The Local Motion

Asami cradled Yuki.

Zaap scanned the gem on her forehead, “It’s toxin accumulation, likely due to the stress of accelerated metamorphosis. It should wear off once her body mineralizes the toxins.”

A shout from the lawn came with a flashlight aimed at their faces. The flashlight had no power against the early afternoon sun, but the guard had to make use of it somehow, “Hey, you two!? Are you the two clowns who pulled that stunt in room 108? I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”

Leathery material gave a soft squeak while Yuki’s tiny body pushed against Asami’s chest. She glanced at Zaap’s raised hands, “Really, you don’t have any tricks up your sleeve? You survived getting hit by a truck and can pull fish out of the void, but you can’t handle campus security?”

“Our directive is to see no human harmed during the course of this mission. But alas, we’ve been exhaling our bag of tricks.”

The flashlight waved at them, “Stop talking, hands behind your head. I need you to follow me to the security office so we can take statements. Mam, I’m going to need you to remove the helmet.”

Zaap sighed as they pulled out the scanning gun and twisted the knob to the Glorpus Gloopus setting. Colorful rays formed a brief kaleidoscope over the officer’s body, “That should hold him in place for the next fifteen glooptheths.”

A crowd of people gathered to poke the frozen security officer. They gawked at Asami in her space suit and the strange alien looking doll she cradled. Zaap looked like a fairly normal college student in his holographic disguise, so he didn’t get much attention.

The shorter guard stumbled out and pushed at the frozen guard. He didn’t budge from his place, but quivered a bit like a potted plant, “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Are you catatonic or something?”

“He is neither cat nor drinking tonic,” Zaap raised his scanner, “He is stuck in gloopus mode and can no longer do the local motion!”

The short guard pointed, not a weapon, his finger, because he was unarmed, “Is that a grocery mart scanner?”

Asami continued to cradle Yuki, “We should be running.”

“The agency is on their way,” Zaap whispered, “But I have a plan. If we can draw a larger crowd. It may work to our advantage. We need to give them a show for one hour.”

She wasn’t sure about this, Yuki breathed heavily and felt hot. Though she maintained a peaceful smile. Her central eye beamed behind its crystal case.

Asami yelled at the top of her lungs, “Everybody, come one an all to the show you’ve always been waiting for! Aliens Versus the Agency Predators!”

A shot fired into the air released the sound of fireworks booming. The display shattered into static against the sun, but the sound of fireworks and event announcement drew a small crowd. Zaap dropped his disguise as he scanned the side of the white trailer. A display of a generic space landscape with stars, planets, and even an aurora displayed well enough due to the shade of the campus building.

“This is an unauthorized performance and stunning of a security officer, you’ll regret this when the police get here.”

The police were already on their way. The flashing red lights of a patrol car led two large black Mersadeyes cruisers and a long-armored bus.

Zaap levitated in front of the center of the trailer; this started a fanfare, “Citizens of Earth, do not be alarms! We the inhabitants of Valerexixia Prime 32 wish you no harms. Our purpose is to warn you of the dangers of the Flavions, the lizard race of Optimal Prime. For decades they have instituted a regimen of mind control using acoustics. It started with The Local-motion, and then Burpin’ Turd! Stray beats are designed to loop in your mind, breaking your fragile wet human brains into compliance!”

The Local-motion played softly in the background as agency vehicles pulled in the campus lot. The patrol car’s red lights flared against the sun without accompanying sirens. The vehicle screeched to a halt. Two officers stepped out, armed with actual sidearms on holsters. They tried to disperse the crowd, but it had reached a critical mass whereas the new arrivals were thought to be part of the show. The crowd of curious college students pressed upon the officers asking questions.

The old man in the long camel hair coat slammed the passenger side door with a coughing fit while two black suited guards kept the growing mass of students from getting too close.

Asami watched stunned for a moment, “Are you sure this is a good idea? We’ve attracted the entire school!”

A microphone popped into Zaap’s hand as he pointed his scanner with the other. A rifleman kneeling atop the bus fired a shot, but the bullet deflected in the gravitational shield and fell. The scanner poured lines of color over the rifleman. He froze in place. Zaap smiled.

“The enemy of your kind has arrived. Be aware that I, Zaap the hero, will not allow these foul villains to control your minds with brain rotting melodies!”

The middle section of the bus rolled back, opening a set of huge speakers and a television screen. They played the Local-motion at a thumping volume. Pictures on screen displayed people having fun doing the dance. The audience watched, but some began dancing as depicted on screen. Soon most of the crowd were swinging their hips and bumping butts. A disc jockey rose from the top of the bus with a skeezy smile, “Let’s go, honey! Do the Local-motion! It’s a world-wide commotion!”

Zaap looked across the crowd to the disc jockey with a knowing smile, which returned to him. They accepted his challenge. This battle was now a spectacle.

Yuki pulled at Asami’s encased shoulder, “Why is it so loud all the sudden?”

“You’re awake!” Asami said, “Apparently, we’re doing some sort of fake show. The agency is leaning into it. But to be honest. I have a feeling like we’re about to be arrested.”

The scans of colorful lines continued freezing armed agents while Zaap floated above the trailer.

Music blasting from the long black bus drowned out the police sirens. The coughing man and his entourage continued around the dancing crowd to confront them.

Yuki stood up on Asami’s hands and stared them down, “I, Yuki Hirame, future queen of the Valerexixians, will defend my people with everything I got!”