Memories at Sky-fall

                                                             Chapter one:                                                        Memories at Sky Fall

“Run rabbit run. Rabbit run run run. War— don’t give the farmer his— level Ten mel— fun fun.” the alarms continued to whisper, its glitched voice a faint echo. In the ruins of what had been the control room of the Hadron Collider, between dangling wires still sparking in flares of orange and blue buzzing in low tones making the still air smell of rust and ozone, metal pipes echoed through the halls as they expanded and contracted from changes in heat, and above the mounds of rubble, surrounded by computers and machines of abnormal proportions, screens faintly turned on and off illuminating the room, notebooks full of research without an inch to spare scattered across the ground and under the rubble. One of the scientists had not escaped.

The sound of footsteps slowly going deeper into the facility was the only break from the buzzing and singing alarm. “Boots, someone is here, where even is here… where am I why can’t I move… who am I.” a barely conscious thought came from the control room.“There’s actually someone here!” a detective called out. Looking at the hopefully unconscious, not dead scientist. “Now let’s see who you are.” he said as he crouched down to look for a name tag.

“So you’re Al, let’s see what you can tell us,” the detective commented, wiping the dirt off the name tag. He swiftly took off his leather gloves and put pressure on Al’s neck, checking for a heartbeat. There was a beating – faint, barely hanging on. The detective sighed with relief and smiled a little. “Finally, someone who can tell me something about this place. The question now is: How are you even alive?” The detective continued talking to himself as he rushed to perform first aid. He ripped off a piece of his sleeve and poured some of the whiskey he had in a bottle strapped to his waist onto it. “You’d better pay me back when you wake up; I had to trade ten bullets and a knife for that,” the detective complained as he wrapped Al’s bleeding arm with the makeshift bandage. Al seemed to twitch at the pain. “You’re coming back, good, good. Stay with my voice; don’t pass out.”

The detective could feel the adrenaline climbing up his back. He started rummaging through his bag. “Where is it, where is it…” He emptied his bag to find a small vial of salts. He returned to Al, putting the salts at his nose. The moment Al inhaled the salts, he was jolted awake as if electricity had flown through him. “Good, you’re awake. Now we’re getting you out of here,” the detective exclaimed, almost tripping on a piece of rubble.

“What?! Wait… where.. who.. are you... where am I… wait no… who am I?” Al woke up and began looking around as if it was his first time seeing this place.“What? Are you sure you don’t remember a thing? Anything at all? What research were you doing here? What happened? What caused all this? Anything?” The detective said, freezing in place for a moment.

“What… research? What am I supposed to be some kind of scientist, lab rat? What even is this place?” Just then, Al felt as if a bullet had gone through his head; an agonizing headache rippled through his already disoriented mind. “Do you… do you have anything for headaches in that bag?” Al extended his hand.

“Uh… yes, I think I might have something.” the detective agreed, surprised by the shift in tone, and began going through the items he just poured out of the bag. “I only have two pills left.” the detective sighed. “Here, take one of these.” he tossed the strip of pills to Al.For a moment, Al had the thought he should read the dosage, but instantly dismissed the thought as another wave of the headache kicked back in. He quickly unpacked both pills and swallowed them.

“Are you feeling better?” the detective asked, staring down at Al, waiting for a reaction.“No, of course not. What medicine takes effect in a few seconds?” Al complained, still under the headache. “So now, who are you and most importantly, who am I?” Al asked the detective.“You could at least ask properly, since you just cost me a month’s worth of supplies…” The detective complained. “Anyhow, I’m Rio and I’m here for some information, and apparently your name is Al and you work here.” Rio sighed.

“I’m Al, alright. I know we need to get out of here, but first, what’s this song supposed to be? Doesn’t seem to fit into wherever this facility is.” Al commented, beginning to notice the environment around him.

“This kind of thing is the least of worries right now; it’s been happening here since the meltdown.” Rio said. Dusting himself off and getting up to leave. “Come on, I’ll show you what’s happening.” he gestured to Al with his head.

“That doesn’t sound good. How bad is it?” Al asked, standing up to follow Rio.“It’s world-ending levels of bad. You’ve heard of Ragnarok, Cthulhu, A.I. invasions, nuclear war, and alien invasions? Well, this end is a lot worse; it’s as if reality itself is falling apart. I can’t explain it. It’d be better for you to see it yourself.” Rio sighed, almost sounding hopeless. As they got out of the room and began making their way through the rubble. “Laws, order, hell, physics itself no longer works.” Rio’s tone began to change.

As Al listened, he felt something in the back of his mind. At first, it was just anxiety, then it quickly became fear, then, an overwhelming sense of dread. Shivers ran down his spine, his pupils dilated, and he grit his teeth, but then nothing. All that fear turned to nothing, just gone. “Was I remembering something? What was that?” his hands were still shaking from the adrenaline.

“Hey Al, Al, are you there?” Rio called out, trying to snap Al out of his daze. “We’re almost out; prepare yourself.” Rio warned Al. As he approached a wooden panel closing off the lab from the rest of the world.

“Oh, we’re here already. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” Al took a deep breath; he could hear his heart beat through his ears. He nervously stared down the door. He knew he would be afraid, but something was off. He wasn’t feeling anything close to the amount of fear he was experiencing earlier. In fact, he wanted to see what’s out there; he needed to. His curiosity took over. He stood there at the door, waiting for Rio to open it up. “Just open it already,” Al whispered, as he gave a faint smile.

As Rio opened the makeshift door, Al could see the colors of the new sky seeping into his eyes. Thousands of comets rushed with their long blue and red tails around Earth every second. The land a mix of cities, forests, towns, and strongholds stitched together like they’ve been ripped apart and stuck back together. But the sky was what grabbed Al’s attention. Its colors weren’t as terrifying or menacing as he thought they would be. His heart raced seeing the sheer amount of stars in this new sky. “This is our new world?” Al asked, still dazed by the sight. “If the world is truly ending, then this is the best way it could go,” he added.

“Well, it seems you already had a few screws loose. It looks like they’ve dropped completely,” Rio commented on Al’s reaction, his tone slightly relieved. Just then, another comet passed by; this one stood out from the rest. Its tail was yellow and head was a deep indigo, it also seemed to be falling nearby. Al’s legs moved seemingly of their own free will to follow the yellow comet. Rio followed behind Al. “Why are we running towards the potentially alien comet?!” He shouted while running behind Al.

“I have a feeling we’ll find something good there,” Al replied, gasping for air from exhaustion. They were right behind the comet; it was so close now, its light reflected off the hills around it. Then it crashed. In an empty field.“Did it stop? What was that?” Rio asked, following Al. “It’s a person.” Al pointed. To a crater in the ground.

“Then don’t just wait there, go help.” Rio said, sliding down into the crater before Al. “It’s an elf, or no, an alien, and what’s with the witch outfit?” he looks back at Al who seems to be in a daze over something. “Hey Al. Can you come help me a bit?” Rio called out to Al.

Meanwhile, Al just stood there for a second, he was silent, but then he burst into laughter. At first, it was slow, then it sped up and got louder. “I remember something,” he said, stopping the laughing. “It’s not gone; the world is still intact. My plan worked,” he exclaimed. “I… I bought us a little time, there is still time to fix everything,” Al realized.