He Was Not Okay!

Ten didn't know why, but the moment that bright little light flashed in his face; all in the name of capturing his ID photo, something felt off.

No, not just off. Wrong.

The effect wasn't normal. It wasn't just a momentary blur or the usual spots dancing in his vision after a camera flash.

Glitch.

That was the only way to describe it. Reality stuttered. Everything around him jittered at the edges, like a screen struggling to render an image. The walls warped. It was worse than the usual itsy bitsy blur he was hoping would wear off soon. The hallway stretched and shrank in uneven pulses.

His stomach twisted. His breath caught. And his eyes burned.

What the hell was that?

"Do not overreact, Mister Shaw," the big guy staffer muttered, not even sparing him a glance instead turning his back on him. "It's just like a camera. If anything, a high-quality one. Get to class, a teacher will be along soon."

Yeah. Sure. Just a camera. Just a normal flash. Then why did it feel like that day?

That day. Seven years ago. The sky cracking open. That blinding arc of lights.

A few fragments of memories flashed through Ten's mind. They were broken and scattered, but he was sharp enough to piece them together.

First; the ground shaking. That wasn't any ordinary earthquake. He now recalled his sister had dropped the phone in which she was on Live Video Chat, her eyes were fixed on the window before calling out, "Those damn mountain rocks are gonna fall."

Dax... Dax was doing his usual thing, being quiet and distant. Mom was lost in her laptop, and he... he was driving, just driving. Happily.

Then it came.

The lights.

Falling from the sky, heading straight for them. He had slammed his foot on the brake, all ready to swerve the car. But time either sped up or slowed down. It didn't matter. The light slammed into them. But he could swear that wasn't lightning. No. It was solid. And blue. Many of them, like shards of something far more dangerous than just lightning. And they didn't shape like rocks, but were solid as rocks.

When it hit him, it threw him back. Maybe that's how he ended up thirty-six feet away from the wreck. But why didn't the same happen to his mother, Dax... maybe even his sister? And the car?

Why was he still breathing when the bodies of his mother and brother were charred beyond recognition, burned to a crisp by the blinding bright light?

Bright light. Blinding, burning, bright light.

"Did you hear me, Mister Ten Shaw?"

Ten's pupils dilated. A ridiculous, impossible thought flickered in his head. He blinked hard and looked up at the big staffer guy. Though, in his eyes the big guy's form was a blur of shadow and shifting colours.

"Hey... what if that disaster, seven years ago, didn't just leave me... perfect? What if it fucked with my eyes? I have to tell them, the officers. They need to know I'm a victim too and not some freak on their radar of impossible suspects."

The big guy didn't even flinch. "To class. I won't repeat myself."

Ten squinted. What was it with going to that dumb class anyway? "I need to piss. Where's can I find the restroom?"

The big staffer guy shot him a glare that could've burned through stone. But Ten met his gaze, unwavering with his broken eyes.

They were indeed worse and not manageable at all. From blurs to shadows, to colors that danced and sprayed in the corners of his vision. But why had the medical results lied? Or was he the one lying to himself?

"The school's layout hasn't changed. You know where the restroom is. You've got five minutes."

Ten nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. He was gazing into the hallway like he was staring into the void. Those results... they didn't make sense.

He took five steps down the hallway. The band around his palm tightened, almost painfully. He looked down at his palm, having a sick idea. "This thing can run through my whole body and spit out results eiii?"

As Ten passed an intersecting hallway, the whispers caught his attention.

"…you gotta be fast, though. Pulse spike too slow and the system corrects itself before the scan kicks in."

Ten slowed his pace. A couple of junior students were huddled near a stairwell and one of them was fiddling with his own HTA-ID.

"Dumbass, you gotta hyperventilate first," the other muttered, glancing around. "It tricks the HTA-ID into a critical read. It forces an emergency scan."

Ten's fingers twitched. Emergency scan?

"…it unlocks restricted logs," the first kid continued. "Stuff they don't show in normal reports. Body temp, organ health, nerve activity… everything."

Finally, a way to get good statics and results about his body clicked in Ten's brain. He stepped away before they could notice him.

If the standard medical scans weren't telling him the truth… maybe a forced one would. His pulse quickened. He gritted his teeth and focused. Hyperventilate first.

Deep inhale; sharp exhale. Again. And again. Short bursts, fast and uneven. His heartbeat stuttered, confused by the sudden oxygen dump.

Then… He ran. Not far. Just a short, erratic sprint that'd send his body into brief distress. Just enough.

The band buzzed violently.

[WARNING: CRITICAL INSTABILITY DETECTED.]

[Initiating Emergency Diagnostic Scan.]

Bingo.

Ten exhaled. He gripped his wrist as the device pulsed. The sensation crawled through him. It was like invisible fingers threading through his nerves, his bloodstream, his brain. He felt the scan as it swept over his body, mapping every inch.

Then the results blinked in his vision.

[Vital Signs: Stabilizing.]

[Neurological Function: Normal.]

[Vision: ERROR—UNRECOGNIZED FOREIGN MATTER DETECTED.]

Ten stopped walking. Foreign matter? He tapped the interface with his breath caught in his throat. More data spilled out.

[Ocular Analysis: ACTIVE DECOMPOSITION DETECTED.]

[Cause: UNKNOWN NON-BIOLOGICAL PRESENCE.]

[Progression: ACCELERATING.]

His fingers curled. Decomposing? Not just bad eyesight, not some nerve dysfunction. His eyes were rotting.

More information loaded with lines of medical jargon flashing across the interface. Most of it made no sense, but then…

[Foreign Presence Origin: UNIDENTIFIED ENERGY EXPOSURE.]

Ten's stomach flipped. His mind shot back to seven years ago. The light. The blue shards. The impact. The energy hadn't just hit him, it had stayed. His hand shook as he scrolled further.

[Matter Composition: UNKNOWN—NON-TERRESTRIAL ELEMENTS DETECTED.]

Non-terrestrial? Not from here.

His breath came short, his vision warping; not just from his failing eyesight, but from the sheer knowing of it all.

"Wait a minute.. I hope I can delete this." He tapped on his palm, hoping there must be an option somewhere to delete.

WEEEEE-OOOOOOOOO!

A blaring siren ripped through the school, loud enough to rattle his skull.

Ten flinched. Red emergency lights flooded the hallways, flashing in brutal contrast against the sterile white walls. The overhead speakers crackled with an urgent message.

"ALL STUDENTS ARE TO REMAIN SEATED IN THEIR CLASSROOMS. NO MOVEMENT PERMITTED. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

"Huh?"