{10:03 pm: 14/05/2024}
Nezro's POV
I had just finished taking a bath, the chill of the water still clinging to my skin, and was about to sit down to eat when the sound of a reporter's voice filled the room. It was so crisp, so startlingly clear, that I almost turned to check for a hidden TV in our bedroom.
Rukius had turned up the volume, and by the time I entered the living room, I understood why. The screen showed the reporter, visibly agitated, delivering news that struck a chord of panic even through the glass.
"We come to you live from City Central, where creatures are emerging from the Exotic Gate—a structure that has remained dormant for over a month. My God! This is… unlike anything I've ever seen before. Residents in the area are being evacuated immediately. Government officials are arriving on scene, but—wait—hey! Don't touch that! HEY—!"
BZZZZTTTT.
The screen went dark as the feed abruptly cut off, but the reporter's voice lingered in my mind, replaying like a broken record. I took a few shaky steps back and collapsed onto the nearest sofa. My thoughts were a chaotic jumble, my breathing erratic. I pressed my palms to my knees, willing myself to stay calm, to keep panic from consuming me.
On the floor, Rukius sat with his legs sprawled wide, staring blankly at the now-blank TV screen. His expression was a strange mix of confusion and fear, like someone who'd seen the ghost of a long-dead relative.
"This… can't be real, right?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them, but they hung in the air unanswered. It had to be some elaborate prank, I told myself. But if it wasn't… if it was real… it would explain the rumors—the whispers of "paranormal races" and forbidden meetings that had made fleeting rounds online before being silenced by the government.
I shivered, a cold rush prickling down my spine, and caught myself grinning—grinning like a lunatic. It wasn't intentional. I didn't even notice the smile until Rukius gave me a look, his brow furrowed in a mix of confusion and concern.
My hand instinctively flew to my face, as if to confirm it. How could I possibly be smiling? But deep inside, beneath the unease, a strange, uncontrollable excitement was welling up—a fascination with the idea that humanity was standing on the brink of something monumental.
An evolutionary leap.
Nothing could be more thrilling than that.
---
After dinner, I retreated to my room, shutting the door softly behind me. I checked to make sure Rukius was absorbed in his tablet before turning my attention to the footage. Copies of the broadcast had already made their way online, shared and reshared despite government efforts to suppress it. The comments were a mix of disbelief and ridicule—people desperate to deny what they'd seen with their own eyes.
I searched deeper, finding articles about the Exotic Gate, reports of anomalies, and even a live stream from a scientist who had examined the structure before it activated. Her voice was calm, clinical, as she summarized her findings:
"Humanity is on the cusp of an existential crisis, one that may very well terminate our existence. The creatures emerging from this wormhole are of a genetic makeup unlike anything on Earth. If we fail to establish a method of communication—or containment—this could be the end."
Her words echoed in my mind long after the stream ended.
Outside, the power flickered, cutting out briefly before surging back to life. The same had happened just before the broadcast, and I wondered if the anomalies were causing electromagnetic interference. I peered out the window to see my neighbors gathered in clusters, their voices rising in heated arguments over what they had seen.
I could already predict the government's response: curfews, press conferences full of empty reassurances, and hollow promises that "everything is under control." But I doubted it. If history had taught me anything, it was that control was the first thing to slip away when the world was on the brink of chaos.
Still, there was one silver lining in all this.
"Work-free days," I muttered with a faint smile, letting the thought buoy me.
As I lay in bed, fragments of conspiracy theories I'd read years ago resurfaced, theories I had once dismissed as sensationalist nonsense. Now, they seemed chillingly plausible. So lost was I in thought that I didn't notice Rukius standing over me until his shadow loomed.
"What's with that look you had earlier?"
I flinched, my pulse spiking at the abruptness of his question. "What look?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
"Don't play dumb. I saw you smiling."
My heart sank. So he had noticed.
"Are you… by any chance…" He hesitated, his gaze narrowing.
Every possible excuse raced through my mind. Should I say the reporter's accent had amused me? Or that I'd thought of something funny at the moment? Why did I even care so much about what Rukius thought?
"…an alien imposter?"
I blinked. "Huh?"
The silence between us was deafening, and then humiliation hit me like a tidal wave. For the first time since I'd started living with this idiot, I had forgotten just how absurd his mind could be.
"You're so stupid," I muttered, covering my face with my hands.
"What was that?!" he snapped, taking a step back.
"If I were an alien imposter, why would I go to all the trouble of cooking and cleaning before carrying out my 'mission'?" I asked, glaring at him.
"And why would I even target you?" I added silently to myself.
"Well," he stammered, "maybe to seem less suspicious?"
"Right. But wouldn't eliminating you be my top priority?" I shot back. "Also, do you really think you're important enough to be a threat to some advanced alien race?"
I couldn't help it; I burst into laughter, the absurdity of it all washing over me. Rukius bristled, clearly flustered.
"It's not funny! I could be an alien too, you know," he retorted weakly. "Sent from another planet to… to wipe out your kind."
That only made me laugh harder. "My kind?" I gasped, clutching my sides.
He stormed off, muttering under his breath, but I was too caught up in my mirth to care. The tension from earlier had melted away, leaving only the comforting normalcy of our banter. Still, a part of me wondered how I would explain what had come over me during the broadcast.
I followed him to the living room, leaning casually against the doorway. "You should probably get yourself checked. I could've poisoned the food too."
He glared at me, but I was already laughing as I retreated to my room, the weight of the evening finally lifting enough for me to rest.