Darkness And Shadows

At the NASA headquarters, Dr. Idris sat engrossed in his work, analyzing the samples of Djuma's DNA in his lab. He suddenly picked up his phone and raised it to his ear.

"I know she's a pain in the ass; make sure to keep an eye on her and report to me everything she does and everyone she meets," he spoke into the phone with a curt tone, and he hung up.

He turned to Mrs. Mary, his assistant, who was seated nearby, jotting down notes in a jotter. He stretched out a file toward her. "Hand these files over to John, tell him to analyze them, and report back to me before sunset," he ordered.

Mrs. Mary collected the files without hesitation. She nodded briefly and headed to John's office. When she reached the door, she knocked politely, but there was no response.

After knocking several times, she slid open the door and stepped inside.

The room was dimly lit, and Mr. John sat slumped in his chair, his eyes fixed on a small frame on the table. The frame held a photo of him and Mark, taken during their internship seven years ago. John's gaze was blank, his eyes red-rimmed from crying as tears crept down his face.

Mrs. Mary let out a deep breath as she hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. "Mr. John!" she finally called out, jerking him out of his introspective state.

John flinched, his eyes regaining life as he caught his breath. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Mary?" he whispered.

Mrs. Mary took slow steps toward him after watching him wipe away his tears. "What's wrong, Mr. John? You don't seem okay," she said. 

John shook his head, his face adopting a grim expression. "It's nothing, really," he replied, trying to sound convincing, but Mrs. Mary's knowing gaze told him that she saw right through his facade.

She approached him and she laid a consoling hand on his shoulder. "I promise, I'm a good listener. Tell me what's wrong, and I'm going to help you any way I can," she said, patting him gently on the back.

John's gaze flickered to Mrs. Mary's face before returning to the frame on his desk, his eyes welling up with tears once more.

"Is this because of Mr. Mark?" Mrs. Mary said.

John remained adamant for a moment, but he eventually spoke. "I saw Mark's family last night, and...and…I didn't know what to say to them," he said. "I couldn't even gather the courage to say a word to his wife. How could I? What should I say? That her husband died in my stead?"

His voice broke, and he let out a deep, sorrowful sigh. "The guilt of being alive while his wife and children are having it tough to accept his demise... it's just too much to bear."

"It's not your fault, Mr. John," Mrs. Mary said. "NASA sent him there, and does that make all of us guilty of murder? It's inevitable; after all, he's not the only one we lost to those monsters. Mr. Mark died doing what he loved, he died protecting our world."

John's face hardened, his jaw clenched in determination. "I'm going to find and destroy them all," he declared. "I'll find and hunt them till they go extinct."

Mrs. Mary wanted to say more, but seeing the fury on John's face, she decided to let it go. She sighed and dropped the file she was holding on his desk.

"Dr. Idris wants you to analyze the files and report to him before... err sunset," she said and turned around to leave.

As she reached for the door she turned back to face John. "Don't beat yourself too much," she added. "Mr. Mark was a good man, I'm sure he's in a good place already. Today's evening is his funeral, I thought you might want to know."

John nodded, his gaze fixed on the frame in front of him. He raised his head, watching as Mrs. Mary exited the room and disappeared into the corridor beyond.

He took a deep breath, his eyes scanning the files on his desk. He flipped through the pages, his face reddening as he began to analyze the contents. 

*****

When Mike and Miram entered the large room in the Palor, they were immediately struck by the eerie silence that filled the space. The room was vacant, except for the Anthropter receptionists seated ahead, muttering softly.

The usual glow of the shins and shanins was gone, replaced by their consistent humming sound, as it was their designated sleeping time. The only source of light in the room came from the torches hung on the walls, which cast a dim, flickering glow over the space.

As they reached the entrance of the Palor, Garo reached out and grabbed a torch that was hung beside the door. She exited the room, using her second hand to hold the door open for Mike and Miram.

Mike noticed that the location of the torch seemed off as if it had been deliberately placed there. It was a potentially hazardous spot, as the flames from the torch could easily ignite the door if not handled carefully. 

He surmised that Garo must have brought the torch earlier when she had come to retrieve him and Miram.

Nevertheless, he and Miram followed Garo out of the room and Garo closed the door behind them and nodded to the guards standing outside. Mike also noticed that the guards were different from the ones he had seen the previous day, indicating that they had been switched for possibly their night duty.

The subtle change was not lost on Mike, and he wondered what other changes might be taking place in the Palor.

As they ventured deeper into the dark village, Mike pondered on the significance of the shins and shanins, how the Anthropters would've survived without the soft glow of these bioluminescent organisms 

The darkness seemed to press in around them, making the village feel abandoned and foreboding.

Mike's night vision allowed him to take in the details of the village once more. The streets, which had once been bustling with activity, were now empty and silent.

The only sound was the soft rustling of the wind through the houses, which he assumed he must be the only one hearing due to his super hearing ability.

As he walked alongside Garo, Mike turned to her, his eyes meeting hers in the flickering light of the torch. "I'm sorry, Garo; I realized I was too harsh on you yesterday," he said.

But Garo broke into a warm smile, the torchlight casting an eerie glow on one side of her face. "I wasn't angry, my Jyuran," she replied, shaking her head sideways. "I understand how you must have felt. Next time I'd prepare you a meal that doesn't have poop."

Mike tried to but couldn't help but smile back at her. He realized that he had overreacted to the unusual ingredients in the soup. As he thought back, he remembered that he had actually enjoyed the soup, even more than his mother's cooking. The memory brought a chuckle to his lips.

"Don't let her bewitch you, my Jyuran," Miram, feeling increasingly uncomfortable and ignored, finally chimed in, her voice cutting through the lighthearted moment. She inserted herself between Mike and Garo.

"Last time I remember, you're the only witch among us," Garo scoffed, her eyes rolling in contempt.

Miram, however, chose to ignore her jab, her focus fixed intently on Mike. "Do you smile at everyone you see!?" she scolded.

Mike's brows furrowed in confusion and surprise, his eyes lingering on Miram's face. "But... I'm not smiling with... everyone," he said. "You look annoyed, are you okay?" 

Miram's response was a deepening frown. She didn't say anything, instead choosing to continue moving forward, leaving Mike to wonder what he had done to annoy the little witch.