An Inescapable Descent

(Phy Report #0150: 29th February 2000)

Earth Movers have been spotted for the second time in the history of the entire world!

This occurrence doesn’t usually happen. There were a few tremors in recent times — ones that arose around two or ten years ago. It is supposed to be a signal of their insurrection, but nothing comes of it most of the time. When it does though….

The Earth Movers made an appearance only once while I was alive. The other one is evidenced by some ancient drawings in a cave made before my time, which is saying something. These creatures are akin to something that would reside in Lovecraft’s macabre fiction. It is unfortunately real though, as great of a concept as it could have been. Earth-moving Leviathans. Where could I start in appreciating the dread you pose? Well, to others but not m-

“AL!!”

My head jumps and my mind returns to this world, realising what I’m in the middle of. The soothing and androgynous voice lost its balance, jolting me at its command.

“GO!! BE SAFE, ME WILL!!”

The smile is still there, but Tote’s opposing passion renders it meaningless.

“Y’know, it can’t do anything to m-”

“DON’T CARE!! STOP SPEAK!! MOVE!!”

“O-Okay, okay,” I start walking back while still facing Tote. “I’ll be back, just, hold on for a bit, I guess.”

I turn, giving my back to Tote. It started with a jog, but it immediately transformed into a sprint until I was out of Tote’s sight. My pace started to slow down when I got further away from their sight. I proceeded to follow a path I made that goes from where Tote is, onto another path, and onto another, which then led to my area in southern Rao.

Walking and musing.

When I eventually reach the arbitrary line of the city, I pick up on a sound in the distance. Due to how far I am, it is but faint. Though, it seems to be coming from public speakers. I attempt to make out what it's saying…

…DE RED! I REPEAT! CODE RED! DANGEROUS FLIES ARE ATTACKING! STAY IN YOUR HOLES AND DO NOT GET O-

The speakers abruptly cut. ‘Ain’t no away, another Phy enters the mix,' I think to myself. But a realisation dawns that I most likely heard it wrong. Earth Movers and some fly thrice my size? Actually. Probably…

Plunging myself out of some bushes from the decrepit park nearby, I make it to where my apartment should be. Even by going through the park instead of around it, I was too late. The debris of the building was already stacked. Some bodies were around, and some had their heads under said debris. Kind of sad. I mean, of course it is. But I’m only able to acknowledge that it is rather than feel it, I guess.

My sight drifts elsewhere. I notice the leftovers of their swim; cracked paths at gargantuan widths. What stood out is that no attack seems to have happened anywhere near the city — only on the edges outside. They are still quite a distance away from the arbitrary edge... I notice evidence of a move they did when they appeared way back when. Usually, from what I saw, they do that dolphin-like jump into and through the ground most of the time. And on the way from Tote, there were many remnants of it, where they made a long line which I assume stretches all around the city. However, they also do another attack where, with godly violence and vitality, they jump on the land itself like lashes of a whip. The difference is that they make use of their entire body — which isn’t exactly weak, due to their weight and momentum compounding altogether. One singular impact can take down buildings. Though, it seems like it was one after another, creating an offensive force rivalling nuclear weapons.

The air is filled with dust. A noon sky looks like a sunset. The powerfully divine roars continue from many directions, with some mortal screams complimenting the chaos far, far away. No one is on the fringes where the Earth Movers seem to have been attacking — I’m quite sure the inner city is fairly safe. Quakes from beneath me continue, even though I'm about a good mile or two away from one of these demons.

I decide to move ahead and inspect what is happening inside the city. After ten minutes of walking, my eyes notice a shape in the distance; a silhouette which resembles a fly an awful lot, but not in size. My legs march further onwards. As I get closer, it takes notice of me and turns my way. It was already too close for me to escape, so I stop — it wasn’t like I wanted to anyway. A brown and orange mosquito, around sixty times its original size, charges toward me as it flaps its earwax-coloured wings. Uncountable dots of gradient greens and blues speck the two large spheres gawking at me. It pushes me with a surprising force using their human-shaped hands, and I drop onto the floor. A warm, hard, and slimy body creeps through my belly. The creature pierces my neck with its arm-length, needle-like mouth. A tiny little nothing is all it causes me. The mere inconvenience made me push away the creature, which was incredibly light relative to its size. I took the opportunity of how far away went to get up and run; my curiosity went back to what is happening in the city rather than this thing.

I managed to outpace it. What occupied my mind during my escape was the memory of the races, that I and a few fellows were conducting back in the day. Algar is still the fastest person I've had the pleasure of knowing and existing with. No athlete across history could compete with him, not one. I am so sure of that. Oh, what could’ve been. It’s a shame they perished after a meagre twenty years. Extreme sonder takes over due to this memory, along with the many more souls that could have thrived in this current plane. I could only watch them and be reminded I can do nothing about it... Sometimes the passion burns-

“Oi, you! Over there! What’re you doing walking around like that?”

A voice comes from my left. When I turned to it, it was only an open door.

“You trying to kill us too?! I ain’t keeping it open for long man! Quick! Get inside!”

I do as they say. The person closes the door the millisecond I got in. I took a good look at them. They have a dark brown complexion, with quite a symmetrical and clear face, as well as a nice sense of fashion, with the pale pink sweater of a band I love, alongside some beige trousers and black boots…

Maybe I could converse with them. Or should I? No!... No. They’ll just be yet another loved one I’ll remember only in memory. Twenty years of happiness only to grieve fifty, drenched in the turmoil of what could’ve been-

“Bro you could’ve died out there,” they pause, taking a minute to stare at me and to mull over whether his deduction is correct. “Wait. Shit! You’re the Phy person!” He rushes down some stairs that are situated to the right of the entrance. “Lads lads lads! That Alyosha Phy is with us!”

I follow downstairs and present myself to the people in the basement, assuming that was how I’m supposed to perform. Some people get up and some don’t.

“Bro you’ve been around before my great, great grandma,”

“Damn, you look normal in person,”

“Oh, the liberal, boot-licking scumbag is here? Tch, living in the south as if you belong you fucking lapdog.”

Three of the seven voices stuck out purely because they were what my body decided to register. Though, one of the three not just grabbed my attention, but made me wish it didn’t. It seemed to come from someone who was still sitting on the hard concrete a few yards away; they haven’t even turned their head as they spoke. My stomach sank when I heard them. I gulp, making me cough as I choke on my own spit. What that person said to me, and sequential thoughts from my own making, drowned me under a murk of unease. I don’t want to see who said that, let alone confront them. I can’t.

I smile at the few people who are up in my face — not knowing how they feel about me — then I went through them, trying to find a place to sit. An empty room. Nothing is in here apart from people and their clothes, with some of them holding a random thing or two.

I didn’t notice it before, but fatigue permeated every limb and bone in me; my body directs itself to a place which is half open for another human to sit. My head turns to the cool person who took me in.

“Could I take a seat and just relax for a min? If that’s okay of course.”

“Yeah yeah it's cool, take a seat anywhere,” the cool person replies.

“We’re all stuck in here after what started to happen. Even the TVs are cut off,” the cool guy gestures at an object that seems to be in front of me. But I don’t turn to it, as the voice that's still pervading my every thought seems to have come from where he was gesturing. I conjure a smile.

“Only thing we have on our hands to save us is this radio device thing,” the cool guy points at a person in the right-hand corner of the basement, fiddling with a device in their hand. “That girl over there, she knows her stuff when it comes to radio and whatnot. Tryna pick up a signal, or just, anything, y’know.”

I nod and fake a smile, tucking my knees closer to me, and proceeding to look down.

Time passes. Musing and agonising.

“I ca-” Shhhhh… “Tha-” Shh… “Seems lik-” Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…

“Oh yeah, baby! You lads hearing this?!” The teenage-looking redhead in the corner shouts in vitality; the room wakes up from its misery. Some people chose to stay in it though.

The girl slowly rotates the control knob backwards with almost perfect precision. She then rotated it back and forth in tiny amounts until the voice became intelligible. Most people rushed to huddle near her. A woman next to her — who had the same colour of hair and was very close to the red-head — enveloped her in a hug, saying "That's my fuckin' girl."

I stayed.

“…Ell, this seems like quite a bad situation, isn’t it Mark?”

“For sure Cindy. I mean, how could something like this happen to such a prosperous capital? That prime minister must be golfing instead of doing his job.”

A slow, monotonous laugh came out, followed by a loud, long sip from what seemed like a mug of coffee.

“Anyway, time will tell if more comes from these attacks by these… horrible Earth Movers. I hope the people are holding on. Thoughts and prayers.”

“Thoughts and prayers.”

“Considering-”

“Wait Cindy, I’m gonna have to cut you off right there. We just received some breaking news! It seems like the city of Rao has been completely broken enough from the land of Gader. Reports tell us that the city, or now, island, is moving away from its neighbouring lands at relatively high speeds, and it seems like the Earth Movers are to blame. It is drifting on the surface of the sea as we speak.”