Article 2: Delusion

"It went like this: There was a day when I was working in my lab and was analyzing weather patterns. My goal was to try and create a better model for predicting weather patterns. To do this, I needed data. My lab was equipped with the right technology to observe the local weather, so I could see about as far as lower Montana, west Nevada, middle Colorado, and middle Arizona. It was when I looked at the images from the data that I noticed something very strange. Over Colorado, there was an area in the mountains that had a pattern of weather I had never seen before, and in all honesty, it was something that shouldn't have been possible, given the climate and geography. So, in order to solve this strangeness, I decided to investigate. I also brought my protégé along with me to gain some experience. Haha... I shouldn't have, now looking at it in hindsight."

***

"Hey, Professor Weber, what do you think is going on here?"

"Harrison, don't ask stupid questions. I wouldn't be here if I knew what was going on here."

The person named Harrison was my protégé. His full name was Harrison Barton. He was a graduate student studying for his master's degree, I was just helping him along the way.

When we got to the location of the anomaly, the area looked somewhat overcast, like it was going to rain, yet couldn't quite leak out a drizzle.

Where we had parked was a gravel parking lot that sat in a clearing that had a few hiking trails leading away from it. It was obvious that this was a spot where the outdoorsy types frequented.

"Harrison, we should find a higher vantage point to see the sky clearer. The trees block our sight lines too much."

"Okay..." Harrison said while looking around. He was taller than I was, with a nice height of 6'2". I wouldn't say he was a handsome boy, but he wasn't ugly either. In fact, he had a girlfriend. Her name was Sarah Miche, she was a kind girl, a little taller than average, around 5'6", and she had beautiful hazel eyes, and chestnut brown hair. It was a surprise that Harrison could actually hook such a looker when he wasn't himself. But, they made for a very wholesome couple and I thought of them similar to how an uncle thinks of his niece or nephew.

Harrison and I had known one another since his undergraduate years. It was during his freshman year; he took my class and would always ask questions about the lecture material. To be honest it was quite bothersome, but I eventually grew to appreciate his company. Slow but surely we drew closer and became friends.

His senior year was when he met his girlfriend. They had been dating now for two and a half years. I had met her many times as Harrison and I were good friends. With Harrison feeling like the son I never had, Sarah quickly became like a daughter I never had.

As a group we would go out for drinks, go to movies, etc. The usual things friends did together. While I was usually like a third wheel, I didn't mind, because it was satisfying to watch Harrison and Sarah grow closer together.

"Oh! Before I forget, Harold, I need to show you something," after Harrison said this, he fished out of his pocket a small box. But, upon seeing said box, I knew what was in it. It was a box for an engagement ring. Harrison slowly opened the box and showed me the ring.

"Do you think she'll like it?"

The ring was modest, which correlated with his earnings. Despite that, I knew Sarah would love it. The ring was made out of a silvery material that had an opaque white that was detailed into it. On top of the ring sat a jewel made of moissanite, a diamond-like material, but was cheaper and looked nicer.

"I think she'll love it. When are you going to propose?"

"I'm thinking of doing it after we get back. Not right away, of course. But, on our date this Friday, I'll drop the question."

"I'm happy for you. You guys make a beautiful couple."

The news that he was going to propose was quite surprising. Although they had spent nearly three years of their life together, I would've thought he would've waited till after they completed their degrees and gotten a stable job. But, if he was ready to do it, I was willing to support him.

To the smiling idiot in front of me, I asked:

"Now, do you see a place we could set up?"

"... I think I spotted something over there," Harrison said, pointing in the direction of a trail leading directly up the mountain.

"Alright, I'll get the gear, you lead the way."

Our elevation was around 8400 feet or about 2560 meters. Relative to the mountains around us, that was quite low. As such, we needed to climb up higher to get a better view of the surrounding skies.

Harrison led the way as we climbed up the side of the mountain, carrying various instruments along with us. The hike in itself was quite enjoyable since the interstate and other heavy-traffic roads were out of earshot. Still, the overcast sky caused it to be quite cool out.

After around an hour of hiking, we finally reached a point high enough to where we could see the sky clear enough. When we did, we could only marvel at the oddity spinning above our heads.

"Hey, Harold, doesn't this look somewhat like a mini-hurricane?"

"You could say that..."

While there was wind, it was light on the ground; but up in the sky, the clouds were turning rapidly. It was the same phenomenon that I had seen in the lab, but seeing it in person with my own eyes was a whole different story.

It was almost serene, watching the clouds twist and turn. The relative stillness of the whole forest only made the spectacle that much more breathtaking.

"Quickly, set up the equipment. We can't let this chance slide past us," I said, lightly slapping Harrison's arm while we both still had our gazes fixed on the oddity in the sky.

While the weather had maintained this weird pattern for some time now, I never knew when it would change and every moment wasted could spell for a wasted opportunity to capture a rare weather pattern.

After a few minutes, we had everything set up. All the recording devices and various instruments that could analyze virtually everything we wanted to know about what was going on were primed and recording.

After watching the hypnotic spiral in the sky for some time, we checked the instruments to see what we could find.

To our shock, the tools analyzed that the wind was flowing normally and that we shouldn't be seeing a "cyclone" of sorts, but typical weather phenomena.

That was where it got very strange. The only question in my mind was "Why?" Why was there a cyclone and how was it being formed if the wind was moving in a pattern consistent with regular patterns?

"Harold, this data makes no sense. How can a cyclone be formed if there isn't a warm-cold mixture of air to produce the effects seen in similar weather patterns like tornadoes or hurricanes?"

"... I don't know. But whatever is going on here... I don't think it is natural."

"What does that mean? That someone is causing the weather to be like that? Don't be ridiculous, we don't have the technology capable of doing something like that."

What he said was right. No technology on Earth had the capability to control the weather to such a degree, if you exclude extreme cases like atomic bombs and the like. Even if a technology like the rumored HAARP project did exist, why would they use it to create such a thing in Colorado of all places? The answer was: they wouldn't. So, that begged the question: what was going on here?

"Harrison, I don't know what is going on here, just like you. But, can you explain what we are seeing?"

"No, I can't, but it can't be man made. As I said, no technology available is able to produce an effect like this."

"I agree, no technology available could do this. I can only think that something with the Earth's magnetic field is affecting this. But, our electronics are working fine, so it shouldn't be that. And, as we've agreed, no human technology could do this. So, again, what could do this? We've never seen cloud formations not follow wind patterns like this before. If it wasn't a created effect, then how can you explain this?"

"..."

Harrison couldn't refute what I had said. All the relevant explanations didn't explain what we were seeing. It was something incomprehensible. Something that shouldn't exist, but it was there, right in front of us.

"Harold...what do we even do now? We've used all our various analysis tools and nothing can help us make sense of this... Should we just give up and go back?"

"... I know what you mean. Even if we continue to examine this, with our current arsenal of tools, we won't find anything else out. But, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Something that will most likely never happen again in our lifetimes. I don't want to waste the chance at observing such a rarity. Even if I can't learn anything about it now, maybe I will be able to in the future. We have the data and the footage of this cyclone...so, even if we can't learn anything now, we may be able to understand it at a later date. Harrison, I don't mean to keep you here, if you want to head on back, I won't stop you."

The strange weather phenomena was like a golden egg for a meteorologist like myself, it was like a physicist discovering a new particle. However, Harrison was more pragmatic than I was. He saw what we were doing as a fruitless endeavor, even if it was strange and unexplainable. He'd rather ignore it and move on, rather than be stuck on something that wasn't guaranteed to go anywhere.

Harrison decided to head down before I did, in the end. He carried enough gear for two and descended with heavy steps—literally.

I don't know how long I stood there, gazing up at the swirling clouds. It must have been an hour or so that I had been watching, in a trance induced by the lulling smoothness of the turning miasma above me.

However, like a shot to my heart, in the absolute silence of the calm afternoon and overcast skies, a loud explosion could be heard from above the cloud layer. It sounded like a fighter jet plummeting down towards me, the horribly loud, static-like sound pounding against my eardrums.

It was then that I saw it. A flaming ball came rocketing through the eye of the cyclone, passing overhead and down toward the base of the mountain.

Shock, surprise, confusion!

Many emotions flashed past me in that instant. I was mainly bewildered since it was rare to see a falling meteorite firsthand. However, that all changed once I realized the direction it headed towards.

Harrison and I had parked at the bottom of the mountain in a valley, along a creak. That was the same place the meteorite was headed.

I started to panic. But, I couldn't do anything.

I helplessly watched the bottom of the mountain as the light of an explosion grew brighter at the impact of the meteorite.

Horrified, desperate, all sorts of negative emotions washed over me, looking at the devilish glow receding from the impact site.

I don't know what came over me or how, but I swear I made it down that mountain in only ten minutes. Afterwards, I realized it was longer than that and as a result of my desperation I had broken my ankle and torn a ligament. But, in the seemingly short, yet ever so long time of my descent, Harrison—my good friend—had been lying in a dying state.

When I got to him, all I could see was the upper half of his body...it was the worst thing I had ever seen.

His entrails laid strewn here and there, while the rest dangled out of his abdomen. His lower body was laying down next to the van, becoming charred by the fire taking place, where it was obvious that a large piece of metal from the van had sliced him in half after it exploded.

When I saw Harrison lying there, I don't know how, if not by God's grace, but Harrison was barely alive. Before I could do anything, Harrison spoke in a pained and hoarse voice, "Harold... Urk!... Take care...of Sarah...for me.... Please! Agh! Cough! Cough!"

To end his plea, he coughed up a glass of blood, signifying that he most likely had a punctured lung, and he would soon die.

"Harrison... Sob....NO! Hold on! I'm calling for help! Just hang in there!"

In the back of my mind, despite hoping that Harrison would be fine, I knew he was living on borrowed time. Calling for help was my only desperate act to save my beloved friend of six years.

"911, where's your emergency?"

"Yes! My friend, he's dying... I need an ambulance here as soon as possible! My location is Squaw Creek Rd. near Edwards!"

Despite being in a frantic state, I tried to stay composed as to give the relevant information as fast as I could.

"We will be sending our people as soon as we can. Please help your friend hold on, it won't be long—"

"I think he needs to be air lifted, he's been cut in half... He could die any second... Please... he was going to propose... sob sob..."

In the end, I couldn't contain my sorrow. The reality that I was going to lose Harrison firmly gripped my shoulder.

"Sir, please stay calm. I know you're desperate, but you have to get him to hold on for the time until we get there. You need to give him the strength to live."

I did just as she said. I went and tried to comfort Harrison and get him to hang in there, despite the dire circumstances.

"Sob...sob... Harrison, don't give up. Fight until the end. What would Sarah say if she saw you like this? Are you just going to give up before you see her again...sob..."

"... Harold, it's alright... I might not be as old as you...but I was happy... You know...when I first met you... I was in a depressed state of mind... and I was thinking of committing suicide...Thanks to you I was able to get past that...you saved me Harold... But, it seems... I won't be able to hold on for much longer... Thanks for being my friend... Harold..."

"NO! HARRISON! NOOO!..."

Harrison's eyes lost the gleam of life and his body went limp as his last breath of air was exhaled through the smile on his face. I was in turmoil, with no one to share my pain.

I thought, "why him?" He had a whole happy life ahead of him. He had Sarah, the woman who would become his wife, and the time they would spend with on another. Their kids that would never be born now, the happy times that would be lost. The pain this loss would cause.

I thought, "why wasn't it me?" I didn't have a beautiful lover waiting for me back home. I didn't have a family. My only true connection, Harrison, had died in my arms.

At some point after my tears ran dry. I looked up. The meteorite that had caused this—

The area surrounding the meteorite was sunken in from the impact and the area around it was on fire. This would most likely start a wildfire, but I didn't care. In that moment, I had become numb. The damage and despair this would cause didn't even register as I looked at the quickly spreading flames.

When I looked down into the pit, through my swollen eyes, I saw the "meteorite." Why I say "meteorite" is because it wasn't exactly that. In fact, it looked more like a satellite—a man-made object.

At first, I felt a little surprised, but the numbness quickly flooded over my surprise.

I walked down the newly-formed pit and approached the satellite.

Despite having landed around half an hour ago, I could still feel the heat emanating from it, which made it hard to approach. But I approached, nevertheless.

When I was close enough, I realized something was off. This satellite was much larger than your typical satellite.

A satellite, at most, would usually weigh that of a pickup truck. However, this one seemed to be the size of a two buses. I had worked on satellites since improving their performance directly improves the data that can be used in weather prediction models.

Anyway, the satellite before me was entirely out of the ordinary. What's more is, on the side of the satellite, was the logo for the United States. I was one of my country's own satellites.

It was then when I noticed a rhythmic, knocking sound. In my heart, through my numbness, I felt a brief quiver of hope. Maybe someone was inside there and survived the crash, by which God knows how.

The knocking only grew louder as I continued to stare at the crumpled mess of metal.

Bang... Bang. Bang!

It grew louder until I could see a door being pounded against. The banging had shaken off a loose layer of dirt that had covered up the door until then.

My numbness quickly faded after seeing this and was replaced with many different emotions.

Anger, hope, reluctance, and many more.

I was angry that this had happened to Harrison, so much so, I could have gone mad from the sheer volume of rage; it passed over into the territory of wrath at that point. I was hopeful for the fact that I might find someone who could at least rationalize what had happened here, instead of some freak accident. I was reluctant because I didn't know if I wanted to open this can of worms in front of me.

But, eventually, after a minute or so of listening to the banging of metal, I went over and tried to wrench open the door.

The thing was, satellites were meant to be able to survive in space, so opening this door was no easy feat. The main helping factor was that the air lock had broken on the door, so it wasn't pressurized, which was good for me.

Using various pieces of scrap metal like a crowbar, I was able to eventually pry open the door enough to where the person inside could bang the door down.

BANG!

The door flew off its hinges as the man inside came tumbling down onto the dirt ground with a flop.

He obviously wasn't in a good condition. I mean, any normal human wouldn't have survived a free fall from space, trapped in a metal box of death. But, this man somehow did. Not only that, he had crawled his way out of the wreckage and busted down a door made to withstand literal space.

However, at just a glance I could tell, he also had little time left. His skin was charred and cracked. He had blood oozing from his skin through these cracks. He had no hair and his eyes seemed to have liquefied. To say he was in a bad state was an understatement.

One thing of note though, he held a briefcase, one that, despite surviving the crash, still looked to be in relatively good condition. It was a silver-metal color and had a glossy black handle.

"You.... I know you're there... I can feel your breathing.... this briefcase.... take it... Take it and make sure you don't let them get it..."

Flop...

That was all. Those were the only words he could get out before he collapsed into the dirt below and died.

I suspected that after he escaped the cabin of the satellite, his adrenaline had worn off and his wounds finally caught up with him. Still, his tenacity was something any man would respect.

I grabbed the briefcase and looked at it. The side that I didn't see before had a logo on it; it said "Central Intelligence Agency: Project Re-Write." Immediately, the only organization that came to mind was the CIA, one of the spying agencies from America.

I knew that I had gotten my hands on something I shouldn't have.

While I didn't know much about the CIA, I did know that something like this wouldn't end with a simple "here's your case back, have a nice day." They would most likely kill me if I did that.

I had no other choice but to run and leave behind the bodies of Harrison and this man. The only thing I grabbed was my phone and I ran.