Stargazers (Prologue)

11 Hours Until the Merge

Everything felt... wrong.

The city's lights flickered unnaturally, as if it were clinging to life. Most streetlamps and lanterns had gone out days ago—not that it mattered.

No one went outside anymore.

The local news station had never seen this much traction. Reports poured in of people sighting creatures with long limbs and dark grey skin, alongside that were photos going viral of strange anomalies---

Thin slits in the air that looked like the world itself were tearing open.

Some people online claimed the images were photoshopped.

Others pointed fingers at Orpheum, the secretive megacorporation rumored to be running genetic experiments behind closed doors.

...And some believed that the creatures were aliens of some sort, coming to earth through the anomalous rifts.

Theories were spreading like wildfire, and because of it the city was quickly drowned in mystery—and fear.

Its light was gone.

But in its absence, the stars above had never shone brighter.

"I can't see anything..." Zero muttered, squinting through the telescope.

He turned it left and right slowly, hoping to catch a glimpse of something—anything—in the night sky. But all he saw was a pitch-black void.

Tia facepalmed. The exterior lights of the house flickered unnaturally, almost like they were reacting to her irritation.

She walked over to the front of the telescope, popped off the lens cap, and held it up in front of Zero's face with exaggerated flair.

"A-ah..." he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Now try it."

Zero nodded as he leaned in again. This time, the darkness was gone—replaced by a sprawl of brilliant lights scattered across the sky.

"How do I zoom in again? It's kind of blurry..."

"Here, let me see." Tia leaned down beside him, twisting the focus knob of the telescope.

Zero's eyes widened as the image snapped into clarity—hues of purple, yellow, and turquoise bled together like an abstract painting stretched across a navy canvas.

"It's beautiful..." he gasped dramatically.

Tia giggled.

Zero glanced over. "What's funny?"

"Nothing," she said quickly, covering her mouth as another laugh slipped out. "It's just..."

She paused, her smile lingering.

"I never thought I'd see you interested in something like this."

She walked over to a nearby sofa and picked up a 12mm eyepiece from the table.

"Especially something this nerdy—like astronomy."

Zero chuckled and stepped back from the telescope, watching as she returned. Her figure was silhouetted against the soft glow of the night sky as she swapped out the eyepiece.

"I don't think it's nerdy," he said, adjusting one of the dials absentmindedly. "The sky's massive. Everyone should get to enjoy it."

"...Yeah," she murmured.

Zero leaned back in. The image was now much more magnified.

"Annnd— I can't see anything again," he said flatly.

"Try turning it this way, you might be able to see—" Tia suddenly stopped.

"Uh, Tia?" Zero called, just as his pitch-black view through the telescope burst into a flurry of bright blue and orange.

A sharp hissing noise tore across the sky. Zero pulled back from the scope and looked up instinctively.

The sky was glowing—deep orange, with a streak of flickering blue fire cutting through the clouds, illuminating their silhouettes in an otherworldly light.

"Woah..." he breathed.

Tia burst out in excitement and spun in place, eyes wide with wonder.

"It's a shooting star!"

"Quick, take a look!" she said, pointing at the telescope.

"R-right!" Zero stumbled back to the scope, gripping it tighter as he tilted it up toward the falling light.

He squinted, the brilliance of the object making it hard to focus. But as it came into view, something wasn't right.

It wasn't a meteorite.

It looked like a massive, ghostly hand—clawed fingers trailing behind it, slicing through the sky like it was cutting through fabric. The blue lightning clung to its form, flickering wildly around it.

"...What the hell?" he muttered.

"What? What do you see?" Tia asked, nudging him aside playfully as she leaned in.

Zero didn't answer. He just stood there, staring up at the burning, twinkling "star," frozen in place.

Tia bent down to take a look—but just as her eye met the scope, a sharp, wicked whistle ripped through the air.

The object suddenly combusted into a bright red flame.

A bone-chilling screech echoed across the sky, rattling their bones and silencing the night.

The thing spasmed in midair, thrashing violently as red, blue, and white light exploded from it like shattered glass—then, in an instant, it vanished.

A breath later, the house behind them went dark.

The lights flickered twice, then gave up completely, not even putting up much of a fight.

"Damn it. Not again…" Zero muttered.

Tia tapped him on the shoulder. "Z, look."

He followed her gaze toward the city. Large sections blinked off and on like a failing light switch.

And then—total blackout.

Only the stars remained, and even they seemed to dim. It was as if someone was slowly turning down the volume of the universe itself.

"This is the third time today..." Tia murmured.

A symphony of security alarms beeped faintly in the distance as power returned— not just to the house, but to the city as well.

"Did you see that?" Zero asked, eyes still on the sky.

Tia sighed. "Unfortunately, no. It disappeared before I could get a good look."

"It literally looked like a hand—or like the claw of some kind of cat or something," Zero said, gesturing with his own hand for emphasis.

"Awh---what, that sounds sick! I should have recorded," Tia muttered as she hung her head low dramatically.

She turned and looked up at the sky, now softening from its earlier blaze. The warm brown hues faded gently, dissolving into the night.

"You think those things are the reason the power's been going out?" Zero asked.

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

"Ah, it's my mom. She's here..." she said, giving a soft smile. She patted Zero's back as she walked over to begin packing up the telescope.

"Already?" Zero asked.

Tia laughed. "Yes, already."

She moved to the couch and began disassembling the scope.

"You're lucky I'm even allowed to come over. My dad still thinks you're a girl. If he knew you were a guy, he'd kill me."

Zero joined her, kneeling beside her to help pack.

"You're telling me? Your dad's like seven feet tall. He'd squash me like a bug," he smirked, reaching for a lens on the floor. 

"Doesn't your dad work for Orpheum? Maybe he could invent a shrinking spell or something—turn mine into a gnome," she joked.

"Shrinking spell? He's a scientist, not a wizard," Zero smiled.

"A shrinking ray sounds more on par."

Tia laughed, unconsciously reaching for the same lens, their hands touching.

They froze.

Their eyes met, and for a moment--- it felt like the stars themselves paused their shine to gaze down on the two.

They leaned in, slowly drawing closer—until a cold, eerie howl echoed through the air. It sounded feral, unnatural. A beat later, the neighbor's dog erupted into wild barking.

"What the hell was that?" Zero asked, pulling back instinctively.

Tia blinked, hesitating before sighing and leaning away as well. She looked at him, then rolled her eyes.

"I think I should get the hell home—before one of those slinky monsters from the news shows up and steals our skin or something," she said dryly.

Zero chuckled, handing her the lens. "Don't worry. I wouldn't let that happen. Not while I'm around."

"Your epidermis is safe with me."

"How charming..." she replied, voice thick with sarcasm. She tucked the lens into her bag, stood, and slung it over her shoulder.

Zero stood up with her, and they left the balcony, making their way through the spacious, empty house. Downstairs, they stepped out onto the front porch. A gray car waited at the curb.

Before Zero could speak, Tia hugged him.

Caught off guard by the warmth, he froze, unsure of how to react.

After a moment, Tia released her embrace. 

"...I'll see you at school?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, locking eyes with him—just for a moment—before glancing away. She let out a quiet sigh and started walking toward the car.

"Text me when you get home!" he called out.

"Yeah, yeah. Be seeing you, playboy," she smirked, glancing back over her shoulder as she slid into the car.

Zero blinked. Playboy? Before he could process it, the car honked and pulled away.

He waved, then stood in silence.

...

Zero facepalmed.

"What the hell is wrong with me?!" he yelled.

"Why do I keep freezing up like that? Am I stupid?" he groaned.

The neighbor's dog, still barking like mad, suddenly let out a sharp whimper—then silence.

Zero's head snapped toward the noise.

In the darkness, something moved. A long, black tail slithered through the neighbor's yard, vanishing into the shadows.

"...That's a big ass possum," he muttered, shaking his head. He turned and slammed the door behind him.

Upstairs, Zero collapsed onto his bed, upset. He grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV. The lamp beside him flickered as he turned it off.

The screen bathed the room in light, blaring noise he barely registered—just something to drown out his rushing thoughts.

Face buried in his pillow, frustration gave way to exhaustion.

A news anchor's voice echoed faintly as Zero drifted off, a crisp graphic on screen read:

Breaking: Orpheum Identifies Source of Citywide Outages

After many weeks of unexplained blackouts across the city, Orpheum Industries has launched an emergency briefing. Their researchers now believe the outages have been caused by, and I quote: "concentrated buildups of electromagnetic energy."

These buildups are so dense, they appear to warp the air around them…

Footage rolled: streetlights flickering violently, a transformer suddenly burst into sparks—before freezing in midair. A pale shimmer rippled through the air around it. A low hum grew louder.

They're calling them "rifts." Most are temporary distortions in physical space—unstable, but ultimately harmless.

However…

Recently, more of these occurrences have been appearing—and staying. Growing in both size and numbers.

The screen cut to shaky phone footage. A man's face was blurred, his voice raw.

"Hey—yeah, so, uh... I was on my porch when I first saw it..."

"Just a few feet away, I could see the air... folding in on itself. Like the sky turned inside out..."

"It had to be taller than my house— haha..."

"The weirdest part though? The noise. It didn't sound like electricity, or lightning, or... a

microwave or I dunno... whatever I thought an 'electromagnetic energy' would've sounded like,

you know?"

"Uh, It kind of sounded like something growling."

"Like some kind of animal, maybe...?"