C1 - Anomaly

The sun is just above the horizon, casting twilight over Stenian Island 6.

Mike left the train and rushed, he didn't want to be late on his first day at Stenian Central Academy. He transfered from his quiet neighborhood school to the largest and most militarized academy in the region.

Though the school was extremely prestigious and lot students were excited, Mike didn't care about the change.

But he wasn't expecting to see Noah,

"No way.... Mike?!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Noah asked, while placing his arm tight around Mike's neck.

"Trying to breathe," Mike responded, pushing him off.

Noah just laughed. "Damn, man. Thought you were stuck in that tiny school forever."

"Guess not." said Mike looking around the massive central hall of the campus

Noah said mischievously. "This place is way more fun than you'd think. The rules? They're just mere guidelines."

Mike smirked. "You haven't changed at all."

"And you're still the same boring bastard,

But don't worry, I'll fix that."

They went to their assigned classroom as the classes began.

As their last class ended, the academy's screens flashed red with an emergency alert.

"Attention, citizens. Effective immediately, a curfew is in place for all of Stenian Island 6. No civilians are permitted near the southern shore. Authorities have detected an Anomaly. Please return home or seek shelter for next few hours until it is confirmed to be safe outside."

The students started panicking instantly.

Noah said "A Zeroland? Here? That's not possible."

Mike replied "They said an anomaly, not an actual zone…"

Noah looked at Mike. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Mike already knew what he meant. He didn't even hesitate.

"Yeah. Let's go."

They had to walk to the shore as all public transport was halted, few minutes later, they arrived at the Harbour town. It was... empty

The area had been temporarily evacuated, leaving only patrolling police.

Slipping past the police wasn't easy. The shore was already locked down with barricades, patrolling guards, and aerial drones scanning for movement.

"How the hell are we supposed to sneak past that?" Noah whispered.

Mike studied the patterns. The patrols had blind spots. The drones had delays in their scans. The gaps were small, but they were there.

"Follow my lead," Mike whispered.

They started sneaking, avoiding the floodlights and crouching behind crates. All they needed now was a single distraction, so Noah tossed a small rock in the opposite direction bought them the final opening. They sprinted across the sand, slipping behind a cluster of research outposts.

And that's when they saw it.

The Crack in Reality

The shoreline looked wrong.

A thin crack hovered in the air, flickering like a shattered mirror about to fall apart. It wasn't big. Maybe the size of a doorway. But it was there a break in space itself.

And from the crack, something stepped through.

A figure, barely human. Tall, twisted, its form shifting as if it couldn't decide what shape it wanted to be. Its presence alone made Mike feel odd...

The Special Forces were already in position, their guns locked onto the entity.

A police officer standing nearby whispered under his breath. "That's… that's impossible. They can't-"

His superior snapped at him. "Forget what you think you know! Focus on the target!"

Mike felt his chest tighten. This wasn't just some precautionary curfew.

Something had gone very, very wrong.

And then, it moved,

The entity rushed forward, its form blurring.

Mike didn't even have time to react.

One moment, it was by the crack. The next, it was in front of him.

He saw the jaws open, the impossible void of its mouth reaching for him

"Move, kid!"

A police officer pushed Mike aside, throwing himself between the entity and the boy.

The creature's mouth clamped down on the cop's arm, but instead of biting it began to absorb. The officer's flesh distorted, like reality itself was unweaving around the point of contact.

But the cop didn't let go.

With his other hand, he gripped a high-voltage baton and jammed it into the entity's skull.

A distorted screech filled the air.

"Get the hell out of here!" the cop roared. "Kids like you shouldn't be fucking around here!"

Mike barely registered Noah grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

The last thing Mike saw was that entity staring in his eyes as if it wanted him

They quickly turned away and began sprinting as police were looking for them to take Mike and Noah into custody.

Two hours later, all the screens on the city square displayed,

"We apologise for causing unnecessary panic among the citizens of Island 6 The Anomaly was just a false alarm, citizens may resume their activities as usual"

Mike and Noah looked at the screens as they were trying to keep a low profile and waiting for police to stop looking for them.

Noah with a confused look on his face said "Wait... what? What do they mean by false alarm we looked it ourselves it was no false alarm"

Mike kept a calm look said,

"It all makes sense now"

"What makes sense?" Noah questioned Mike to which he answered,

"I was wondering why the police chased us down, sure breaking in was a crime, but it's not a major crime that needs us to be in jail, right?"

"It only makes sense if government wants to censor what happened today, but why?"

"Why do they want to hide that information".

To be continued…