31 December 3005, just before midnight.
Somewhere in the heart of Sin City, a young woman dressed in a sleek black bodysuit named Lily -Ann or Lily for friends, stood before a large window, her gaze fixed on the shadowy streets below. The air was thick with tension, and anticipation pulsed through her veins.
Suddenly, the alarm on her smartwatch pierced the silence, electrifying her senses. Lily glanced down, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. "Zero Hour!" she whispered, her eyes igniting with fierce determination. She zipped up her jacket, the fabric rustling like a whisper of secrets, and slid on her leather gloves as if gearing up for battle.
Before stepping out, she cast one last wary glance around her dimly lit room, ensuring nothing was left behind. There was no room for error; going back was not an option.
With her heart pounding, she grabbed her phone and keys, holding her breath tight in her chest as she slipped into the hallway, cautiously checking for any signs of life. Dread settled in her stomach as she opted for the stairs instead of the elevator—she couldn't afford any unexpected encounters. She descended slowly, each step echoing louder in the oppressive silence, her ears straining for any disturbances.
As she approached the ground floor, the sudden barking of a dog shattered the quiet, followed by the unmistakable voice of an older woman traveling up the staircase.
"Damn, dog owners!" she muttered under her breath, her pulse quickening. She pressed herself against the shadowy corner, heart racing as she waited, one eye darting between her watch and the approaching woman and her dog. Time felt almost suspended as she held her breath, irritation boiling inside her at the delay.
"Come on, come on…" she urged silently, rolling her eyes as they drew closer, each moment stretching her nerves to the breaking point.
"Phew! That was close," she exhaled in relief, emerging from her hiding spot as they finally passed. She quickly resumed her descent, every instinct on high alert, the thrill of the unknown fueling her adrenaline as she continued her mission.
Upon reaching the back exit of the building, she released her breath and took in the cold night air as she slipped into the darkness.
"Are you there, Max? I was on my way but had to wait a bit because an old lady was walking her dog. She almost caught me leaving the building!" Lily says after Max, her partner in crime, answers her call.
"I am almost there, but have you seen the news? I am not sure it's good for us to be out here doing this, Lily."
"I haven't watched the news lately; it's too boring, so why are you chickening out suddenly?" Lily asked, already feeling annoyance bubbling up in her.
"Hey, stop the name-calling, will you? I am not a chicken, and why are you not watching the news? That is how you miss important stuff, like the president giving a speech. Didn't you know that he declared martial law?" Max asked, surprised.
"Martial law? Why on earth did he do that? No wonder the streets are so quiet—too quiet, no you say it," Lily said while glancing out of her car window.
"Ok, give me the short version. I need to know if we can go back or if we need to go to my secret hideout, Max. Start talking," Lily said while stepping on the gas pedal.
"Ehm, well, he explained that NASA, who has been working closely in secret with the FBI and CIA, has finally found proof of life on another planet. Now, at first, people thought it was a deepfake of some sort, but then, in the middle of the press conference, when a reporter from BNN was about to ask the president a question, the screen behind him changed. The face of a monster appeared, speaking a language that was not understandable. That was when all help;l broke loose! so, are you seriously telling me you did not know anything about this?" Max Asked in disbelief.
Lily was silent for seconds while processing what Max had just told her. The first thing that came to her mind was the alien species. Lots of the,m, but then she cracked a smile. Now, her over-imagination started working again. Her mother would have said that if she was still alive. A sigh escaped her when the image of her mother resurfaced her mind. "Not now, stupid brain, later!" she muttered while avoiding a collision with a burning car that doomed up out of nowhere.
Sh*T! I almost hit a car, damn! it, are you there yet?" Lily asked with her hands now more tightly on the steering wheel.
"Be careful and stay off the main street. The police are now in the process of handing power over to the military, and on the police scanner, I heard that they are putting up roadblocks to check people!" Max explained in a rushed tone.
"That bad, huh? Maybe I should have listened then, but now it is too late to return. Even if I had the time to go back, I still would have to go through with it because they need to listen. What they are doing to our world is wrong; the world is suffering, the animals, the people; what will be left of us if we can not live in a healthy place and save anymore? What then?" Lily stated while avoiding a homeless who was walking drunk in the middle of the road, making her car almost spin out of control. "Ugh, I almost killed a homeless guy!" she muttered under her breath as she slowed down and took the next turn left into a back alley, drove to the end, and parked the car. To open the iron fence, she used a cutting device packed in her backpack and started to work. Five minutes later, she heard the sound of a car approaching. She quickly looked over her shoulder and smiled upon recognizing her friend's car.
"Here, let me help you!"Max offered while grabbing the tool. As he started on the last piece of fence, Lily kept an eye out for anyone else. Five minutes later, he shut the tools down and gave them back to Lily, who put them back in the backpack. "Let's go, hurry. There is not much time left, and we have to do it before midnight," Lily whispered.
One by one, they climbed through the fence and started running towards an ominous-looking skyscraper just as it began to rain.
"Ugh! I hate rain. Let's get inside before we get soaked. I have a feeling this rain is not going to be a drizzle of some sort!" Max muttered while running towards the side entrance. Once inside, they went to the lowest level, where the computers' servers and drivers were held, and went to work on the laptops they had brought with them.
"By the way, thanks for stealing the codes," Lily smirked at Max, who chuckled back while his skilled fingers flew over his keyboard.
"Yeah, thanks. It was peanuts, though. All it took was an alone date with a blond. Anyway, I'll tell you all about it over a coffee tomorrow afternoon. For now, let's focus!"
"Yeah, you're right, but don't forget to tell me because you being on a date with a blond; that is special!" Lily answered.
"Sure, don't you worry your precious brain about it; I will tell you," Max replied, smirking and shaking his head.
They worked together side by side to finish the last couple of codes of their master peace, and then Lily pressed the big button on the mainframe after downloading their code on a USB stick.
"This is it. There's no way back now!" Max said while he watched Lily put the USB into the mainframe. As they watched the countdown through VideoTube online streaming, their code slowly started to have an effect, and the servers of big oil companies went down one by one until the clock struck midnight and an alarm went off.
"SECURITY BREACH, SECURITY BREACH!!"
And everything went black.