The Quirk
It was a hell of a sight. A mass of people were in the streets after the power outage. Blaze stood under a concrete overpass with a bottle of Mickeys. He liked the spot he had chosen to watch. He could see most of the city although some of the view was blocked by skyscrapers. The iron and concrete of the bridge was heavy duty, evidence of homeless activity littered the ground. The smell of piss gave the broken glass, discarded clothes and blankets an apocalyptic feel. It was a fitting ambiance under the secure structure. From a distance he could see that almost everyone was staring at the sky. Some had cameras and some had phones while others just looked up in awe. Blaze wondered how safe those technological contraptions in their hands were.
Blaze was at the bar when he heard the news. Some kind of accident in Russia involving their AI had occurred. It was a military program called Q. A weaponized information conspiracy program designed to destabilize the USA. He had met a couple people who talked about such nonsense. When they implied he should believe he would smile and say “Blaze it” implying something back. He would’ve smiled now but he then also remembered a beam of light shooting out of the TV and electrocuting the bartender during the news flash. When it happened it made sense because the report said the AI was doing unbelievable things worldwide. Right after that the power went out.
Blaze’s suspicion about the people’s gadgets was correct as half of the crowd with the tech in their hands fell to the ground. The other people were still standing but had dropped their smartphones. They were staring straight ahead like they were hypnotized zombies. People are going to panic he thought. They did, but not before the crowd cried in unison “Ooh”. Blaze looked straight up.
Earlier he guessed a million aircraft peppered the sky. Since he last looked, the sky vehicles altitude dropped significantly. Now he saw giant cigar box shaped craft with huge doors. He wasn’t sure how accurate a million was but he was certain that whatever was dropping from the cargo ships numbered in the millions. It looked like smoke dropping from the doors straight down. As the black haze got closer you could see bodies dropping in patterns, paratroopers without parachutes. Now the panic set in, the humanoids had started to land.
They were tall wearing what looked like biker leathers. Armed with something similar to a pistol, the one that landed near the crowd shot a beam of energy at them. The hypnotized skygazers who were still standing erupted. All the devices on the ground began to smoke and melt. Blaze could not figure out why some people were getting vaporized while others were untouched.
In unison the giant crafts emitted a sonic boom of some sort. The sound was different however. It lasted half an hour. Blaze dropped to ground pressing his back to the bridge. He covered his ears as he watched the city crumble. The overpass he was under collapsed in the middle. When the thunder trumpet weapon stopped Blaze’s ears rang. Standing up he grabbed a second Mickeys and chugged. Sunlight glinted from the green bottle’s silicon dioxide. The refracted light drew one of the quirky humanoids’ attention and motivated the being to move towards him.
A chunk of the bridge near Blaze fell, prompting him to walk away and down the embankment. He saw the crumbled city with its smoke and fire. The humanoids now were disappearing even as people darted passed them.
He then saw a Quirk up close. Blaze wasn’t afraid but he stopped walking. The being was about seven feet tall and four feet away. The exposed skin appeared to be melting without dripping. As Blaze stared, he noticed a gemstone in its neck. When he saw the ruby-like object the face stopped its melt. Yellow eyes, a small nose with a mouth and teeth like a snapping turtle appeared. Startled, Blaze looked down submissively. They are called the Quirk thought Blaze. When he looked back up the Quirk were gone. Blaze looked at the clear sky wondering if their biker gear was leather. He finished the Mickeys and went to look for more.
Dwight Metalloid 2019
