It was so awkward to have no sense of up or down. Sometimes, he would bump into a handle or some wires. It was so cramped in the small cabin. How much did he pay for this trip? Only a quarter of his yearly earnings? A long vacation would help him relax. He glanced at the computer clock. In huge block numbers, it said "4:36 PM 9/21/56". Eric's eyelids started to get heavy. He turned over, found a comfortable position, and slept.
Something rocked the ship. Eric's head slammed into something metallic. Clang, clang, bonk. Eric shook himself, and looked at the ship's hull readings. The machine apparently logged nothing. The ship rocked again. This time, the lights flickered out. The only thing Eric could see was the fluorescent panel. An explosion suddenly shook the entire cabin. He felt himself crash into glass. Desperately, he opened the ship sensors. Again, no log of anything near the ship was recorded. The cabin suddenly grew cold. There was a presence here, and he felt it engulf the ship in total blackness. Another explosion tore open the cabin door. Shock waves rippled through the cabin. His head hit something sharp, and felt himself drift away, still looking at his bloody hand.
+ + + + + + + + + + +
Colonel Schwartzchild fiddled with his pen as he thought. There were over a dozen packets on his long, black desk. A tall, lean man of around forty, he had met many dilemmas before on Earth, but... on the moon? He thought of many things from a military perspective. Whatever happened, it could not have been done by terrorists. Even if all the terrorists in the world merged and formulated this attack, they simply didn't have the necessary firepower to do it.
Schwartzchild's head hurt from lack of sleep, but he was so focused of this event he dared not rest. He remembered the shock he went through as he got the first look at the pictures. Huge constructions simply obliterated. Precision infrared radars captured no signs of life. Whatever occurred came by swiftly and without warning. Ironically, all the buildings that weren't damaged had 100% efficiency and ability to function. The lunar bases stretched over three major areas on the moon: Sea of Tranquility to as far north as the Sea of Serenity, and as west as Mare Nubium. To extinguish civilization that has taken centuries to create is simply unreal.
To add the anomaly, no bodies were detected on any of the sites. Either the humans there got blown to heck, or something there broke down their molecular structure. Schwartzchild was worried. Should he send a clean-up crew of, say, perhaps two million? Would he put these peoples' lives in danger?
A short, uniformed man came in the room. He had long hair, and his eyes were deeply set. He had a serious look on his face as he brought an envelope to the colonel's desk.
"Dr. Kersha sent this, sir!"
"Thank you, private." Schwartzchild accepted the envelope and was surprised when the soldier didn't move to leave.
"He said not to mention the contents to anyone, sir!"
"All right, tell him he has my word. You may be excused."
"Thank you, SIR!" He marched out.
The private had barely closed the door when another uniformed soldier came in, along with two other doctors in jump suits. The other uniformed soldier was female, and walked in a proud way. They sat down at the desk, and stared at each other, nodding at Schwartzchild. The colonel sighed, knowing that these people wanted a response, an action.
He took out the vanilla envelope and read the contents inside, careful not to show the others. It wasn't a letter. Instead, there were many different documentations, and a list. He picked it up, and briefly read it. It was a catalog of all probes heading toward to moon. In the middle, a highlighted name appeared. Nostak II, headed for the crater Copernicus, just north of Male Nubium. The ship had sent out an emergency signal at 4:35 PM on the twenty-first, but something blocked to signal and contained for a few hours.
Schwartzchild picked up the second piece of paper. It was a picture of a sensor radar also sent by the emergency signal. At the bottom, notes said <<UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT BEARING 250 MARK 12 IN PURSUIT>>. The picture looked peculiar...
000000001111111000000000001111111111111111000000
000000011111111111111111111111111111111111000000
000000011111111111111011111111111111111111111000
000111111111111111111111111111111111111111110000
001111111111100000000000000000011111111111100000
011111111111100000000000000000011111111111000000
Schwartzchild had to squint to see the scan...radars sent messages only in binary. The thing looked awfully familiar...Oh my god, he thought. This is the front view of a Vietian Warbird. He shook his head. But could this one Warbird have the ability to corrupt the entire moon? Not bothering to look at the other pieces of paper, the colonel turned to the others.
"Anything from NSA?"
"No," one of the doctors said. "They are under a lot of pressure from the military and from the media. They said they would give us everything as soon as they find anything."
Schwartzchild looked at the radar image again. He wanted to know if any military vessels were near the Nostak. Only one passenger was inside, so there was no way he could've sent for help.
"What do you guys want me to say? That I'm going to send a load of scientists to the moon and hope they won't die?"
"We know you have been working hard on this case, colonel. We need facts. Solid facts. Stuff that's enough to base a theory on. We can't let the loss of more than a million lives go. Whatever happened there could happen on Earth. We need to find solutions, counters even."
"You're right. What happened there could happen on Earth. But don't you think we should settle for a while before venturing into those colonies? We had defense there on the moon. We had radars. Something bypassed all of those, and we didn't even have a chance to fight back. Of the thousands of satellites orbiting the moon this instant, none of them caught anything on tape or camera. Maybe it was a warning, Warrick. Some unknown life is out there. I will not send anyone else to their deaths." The colonel leaned back on his chair, frustrated.
"We have some clues, sir." The uniformed officer piped up. "For example, look at this."
She presented a CD, and inserted it into the slot in the wall. A screen suddenly appeared on the wall, and a slideshow started. She found a pointer, and started to talk about how the attack was related to a Nostak capsule. They already know this? Schwartzchild thought.
"Look here... the NSA has given us pictures of the craft before liftoff, and one in space. We also have a picture that the sensors picked up during the alarm."
As if on cue, a picture of the binary picture and the liftoff picture appeared on the screen. Jesus, the colonel thought. How far behind am I?
"Here's where it gets interesting."
The first officer then said, "Rotation, 90 degrees starboard."
The picture on the wall suddenly turned. The officer traced the binary picture with her finger, and then dragged it over to the liftoff picture. They fitted perfectly with each other.
"You're saying that the sensor took a picture of its reflection? What in he-"
"The Nostak is a new ship, sir. It was probably not a malfunction. Something was out there."
Schwartzchild looked in disbelief.
"We don't know about you, sir," One of the doctors said. "But we're going to the moon."
2. REMISSION
Doctor Ronald Mariano sat on his front lawn, playing with his kids, Bobby and Sue. He had smiled for the first time in weeks. This past month, the Army had been obsessed about their new infrastructure for their Warbirds, and had been bugging Mariano's family for years to help them test the new hull. Ronald looked up at the night sky. It was going to be such a nice break. There was a green light somewhere above.
"Aurora..." he whispered. He turned to watch his kids.
Suddenly, his tie seemed to be too tight. Something was hovering over him, something black and demanding. It reached for him with its clawless hands. The thing engulfed him, took his whole body, and started to engulf the entire town. Slowly, one by one, the citizens were taken in, screaming, yelling, and pleading. Ronald struggled inside the darkness until he lost consciousness.
A light shone in the distance. Somewhere, water splashed noisily. Ronald opened his eyes. What paradise! The beautiful beach seemed to stretch on for thousands of miles. He jumped into the water. Instead of feeling fluid, he felt like something was dragging him, pulling him deeper.
An entity emerged, and buried itself deep into Ronald's skull. He felt no pain at first, but then the feeling of something in his head impaired his ability to think and move. The entity wanted something, and punished Ronald for not having it. And then, it found the brain.
The one portion of a vertebrate that controlled thoughts, movement, senses, and memory. The one portion that a vertebrate wouldn't want any alien entity to control. The brain stored tons of information, collected data, and for humans, could let them imagine. The ability to do such a thing is unique, and probably the reason we control the Earth. This entity could learn much from the human brain.
Give me information, the alien said, forcing the idea into his mind.
Ronald what horrified by the alien's ability to communicate. He could feel the alien pressing harder against his skull, and forced him to give it. He fed thoughts into the alien, giving portions from his memory. He first showed him the beach, his house, the neighborhood. He then showed him books he had read and wrote. The entity didn't seem interested, though it seemed to store the information anyway.
Ronald was frightened. The thing was like a huge vacuum that never got full. Ronald showed the thing feelings, expressions, and how people lied and told the truth...how people smiled and frowned. Ronald knew what he had to do. He simply had to give the entity random thoughts, buying time to regain his energy. He crunched the military information deep down, and began to feed stray thoughts.
Sergeant S. Klifford had a hard time evading the entity's hunger. He tried to give the strategies of war first, then a piece of the military positions slowly...one at a time. It didn't work. The sergeant could not escape, and was slowly forced to give up. He clenched his hands into a fist, hoping to endure the pain that the entity gave. He couldn't last longer. Like so many others, he would soon weaken, and fail all of Earth.
Schwartzchild looked out of the small porthole in the capsule, staring at Earth. Something didn't look right...
"Hank...Hank!! Get over here!" he exclaimed.
The short-haired doctor came, tired and sleepy.
"Could you please tell me what that is?" Schwartzchild said, pointing at the Earth.
"I don't see any-" The doctor squinted his eyes. "Oh my god. Carolyn, turn the ship around."
The ship slowly rotated until the nose was pointing towards the Earth.
"Turn on the scope...quick!"
The screen above them suddenly portrayed a view of the Earth.
"Magnify, point two-three-six. Western Hemisphere."
The screen zoomed in, and to their dismay, the crew watched a huge black area that slowly seemed to spread outwards. Schwartzchild glared at the thing.
"That, gentlemen, is the face of the devil. That is our End."
"Head back, Carolyn. Approach at impulse."
"Roger."
The ship's engines hummed lightly, and within minutes, they were heading back.
3. SPIRITS
The black plague seemed to spread everywhere. Half the Earth was covered in it, and it was assumed that no one was alive under the horrifying blackness. Every morning, cannons erupted, firing into the black mist. Every morning, the defenders were driven back. The resistance was faltering; the power of the men was fading.
In Kyoto, Alexis Lupin drank a cup of coffee. He walked over to a small Buddhist Monastery. There were two monks inside, chanting the rhythmic prayer. Alexis was Roman. He didn't come to be converted. He walked up to the bust of Buddha.
"Wise One, how do you stop what is unstoppable?"
The Buddhists stopped chanting.
"You are pure of heart, young one." One Buddhist said. "Kasha, go. Uncle will be back."
The other monk promptly walked out of the room.
"You cannot defeat the unstoppable by fighting it. Bow to it, young one. Challenge it by whatever you are good at. There are twelve in this world who know about how this necrosis works, and what its goal here is."
The monk got up, and walked over to the window. Alexis got up, and followed.
"See this dove? It represents peace. It cannot be consumed by the Unworthy."
The monk turned to face Alexis.
"There are twelve of us, Alexis. Twelve who know the thing's intention. It knows us, too. It knows where to find us. The entity becomes stronger with each new information it gathers. After I tell you, there will be thirteen. It wants spirits, Alexis. Certain spirits are strong, and they will teach the entity more things than one can possibility imagine. It will force the information out, and be able to predict your every step. Our species is a type that thrives on independency. The thing is one being, and it collects information. Once it learns everything it can about us, it will destroy us. It knows what we think, and knows what we can make up. It won't be long now, Alexis."
"Teach me, Wise One. Tell me what I must do."
Somewhere, the sounds of chimes broke the peace.
"You can learn yourself. Bow to it."
The monk was silent for a while.
"Ten of the thirteen spirits have already been consumed. Once it collects all thirteen, it will have the fundamental concepts of life, and it will be able to get everything from what it has. I have to go fight it."
"You cannot, Wise One. You will perish."
"Death I don't fear. Cowardice I do."
Schwartzchild jumped off the boarding dock of the ship, clutching the manila envelope to his chest. He phoned Dr. Kersha, and managed to meet him in Hong Kong. The plague was still spreading.
"Listen, I want to be brief." Schwartzchild said as they drank tea. "What is going on?"
"I cannot tell you," Kersha replied. "It will kill you to know anything. I'm in danger myself. I can say one thing, though. Whatever you do, don't read the last three pages in that envelope. The entity knows where you are as soon as you know what its intention is."
"What?"
"That officer who gave you the envelope read it, and was assimilated. There are thirteen who know. Don't make yourself the fourteenth."
"I don't understand. What is that thing going to do?" Schwartzchild asked.
"I can't tell. I wish you did understand. I have to go. Don't come near me, or the entity will take you as well." Kersha got up, and left.
What is he doing? Schwartzchild wondered. Thirteen people? Out of more than ten billion? The entity is collecting information, but why does it want to kill thirteen so much?
Schwartzchild phoned Hank.
"Get a ship. We need to get off this planet now"
4. GO
The entity had killed twelve of the thirteen. It had already consumed the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Hunting, working, technology all came to him in a wild rush. But above all, the entity needed to find the thirteenth spirit that still lingered. Once the thirteenth has died, he could launch an attack on the rest of Earth. There was no need to consume those that were weaker than him. The entity headed for Japan.
Alexis sat beneath the ceilings of the monastery. Patience was a factor necessary in survival. He closed his eyes, and felt the ridges of the floor. Outside, the chimes ringed again, this time furiously. Something was outside. Alexis did not get up. He did not go to meet the entity, but rather waited for it to come to him. The entity stepped inside. It took the form of a human shadow, with no eyes or any other features except darkness.
"The humans were easy to corrupt. One soul sprang to curiosity, and from there you were gone." The Unworthy came closer.
"All you know is how to battle. Is your mind as strong as your arm?" Alexis looked up at it.
"So the thirteenth wishes not to die by my fist. Then tell me, how would you like to die?"
Alexis got up, and bowed.
"In the ancient Asian culture, there is a game that blossomed from the master artists and mathematicians. Seeing how you have consumed millions, you must know a lot. You learned nearly everything that a human mind can possibly think of." He said.
Slowly, Alexis walked over to the center of the monastery, and picked up a board. He then strode over to the Unworthy, fearless.
"This game is known as `Go' in English, wei chi in Chinese. It is the pride of our culture, and we shall honor it." Alexis said, eyes narrowing.
He picked up a bag from the floor, full of white pebbles. The bag ripped in mid-air. Over a hundred pebbles fell towards the ground. It was then that Alexis knew what he was up against. Countless arms spread out from the dark shape, forming the shapes of hands, and grasped at the pebbles, collecting each neatly and placing them into a pile on the side. The entity knelt.
"When I first came to this planet, I was weak. I could barely move, and each assimilation harmed me. There is more than one life force in me, Thirteenth. I can beat you in any one of your games."
Alexis smiled. He took a pebble, and placed in on the board.
Go is an ancient game that was invented and played by many over four thousand years ago. The game is set on a board with 19 by 19 lines (not boxes). The pieces were pebbles, and there were no rankings in the pieces like in chess. The pieces could only be put onto the intersection of two lines, so there would be 361 spaces for all of the pieces to be played on. Go is a game with the purpose of taking up "land". A piece could be captured by surrounding the piece with four pieces that surround it from north to east to south to west direction. However, it would take six to capture 2, etc. A usual game would take more than an hour, at least. There are numerous strategies involved, like fei, li, liang, jiang, hu, and bann. Players usually had to play on a different level of thinking, because they had to `see' many steps ahead of them to win.
The entity was losing...he could feel it. Alexis felt the nervous tension as it slowly placed his pebbles. Alexis preferred to play on the sides and corners, taking up more land area than the entity.
The sky had already darkened. Nobody came inside the monastery to see; no one even knew the entity was there. No one expected that the battle for mankind was happening in a small building. Alex placed the final pebble. The entity shook its head. They got up.
"How did you...?" The alien asked, dumbfounded.
"You consumed the others, but you don't know how I play. You couldn't find a counter, and for the first time, you faltered." Alex reached out a hand.
The entity looked for an awkward moment. Its bulky dark arms came to shake his, but instead grabbed his neck.
"You will die, Thirteenth. No game can save you."
Alexis looked in horror. The black pebbles disintegrated. With a poof, the entity disappeared.
Alex knelt in front of the statue of Buddha.
"Wise One, you have saved me."
There was a noise behind him. He turned around. There, beneath his feet, lay twelve others, so brave and fearless. Within seconds, the spirits were gone. Alex smiled. He waited for his first glimpse of paradise.
Schwartzchild and the others looked out from the porthole of the ship. They watched in awe as the blackness broke up.
"The sky...it's so beautiful."
"It always is, Hank, it always is."
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