Surreal

Marshall Mathew Bates opened the double doors to a certain hall and walked in quietly. He shut the door, kept his gaze down and walked to a certain corner. There, he assumed his role as a Marshall and stood stoic.

Next to him, a voice whispered, "You're late."

"Had to stop by a convenience store." Bates replied and subtly cleared his throat. He reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a Lego spaceship set.

"Saw this bad boy, and I just had to get it. Payment took longer than expected."

The other voice, a man with curly hair that concealed half his face, looked at this friend of his with an incredulous look. He had prioritised getting a toy over attending one of the most important meetings of his lifetime.

He could only sigh and return his focus back to the lady speaking next to a large screen.

In the hall, 7 powerful figures sat. They were the Generals that oversaw the armed forces and Militia of each Rings; The Director of Research from Embryo, New Earth's major scientific research organisation; The president of New Earth's Interstellar Engineering Bureau; and one of the five-man governmental Council known as Paragon.

Behind them, the Marshalls stood and listened in absolute silence.

The Lady standing next to the large screen, Cindy, continued in a calm and clear voice, "Over the course of four days, we lost contact with 3 space stations. Gamma, Delta and Eta." After letting her words sink in for a few seconds, she tapped on her wristband and said, "Then, two days ago, we received this message."

The lady walked forward and placed a device on the centre of the table. Then, she stepped back, before tapping her wristband once.

Soon, everyone heard a voice.

"Something hit us. We have no idea what it is–"

The audio message scrambled for a second, then the voice played out once more. "Holy nebula, there's something out there! We are requesting backup, I repeat, we are being attacked and we request immediate backup–"

The last word was immediately followed by an agonizing scream. A lot of cursing was heard and subtle growls filled the entire room. The already heavy atmosphere turned dark and eerie.

There was another scramble before the audio went static.

Mathew frowned after the audio message concluded. What had ensued after the voice was an obvious massacre, and the growls signified the attack wasn't from a human entity.

Cindy exhaled slowly and said, "I'm sure we all have the same thoughts."

"Aliens." She said, and the room fell silent for a long time.

Humans had always harboured the suspicion of other lifeforms existing in a world beyond Earth. However, even after building space colonies and exploring what lay across the vast, black background, they found no traces of alien civilization.

So they more or less had accepted the fact that they were alone in the universe.

However, this. This turned their world upside down, creating a network of possibilities.

"Hostile aliens." One of the men seated announced. He was the representative of the five-man governmental council known as Paragon. He had black, glossy hair that was combed backwards, profound eyes and a few wrinkles at each side of his lips. He had a thin face and a sharp jawline.

His piercing, cold gaze instilled quite the fear in everyone.

Councilman Jacob Azrael.

He adjusted the monocle on his right eye and asked, "And, did any of these space stations have anything in common?"

"Yes, Mr. Councilman." Cindy replied and moved her hand over the holographic screen and explained, "Each of the stations were tasked with harnessing energy from the Andromeda star."

A certain star in the cosmos stream was highlighted. It burned with a radiant blue energy.

"So, we can assume they're after a source of energy?" One of the Generals suggested after careful thought.

"Or they're trying to cut off our hold on a sufficient power source." Councilman Jacob said with a solemn tone. As everyone in the room pondered the plausibility of his words, he rose and said to the Generals in particular, "Start preparing for war. A new military division will be created, meant for battle engagement in space."

Then, he looked at the President of the Interstellar Engineering Bureau and asked, "How are the warcrafts coming up?"

The thin man with thick eyebrows responded in a hurry, "The prototypes are ready, sir."

"Good. Conduct a test run soon and begin preparations for the next phase."

"As you command, Councilman."

Then, the imposing man turned around and left the dark hall, his personal Marshall in direct tow.

Mathew Bates finally heaved a sigh of relief. He looked at his friend, Constantine, and asked, "Is it over?"

Constantine flashed him a disgustful gaze. "You weren't even present for half the meeting. I've been standing here for so long."

Sigh… Mathew Bates heaved a sigh and patiently awaited the conclusion of the meeting.

…

In a world of Nothingness,

Scenes shattered and reappeared over and over, but they seemed so distant and impossible to comprehend. A lone boy stood in the centre of it all, his entire being feeling utterly light, as though he was suspended in the vastness of space.

Then, his eyes slowly opened.

"Wake up!" He heard a voice, Immediately followed by a sharp crack on his left cheek.

Adam snapped awake with a hiss. A sharp pain struck his head and it felt like his skull had cracked in half. He winced and grimaced, unable to contain the unbearable ache.

"Are you okay?" Nana's concerned voice sounded out loud. She raised her hand to caress his reddened cheek, but quickly lowered it after careful consideration.

Adam groaned and raised his upper body. He looked around in a daze and tried to recollect what had happened.

Oh right, the weird elderly man.. And… He looked around once more, this time way faster. "We're back…" He muttered, relief evident in his voice. "Why did I pass out?" He wondered.

"Exhaustion?" Nana suggested and helped him to his feet. She then opened her left palm and revealed three distinct rune stones. The stones that had formed from the supposed 'staff of Miracles'.

Adam squinted as he stared at the stones, his head still throbbed painfully. "Where's your sister?"

Nana pointed to a corner, and Adam followed her finger. Standing in a corner was the weird twin who exuded a very gloomy demeanour. Her black eyes that resembled a pitch-black cosmos stared at them with an unshakable gaze.

"Hm," The boy muttered something under his breath. Then, he rubbed his temples and said, "We need to go. How long was I out for?"

"A few minutes." Nana responded.

Adam nodded and sighed inwardly. He needed a good rest, before he could even consider trying to process the strange events that had transpired. What he needed to know now was if time had passed here too.

What if Lyra had been looking all over for him, worried sick?

He quickly walked towards the iron ladders that led to the metal railing embedded in the wall and began climbing.

"Come on, Nina." said Nana, as she moved towards the ladder.

The girls equally needed rest. They had been through the strangest events, with so little time to understand what was happening. It felt surreal, almost as if it had all been a dream.

A dream.

Adam's eyes fluttered open.