Knock, knock.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, honey. Mom."
Without waiting for an answer, Sam's mother entered. She saw him lying on his bed, lost in thought. She simply sat down on the edge of the bed and began to speak.
"Hey, son. Do you know why I'm here?"
"Is it because of what happened at school today?"
"No, son. It's not that."
"Then what?" Sam lifted his head after burying his face in the pillow and looked at his mother, confused.
"It's about Eric. He wants…" The woman paused, sighed, and finally continued, "Well, I know you still don't get along with him very well, but I want you to please make an effort. I know it's hard for both of you, but I'd like you two to get along better. After all, the three of us live in the same house. Besides, he has already shown that he's someone reliable and that he cares about you. He even buys you things…"
"It's not that, Mom. It's not that I hate him or anything like that. It's just… I don't know, I'm still having trouble getting over what happened with Dad…"
"I understand. It took me a while too, but I know that if I could do it, you can too, son."
"Okay, but I want you to understand that sometimes I still have dreams about that day… It should have been me who died, not Dad…"
"Don't say that, Sam. Your father would have gladly given his life for you a thousand times so you could live and enjoy life."
"Yeah… it's just that sometimes it's hard to get over it."
"Don't worry, it's okay, son."
"Thanks, Mom," Sam said, sobbing softly.
Right after that, Madison hugged Sam, who was still lying in bed. She calmed him while giving him a kiss on the forehead.
"Maybe one of these days he'll take you out for a walk. It would be good for both of you, you know."
"Okay, Mom. Thanks."
After that, the woman left the room, leaving Sam there.
Sam sighed as he checked the time. It was still 12:28 in the afternoon. The meeting was at night; he would let the guys know later.
Soon he would have to go for a walk with Eric, even though he didn't get along with him. He still didn't fully understand why it made him uncomfortable. Eric seemed like a good guy. It was just that… he was still struggling with his father's death.
For now, he would rest for a while until later…
Tiiiiiii
Sound of a car approaching
A tall man ran at full speed, throwing himself forward and covering a small child, saving him from the impact of the car.
The man lay on one side in a pool of blood. He simply looked at the child happily while calming him as help arrived.
Police and ambulance sirens didn't take long to reach the scene.
A woman came running, dropping her three ice cream cones as she approached the child and the man.
First, she made sure the boy was okay. But the man simply looked at her and began to speak:
"Take good care of Sam, please."
The man was losing a lot of blood. How strong had the impact been? He simply collapsed onto the floor as the paramedics arrived. They took Sam to check his condition, while the man was placed on a stretcher surrounded by doctors.
"Dad?"
"Dad!" Sam cried as he watched his father being taken away in an emergency vehicle while he stayed in an ambulance to treat his minor injuries. At that time, he was still only 8 years old.
Suddenly everything began to blur until…
Tick… Tick...
The sound of the clock rang again. It was 6:00. He had fallen asleep for quite a while. He simply got up, stretched, and grabbed the radio.
It was time to call everyone to the geek assembly.
…
"Hey, guys. Can you hear me?"
Buzz
On the other side of town, a few streets away, inside an RV along with others, was Ethan: a young man with straight black hair in a weird (basically messy) haircut, wearing a blue hoodie and black shorts.
"Ethan here. I hear you…" said Ethan, who was watching television.
In a house in the countryside near the town of Beavers, a calm young man was in his room, its walls covered with tons of information about supposed extraterrestrial attacks, the army, and more. He pretended to investigate something in a document from his father's office. His brown hair had a 1980s-style cut, slightly curly, and he wore casual clothes: a dark green polo shirt and gray shorts.
"Mason here too. I hear you…" said Mason, setting his things aside for a moment to answer the radio.
At the radio control tower and transmission station of Beavers, the central broadcasting station of SnupyTV, Ben — an 18-year-old teenager who worked part-time there — thin, with messy hair and casual clothes…
"Ben here, available," said Ben as he stopped typing, opened a door, and revealed a large room with couches, a table, shelves, an arcade machine, and period televisions.
"Zoe listening," said the voice of a girl about 17 years old. In the background, it sounded like she was getting ready.
Sam was skating through the illuminated streets of Beavers' neighborhoods on his skateboard. He skated faster and faster, carrying his backpack with a few things he had prepared.
On the way, Ethan joined him on his bicycle. They glanced at each other briefly and simply sped up through the streets of Beavers. In the distance, the radio tower of SnupyTV station could be seen.
Meanwhile…
"I already told you, Dad. I'm going to be with my friends eating popcorn and snacks, watching TV. Don't worry. If you want, you can pick me up early, please."
Mason said to his father while he was watching television. His dad turned around, stood up, and grabbed the car keys.
"I'll pick you up before 9:00, and that's it."
"Thanks a lot, Dad," said Mason.
A slight smile formed on Mason's face as he picked up his backpack from the floor.
After a while, at the Snupy radio station…
Knock, knock.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, guys."
Ah, of course. It was Mason. Hard to forget his boyish voice. They opened the door and there he stood with his backpack. Further back, his father was in the car, shouting:
"Take care, son! Remember, by 9!" After that, he drove off down the road near Beavers, crossing a small forest.
"Mmmm…"
"What's up, Ethan?"
"Someone's missing."
"Ah, Zoe. She said that…"
Suddenly the door burst open and there appeared a girl with long black hair streaked with pink and purple sections.
She wore a black hoodie and loose blue jeans, holding a briefcase on her left side.
"You made it, Zoe," said Ben from a corner, leaning against the wall while drinking a can of soda.
"Of course I did!" the girl said calmly.
"I guess you're going to tell us again why you brought your radar. I assume it's something important, right?" asked Ethan, looking at the briefcase.
"Ohohoho, I love it when we all get together. This is going to be the night of the year," said Mason, who had already sat down on the couch with a smile.
"Exactly," said the girl, also sitting on the couch and placing the briefcase on the table as she opened it.
"Are you ready? I discovered something interesting after a long time," said Zoe as she turned on the briefcase, which contained a laptop-style radar and next to it a radio command console.
"I guess it has to be something really interesting for you to bring that heavy briefcase all the way from your house in Beavers," said Ben, approaching to see what the case displayed.
"Of course it is," said Zoe excitedly.
Finally, everyone gathered around the table and sat on the couch to see what Zoe's radar-console briefcase and she had to show…
…
On one side of a military base…
BOOM… BOOM…
"Damn it! What's happening? Didn't they say they had already fixed the problem?!"
Said a 34-year-old woman in military uniform with black hair and a serious look as she ordered her soldiers to move toward the explosion caused by a reactor.
Meanwhile, scientists were running around the area trying to stabilize the reactor.
"General, this is dangerous. It could explode… Besides, we don't exactly know what we're dealing with… It's risky," said a cadet while slightly covering his face from the strong gusts of wind.
"I don't care! We must win this war at all costs!" said the woman decisively.
In front of them, a strange circular reactor emitted a purple aura. It looked like a portal opening, but it kept flickering on and off due to insufficient energy. It seemed like it could explode from all the overloads.
"Shit…" said the woman as she stared at the reactor, which was behind a large layer of armored glass.
"General, it's risky," the cadet said again while looking at the reactor despite the strong gusts of air, even with the glass there, except for a small opening.
"I don't care! Even if we have to contact the unknown…"