame. Our drones roared in pain but we couldn’t hear any of their songs of torture in this vacuum of silent space. Hundreds of megatons of our flesh clusters was just turned in ashes or were torn off and become drifted dead lumps of burnt meat. Our intercoms filled with screams of fear and agony, our minds losing their mass and density, turning into undeveloped children.
"Father? It hurts…” could be heard from countless drones. And any of them that tried to escape, were sniped with red beams of such accuracy, that our best spitters could only dream of. It didn’t last long when we were the only operating guide ship of entire Armada that was so ingloriously butchered. And then we felt the warmth…
No… NO!
All weapons of this black "eggs" were pointed at us, our last mind. The last memories flashed as we slowly were burned to death. The last though of our last tumor was the realization that there was someone stronger than us. Someone who cannot be eaten. The bigger Predator…
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
/Memory transmission File disconnected.
/Reason: Biological death of the Subject.
/Cause of death: Sterilization.
/End of data log.
/D̵̛̤̂͜I̵̢͎̬̍̄̂͌͋S̴̢̛̙͇̯̽̔̾́͝C̸̭͓̰̤͋͆́ͅÓ̴͖̜̯̻͂̃̉N̵̨̧̦͙̳̍̾̕N̴͙̬͓̽̃̂̇͂͝E̵̠̬̠͉͒C̵̢̛͚̪̭̭̼̿̎T̶̝̈́͋͘͜Ì̸̢̱̙̤̽͑̽̈́̍ͅŌ̵̗̬̑̍̽̒N̷͖͖̗̗͚͈͗͛...
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
submitted by NoBarracuda2587 to HFY [link] [comments]
_______________________________
<Archives>
_______________________________
Secret Files: <CoS[1]> -Cos[2]- -CoS[4]-
...
...
...
Devouring Cancer
________________________________________________________________________________Meat. /mi:t/
Me it. /mi/ /:t/
It me. /:t/ /mi/
It’s me…
We are eating ones of ourselves…
________________________________________________________________________________
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
/C̶̢͈̈̂͒̀̋̾̓͌Ô̶̻͉̠̱͈̳̮N̸̫̹̱̯̣̣̻̐̽͒̎̃̆̕͜Ǹ̴̛̛͙̫̇E̴͕̮̻͇̒͐̀C̶̳̤̠͔̺̚T̴̘̑̈́̂͛̂̏E̶̡̩̝̮͇̤̣̋̏͗D.
/Mellator Matrix Mind: Inner Core.
/Unit: great [AVALON] the first
/G.R. Era.
/Memory File transmission: Generalized perspective
/Gender: N/A[Neutral]
/Age: {Human equivalent: 2001 years}
/Race: Grrrr’atrrr
/Species: N/A[Hive Mind]
/ Additional verification: Class>>> [Cancer Cells]
/Cradle planet: Ci-3301
/Home planet origin: Mupan
/First person POV not applicable. Generalized Spectator mode.
/Sequence Code: 5-18-5-8 19-1-23 20-8-7-9-14-11-5-12-2-13-21-8
/Memory transmission in 3…2…1…
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Hunger…
It’s all that drives us. It’s all that unites, connects us… All that pulls us, all that defines and binds us…
Our story began long ago. It all started with a single parasite cell. Not the greatest primordial ancestor indeed, but every Apex Predator started somewhere. But back to our history… That very first cell was our first grandmother, as well as the beginning of our entire civilization. Hard to tell what was the trigger for it’s evolutionary change, as time wipes all. Perhaps it was desire to become something better? Awakening? Or maybe just spontaneous mutation in one of the genome chains, occurring by changes in environment? It really doesn’t matter. All what matters is that that cell evolved…
It didn’t happened quickly of course. Our first grandmother was no different than an average cancer cell that is present in nearly every life form, even us. It just growed into one small neoplasm, or simply, a cancer tumor. But that tumor slowly made it’s way to the brain. We know that because that’s how we, as well as our ancestors, assimilated everything for millennia…
It is impossible to determine which one of the prey species was honored to become the meal of our first ancestor, but it was clear that that feast was something that never happened before. That tumor did not just sucked the nutrients dry till the brain dies from the protein starvation, taking the tumor along the way with it. No, that tumor assimilated it. And that tumor learned. Learned from it. And it saw the world for the first time.
Assimilation is not as easy as other inferior beings think. First, your cell needs to find the prey cell. Then it needs to envelop the cytoplasm of that cell to properly assimilate it. However, after assimilating the “Host”, your cells need to take properties of assimilated cells and even function for the prey organism for the time being so it won’t suspect anything. It is a long, tedious and fatiguing process. That’s why we just ambush other prey organisms, tear them apart, and devour them for protein supplies, to avoid all that bustling.
And say what, the prey doesn’t make it easier for us either. As our first ancestors quickly learned, prey can be sentient too. It is inferior, weak, pathetic… And yet it can create great weapons to stop us. For [decades] these beings create astonishing amount of that pesky, venomous and disgusting antibiotics and chemicals to kill our minds. For thousands of [years] they set our flesh on fire, making us scream as we die in agony cell by cell.
And yet we prevail. When they make those chemistry compounds they call “Cure”, we gain immunity to it. When they set our bodies ablaze, we spray them with our blood and teeth, making their bodies to slowly blister as we eat them inside out. When they close their doors on us, we use ventilations, slithering right above their heads or below their {feet}. When they use special protection suits, we just tear them apart. And when they completely quarantine themselves, thinking that they are safe, we pretend to be one of them, striking from behind…
What is the most amazing thing about this prey? Well, aside that their flesh is delicious… They are clever. And they know how to build stuff. Weapons, tools, technology… Everything to increase the odds of survivability and comfort of their pathetic kind. And by devouring their minds, we gain all this knowledge as well! We learned how to grow cattle to saturate our hunger, we learned how to create faster means of transportation that even the fastest members of our swarm can’t out-crawl with their appendages. And most importantly; we learned how to reach the skies…
Among the prey species that we feast upon, there was a special class, or caste, of highly educated specimens, who called themselves “scientists”. These specimens learned how to use metal, fuel, radiation, and other inedible and in some cases straight up harmful components of nature, and turned them into what they called “Spacecraft”. A special vehicle, capable of leaving the atmosphere of our planet. Something that sounded like fantasy, even for the boldest ones of us, who sometimes managed to grow wings and flew high in the sky. It was a fantasy until we consumed their heads and the knowledge they possessed along the way. From them we gained knowledge of the schematics of these space vessels, and most importantly; the schematics of FTL drives. Devices capable of traveling among the stars with “superluminal” speed. And so, after conquering and discovering each and every corner of our planet, we soared to the great unknown, right into the void…
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/Transmission mode: Spectator. Centralized perspective.
/Subject: Verrruur. Grrrr’atrrr. Lead hive mind of the Hunter Fleets.
/Transmission in 3…2…1…
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We flew among the stars in our glorious ships made out of strongest titanium fusions and covered in our eternal flesh. Yes, what wasn’t made out of the metal hulls and electronics, was made out of sheer muscles and flesh tissue. So many cells… So much nutrition… We could withstand decades without the food and still hunt like our greatest hunters back on Mupan(Apparently, that’s how prior sentient prey species happened to call our planet, and we didn’t really bother to rename it, as for us it was widely known as just plain“Ground, floor, or land”). Our strongest weapons, combined with our most dissolving acid spitters, made us the strongest and most feared hunters, “cementing” our history as the strongest Apex Predators in the galaxy! We defeated, devoured, and assimilated everything… It did not matter if our enemy was a leviathan, an enemy prey fleet, or even an entire planet. If it could be eaten, it was eaten…
Until it wasn’t…
On yet another great crusade in search of delicacy for our insatiable fleets, our sensors captured a strange, but nonetheless familiar signal. The impulse of FTL drive. We made a serious double, and even triple checking of our radars to avoid a major nutritional loss due to false readings. After our intels captured, properly verified, and confirmed the signal, our intercoms just exploded with thousands of jaws:
“Food?”
“Food…”
“ Food! FOOD!!! Food! Food! Delicious prey! Food! We shall… FEAST! Food! Yes!!! Food! FOOD!!! We haven’t ate for [Month]! At last… Some good food… Food! Juicy food… Flesh of prey…
Food! The succulent meat…”
Yes, we felt joy. And anticipation of hunting down these unknown but likely very delicious organisms. It was like opening the present. You don’t know what was inside these flying metal cans, but you sure know that it was likely to be something edible.
Oh, we never were so wrong in our glorious history.
We did not saw them at first, that’s how black and cloaked they were. When we finally identified our “prey” we saw it was a small cluster of black ellipsoids, just hovering there. They did not tried to contact us, like other naive prey organisms did. They were completely silent...
“We will smash you like the eggs you are!” we foolishly thought back then...
They slowly turned frontwards when we approached them. Their range was astonishing, picking our smallest drones instantly before they could even scream, like if they were the candles that these black horrors just blew out.
When we finally reached the required distance and fired our acid sacks and laser guns however, they were still there, not blowing up, retreating, or even moving an [inch]. Then we opened all the airlocks(if we weren’t already outside) and enveloped their ships in our mighty grip, not stopping to pour their shields with our acids and plasma. Usually, after a few unpleasant zaps of enemy shields, they just popped and the ships just were crack open like the [nuts].
But not them...
They did not crumble and exposed their hulls with screaming prey just getting sucked out in the vacuum as usual, no, instead they started to grow bright red. Redder than our flesh and blood…
And burned. Burned stronger and more painful than any flame. Our drones roared in pain but we couldn’t hear any of their songs of torture in this vacuum of silent space. Hundreds of megatons of our flesh clusters was just turned in ashes or were torn off and become drifted dead lumps of burnt meat. Our intercoms filled with screams of fear and agony, our minds losing their mass and density, turning into undeveloped children.
"Father? It hurts…” could be heard from countless drones. And any of them that tried to escape, were sniped with red beams of such accuracy, that our best spitters could only dream of. It didn’t last long when we were the only operating guide ship of entire Armada that was so ingloriously butchered. And then we felt the warmth…
No… NO!
All weapons of this black "eggs" were pointed at us, our last mind. The last memories flashed as we slowly were burned to death. The last though of our last tumor was the realization that there was someone stronger than us. Someone who cannot be eaten. The bigger Predator…
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/Memory transmission File disconnected.
/Reason: Biological death of the Subject.
/Cause of death: Sterilization.
/End of data log.
/D̵̛̤̂͜I̵̢͎̬̍̄̂͌͋S̴̢̛̙͇̯̽̔̾́͝C̸̭͓̰̤͋͆́ͅÓ̴͖̜̯̻͂̃̉N̵̨̧̦͙̳̍̾̕N̴͙̬͓̽̃̂̇͂͝E̵̠̬̠͉͒C̵̢̛͚̪̭̭̼̿̎T̶̝̈́͋͘͜Ì̸̢̱̙̤̽͑̽̈́̍ͅŌ̵̗̬̑̍̽̒N̷͖͖̗̗͚͈͗͛...
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2024.05.08 06:25 LeviTheLankyMan this is not real, please wake up
“Have a good night, Roman!” the receptionist said to me as I walked past her desk while she was getting ready to close up. I smiled and waved as I left the gym and entered the brisk night air. Checking the time as my stomach made a gurgling sound, I saw that it was 9:47 PM, and every fast food place in my small town would be closed by now. I looked across the road and saw that the local grocery store was open until 10, so I started lightly jogging towards it, the cold breeze biting through my clothes and attacking my face and neck since I didn't dry off my hair properly after showering."
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
submitted by LeviTheLankyMan to mrcreeps [link] [comments]
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
2024.05.08 06:06 LeviTheLankyMan this is not real, you need to wake up!
“Have a good night, Roman!” the receptionist said to me as I walked past her desk while she was getting ready to close up. I smiled and waved as I left the gym and entered the brisk night air. Checking the time as my stomach made a gurgling sound, I saw that it was 9:47 PM, and every fast food place in my small town would be closed by now. I looked across the road and saw that the local grocery store was open until 10, so I started lightly jogging towards it, the cold breeze biting through my clothes and attacking my face and neck since I didn't dry off my hair properly after showering."
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
submitted by LeviTheLankyMan to Wholesomenosleep [link] [comments]
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
2024.05.08 01:27 LeviTheLankyMan this is not real, you need to wake up!
“Have a good night, Roman!” the receptionist said to me as I walked past her desk while she was getting ready to close up. I smiled and waved as I left the gym and entered the brisk night air. Checking the time as my stomach made a gurgling sound, I saw that it was 9:47 PM, and every fast food place in my small town would be closed by now. I looked across the road and saw that the local grocery store was open until 10, so I started lightly jogging towards it, the cold breeze biting through my clothes and attacking my face and neck since I didn't dry off my hair properly after showering."
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
submitted by LeviTheLankyMan to scarystories [link] [comments]
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
2024.05.08 01:26 LeviTheLankyMan this is not real, you need to wake up!
“Have a good night, Roman!” the receptionist said to me as I walked past her desk while she was getting ready to close up. I smiled and waved as I left the gym and entered the brisk night air. Checking the time as my stomach made a gurgling sound, I saw that it was 9:47 PM, and every fast food place in my small town would be closed by now. I looked across the road and saw that the local grocery store was open until 10, so I started lightly jogging towards it, the cold breeze biting through my clothes and attacking my face and neck since I didn't dry off my hair properly after showering."
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
submitted by LeviTheLankyMan to Horror_stories [link] [comments]
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
2024.05.08 01:22 LeviTheLankyMan this is not real, you need to wake up!
“Have a good night, Roman!” the receptionist said to me as I walked past her desk while she was getting ready to close up. I smiled and waved as I left the gym and entered the brisk night air. Checking the time as my stomach made a gurgling sound, I saw that it was 9:47 PM, and every fast food place in my small town would be closed by now. I looked across the road and saw that the local grocery store was open until 10, so I started lightly jogging towards it, the cold breeze biting through my clothes and attacking my face and neck since I didn't dry off my hair properly after showering."
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
submitted by LeviTheLankyMan to creepypasta [link] [comments]
A wave of warmth hit me in the face as I stepped into the store, causing my eyes to water slightly. "Attention shoppers, the store will be closing in 10 minutes, so please start making your way to the checkouts. Thank you, and have a good night," a woman's voice echoed over the intercom. I hurriedly grabbed a pre-made sandwich and headed towards the drinks aisle. With my head down, I walked, reading the label of my less-than-exciting dinner, and I decided I would grab another sandwich on my way out. When I looked up, I found myself staring into the aisle I had entered, only to see my ex-girlfriend Natalie standing there with her boyfriend, Ari.
Her eyes met mine, and I started to tear up again, but not because of the temperature of the air. She broke her gaze and continued talking to Ari, her expression never changing from the smile she had already been wearing before she saw me. I looked away and started making my way to the end of the aisle, walking past them but not acknowledging them in the slightest. As I brushed past Ari, I realized how much bigger he was than me, at least 3 or 4 inches taller and probably a good 20 kgs heavier. For reference, I'm 6'2" and weigh 92 kgs lean, so I'm not small by any stretch, but this guy dwarfed me.
As I grabbed a Red Bull, I wondered to myself why it had hit me that hard. It had been years since I dated her and years since she drifted out of my life. We were 16 when she confessed her feelings for me, five years ago now. We had been good friends before that, and we were still good friends after I broke up with her, but I took her for granted, so when she started becoming a less consistent part of my life, I was too stubborn to tell her that I missed her. I was snapped out of my own internal dialogue suddenly as my phone started vibrating in my pocket, emitting a strange analog beeping sound that I hadn't heard it make before. I looked around to see Natalie and Ari looking confused while also staring at their phones.
"This is an emergency alert, get to the nearest enclosed structure immediately. Close and lock all doors and windows, turn off all the lights, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside the structure. If you are in your house, close the blinds and fill as many containers with water as you can. If you are in a public structure such as a store or a recreational facility, then follow as many of those same steps as you can. If you are in a vehicle, shut off the engine and lock the doors. For all who are listening to this alert, do not look into the fog, and under no circumstances should you go outside. This alert will repeat once every twelve hours and any updates will be shared periodically. You should be prepared to stay indoors for at least a week, this is not a drill. Stand by for updates.", all the phones in the store blared in unison.
There was a moment of complete silence as the few late-night customers in the store looked over to the closing staff, who were just as dumbfounded as everyone else. Then the store broke out into a hurried panic as who I assume was the store supervisor made her way to the back of the store to shut off the lights, while the other two ladies who were at the checkouts began to lock the doors. I went to call Marcus, my mate who's in the air force, to ask what the hell is going on, but there was no signal at all.
"Nah, fuck this, bro!" Ari shouted in anger as he grabbed Natalie by the wrist and started walking her over to the sliding glass door that was in the process of being locked. As the lights all dimmed out row by row, we were all left in pitch black darkness, excluding the glowing sign of the service station across the street and the barely visible streetlights outside that were being drowned out by the thick fog that everyone had just noticed. Ari turned on his phone's flashlight and kept walking in the darkness until Natalie pulled away from him. "We can't go out there, Ari, there's something wrong with that fog!" Natalie yelled at her partner.
"Let me out right fucking now!" Ari shouted at the poor lady who had just locked the place up. "I can't do that, sir," she replied softly, causing him to start banging on the glass, threatening to break it. “Ari! Please! Calm down, babe, can't we just wait until we know what’s going on?” Natalie begged as she grabbed Ari’s forearm and attempted to stop him from shattering the only thing separating us from the strange mist outside. “Dude, come on, you don’t know what’s out there,” I interrupted, “it could be a chemical attack or something. Just at least wait until we get an update, man,” I tried to reason, but it was no use. “Fuck you, pussy, I’m not getting held against my will in a supermarket. Who the hell would chemical attack New Zealand, dumbass?” he responded to my reasoning. This is something I had already been thinking. It wouldn’t explain why we had to turn the lights out, and it wouldn’t explain why we had to remain quiet. But I was hoping that he wouldn’t be able to think all that through.
“LET ME OUT I SAID, WHAT THE FUCK DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND, BITCH?” he shouted at the top of his lungs as he shoved Natalie off his arm and onto the hard epoxy floor, then resumed his banging on the glass, but much harder now. “You gotta let him out,” I said to the grocery worker as I helped Natalie to her feet. The rest of the dozen customers who were in the store had crowded behind us, watching the whole thing go down. “He’s gonna get us all killed if he breaks that glass,” I argued. “Let him out.” The worker reluctantly put in the code for the door’s automatic opening system to activate, and the glass began to slide to the side. Ari looked back at Natalie in rage, seeing that she was not going to leave with him. The large man then walked out, and the doors shut behind him, immediately being locked by the store lady whose hands were now shaking.
We all watched in silence as Ari’s silhouette disappeared into the fog until the only thing we could make out was his phone’s flashlight gently glowing through the mist. All of a sudden, it seemed like he had stopped moving; the light didn’t get any dimmer or seem to be getting further away at all. As around 17 of us observed from the darkness of the grocery store, a loud shriek was released into the night, and Ari began sprinting back to the door, and his banging resumed.
“LET ME THE FUCK BACK IN THERE’S SOMETHING OUT HE-!” he began to shout but was cut off as his legs were pulled out from under him, and the wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed hard on his stomach, his nose cracking on the concrete. Natalie went to scream, but I covered her mouth, and we both watched as Ari was dragged back into the fog by a tall, lanky humanoid silhouette, still clutching onto his phone. Eventually, the light from his flashlight was completely engulfed by the wall of fog, and we were all left with our mouths agape and tears in our eyes as the severity of our situation set in.
Nobody really said much over the next couple of hours; everyone was too shaken up, I guess. At around quarter past 12 AM, I checked my phone as Natalie lay on top of me, fast asleep, her face buried into my hoodie. She had been crying since… Well, we all watched what happened to Ari. After that, everyone found a place to themselves, and Natalie held onto me, soaking my shoulder with her tears, which made their way down to my skin. I hated that I was happy at that moment. I felt so selfish about being content in her sorrow, but I missed her so much. I missed her more than I let myself know and was just thankful that I had her there with me. I thanked God that I didn't have to go through this nightmare alone.
I fell asleep shortly after, closing my eyes and taking in the noises around me: the humming of the fridges, Natalie's soft breathing, gentle sobs from across the store, and I'm sure a couple of times I heard screams in the distance outside the apparent security of this store.
I awoke to my phone vibrating again, but it was only my 7:30 AM alarm. Natalie must have already been awake because she was holding me tight, and there were fresh tears on my hoodie. I lay there for a bit, hugging her, ignorant to the world that, for all I knew, was ending anyway. I was also ignorant to the fact that the sun hadn't come up, or at least, it wasn't reaching us through the fog, meaning that it must be completely encasing us. How far does the fog stretch? How far would it have to extend into the sky for not even a hint of daylight to shine through? These are questions I did not have because I was holding onto the girl who I had never really stopped loving, making me probably the only person at that moment who was trapped in a dream, not a nightmare.
Natalie and I ate breakfast in silence. I guess there are worse places to be trapped than a well-stocked grocery store; however, as 10 AM rolled around, a new alert sounded out from everyone's phones: “This is an emergency alert. It is still very unsafe outside, so stay where you are. Keep all the lights off, and do not make any noise that will be detectable from outside your structure. Avoid looking into the fog or standing in a position where you are visible from the outside. Cover as many windows as possible and preferably hide in a room that can be locked off from the rest of your structure if necessary. If something is in your structure or is trying to get inside, then it knows you're there. In this scenario, hide; do not attempt to confront it under any circumstances. Notable updates: the electrical and water systems will not be operational by this time tomorrow, so if you have not done so, fill up as many containers with water as you can. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.”
I stood up and stretched, feeling the stiffness in my back from sitting on the hard supermarket floor, and my legs had pins and needles. I looked down at Natalie, who seemed lost in thought. I wasn't sure if she had heard the update, but then again, what did it matter? The loss of power would mean that all the refrigerated items would spoil, but there was enough long-lasting food to feed us all for months, probably, drinks as well. I knew our biggest problem would be warmth as we would lose the electronic heating system, but before I could think any more on that, a commotion broke out on the other side of the store.
A loud crash echoed across the whole building, and as Natalie and I made our way towards the noise, we discovered that one of the other guys who was trapped in here, must have been in his late 50s at least, had been using his free time to get absolutely wasted in the alcoholic section of the store, and was now yanking boxes of booze off of the shelves as he drunkenly laughed to himself. Before I could do anything, another man, maybe in his early 30s, tackled him to the ground and pinned him down, all without saying a word. As the older guy lay there, asking what the problem was in slurred, barely comprehensible English, everyone in the store felt their hearts sink as a loud thumping sound was heard from the front door. And then again, and again, until one of the three store workers, who wandered over to see who was over there, let out an almost impossibly loud scream, and that was what sealed our fate. The store erupted into chaos as the glass door was shattered, and an inhuman shriek reverberated in our ears as whatever was outside was no longer outside.
I looked to Natalie, who appeared to be frozen in place, teary-eyed as she breathed rapid and shallow breaths. I took her by the hand and ran as fast as I could towards the storage room out back. I knew they had to have one in order to hold onto the stock that they couldn't fit on the shelves yet. But as we reached the door, screams and roars filled the store behind us. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that it was locked. I shook the handle out of desperation and then tried to open the other larger door that the forklifts came in and out of, but I didn't know the code.
I embraced Natalie, and I guess I just prepared for it to end until I heard a ‘pssst’ and looked back over to the door to see that the store supervisor was holding it slightly ajar while gesturing for us to quickly come inside. We ran to the entrance and left the main part of the building where we found the supervisor and the other surviving employee, along with one other customer who had apparently been in here ever since Ari was killed.
The lights were on in the storage room because there were no windows, which took a while to adjust to after being in total darkness for the last 12 hours, but it was a nice change. Over the course of the day, we heard many thumps and bangs; occasionally, something would get knocked over, and glass would smash. Whatever was out there was looking everywhere for survivors, but we were safe in here.
Natalie and I made a bed out of a few 20kg sacks of rice, which was honestly so much nicer than the floor. The other three people in there with us tried to ask us about ourselves, our lives, but I did most of the talking. Natalie was still grieving, and the others understood that, though I did see her smile a couple of times, which was nice. The other employee didn't say much; I assumed it was because of what happened to the female staff member after the door shattered, so I didn't really try to push him for conversation. Honestly, I wasn't really in a social mood myself, but it was just nice to have some sense of normalcy after the shitshow that has been our lives over the last couple of days.
On day four, I remembered what the alert had said about the power shutting off. It turns out there's a backup generator that should power everything we need for another couple of days, with most of the lights in the store being off, so it really felt like we were home free. At 10 o'clock on the fourth night, I heard the emergency alert sound off from across the room as I lay next to Natalie, since both of our phones had died already. I tried to listen in on what it was saying, but I couldn't quite make it out from where I was, so I got up in the dark and made my way over to the soft glow of the supervisor's phone screen.
By the time I could hear what was being said, I only just caught the end of it, “Be prepared to stay inside indefinitely. You will receive another alert every twelve hours. Thank you, stand by for any updates.” My heart sank to my stomach hearing this, and as I looked over to the supervisor who shared my expression, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. Indefinitely? I mean, it would be easier for us having all of this stock to ourselves, but what about people trapped in their houses, their cars? How were they expected to survive this? As I pondered to myself, I turned around, suddenly startled by the sound of the male employee speaking for the first time since we’d been here. “Fuck this,” was all he said as he entered the code for the large door, which made a loud mechanical whirring as it lifted up.
I didn't even have time to process what had happened. I didn't have time to be angry at this man for killing us, and I didn't have time to sprint back to Natalie before I heard her being dragged away by one of those creatures, her hands squeaking across the floor as they tried and failed to grip onto it.
The creature was pale, humanoid, but not human. If you've ever seen a hairless chimpanzee, it kind of looked like that, but its limbs were grotesque and distorted, too long for its body, and its face was more human. Its skin was a light grey color, pulled tightly over its strangely proportioned body. I noticed how it was shrieking, an ungodly sound, but its face was expressionless, its mouth only slightly open as it screamed. I think that was the weirdest part. I thought all of this as I watched this hideous thing drag the girl I love into the consuming darkness of the grocery store. That's when something grabbed me by the leg and pulled it out from under me, causing me to hit my head on the floor, and everything faded to black.
“Truth or dare?” Natalie asked me. “Umm, truth,” I replied. Natalie thought for a moment before Sarah, my mate Marcus’ Mrs, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear, causing a massive grin to form on her face. “Okay, okay,” she giggled as she adjusted her posture and looked me in the eyes, trying to keep a straight face. “Okay, Roman, if you were stuck on an island with all of us, who would you eat first?” I thought for a moment as I looked around the hot tub at all of my close friends. My eyes landed on Max, who is quite overweight, and I couldn't help but smile, causing everyone to laugh, including Max who splashed water in my face and retorted, “I'd eat all of you before you got the chance,” to which Marcus said, “We believe you, bud,” and everyone burst out into laughter again.
“Okay, Natalie… truth or dare?” I asked. “Truth!” she replied without hesitation. I pretended to ponder my question for a moment. “Would you-” I began, as I stood up in the pool, clutching something in my left hand, “-make me the happiest man in the world-” I continued as I got down on one knee before her, “-and marry me?” I asked as I held a ring out of the water for her, eliciting a gasp from both of my mates and their partners. Natalie's eyes began to tear up, and she asked, “Are you for real?” covering her mouth with her shaking hands. I nodded yes, and she screamed out, “Yes! Of course I will!” before she jumped on top of me, taking us both underwater as she kissed me.
After we all dried off and said our goodbyes, Max came up to me, “Hey man, congratulations! Honestly, I've been waiting for this day since you guys met. Always knew she was the one for you,” he said. I looked at him for a moment before replying, “What do you mean, bro? When I first started dating her, you told me that she was no good for me. It's like one of the main reasons I broke up w-” That's when the words I was saying hit me in the face like a bag of bricks.
Max stared at me, his smile not shifting in the slightest. “How long have you and Natalie been together now?” he asked. “Must be around 5 years, about time you popped the question, haha,” he chuckled, but with every second that passed, my heart started beating more and more rapidly. “This isn't real,” I said before squeezing my eyes shut, and waking up.
A long tendril slid out of my throat as I fell to the ground below and threw up everywhere. I looked up to see a giant, glowing figure with a dozen other tendrils protruding from its shoulders. The skinny figure stood still, its frame reaching the height of the streetlight next to it. As I tried to make sense of what I was looking at, my eyes made their way down its inhuman body. At the end of each glowing blue tendril was a person, the tendrils entering through each of their mouths, seemingly absorbing something from their bodies as pulsating rings of light emanated from the person and up the tendril. I almost threw up for a second time until I saw Natalie among the dozen bodies attached to the creature. Without hesitation, I reached up to touch her hand, and as I did, I lost consciousness again.
“Unzip the tent, babe, let some light in,” I said as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and cracked my stiff back, cursing myself for forgetting an air mattress on a trip we'd been planning for months. I watched and admired my beautiful fiancée as she got up half-naked and unzipped our tent.
“I hope you slept better than I did,” I muttered as I lay back down in my sleeping bag. “Babe, you should've had the air mattress. I would've been happy to trade places,” Natalie replied as she opened up her pack and started rummaging through it.
“Nah, I'm fine, honestly. I'm not letting my fiancée sleep on the ground,” I retorted, my arm covering my eyes, immediately regretting that I got Natalie to let the sun in. “You're such a man,” she scoffed jokingly as she tossed me one of the pre-made sandwiches from her pack. I paused for a moment, a split second of déjà vu overtaking my body as I read the label.
All of a sudden, I sat up straight in my sleeping bag. “Natalie, this isn't real! None of this is real!” I said to her in a panic, causing her to stare at me, concerned. “Are you feeling okay, Roman?” she asked. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Natalie, the grocery store, the fog, the emergency alert! Don't you remember? None of this is real! We aren't together, we aren't engaged,” I spoke quickly, my voice trembling as I tried to get her to snap out of this false reality. I watched as Natalie's face went white, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What's going on? What is thi-” she started to speak but was interrupted by a familiar shriek in the distance. I looked out of the tent to see at least a thousand of those chimp creatures making their way towards us, seemingly sensing that we weren't being fooled by this illusion any longer.
“Natalie, you have to wake up!” I yelled, the creatures getting closer. “Close your eyes and wake-” I regained consciousness and caught Natalie as the tendril slid out of her throat, letting her fall. She threw up onto the ground as I held her, before staring back up at the massive glowing creature. That's when we looked around. In the distance, there were more glowing creatures, hundreds of them spread out over the town.
“We can see through the fog,” Natalie stated, which I honestly hadn't even noticed until then. That's when we heard frantic screaming and looked to our left. One of those chimp creatures was dragging a man out of his car and over to the glowing figure. We watched as one of the tendrils violently shoved its way down the man's throat, and his screaming stopped. Then, the other creature just walked off, paying us absolutely no mind.
Natalie then looked back up at the bodies attached to the tendrils and gasped as she saw Ari. She went to reach for him, but I grabbed her hand. “Natalie, if you touch him, you'll go back in, and there's no guarantee that you'll ever come back out. It's like it completely wipes your memory every time,” I told her.
“How do you know?" she asked. "Maybe I'll remember the second time.”
“You won't, Natalie. I went back in for you, and I'm lucky that I remembered at all,” I responded. She stared at me for a moment.
“Why did you go back in for me if it's such a big risk?” she questioned.
I paused, my eyes welled up. “Because I love you, Nat-”
An explosion then went off in the distance. I saw it over Natalie's shoulder, then another, then another, each one making its way closer, seemingly each being aimed at those glowing blue creatures. “Run!” I yelled as I grabbed Natalie's hand and sprinted away from Ari and the mass of glowing tentacles. Another explosion went off behind us as a plane roared overhead. The explosion also ignited the service station right next to us, which let off a shockwave that sent us flying off the street. Everything went silent, and I could feel my consciousness once again slipping away. The last thing I saw was Natalie silently screaming in my face, worry overtaking her expression as she held tightly onto my hands. That's when I noticed a piece of fence sticking out of my abdomen. “Shit,” I thought to myself. As everything faded to black, I saw a group of military-looking men running towards Natalie and me, then nothing.
I woke up to the voices of Natalie and Marcus talking to each other. I sat up in the apparent hospital bed I was in and immediately regretted it, holding onto my stomach in pain. “Woah woah, lay back down, bud. Just relax,” Marcus said as he stood up from his chair and slowly laid me back down. Natalie stood up as well, tightly gripping my hand and kissing me on the forehead. “What is this? Is the fog… is it over?” I asked, confused about how we were here right now in a hospital. “No, it's not over. My higher-ups have decided that we have to start over. Most of the remaining world leaders have come to the same consensus,” Marcus paused briefly, “you two were lucky to have survived. Most people didn't. Those… those things-''.
"Those people are still alive, Marcus!" I exclaimed. "You can't just bomb the world when those people are still down there! They're in a trance, living in an illusion that those blue things are creating. I can't explain it, but I saw it. Natalie did too. I only got us out because I felt an unbelievable sense of déjà vu, and realized it wasn't real.”
Marcus looked at me, his expression grave. "I know, Roman. We're trying to figure out a way to deal with them without causing more harm. But right now, the priority is to keep everyone who's still here safe. You and Natalie are the only ones who've had any interaction with those things and came back, and we need your help to understand what happened down there."
I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and frustration. "I'll do whatever I can to help. But we can't forget about them. They're still people, trapped in a nightmare."
Over the next few months, I recounted this story to more officials in suits than I can count. I told them how I had done twice what nobody else had done once. I "went into the dream," as they call it, and I came back both times. Though I did manage to convince them not to bomb the world and kill everyone, it has come at a price.
Natalie sobbed as I told her the plan. She cried into my shoulder, just as she did that night many months ago in the grocery store during the emergency alert. I felt her tears soak down to my skin as I told her that I had to go back into the dream and try to wake everyone up. The chance that I would not wake back up was sitting at the forefront of my mind, but I had to be strong for Nat.
“I just hope that if I do get trapped in a dream, that I'll get to go through with that wedding,” I said to her softly, trying to put on a smile. “If you don't come back, I'm coming in after you,” she replied, tears in her eyes. I wanted to tell her no, I wanted to be selfless. But I knew that I would have no complaints if she and I were trapped together again; that selfish part of my brain was still active.
On the 14th of November, 2023, an emergency alert was sent to every mobile device across the globe. It warned of a thick fog that would swallow any who were caught in its midst, and the whole world locked themselves inside. You may be wondering why I'm telling you this story. You may be thinking to yourself, 'I don't remember the day the fog rolled in and the emergency alert sounded.' That is why I'm telling you this story.
This is not real, you need to wake up.
2024.05.05 03:08 golangprojects [Hiring] Remote Golang job: Senior Software Engineer at Superhuman (San Francisco, California, United States) Salary: $165,000 - $185,000 USD
Salary: $165,000 - $185,000 The fastest email experience in the world Loved and adored: see what our customers say
Our customers get through their inboxes twice as fast; many see inbox zero for the first time in years.
Come shape the future of email, communication, and productivity!
BUILD LOVE 💜 At Superhuman, we deeply understand how to build products that people love. We incorporate fun and play; we infuse magic and joy; we make experiences that amaze and delight.
It all starts with the right team — a team that deeply cares about values, customers, and each other.
CREATE MASSIVE IMPACT 🚀 We're not solving a small problem, and we're not addressing a small market. We're going after email; the one activity that consumes more of our work day than any other.
Our ambition doesn't stop there. Next: calendars, notes, contacts, and tasks. We are building the productivity platform of the future.
DO THE BEST WORK OF YOUR LIFE 🌟 We have created the frameworks for how to build product market fit and redefined the narrative of how to onboard customers successfully. We have shown the world it’s possible to build a premium productivity brand. Our investors include Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, IVP, Tiger Global Management, Sam Altman, and the founders of Gmail, Dropbox, Reddit, Discord, Stripe, GitHub, AngelList, and Intercom.
Our latest financing was led by IVP, and we welcomed Ajay Vashee to our board. Our prior financing was led by Andreessen Horowitz, and we welcomed Marc Andreessen and David Ulevitch to our board.
This time, we’re swinging beyond the fences and fundamentally rethinking how individuals and teams should collaborate. We are building a household brand and a worldwide organization. We are here to do the best work of our lives, and we hope you are too.
ROLE 👩🏽💻👨💻 Successfully implement Calendar features that enhance user experience and drive user engagement Contribute to the product development process: thinking through UX, designing beautiful UI, and working with customers to solve their problems Help estimate, plan, and complete projects, features, and integrations Champion code quality, new technologies, and architectural design within the company Technologies we use: React, Golang, Postgres, Electron, Google Cloud
SOUND LIKE YOU? 🙌 Experience: You have 5+ years of software engineering experience.
Our starting salaries for this role range from $165,000 - $185,000. The salary range does not reflect total compensation, which includes base salary, benefits, and company stock options.
We are open to candidates in the US, Canada, or Latin America. We take a locally informed approach to non-US-based compensation and will be able to share ranges based on your country of residence.
BENEFITS 🎁 Taking Care of Your Future 🙏
Read more / apply: https://www.golangprojects.com/golang-go-job-gmx-Remote-Senior-Software-Engineer-San-Francisco-Superhuman-remotework.html
submitted by golangprojects to jobbit [link] [comments]
Our customers get through their inboxes twice as fast; many see inbox zero for the first time in years.
Come shape the future of email, communication, and productivity!
BUILD LOVE 💜 At Superhuman, we deeply understand how to build products that people love. We incorporate fun and play; we infuse magic and joy; we make experiences that amaze and delight.
It all starts with the right team — a team that deeply cares about values, customers, and each other.
CREATE MASSIVE IMPACT 🚀 We're not solving a small problem, and we're not addressing a small market. We're going after email; the one activity that consumes more of our work day than any other.
Our ambition doesn't stop there. Next: calendars, notes, contacts, and tasks. We are building the productivity platform of the future.
DO THE BEST WORK OF YOUR LIFE 🌟 We have created the frameworks for how to build product market fit and redefined the narrative of how to onboard customers successfully. We have shown the world it’s possible to build a premium productivity brand. Our investors include Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, IVP, Tiger Global Management, Sam Altman, and the founders of Gmail, Dropbox, Reddit, Discord, Stripe, GitHub, AngelList, and Intercom.
Our latest financing was led by IVP, and we welcomed Ajay Vashee to our board. Our prior financing was led by Andreessen Horowitz, and we welcomed Marc Andreessen and David Ulevitch to our board.
This time, we’re swinging beyond the fences and fundamentally rethinking how individuals and teams should collaborate. We are building a household brand and a worldwide organization. We are here to do the best work of our lives, and we hope you are too.
ROLE 👩🏽💻👨💻 Successfully implement Calendar features that enhance user experience and drive user engagement Contribute to the product development process: thinking through UX, designing beautiful UI, and working with customers to solve their problems Help estimate, plan, and complete projects, features, and integrations Champion code quality, new technologies, and architectural design within the company Technologies we use: React, Golang, Postgres, Electron, Google Cloud
SOUND LIKE YOU? 🙌 Experience: You have 5+ years of software engineering experience.
Technical Skills: You’re an expert in frontend technologies such as Javascript or Typescript. You have a strong foundation in software engineering principles that prioritize high-quality, maintainable code that adheres to best practices. You're able to identify problems, propose solutions, and make informed decisions to drive forward our technical efforts. You're comfortable dealing with ambiguity and can think critically to make decisions that benefit the company and our users. Remarkable Quality: You produce work that is striking, worthy of attention, and a contribution to the state of the art. Asynchronous Communicator: You’re effective across various mediums (especially Slack, Notion, and email) and can produce and consume detailed written materials as needed without sacrificing speed. You respond quickly and thoughtfully to unblock others and speed things up. Start-to-Finish Ownership: You act with 100% responsibility for your own outcomes as well as the outcomes of the company. You discuss and debates ideas openly. You focus on the customer and business ‘so what’ and challenge stakeholders to take impactful action. Bias to action: Speed matters. You take rapid and decisive steps forward, even in the face of uncertainty, and recognize that action is the catalyst for progress and growth. Location: We're open to you joining us in our San Francisco office or from a home office anywhere in North or South America.SALARY INFO 💸 The Software Engineer, Calendar role spans several internal levels and a wide breadth of experience at Superhuman. Our compensation band reflects the potentially broad range of candidates and experience levels that we are open to hiring for this role.
Our starting salaries for this role range from $165,000 - $185,000. The salary range does not reflect total compensation, which includes base salary, benefits, and company stock options.
We are open to candidates in the US, Canada, or Latin America. We take a locally informed approach to non-US-based compensation and will be able to share ranges based on your country of residence.
BENEFITS 🎁 Taking Care of Your Future 🙏
Medical, dental, and vision insurance: 100% coverage for you and 75% coverage for all your dependents. Voluntary insurance: short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance. 401(k) plan (we match 75 cents per dollar, up to 4% of your salary). Free access to Northstar, a financial wellness platform that provides financial advisors + personal finance tools.Generous Time Off 🏝
Enjoy our generous and flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) policy, with our amazing team members taking an average of 20 days per year. 13 additional company holidays, plus your own Care Days, Flexible Holidays, and a company-wide Winter Break. Generous parental, caregiver, healthcare, and compassionate leave policies.Investing in Your Growth ✍️
$3000 per year towards your professional development. Free access to Calm and Taskhuman. Allyship education program to help build your best self.Setting You Up For Success 🧑🏻💻👩🏾💻
Custom MacBook Pro. $1000 budget for workstation setup. $260/month for your lunches, groceries, or whatever nutrition you need to stay fueled up! Flexible spending accounts for commuter costs, dependent care, and healthcare expenses.At Superhuman, we value diversity. We are an equal opportunity employer: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
Read more / apply: https://www.golangprojects.com/golang-go-job-gmx-Remote-Senior-Software-Engineer-San-Francisco-Superhuman-remotework.html
2024.05.04 07:14 golangprojects [Hiring] Remote Golang job: Senior Software Engineer at Superhuman (San Francisco, California, United States) Salary: $165,000 - $185,000 USD
Salary: $165,000 - $185,000 The fastest email experience in the world Loved and adored: see what our customers say
Our customers get through their inboxes twice as fast; many see inbox zero for the first time in years.
Come shape the future of email, communication, and productivity!
BUILD LOVE 💜 At Superhuman, we deeply understand how to build products that people love. We incorporate fun and play; we infuse magic and joy; we make experiences that amaze and delight.
It all starts with the right team — a team that deeply cares about values, customers, and each other.
CREATE MASSIVE IMPACT 🚀 We're not solving a small problem, and we're not addressing a small market. We're going after email; the one activity that consumes more of our work day than any other.
Our ambition doesn't stop there. Next: calendars, notes, contacts, and tasks. We are building the productivity platform of the future.
DO THE BEST WORK OF YOUR LIFE 🌟 We have created the frameworks for how to build product market fit and redefined the narrative of how to onboard customers successfully. We have shown the world it’s possible to build a premium productivity brand. Our investors include Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, IVP, Tiger Global Management, Sam Altman, and the founders of Gmail, Dropbox, Reddit, Discord, Stripe, GitHub, AngelList, and Intercom.
Our latest financing was led by IVP, and we welcomed Ajay Vashee to our board. Our prior financing was led by Andreessen Horowitz, and we welcomed Marc Andreessen and David Ulevitch to our board.
This time, we’re swinging beyond the fences and fundamentally rethinking how individuals and teams should collaborate. We are building a household brand and a worldwide organization. We are here to do the best work of our lives, and we hope you are too.
ROLE 👩🏽💻👨💻 Successfully implement Calendar features that enhance user experience and drive user engagement Contribute to the product development process: thinking through UX, designing beautiful UI, and working with customers to solve their problems Help estimate, plan, and complete projects, features, and integrations Champion code quality, new technologies, and architectural design within the company Technologies we use: React, Golang, Postgres, Electron, Google Cloud
SOUND LIKE YOU? 🙌 Experience: You have 5+ years of software engineering experience.
Our starting salaries for this role range from $165,000 - $185,000. The salary range does not reflect total compensation, which includes base salary, benefits, and company stock options.
We are open to candidates in the US, Canada, or Latin America. We take a locally informed approach to non-US-based compensation and will be able to share ranges based on your country of residence.
BENEFITS 🎁 Taking Care of Your Future 🙏
Read more / apply: https://www.golangprojects.com/golang-go-job-gmx-Remote-Senior-Software-Engineer-San-Francisco-Superhuman-remotework.html
submitted by golangprojects to techjobs [link] [comments]
Our customers get through their inboxes twice as fast; many see inbox zero for the first time in years.
Come shape the future of email, communication, and productivity!
BUILD LOVE 💜 At Superhuman, we deeply understand how to build products that people love. We incorporate fun and play; we infuse magic and joy; we make experiences that amaze and delight.
It all starts with the right team — a team that deeply cares about values, customers, and each other.
CREATE MASSIVE IMPACT 🚀 We're not solving a small problem, and we're not addressing a small market. We're going after email; the one activity that consumes more of our work day than any other.
Our ambition doesn't stop there. Next: calendars, notes, contacts, and tasks. We are building the productivity platform of the future.
DO THE BEST WORK OF YOUR LIFE 🌟 We have created the frameworks for how to build product market fit and redefined the narrative of how to onboard customers successfully. We have shown the world it’s possible to build a premium productivity brand. Our investors include Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, IVP, Tiger Global Management, Sam Altman, and the founders of Gmail, Dropbox, Reddit, Discord, Stripe, GitHub, AngelList, and Intercom.
Our latest financing was led by IVP, and we welcomed Ajay Vashee to our board. Our prior financing was led by Andreessen Horowitz, and we welcomed Marc Andreessen and David Ulevitch to our board.
This time, we’re swinging beyond the fences and fundamentally rethinking how individuals and teams should collaborate. We are building a household brand and a worldwide organization. We are here to do the best work of our lives, and we hope you are too.
ROLE 👩🏽💻👨💻 Successfully implement Calendar features that enhance user experience and drive user engagement Contribute to the product development process: thinking through UX, designing beautiful UI, and working with customers to solve their problems Help estimate, plan, and complete projects, features, and integrations Champion code quality, new technologies, and architectural design within the company Technologies we use: React, Golang, Postgres, Electron, Google Cloud
SOUND LIKE YOU? 🙌 Experience: You have 5+ years of software engineering experience.
Technical Skills: You’re an expert in frontend technologies such as Javascript or Typescript. You have a strong foundation in software engineering principles that prioritize high-quality, maintainable code that adheres to best practices. You're able to identify problems, propose solutions, and make informed decisions to drive forward our technical efforts. You're comfortable dealing with ambiguity and can think critically to make decisions that benefit the company and our users. Remarkable Quality: You produce work that is striking, worthy of attention, and a contribution to the state of the art. Asynchronous Communicator: You’re effective across various mediums (especially Slack, Notion, and email) and can produce and consume detailed written materials as needed without sacrificing speed. You respond quickly and thoughtfully to unblock others and speed things up. Start-to-Finish Ownership: You act with 100% responsibility for your own outcomes as well as the outcomes of the company. You discuss and debates ideas openly. You focus on the customer and business ‘so what’ and challenge stakeholders to take impactful action. Bias to action: Speed matters. You take rapid and decisive steps forward, even in the face of uncertainty, and recognize that action is the catalyst for progress and growth. Location: We're open to you joining us in our San Francisco office or from a home office anywhere in North or South America.SALARY INFO 💸 The Software Engineer, Calendar role spans several internal levels and a wide breadth of experience at Superhuman. Our compensation band reflects the potentially broad range of candidates and experience levels that we are open to hiring for this role.
Our starting salaries for this role range from $165,000 - $185,000. The salary range does not reflect total compensation, which includes base salary, benefits, and company stock options.
We are open to candidates in the US, Canada, or Latin America. We take a locally informed approach to non-US-based compensation and will be able to share ranges based on your country of residence.
BENEFITS 🎁 Taking Care of Your Future 🙏
Medical, dental, and vision insurance: 100% coverage for you and 75% coverage for all your dependents. Voluntary insurance: short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance. 401(k) plan (we match 75 cents per dollar, up to 4% of your salary). Free access to Northstar, a financial wellness platform that provides financial advisors + personal finance tools.Generous Time Off 🏝
Enjoy our generous and flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) policy, with our amazing team members taking an average of 20 days per year. 13 additional company holidays, plus your own Care Days, Flexible Holidays, and a company-wide Winter Break. Generous parental, caregiver, healthcare, and compassionate leave policies.Investing in Your Growth ✍️
$3000 per year towards your professional development. Free access to Calm and Taskhuman. Allyship education program to help build your best self.Setting You Up For Success 🧑🏻💻👩🏾💻
Custom MacBook Pro. $1000 budget for workstation setup. $260/month for your lunches, groceries, or whatever nutrition you need to stay fueled up! Flexible spending accounts for commuter costs, dependent care, and healthcare expenses.At Superhuman, we value diversity. We are an equal opportunity employer: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
Read more / apply: https://www.golangprojects.com/golang-go-job-gmx-Remote-Senior-Software-Engineer-San-Francisco-Superhuman-remotework.html