Alexander Lauren really hated the cold.
It bit and nipped at every exposed patch of skin despite his attempts to bundle up, and the fierce winds didn't help. The sea was turbulent, threatening to swallow the small fishing boat and drag them to the frigid depths below, and a stinging rain whipped at a horizontal angle, soaking them all to the bone.
His wife had warned him not to go out on the ocean during the winter, but the month had honestly started off rather warm and cozy. His captain had practically demanded they go on a month-long trip, and he, defying his wife's caution, had agreed.
As if the weather itself were out to get him, though, it didn't take long for the blue sky above to turn pitch black, and he found himself in this situation. Every day, it seemed to get worse and worse.
"Remind me again why we have to be out here in this weather," he grumbled.
His friend Marcus just gave him a sad smile. "What can I say, Alex? We drew the short stick. You know how it is."
"I'm telling you that the game was rigged from the start." He scowled. Even back when he lived in the boonies, he often found himself in the water. Fishing was something he and his dad used to do. After moving to the big city and starting his new life, he had no reason to change that pastime, even turning it into a job. "Damn storm," he cursed the heavens. "At least let me find something good if you're going to throw this at me!"
"We could always steal some of the lifeboats and head back to the mainland." Marcus joked.
"As much as I like that idea, I'll have to veto it. I need the money."
His hands were pale and shivering as he worked, pulling up yet another empty cage. Getting work as a deep-sea fisherman was getting harder and harder with each passing day as the oceans were depleted of their bountiful stock, and even here, he was having trouble getting enough to break even. It didn't help that the bigger ships, the ones owned by actual companies, did their jobs on a far bigger scale.
Marcus gave a depressed sigh when he saw the empty cage they pulled up. They were a small crew of six, and of the six of them, over the course of nearly three months, only two of them had even managed to catch anything of note. Their job wasn't just to catch fish but also things like sunken ships and long-forgotten salvage.
"Maybe the others will have better luck than us," Marcus suggested.
"Maybe." Alexander replied with a doubtful note in his voice. The two of them got to work throwing out their nets and cages, checking on the sails, and making sure everything was set as it should be. His phone began to buzz loudly, making him groan.
"Your wife?" Marcus asked.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Think you can hold the ship down for a bit?"
"I'll do my best."
"Thanks." Hauling the cage back onto the deck, he muttered a curse to himself and made for the cabin. He had to struggle against the wind to shut the door, but he eventually managed to do it. The others, including the captain, were all huddled around a table; a bottle of cheap whiskey opened as the men played some sort of card game. He shushed them when they saw him as he grabbed his phone. "Hello?"
"Are you coming back yet?" He nearly winced as he heard his wife's annoyed voice on the other line. He loved her to death, but he loved getting in a massive haul just as much.
He took a moment to warm up by the heater in the ship and let his clothes dry a bit. "Yeah." He finally said. "I think I'm going to be finishing up here." He gave his boss a dirty look, who had the decency to look at least a little ashamed of himself.
"Find anything?" His wife asked in a blunt tone.
"Nah."
"Alexander!"
"I know, I know. You told me so."
"Honestly, what were you thinking? It was just last week that those Sinicorp ships began searching those very waters! Did you really think that with how advanced and big their boats are, you'd find something they missed?"
"Yeah, yeah. I just figured that maybe we could—" He thankfully never had to think up the rest of his flimsy excuse, as a few moments later, a bell rang through their cabin, causing them all to freeze. The table the crew was crowded around was practically knocked over as the men stood up suddenly. "I'll call you back," he mumbled, hanging up on his wife. He'd regret that later when he got home, but something big just happened.
They finally found something.
All of them made their way out into the cold weather and crowded around Marcus, who was crouched near the edge of the ship, reeling something in. "Take a look, boys," the man said, giving a wide grin for once.
The heavens seemed to finally smile down on all of them. Bobbing in the water, nearly as big as he was tall, he spotted it. Sleek and metal, looking brand new, it was enough to make him whistle. Some kind of engine to a big boat, he'd reckon—a brand-new one at that, judging by how clean the thing was. It was crystal clear, almost like glass; it reflected everything around it.
"What is it?" The captain muttered, having to squint his eyes just to see it.
As it got closer, though, Alex began to worry. It didn't look like an engine—or at least none that he was familiar with. It was a large ball. Perfectly round, the silver of its metal had caught his eye, and the sound it made when it lightly hit the side of his ship suggested it was hollowed out.
He, along with three others, went to pull it out of the water. They all almost stumbled back as they raised it. The thing was so light that only one of them needed to hold it—that person ended up being him. His arms were just barely wide enough to wrap around the strange metal ball as he placed it down on the deck of the ship, and they all stared at it.
They looked it over and didn't notice any dents, tears, or hatches. It was just a perfectly-made metal ball. When they shook it, they didn't hear anything shaking inside of it, despite the fact that it was light and likely hollowed out.
"Who the hell decided to make a big metal ball?" The captain asked.
"Some nut job artist?" He joked back. A part of him even felt a little bad about taking it. Given its state, the thing was clearly brand new. Still, while it might be empty, the metal would have to be worth something. It was too light to be iron, but it still held strong as he tried to put a light dent in it, doing more damage to his hammer. Whoever built it must have used some expensive materials.
He never even noticed the faint blue light as his palm rubbed against it, the shine fading away just in time for him to miss it.
"What do we do with it?" Marcus asked.
"Well, we don't have the tools to just open it up, and I'd like to have someone look at it first." The captain sighed.
"I know a guy," Alex suggested. "When we get back home, I have a buddy who has some advanced tools from when he used to work for Sinicorp. I could give him a call and have him look at it. At the very least, he could figure out what the metal is made of."
"Alright, then," the captain said with a wide grin. "I think we just made the bank, boys!"
***
The last thing Jane Lauren expected when her husband's truck pulled into the driveway of their home was for him to return with something.
In the back of his truck, chained down, was a strange metal sphere. The ball was made from a strange silver metal and was almost fully reflective, showing off the many cars that drove by on the road and sending glimmers of light in all directions.
"So, what exactly, pray tell, did you bring home this time, darling?" His wife's voice sounded innocent, but he knew her long enough to know that she wanted a good answer.
Jane was a beautiful woman. With long black hair and a set of simple blue eyes hidden behind her glasses, she was stunning. Alex knew he was lucky to have her. He himself wasn't anything to look at. Big, gruff, and hairy, with wild black hair and a massive bushy beard that she had been begging him to shave off.
"I think it's one of those time capsule things that kids like to fill up, though this one seems empty." He parked the truck and got out, knocking on the side of the orb.
"What's in it?" His wife asked.
"I haven't found a way to crack the damn thing." He explained. He picked it up from the back of his truck, grunting a little at the awkward shape, as he walked past her and into the garage door, which was already opened. The thing was too long to fit on any of his tables, plus it would likely roll off, so he ended up setting it down in a corner, stopping its escape by throwing a shoe in front of it, which was enough to keep the thing from rolling.
"So, if you haven't been able to open it and you think it's empty, then how much could it really be worth?" Jane asked, frowning a little as she followed her husband out of the rain and into the garage.
Alex hummed and gave her a shrug, which didn't help ease her nerves. "Honestly, I'm not too sure. I've never seen anything like it."
"Well, it isn't every day you find a time capsule." Jane snorted.
"Not that." He once again placed his hand on the metal. "It's... well, just come look at it closer. The metal is thin and light, enough that it didn't sink, yet it's also tough. I'm clueless about what it's even made of, but it'd have to be something expensive. Even if it is empty, I could sell it to someone to reuse or sell it as a neat art piece."
Jane frowned as she examined it closer. "Yeah, it is a little weird." Her palm tingled as she lightly touched the thing.
A bright blue glow streamed out from where her hand touched it, and she jerked away, stepping back. There was a loud buzzing noise that suddenly filled the garage, and instinctively, Alex threw himself in front of his wife. The noise finally died down, and then, with a faint click, a line appeared across the ball, and suddenly, the thing was split in two from top to bottom, the top half lifting up by some hinge.
"What happened?" Jane asked.
A bright blue light burst forth from the now-opened ball, and Alex stood there, his eyes wider than they had ever been. "I... I... It's..." He stuttered for several seconds in shock.
Jane was frozen to the spot for several seconds, unable to see past her husband. "What's in it?" She squeaked out. Then she heard it. The cries of a baby finally registered with her. She stormed past her husband and saw it. Resting within the strange metal container, wriggling in a pile of fluffy lilac blankets, a young baby girl was crying.
Slowly and gently, Jane pulled the baby out of the container. Alex stepped closer to it, a surreal feeling washing over him. "How?!" He said, disbelief clear in his voice. "I mean, that thing was closed for several days straight, and it- It was in the water! I shook it, and I- It couldn't have been in there before."
"Shh." Jane whispered, though whether she was talking to him or the baby, he didn't know, as she gently rocked the child. "It's okay, it's okay."
Alexander looked back into the pod in shock. There was nothing in it besides the blanket. No crib or anything like that. It was totally hollow.
He looked down at the baby's face; its piercing blue eyes met him. The same set of eyes his wife had. And her black hair was already a little messy and curled like his own. Then she giggled, and Alex made his mind up.
They had moved to the living room after hastily covering the metal ball with a tarp. As soon as they had taken the child out of it, the thing had sealed back shut, and they'd been unable to get it to reopen once more. He regretted not pulling the blankets out of it when he had the chance.
"I don't think anyone's coming for her." Alex sighed. He honestly didn't know what he had been expecting when he saw the child. Part of him kept waiting for the shoe to drop, for the guys in suits to bust in and announce they needed her, but seconds turned to minutes, which turned to a few hours.
"Does it matter?" Jane asked softly, though there was a tone of mild venom in her voice. If she found the monster that placed a baby in a container and dunked it in the ocean, she didn't know what she'd do to them.
Jane sat across from him, holding the child, who had finally managed to fall asleep once she wrapped it up tight in a blanket and rocketed it gently back and forth. "I don't think the child was in there." He muttered quietly.
"What?"
"I told you already that I shook that thing so damn much that if there had been a child in there..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "Not to mention the freezing cold. I'm certain that thing was empty. Whatever it was, that baby just appeared." His nerves jumped at the smallest noise.
"What do you think that strange glow was?" Jane looked down at the child. She was unsure what to think. Those eyes, just as blue as hers, melted her heart, though. They had tried for a baby once.
It hadn't worked out…
"What happens now?" Alex asked softly, collapsing onto the couch next to her and wrapping an arm around his wife.
"You're talking about getting rid of her, aren't you?" Jane asked, causing him to wince. "You want to hand her over to an orphanage or to whoever put her in that thing."
"I didn't say that."
"You thought it, though."
Alexander sat there quietly. He couldn't help but crack a half-smile when he realized his wife was still glaring at him. "We're going to need to fabricate something if we go through with this." He chuckled. "We need a birth certificate for her and a damn good story for your parents and mine."
Jane smiled down at the child. Her smile faded, though, when she saw the first hint of the glow. It was coming from the baby. A low, orangish light seemed to shine just behind the baby's eyes. She stood up quickly, causing the baby to shake and jerk. Much to Jane's horror, the blanket the child was wrapped in came undone, and it slipped right out.
Alex jumped forward, wrapping his arms around the child just in time as he crashed to the floor. He barely had time to move his head out of the way as the light reached its peak. Then, in a flash, it happened as she burped—a raging blast of red-hot fire spilled from the child's eyes!
The flame blasted up toward the roof of their house, and the entire room was swamped in an orange light. Thankfully, it didn't take long, and soon, the glow began to get dimmer and dimmer before the child's eyes closed, and it let out a soft giggle, small pillars of black smoke rising off her face.
"Jesus!" Alex whispered as he stared up at the blackened hole that went through his roof.
Jane slowly processed what she was seeing before she looked back down at the child, who had drifted into slumber.
"This might be harder than we thought."