"Kan... the surroundings... they're dimming," Shin murmured, perplexed by what was going on.
When Kan heard Shin, he snapped back to reality and wondered, 'What now?'
"No, it's not... the sun... something covering the sun," Kan pointed out.
When he looks up, he discovers the sun nearly completes a solar eclipse.
"I never heard a solar eclipse would happen today..." Shin was even more perplexed.
"There shouldn't be one... I heard about the partial solar eclipse, but that's on March 21," Kan stated.
'What's going on?' both of them thought.
Shin directed the retractable telescope on the sun, which is now completely eclipsed, giving the surrounding area the appearance of nighttime. He engages the filter mode since he knows that even if the sun is obscured, you shouldn't gaze at it directly, especially with a telescope that magnifies the exposure.
Shin notices something strange: 'That's not the moon...'
"Kan! Kan! Look... the moon isn't the one who covering the sun!" shouted Shin.
"What? Let me see," Kan responded as he quickly took Shin's telescope.
'Sure, it's not the moon, so what is it?' Kan was in disbelief. He has a strong feeling that something significant is going on that he is not aware of.
Despite the fact that everyone is unaware of what is going on, Kan constantly keeps himself apart from everyone. He despises being ignorant the most. That's why Kan clutched his fist so firmly that it bled.
Shin, on the other hand, simply stood there frozen. His enthusiasm for thinking of himself as a pilot has faded. In addition, he can't get his head around what happened to Atom.
"Some sort of light is ejected to the thing that covers the sun, I think the ejected light collided with something," Kan murmured to Shin, trying to focus the telescope's lens and even altering the intensity of the filter.
But Shin gently pulls Kan, saying, "Kan, you should see this…"
The entire sky is engulfed by a meteor shower. Making the dark surroundings a little lighter. That is how many there are.
The two questioned if the world was coming to an end.
"BOOOMMMM!"
When something exploded at the building next to the school, the two were jolted out of their reverie. It produces a lot of smoke, followed by a howl.
"Grrrrwahhhhh!!!"
"BOOOOOOOMMMM!"
Before they could both react, another explosion occurred in the opposite direction, but a little too far away.
Too many explosions have already occurred before they realize it is more than just an explosion. They observe one of the meteors sever a network tower in half. The meteor shower that supposedly disintegrate upon entry of Earth's atmosphere is reacting differently than expected. A siren can be heard practically everywhere, but strangely, no one is panicking.
Perhaps, because those prone to panic are the ones who have vanished. Or perhaps this is a judgment day, and everyone who is left behind is the one who will suffer.
Perhaps because those prone to panic are the ones who have vanished. Or perhaps this is a judgment day, and everyone who is left behind is the one who will suffer.
Unbeknownst to everyone, this event is occurring all across the planet, not just in this area. Those on the night side of the earth do not witness the unusual eclipse, but rather a large comet impact that forms a massive crater.
On this day, a lot of unusual things occur. However, prior to the tragedy, all flights were canceled around 10:30 a.m. A minute before the people vanished, all of the traffic lights turned red. As though someone predicted this would happen.
This day is remembered as the beginning of the Regress Era.
"Shin! Shin! We have to go! We can't stay up here!" shouted Kan to Shin, his fist still clenched.
"Ha? Right. Right! Yeah, let's go!" Shin said, shaking out of his trance.
But before the two could run, a dazzling light appeared. It's so bright everywhere that you'll have no idea where it's coming from.
"Ah!"
In this bright light, a ripple is gently forming. Growing larger and larger till it reached the brink of a massive explosion. However, this explosion is not physically damaging; rather, it is more akin to an electromagnetic pulse. However, it not only short-circuits electronic devices but also affects the human body's central nervous system.
The two collapses on the floor.
◇
"Shin!"
"Shin! Wake up!"
Kan shook Shin, but he wouldn't wake up.
He doesn't understand how the new IB works, and it doesn't even show any health monitoring functions like the previous IB does. And Kan reasoned that knowing might be pointless because he was still wearing the old IB, which appeared to be broken. He checks Shin's pulse the old-fashioned manner and breaths a sigh of relief when he feels it. 'His breathing is shallow, but he should be alright.'
He carries Shin inside the garden shed, where he lays him comfortably.
After Kan had laid Shin down, he looked around. A few ruined buildings had thin smoke coming out of them. The most notable is the emergence of a massive tower.
The tower is massive and tall enough to reach the clouds. It is dirty white in color..
'The world changes in a single day... or perhaps we sleep for too long. In any case, things will be different from now on.'
Kan retrieved a carton of cigarettes from his pocket, but he can't find his lighter. Regardless, he held a cigarette in his mouth. He observes as he always has, but today he can't even find a single human to observe. 'Did everybody die?'
'I didn't expect my desire to be granted in this manner; perhaps I shouldn't have wished it, even if I loathe humans. But it's too late to regret now.'
Ughhhhh! Ughhhhh!
Kan dashed toward the garden shed as soon as he heard Shin cough.
"Cough! My head hurts!" Shin exclaimed as he held his head.
"You must have hit your head when you fell," explained Kan.
"Fell?" asked Shin.
"Yeah, apparently we collapsed before we could even run," Kan said. "You should look outside, everything seems to have calmed down now, but you should brace yourself for what you will see."
"Right, that happened; I still can't believe those things happened," Shin replied, his tone solemn.
"Yeah, but it appears to be just the beginning, you would think so when you see the outside," Kan added.
Sigh.
Shin sighs and slowly rises, still feeling lightheaded.
'Just as I was ready to plan my dream, this happened. Sigh.'