An Eventful Night

Summer, 23:45
Date: 14th April, 2377
Location: Earth;

Summer, a season with long days and short nights — but for teenagers, every day blended together anyway. It was 11:45 p.m., and three teenagers were still playing an online game, a common event when not under their parents’ supervision.

We could not blame the parents for that, after all, this was an age when everyone scrambled for money just to sustain their family. These days, many parents work far away and children live alone or near their college.

The growth of technology was both a boon and a disaster. As many tasks became automatic and people began to lose their jobs. It wasn't that new jobs weren’t being created, but as usual, change took time.

The growth was inevitable; after all, they could not remain stagnant in a world of constant evolution. These days, it’s rare to see both parents and children under the same roof. But this, too, is a part of life, and with survival being the priority, it was simply to be expected.

A voice brimming with absolute confidence crackled through the headphones.

"With this, the boss is dead!"

A mocking voice cut in immediately, “Are you sure, Leo?”

"Huh? What do you mean? There is no HP left, so isn’t it dead?" Leo’s voice wavered, filled with uncertainty and confusion.

The room was suddenly filled with laughter, "pfft… Hahaha"

Another voice followed, "Tsk, Victor, you ruined the mood!"

“Theo, you should stop messing with him so much, hahaha," replied Victor.

“Well, it’s fun,” Theo replied, and a shrug emoji appeared on the screen.

“True,” Victor replied with an innocent smile emoji.

"You Bastards... Grr," Leo replied, sending a cursing emoji.

This was just a common conversation when three friends were together, and hours passed effortlessly.

"Okay, guys, let’s stop here. I have to write the assignments,” Victor said as he looked at the wall clock. It read 2:00.

"Shit, I haven't done mine yet ... " Leo’s anguished cry came immediately.

“Well, I have time and I’ve done mine, but okay... Bye.” Theo replied and immediately exited the lobby.

Victor saw Leo leaving and closed the game. He took off the VR headset and the headphones. He then searched online for the assignment questions, only to be disappointed.

It seemed teachers had become creative, too. After all, it makes sense in this world where chatbots, voicebots, and household robots were becoming the new normal. Even the global market was now totally based on AI.

This future was more or less expected, given the movies made since the ’90s, but what the actual future would hold, no one knew. After all, the universe is massive, though they said that there was no living discovered after decades of space exploration, it’s not guaranteed that life won’t be discovered in the near future, and robots won’t come from the future to kill people.

Life is unpredictable after all.

“Sigh… now I have to search the topics individually and make the assignment from scratch." Victor glanced at the clock, "Well, it’s a relief that we can submit this one by typing and printing.”

‘I feel so exhausted looking at this... I have to stay awake just to write this ... this is so unhealthy,’ Victor internally thought, “We have dark circles because of this teacher.”

It seemed these things were common, as Theo and Leo were both writing their assignments. Theo seemed to be just more relaxed.

At night, around 2:45 A.M., Victor stopped typing, he stood up from his chair, went to put the paper in the printer, and then went to the balcony to get some fresh air.

He saw the pitch-black night sky, which had no moon, only stars that looked eerie, but weirdly calming. There was no wind blowing, but he could feel a thin breeze brushing against his skin. Most of the neighbours' windows weren’t glowing; either they were asleep or, like him, lovers of darkness.

Everything looked frozen, like someone had stopped time, a perfect setting for some ghost stories.

He took a deep breath, which somewhat reinvigorated him. He then returned to the room with a calm expression, opened his drawer, and pulled out a packet. He took the packet and cut it open. It contained a tube of cream with a roller-tip applicator. He unsealed the cap and dabbed the cream onto his clothes.

This was a mosquito roll-on. What else would it be? A dark night, fresh air, and no mosquitoes? These creatures fear no ghost; darkness is their playground. These creatures cannot be eradicated at all.

A few years ago, a desperate campaign launched an artificial rain that contained a chemical to eradicate these vermin. Humanity was not successful. After only a few days, they came once again with new vigor and were not only immune to the existing killing solution but also possessed an increased proliferation capacity. The society spiraled into chaos for a total of eight grueling months before this apocalypse was finally contained.

He then went back to the balcony to appreciate the view again. If Victor had to choose between day and night, he would have chosen night without any hesitation. Since childhood, he felt he had some special affinity with the night. He gazed at the stars and began to contemplate his life once more for the fifteenth time that day.

‘What am I doing? Is this even life? Exams are in 2 months and now I am stargazing...

It seems like I am doomed... But does it even matter?

The Earth is so big, the universe is so vast. I am just a tiny speck of cosmic dust. Does life even exist? If it exists, then what is even life?

Is eating, sleeping, and working life? Is immortality even possible?

When will I have a girlfriend…Well, I am not the only one single. Girls are so dangerous these days, some are not even girls… sigh… everything is so messed up. Sigh…. I am depressed ...’

His inner monologue continued for more than half an hour before it ended.

“I should call Leo and share some of my melancholy in my heart, too.” Victor went inside to fetch his phone. “On a second note, let’s call Theo too and let the nerd taste some melancholy once in a while.”

He unlocked his phone and started dialing, unaware that the stars that he was gazing at became dark red. While he was browsing his phone, the stars grew more eerie and blood red with each passing second, yet weirdly, no one seemed to notice it at all, as if everything was an illusion.

Victor felt something seemed to be happening and removed his eyes from the phone, but didn't even have time to think as a wave of drowsiness hit him like a flood. He fought the urge to collapse; he was bewildered. He stopped the call and somehow made it to his bedroom. But before hitting the bed, he had to close his house doors and windows.

With unemployment came desperation, entrepreneurship, and scams, and some of these ‘entrepreneurs’ turned to theft as a business model. Yes, theft has become quite common these days. With sheer willpower, he closed all the doors and windows and checked them before he made his way toward his bedroom. He was not only feeling drowsy but was also panicked. He didn't even have time to contemplate as he immediately fell onto the bed and into a deep sleep.

“Did a spider bite me? Will I become Spider-Man? ...” These were his last thoughts before his brain completely shut down.

He was not the only one experiencing this, nor would he be the last, but he was one who managed to hold on a little longer.

***

Summer, 2:46
Location: unknown;

In another place, a three-story house, looking quite haunted, had lights peeking from one of its rooms. This was Leo's house. Leo’s parents, although not super-rich, were quite wealthy, but he lived in this house alone for the same reason as many others.

Leo’s condition was not looking good, with an expression that looked like someone had swindled his money. He was desperately trying to complete his assignments when his phone buzzed.

He checked the caller ID with a bewildered face, ‘weird, it hasn't even been one hour and he is calling us again’.

He was about to answer when the call was abruptly cut off. "What the…", he didn't even have to think when pain rippled through every fibre of his being.

“Ah... mph, He was about to scream, but stopped himself, clamping his hand over his mouth as if trying to enforce his mantra, ‘A man feels no pain.’ He thrashed across the bed, but it was futile as his whole body was screaming.

‘Why the hell is it aching so much….’

... Ah... it burns…

And literally, his body was releasing smoke as his skin became hot and red.

Everything is burning…

He was so much in pain that he did not know what to even do, as his throat was aching, and he was unable to even scream it out. All he could do was convulse in silence.

Veins began to pop, making his eyes red. Red marks began to appear on his body as he continued to spasm. His hands and legs began to bend unnaturally as a cracking sound filled the room.

“Why is it aching … " His brain was working furiously to reason out this sudden pain, but due to the sheer amount of pain, his brain was slowly shutting down.

This dragged on for about 30 minutes, and he finally felt that this was his limit.

“My balls… no... not there… not there too”. These were his last thoughts before he lost consciousness.

Between Victor and Leo, Leo might be the most miserable of all.

***

Summer, 2:25
Location: Unknown;

In an empty apartment complex, which looked and was, in fact, truly abandoned. On the terrace, a person was silently walking with a peculiar rhythm, slippers on his feet and earphones in his ears, and silently humming, which seemed to echo in the silent and dark night. This was Theo, and he lived here because, according to him, he was too busy to move out. He was wealthy enough to move out.

He called this nostalgia, but actually, it was his laziness and a few other reasons, though laziness was one of the main reasons.

At the starting of the week ... hum…hum… It's only Monday...

Suddenly, his face became solemn, and there was a subtle change in the air; he seemed to have predicted something. His eyes focused as he locked onto a target. In one fluid, lightning-fast motion, he reached towards his pocket from which he pulled out a little spray bottle …

Yes, A SPRAY BOTTLE…

He called it the spray bottle of death… this was specially made by him, and the purpose…

He opened its lid, sensed the direction, and sprayed it a little. This lightning-fast, fluid movement and unnatural precision showed his mastery over this technique. He looked like a veteran of war.

“Another one...” he pressed on the floor with his slippers, gently a few times, “dead, it seems my destiny to kill these bastards", Theo sighed, gazing up at the sky.

Yes, all this charade was for a mosquito. Theo had specially come here in the middle of the night, not only to relax but also to hunt… hunt mosquitoes. From his actions, a deep grudge could be felt.

At this moment, his phone rang, which again put a horrible expression on his face because the call coincided with the favourite part of his song.

He struggled hard but eventually checked the screen to see who it was so that he could give him a piece of mind. Although he knew who it could be but that did not excuse his anger, but eventually he opened it, although he is petty, his anger also calms down pretty quickly too.

"What the ... Why is he calling in the middle of the night again?"

He was about to receive it when the call cut off.

“Grr…hmmn ... ", veins began to pop up on his forehead, but eventually he sighed and was about to call it back, when he sensed something, his instincts, which he had honed fighting mosquitoes for years, warned him of upcoming danger.

He shoved the phone in his pocket and sprinted for his room. It was lucky for him as the room was just one floor down. He opened the door, entered, slammed it shut, froze as if waiting for something to happen, and he didn’t have to wait long, because immediately after closing the door, he was hit with sudden drowsiness and collapsed on the floor.

As if waiting for this opportunity, two mosquitoes quickly came to bite him, but due to some odd reason was unable to.

It seemed today was an eventful night ...

***

Summer, 8:00
Location: unknown;

The next day…

Victor woke up groggy; he was feeling weirdly energetic yet somehow sleepy and drained at the same time. He gave himself a once-over and then grabbed his phone to check the time.

'OH NO… oh no... oh no no no no—NOT today!' 

"Shit… not today!" Victor cussed as he ran desperately to freshen up and go to college,

It seems something new had begun—