by Mic Shannon
“Is that…?”
The camera focused on the dirt valley, bringing the objects into view. She could see the profiles. The arms swinging. The legs scurrying as fast as they could. The groups of people constantly looking back in fear and panic. The video turned to static.
“What happened? Where’s the rest of the footage?” the President asked.
“Something blocked our signal,” replied Patricia, “we had to turn the UAV around and bring it back. The communications circuits were scrambled.”
The President placed her hand on her forehead, rubbing her temples with her thumb and middle finger.
“Ok,” she began, “call Director Horn and General Adams and have them meet me at secure location Charlie.”
“I’m on it, ma’am…”
---3:37 pm ---
Alexandria, VA, USA
Michael walked with Manny after school, laughing and joking about a senior prank that had went viral statewide for fifteen minutes on Social Status. Several students took part in shutting down the school’s power for almost an hour, causing the fire department and police to respond to a ‘system disconnect signal’ due to the Internet of Things. To the students, it was hilarious. To the principal, Mr. Marlow, it was embarrassing.
“Did you see Mr. Marlow running around?” asked Manny, laughing hysterically, “And that student that ran through the halls in the mascot uniform and got tackled by the school officer?”
“Yeah,” said Michael, smirking, “that was a crazy tackle. But I think they took it too far with calling out the police. They might get in trouble.”
“Who cares!” laughed Manny, “Watch, our senior prank is gonna be way better than that!”
Michael shook his head.
“You know I’m going to see Cynthia tonight,” he said, proud and smiling.
“Yeah, I know, you better hit those cheeks!” Manny teased, ducking as laughing Michael went to pluck him upside the head.
“You’re a dirty dog,” said Michael, “you search Woof Magazine and you on the front cover like this.”
Michael dropped his tongue out of his mouth, posing for the invisible camera, then immediately began to crack up.
“Man, shut up!” said Manny, laughing with him.
Michael said goodbye to Manny, shaking his hand as they parted ways; Manny going to the basketball courts and Michael heading to Cynthia’s house to spend their Friday evening together. He was excited, yet strangely nervous about coming over to her house under “boyfriend” pretenses as opposed to prom date. He knew he needed to focus on being respectful and courteous. It would be a tragedy to be disliked by Cynthia’s family.
The house was about a mile and a half away, and so it took him nearly a half hour to walk. The neighborhood was quaint, yet tight. The yards were small and fenced in. The houses were just larger than a standard row home, a symbol that they had moved up from that category. He kind of liked it, something he one day hoped he could live in with her. He walked up the single-car driveway and approached the house, remembering the front door from the party. Knocking on the door, he waited. He would have sent her a message from his wristphone, but he knew she would expect that. He would much rather see her smiling face when she opened the door and realized he had arrived.
He heard footsteps coming to the door, thumping along the wooden floor. They were much too loud for Cynthia’s short, petite body. It must have been Derek or her father.
The door swung open, “Sup.”
“Hey, what’s up,” Michael replied, “is, umm, Cynthia here?”
Derek looked him up and down, “Yeah, man, come in,”
Michael entered the house and stood near the door, Derek closing it behind him. He didn’t want to go anywhere without being told, and so he stood there waiting.
“Cynthia! One of your guy friends is here!” yelled Derek.
“Shut up!” she yelled back as she descended the stairs, “why would you say that jerk?”
Derek snickered deviously at his comment and walked into the living room, plopping down onto the recliner in front of the game and grabbing his beer.
“Where’s your dad?” Michael asked as he stood at the doorway, basking in the allure of her natural elegance.
“He had to work tonight,” she replied, “Fridays are a big night at the bar.”
She stood there in front of him, her hands clasped together by her thighs, her green eyes soft and twinkling, smiling from ear-to-ear at the sight of him. He looked left and right, smirking and grinning awkwardly as she eyed him. He cracked a light smile.
“What?” he asked, trying his hardest to bring his lips together, but unable to hide his grin.
“You wanna sit outside with me?” she asked, knowing Derek’s ears were active in the other room, attune to pick up any and every bit of their conversation.
They went back outside and sat on the front step, Cynthia closing the door for privacy. She was excited that he had come. Really, she was waiting for him to call or send her a message, but he had popped up at the door unannounced. It was okay, she was expecting him, but in a way, he had surprised her. No boy ever surprised her. He was perfect.
She sat next to him, affectionately close, contented with being in his presence, a sharp contrast to what was familiar for her when it came to boys. He looked over at her in adoration, looking away each time to smile. She knew he was wondering why she kept staring at him, but it was strangely satisfying to see him thrown off by her, and so she touched his chin with two fingers and brought her lips to his.
He pulled his lips away, his eyes still closed. When he opened them, she was still staring into his eyes, smiling. Then she paused, flipping her hair and looking away in thought.
“Mike,” she asked.
“What’s up?” he said, grinning as he looked at her long black hair, wondering how he had ever found himself with such a beautiful woman.
“Have you ever thought about what you want to do in life?”
It was a heavy question. He knew what he was supposed to do. What his mother would have wanted him to do.
“Go to college, I guess…right?” he asked.
“Well, yeah,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders and rolling her eyes, “but I mean, Derek goes to college because he plays football.”
“You don’t know why you’re going?” Michael interrupted.
“No,” she backtracked, “I mean, I know why I’m going, but truthfully, I don’t know what I wanna do.”
“Well, you like to run track, right?”
“Yeah, I like track,” she said, looking down at the ground, “but, like, that’s a hobby. I don’t wanna do that forever.”
“Well, what else do you like?” he asked.
“I mean, I just keep thinking about it,” she said, sinking her shoulders and looking down in thought, “I just want to…I dunno. It’s gonna sound stupid…”
“No,” Michael said, “go ahead it’s okay…”
“Okay so like, I look around at the world, right?” she began, facing toward him and talking with her hands emphatically, “and everyone is just so distant.”
He leaned in, putting his elbow on his knee and his hand on his chin.
“I don’t understand why everyone is so angry. I wish we didn’t have war, greed, poverty; but the truth is, we don’t have the desire to change. Even sitting here with you, I’m talking about it, but what am I doing about it?”
She sunk her shoulders again, changing from her emphatic mood with a sigh.
“I guess that’s what I wanna do with my life, ya know what I mean?” she asked, looking at him with a soft smile then back down at the ground, “actually make a change…”
Michael contemplated for a moment. She was right. The people of the world didn’t care; not unless it involved them personally. He admired her for wanting to fix it. He leaned in close, smiling at her and placing his hand behind her neck to pull her in for a kiss.
“Don’t worry,” he said confidently, “you will.”
--- 5:21 pm ---
It was just turning from dusk to nightfall as Michael came through the door. Manny was still in the living room with the other boys, laughing and cracking jokes as usual. He jumped up from the couch as soon as he saw Michael, walking over toward him.
“My boy right here coming back from his date!” Manny announced to the room, basking in Michael’s supposed glory, “I know you did ya thing!” he said, extending his hand for a dap.
Michael shook his hand, scrunching his eyebrows and accompanying it with an awkward smile at Manny’s thirst for popularity. He decided not to say anything. He would never talk about Cynthia like that, and staying silent kept Manny from embarrassment.
Making his way upstairs, Michael turned the corner and went into his bedroom. Tee was in the room on his own bed. He was focused on his mini tablet, lying on his back with his knees propped up.
“Is that yours?!” Michael asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, his attention unwavering from the screen.
“You might wanna make sure no one else finds out you have it,”
“Man, I don’t worry about that. People generally like me and don’t wanna steal my stuff,” he said with a grin. Michael shook his head and chuckled.
“Hey, check this out.”
Tee tilted the screen toward Michael as he closed the door and walked over toward him.
“What is it?” Michael asked.
“More info on the disks,” he replied.
“Oh yeah?” said Michael, “So what’s the new word on The Unknown?”
“More like The Unseen,” replied Tee.
Michael raised his eyebrow. What did that mean? The Unseen? It was catchy, though.
“So, dig this,” said Tee, sitting up in the bed to explain, “I’ve been waiting to hear something about the disks, right? And then this…”
He turned the mini-tablet toward Michael and played the video on the screen. Michael leaned in to look closer.
“This infamously groovy hacker named The Mad Hatter stole this footage from the NSA and posted it on HackSpot today.”
The video showed the drone banking past the canopy of the trees to the dirt opening. They watched as the UAV slowed and the camera zoomed in on the people, running away from the landing site. Michael scratched his head and leaned in closer, putting his hands on his knees for support.
“What the hell?!” he asked, confused.
“Right,” Tee replied as he began to bounce his leg, “but the big question is, why are they running away?”
--- 6:12 pm ---
Washington, DC, USA
Within an hour, the footage hacked by The Mad Hatter had gone viral. News and media ratings were sky high, basking in the spine-tingling mystery that had people wondering what and why. Social media was the biggest culprit of mass panic, everyone sharing false stories, inciting unrest within the country.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Kira,” said Director Horn, raising both eyebrows in sincerity, “it could cause mass panic.”
She hung her head, tense wrinkles on her forehead from contemplation. Biting her lip, she picked up her glass of brandy and took a sip.
“China has already done it, and it’s looking like more countries will follow,” she replied.
“It could severely destabilize us,” he pleaded, leaning in and placing his hand on her shoulder.
“And the alternative?!” she asked, pushing his hand away.
“I agree,” said General Adams, leaning back in his chair, “it’s a big liability not to.”
The Director cut his eyes to the floor and sighed. They were right. Did they want to lose small or lose big?
“I’m making the call,” she said, pulling her PDA from her pocket.
They all sat in silence as the secure call began to ring. They were tense, almost uncertain of their certainty. The Director shifted his weight in his chair and put his ankle up onto his knee, still disapproving of the move and its potential backlash.
“Hello,” said the voice on the other end of the line.
“It’s me,” she said, pausing for a moment and rubbing her temples, “shut it down…”
WED, MAY 31st, 2034
Alexandria, VA, USA
6:30 am
M ichael’s wristphone vibrated in an alarm pattern as he lay unconscious on his bed, face down with his mouth open. The sun was barely beginning to peek over the trees into the window of the small bedroom. Tee was already awake, sitting on the side of his bed in his work uniform waiting to leave. Michael could hear him mumbling to himself.
“Come on, man! This is impossible…” he said, frustrated.
Michael lifted his head, squinting in confusion. Pressing the side button on his wristphone, he shut off the alarm. He looked at the time and rolled over. It was almost time to get up and get ready for school.
Tee looked noticeably agitated, something Michael had never seen before from such a smooth and confident kid. He slid up and leaned on his elbow, looking at Tee and sensing something had happened. And if anyone was up on the scoop, it was Tee with his wild conspiracy theories and addiction to social media.
“What happened now?” he asked groggily, knowing Tee was ready to rant about the new theory.
“There’s no internet,” he replied dryly, tossing his mini-tablet down onto his bed and laying back in frustration, “Social Status is down, so is SuperSearch and HackSpot.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Michael, unable to fathom, “There’s gotta be internet. Your tablet is probably messed up.”
“At first the sites were just unreachable, but now I can’t get any connection at all,” he replied, tossing his hands up, “I’m telling you I think it’s shut down…”
“That’s impossible. You can’t shut down the internet,” Michael scoffed, dismissing the outrageous idea as he scrunched his face in amused confusion, “It’s never been shut down because you can’t even do that.”
Suddenly, the lights cut out, and all the electronic monitoring systems in the house suddenly went silent.
“What the hell?” exclaimed Michael, sitting up in his bed and looking side to side with his mouth open, bewildered.
Tee sat up with him and looked around, noticing all the electronics were shut down. He sprung up and looked out of the window at the other houses on the block, all without power. That’s when the alarm began to sound outside.
Michael’s wristphone vibrated along with Tee’s mini-tablet. They both looked at each other, scrunching their eyebrows. Tee walked back over to the bed and grabbed his tablet as Michael looked down at his wristphone.
“LAW ALERT.”
Both boys looked at each other for a brief moment. Tee sprang into action, popping up from the bed and heading out of the bedroom door in a flash shouting Ms. Tanya’s name. Looking out of the window, Michael could see the commotion begin as families began to grab their things in a hurry, throwing them into their vehicles.
Every year in school they had LAW Alert drills. Mostly a boring occasion, they would go through the motions as everyone gathered in the basement and stood around. It was nominal, about as important as a mock fire drill to both students and teachers alike. School lockdown drills held significantly more prominence.
Michael popped up and threw on his jeans and tee shirt for the day. In the background, he could hear the other kids talking and yelling to each other. Suddenly, a generic tone began to play as a phone call came in on Michael’s wristphone. He couldn’t remember the last time he took a phone call, maybe in elementary school; it was obsolete now to streaming video calls. He looked at the display, which only showed a number and no name. Opening his book bag, he fished for his headphones and put them on. He pressed the side button on his wristphone and listened.
Hello?” he asked curiously.
“Mike,” said Cynthia, grabbing her chest on the other end of the phone, “are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he replied, sitting back down on the bed, “what a
bout you?”
“I’m fine,” she said. There was a pause. In the background, there was commotion, along with the sound of her father’s voice. Michael could sense the anxiety.
“What’s going on?” she asked, uncertainty gripping her like a vice.
“I’m not sure,” he replied, scratching his head, “but call me when you’re safe, okay?”
“Okay. I love you.”
It was the first time she had said it. It almost took him by surprise.
“I love you too,” he said, smirking slightly as the contrasting feeling of warm satisfaction washed across his body.
--- 6:42 am ---
Downstairs, Ms. Tanya was running around frantically, taking a head count of all the children and packing important medicines in carry bags. Tee helped her, comforting the younger kids and helping them gather their most important items. Descending the stairs with unease, Michael looked at the nervous faces of the children as they focused on the SMART TV, still wondering the most crucial questions.
“What’s going on?” he asked the crowd of boys in the living room.
“Look,” Manny said, pointing at the TV, “it’s on every channel.”
The broadcast was bold and sobering.
“A STATE OF EMERGENCY HAS BEEN DECLARED. ALL CITIZENS PLEASE REPORT TO A SAFE ZONE AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.”
On cue, wristphones began to buzz, giving the location of the nearest safe zone based on GPS location.
“Let’s go children,” said Ms. Tanya, “get your things you have ten minutes!”
The children all hopped up and rushed back to their rooms. Michael pulled a couple of outfits from the closet and began stuffing them into his bookbag. He didn’t say anything, rushing to pack his things as quickly as possible. Tee was in the closet, throwing his clothes into a small bag.
“Hey Tee,” said Michael.
